Bible, Bros & Brew
Bible, Bros, & Brew is all about helping you navigate your relationship with God in practical, real-life ways. Hosts David and Phil dig into scripture—'chopping up the word'—and bring it to life with insights you can actually use every day. And while they’re at it, they share their favorite 'brews'—don’t worry, it’s not booze! Just a solid lineup of classic coffees and teas to keep the conversations flowing.
Bible, Bros & Brew
How to Keep From Falling | Bible, Bros & Brew
Perhaps now more than ever, scandals are coming to light regarding many popular ministries and prominent Christian figures due to some type of moral failure. It doesn't take a genius to know that when many of these people started off in their faith journey, they probably never imagined they would end up in such a dark spiritual place. So the key question that always emerges is...What happened? How did they end up in such a compromising position? In this episode, David & Phil explore the scriptures to discover not only what some of root causes are to moral failures, but also how to use God's Word as a defense against temptation.
gotbrew@biblebros.net
If you've been paying attention to a lot of the things going on in the body of Christ lately, you've probably seen different ministries, different pastors falling from grace, falling into sin, stuff happening with people. That just has been pretty rough and the question often comes like what can you do to prevent this type of thing from happening? Even people that maybe started out sincere in their walk with the Lord, all of a sudden something happens and they deviate and next thing you know they've fallen into a place that's hard to get out of. We want to talk about the biblical prescription that's available, that's right there in the scripture, to help all of us know how not to stumble and not to fall into things that we'll regret later.
Phillip Rich:Good evening and welcome to Bible Bros and Brew. I guess it could be good morning, it depends on when you're listening to this, but anyway, my name is Philip and along with me I have my best buddies in the whole wide world. I've got David here drinking out of his green mug and I have Ryan with the Braves hat on flexing pretty hard. I might say we're here to discuss some cool things on this podcast tonight. We've just came off of a series that we've been on for probably 20 some weeks and we decided, you know what, maybe we can finally put an end to that one and start something new. So we're going to be talking about something that's been kind of on my heart. I know David and I have talked about it plenty of times before in different kind of contexts, but it's definitely something that is, I think, very relevant for today, for the here and now, and that is the subject of how to keep from stumbling, how to keep from falling. As you guys are well aware, there's so many different scandals that have been around for sometimes years, decades, and all of a sudden some bad news has come to light, some scandalous stuff's come to light where people were doing things behind the scenes, maybe even for years Stories of sexual abuse, stories of financial improprieties, different things like that that have happened that, for whatever reason, you know, now it seems to be the time of a season of exposure, if you want to call it that, where, in a lot of ways, that can be looked at as, honestly, the grace of God helping some people to repent when they need to repent. Also, it could also be looked at as a form of judgment or a form of. It could also be looked at as a form of judgment or a form of time. For you know, like the Bible says in 1 Peter, for judgment to begin at the house of God. I think there's a lot of truth to that.
Phillip Rich:Happening right now, I feel like and you guys, I don't want to jump too much into the deep end right off the bat, but I feel like we're at a place where it's like playtime is over. Man, you know, you might have been able to get away with these little pet sins here and there and stuff. You know that you've kind of hidden in the booth in the back in the corner of the dark for a good while. But then now it seems like things there's the grace has run out. It seems like for some of these things that have been going on behind the scenes for years and years, for some of these things that have been going on behind the scenes for years and years and I know personally I have to be just as vigilant as anybody else in terms of, you know, being mindful, being sober, like it says in 1 Peter 5, being vigilant to recognize when the enemy is trying to derail me, and those attempts do come there are things that we all have to fight off and things we have to deal with.
Phillip Rich:And of course, the question comes, you know, especially for people who have been in ministry for a long time, like pastors and different people who you would never imagine they'd be caught up in certain scandals like this. But all of a sudden you know they're there and it's like what in the world? You know, how can I avoid this? If these people are falling, people that have been prominent in ministry, people that have had, you know, big name ministries and things like that, what's to keep someone like me just the average, you want to call it, like the layman Christian from falling as well? What can we do about that?
Phillip Rich:And thankfully, there is a prescription in the book of 2 Peter we're going to talk about that tonight as far as what to do to keep yourself from stumbling. And when I say keep yourself, we all know it's really God having the keeping power in our life, but he does provide this biblical prescription that we have to work with, in partnership with him, to be able to keep that garbage from taking over your life. So, anyway, I know I just said a whole lot, so before we go any further, let's go ahead and talk about, of course, one of our famous segments here what is in the cup. So, david, could you go ahead and tell us what's in your cup? What are you drinking tonight?
David McIntyre:Do Ryan first. I'm reading something. I got distracted.
Phillip Rich:Okay.
David McIntyre:When you started talking about judgment starting in the house of God, because I was thinking about the same scripture at the same time. Nice, I'll be right back.
Phillip Rich:Okay, okay, all right, ryan. How about you, sir, all right? Well, how about you, sir, all right? Well, I've got, uh, I'm doing the uh, I don't know how do you say this?
David McIntyre:kawai. Uh, how do you say david? Uh? 1893, say it again kawawa got the dark roast. Uh, oh nice, and uh drinking it out of the travel mug.
Phillip Rich:So we're in season and out of season. There you go. Nicely done, man, nicely done. Okay, david, are you in a place now where you can care about your coffee?
David McIntyre:no, I just got to a place where it just got good what I was just reading for my own one of my old favorites, I've almost. I just realized I've almost finished this bag. I need to do so. I've mis. I've used this bag so much it's misshapen. This is double chocolate from Jim's Organic.
Phillip Rich:Yes.
