Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction: In August of 2017 a study was published that found that the rate of alcoholism (alcohol use disorder; alcohol abuse) rose by 49% in the first decade of the 2000’s.

According to the study, one in eight American adults, or 12.7% of the US population, now meets the criterion for alcohol abuse.

Alcoholism manifests itself in someone who repeatedly turns to alcohol despite the resulting failure to perform obligations at work or school; alcoholism manifests itself in someone who repeatedly turns to alcohol despite being repeatedly placed in dangerous situations (such as driving under the influence or operating other heavy machinery); alcoholism manifests itself in someone who repeatedly turns to alcohol despite resulting legal problems (such as arrests for alcohol related conduct); or alcoholism manifests itself in someone who continually turn to alcohol despite resulting social problems (such as arguments with their spouse and violence).

So, if 12.7% of the US population is an alcoholic what this means is that out of the 300,000,000 people who make up the current population 38,100,000 of them are destroying their lives in one of those four ways.

I believe it would be safe to say that alcoholism is a big and rising problem among US adults, or so I originally thought.

In 2015, 33.1% of 15-year-olds reported that they had had at least one drink in their lives.

About 7.7 million peoples between the ages of 12 and 20 (20.3% of this age group) reported drinking alcohol within a month of the survey.

Of those, 5.1 million people between the ages of 12 and 20 reported binge drinking within the past month, and 1.3 million reported heavy continual alcohol use within the past month.

20% of college students meet the criterion for alcoholism, and for every four college students one them reported academic consequences from drinking.

696,000 students between the ages of 18 to 24 are assaulted in some way by another student who has been drinking each year.

Overall, 88,009 people die from alcohol-related causes each year which makes alcohol the fourth leading preventable cause of death in the US.

Culturally, alcohol is a huge issue, but as Christians we want to know what the Bible has to say about alcohol, and what we really want to know is what are the best practices when it comes to the Christian and alcohol.

Drunkenness

First, let’s take a look at what we know the Bible definitely describes as sin: drunkenness.

The Physical Symptoms of Drunkenness

The physical symptoms of drunkenness that the Bible mentions are:

Staggering

Wounds and Beatings

Vomiting

Hallucinations

The Spiritual Symptom of Drunkenness

A False Sense of Your Abilities

Deadening Yourself to God

Isaiah

Drunkenness is a sin that characterizes unbelievers.

The question for us then is: “Okay, since drunkenness is definitely sin, what does the Bible say about how someone gets drunk?”

Biblical Warnings Against Strong Drink

Alcoholic beverages, which lead to drunkenness, cause woe, sorrow, strife, complaining, wounds without cause, and redness of eyes.

Isaiah

Alcoholic beverages, which leads to drunkenness, cause you to forget and act perversely

Alcoholic beverages, which lead to drunkenness, enslaves you and impairs your judgment

Aren’t Alcoholic Beverages in the Bible?

Was alcohol in the Bible the same as alcohol today?

Just because people practiced something in ancient times, does that mean that we ought to practice it in modern times?

Example: Dancing

Slavery

Wine in the ancient times was made and produced in order to produce life and safety rather than death and destruction.

It had a much lower alcoholic content (somewhere around 2-4% vs. today which is 12-20% for wine and up to 40-70% for other distilled beverages).

Wine was also typically limited and locally grown, and it was also boiled or mixed.

So, if it was boiled, what would happen to the alcohol?

Right!

Gone!

And if it was mixed, then the alcoholic content would be diluted drastically.

Proverbs 9:

Why would they do this?

What was the point?

Safety

Why is alcohol produced today?

Alcohol is produced today (in limitless supply with a much much higher alcoholic content) in order to addict you and exploit you for a profit.

What is the result of that?

Four Reasons Why Pastor Bryce Promotes Absolute Abstinence in Drinking Alcohol for American Christians in 2018 and Probably Beyond

Abstain Because of Conscience

It is absolutely wrong to act against our consciences.

It is absolutely wrong to put yourself or anyone else in a position that would tempt yourself or them to do what they are uncertain of.

Drunkenness destroys and kills.

Do you really want to put yourself or anyone else in a position that would tempt them to drunkenness?

As a Christian with access to clean water and an unlimited supply of other enjoyable beverages, do you really want to introduce someone to something that might kill them and leave their family abused and poor?

Abstain Because Alcohol is a Mind-altering Drug

The effect of alcohol on the mind is to depress and eliminate restraints.

As a Christian, alcohol can dull your mind and stupefy you from doing what you want most, which is, to see and do the will of God.

The mature believer does not ask, “What might I be able to get away with?,” but the mature believer asks, “Is there anything that I can do or stop doing in order to improve my ability to see and do God’s will?” Alcohol definitely does not increase your ability to do God’s will.

Abstain Because Alcohol is Addictive

Alcohol not only blurs your ability to see and do God’s will, but it can also become habitual.

If anyone ever tempts you, “Hey, just prove you can handle yourself by holding your liquor.”

You can respond, “I have nothing to prove.”

Don’t try to prove that you’re not weak while there are countless examples that teach us that we all are weak and in need of God’s enabling grace in our lives.

Abstain Because You Can Make a Social Statement

It is clear that millions of people are stumbling over alcohol in America today and ruining their lives and families and businesses and we ought to care about that.

I care about that.

And so I choose to oppose the consumption of alcohol as a beverage because I oppose that which might destroy your life and destroy your family.

I oppose that which could earn you the label of highway killer and that which could leave you destitute and homeless.

I oppose that which has the potential to haunt your family until the third and fourth generations.

Because of the continual warnings in Scripture, the culture in which we live, and the availability of clean water and other enjoyable beverages for our unlimited consumption I believe that the wisest and most logical conclusion when it comes to the Christian and alcohol is complete and total abstinence.

I pray you come to that conclusion too.