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So this morning of course is st. Patrick's Day, so there's really only one am I right about that? We could have still preached it, but they would have ruined the title because the title is the sin of st. Patrick's Day the sin of st. Patrick's Day and really there's only one topic to preach on You know one subject that really we need to address on a day like st. Patrick's Day, and that's the subject of Alcohol of drinking of being a drunk. You know it's something that you kind of have to preach on from time to time You know I don't suspect anybody in here is an alcoholic or a drunk or whatever you want to call it But you know it could be possible that maybe one day if we didn't preach on these subjects if we didn't bring these things up If we didn't remind ourselves of the evils of alcohol And how strongly the Bible condemns alcohol that we could slip back into being a drunk or maybe start drinking We know there none of us here is above falling into some sin even a sin as Such as alcohol is drinking and getting drunk So I want to preach this morning about the sins of st. Patrick's Day and one of the first things We have to understand is that st. Patrick's Day is not a Christian holiday You know if you go look it up on Wikipedia like I did those they'll keep saying it was st Patrick was a Christian who went to Ireland and evangelized Ireland and did all these things well It's true that he went to Ireland and he evangelized Ireland, but he did it in the name of the Catholic Church Yeah, you know and even and it's crazy that that you would you know we're getting the point now or even Catholics You know they're they're calling themselves Christians We know if we were to go knocks on these neighborhoods just behind where we're located now There's a lot of old-school Catholics You know they don't you ask them here you a Christian as they know I'm a Catholic you know and it's the world that wants to kind of blur that line So I just kind of want to touch on that first of all to not get this idea that just because someone puts the word Saint in front of somebody's name that it's necessarily a Christian thing that they're celebrating. It's actually a Catholic origin is where St. Patrick's Day comes from and I don't want to go on too much about who st. Patrick was and what he did and all that's not really the point of sermon, but st. Patrick's Day what the big sin of st. Patrick's Day is is the fact that it's a day of drunkenness It's a day of drunkenness and drunkenness is a very serious sin. It's a sin that God judges countries over I believe it's it's a sin. That's often associated with a lot of other sins It's one of those things that if we let creep into our life It's going to cause us to commit a lot of other sins And we're gonna see that here as we get into the scripture that when you become a drunk There's often a lot of other sins that creep into your life and cause you to even go further into sin Then maybe you you know at first intended to to do you know you say hey I'm just gonna drink a little bit you know that's it well It might lead into a lot of other things you know might lead you going to places to get that drink that you shouldn't be Going or there's other sins going on that you'll start to partake in and alcohol can really ruin your life And you know I plan this morning It's just kind of talk about this very you know just very bluntly and kind of share some of my experience You know I'm unfortunately I did not grow up in a Christian home And I don't want to come across as one of these guys that says you know you know I know so much more about sin Because I lived a life of sin I'm not trying to glorify sin you know would the God that I've grown up in a Christian home I envy the man that has the testimony that says I've never tasted alcohol You know because that man has never had to deal with any of the effects of alcohol in his life or in his family You know so I'm not trying to get up here and when I start to share some of my own personal experiences You know I'll kind of judge as I go how much I decide to share I'm not trying to glorify myself or come across that I you know you should you know things think something of me because I've pulled Myself up out of some gutter. You know I didn't do any of that It was the Lord You know who gave me a spirit gave me the strength and the power and the conviction of his Holy Spirit and his word to to want to get Sober and live a clean and godly life so all glory goes to him a minute this morning for anything that I share about my Own testimony, but let's just get right into here where it says in Isaiah chapter 5 look at verse 11 It says now before I even read this verse. I want you to look at the very end of the verse and notice how that Sentence is punctuated. It's not a period it's not a question mark It's an exclamation point whenever you see an exclamation point you know something's being said very emphatically Something's being said with very great strength, and God is trying to stress this point here And what is it that he's stressing there in verse 11? It says woe unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink that continue until night Till wine and flame them he's saying very emphatically woe to the person That's going to get up and drink alcohol and