David McIntyre:This is a really good coffee, you guys. It literally, it literally. It's a light roast and really really carries through. You've heard me say it before, but you may not remember. It really carries that chocolate flavor. And then tonight I've added, of course, a couple of drips of real vanilla and on top of a little bit of cinnamon, and in this case I will tell you, I did not stir my cinnamon in so that as I'm sipping it off of the top, I'm getting the full cinnamon wave. So I think you should have a cinnamon wave in your life as well. So that's my cup tonight, and it feels very, very conversational. Yes, so it's ready to go.
Phillip Rich:Yes, life isn't the same without a cinnamon wave. I do know that. So, I'll have to see about that man for sure. So, as you guys are probably well aware, I'm going to come with one of my favorite roasters of all time.
David McIntyre:You don't even need to say it anymore. People will find something wrong if you come with something other than Pear.
Phillip Rich:Exactly. They'll be. Like something feels off tonight, man, something's weird. This is the Columbiaumbia aponte reserve. Now the notes are pink lady, apple, orange, julius and cinnamon chocolate. Dude, I'll go ahead and tell you guys, when you brew this thing and you throw some heavy whipping cream in it, which I always do I love heavy whipping cream in my coffee. Man, that's like the deal, dude, there are certain notes that pop out of this coffee that are just like I don't want to do like I did the other week, but you kind of get that vibe, man, I'm telling you, and I think I've featured this one on Bible Bros and Brew before, but it's just one of my favorites Orange Julius.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, you know. I mean, I can't remember the last time I've even seen an Orange Julius, like the little store or whatever.
David McIntyre:Right, that's because you haven't been to the mall In forever, right.
Phillip Rich:Right, all the malls near us are dead, so praise God, but you know what?
David McIntyre:You just said something I know. This isn't the talking point, that's all right. But you just said something that's very interesting that I find to be true as well. I've pondered whether or not it's because I'm weird. It is that when you add heavy whipping cream, particularly heavy whipping cream, but usually any kind of creamer, a normal creamer that's not flavored or sugared, I find that I am more likely to taste the flavors that they're communicating come through in the roast.
Phillip Rich:Yes.
David McIntyre:When I have that, then when I don't have that, usually particularly if I'm trying a new coffee, I always try it first. I always take a first dip, if you will, and a first sip if you will, and I will sip that coffee black, just so I can see what notes I get. And the C cause. You know coffee can feel. I know it's weird, but if you've ever tried it and just thought about it for a moment, coffee can taste and feel very different on the front of the tongue and in the front of the mouth, then as it transitions to the middle and then hits the back of your throat.
David McIntyre:Then as it transitions to the middle and then hits the back of your throat. Absolutely. You can get different flavorings in those different spaces, which I think is fascinating.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:And so. But when I add creamer to things then I can really taste particularly chocolate. Chocolate really comes out with creamer. Sometimes caramel does too, and some of the other notes that people say I just always find that interesting with me. I wonder if others experience that, if you do write us in the notes.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, man, there's definitely a level of alchemy that's happening with this whole adding creamer to the coffee thing. And you're right, like, depending on what the primary notes of that coffee are, the cream just seems to bring something out of it that maybe you couldn't have if it was just like straight up black coffee. But dude, oh man. Anyway, I could go crazy on the creamer man, but I'm going to calm myself down.
David McIntyre:Please don't go crazy on the creamer. Yes, please don't go crazy on the cream.
Phillip Rich:Yes, but on to the topic at hand, we have again we've just concluded a series on Galatians 5 and Galatians 6. We were talking about the fruit of the spirit versus the works of the flesh. And then we talked about what happens, you know, like when a believer gets overtaken in a fault as it says in Galatians 6.1, what to do in those situations to help people get restored. But then there's another element to this whole idea of maintaining your steadiness and your stability as a believer, staying in living a life of holiness, a life of righteousness, a life of purity, and it's not meant to be some type of a works-based walk with the Lord, but it's meant to be a kind of walk with the Lord where you're displaying the fruit that should be there for someone who's full of God's spirit. And I think that's probably where we get a little I don't know, maybe the water gets a little muddy, because when you start talking about things like living righteously, living holy, living a pure life, people have this idea that you're trying to be legalistic or you're trying to be you know. Oh, you're just trying to earn your you know righteousness or your salvation. That is not even the point of it is now that you are a born again believer, now that God's put his spirit in you, now that you are a new creation in Christ, there should be some signs showing in your life. There should be some level of a difference versus how you may have used to have been, versus how you are now. Like I remember our former pastor used to say this all the time. He said you know, when it's 20 degrees outside, you're going to get chill bumps, when it's 95, you're going to sweat. He said, if you're born again, you should be showing some signs. And I think that makes sense.
Phillip Rich:It's like and it's not just something that I'm thinking, it's something that the Bible talks about over and over again in the New Testament. You know, paul said it in Romans 6. He's like don't let sin reign anymore in your physical body. Now that you're, you know, raised to life with Christ, leave that mess behind. You know, sin should not have dominion over you. You're not under the law, you're under grace. Now you know you should be displaying some signs and in Titus, I think it is it talks about here's what God did for us. He saved us, he washed us, you know, with the washing of the I don't know if that's the right one. The washing of the word.
David McIntyre:It may be the washing of the water, of the word yeah.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, he said. And so, since we have that, we should be living holy, righteous in this present age. You know, we should be demonstrating that type of lifestyle. So there's, and there's tons of other scriptures that in all the different authors have talked about the same thing in the New Testament. So it's something that I think is very clear that there should be some signs in your life of a change, signs in your life of a change, signs in your life that you are now walking a life devoted to the Lord and not, you know, just continuing in the same way they used to be. Because, if you know, let's say that you're a born again person, you've received Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Phillip Rich:But before that happened, maybe you were the kind of person that would sleep around, maybe you would lie. Maybe you were the kind of person that would sleep around, maybe you would lie, maybe you would be easily offended and get jealous of people and cheat or steal or whatever else you might have been doing. But now you get saved, and let's say you've been saved for a year, two years, whatever, and you're still lying, still sleeping around, still going to the clubs, still getting drunk, still doing crazy stuff. What's the difference. You know like what is that? Even Are there any signs of your salvation happening? You know what I mean. David, you can pull me back if I'm out there too far man.
