["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Amen. All right, go ahead and grab your hymnals. Turn to song number 377.
Song number 377 there in your hymnals.
Rescue the Perishing. Song number 377 all together on that first verse.
Rescue the Perishing. Care for the dying. Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave.
We, for the erring ones, lift up the fallen. Tell them of Jesus, the mighty, to save.
Rescue the Perishing. Care for the dying. Jesus is merciful.
Jesus will save. Though they are sliding him still, he is waiting, waiting for their mitten child to receive.
Leave with them earnest, leave, leave with them gently. He will forgive if they only believe.
Rescue the Perishing. Care for the dying. Jesus is merciful. Jesus will save.
Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, feelings are carried that grace can restore.
Touched by a loving heart, waken by kindness, floors that are broken will vibrate once more.
Rescue the Perishing. Care for the dying. Jesus is merciful. Jesus will save.
Rescue the Perishing. Duty demands him strength for thy labor the Lord will provide.
Back to the narrow way, patiently wind back, set up the forewalker, a savior has died.
Rescue the Perishing. Care for the dying. Jesus is merciful. Jesus will save.
Alright, great singing. Thank you for being here this evening. Just a few announcements here before we sing our next song,
which will be song number 100 day by day if you want to get that ready in your song book, song number 100.
Our services are as follows. Sunday morning is at 1030 Sunday evening at 5 p.m.
And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock. We are currently going through the book of 1 Samuel.
So I want to encourage you to be here with us on Thursday evenings for that.
And just as a reminder, we are a family integrated church. And what that means is that infants and children stay in the service with their parents.
We do have mother baby rooms located in the back should your child need some diversion.
And for your convenience, there are, of course, changing tables, screens and speakers there as well.
And it's only used it's only supposed to be a temporary thing where you go in there for a little bit, distract them and then bring them back into the service.
And so just keep that in mind. You see the so many times and teams, the list of expecting mothers, if you can continue to pray for them.
And the important reminders there at the bottom. Pastor Stephen Anderson from Faithful Word Baptist Church will be coming this Thursday, 7 p.m. for a Thursday night Bible study.
And it's we are the first stop in a series of churches that he's going to be visiting for a project that he's working on.
And so make sure you thank him while he's here. It's going to be a blessing to have him.
And then next Sunday is our Father's Day service. We'll have a gift for all the dads that come on that day.
And of course, the service will be geared towards fathers. Ladies Prayer Breakfast is coming up on Saturday, June 25th.
If you have any questions about that, one more information about it, you can see my wife for more details.
The July birthday breakfast and Judea soul winning will be on Sunday, July 3rd.
And of course, the Fourth of July picnic will be on Monday, July 4th at Eucalyptus Park.
And then you see the the usual reminders there at the bottom.
Please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service.
And whether that means putting on airplane mode or shut it off or put it on silent, please be considerate of that.
Let's go ahead and take some soul winning numbers from this past week. Any salvations from Monday up until Thursday?
Salvations from Monday to Thursday? Five. Okay. One. All right. Anybody else?
How about Friday and Saturday? Salvations for Friday and Saturday? Two for Riverside. One right over here.
Anybody else? Okay. How about this afternoon? Salvations for this afternoon? One for brother Ulysses team.
One for brother Morrie's team. One for brother Mark's team. Two for brother Hikes team.
And two for brother Mark's team. Did I miss anybody else? Okay. Keep up the great work on soul winning.
Let's go ahead and sing our next song. Song number 100, Day by Day.
Song number 100, Day by Day. All together on that first verse.
Day by day and with each passing moment. Strength I find to meet my trials here.
Trusting in my father's wise bestowment. I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He who's hard is kind beyond all measure. Gives unto each day what he deems best.
Loingly is part of pain and pleasure. Ringling toil with peace at rest.
Every day the Lord himself is near me. With a special mercy for each hour.
All my cares he fain would bear and cheer me. He who's name is counselor and pal.
The protection of his child and treasure is a charge that on himself he lay.
As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure. This the pledge to me he made.
Help me then in every tribulation. So to trust thy promises oh Lord.
That I lose without faith's sweet consolation. Offered me within thy holy word.
Help me Lord when toil and trouble meeting. Dare to take guests from a father's hand.
One by one the days the moment's fleeting. Till I reach the promised land.
Amen. Wonderful singing. At this time the ushers will come forth to collect the offering.
And you can turn in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 23.
Thank you.
Good evening. Tonight we're in Proverbs chapter 23. Proverbs chapter 23 in the Bible reads,
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee.
And put a knife to thy throat, thou be a man given to appetite.
Be not desirous of his dainties, for they are deceitful meat.
Labor not to be rich, cease from thine own wisdom.
Without set thine eyes upon that which it is not, for riches certainly make themselves wings.
They fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye.
Neither desire thou his dainty meats.
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
Eat and drink saith he to thee, but his heart is not with thee.
The morsel which thou hast eaten, shalt thou vomit up and lose thy sweet words.
Speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
Remove not the old landmark and enter not into the fields of the fatherless.
For their redeemer is mighty, he shall plead their cause with thee.
Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
Yea, my reign shall rejoice when thy lips speak right things.
Let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
For surely there is an end, and thine expectations shall not be cut off.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh,
for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty,
and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
Harken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Buy the truth and sell it not, also wisdom, and instruction and understanding.
The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice,
and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bear thee shall rejoice.
My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe thine my ways,
for horror is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
She also lieth in weight, as for prey, and increases the transgressors among men.
Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling?
Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
They that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine.
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup,
when it moveth itself aright.
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stinketh like an adder.
Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea,
or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick.
They have beaten me, and I felt it not.
When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Let's pray.
Dear Lord, we thank you for this church, Lord, that you've given us,
and we thank you for the pastor.
We pray that you bless him, and give him boldness as he preaches your word,
and I pray that we're able to receive the truths from your word, Lord,
and just give us readiness of ears, and listening, Lord,
and bless every aspect of this service.
We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
Okay, we're in Proverbs chapter 23 this evening.
If you look down at your Bibles at verse 29, it says here,
Who hath woe, who hath sorrow, who hath contentions, who hath babbling,
who hath wounds without cause, who hath redness of eyes?
They that tarry long at the wine, they that go to see mixed wine,
look not thou upon the wine when it is red,
when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself alight.
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea,
or as he that lieth upon the top of a mass.
They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick,
they have beaten me, and I felt it not.
When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
And the title of my sermon this evening is Christian Winos.
Christian Winos.
Or another title could be The Case for Alcohol Consumption.
Now, let me just start off by saying that this sermon is not for the faint of heart.
And the reason I say that is because Christianity just in general,
and a lot of Christians out there have advocated for alcohol consumption,
they're for drinking beer, they're for drinking alcohol,
they're for drinking liquor, and not a lot of pastors actually get up
and actually talk about why it's wrong to drink alcohol,
why it's actually sinful, it's detrimental to your health,
because they're afraid they might offend someone in their church
who's actually drinking alcohol.
Now, obviously, that's not real love, amen?
Because a person who actually loves you will actually tell you the truth,
no matter how harsh it is, or no matter what spirit they're telling you in,
they're willing to give you what the Word of God says,
rather than just risk offending you and say,
well, I don't want to offend this person,
and so I'm just not going to teach what the Bible says about it.
No, I'm going to give you the truth tonight,
I'm going to tell you what the Bible says,
and I'm going to show you beyond a shadow of a doubt tonight,
that drinking alcohol is sinful.
Drinking alcohol is wicked, drinking alcohol is of the devil,
and every single Christian and every single young person in the church
stay away from alcohol.
It'll destroy your life, it'll ruin your marriage,
it'll destroy your kids, it'll make you a loser,
and in fact, that's one of the reasons I'm calling this
Christian winos, okay?
Because wino is not a necessary word that people use today.
People consider it to be kind of like a degrading word,
and it's just an old school word,
but we need to bring that word back, amen?
And not just call, oh, you know, they just like a little wine
every once in a while, you know, with their friends.
No, they're winos, okay?