continue to drink all day and so wine and flame them He's saying woe unto the person that would consume alcohol, and that's exactly what's going on today on a day like st. Patrick's Day, you know there's a lot of people today that are getting up this morning Oh, and they're getting dressed, and they're putting on their attire for to celebrate the day But it's not to come to the house of God It's not to celebrate you know Christ death burial and resurrection. It's not to partake in the preaching of God's Word It's not to go out and knock doors It's to get up and go and drink all day, and they continue on until wine and flame them They're getting on they're putting on their stupid green hats and their stupid green beads and green everything else and stop talking with a dumb Irish accent and they're gonna go bar hopping in every city across this country and drinking until wine and flame them That's what's going on today, and that is the sin of st. Patrick's Day And that's what we see going on all across our nation and when we read this chapter if you're paying attention as brother Garza read This chapter this morning you would notice that God is not very pleased with the children of Israel at this point now Why is it well a lot of it's because there were a bunch of drunks? And I'm telling you this country today has become a nation of drunks We have a lot of drunks and alcohols being glorified and lifted up and Promoted and taught that it's cool and thought that it's okay And then it's something that you can do and that God won't even bat an eye at it But he says here whoa unto them not only because you're occurring God's wrath Not only because you as a Christian who goes out and partakes in that sin are incurring God's wrath But because it's just the effects that being a drunk bring on it on and of itself You know there's certain things that are gonna take place in your life If you're one who decides to drink on a regular basis and get drunk There are very potential things that could happen that are just devastating your life very Potentially things that could happen that are just terrible and we see people that are suffering all the time in our country Because of alcohol, and I do want to kind of go over You know how I love to get facts and statistics and read them to you and hopefully they don't come off It's too dry But they should be kind of sobering and they should cause us to pay attention and realize that the Bible is true when God says Woe unto them that get that drink woe unto them that rise up early that they may follow strong drink Now here from the National Institute of alcohol abuse and alcoholism. I want to read just a few things from this It says here an estimated 88,000 people die from alcohol related causes annually That's nearly a hundred thousand people That's eighty eight thousand people every year that are gone from the face of the earth because of alcohol Because of one thing alcohol. That's what takes them out You know and I wonder how many of those people were saved how many of those people knew the Lord? Maybe a fraction did they know God when they decided to go out and get drunk when they wanted it and get behind the wheel Of a car and kill themselves or somebody else did they know God when they drank themselves to the point? That their liver became scarred and inflamed and burst and they died a slow and painful and agonizing death But that's where we're at in this country where we have 88,000 people dying every year and you say well, what's the big deal? You know, why why do you got to get out because there's days like today called st Patrick's Day where we're getting drunk and being a drunk is glorified. It's lifted up It's promoted and people are dying in tens of thousands and we need people to stand up and say no, it's not right No, it's wicked. It's going to ruin your life. It's going to kill you. That's right Bible says in 2004 or not the Bible I always do that with the the report here says in 2014 alcohol impaired driving fatalities accounted for nine thousand nine hundred and sixty seven deaths So that 88,000 you might as well just go ahead and throw another 10,000 deaths on top of it for all the people that go out and get drunk and get behind the wheel of a car and Crash into somebody or into some telephone pole or into some tree or go Creeding off some cliff somewhere into some ditch and they get killed in a car accident You say well, how often does that kind of thing happen? Well, I don't know I know one person I went to high school with that's exactly how he met his end He went out got drunk at some party got in his pickup went down the road Hit a telephone pole and his car burst into flames and the only thing that they could say that was good about it was that he was probably dead by the time the fire got To him and burned him to the point where they couldn't even have an open casket at his grave So I'm telling you you think that it's just a little fun. You think that it's just a good time on st Patrick's Day, you don't know what that drinks gonna do to you You don't know how far that alcohol is going to take you and what effect it can have You know a lot of times the only thing we can get across to people is when we start to talk about their money When you start to get after them about you know, how it's gonna affect your wallet a lot of