David McIntyre:But I feel like in my mind there should be some level of a change demonstrated in your life to where it's not just Christian in name only.
Phillip Rich:No, no, you're not over your skis. You're out there, right where you need to be. Keep flying, Keep flying. There you go, and so, in line with this, this doesn't mean that, once you get born again, you won't have any struggles with sin anymore. There's obviously, you know, a constant Look, look, look.
David McIntyre:on the contrary, jesus said in this world, you will have trouble.
Phillip Rich:Did he not say that? He said that, bro. He meant it too, and he wasn't playing around.
David McIntyre:Yeah, but he also finished with. But be of good cheer. Yes, for I have overcome the world. I have overcome the world.
Phillip Rich:The victory is still yours. There you go, and that's the. That's the key right there is that it's not that you'll no longer be tempted once you get born again that's, that's a fallacy or that you'll no longer that all of a sudden you're miraculously just different and the behavior patterns that you had before you got saved all of a sudden disappear Once you get saved. Not, not, not truth, it's just not even true.
David McIntyre:This is why Paul told us oh, go ahead, I'm sorry, I was going to say, if you notice, you get tempted when you're not born again.
Phillip Rich:Right See.
David McIntyre:Temptation is part and parcel of the game. It's just how you handle the temptation that dictates which side you're on will help determine how you're supposed to handle the temptation.
Phillip Rich:Come on, and actually in James chapter one, ryan, if you don't mind going there for us, in James chapter one he talks about this. He talks about, you know, temptation itself and he says something interesting and I was thinking about this earlier today. Actually, david, in James 1, let's see, let's go down a little bit here. I think it's like verse 12, maybe I'm sorry it's verse yeah, verse 12. It says blessed is the man that endures temptation, for when he is tried. Notice, james didn't say if he's tried, it's a. When you know, when you're a believer born again, loving the Lord, trying to walk with God, there's still going to be a when you're tried, not an. If you're tried right, for when he is tried or when he's tempted, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love him. But the key is blessed is the man that endures temptation.
Phillip Rich:And if you look at some other translations, some of them say outlast the temptation. So there's that element of it. If you can withstand that pressure that comes to your flesh when you're tempted, whatever the area of temptation is it can be a hundred different things If you can withstand that, yeah, I like that in the new American standard, who perseveres under trial, you know, uh, blessed is the man who endures or who remains steadfast. There's another one Um, blessed is the man who a lot of them say persevere. In other words, you don't allow the trial to dictate to you how you're going to be. You maintain your steadiness and your consistency, because actually that's what the word endurance really means. It means to bear up under consistently, you know, and to outlast.
Phillip Rich:And so he says when a person does this and they endure temptation and they're able to outlast it, he says they're going to be blessed for doing that, you know. So, um, and not to get too far into the woods on temptation, just yet. But there is this thing, you know, that we all have to deal with as far as how do we maintain our steadiness to where we don't end up in a place that we didn't even think we would be? You know, because I think about many of these people that have fallen into sin, many of them prominent pastors and things, and I'm sure they had a moment. Many of them probably did where they're like, how in the world did I end up here? You know, david, your thoughts on that. I think you're getting ready to say something there.
David McIntyre:No, it takes us back to where we were in galatians 6-1, where it says you know to to deal with these things. I forget the words now, but it's basically with grace and, yeah, grace and humility yeah, yeah because you know you might think you're all that, but then you call yourself going in and trying to help somebody or get involved in other people's sin and you become the victim of the thing that you proclaim that you were going in to help deliver someone from, and so you have to be careful, because sin is so subtle, temptation is so subtle.
David McIntyre:You're at work and there's this young lady there and you find her attractive, no big deal, but you're married and you still love your wife and everything's there.
David McIntyre:And then you find you and this coworker a little bit later on, you know, you're kind of laughing about the same things, you watch the same show or something along the lines, and you kind of get chummy about it. And before you know it you may be working on projects together and you're seeing more and more of them and you find your way starting to feel some way about them. But you're married so you don't think about them anymore. But while you're at home you're thinking about them. When you're driving into work, you're excited about seeing them. And see, you don't realize that all of these little stages that we've already talked about are subtle shifts of temptation that are designed to draw you in more and more, because the ultimate desire is that you will take the full plunge and commit full-on sin and have intercourse, or even to have an emotional relationship with this person. Because then, what happens with every sin, with temptation. Temptation leads to sin, and one of the things it doesn't talk about is that with the sin comes the impending destruction.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, absolutely.
David McIntyre:And everything starts falling apart.
Phillip Rich:See see, and that's the thing it's like. You know, sin has pleasure for a season. The bible talks about that and, and I think hebrews 11 it says you know, talk about moses. Uh, he chose to forsake the pleasures of sin for a season. Um, and so there is. You know, if sin didn't feel good in one way or the other, we wouldn't do it you know, there's no temptation behind it exactly that's why.
Phillip Rich:That's why it is tempting, because there's some element of pleasure. You get out of it, but as we all know that pleasure perishes with the using. You know what I mean. It it's very fleeting, very temporary and, as proverbs says, you know, just like hell is never full, the eyes of man are never satisfied. You know, there's to think that if you yield to that temptation that it's going to solve this issue, that's in you of, okay, now I'll be satisfied for good. No, you will not. No, you won't. It's just going to be. It's like feeding wood to a fire it's just going to keep taking the wood. You can, you can theoretically do that forever, you know. So there's that element of it.