A wino is a person what the Bible also refers to as a drunkard,
someone who drinks alcohol, whether literal or a lot,
you know, if you're drinking alcohol at all,
if the alcohol is touching your lips and you're consuming it,
the Bible says you're a drunkard, okay?
The Bible considers you to be a wino, a drunkard,
and that's what you are.
Now, you say, why preach on a subject like this?
Well, you know, it's important to talk about this subject
because, you know, alcohol is still a big thing in 2022.
And, you know, a lot of people drink alcohol.
Christians, unfortunately, have been duped into thinking that,
you know, it's permissible, it's okay to do,
just in moderation, Jesus turned the water into wine,
and all these other arguments that they bring up.
But another reason why I want to preach on this
is because of the fact that as of recently,
there's this YouTube channel called Inspiring Philosophy.
Let me just say this, it's anything but inspiring, okay?
And he essentially made a video criticizing one of my videos
where I talk about how you should not drink alcohol.
Now, let me just say this, why would you discourage anybody, right?
Why would any Christian slam another Christian
who's telling other Christians you shouldn't drink alcohol
because it's going to ruin your life?
You know, that's a pretty evil thing to do, okay?
But he made these videos and he said,
Jesus drank alcohol, and let me give you this biblical evidence,
and he was just kind of mocking me in this video,
and so I made a couple videos just kind of refuting what he said,
but tonight is the culmination of the information that I've collected in the Bible, okay?
To show you beyond a shadow of a doubt that alcohol consumption is wicked,
it's sinful, and if you're drinking alcohol, you better quit, okay?
You need to throw that bottle away,
you need to sober up and stop being a Christian wino, all right?
Now, let's talk about Proverbs chapter 23 for a minute by way of introduction.
I want you to notice in verse 29, it tells us here who's the person who has woe, what is woe?
You know, they're sorrowful, they're cursed, woe is often synonymous with curse,
you know, who has contentions, who's that person who's constantly fighting,
who have babblings, you know, the person who just doesn't make sense,
they're just kind of babbling on, who has wounds without a cause,
who has redness of eyes, and look what it says,
they that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine.
Now, let's use some common sense here.
Is the Bible telling us that if we look at alcohol, we're going to get all these things?
Like, if we literally look at alcohol, we're going to receive all these things.
No, what this is telling us is that a person who makes alcohol their focus, right,
who tarries at the alcohol, looks upon the wine, entertains the possibility of drinking the wine,
will eventually step over that line of temptation and actually drink it,
and bring upon themselves woe, sorrow, contentions, babblings, wounds without a cause, and redness of eyes.
So what the Bible's teaching us here is that in order for us to avoid these things,
we need to make sure that we don't even go up to the line of temptation.
You understand? Look what it says in verse 31,
Look not thou upon the wine. Is everyone looking at that?
When it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
What is God telling us? Stay away from even being tempted to sin.
Stay away from even looking upon it when it begins to ferment.
Why? Because if you are away from the presence of alcohol, especially if you're tempted by it,
the likelihood of you actually consuming it is a lot smaller.
If you're not in the presence of alcohol, if you don't keep alcohol in your house,
if you're not hanging out at the bar, just drinking your Sprite or whatever,
more than likely you're not going to give in to the sin of drinking alcohol
because of the fact that you're not in its presence.
So what God is simply stating here is that we need to stay away from temptation
because of the fact that when we stay away from temptation,
we place ourselves in a safeguarded position where we're more than likely not going to drink alcohol.
He goes on to say, verse 32,
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Now what is this referring to?
Well it's saying that when you drink alcohol, the conclusion of that is that it's going to be detrimental to your health.
So just as a serpent bites you, an adder injects within you, it's poison, it's venom, should I say,
and that's detrimental to your health.
And like matter, God is saying alcohol is detrimental to your health.
It's toxic to your health.
And look, any doctor can tell you, liquor's bad for you, health-wise.
Forget what they think about what the Bible says.
Just from a health perspective, anybody can tell you it's bad for your liver,
it's bad for your brain, it'll destroy your life,
it'll make you an idiot, it'll make you a loser, it'll give you cirrhosis of the liver.
You say, you shouldn't say that, I have an uncle that passed away from cirrhosis of the liver.
Because he could not put the bottle down, it destroyed his life, he left his children behind.
This is the reality, folks.
So at the last it bit him like a serpent, and it stung him like an adder.
He says in verse 33,
Thine eyes shall behold strange women.
Now do I really need to expound what that means?
Don't we all know that the byproduct of drinking alcohol,
you know, obviously alcohol is typically found in places of ill repute, right?
Bars and clubs.
Well, you know, there's a reason why they offer alcohol at those places.
It's because of the fact that there's women of ill repute there as well.
And the Bible says that when someone drinks alcohol, their eyes shall behold strange women.
So this is tying in adultery, fornication, sexual sins to drinking alcohol.
And this is consistent throughout the whole Bible.
The first time that alcohol is mentioned in the Bible, it's not mentioned as a blessing.
First time alcohol is mentioned in the Bible is when Noah drank the fruit of the vine,
got drunk, and was raped by his son.
Incest was committed with the first person to be drunk in the Bible that was recorded.
Incest was committed. How about Lot?
Incest was also committed when his daughters got him drunk and committed incest with him
in order to have seed with him, have children with him.
You know, it doesn't seem like alcohol is a good thing.
It says, Thine eyes shall behold strange women.
Look what it says.
And thine heart shall utter perverse things.
I mean, I think all of us can attest to a time that we've known someone
that when they get a little drunk, their tongue gets a little loose.
When they get a little drunk, they get a little perverse in their speech.
They get a little bold. They get a little confident.
And they start uttering perverse.
They would typically say things that they typically would not say when they were sober.
Because alcohol ignites you and makes you act like a fool and causes you to utter perverse things.
Look what verse 34 says.
Verse 34 says, Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea.
Why does he say that?
Well, if you're in the midst of the sea, you're just kind of like...
Well, he's saying that that's how you look like when you're drunk.
In balance, just kind of all over the place.
He says, Or as he that lieth on the top of a mast.
It's like you being on a boat, on the top of a mast, and you're just feeling the waves going up and down.
There's no equilibrium to your physical body because you're drunk.
Verse 35, They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick.
They have beaten me.
Now, listen to this.
There's plenty of people out there that have gotten drunk and mouthed off to the wrong person and got beat up because of it.
And he says there, They've stricken me, thou shalt say, I was not sick.
They have beaten me and I felt it not.
And they wake up and they're like, Man, why do I have all these lumps on my face?
It's like, Oh, you don't remember what happened last night?
He's like, Well, I knew it not.
He says, When shall I awake?
Look what it says. I will seek it yet again.
What is he saying?
After all the consequences of drinking alcohol, being beat up, uttering perverse things,
beholding strange women, being stricken, being beat.
He says, When I wake up, I'm going to do it all over again.
What is this? An alcoholic.
What is this? A wino.
Because any normal human being, when they suffer the consequences of their actions,
they say, Well, you know, Point A got me to Point B and to Point C, so therefore I should stay away from Point A.
That's like the logical conclusion that people should come to.
But the wino would say, Point A got me to Point B and to Point C, I will seek Point A once again.
Alcohol will ruin your life.
And I will preach against alcohol until the day that I die.
Because I have, obviously, aside from the fact that the Bible teaches and condemns alcohol,
I've known people and I've had family members who have been destroyed by alcohol.
I've seen what alcohol can do to people, and especially those who claim they do it in moderation.
It's a bunch of nonsense, folks.
Anybody who tells you they drink in moderation, that's just code for, you know,
I'll only drink a little bit in your presence, but behind closed doors, they're pounding a bottle.
They're pounding all kinds of liquor.
That's just an excuse to justify their sin.
Okay, go to Proverbs chapter 20, if you would.
Proverbs chapter 20.
Alcohol, drinking alcohol is so wicked in the Bible that 1 Corinthians 5 labels it as one of the sins
that could actually get you kicked out of church.
Think about that.
There's particular sins that could actually get you kicked out of church.
Railing could get you kicked out.
If you're in idolatry, it could get you kicked out.
If you're in extortion, it could get you kicked out.
If you're committing fornication and you're unrepentant of these things, you can get kicked out.