people They don't mind about all all the people that are dying But we start to talk about money boy their ears perk up and they say well, let's it let's hear about that Well in 2010 alcohol misuse cost the United States Two hundred and forty nine billion dollars, you know Trump wants to build his wall and he's having a hard time funding it Well, why doesn't he just pan alcohol and save two hundred fifty billion dollars. He'd go build this stupid wall, right? He's so worried about getting all this money for this wall or whatever else they want to put it into You know Why don't they take that two hundred forty nine billion dollars that they're spending on alcohol and give it to some other cause that would Actually help people instead of having to waste all this money in 2012 3.3 million deaths Globally or five point nine percent of all global deaths nearly six percent were attributed to alcohol consumption 3.3 million people in one year died because of alcohol You know, we would we if we were to just go somewhere and just wipe out the half of that half of Phoenix That's about six million people right there. Just in one year. Just wipe out half a city like Phoenix They would probably say what caused this. How did this happen? We got to fix this But it happens all the time happens every year where millions of people are just gone from the face of the earth Because of something like alcohol more than 10% of US children have a parent with alcohol problems According to a 2012 study now I say well, that's only 10% Yeah, but maybe that 10% is living a life that they should have to live They're living a you know I Just a downtrodden life just a life of having to see their parents be drunk and let me tell you something I'm gonna get a little personal here right now because I'm somebody who grew up in a house of drunks I'm somebody had to watch my dad drink. I'm somebody had to watch my mother drink I remember as a little boy having my mother was a waitress and I'm not trying to put them down You know, they're not saved there. They were people that just out the world. They were just following the course of this present world They were just the children of disobedience doing what comes naturally to them But I'm trying to express to you that this is a reality that when I just read these facts These aren't just numbers these are actual people These are 10% of living breathing children that are having to live with drunks in this country and I remember having to go and being taken by my mother and she would take us to a Windows in Rapid City, South Dakota was one of the top taller buildings up there and she worked at windows Which is this real fancy restaurant and she was a bartender and she was a waitress and I grew up around this stuff I grew up going helping to clean the restaurant going up to the bar after out or before opening hours and eating the little Maraschino cherries on those little swords and stabbing and eating right out of the bar and I remember my dad taking me out into the garage when I was six years old and taking a little cup and Having me stand around the keg with all the other guys and giving me a little drink of alcohol It's like I feel like one of the what one of the men, you know Okay, give me a taste for alcohol at such a young age That's what starts to happen to these 10% of children that grow up in a house where parents have alcohol problems where they're drunks Where they're alcoholics, whatever you want to call it, you know, and that didn't do me any good I grew up in a Of course naturally when you develop a taste for alcohol at such a young age It's going to come natural to you and when you see that the people that are supposed to be setting an example for you Drinking alcohol, of course It's just going to come naturally to you to want to drink alcohol when you get to be of age and that's exactly what I did Did a lot of drinking in my younger years? I know, you know didn't do me any good being arrested having go to jail being on probation You know it was a lot of pain and heartache and Stupidity and sin and things that I wish I'd never done or heard or seen or said all because of alcohol That's right. And today people are gonna get up on st Patrick's Day and celebrate this when it's absolutely ruined people's lives, you know, I'll never never I'll never forget the times I woke up one morning and my dad said come on son We got to go and and make some rounds and I don't know where exactly we went But we went saw his friend and he was bragging to all his buddies about he was out at the bar one night and got His teeth knocked out and his two front teeth knocked out in a bar fight got drug out back had some ribs broken And thought it was cool I remember going to the dentist with them having to wait in the dentist lobby while my dad had some some fake teeth made for Is that what you want for your life? Is that what you want for your kids? You have to be a drunk to be somebody that's gonna you know You know get violent at the home go out and actually try to pick a fight with a man for once and get his His backside handed to him. I don't want that for my life I don't want that for my kids and that's why I'm preaching a sermon like this today on a day like today st Patrick's Day when people are good are getting up and going out and drinking and thinking there's nothing