Phillip Rich:But while we're in James one, I wanted to go to probably verse six or something like that, ryan, if you don't mind throwing up on the screen oh, I'm sorry, no, it's down there in verse 13. He says you know, let no man say, when he's tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does he tempt any man. He's God's not out there tempting people to go into sin. Uh, that's foolishness, if anybody ever told you that they were incorrect, because the Bible says it right here God does not tempt anybody to sin. But look what he says in verse 14, but look what he says in verse 14.
Phillip Rich:But every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And like David just said here, we'll go to verse 15. Then, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin, and sin when it is finished. So it's been working on it and then when it's finished, it brings forth death, just like David said, that inevitable destruction that comes. And that doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to die for committing X, y, z sin. But what it does mean is and death has a very broad definition in the Bible, by the way because death can mean a separation from the life of God. That's really what I'm holding on to.
Phillip Rich:So this here, when it comes to sin, it means basically destruction of one kind or another is inevitable. When you let sin just kind of finish out that cycle, it won't leave you the same way it found you, that's for sure, and it's not intended to.
David McIntyre:And you do have to realize that, as Philip just said, one communication of death through the scripture is separation from God. And I think that, ultimately, that is what sin desires to see. It desires to see us separated from God. And if I mean you just look at it, you just look at it out, here there are so many people who once called themselves Christian, who have fallen into some kind of sin and because they deem themselves unworthy, they separate from God.
David McIntyre:And you know we're not talking about this right now, but the answer to sin that has efforted to separate you from God and presented destruction and death at your door is to fall on your face before God. Yeah, what did David say in Psalms 50, 51? You know, against you and you alone only have I sinned. But, then David also asked God to create in him a clean heart and to renew in him a right spirit. He did not deny God.
David McIntyre:He ran back to him because he knew that he was the answer and he also knew that he was the cause. Remember that sin belongs to you. It's not God's sin, because God didn't tempt you, god didn't bring that into your life. So you can't try to give God credit for this and say God did it to me. With the scriptures Very clear. God didn't do that. You did that with your own appetites and desires.
Phillip Rich:That's right.
David McIntyre:And so that lets you know there's something in you that you've got to work on and deal with, because if you couldn't be tempted by it, you wouldn't.
Phillip Rich:Come on, man, you know and that's so true, man it's like we have to be honest with ourselves. We have to be honest with ourselves enough to know that if I'm dealing with something, especially something that's been like a repetitive sin, it's something that's in me that I'm not addressing, that I need to, I have to get to a place where I can be honest with myself and go, you know what? I've got an issue here, man. I've got something I need to really really deal with Because, again, it said, every man's tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust. And I was thinking about this the other day, david, and this is, I know, we're kind of getting off the page, maybe a little bit, with what we were originally going to talk about, we can get it.
David McIntyre:We haven't been on the page yet to get off. We haven't been on the page since we started.
Phillip Rich:Welcome to Bible Bros and Brew. This is how we do it, man.
David McIntyre:This is all, still the intro everybody.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, this is still the intro, but just a moment of candor. We say, right, I, um, I come from a family where alcoholism has been a thing, okay, a big thing. Um, my grandfather died of it, my uncle died of it, my great uncle died of it. I'm talking like literally died of it, like my grandfather. I'm pretty sure he had cirrhosis of the liver was how he passed, because it just turned his liver into a brick, drinking himself to death, basically. So you know, this was a serious thing in my family and before I got saved, I was heading that way. Actually, right, very close to the point where I got saved, I was trending in that direction.
Phillip Rich:I started drinking pretty heavy in high school, you know, like senior year it was party, party, party, you know, don't care about nothing, man, you know. And so I'm doing all that stupid stuff. But then by the time I'm 20, 21, it gets worse. It's funny, I did like most of my drinking before I turned 21. So it was, you know, honestly, I got tired of it by the time I was 21. But anyway, but I recognized because all of a sudden, you know, I could. It could be a Tuesday afternoon at one o'clock PM and all of a sudden I'm like let me go get a shot of tequila. You know why would I want to do that? You know, you start realizing these things about yourself, like I have a problem here, you know, and. But but it wasn't enough for me to recognize it, because back then I wasn't saved. I had no defense against stuff like that. I was basically following that pattern that you know, many people in my family fell victim to before.
Phillip Rich:But here comes Jesus, around June of 1996, when I was 21 years old. That's when you, david, you know you, invited me to church and came down to Atlanta and did the whole thing. There's a whole story behind that, guys. I have to share that one day. But but you know, once that happened, of course I get radically saved. Man, all of a sudden, those desires just kind of, they just kind of fall off because I'm so consumed with the Word of God and getting swept away in, you know, this new life in Christ. I'm like I didn't think about it, no more. Well, anyway, this leads me to when you and I, david, works at a restaurant. It's steak and ale. Way back in the day we had keys to what they call the liquor room. You remember that day?
David McIntyre:Yes, we did.
Phillip Rich:So it's steak and ale. They had the liquor room that's where you go and like, replenish the bar and all this kind of stuff. You know tons of stuff in there, man, tons of whiskey and all kinds of drinks in there. And I remember one day I was standing in there and it was like a moment for me. But I was standing in there and I forgot we had to get some syrup to refill the soft drink thing or something. But I looked around, I was like I don't feel the least bit of a pull towards alcohol. I'm standing in a room full of it and I don't feel the least ounce of a pull like I should get me a drink, you know, or anything like that. And I remember it was a moment for me like dude. The problem was in me. It wasn't the alcohol, because if it was the alcohol then that room would have overwhelmed me. You know what I mean. But it wasn't the alcohol, cause if it was the alcohol then that room would have overwhelmed me, you know what I mean.