But if you are a drunkard, the Bible says you can be excommunicated from the church.
That's how strongly God feels about that, according to 1 Corinthians 5 and 11.
But look at Proverbs 20, verse 1 says,
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
So the person who says, strong drink is okay, just a little bit, a little bit of wine is okay, it's not bad,
you're deceived, my friend.
You are deceived, you're deceived by your own lust, you're deceived by your own desires.
That's not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible commands us to be sober.
And here's the thing, folks, let me just let you in on a little secret.
The Bible doesn't talk about being buzzed.
Did you know the word buzzed or tipsy is not found in the word of God?
You said, well, what does the Bible use?
Drunk!
Well, yeah, but that means like when you're really drunk.
No, it uses drunkenness for any type of intoxication.
When you're buzzed or you're tipsy, you're intoxicated.
What you're thinking about is like when someone's really intoxicated.
But regardless, if you feel any of the effects of alcohol in your system,
if you want to call that tipsy or buzzed or just absolutely smashed and drunk,
the Bible just refers to that as drunkenness.
Well, the Bible commands us to be sober at all times.
Because of the fact that we have an adversary which is known as the devil,
who as a lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour.
So Satan's constantly looking for us to trip up.
He's constantly looking for us to not pay attention.
He's constantly looking for us to let our guard down,
which is done by alcohol, for example, to attack.
Now obviously this sermon would apply, as far as the aspect of being sober,
would apply to any type of mind-altering drug.
You could apply this to weed, to shrooms, to now vaping that actually gets you high.
Any type of mind-altering drug this applies to,
but I'm focusing primarily on the subject of alcohol.
Turn with me if you would. You're in Proverbs still.
Go to chapter 26. This is all introduction here.
Now it's unfortunate because this should be just as clear as day.
Pastors or people who teach God's Word should be able to see this
because the job of a pastor, listen to this, is to actually study the Bible.
From cover to cover, to know what the Word of God says.
So it's sad when you see pastors, it's wicked should I say,
when you see pastors who claim to study the Bible
and come to the conclusion that alcohol is permissible.
Let me read to you from Micah chapter 2 verse 11.
It says,
Listen to this.
So the Bible's warning us and telling us,
look, if someone is coming to you telling you that strong drink,
also known as alcohol, is permissible,
the Bible's telling us that he's coming to you in falsehood.
So in other words, it should be a giant red flag anytime you see pastors saying,
hey, it's okay to have a little bit of wine with some cheese,
a little bit of wine with your dinner,
a little bit of wine cooler or a little bit of beer.
Just don't get drunk.
The Bible says he's coming to you in falsehood.
And he shall be...
You point out a church that just constantly consumes alcohol,
has a bar at their church, which does exist by the way.
I'll point you to his pastor that's also a drunkard.
And we shouldn't get our doctrine from winos.
I mean, would you go to some wino on the street
who's destroyed his life and destroyed his marriage
and destroyed his children by his bad habits
and his sinful acts of consuming alcohol
and say, hey, how do you think I should direct my life, you know?
Can you give me some advice on how to be successful in life?
You wouldn't do that.
So why would you go to a so-called pastor
and ask him if he's consuming alcohol as well?
Oh, because he smells better and he looks better.
Look what the Bible says in Proverbs 26 verse 9.
As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard,
so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
And if the Bible is telling us that only a fool would commit the sin of being drunken,
according to the Bible, you can't trust the parable that's coming out of his mouth.
Why? Because it's perverse.
He's not going to be able to discern what the word of God is saying.
Go to Ephesians chapter 5, Ephesians chapter number 5.
So I made these videos and this person made some videos,
you know, trying to refute my teaching and what the Bible says about alcohol.
And he obviously was clearly offended because he drinks a lot of alcohol.
And in fact, the videos that he made, he's literally drinking like a huge glass of beer.
And then like, I don't know, a couple minutes after he's making the video,
it's like halfway down, he's like, oh man, I got to top myself off.
And he's like pouring more beer in there and he's drinking more.
And then he pulls out like a glass of whiskey and he's just like drink to that, cheers.
I mean, he's drinking like three different types of alcohol on the video.
Oh, but he's just trying to be funny.
Folks, if he's doing that on camera, just think about what he does off camera.
If he's willing to do that for tens of thousands of people to behold and to see,
just think about what he's willing to do when there's no eyes around.
But I'm going to give you tonight the arguments that winos use to justify their addiction.
And the wino that I'm referring to is this guy, okay, this guy who made these videos.
I'm going to give you three of his arguments that he's given
and I'm just going to completely demolish them, okay.
So number one, argument number one, why it's okay to drink alcohol,
why it's okay to drink a little bit of wine.
Argument number one, it's okay to drink just not to get drunk.
How many of you have ever heard that before?
Hey, you know that pastor from Haiti, he's a little too, you know,
that's a little too much, you know, everything in moderation, right?
Haven't you heard that?
Everything in moderation.
We can't be excessive about everything, you know, everything in moderation,
you know, the Bible doesn't condemn it at all.
It's okay to drink just not to get drunk.
Now where are they getting this from?
Well, from their own wicked heart, first and foremost, okay.
So what they do is they take this from their own wicked heart
then they look for verses in the Bible to try to justify that.
And this is the passage that they'll use to try to justify.
Look at Ephesians 5 and verse 15.
It says, See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
redeeming the time because the days are evil.
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Verse 18, here's the key passage.
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.
Now this is their favorite verse to use.
This is essentially the quintessential verse that Christian winos like to use to justify their drinking.
Now let me just start off by saying, and I'm going to keep saying it,
is that wine in the Bible is used interchangeably to describe both non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages.
And I'm going to prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt later on in the sermon.
And this is one of them, okay.
So this is the verse that they use. Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.
You see, God doesn't want you to drink excessively, because it says it right there, not wherein is excess.
He wants you to do it in moderation. You don't have to have temperance.
You know, just a couple beers, you know, just get a little buzz.
Don't get all crazy about it, just a little bit.
You know, God condemns drunkenness, but He doesn't condemn drinking.
So this is the verse that they use.
So let me do this. Let's pretend for a second, let's just make believe right now, okay,
that this is referring to alcohol, okay.
We're going to make believe that this is referring to alcohol and that alcohol is permissible for just a minute, okay.
So let's read it the way they would read this particular passage, alright.
Verse 18, let's read it again.
Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, and what does the next part say, but drink in moderation.
Is that what it says?
So where are they getting that from?
The way they read this is be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but just drink in moderation.
Folks, it says, but be filled with the Spirit.
And notice it doesn't say be filled with the spirits.
Be filled with ethanol and alcohol and, you know, whiskey and Jack Daniels and it doesn't say that.
All it says is be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.
So the alternative to drinking wine in excess is not to drink in moderation.
The alternative to drinking wine in excess is to be filled with the Spirit.
This is not an instructional guide on how much alcohol you should consume, which is what the winos use this for.
They say, well, you know, this is a perfect verse right here to make sure I can only pound a little bit of whiskey,
a little bit of Jack Daniels, but that's not what it says at all.
All it's saying here is that instead of drinking wine in excess, you should be filled with the Spirit.
Now, I personally believe that this is referring to juice because of the fact that it's saying,
instead of being filled with juice in excess in order to be jovial and happy and joyous,
because that's what juice actually does to you.
I know that's hard for winos to believe because they need alcohol in order to be happy,
but you're not going to believe this.
If I drink sparkling cider, I can have a good time.
They're like, oh, you're trying to make me believe that people have weddings and no alcohol involved?
We've had nine weddings at this church and not a single one had alcohol, and we all had a great time.
We all had a gay old time.
It's true.
None of us, and no one in here said, hey, pastor, where's the, you know, you got the flask on you, pastor?
You know?
We're not in my office like, you know?
Sparkling cider makes you happy because of the fact that we don't need much as Christians to make us happy.
We're content.
We're satisfied with just the basics of life.
You know, we don't need to get high.
You know, there's people that literally, when they wake up, they have to drink alcohol to be happy,
to even operate normally.
Don't tell me that doesn't exist.
There's people that wake up in the morning, and they have to get high in order to function in their life.
That exists, folks.
We don't need that.
We say, what do you do?