wrong with alcohol There's everything wrong with alcohol Excuse me. Let me tell you it's wicked. It's evil. Yeah, it's ruining our country There's a lot more to this report we could go on and on I won't I just highlighted a few points here I'll read to you to try and drive this point home because people they just hear it from the Bible They just think well, yeah, but that's an old book and doesn't really know what they're talking about That's just some you know fired up preacher up there Just you know have to get up and rip off the rip on alcohol because it's expected to them Well, let me just give you some more facts I mean we already read about the 3.3 million people that died annually globally from alcohol We already read about the near 10,000 people that have died in the u.s. Alone because of alcohol But drinking alcohol can have extreme effects on your health. It can have terrible effects on your health. This should be a no-brainer I mean I could tell you I I know the least three people that I knew in my life I wasn't real close to them, but I knew who they were I knew their names that they went out and they literally drank themselves to death Got cirrhosis of the liver have you ever seen about somebody with the cirrhosis of the liver their stomach expands It's blown up everything else is skinny, but the stomach looks like they're about you know eight or nine months pregnant You know they're just got this huge gut and search gets their liver people that have been you know Just drinking their whole lives Ruining their liver and they and the doctor will tell them if you continue to drink you will die And they keep drinking that's how powerful alcohol is so people need to think about that before they don their St. Patrick's Day apparel and go out there and think it's just gonna be a day of fun You know it's just gonna be it. It's gonna be like New Year's. You know it's just gonna be like Thanksgiving it's just gonna be like Christmas. It's just gonna be a little bit of drinking It's just gonna be the 4th of July. You know what it'll turn into it's just gonna be Friday night It's just gonna be Saturday night I mean that you know Think about the fact that they're taking the time to get up this morning and go out and drink on a Sunday You know Sunday is usually when they're trying to Walk it off the night before But you know st. Patrick's Day turns into one holiday one holiday turns into two holidays two holidays stains Well, it's just a couple times a week Just a couple times a month turn. It'll turn into every single day. Yeah happens all the time Every drunk starts out taking his first sip Every drunk that's laying in the gutter and his own you know filth and vomit And it's laying there. He was somebody's baby. He was somebody's little boy. It's somebody's little girl You know it was somebody who somebody cared about but one day one day. He said you know what I don't believe the Bible I don't believe the preacher I don't think that's true and started drinking and it reached out and got ahold of him and now he's a drunk today That's what happens excessive alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths and 2.5 million years of potential life lost I mean if you were to add up all the potential life span the average life span of all the people that died to tell Call if you add it all up and come up to 2.5 million years That's a lot of life. That's a lot of things you how much could you get done with 2.5 million years? Probably get a lot done right That's that's a waste It's a waste of potential who knows who knows what those people could have done if they hadn't got hooked on alcohol If they hadn't been given that drink as a little boy then we get driven that drink as a young girl They hadn't been given that drink as a teenager at some party somewhere if they hadn't gone into that bar to that club that one night Excessive drinking was responsible for one in ten deaths among working-age adults 20 to 64 years old one of ten one of ten deaths Yes, it goes on we won't read all that Let's get into the Bible because the Bible is the one that matters Bibles once gonna bring the convention you got a conviction of the Holy Spirit The Bible is gonna want it should be the one that convinced you not just these facts These facts are just showing us the Bible's true. This is what happens when a nation casts off God This is what happens when a nation no longer wants to listen to the precepts of the Word of God and thinks alcohols Okay, when they have days like st. Patrick's Day days like New Year's Day when they think hey, well, it's a certain day of the year It's no problem being a drunk today. Just drinking to excess You know, I lived in a City Bank of Michigan I remember st. Patrick's Day we hung out downtown as teenagers We'd be skateboard down there and you knew when it was st Patrick's Day because all bars were down there and you just see these drunks just roving bands of drunks Just stumbling through the street trying to get to the next bar and they started they we'd be down there after school They'd already be drunk. They've been down there since 12 o'clock Yeah, people get hooked on alcohol that you have no idea how far to take you You'll find yourself drinking first thing in the morning I remember being out on a job site way out in the boonies in Michigan somewhere We