Phillip Rich:It wasn't, it was what was in me. That was the issue, and I had to deal with that. Well, it wasn't me alone, it was the help of the Holy spirit, you know, purging that mess out of my, my heart, and so I, this is it, this, this is. This is what we really have to come to terms with. Y'all is, if there's something in you that you're not dealing with, and being honest with yourself about that's going to be your first hindrance to getting rid of it. Um, if you start blaming different things oh, it's the alcohol, it's the drugs, it the porn, it's the whatever else you're actually on the wrong foot already. You have to look in the mirror and go. It's in me, there's something I'm not dealing with, and, um, and and then you have to go to God. Like David said, humble yourself, fall on your face before God, go. I cannot get out of this myself. I need your help, you know, and you know and at that point, yeah, change can come.
David McIntyre:At that point, you know, I was watching a video today sometime. I wasn't in the midst of a full-on doom scroll, but I was a fractional doom scroll.
David McIntyre:And you know how it pops up when you're scrolling through you see the inevitable court case or whatever that pops up on social media. And in this case there was a woman who had been caught drunk driving 10 times. Oh boy, okay. And so for 10 times she did some marginal time in jail but they tried to put her on, you know, they tried to put her in programs, they tried to help her, you know, over 10 times and over a period of eight to 10 years it seems, and they tried to put her in programs. She went to jail for a short period of time, got paroled, you know a short parole, got out to do good. She went to a program. She finally went to a program that helped her a little bit. But here she was again, you know, inside having gotten her 10th, and the judge is like I can't, I can't keep letting you go.
David McIntyre:I can't look myself in the mirror tonight and let you go knowing that it's just a miracle you haven't killed somebody.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, yeah.
David McIntyre:And it's so funny because, as we're talking about this, I'm thinking the program she needed was Jesus, because what she basically said was I tried all of these things and it was evident that none of those things kept me from falling prey to the temptation. But what she never seemed to have tried was try Jesus. And so you, really, if you're struggling with temptation, if you're struggling with in psychology they call it life controlling issues, if you're struggling with these things, I mean I encourage you strongly, you've got to try Jesus, because there's something you know Phil said after he got radically born again that the desire for the alcohol left him.
David McIntyre:And you know I remember I used to smoke back in the day. Now I wasn't a heavy smoker, I smoked socially. I smoked because I thought it looked cool and I liked the way it made me look. It was part of my aesthetic.
Phillip Rich:Back in the 80s, bro, it was the coolest thing to have a cigarette just kind of dangling from your mouth while you're talking.
David McIntyre:So this is the 90s, where you know I'm so much of a lightweight, I was smoking Benson and Hedges. So that's, don't you dare laugh at me, you people, I did do that the only thing worse would be Virginia Slims dude.
David McIntyre:And so here I am. You know, nobody knew what the cigarette said. So I was just smoking and to me that looked cool. I had an aesthetic Right and I only did it socially. It was so stupid, it was one of the dumbest things I've ever done. But yeah, and as my wife reminded me, you also had asthma at that time. So I had asthma and I'm smoking. It's so stupid. The aesthetic over breathing. Who makes those choices? But do you know, there was a time where I did kind of get a taste for it and I wasn't always smoking just for the aesthetic.
David McIntyre:But when I got born again and started living my life right to get a taste for it and I wasn't always smoking just for the aesthetic Right, you know, when I got born again and started living my life right. I really had no appetite for a cigarette again. Yeah, that wasn't the aesthetic I was looking for.
Phillip Rich:There you go.
David McIntyre:But I've also seen where people will tell you the story. You know, I've heard people say you know, I'd like to tell you that I got born again and I went to God and said take this away from me. And he radically took it away. And it didn't happen that way for everybody, you know. But what that just means is that you're going to get the opportunity to do the work of walking through the process of a crucifying, if you will, crucifying the flesh and letting, just killing that appetite, killing that desire, starving it so that it realizes it no longer has a place to eat here.
David McIntyre:And that's the strength that God will help you develop, because then you'll find that same strength will be what you need to persevere and deal with situations and circumstances that come up that help you to overcome different things that happen in life, that when trouble comes, you'll have a better insight on how to deal with that trouble, because you'll say it'll be just like David. David said well, I defeated the lion and I defeated the bear. You'll be able to say, well, I overcame this smoking thing, and then I've defeated this desire to do X. So what is this that stands before me and that's the strength that we can build in the Lord. So don't feel like if you've been radically or changed and born again and that appetite didn't leave you, it doesn't mean that God's not with you. It means your path to victory is just different. Take the path to victory is the key.
Phillip Rich:That's good, david, that's so good, and I'm glad you pointed that out, man, because not every deliverance looks the same, if you want to put it that way. You know it's like there are certain things that immediately fell away when I got saved. There are other things I had to struggle and walk through for years. We considered opine all night as to why one is one way and one's the other. All I know is that you got to keep trusting God, man.
David McIntyre:You got to keep trusting God. I'll tell you, phil, the one that didn't go away for me instantly was porn. The appetite for porn and things of that nature did not did not just drop off and all of a sudden I was like poof, oh wow, I just want to have sex with my wife. That that that didn't happen. Um, well, I did. But you understand what I'm saying. It was all these other pulls for my attention in that realm. So I had to work through that. I had to make a conscious decision that I was not going to give porn a place in my life. And now I've been years solid away from porn. But look at the world we live in now porn is so interwoven into. I mean, you live, you can be watching a tv show and paying, minding your own business, and all of a sudden there's a dry hump and then it's like wait, why did that happen? What? How did that move the story forward?
David McIntyre:I mean all these little things that will pop up out of nowhere. Why is this lady, butt naked, selling checks mix? It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. I hear you. It's all just putting out there, and I think it's just Satan's opportunity to put something in front of your eyes, to draw you back into the circle of foolishness that you were once in. And you've got to be careful. You've got to be so careful.