What do you do?
I drink like a cup of coffee.
I read my Bible.
I go talk to my wife.
I go play with my children.
That's what I do to start off my day.
Be not drunk with wine where it is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.
The alternative to drinking wine in excess was never, it doesn't say in moderation.
It says you should be filled with the Spirit instead.
And look, if this is referring to alcohol, then answer me this.
Is drinking alcohol in moderation, will that help you to walk circumspectly?
Will that help you to be wise?
Does drinking alcohol in moderation help you to redeem the time because the days are evil?
Does it help you to understand what the will of the Lord is?
No, because as we're going to see later on, alcohol perverts judgment.
But you know what does help with those factors is being filled with the Spirit.
When you're filled with the Spirit, you walk circumspectly.
In other words, you walk carefully in your Christian life.
You are wise.
You can redeem the time.
And you can understand what the will of the Lord is.
Those things are not a result of you drinking alcohol in moderation.
No, it's okay to drink just not to get drunk.
Okay, so think about this.
Okay, because again, what they're saying is drinking a little bit is not sinful.
And drinking a little bit is not detrimental to your health.
It's not sinful, and it's not detrimental to your health.
It's only when you become drunk that it becomes sinful.
Okay, so why don't you give alcohol to children?
Oh, what now?
Well, well what?
If it's not sinful, why don't you give it to a child?
If it's not sinful, if it's not detrimental to someone's health,
why don't you give it to a child?
Why don't you give it to a kid?
Well, because you know, it's just what?
Oh yeah, that's right, it's sinful.
Well, that's right, it's wicked.
That's right, it'll destroy their bodies.
Oh yeah, oh now you didn't really think about that now, did you?
Okay, how about this?
If just a little bit of alcohol is not sinful,
if just a little bit of alcohol is not detrimental to your health,
why don't you give it to a pregnant lady?
Oh, oh you didn't really think about that now, did you?
Yeah, ask a doctor if a pregnant lady can have just a little bit of alcohol.
A developing baby is exposed to the same concentration as the mother during pregnancy.
So you can't tell me just a little bit, there's nothing wrong with just a little bit,
well that's interesting because that'll actually destroy a baby within a mother's womb.
There is no known safe amount of alcohol consumption for women who are pregnant,
including early in pregnancy when a woman may not know that she is pregnant.
And here's the thing, you know, drunkenness or drinking alcohol in the Bible,
you notice that the Bible doesn't place an age limit to when you can drink.
There's no age limit, right?
Why? Because of the fact that it's wrong for all ages.
The reason there's no age limit to drinking alcohol in the Bible
is because God just expects for no one to drink it no matter how old you are, how young you are.
Well how come it says to drink wine?
Because the places where it permits for you to drink wine is referring to juice.
So let me ask you this, can your child apply Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18
according to your doctrine? No.
Because it would be wrong for them to drink alcohol in moderation as well.
Checkmate.
The developing brain is particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol.
It can destroy a child's brain.
Now again, what I believe this is referring to is just juice.
It's referring to juice.
And look, anybody can tell you that wine in times past was also referred to as juice.
That's just like common knowledge.
It's common sense and it's common knowledge.
This is why in Acts chapter 2 when the disciples are preaching the word of God,
the people looked at them and said, they began to mock them and said,
these men are full of new wine.
Now let me ask you, when you're drunk are you just able to just preach God's word
and speak in different languages and just expound God's word? No.
The Bible says you utter perverse things.
That the effects of alcohol is that you utter perverse things.
That your judgment is impaired.
The reason they say they're full of new wine is because they were so vibrant and joyous
and happy about it because new wine, the effects of new wine referring to just juice
that's just taken out of a grape, a cluster of grapes,
could just make you happy because there's sugar in it.
I mean you want to make your kid happy, give them some sugar and you'll see them happy.
Now they'll crash.
They're after, but they'll be happy, they'll give you hugs and kisses
because they got the sugar high.
Turn with me if you would.
Go to Isaiah chapter 5 if you would, Isaiah chapter 5.
You know how much is moderation then?
How much is moderation?
If you can drink a little bit of alcohol just in moderation, well how much is that?
Well it's different for you, it's different for me, it's different for all of us.
Well here's the thing because this same guy, you know he was saying this.
He was letting us know how much alcohol he could hold.
He's like I can drink like three beers in a two hour span and I'll only be buzzed.
And he's probably right about that.
He could probably drink more than that and only be buzzed.
I'll be honest with you, that's probably his ability, his tolerance.
Now what is he admitting to here?
Well here's the thing is that a person who has never drunk any alcohol in their life
or should I say has abstained from drinking alcohol for a long period of time,
if you gave that individual one can of beer, they would be smashed.
What I mean is like they'll be drunk because they don't have a tolerance to that alcohol.
It'll hit their system fast and they will become drunk.
Now remember the argument that they're posing.
It's okay to drink, drinking is not sinful, it's when you become drunk that's sinful.
Now that same individual who drinks one can of alcohol and gets drunk,
if they're faithful, they've got some discipline in their life
and they just drink a little bit more and a little bit more every day,
you know what's going to happen is they're going to build tolerance to that alcohol.
To the point where a beer won't get them smashed, they're not going to pass out,
they're not going to act a fool, they'll just be a little tipsy, a little buzzed.
And then they can get to a point where they're just as strong as this guy
where he can have three beers in a matter of two hours and not be drunk at all,
just only be a little buzzed.
Now again, let me remind you of the argument.
It's okay to drink, drinking is not sinful, drunkenness is sinful.
But by that rationale you're stating that you have to sin first
in order to build up the tolerance to only become tipsy and buzzed.
Checkmate.
So is it right for anybody to just go ahead and sin first and just,
hey, we need to make sure in order for you to become as godly as I am,
you know, where you can enjoy, because they say that alcohol is like a gift from God.
How wicked is that?
And think about this folks, you know how many people out there,
sincerely they're alcoholics and they struggle with alcohol.
It's a sad thing.
You know, they struggle with alcohol, it's a temptation to them, it'll destroy their lives.
How do you think that person feels when this individual says that alcohol is a blessing from God,
they're like, I'm not even worthy enough to have this blessing because I'm just a sinful person.
I can't even handle my alcohol, I can't even handle the gift from God,
this wonderful thing that God has given to us.
Folks, alcohol is not a gift from God.
The Bible calls it the poison of asps, poison of dragons, that's what the Bible calls it.
It's Satan's substitution for juice.
So think about that, you know, you have to become drunk first in order to even build up tolerance
to the point where now you can tolerate, now you can handle your liquor.
Well look what the Bible says in Isaiah chapter 5 verse 11.
Woe unto them, verse 11, woe unto them that rise up early in the morning,
that they may follow strong drink, that continue until night, till wine inflame them.
Look at verse 22.
Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink.
This is talking about the person who's able to tolerate large amounts of alcohol.
And God's not looking at you like, you're blessed man.
You're actually being a good steward of your body because you can handle the alcohol.
This gift that I've given to you that not everyone can handle, you're the man.
No, he's saying, woe unto you when you are strong to drink strong drink.
Strong drink referring to alcohol.
Why? Because you're past the point.
You've opened that door, you've gotten drunk, and now you're addicted to it, so now you're strong to it.
And you know what? This is common today, isn't it?
The frat parties and the young guys, and how much beer can you get without getting drunk,
and oh man, you can't even hold your liquor down, this guy's a newbie, he can't even hold his liquor down.
Folks, the guy who can hold his liquor down, first of all, is filled with so much estrogen.
There's nothing manly about a man overdosing on estrogen.
Allow women to have estrogen, a man is not supposed to overdose on estrogen, my friends.
Which is why, you know, it's hypocritical for these billboards to have these guys with six packs and big shoulders drinking a beer.
Why don't you show what they really look like if they're consuming alcohol?
They would have man boobs, a beer belly, and yellow eyes.
Oh man, this is kind of rude.
Folks, it's necessary, the Bible says how forcible are right words, and the Bible tells us to make sin look exceeding sinful.
In order to protect your children, in order to protect the next generation from touching this stuff and destroying their lives.