had to get something something I needed something to drink not some alcohol some water or something and there was one place to get it and it wasn't a bar So, you know, I don't want to go in there but man I need to get a drink Not like that. That sounded really bad. I need to get some water, right? So I went in there I opened the door and I'm thinking surely there's nobody in here. No one's gonna see me My boss was with me. He was waiting the pickups that hurry up get in there get see what they got and get back Yeah, we gotta get back to work was our we're on a lunch break. So I open up the door and sure enough Just old shriveled up men and that smoky dark bar Curled up over that bars on that on that that barstool sitting there drinking 10 o'clock 11 o'clock noon already at it That's right. Yeah, it's a shame It's terrible to sit there and watch people waste their lives on this stuff I Mean we would say all the heroin addict Oh the pothead all the the coke head and say all these other Terrible drugs that people can get addicted to and yeah, we'll just we won't even think twice about alcohol, right? You know, we'll just go down to the store and buy it. We'll just go down the store and partake We'll just go to the whatever get together and say it's just a couple of drinks. No big deal It's a big deal the Bible condemns it you there in Isaiah chapter 5 you read verse 11 It says one and then the rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink That continue to until night to wine and flame them the harp and the vial the tabaret and pipe and wine are in their feasts Man, it sounds just like a bar. It sounds just like the club. It sounds just like st. Patrick's Day It sounds just like New Year's Day a good time That's a good time while you're while you're there with all your friends before it starts to Really get a hold on you until it gets to be about two three o'clock in the morning And you can't walk straight and you're sick and you the world's spinning It says the harp the vial the tabaret the pipe and wine are in their feasts But they regard not the work of the Lord neither the operations of their hands love his hands Therefore my people gone into captivity Why are they going into captivity because they regard not the work of his hands? Why don't they regard not the work of his hands because they're getting drunk You know the drunk only cares about one thing getting drunk. He's not worried about God You know that people that you look let's go down to the bar Seen here in Tucson and try to witness to the people that are bar hopping today You think they're gonna give you two seconds of their time? No, get out of the way your Bible thumper Trying to get to my whiskey. I'm trying to get to my beer. I'm trying to get to my liquor They don't want to hear about God. They don't want to hear about the works of his hands and what's gonna happen They're gonna go into captivity in this life They're gonna be potentially taken by the bondage of sin and held to it Maybe become drunks if they're not already and they might just disregard so God so much the point disregard every Opportunity they have to hear the gospel that after a life of drinking and partying they just go straight to hell That's a shame. It's sad It says there in verse 14 therefore health hell hath enlarged yourself and open her mouth without measured and Their glory and their multitude and their pomp and he that rejoices shall descend into it. Oh, they're rejoicing today They're having such a good time with all their music and their feasts and they're drinking but they regard not God They cast off the Lord. They don't listen to the preaching the Word of God and they descend into hell Let's go ahead and turn over to Proverbs chapter Proverbs chapter 20 And you don't know how far alcohol can take you You don't know how far being a drunk could take you I have known people that have been hooked to a lot of drugs But they never got off alcohol and let me tell you something they weren't any better of a person just because they got off coke They weren't any better person just because they quit smoking pot You know if they got clear of all of it It would've been pretty they probably would have been all right But they held on to that one thing that everyone's just okay with being a drunk. Yeah No, it's okay for you. Just sit down and have a 12-pack of Coors Light every night. Yeah, it's legal It's condoned as long as you're 21, you know, go to the casino. We'll give it to you for free No problem with it. How you getting home? We don't care But you know alcohol take you to some strange places if you're not careful I mean it can take you into the weirdest places. I was talking brother key for coming down here about About some I passed and I told him I was living down in the islands You know, I worked in a bar for a little while. I'm not proud of that. Wish I'd never done it again I'm not trying to get up here and glorify myself or you know Try to come across as I'm cool or something cuz I got some past I wish I'd never done it. Let me tell you something. I dodged a bullet Who knows where I could have ended up? Yep Fortunately, I saw a couple guys drink themselves to death in that bar and that's what's woke me up to it That's why I said this ain't the place for me. This isn't what I want for my life You know, it's there. I was