Phillip Rich:That's right, man, that's right. I'm telling you we all have to be vigilant. That's what he said in 1 Peter 5. He's like be sober and be vigilant, recognize when those things are coming. I think Ryan's about to pull up on the screen. Actually, let's look at that real quick. First Peter five, he says be sober and be vigilant. Now it's interesting he's used that word sober Because if you think about what sober means like even in terms of, like you know, drinking or whatever sober is when you're not drunk. Basically you know, sober is when you're not drunk. Basically Sober is when you're not intoxicated and when you think about it, sober when you are tempted into sin. There's some element of intoxication, spiritually, that happens for you to get off into sin.
Phillip Rich:Mm-hmm that happens for you to get off into sin. There's some level of deception, some level of craftiness, some level of subtle, like a misleading of a sort. For instance, like you said, david, you know the classic case of a guy at work who has an attractive woman on the job and all of a sudden he's starting to have feelings for her. It may start all innocent, it may start, hey, it's no big deal, it's harmless. We just went to lunch one time. Blah, blah, blah, blah, there's, there's. It's almost like the enemy is weaving a web at that time and the guy is not fully aware of just how in danger he really is. Um, so there's a level of intoxication, there's a level where you're not even fully aware of the full danger that you're in. And, like you mentioned, david, I've seen many police body cam videos where they pull people over for drunk driving and then they ask them they're like did you know how fast you were going?
Phillip Rich:Maybe like five miles over, they were going like 90 in a 35. You know, they're not even aware of the level of danger they're putting themselves in or other people in. You know they're intoxicated to some degree and I think that's one of the one of the, the, the, the bad points of sin. I don't know what to call it right now, but one of the things that gives sin such a potency, if you will, is that we underestimate its influence. Sometimes we underestimate the pull that we're feeling as not a big deal, but actually you should be on red alert by the time you're feeling this way or that way. You know what I mean. But yeah, let's look at, if you don't mind, ryan 1, peter 5. It says be sober-minded and alert your adversary. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion. It doesn't say he is a roaring lion, it says he's like a roaring lion yeah.
Phillip Rich:And seeking someone to devour. Now think about that. He's looking for the angle. He's looking for that inroad. He's trying to find that one button that he can push Right.
Phillip Rich:And it's interesting when I think about what Jesus said. He said the prince of this world comes and has nothing in me. You know he was talking about the devil. He's like saying there's no button that Satan can push in me. You know I'm, I'm. I have complete dominion over him. I know who I am, I know my mission from the father and I will absolutely complete that mission.
Phillip Rich:And I would love for us to be able to say that same thing. You know that that that thing that used to trip you up all the time, that sin that used to just snag you every single time it came along, that there will come a day when you go, he's got nothing in me anymore. I know who I am in Christ. I know what God has redeemed me from. I know who. I know the, the, the, the equipment, the spiritual equipment that I now have, the spirit of God, the armor of God, the blood of Jesus, and I'm going to use all those things to stay steady on this road.
Phillip Rich:Man, I think it's so important that we, we, we renew our minds to that, you know. But anyway, I'm trying to keep going on the first Peter five and I keep getting sidetracked by my own, my own thoughts. But in first Peter five it says in verse nine here's the part, that's the hard part Resist him. That's a simple statement but it actually requires something of us. We have to do some level of resisting. We can't just oh gosh, I fell into that sin again. You know, we have to at least make an effort to resist. Like, for instance, like David said, maybe you're scrolling across something on the web and you see something you shouldn't see, the resisting at that moment, click away. You know, click that X, get off of that site.
Phillip Rich:You know that's your acting and that's the act of resistance in that moment, to help you not fall into something you shouldn't be in you know, it could be something that simple and even on, like in the case of the example of the lady on the job, next time she asked you to go to lunch, or next time she's like hey, I'm going to be working late, you want to work late with me to help us knock this project out? That might be a time for you to resist, buddy, you know, instead of falling into that thing and thinking that it's innocent, when maybe she's not thinking that same way. So just some thoughts there, man, that we have to have, that we have to use our power of decision to say I'm not going to, I'm not going to get into that same mess again. I'm going to choose to at least try to resist at this point, and then the grace of God will be there to help you follow through with that resistance.
David McIntyre:You know, while you were doing that sorry you caught me looking away I looked up the word prowl Because I actually was inquiring of the concept of why do lions prowl around their prey? Come on, man, and it gives me three reasons why. Number one, for stealth and surprise, so they can stay hidden in the grass or terrain around them, avoiding alerting the prey and getting close enough for a quick and powerful charge. Number two, for observation and timing to study the herd's movements, to identify vulnerable targets and to wait for the right moment again to launch a successful attack come on and then three for coordination with the pride, with others involved in it.
David McIntyre:So they position hunters strategically. They trap or drive their prey toward hidden lions and reduce the risk of a failed hunt, which can be costly in energy for the lion. And then it brings it back to the spiritual concept, and it's that you know. It emphasizes the stealth, patience and intentionality of an enemy waiting for a moment of vulnerability, waiting for a moment of vulnerability. And that's how we have to see the enemy. It's not like our enemy pulls around like meow meow, and that's what it is. It's no, it's intentional, it's purposeful.
David McIntyre:It's desire is to attack you and he's willing to wait. He's willing to allow you to even get to the point where you think you're over this. He's willing to position pieces in front of you to help to guide you to where he wants you to be. But you've got to be that. This is why the sobriety is important. You can, you can be. It goes back to where we were talking about in Galatians you can be drunk on your own belief of how well you're doing, yeah, how good you're God, and how above others you are, how more Christian you are than others are, and all this and you can be so drunk on your own esteem and what you think you are that you're not even sober enough to see. The enemy has surrounded you and the attack is imminent.
Phillip Rich:Come on man, Goodness gracious.
David McIntyre:Again, when you find yourself attacked, then it goes back. We're literally circling back around to point zero, asking yourself how did I get here?
Phillip Rich:How did I get here, goodness?
David McIntyre:gracious. How did I get in this place? We've got to wake up. The answer is to resist, and sometimes I feel like, for example, with porn. I haven't watched porn in like 15, 20 years it's been longer than that, I'm sure but I still don't watch sex scenes in movies.
David McIntyre:I fast forward. Yeah, I divert my eyes, yeah, I find other things to do with my attention than give into stuff, and you know it's so easy, especially on social media today. This is the thing. It's so much worse today because you could be in the middle of a doom scroll and have somebody's crotch thrown in your face, some girl at the gym with just absolute, the Twitter, butt, pants and all of that good stuff from before. You long, no, you've lingered long and you create an opening, or you're not getting enough at home. Things aren't going well between you and your wife, or at least things are going okay, but what you want is you want more, and it's not happening, and so you're turning to alternatives to take care of yourself, and you can't seem to get there without the porn. So there's always a reason to be watching it, but knowing that that stuff is eating you up.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:You can't do it guys. You just absolutely can't do it. You have to resist the devil.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:And he will flee from you.
Phillip Rich:That's right. That's right, actually, to put a cap on this, ryan, if you don't mind going to James 4, we'll use that as a scripture. We didn't even really get to the main scripture we were going to cover tonight, but I like what we've done, so we'll just roll with it.
David McIntyre:We're nowhere near it. Well, no, no, no, we're dancing around it in one sense. We're in every Peter, but the one that we intended to be in.
Phillip Rich:Exactly, man. We're eventually going to get there, dude. This is how we roll. But look at verse 7 in James 5. I'm sorry, james 4. He says Submit yourselves, therefore, to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Now I am of the opinion that those two things absolutely go together you submit to God and resist the devil. You know you have to have both.
David McIntyre:Philip, I dare say that part of your resistance is your submission.
Phillip Rich:There you go. That's exactly right. Part of the, the part of the empowerment that you'll even be able to to to have to resist, come from your submission to God. You know, if you think about it, man and this is kind of a a just an amazing thought, man, um, not cause, I thought it, but it's coming In the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was struggling so badly.
Phillip Rich:You know, it says he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. I mean, he was struggling with knowing what was going to happen and, quite honestly, in the flesh I'm sure, not wanting to go through that, you know that's that's why he told God he's like Father. If there's any way that this, you know, this cup can pass for me, please take it away. But he had to keep coming back to that thing Nevertheless, not what I want, but what you want, father, you know. So he was constantly battling his flesh and actually if you read I think it's in the King James, it's a little, it's worded a little different he says something like my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. But there's other translations where he's basically saying I'm so stressed right now that I feel like I could die now that I feel like I could die.
Phillip Rich:That's what he was actually saying. There it is. Thanks, brian. My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Good Lord. One of the translations I read. I forgot which it might have been the message, but it said I'm so stressed or something. Maybe the message is here. Let's see.
David McIntyre:I don't, I don't think, well, no, let me take that back. Okay, I don't think they have the message here, okay, I'll tell you what Ryan, what about yeah? How about the?
Phillip Rich:God's word translation, um. It says he said to them my anguish is so great, I feel as if I'm dying. This is Jesus talking, you know. I mean he was, he was going through and I thought about that because you know David, it's like it's one thing to to you know, like, go through what he went through being crucified, which is a horrendous way to die. I mean we can get into the details of that. It's absolutely horrendous. Even what happened before he got crucified was horrendous. Yeah, it was all bad Oof, I mean it was you talk about the ultimate, just physical. I mean it was horrible. It's one thing to go through that, but it's another thing to know that you're going to go through that and still do it.
Phillip Rich:You know what I mean. It's like I'd rather not even know what's coming If I had the choice. I mean I guess it would be like probably maybe a little better if I didn't know that it was coming. But here's Jesus, knowing full well what he was going to have to go through, and he still had to resist that thought of I could call you know 12 legions of angels.
David McIntyre:You're right.
Phillip Rich:Come on, man, and get me off this cross right now. But he still decided not to do it. And he had to resist because he was a human. He came in human form and the Bible says that he suffered the same things we suffered. Hebrews 4,. It says that we don't have a high priest who can't be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows what it's like to feel those weaknesses of the flesh. It said he was tempted in every point, just like we were, but yet he did not sin. He never yielded to sin.
David McIntyre:I'll tell you what's wild is. Then he called what he did joy.
Phillip Rich:Come on, David, tell us about it, man.
David McIntyre:I can't because it'll break you down. I just came but for the joy.
Phillip Rich:There you go, there you go.
David McIntyre:He endured the cross. And just just think about that man, All that he went through. He was thinking about you and said for the joy of seeing you back, you in the fold, you restored to me, it's worth it. And that, that, that, just that blows me away, because I'm going to be, I'm going to be honest, You're going to be hard pressed to get me to take that kind of action.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:And endure that I might do it for my wife and for my children, but just randomly out here, doing it for the benefit of everybody, jesus was on a whole other level. We'd be lying to say I wouldn't do it. No, we wouldn't. No, you wouldn't bro we don't even like to wait in line at the restaurant.
Phillip Rich:Exactly.
David McIntyre:We're not going to pretend like we're going to just all of a sudden become like Christ, in that we're willing to lay down our lives, but yet the joy I mean he does give us the opportunity to partake in that joy. You know, when he talks about you know laying down your life for a friend.
David McIntyre:Yeah, and you you know there are moments when we've seen that happen and you know I think back to and I'm not trying to be offensive to anybody, but when trump was shot, you know, at that event in butler, pennsylvania, the story is the dad who heard it happening and immediately went to cover his family and was shot and killed. Yeah, he laid down his life for his family. He did exactly what we, as fathers, are expected to do.