I don't want your kids, I don't want my kids, I don't want the church members to end up like the people off the freeway,
just drunk off their hinder parts, and all they're doing is begging for money so they can become more drunk and just destroy their lives.
You don't want that for your kids.
So why would you want them to drink in moderation?
It's nonsense folks.
Go to Isaiah 28 if you would, Isaiah 28.
You say, why then, you know, why then does God permit the drinking of wine? Because it's referring to juice.
And why do these people believe this? Well look at Isaiah 28 verse 7.
But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way.
The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink.
They are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink.
They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
Look at verse 8.
For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
It doesn't sound like alcohol helps your judgment at all.
It sounds like it messes up your vision and impairs your judgment and destroys your life.
Go with me if you would to Genesis chapter 40.
Genesis chapter 40.
And by the way, why are these pastors drinking alcohol when the Bible says that the qualifications of a pastor is a person not given to wine?
So how do you explain that?
If you want to make that permissible for other people in your church, okay, but you know one of the qualifications for pastors is that they're not given to wine.
And yet some of these pastors actually have bars at their church. Wicked.
And so, you know, this whole argument, drink just a little bit, just don't become drunk, complete farce, it's false, it's stupid, it doesn't hold up in God's court.
Okay.
Argument number two.
Non-alcoholic wine didn't exist in the Bible, bro.
And I promise you, this is an argument that people pose.
Non-alcoholic wine didn't exist in the Bible.
Because, you know, people will go great lengths to justify their sin.
They'll go to great lengths to justify it.
Even to the point where they're willing to just pervert the Bible to fit their, you know, agenda.
And this guy basically said, because I was explaining the fact that wine is used interchangeably in the Bible to describe both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and he just laughed me to scorn.
He was like, this guy, non-alcoholic wine didn't exist in the Bible.
And this is his argument, he says, because by the time they picked the grapes and put it into vessels and put it in a car and the donkey carried it to the wedding at Cana, it would have already fermented under those temperatures and under those conditions.
Modern technology didn't exist in those days to preserve the juice so that it would not ferment.
Okay? This is what he said.
He said the technology to preserve wine so that it wouldn't ferment did not exist.
So you expect me to believe that people could build pyramids, aqueducts, war machines, but just like how do we keep this from like fermenting though?
It's like, I don't know man. Let's just build a third pyramid though.
At least we mastered this though, you know?
This guy must think so, like, just doesn't really think highly of people in Bible times.
And here's the reason why he doesn't, because he also believes in evolution.
So he views people in the Bible as like cavemen or something.
Ooh, ooh, ooh!
And they're just picking grapes and ooh, ooh!
And then they're just like, they can't drink it on the spot.
They wait 12 to 14 weeks, which is the amount of time it takes to ferment wine, and then they drink it like that.
It's like nonsense.
And let me just say this. Let me just point out the obvious.
They didn't need modern technology to keep juice from fermenting because there's people today that don't use modern technology to keep juice from fermenting.
Because he's thinking they didn't have refrigerators back then.
It's like, are you seriously going to pull?
Folks, I remember going to a camp, okay?
When I was a kid, I bought a six-pack of Cokes, okay?
But there was no refrigerator, so you know what I did?
I took the Cokes, you know, just common sense, and I went to the river, and I put it in the river, I surrounded it by stones, and I picked it up the next day, and it was freezing cold.
Oh, I'm sorry, I went like this.
You don't need modern technology to preserve things, folks.
So his argument is that by the time you went through this whole process to get juice, it would just already ferment, okay?
It's just like, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!
Oh, man.
And they're just like, oh, man, and they're just like, hurry, hurry!
And it would just ferment right off the bat or something.
Like in 12 weeks, they just couldn't figure out that they could drink it in between that 12-week span, and it would be completely fine.
Or, you know, just crush grapes into a vessel and just drink it there.
But they didn't figure that out yet.
They didn't know they could do that, apparently.
Well, look at Genesis chapter 40, because this is a passage that I used.
And it's funny because I quoted this passage, this story, in the video refuting that, because he says juice didn't exist in Bible times.
So crazy, he says juice did not exist.
And I quoted this passage, and it's a passage about a man who had a dream about squeezing grapes into a vessel.
And he said, that was a dream that never happened.
That's what he said.
Now, folks, the videos that I was making, they're like 60-second videos.
They're short, so I only have 60 seconds, so I can't read the entire chapter.
But I'm expecting for him to read the entire chapter.
I'm expecting for anybody to just read the entire chapter.
But the guy just read the verse, saw a dream, and was like, oh, it never happened.
He was like, did you keep reading?
Let's read it. Look at verse 5.
So this is referring to Pharaoh's baker and his cupbearer.
Pharaoh was very upset with them, and he basically put him into prison.
And they're in prison with Joseph.
Joseph, the Lord is with them, and he's the interpreter of dreams.
And so they have these dreams. Look at verse 5, it says,
And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream,
the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.
And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and behold, they were sad.
And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in the ward of his lord's house, saying,
Wherefore look ye so sadly today?
And they said unto him, We have dreamed the dream, and there is no interpreter of it.
And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me them, I pray you.
And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me.
And in the vine were three branches, and it was as though it budded, and her blossom shot forth,
and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes.
And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, listen to this, pressed them into Pharaoh's cup,
and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
So he didn't, look, he had better, something better than modern technology.
Because modern technology, you need a juicer.
He had a human being for a juicer.
He's like, forget the juicer, just you do it.
Your full-time job is to squeeze grapes into, you know, squeeze enough grapes into the vessel so I can just drink it like that.
So I quoted this verse and he's just like, Wrong. It was a dream.
I'm like, you gotta be kidding me.
Let's keep reading. Verse 12, And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it,
the three branches are three days. Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head,
and restore thee unto thy place, and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand.
Listen to this. After the former manner when thou wast his butler.
So according to this guy, when he had this dream, he just dreamt up something that just didn't exist.
Like, this guy's silly. He's squeezing grapes into a cup to give it to him? That's not real. Juice doesn't exist.
It's just a dream. What is he dreaming about? He's dreaming about a previous responsibility that he had.
Because that was his job. And what happened? Guess what? The dream came true.
Hey, dreams really do come true.
Look at verse 20.
It came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast into all servants,
and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants,
and he restored the chief butler unto his butler ship again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand,
but he hanged the chief baker as Joseph had interpreted to them.
So here's a clear example of someone who's literally just squeezing grapes into someone's cup and giving it to him.
Now look, not everyone in Bible times would probably have the resources to have this done.
This is obviously a very wealthy man. In fact, no one today probably has someone to do that.
In fact, I'm going to see if my wife would do that for me today.
Can you just be my cup bearer and just squeeze it, just to prove a point here?
But no one's out there hiring a person to do a full-time job of just squeezing grapes into a cup.
They have like a juicer or something like that.
But go to Numbers chapter 6.
But that's a clear example right there.
And by the way, it didn't ferment when it hit the vessel.
It's not like Pharaoh's like, he got it and he's just like, alright, what are you doing?
I've got to wait like 12 weeks.
Why don't you just drink it now?
Well, because whatever's in there now doesn't exist.
Got to wait 12 weeks.
So again, his argument is that juice did not exist in those days, right?
Juice never existed, not a real thing.
Non-alcoholic wine didn't exist, you know.
Okay, well let's look at Numbers 6 verse 1.
This is referring to the Nazarite vow.
It says, And the Lord speaking to Moses, saying, speaking to the children of Israel, and saying to them,
When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord,
he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, referring to alcohol,
and shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink.
Listen to this, Neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried.
Now, when we think of wine today, we think of alcohol, but in those days it's also referring to juice.
When we think of liquor today, we also think of alcohol, but this is simply referring to the liquid of the grape.
So the command that was given to the Nazarites was that if they took a Nazarite vow, they were to abstain from these particular things, right?
And here's the thing is that here we see that he was to abstain from juice.
Now you say, well, then why would he command for him to abstain from wine and strong drink if they couldn't drink wine or strong drink?
Well, I'll tell you why. Because of the fact that he's telling him, not only are you supposed to be separate from sin,
but you're supposed to be separated from even those luxuries that you could possibly have, such as juice, but you're abstaining from those things for a season.