there in that bar. And you know what? It's the truth and I'm just gonna say this because you know I want some of you to hear this and you kids need to pay attention Alcohol will get you around the worst kind of people there are You go in these bars. You are you're gonna be rubbing elbows with the worst kind of people sodomites, yeah sodomites Where do you think they hang out the bar? How do I know because I've been in these bars not not a sodomite bar I've been in a straight bar as they would call it. We're at least halfway normal people would show up But the sodomites they come in there too Yeah, and I've had them offer me a drink and I wasn't saved But I knew well enough right then what they were and what they were into. I said, no, thanks I'll go drink my own drink way over here But he was there They were there. What if I had taken that drink what they put something in that dream? Yeah, what could have happened? Listen as I read from Habakkuk chapter 2 you're there in Proverbs 20. I'm gonna read you from Habakkuk chapter 2 it says here won him that giveth his neighbor drink and that puttest thy bottle to him and Maketh him drunk and makest him drunk and also that thou may lookest on their nakedness This is a man if you paid attention here It's a man giving another man a drink so that he can look on his nakedness The Bible is being very delicate here about the situation, but there's nothing going on. That's good This is this is a guy who wants to do some pretty wicked stuff This is a guy who was into some really sick perverted things Trying to get somebody else drunk and take advantage of them. That's what happens I mean we hear all the time about you know The the date rape and all these other things that the the young lady goes out to the club Just trying to have a good time with the friends meet some cute guy. She thinks he's nice-looking He buys her a drink put something in it and she and she gets raped Terrible things happen people because of alcohol. I don't like talking about it, but it's reality And someone's got to talk about it because today. We're celebrating it people are getting up today And they're gonna go out and get drunk all day, and they're gonna wake up tomorrow go to work like nothing happened Well, hopefully this doesn't happen Hopefully something like this doesn't go on stuff like that goes on you think about these college campuses How much this kind of stuff goes on it goes on? Bible says there in Proverbs chapter 20 verse 1 wine is a monker bonker Strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise You know if you're here when I preach this morning You think I'm just over-the-top you think I'm just blowing up some steam up here you think whatever you know what there's nothing wrong And I'll go let me tell you something you're deceived this morning You're deceived if you think that wine isn't a bonker you're deceived this morning if you think that strong drink isn't raging That's the Bible says if you think there's nothing wrong with it. You're deceived man. You're not wise You need to wise up. You get some smarts. You know kids need to understand this Yeah, I preach this most of all for the kids They're the ones that need to hear this kind of preaching and be warned about the dangers of alcohol And here's some actual testimonies about what it can do to a person's life The Bible says there and go ahead and turn over to a proverbs chapter 31 proverbs chapter 31 Proverbs 31 Proverbs chapter 31 verse 4 the Bible says it is not for kings. Oh, let me well It is not for kings to drink wine nor for princes to drink some drink lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any that be afflicted any of the afflicted You know that's a big problem with we have with our rulers today That's a big problem that we have over in Washington. Is there a bunch of drunks? You wonder why our government is so corrupt you wonder why? Why people can just go in there and just make laws that are contrary to the Constitution that they can just take bribes Everybody's bribed everybody's corrupted up there that den of thieves called Washington, DC I'm telling you it's because they're a bunch of drunks they're a bunch of rulers that have been drinking and they have forgot the law and They pervert judgment of any of them than any of they that be afflicted That's what's going on up there Goes on it says in verse 6. It says give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish Also, here's where the Bible condones drinking right this is where it's okay I'm Bible says get strong drink to him that is ready to perish Yeah, go ahead get strong drink to the guy that's already wasted his life that it's already ruined his liver Ruined his testimony, you know lost every job he ever had has no money down and out in the gutter There's no hope for him. Just give him to drink. He's ready to perish anyway, put him out of his misery That's what it's saying. I Mean, it's that is that how you want to get to the place where it's okay to drink alcohol Well, I'm ready to perish. So Bible says it's okay I mean, it's not really what you want for your life. And of course you understand the Bible's not actually saying that this is okay He's just making the point that you know The only person that you should even think about giving alcohol somebody's ready to just die Give strong drink