HomeARC ML 1035
ENJOY YOURSELF!--By Father David DFO 1035 21/3/81
--It's Better than You Think!
1. I WAS JUST INSPIRED BY THE DELICIOUS BREAKFAST THE GIRLS SERVED ME to comment what my mother often said jokingly, "This is so good it must be a sin!"--And I got to thinking about how the Devil is not satisfied with accusing us of sins which are genuinely sins, but he has to make us think that even some of the most innocent pleasures & enjoyments are also sins, so he will have more to accuse us of!
2. IN FACT, IF HE CAN CONVINCE US THAT THESE THINGS WHICH ARE INNOCENT PLEASURES & ENJOYMENTS CREATED BY GOD FOR US TO ENJOY, such as sexual pleasure & eating, etc., if he can convince us that it's a sin to enjoy sex & a sin to enjoy eating, so that we are convinced of it & we believe his lies, then it becomes a sin to us!--For if we think it's a sin, then it is sin! For if we eat not of faith, then we are damned if we eat, for whatsoever is not of faith is sin! (Ro.14:23.)
3. SO IF HE CAN NOT ONLY ACCUSE US OF GENUINE SINS, sins which are genuinely against God's Law of Love, but if he can also accuse us of innocent pleasures & enjoyments which God Himself created for us to enjoy, then he has that many more sins to accuse us of! If he can convince us, as he has taught the church to do, that those innocent pleasures & enjoyments such as sex & eating etc. are sins, if we think they're sins, he's convinced us they are sins, then to us they are sins!
4. "TO THE PURE, ALL THINGS ARE PURE", the Apostle said, & "I am persuaded that nothing is unclean of itself, for every creature of God is good & nothing to be refused if it be received with a word of thanksgiving & prayer. But him who thinketh that is a sin, to him it is sin!" (Tit.1:15; Ro.14:14; 1Ti.4:4; Ro.14:23.) If you are persuaded by the lies of the Devil & you believe his word that sex is sin, enjoying a good meal is a sin, if you believe those lies, then to you it becomes a sin!
5. OF COURSE, OVER-INDULGENCE IN ANYTHING--SEX, EATING OR OTHERWISE--CAN BE SINFUL, & inordinate desire for some of these things beyond temperance & moderation, of course is a sin. But a temperate moderate normal desire for sex & food & sleep & the innocent pleasures of this World & the five senses & their enjoyment is not a sin, but these things were made for us to enjoy by the Lord & created by Himself!
6. EVERY NERVE THAT FEELS GOOD, every sense that feels pleasurable & enjoyable, all these were created by the Lord for us to enjoy & are not sins if received with thanksgiving to the Lord for them & with prayer & thanking Him for these things that He has given us to enjoy, giving Him the credit!
7. BUT IF WE ARE CONVINCED BY THE DEVIL'S DOCTRINE, WHICH HE HAS TAUGHT THE CHURCHES, that anything pleasurable, anything enjoyable, anything which is pleasant is a sin--which is a favourite doctrine of the over-much religious--then if we are convinced by the doctrine & we believe those lies of the church & the Devil, then to us it becomes sin. Because we think it's a sin it's therefore a sin.
8. BUT IT'S SAD THAT THE DEVIL HAS CONVINCED SO MANY PEOPLE THAT SO MANY THINGS WHICH ARE PERFECTLY INNOCENT & HARMLESS & CREATED BY GOD FOR US TO ENJOY ARE SINS! It's sad that the church has believed his lies & his doctrines in their self-righteous hypocrisy & desire to earn merit by being over-much-righteous & have taught these doctrines of the Devil, not to marry, not to enjoy pleasures, that sex is a sin & eating is a sin etc.
9. IT'S TOO BAD THAT THE CHURCH HAS BELIEVED THE LIES OF THE DEVIL & has taken up his doctrines & are his greatest preachers, that sex is sin & eating is sinful & any kind of enjoyable, pleasurable, pleasant activities which please the senses & the nerves & the body are sinful. That's the Devil's doctrine, that's not God's doctrine!
10. GOD CREATED YOU TO ENJOY ALL THESE THINGS. He created the very nerves which feel good & the very senses which feel pleasant, to look upon things which are pleasing to the eye, to taste things which are delicious, to hear beautiful music & things which are pleasant, to feel pleasurable sensations of touch & to even smell the lovely fragrance of a flower & of delicious food cooking, pleasant smells, fragrant perfumes!
11. HE MADE ALL OF THESE THINGS FOR YOU TO ENJOY & HE GAVE YOU THE SENSES, He created the very senses with which you enjoy them. And therefore they are certainly not a sin unless over-indulged in immoderately & intemperately, unless craved inordinately beyond that which is normal, unless desired to the point of perversion to where they become your god instead of God Himself, to where you worship the creation rather than the Creator! (Ro.1:25.)--Then it becomes sin!
12. GOD INTENDED FOR US TO ENJOY THIS WORLD & TO LOVE HIM & ENJOY HIM & IT FOREVER--& THAT'S NO SIN! But if you crave only the things of this World & you love only this World to the exclusion of God, & you love this World more than God & the things of this World more than God, "the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, pride of life", the over-indulgence in these things, the inordinate desire for too much of these things & the worship of these things more than God--then it becomes a sin! (1Jn.2:15,16.)
13. IT'S NOT THE THING ITSELF THAT IS A SIN, it's not the deed itself that is a sin, it's not the pleasure, the enjoyment, the sensual feelings that are sins, it's making them your god! It's over- indulgence in them, craving them more than God Himself, worshipping the creation rather than the Creator!--That's a sin.
14. BUT IF YOU PUT HIM FIRST, LOVE & WORSHIP HIM ABOVE ALL & THANK HIM FOR ALL OF THESE THINGS that He has given us to enjoy, & find great pleasure & pleasantness enjoying them in their proper place but not letting them become overriding or lustful to the exclusion of God & His love & worship, then it is not a sin to enjoy life & sex & food & sensual pleasures which God created your senses to enjoy. PTL! TYJ!
15. JUST DON'T ENJOY THEM MORE THAN YOU ENJOY HIM! Don't let them take first place in your life, because God will not take second place! He wants your love above all others. He wants to be your God above all others, & He will have no other gods before Him! (Ex.20:3.)
16. SO ENJOY YOURSELF & ENJOY LIFE! Enjoy the pleasures & senses & the sensual pleasures of life which God has given you to enjoy as much as you please & as much as you need; just don't enjoy them more than Him & more than His Love. Don't worship the creation more than the Creator. Be sure that you put God first, & then, you can have all this & Heaven too!
17. IF YOU PUT GOD FIRST & HIS KINGDOM & HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS FIRST--"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God & His righteousness, & all these other things shall be added unto you." (Mt.6:33.)--You can enjoy them all to the full, every good & perfect gift that God has sent down from above--including all your sensual pleasures & pleasurable senses that God Himself created for you to enjoy as His child & to have fun & a good time in this World that He made for you to enjoy. PTL! Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus! Amen.
18. SO DON'T LET THE DEVIL CONVINCE YOU IT'S A SIN, OR IT WILL BE A SIN TO YOU! Know that God made it & created it & intended for you to enjoy it & that it is not a sin to enjoy the things which God has made with the senses & nerves that He created for you to feel & enjoy it with, know that it is not a sin.
19. "BLESSED IS HE THAT CONDEMNETH NOT HIMSELF IN THAT WHICH HE ALLOWETH." (Ro.14:22.) Blessed is he, in other words, who has the faith to know that all these things are of God, creations of God & created by God for you to enjoy, because that man's going to have a real good time in this World like I do & some of you do, because we know it's not a sin & they were all made by God for us to enjoy.
20. IT'S NOT A SIN TO ENJOY SEX! It's not a sin to enjoy good food. It's not a sin to look on the beauty of the naked body of a woman, or a man if you're a woman, & it's not a sin to enjoy beautiful sights & sounds & pleasurable feelings, tastes & fragrances. These are senses that God created for you to enjoy these things with, & if you do it by faith, to you it's no sin. But if you think it's a sin, if you can't eat thereof by faith & enjoy thereof by faith & have sex by faith, then you think it's a sin & therefore to you it is a sin, because you're not doing it by faith.
21. BUT IF YOU CAN BELIEVE THE LORD MADE IT & MADE YOU TO ENJOY IT & EXPECTED YOU TO ENJOY IT, gave you the nerves & the senses to enjoy it & the common sense to enjoy it, then you can enjoy it--as long as you do it temperately & moderately & do not put it first in your life above Him that made it, & as long as you do not worship the creation more than the Creator.
22. SO ENJOY YOURSELF!--IT'S LATER THAN YOU THINK! Enjoy life, these pleasures which you have now & enjoy now that God made & made you to enjoy, & enjoy them to the full including all the sensual pleasures which God Himself created to be enjoyed by the senses that He made for you to enjoy them with. Enjoy them! Enjoy yourself! Enjoy the Lord!--But enjoy the Lord most of all, amen? PTL! TYJ! Amen.
23. YOU CAN ENTITLE THIS ONE "ENJOY YOURSELF!--IT'S LATER THAN YOU THINK!" PTL! Maybe we can entitle it, "Enjoy Yourself!--It's better than you think!" (Sings:)
"Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it's later than you think!
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, you'll soon be on the brink!
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it's later than you think!
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it's later than you think!"
--That's not exactly all the words but that's not exactly all the words but that's an old song they used to sing to that refrain.
(Sings again:)
24. "ENJOY YOURSELF, ENJOY YOURSELF, IT'S LATER THAN YOU THINK!
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, we'll soon be on the brink!
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, you're not as bad as you think!
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it's later than you think!"
or
"It's better than you think! You're better than you think!"
PTL! Hallelujah!--Especially if you know it's God will, in Jesus' name, amen, to enjoy yourself here--& hereafter forever! Hallelujah!--Amen! GBY with enjoyment! I'm enjoying myself, but mostly the Lord!--Aren't you?
25. GBY!--ANOTHER BOMB!--HA! PTL! GOD BLESS HIS WORD!--Amen?--It frees us!--Instead of freezing us like the churches! Ha! PG! I'm happy!--Aren't you?--I'm having a good time! Thank God for His freedom to enjoy His Own creations!--In Jesus' name, amen!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