That's why he's telling him, you can't eat grapes, you can't eat raisins, you can't eat moist grapes or dried, you can't eat juice, and it's only for a limited time.
Because once they fulfilled the vow, they were able to do these things once again.
But the point of the Nazarite vow was that you're separate from sin, just like everyone else is, and then you're also separate from these particular things.
And to prove that is the fact that even if you weren't a Nazarite, listen to this, even if you weren't a Nazarite, you were to abstain from touching unclean animals and beasts.
Right? Well, that was later reiterated to the Nazarite, make sure you still don't touch those unclean animals and beasts.
Things that died of itself, you can't touch those things.
So this is simply a reiteration, he's basically saying, well, aside from the fact that you're still supposed to abstain from alcohol,
now we're going to step it up in your standard and say you can't drink juice.
Now, I'm going to do something really dirty here, I'm going to read from the modern versions of the Bible.
Now, we're a King James only church, and if you're curious as to why, you can listen to my sermon on the superiority of the King James Bible and explain clearly why we use the King James Bible here, and we reject all modern versions of the Bible.
Now, the modern versions are, a lot of it's translated from corrupt texts, but not all of it is corrupted.
Some of it actually is right with the King James Bible.
You can read it side by side, some of it is still correct with the King James Bible.
And you know what? This is a passage that's actually correct with the King James Bible.
And the reason I'm even bringing this up is because of the fact that this guy who claims that juice does not exist, nor is it found in the Bible, uses the ESV.
Okay, so let me read to you from the ESV.
Because you can see how someone can say, liquor of grapes, that's liquor, that's alcohol.
Stop trying to pervert God's word, that means alcohol.
Okay, let me read it to you from your version.
ESV, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, he shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and shall not drink any juice of grapes, or eat grapes fresh or dry.
That's from his version.
So he claimed that juice does not exist in the Bible. Well here it says, don't drink any juice of grapes.
Let me explain to you, let me interpret that, what it means in the Hebrew.
Grape juice.
Let me read it to you from the NIV.
They must abstain from wine or other fermented drink, and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drink.
They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins.
Now the majority of churches that advocate for alcohol consumption use these versions of the Bible.
New King James Version says here, he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink, he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink,
neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins.
So it says grape juice.
So how would this person get around this claiming non-alcoholic wine did not exist, juice does not exist, when their own version of the Bible tells them grape juice.
I'll tell you why, because of the fact that he doesn't read the Bible.
Not even his own Bible.
Folks, we actually read the King James Bible.
And let me say this, you know the NIV is the most popular Bible on the market as far as people purchasing that Bible, but the King James Bible is the most widely read Bible.
So people who purchase the NIV, if they own a NIV, they don't read it.
I'm talking about from cover to cover.
They don't study, they don't read it, they read books about the Bible, that's what they do.
Whereas people who are typically King James only actually read the King James Bible.
We have a Bible reading calendar, we read it cover to cover, Genesis all the way through Revelation, we read the entire thing.
So this guy is like non-alcoholic wine did not exist in those days, juice didn't exist.
I just showed you three editions or three versions of the Bible where it claims to talk about grape juice.
And by the way, we don't need these versions because we understand we have enough, you know, smarts to know the liquor of grapes is referring to juice.
Go to Isaiah 25 if you would, Isaiah chapter 25.
Now here's where he's gravely mistaken because he thinks that there's no modern technology that can keep the juice from fermenting, but it just shows you how very little he knows about history.
How very little he knows about history.
And you know, obviously he's going to look up, you know, because he pulls up these commentators that are essentially saying the same thing that he's saying, that it's okay to drink alcohol.
And you say, well, you know, what's up with that?
Well, did you know there's alcoholics back then too?
Hey, Christian winos didn't just exist today, they were from back then too.
So you had Christian winos back in those days, you know, with the beer mug and drinking and saying they had a little wine for the stomach's sake.
So he's simply following what his spiritual ancestors have been saying for years, okay?
Look at Isaiah 25 verse 5, verse 6, excuse me.
It says, And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all the people a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined.
Now lees is simply referring to, you know, if you've ever had like strawberry lemonade, for example.
You know the best thing about strawberry lemonade is when they keep the strawberries inside.
Right? They let them just kind of float in there and you kind of shake it up.
And one of the most delicious things about strawberry lemonade is once you're done drinking the lemonade, you got the strawberries at the bottom.
Right? That's considered like the lees, okay?
You know, the little bits and pieces that fall off the fruit and they kind of, it's the sediments that fall to the bottom of the cup, right?
And what this is picturing here is that, you know, our end as Christians is going to be the sweetest part of this whole trip.
You know, drinking the juice, the wine, right, of God's will is sweet, but it just gets so much sweeter at the very end.
When we're just eating, you know what I'm talking about when you drink it and then you're just kind of getting all those lees and you're chewing on, you know, the pulp, you're chewing on the strawberries, that's great.
That's what God is picturing here.
And what we're seeing here, the wine on the lees, well refined. What is it referring to? It's referring to filtration.
Because no one's going to deny, folks, that wine is obviously made of fruits that has been allowed to ferment.
That's obviously the case. Proverbs 23 talks about that.
The argument that we're making is that you can actually prevent and impede the fermentation process so that it only remains juice.
Okay. Now, how? Well, one of them, of course, is filtration.
And in fact, let me read you a couple things here.
You know, because this guy likes to use these outside biblical sources or sources that are outside of the Bible.
Okay, well let me give you some sources outside of the Bible to prove that this is a fact.
Plutarch, okay, who is a Roman author, discusses to whether wine should be strained.
Declaring wine that's cleansed by a strainer has its strike and madness taken away.
Leaving one in a mild and healthy state of mind.
Symposiacs, 693b.
So he's saying, you know, when you strain wine, it removes the madness.
What is he talking about? It removes your drunkenness so it doesn't get you drunk.
But let me show you the most common way to prevent juice from fermenting.
Boiling. It's something that people do today.
This is like modern technology. Oh, you mean like boiling?
You mean like putting, you know, a pot and putting juice in a pot over a fire?
Something that even your cavemen probably did as well?
Boiling was a way to prevent juice from fermenting.
And in fact, the reason why it was such an effective way to prevent fermentation is because when freshly pressed grape juice is boiled, the water evaporates, leaving a thick syrup that doesn't ferment easily.
So it would create this thick syrup that would not allow the juice to ferment easily, which could be later extracted and made to use more juice.
You should put more water in it and it makes more juice.
Aristotle wrote about wines in Arcadia so thick that they were scraped off the wineskins so that they could be rehydrated in order to drink them.
The Roman poet Virgil describes housewives boiling down, listen to this, sweet must.
Now that's not a common word that we use today, but sweet must is referring to freshly squeezed juice.
That's what they would call it back then is sweet must.
So he's talking about the housewives that will boil it down in order to keep it as sweet must.
And in fact, today in Greece, and you probably find it in the United States of America, there's a drink called Visinada, which is the drink that is made by mixing a thick cherry syrup with pure water.
It's found today.
But of course, one of the most common ways to keep wine from fermenting, becoming fermented, is not just boiling but storage as well.
They didn't have refrigerators back then. You know you can literally dig the earth and it gets cooler and you can store things in there and it remains cool?
Or you can have a place in your house, the coolest part of your house, to store things.
I mean how do you think people kept food from decomposing?
I mean obviously they had salt and all that, but there's different ways to keep things from decomposing from fermenting.
One of them was placing them into rivers, cold parts of the house, in earthen vessels like we're going to look at right now.
Boiled or filtered wines were stored in earthenware vessels or sometimes in animal skins for travel.
I mean the Bible talks about animal skins, putting new wine into new bottles referring to animal skins.
Let me read you a couple of things here.
Cato the Elder, who's a Roman soldier, senator and historian, claimed that must, referring to juice, stored in an amphora coated with pitch and stored 30 days in a water tank could be removed and kept as must for the whole year.
Now what is an amphora? If you've ever looked at, I know this is really interesting to you, but I thought it was pretty interesting.
Amphoras are the vessels that the Greeks and the Romans used to use if you remember.