David McIntyre:He laid it all on the line to protect and keep his family, and that is honorable. That is like christ cory, uh cory, compadre compagnano, or something like that right, right right it is just worth saying his name, because that has always I I appreciate the trump part, but that has always stood out to me as such an act of love that he would do that, and that's the kind of act of love that jesus did for us. He literally knew there were bullets flying and he spread his wings around all of us come on.
David McIntyre:I got you and took the bullets and then called it joy.
Phillip Rich:Thank you, jesus, my goodness man, no greater love has any man than that, right, yeah. And it says, you know, in Romans 5, it says, just like you were saying, david, like maybe scarcely for a righteous person, you know you might die, or for a good person you would dare to die, he said. But God clearly proved his love for us. There it is, thank you, brian. Verse seven very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man. It's Romans 5, 7.
Phillip Rich:Though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. I mean, we might. You know we might dare, but I don't even know if I could do it, if it's just some rando, you know what I mean. Like I'm thinking that might be reserved just for the family, but anyway. But God proves his love for us in this proves. The Bible says while we were still sinners, christ died for us. Think about that. Think about the fact that we were in our worst condition. And it wasn't even just the average Joe, you and me, whoever we're talking, the Adolf Hitlers of the world, the Jeffrey Dahmers of the world. Jesus died for everybody.
Phillip Rich:And you think about that and that is just, and that is just. We have no, we have no, no frame of reference for something like that man. It's just. That's that's love on a god level yeah, I'll say this last thing, philip.
David McIntyre:This scripture is also evidence that it's an absolute lie to believe that you've got to get yourself together first to come to God.
Phillip Rich:Yes.
David McIntyre:Because it was the dregs of society and that was a lot of people, rich and poor, but it was for all that he died and he wasn't like well, I didn't die for that guy over there because he didn't have his life quite together. Get your life together. Then come and talk to me and see if my death will cover you. That's not what the scripture says. That's not what he said. This is for everyone and you are everyone.
Phillip Rich:Amen to that man. Amen to that. I mean, I know we got to put a bow on this one, david. It is a bookmark, shall we say. I will say this very my final words, just like David was just saying it's like you can't have that in your mind of I just got to get my life together first, then I'll come to Jesus. No, that's the cart before the horse man. Yeah, come to Jesus.
Phillip Rich:He's the one that's going to before the horse man. Yeah, Come to Jesus. He's the one that's going to help you get your life together. I promise you that. So, David, any final thoughts from you on this episode tonight?
David McIntyre:Nope, I said it, he's worthy. He's worthy and he'll help you out of your situation and circumstances. Right, scott, absolutely, absolutely, where you're sharing circumstances.
Phillip Rich:Right, scott? Absolutely, absolutely Well we are. We're grateful that you guys tuned in with us tonight and I just want to. I feel like we should pray David I don't know if you mind praying just over the people the listeners about, just you know for the Lord to help them with this, whatever they're struggling with, whatever they're dealing with, that His grace will be there for them.
David McIntyre:Yep, father, god, in the name of Jesus, we just thank you. We thank you for your word, we thank you for what you've communicated and shared with us tonight. We thank you that the entrance of your word brings light and gives understanding to the simple Father. We thank you that we're aware that temptations and troubles will come, lord, god your word says it but we're to be of good cheer because you've overcome the world and you've given us the ability to resist and overcome the enemy. So we just simply thank you for your empowering, the help of the Holy Spirit to guide us, to lead us, to walk us through every struggle, every trouble, every situation, every circumstance that presents itself before us. Lord, god, and you order our steps and you give us the victory, just like your word says you will, over all of these things. We submit ourselves to you, lord. We resist the devil and he flees from us, but not only does he flee, but we get more of you, jesus, and we just simply thank you for your help. We thank you again for the Holy Spirit and we thank you for your intervention and willing to be a part of our lives. We are glad to say that we belong to you and you are ours, lord. Thank you, lord, in Jesus' name. Jesus' name, amen, amen.
David McIntyre:And you need to. You're sitting there and you're saying I need to be in relationship with this God, with this Jesus, with this Holy Spirit they're talking about. It really is simple, and you can read Romans, chapter 10, and it breaks it down for you. But all you have to do is go to the Lord and confess your sins, say Lord, I know my life is screwed up, I know that I've missed it and I know that the biggest mistake that I've made is not making you God over my life. I humbly submit myself to you and I invite you to enter into my heart and lead and guide me and make me your child. And lead and guide me and make me your child. And it really is as simple as that to invite the Lord into your heart and to once and for all, put it to rest that you belong to God. And I wanna pray. I pray that you will make that decision tonight, if you haven't already, and be forever changed.
Phillip Rich:Yes, yes, absolutely. And we do want to say thank you for joining us tonight and, as always, we encourage you to go check out our channel. We've got tons and tons of videos on there. We cover all kinds of different topics from the Word and we try to bring the Scripture, bring insight and light from the Scripture on these different topics that we cover. But, yeah, definitely, If you haven't yet, please subscribe, like this video, leave a comment, tell us that we're cool people most of the time, something like that.
Phillip Rich:But, and also, whatever you know, the application you might be listening to us on, it could be Spotify, it could be YouTube, Whatever it is. You know we welcome any and all comments and suggestions and so forth. But if you have something you'd like for us to cover, something you'd like a question you'd like to ask, whatever it is, we do have an email address you can send us a message to, and that is gotbrewatbiblebrosnet. Once again, gotbrewatbiblebrosnet. Once again, gotbrewatbiblebrosnet. But until next time, I am Philip, he's been David and Ryan has been Ryan, and we will see you guys on the flip side. But until then, keep getting to the word and keep trusting in God and keep resisting, as we said. Okay, We'll see you next time.
David McIntyre:Viva la resistance.
