SF558 - Timeless Truths for Terrible Times - THE BIBLE AND BEVERAGE ALCOHOL (Proverbs 20 1)
SF558
Timeless Truths for Terrible Times
THE BIBLE AND BEVERAGE ALCOHOL
Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-35
INTRODUCTION
The most abused drug in America is alcohol
It is a killer
50% traffic deaths due to alcohol
80% of all crimes involve the use of alcohol
68% of manslaughters
54% of murders
48% of robberies
It has the most addicts - 18 million
Its is legal and available!
Taverns and liquor stores out number churches in America
It is widely accepted - $88 billion spent annually.
64% adults are drinkers
36% abstainers
It is wonderfully promoted - $600 million/year
No warning label on the bottle!
“Alcohol has many defenders but no defense” Lincoln
What does God’s Word say about beverage alcohol?
1A. THE DEFINITION OF BEVERAGE ALCOHOL
Beverage alcohol = wine in the Bible is a generic term. It may refer to alcoholic or non-alcoholic grape juice. (Drink)
1B. Old Testament Words
“Shekar” = strong drink, beer, most of the time it refers to intoxicating drink. The Bible condemns this except as a narcotic.
(Proverbs 31:4‑6) "It is not for kings, O Lemuel‑‑ not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, {5} lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights. {6} Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish;
“Tiyrosh” = new wine, wine, grape juice
(Isaiah 65:8) This is what the LORD says: "As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes and men say, 'Don't destroy it, there is yet some good in it,' so will I do in behalf of my servants; I will not destroy them all.
“Yayin” = most often used can refer to either. (23:30)
(Isaiah 16:10) Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out wine at the presses, for I have put an end to the shouting.
(Proverbs 20:1) Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
2B. New Testament Words
“Oinos” = wine, can mean either
The Bible always condemns the use of fermented wine... (23:31)
Jesus turned water into oinos, grape juice.
When the Bible describes the Lord’s supper it is called the cup. Passover, no leaven, no fermentation.
2A. THE DANGER OF BEVERAGE ALCOHOL
1B. The Physical Danger
The Suffering (23:29d)
>108,000 Americans die/year due to beverage alcohol
Every 40 years alcohol will kill over 4.3 million people!
As many people are killed each year by alcohol than have been killed by all the atomic bombs dropped world wide (~115,000)
During the 9 years of the Vietnam war 57,000 Americans died in Vietnam, nearly 1 million were killed by alcohol!
More than 1100 persons die each week from alcohol related car accidents. ~ the number that can ride on a 3 - 747s
The Sadness (23:29e)
(Proverbs 10:22) The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.
The Sickness (23:31-35a)
Alcohol is poison!
(Habakkuk 2:15) "Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies.
People vomit because they have more sense in their stomach than in their head.
Intoxicated = toxic is a poison
Alcohol is a sickness - that opens you to disease!
“Strange sights” = zuwr,; to turn aside; hence to be a foreigner, strange, profane; spec. (act. part.) to commit adultery:‑‑(come from) another (man, place), fanner, go away, (e‑) strange (‑r, thing, woman).
Alcohol is a suppressant
Tears down resistance
Robes us of rest
Destroys sensitivity
The Seduction (23:35b)
“First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man” Japanese Proverb
18 Million alcoholics
2B. The Social Danger
The Sorrow (23:29)
One judge in KY testified that 75% of the divorce cases he heard were a result of alcohol!
The Strife (23:29b)
Each month 500,000 persons are victims of alcohol - related crimes.
The Influence
(Romans 14:21) It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
A man received a telephone call and in that telephone call the man at the other end said are you Mr. So and so? Yes. Do you have a daughter about thus and such an age? Yes. Uh, does she drive thus and such a car? Yes, what is it? Get to the point. Well, sir, this is the highway patrol, there's been an accident. Is my daughter hurt? Sir, we want you to come down to the morgue and make an identification. This man got in the car, he drove to the hospital, he went into that section of the hospital where those bodies are kept, into the morgue and the man went there and pulled open that drawer and pulled back that sheet and even though she was mutilated and scarred and slashed, he knew it was his daughter. He said how did it happen? The officer said sir, we don't know how it happened, But he said I will tell you this sir, we found a broken whiskey bottle in the car. He said a whiskey bottle? Well, they're just children, she's just a little girl. He said do you mean that: somebody sold those children liquor and for a moment the man forgot his grief and his grief turned to a raging anger, he said if I could find the scum that sold my baby girl that liquor, with my bare hands I'd take him apart. He went home, his life a mixture of grief and fierce anger. He was shaking, trembling, when he got home he wanted something to steady his nerves. He went to his liquor cabinet, he opened his liquor cabinet, he put his hand in to get his bottle, it wasn't there, all he found was a note, “Daddy, we wanted to celebrate, we borrowed your bottle, we'll pay you back, hope you don't mind.”
3B. The Spiritual Danger
(Ephesians 5:18) Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Beverage alcohol is Satan’s substitute for the Holy Spirit.
“We drank for happiness and became unhappy. We drank for joy and became miserable. We drank for sociability and became argumentative. We drank for sophistication and became obnoxious. We drank for friendship and made enemies. We drank for sleep and awakened without rest. We drank for strength and felt weak. We drank medicinally and acquired health problems. We drank for relaxation and got the shakes. We drank for bravery and became afraid. We drank for confidence and became doubtful. We drank to make our conversation easier and slurred our speech. We drank to feel heavenly and ended up feeling hellish. We drank to forget and are forever haunted. We drank for freedom and became slaves. We drank to erase problems and saw them multiply. We drank to cope with life and we invited death!”
3A. THE DELIVERANCE FROM BEVERAGE ALCOHOL
Abstinence (23:31)
Gaze = to longingly, to desire
Absence (23:20)
APPLICATION
You need to get your joy from Jesus not the bottle!
I am not mad at the social drinker, I want to help you!
If you drink berverage alcohol you are playing with fire.
(Proverbs 6:27) Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?
You can be free from the need and hold of beverage alcohol in Christ Jesus!
(John 8:36) So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Farmer with the Run Away Team
You give the stronger man the reins!