If you've ever seen it, it looks like a vase and it's narrow at the bottom and it has like two handles. Those are amphoras.
And within their pitch with a certain coating that would preserve juice.
So he said you put that in there and you put it in a water tank and actually it can keep the must from fermenting for at least a year, for a couple months.
This is not a fundamental Baptist.
The Apostle Paul didn't write this.
This wasn't the Apostle John, it wasn't the Apostle Paul.
This is, you know, those cavemen that lived back in those days that didn't know about modern technology.
Columella, who was the Roman tribune of Syria in 35 A.D., claimed the same thing but extended the period during the amphora, was submerged in water for 40 days, and his writings De Rarustica.
Let me read you some more here.
He says the ancients recognized that must stored in the cold does not ferment in Plutarch.
When attempting to keep must, it was generally stored in a cool place and could be kept as sweet must for as much as a year.
You can find that in Columella's writings.
And so, but here's the thing, in Bible times, obviously aside from boiling, you know, these filtration systems, one of the most common ways is just putting it into a vessel.
And here's the thing, it's not like people just drink juice all the time either.
Because juice was a commodity, it was a luxury.
I know we can just go to the store right now and get ourselves a bottle of grape juice if we wanted to, but it wasn't that accessible in those days.
That's why wine was considered, listen to this, a blessing from God because wine pictures abundance.
It's not like, oh, it's such a blessing to be just smashed.
It's such a blessing to wake up with a hangover.
Right? That's not a blessing.
The reason wine is a blessing is because thy barn shall burst out with new wine, referring to the fact that God will give you an abundance.
In Christian life, blessing is pictured by abundance. That's what it's pictured as.
And so when people had wine in those days, it was like, wow, this is a blessing.
Because I don't have anybody to put in the word to crush these grapes and put into vessels and give to all my family here.
It would be considered like a luxury, something they would use to celebrate things.
The process of fermentation, grapes would produce, excuse me, grapes produce sugars that ferment under the right conditions.
These sugars have contact with yeast and of course the yeast is essentially the reason why wine ferments.
Now today, they can essentially streamline that process by adding more sugars and more yeast and that's why they create these wines a lot faster today.
Now in order to regulate this and keep it from fermenting, you need a couple elements.
Number one, you need to make sure that you separate the yeast from the skins.
You need cold temperatures or listen to this, you need air deprivation.
So if you deprive the juice from air, you can impede it from actually fermenting.
Which is why they would sometimes put it in wine skins.
And in fact they'll tell you when you put juice in wine skins and if you want it to ferment, you gotta make sure you put a vent.
That way it can ferment and then you can get drunk or whatever.
Whereas if you don't want it to ferment, don't leave a vent in there.
Now obviously you would have to drink it within a close period of time because of the fact that the CO2 would eventually burst the wine skin.
Which we see then in the Bible.
Now go to John chapter 2 if you would, John chapter 2.
It's pretty simple folks.
You don't need modern technology, they didn't need factories back then, they didn't need machines.
There's people in France today that literally just step on them with their feet.
So there you have it.
So why would they make these arguments? Because they want to keep drinking alcohol.
Nothing to see here folks, nothing to see here.
This doesn't exist, juice didn't exist, let's just keep drinking alcohol, let's just keep justifying this sinful act here.
Because they just want to justify their sin, they're not willing to look at the facts.
And folks, this shows you how far an alcoholic is willing to go to just keep doing what he's doing.
And it's sad.
But what makes me mad, what gets me angry is not necessarily the person who just struggles with alcohol.
And is trying to overcome it.
What ticks me off is the religious leader who permits it.
Because he wants to keep drinking knowing full well that there's people out there that actually struggle with alcohol who he's causing to stumble.
That's wicked folks.
Here's the last argument here, or one of the last arguments.
Is Jesus turned the water into wine.
How many of you have heard that one, right?
Jesus turned the water into wine.
So I explained how it was juiced and he's like, it was not juiced because by the time you pick the grapes, by the time you put them on carts, by the time the donkey took it to the wedding at Cana, it would have already turned fermented.
And I think to myself, when did Jesus do that?
Didn't he just turn the water into wine?
Or he's like, Alakazam, go get it real quick, go get it.
You know, it's just like, go get that order I ordered like 12 weeks ago, go get it.
He's like, the process that it would take for it to keep from fermenting, it would have already been fermented, Jesus didn't turn wine into wine, or to juice.
Well, it's like, it looks like Jesus just skipped all that process and kept it as fresh as you can possibly get it.
Right?
So even by his standards, it's just like, okay, I'll give you that.
Let's say it does take that long and that's where they got it.
Well, Jesus did not turn the water into alcohol because he literally made it fresh.
Okay, but look what it says in verse one.
After the manner of the purifying of the juice containing two or three firkins apiece, Jesus saith unto him, fill the water pots with water, and they filled them up to the brim.
And he said unto them, draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast, and they bear it.
When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom and said unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine.
And when men have well drunk, then that which is worse, but that was kept a good wine until now.
Now think about this, okay?
Because they're claiming that the alcohol they drank prior to Jesus giving them wine was alcoholic and that the wine that Jesus gave to them was also alcoholic.
Now this is super wicked because even according to their definition, remember what they said, it's okay to drink just not to become drunk.
Well, if they've already drunken all the alcohol and the Bible says that they had well drunk, wouldn't that mean that Jesus is causing men to sin by providing six more water pots of alcohol?
It's like, here's six more kegs, guys.
That'd be wicked.
That would be an evil thing to do.
That would be claiming that Jesus Christ is causing men to sin.
And this is the argument that he posed.
Well, you know, it's not Jesus' fault if people can't control their alcohol or if they're getting drunk.
He provides the wine, but if we can't control ourselves, that's our fault.
But you're claiming that Jesus gave it to them.
Number one, you're claiming that Jesus gave them more alcohol and he says this, think about this.
You know, it's just like gluttony.
Gluttony, it's a sin to commit gluttony to just overeat.
But here's the thing, folks, you need food to survive.
You don't need juice or alcohol to survive.
It's not the same thing.
And then he says this, he's like, the Pharisees called Jesus a glutton and a wine-bibber.
And in its context, that shows you that Jesus drank alcohol.
Think about this, what he's claiming is that he agrees with the Pharisees.
Because they're lying about him.
So he's like, oh, they're right.
That means he was drinking alcohol.
No, it means they're lying.
Because the Bible says that they are of their father the devil, the lust of the father what they do.
He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, for the truth is not in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, the Bible says, for he is a liar and the father of it.
The Pharisees lied about Jesus, they said he wasn't the son of God, they said he was a glutton and a wine-bibber.
It doesn't confirm that he drank alcohol, that would be wicked to say.
So he says, oh, we don't know if they really were drunk though.
You know, prior to Jesus turning the water into wine.
We don't really know if they were drunk because it takes me about two, three beers and two hours to get buzzed.
So we don't really know that.
And then in the same as the words are just coming out of his mouth,
he said, by the way, when it says well drunk it means intoxicated.
You're just contradicting.
You're saying you don't know if they were drunk but then you say, well drunk means intoxicated.
Which means that you do believe that Jesus gave them more alcohol to get more drunk even after they became intoxicated.
But folks, this is what happens when people drink alcohol.
They can't, they're not consistent.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
You just can't tell the truth because you just forget because alcohol destroys your brain.
Go to Romans 14.
I'm going just a little long today but I want to finish this up because this is important, okay?
Let me give you the hypocrisy of these Christian winos.
Because here's the common thing that I've heard over the last couple of weeks.
You know, because they can't refute what I'm saying and none of them have been able to refute what I've said.
So this is what they come up with.
Oh brother, just leave him alone.
He's just, referring to me, he's just weak in the faith.
Okay, he's just weak in the faith.
He doesn't understand that we can drink alcohol.
He's just the weaker brother, okay?
How many of you have heard something like that?
They claim that we're the weaker brethren.
Because we just, you know, we can't, we're just not spiritually strong enough to understand that we can just get smashed anytime we want and it's okay.
That it's okay in the sight of the Lord to just get drunk.
They're the weaker brethren.
So what are they implying?
It's obviously, it's an attack, right?
To basically, you know, belittle us and say, oh you're not spiritual enough to know the spiritual truth, okay?
So let's just pretend for a second that we see it their way, okay?
Let's just pretend that we are the weaker brethren.
I'll take that.
So according to that rationale, according to what you're saying, we're the weaker brethren.
Okay, well let's see what the Bible says about that.
Look at Romans 14 verse 21.
It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
So if you think I'm the weaker brethren, stop drinking then.
I'll take that.
Yeah, I'm just so weak.
Hey, inspiring philosophy, I'm so weak right now.
So I need you to just put the wine away because the Bible says that's what you're supposed to do.
Checkmate.
That's right.
I'm offended, I'm weak, you're causing me to stumble, okay well the Bible commands you to not drink wine then.
So put away the beer.
That's right.
Put away the wine, put away the liquor, sober up.
But you know what? They don't want to do that.
You say, well why? Because they don't even know this verse exists.
Because they don't read the Bible.
They just pick parts of the Bible that kind of fit what they want and they forget to read the rest.
But I'll take that if you want to claim that I'm weaker.
But let's just be realistic though.
The Bible does not say that we are the weaker brethren and in fact we're strong in the Lord and the power of his might because we're sober.
You can't be a strong Christian and drink at the same time, it's impossible.
Because you're not in your right state of mind.
And anybody can tell you that.
Any level of alcohol messes with your mind in some way, shape or form.
It lets your guard down and messes with your mind.
And the Bible tells us God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.
Go to Proverbs 31 and this is the last portion of scripture we're going to go to.
Just kidding, it'll be Proverbs 31 and then one more scripture after that, okay?
I was going to talk about Paul prescribing alcohol to Timothy, you know, because he claims, oh a little wine for thy stomach's sake.
But obviously that's a nonsensical argument because of the fact that he's not, this is how we know he's not referring to alcohol.
Number one, because no doctor in their right mind would prescribe alcohol for health reasons.
Ask any doctor, we have a doctor in our church and I asked her, Dr. Rita, would you ever prescribe just a little wine for any stomach ailments?
She's like, absolutely not. What doctor would ever prescribe toxins for any type of health benefit?
It's detrimental to your health. But think about this, you know, Timothy is a pastor.
So if he's saying, you know, a little wine for thy stomach's sake, wouldn't that contradict what he's telling him in 1 Timothy chapter 3 where he says that a pastor is not to be given to wine?
Checkmate.
Look at Proverbs 31, this is another portion of scripture that they've used to tell me that it's okay to drink alcohol.
I mean, they're grasping at straws. Look at verse 6, here's the text verse.
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
This is a verse that they've told me, this is why it's okay to drink alcohol because you give drink unto them, unto him that is ready to perish and wine unto those that are of heavy hearts, okay?
Now think about this, I guarantee you 99.9% of the people who gave me this verse are not ready to die.
Right? But if you really want to get technical about it, okay, well instead of using Proverbs 31 as your example of how you should die, why don't you use Jesus Christ?
Because listen to this, when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, they gave him wine mingled with myrrh, you know what the Bible says? He refused it.
And he was someone who was what? Ready to die. Think about that.
But let's go a little further than that, you know, because again, what do they do? They get one verse. I like the whole chapter.
Let's start from verse one. The words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him, great mom here by the way,
What my son, and what the son of my womb, and what the son of my vows, give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
Now what is he saying? This one I'm about to tell you will destroy your life.
Verse four, it is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink. Oh, but everyone else can do it though.
Look at verse five, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
Now let me ask you, is forgetting the law and the perverting of judgment something that is only subject to kings when they drink?
This happens to everyone.
So let me ask you this, why are you acting like you're ready to perish and of a heavy heart and not behaving yourself like a king?
I mean, doesn't the Bible say that we're priests and kings unto the Lord? Doesn't God expect for us to be the royal priesthood?
And as the royal priesthood, we should be like Lemuel that even if we're of heavy hearts, even when we're ready to die,
even when we're bearing our cross daily, we refuse to wine mingled with myrrh.
But this is the first they want to use for that.
Folks, if you're ready to perish, take it like a man and go to heaven.
The Bible says if you are of a heavy heart, it doesn't tell you to drink wine. You know what it tells you to do in James chapter five? Sing psalms.
I know that doesn't give you the high that you want though, right?
Because you need something stronger. No, what you need is to get spiritual about certain things.
And if you are of a heavy heart, if you're ready to perish, then walk in the spirit and man up and not choose the easy way out
and just say, well, I'm just going to have a little bit of wine, a little bit of alcohol just to ease the pain a little bit.
Take it like a man. Take it like a Christian. Take it like the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who even though he was in excruciating pain, he was scourged, he had nails, he had a crown of thorns upon his head, he was beaten and spat upon, he said, I ain't drinking it.
Go to Luke chapter five and now we're done. For sure, for sure.
You say, are you preaching this to win that guy over? Absolutely not.
And let me say this, I am not trying to win him over.
He said, what are you trying to do? I'm trying to prevent and help those who are listening to him from continuing down that path.
He said, why would you not try to win him over? Why don't you give him a call?
Be a peacemaker and give him a call.
Well, I'm going to give you a biblical reason as to why.
Look at Luke chapter five verse 36. This is Jesus speaking to the Pharisees.
Verse 36 says, And he spake also a parable unto them, No man putteth a new piece of a new garment upon an old.
If otherwise, then both the new maketh the rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeeth not with the old.
And no man putteth new wine into old bottles, else the new wine will burst the bottles and be spilled, and the bottle shall perish.
But new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved.
Listen to verse 39, No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new.
Why? For he saith, The old is better.
You know why I don't want to win this guy over? Because no matter how much scripture I give him, no matter how much proof, you know what he's always going to say?
Well, the old is better anyways. I'm just drinking alcohol is still better. Drinking alcohol is still permissible.
So I'm not going to waste my time putting new wine into old bottles.
The new wine of God's word, the new wine of doctrine is going to go into new bottles.
People who are listening, people who see what the Bible says, people who actually love the truth.
And they say, you know what? I'm going to stop drinking alcohol.
And let me just say this, sober up.
You should today go to your liquor cabinet and throw all the liquor that you have.
Throw away all your wine and your beers and your weed and your mind altering drugs and start fresh today and say, I'm going to sober up.
I'm going to act like a king. I'm not going to act like someone who is stricken. I'm not going to act like someone who's ready to die.
I'm not going to act like someone who's of heavy heart. I'm going to be filled with the Spirit instead.
Sober up.
What's the sermon today? You know the sermon is on winos, Christian winos.
And I'm preaching this and you may think, well you didn't come at it with the right spirit. Well you know because I'm mad. That's why.
Because I've seen what alcohol can do. I've seen it take the lives of people that I love.
I've seen it destroy homes. I've seen it destroy marriages.
And it ticks me off when a man of God, a so-called man of God gets up and says it's still fine to do though. Wicked.
It would never be permissible here. I will never change my stance on it.
And I think I proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's sinful. Amen.
Let's pray. Father we thank you so much for your word and thank you for the admonishments.
Thank you so much for the clear teachings of the Bible.
We're so thankful Lord for those who have taught us.
And I pray Lord that our children, the teenagers in this room, the couples, that everyone would steer clear of this poison of dragons.
And Lord help us Lord to fight this and reprove the works of darkness.
I pray that you'd open the eyes of people who have been deceived by that message that alcohol is supposedly permissible according to the Bible.
I pray that you open their eyes and help them to clean up, to sober up, to live righteously and to bask in the new wine of God's word instead.
And I pray that you bless it. Lord we love you so much and we thank you. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Please turn your song books to song number 325.
Song number 325. There is our last song, Trust and Obey.
Song number 325. All together nice and strong on that first verse.
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His word, what a glory He sheds on our way.
While we do His good will, He abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but His smile quickly drives it away.
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear, can abide while we trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, but our toil he doth wish he repay.
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross, but is blessed if we trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
But we never can prove the delights of His love until on the altar we lay.
For the favor He shows and the joy He bestows are for them who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
And in fellowship suite we will sit at His feet, or we'll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go. Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
The wonderful singing you are dismissed.