0989. Fleshly Appetites–They Ate and They Drank

Fleshly Appetites–They Ate and They Drank

"They did eat, they drank" (Luk_17:27)

The remark of our Lord seems almost puerile to some skeptical minds. What did Christ say? Simply this: In the days of Noah, they did eat and they drank, even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. But what did He mean? Of course, people will always eat and drink, in every age. They cannot survive without. Of course, God made every herb bearing seed, and the fruit of every tree yielding seed, for meat. Did our Lord not eat and drink? Then why these words: "They did eat, they drank * * so"?

There was a certain farmer who said, "I will say to my soul, Eat, drink, and be merry." God said unto him, "Thou fool."

There are those "whose god is their belly" (Php_3:19). They mind earthly things. They do not eat to live, they live to eat, and to drink.

There are those who serve mammon. Their one thought is, "What shall we eat and what shall we drink?" They seek after these things. God is not in all their thoughts. They have ruled the Kingdom of God and His righteousness out of their minds. They are lost in the pursuit of carnalities. They have given themselves over to feastings, revelings, drunkenness and such like. They live in the desires of the flesh. Their feasts are full of foolish talking, filthiness and ribaldry. They live as men under the sun. Their whole story is told in Ecclesiastes.

The church needs to walk with great care, lest they fall into this snare of the flesh. We dread, for instance, the incoming and the popularity of the church cooking stove. Some churches have turned their buildings over to apostate suppers and the accompanying social craze. They try to hold the young people and often the older people with cookies and cakes. They fill the house of prayer with Godless jest and laughter, and place a premium on fun. Let the church beware–"As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man."

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR