Alcohol and Self-Control

Text—these are the very Words of God

Proverbs 23:29–35 ESV

Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. “They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.”

Introduction

One of our ministry leaders was in my office on Monday morning.

We had a brief conversation and then I said, “Well let me get back to this alcohol sermon.”

She said, “Ooohh, I am looking forward to that one. When you said that is what is next, I thought, ‘Well that’ll be good!’”

This confirmed my suspiscion—people aren’t used to hearing Baptist preachers talk about alcohol from the pulpit!

And when we do, it makes us sit up!

But that is what we are talking about.

God’s wisdom Book wants to stop and think about Alcohol and Self-Control.

Context

We have been studying Proverbs 10-29 thematically.

In these chapters we have met a number of recurring characters:

The Fool

The Scoffer/Mocker

The Quarrelsome Wife

The False Witness

The Gossiper/Whisperer

The Angry Man

But of all the characters in Proverbs 10-29, two stand out because large passages of Scripture are given to them:

The Sluggard (24:30-34) —We covered that passage when we were in Proverbs 6 because it is found there almost verbatim

The Drunkard (23:29-35)

The Drunkard gets more concentrated attention than any other character

This is why we can say that Alcohol and Self-Control is certainly a highlighted subject matter in Proverbs 10-29

And that is why we are spending time there today

Big Idea

If alcohol (and other things) is not handled with wisdom, it will drag us into foolishness and ruin.

Outline

1. The Riddle (v. 29-30)

2. The Resistance (v. 31-32)

3. The Wreckage (v. 33-35)

4. The Remedy

1. The Riddle (v. 29-30) 550

Six Questions That Are Clues (v. 29)

Our passage starts with a riddle. There is a Question and Answer.

Verse 29 has six questions that serve as clues for the one seeking to answer the riddle.

Who has woe?

The Hebrew word for woe is OY.

The sentiment is similar to what is communicated in the modern Yiddish term, Oy Vey!

It is something along the lines of “Oh pain!”

The first clue is asking, Who cries out in this way?

Who has sorrow?

The Hebrew word for sorrow is ABOY (Ah-VOY).

Who has OY?

Who has ABOY?

It carries the same idea of possessing pain.

If the first clue is asking, Who cries out by saying, “WOE”

The second clue is asking, Who cries out by saying, “ALAS”

Who has strife?

Contentions

Quarrels

Brawling

Fistfights

Who has complaining?

Who grumbles against God and others?

Who protests that everything is working against them?

Who moans that it is always someone else’s fault, but never their own?

Who has wounds without cause?

Who has been beaten up for no good reason?

Who has taken black eyes and broken bones over things they can’t remember in the morning?

Who has stumbled around and injured themselves in a stupor?

Who has redness of eyes?

Whose eyes are bloodshot?

Irritated and Enflamed?

Notice that nothing has been said about the cause of all these things yet. Instead, we are being given a profile—almost like the children’s game, Guess Who.

Who is in pain and filled with sadness?

Who is always brawling? Who is always bellyaching?

Who is beaten up and bruised?

Who has bloodshot eyes?

Just in case the reader hasn’t figured it out by the clues—v. 30 gives the answer.

The Answer (v. 30)

It is the ones who tarry long over wine.

It is those who go to try mixed wine.

In other words—it is the drunkard.

The Drunkard is not just known by these clues that were given in v. 29.

He is known for the two actions described in v. 30.

First of all, the drunkard tarries long over wine.

They linger there.

They are not satisfied with a drink or two. There always has to be more.

Secondly, the drunkard goes to try mixed wine.

Mixed wine is wine infused with honey or spices or additives to make it more intoxicating. It was deliberately strengthened.

The drunkard is proactive.

They are so obsessed with the mind-altering effects of alcohol that they go out searching for the quickest way to get drunk.

They want the strong stuff.

You might compare “going to try mixed wine” with someone going to a liquor store and looking for the strongest possible proof to have the shortest route to intoxication.

The Drunkard in v. 30 are like the sinful people of Israel in Isaiah 5:11

Isaiah 5:11 ESV

Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them!

In fact, this is one of the reasons that the people would go into Exile.

We can clearly see how God despises drunkenness

Transition into “The Resistance”

So then, the riddle has been solved.

The clues in v. 29 are breadcrumbs that lead us to the door of the drunkard—those who linger long over wine and who seek out the strongest wine for the strongest effects.

But Proverbs does not stop there.

After presenting the Drunkard through the riddle, the passage begins to tell you what to do so that you do not become this person.

2. The Resistance (v. 31-32)

The Command (v. 31)

Verses 31-32 are made up of a command and a warning.

The aim of the verses is to guard us against the allurements of entrapping sin.

Let’s start with the command in v. 31.

Do not LOOK at wine when...

It is red.

When it sparkles in the cup.

When it goes down smoothly.

What we are seeing here is much more than a warning about the eyes—it is a warning about the heart.

It only takes a look at something to stir up all sorts of unnatural desires.

And when you look at the alcohol and you love everything about it:

The color

The way it looks in the glass

The taste as it goes down

It is a sign that your heart is being captured by a desire for the bottle and the effect it has upon you.

It is a sign that you are becoming the person described by the riddle.

The Bible’s Balanced View

But that isn’t to say that all the Bible has to say about alcohol consists of warnings and commands.

See, the Bible speaks positively AND negatively about alcohol.

POSTIVE

Psalm 104:14–15 ESV

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

The Psalmist says that just as God has given us bread to make us strong, He has given us wine to gladden our hearts.

The Hebrew word for gladden conveys a “lifting of the spirit”

It conveys an emergence of happiness onto the heart

A far cry from the woe and the sadness of the drunkard in Proverbs 23:29

Along these same lines, Ecclesiastes 9:7 says:

Ecclesiastes 9:7 ESV

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.

In the New Testament, Paul tells Timothy to even have a little wine for health purposes:

1 Timothy 5:23 ESV

No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

In light of these verses, I find it difficult to hold the position that no follower of Christ and worshipper of God should EVER drink.

But that doesn’t mean ANY Christians should drink—which we will get to in a moment.

But there could be a host of occasions where a Christian may choose to drink with self-control with the gladdening of the heart in mind.

Celebratory moments and dinners

For the sake of hospitality in certain situations

Fellowship between close friends

Some physical benefit

A cultural tradition you are participating in

NEGATIVE

But as we have already seen today, the Bible does not ONLY talk positively about alcohol. It is also loaded with commandments and warnings.

Proverbs 20:1 ESV

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

Alcohol can turn you into The Mocker who shakes his fist at God.

It can turn you into the Brawler who throws his fists at others.

It is a foolish thing to be led into sin toward God or your neighbor by wine.

Ephesians 5:18 ESV

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery...

Debauchery is excessive indulgence for the sake of sensual pleasures.

This is the sin that is committed by the drunkard.

And then in 1 Corinthians 6, we see that the drunkard is listed alongside adulterers, thieves and the sexually immoral as those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

THE PATTERN

What we are finding is a tension in the Scriptures when it comes to alcohol.

On one hand, it is spoken of as a blessing.

When it is not used in excess, it can be good for the spiritual heart and the body.

On the other hand, it is spoken of as a curse.

When it IS used in excess, it is terrible for the spiritual heart and awful for your body.

Gladdened vs. Captured

Understanding the Bible’s framework regarding alcohol, we can better understand the purpose the command in v. 31.

It is there to guard us against crossing the line from blessing to curse.

If you look at it and you know adore it and love it, from the sparkle of it to the feeling as it goes down, your heart has moved in a dangerous direction.

This is not something that GLADDENS your heart.

It is something that is CAPTURING your hearts.

And as believers, we never want hearts that are CAPTURED and MASTERED by the things of this world.

The Warning (v. 32)

This is why we get the warning in v. 32.

If you go from GLADDENED to CAPTURED, you are about to be bitten.

The drink will bite you like a venomous snake.

What seemed delightful...

...What seemed like something you said you had a grip on...

...Has turned around and sunk its teeth into the skin of your soul.

The venom released is painful, but not so painful that you won’t embrace it for the sake of the pleasure you are chasing.

And thus the brutality of addiction.

The thing that is killing you becomes the thing you are convinced that you need to live and breathe.

What irony and agony.

Signs You’ve Been Bit

Here are some signs that you’ve been bit and you are being captured.

And while these apply directly to alcohol, they can apply to a host of other things that we consume.

The Serpent’s Teeth may be clamped down if you find that:

You are preoccupied with the thought of the wine

You don’t view it as something to be used in celebration, but as a way of escape

You become secretive about it

It is like Gollum’s ring in Lord of the Rings: My Precious

You lose control

You can’t stop

One is never enough

You are irritable or even miserable without it

You can’t have fun without it

You neglect responsibilities to do it

You feel entitled to it

You’ve earned it—You worked all day

1 Corinthians 6:12 ESV

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

Friend—Christ did not die and resurrect to have dominion over your sin, just for you to deny His power and be dominated by the wine that sparkles in the cup.

Heed the Command and the Warning of Proverbs 23.

The Response

But we should also understand that not every Christian will have the same response to the Command and the Warning from verses 31-32.

Category 1: There are some who read these warnings and say, “Alcohol is so dangerous, that I will never drink.” The warnings have removed all desire to drink.

This is a perfectly fine response. It is the safest response.

You can’t get bitten by the serpent if you never pick the snake up to begin with.

If that is where you conscience leads you, it is not right or safe to go against your conscience.

Category 2: There are others who will read these warnings and say, “Alcohol is dangerous and I will keep that in mind as I use alcohol to gladden my heart in certain situations.”

This is also a perfectly godly response.

That being said, no Christian should ever engage with the wine without the commandments and the warnings of Scripture in mind.

Those who choose to have their hearts gladdened by alcohol from time to time always have to be aware that the bottle has the ability to capture you.

It can capture you for a night a foolishness.

If can capture you for a lifetime.

The serpent can bite.

If you are going to handle it, you can never forget that.

Category 3: There is another group that may desire to drink but they should not drink.

They shouldn’t drink because they are too prone to the serpent’s bite.

While they may want to have a gladdened heart, they know they will end up captured.

Some — due to their family history, their own history or both— that simply should not drink.

It is unwise.

It has caused a trail of destruction.

It is off limits.

Some of you fall into that category and you know it.

Some of you may fit into that category and you are in denial.

But there are people who simply are not able to drink without it becoming ungodly in their lives.

They just don’t have self-control with alcohol.

And for those in Category 2 who do choose to drink, they must always be aware of the people in Category 1 and Category 3.

If it offends your brother’s conscience for you to drink, you ought not drink.

In other words—if it would shake them up to see a drink in your hand, don’t put them in that position.

After all, when the Apostle Paul speaks of how we handle these matters of conscience that may differ from person-to-person in the church, he says:

1 Corinthians 10:24 ESV

Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

Furthermore, if YOUR DRINKING could cause someone WHO SHOULD NOT DRINK to stumble and end up falling into drunkenness, you should abstain and not drink around that person.

Romans 14:13 ESV

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

Transition to “The Wreckage”

So wrapping up our 2nd point:

Proverbs gives us a command and a warning: don't look longingly, because the bottle will strike at us.

Some of you will abstain entirely with your eyes open to God’s Word.

Some of you will drink with your eyes open to God’s Word.

Some of you should not drink at all with your eyes open to God’s Word.

But for every category, the warning stands.

Alcohol should not be thought of lightly.

The Scriptures and the circumstances always have to be considered.

And if we ignore the warning, this passage shows us where that road ends.

3. The Wreckage (v. 33-35)

The Drunkard’s Mirror

The 18th Century preacher, Charles Bridges, calls this entire passage, “The Drunkard’s Mirror.”

That is especially true of v. 33-35.

In the riddle, we see how others see the Drunkard.

In the final three verses, we get a glimpse of the Drunkard’s life.

It is like when I was in high school and the Powhatan Police would come to the High School and let us try to drive in a simulator with these glasses on that simulated drunkenness while operating a motor vehicle.

The idea was to show us how out of control you feel, in hopes that none of us would ever go and do it.

God’s wisdom is aiming at the same effect.

Getting a snapshot of what the Drunkard’s life is like is meant to steer us away from any sort of loss of self-control when it comes to alcohol.

Self-Control, Sober-Mindedness (v. 33)

In verse 33, we see that the Drunkard will:

See strange things

They will hallucinate.

They will be paranoid.

They will imagine things that don’t exist.

Have a heart that utters perverse things

Notice the perverse words come from the heart and not the mouth

A reminder of Christ our Wisdom’s words when He told us that “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

Where the ESV says perverse things...

...The CSB says absurd

...The NLT says crazy

This means that what is coming out of the heart is just as delusional as what is seen by the eyes

What has happened in v. 33 is that the Drunkard has lost self-control, therefore he has also lost sober-mindedness.

Sobriety is the opposite of drunkenness.

The sober mind is not delusional.

It sees things as they are.

When the sober heart speaks it is reasonable, not perverse or absurd or crazy

This sobriety of mind is a key component of living as a mature Christian.

It is one of the marks of a wise and godly person.

The reason is because a mature Christian understands the time we live in.

This is the time in between the First and Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the age of the Church.

This is the age of witness.

This is the time of the harvest.

It is no time for being drunk and losing our sober minds.

Romans 13:13–14 ESV

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

This is the time in which the Church is the living witness of Christ on earth and the enemy is bearing down upon us, hoping to destroy us since he failed to destroy Jesus.

This is a time to be self-controlled.

It is no time to sabotage sobriety.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Don’t sacrifice the golden treasure of Sober-Mindedness for the fleeting pleasure of drunkenness.

Drowsy and In Danger (v. 34)

In v. 34 you see that with the loss of sober-mindedness comes being stupefied.

Self-control steals the sober mind.

The drunken mind becomes unaware of anything outside of their own impaired bubble.

They are stupefied by the wine.

In fact, they are so captured and they have been made so dull, they can’t see the danger they are living in.

They are like someone who lies down in the open sea

Just taking a little nap—too drunk to realize they are in one of the most dangerous places they could be

They are like someone sleeping in the crow’s nest of a ship, the most unsteady place they could be.

But they are too drunk to realize they are not safe.

We know that v. 34 speaks to reality.

How many people have made regretful decisions...

How many people are flirting with death...

How many people risk themselves and others...

...And it’s all over the bottle.

But they are too captured in their heart to be sensitive to the imminent threat

Total Unawareness (v. 35)

Now in v. 35, we see the full escalation.

v. 33 = Sobriety Lost

v. 34 = Ability to Sense Danger—Lost

v. 35 = Total Unawareness

The Drunkard is beaten, but they don’t even realize it.

They have to be told they are bruised and bleeding because the alcohol has made them so numb.

A sober-minded person protects themselves, but the Drunkard has that ability robbed from them by the alcohol

And yet—despite this downward spiral—before the Drunkard even wakes up, they are already dreaming about their next sip from the cup.

They are already fantasizing about the sparkle of the wine and how it goes down smooth.

This is the brutal cycle that comes when self-control has been completely lost.

Transition to “The Remedy”

There’s probably not very many people in here who haven’t seen alcohol take someone to this place.

A family member

A friend

A co-worker

It is a terrible thing to see someone captured and taken hostage by the Serpent and the Adder of the Bottle.

But I don’t count out that some of YOU may be struggling with the fangs of wine, beer and liquor.

Some of you may be feeling your sober-mindedness slipping away because of a relationship with alcohol where you are being dominated.

4. The Remedy

A few years ago, me and a few men from the church went to the Peninsula Rescue Mission.

I preached and then we sat around for about ten minutes talking to a man who was distraught.

He had just come to the Rescue Mission. He was trying to get back on his feet. His family had kicked him out because he lost self-control with the bottle.

His sobriety of mind was stolen.

One of our members, who has fought the fight of alcohol’s brutal cycle and they have been delivered, stepped forward and he said:

“I have been an alcoholic. And I can tell you right now that the only that will deliver you is the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

We all just got out of the way and let them talk.

Our church member is right.

Much like with anger last week—you need far more than behavior modification.

You need transformation.

The Cross

But we praise God that He has given His only begotten Son.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

There is no “Except people who are sinning with drunkenness clause.”

The Cross is for you.

That is where the Son of God was crushed and twisted as if He was a drunkard.

As if His heart uttered perverse things because He had lost His self-control to a bottle.

And there, as His body was broken and His flesh was torn, His blood spilt out like wine.

Ephesians 1:7 ESV

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

There is redemption through His blood.

The Spirit

And then, after giving up His life as an offering in our place, Jesus resurrected.

His resurrection was like a banner waving— “Christ is the Champion over Sin an Death and He is truly God’s Son who Saves His People.”

And the resurrected Lord Jesus ascended to Heaven.

And He promised that He would pour out His Spirit on those who were in His Church.

And that is what He did.

Acts 2:33 ESV

Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

Now every believer in Jesus has the Spirit of Christ dwelling within them.

The very Spirit that resurrected Christ from the dead is at work in their lives.

The Power You Need

This is the power you need.

The power of the Cross where sins are forgiven.

The power of the Spirit who sees to sins being defeated.

If you are not a Christian, you are going to be fighting a losing battle with a powerful serpent if you try to deal with your drunkenness apart from Jesus.

Today is the Day of Salvation.

Repent of your sin.

Put your faith in Jesus.

Come to Him in prayer and ask Him for a new heart.

If you ARE a Christian, then understand that the answer is not your willpower but to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Put your drunkenness to death by walking in the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16 (NLT)

New Living Translation Chapter 5

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

Go to war with drunkenness.

Christ did not purchase you so that you would be captured and mastered by sin.

He has bought you that you might glorify Him by mastering sin!

Depend on His strength moment by moment.

Follow His instruction.

Don’t even look at the bottle

Get it out of your house

Make no provision for the flesh

And strive with the Church.

Let someone in on your struggle so that you are not alone

Brother or sister—all that you need to put drunkenness to death is in your life by the grace of the Lord Jesus.

Conclusion

We started with a riddle today:

Who has anguish? Who has sorrow?

Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining?

Who has unnecessary bruises and bloodshot eyes?

We know the answer.

But let’s close with another:

Who has joy? Who has sober-mindedness?

Who has peace? Who is content?

Who guards their life and sees clearly?

It is the wise man who never forgets what the Lord has to say about alcohol, regardless of whether they choose to drink it or not.

It is the wise man who submits Himself daily to the Lord Jesus, relying on the power of Christ to deny himself and maintain his sober mind.

It is the Christian who refuses to be mastered by this world.