to him that is ready to perish and why to them that he of heavy hearts Let him drink and forget its poverty and remember his misery no more. I Don't want I don't want to not forget. I don't want to forget my misery. I don't want to have misery Yeah, that's that's that's the difference. I don't want to be a miserable person I wanted to sit there and drown my sorrows and alcohol, you know, I don't want to have a tear in my beard I don't I just don't want any tear and I don't want any beer either Now you say well that's that's applying to Kings only keep something in progress turn over to Revelation chapter 1 Well, it says it is not for Kings. It's not for Kings It's not for people who are in leadership people who have to have discernment be wise Revelation chapter 1 Oh chapter 1 You know, it's not for the pastor. He's the one that shouldn't drink. It's not for the dink in the Bible He says he shouldn't drink Well, let's see what the Bible says our Kings today. Who does God look down on earth and call Kings today? It says there in Revelation chapter 1 in verse 5 and from Jesus Christ who's the faithful witness and the first forgotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth on Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings and priests I know our God and his father, you know, if you're saved today God looks down and says you're a king It's right. He looks down and says you're a king you're royalty You are you are a ruler among my people So, let me ask you if someone says it's not for Kings it's not for you either Yeah, it's not just you know, it's not just off limits to the pastor. It's not just off limits to the deacon It's just not off limits to the rulers in our government. It's off limit to any born-again By a Bible believer any born-again child of God as God has made a king should not drink alcohol Period ever not even a drop. That's my thing right into that more You're still there in Proverbs chapter 20 Go ahead or Proverbs 31. I Want to read to you a little bit from 1st Thessalonians 5 It says ye are the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of night nor of darkness therefore Let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober Bible says that we as the children of light are to be sober You know, that means we're not supposed to be drinking alcohol You know, we should be in the house of God on Sunday not out on out there on st. Patty's Day Running around drinking or any other day of the week The Bible exhorts us over and over and over again as the children of light as kings unto our God to be sober It's not just for the pastor it's not just for those in leadership go ahead and turn over to first turn over at Titus Titus chapter 1 I love this book this chapter cuz it tells you exactly who it is That's supposed to be sober every single person is who it is The over and over again the Bible tells us be sober be sober be sober It says there in 1st Peter 5 be sober be vigilant Why because your adversary the devil has a roaring lion walk it about seeking whom he may devour If we're not sober, we're gonna get devoured the Bible says I Mean how much how many more stories do I have to tell before we realize that alcohol? No causes you not to be sober and opens you up to the attack of the devil Yeah, then you'll get devoured by the devil if you decide to be a drunk if you decide not to be driven So I'm not gonna get drunk all the time. Look one bad decision while you're drunk ruin your whole life You know when you think well, I can just drink a little bit, you know, I only do it every so often You know you get drunk one time you'll make one dumb decision that have ruined your whole life You know, we're all just one bad decision away. Well, I'm just gonna stop in the casino this one time I'm just gonna stop in this bar just this once it's been years. It's been decades since I've had a drop What's it gonna hurt? Nobody's watching. Oh, it's just that this one family gathering It's just one glass of wine and you know one thing leads to another one decision gets made and your life is just ruined Look at there in Titus. Let's see who's supposed to be sober Titus chapter 1 verse 7 the Bible says for a bishop must be blameless as a steward of God not self-willed not soon angry not Given to wine no striker not given to filthy lucre, but a lover of hospitality a lover of good men Sober so we see first of all that the bishop is to be sober, right? Look at verse Look at chapter 2 go to Titus chapter 2 Titus chapter 2 beginning of verse 1 but speak thou the things which become sound doctrine that the aged men be sober So we got two people down right the bishop and of course the aged men as well And if we were to go over to Timothy week or first Timothy We could read about where the deacon is supposed to be sober not given too much wine either So we got three people down right where we're we're plucking them off one by one No, we're taking them down these guys no drinking so far So if you're an aged man if you're the bishop or if you're the deacon no drinking so who else well Let's look at chapter 3 that the aged women likewise that they may be in behaviors become as holy holiness Not false accusers not given a much wine teachers of good things But they may teach the young women to be sober So really that's two right there because how are you gonna teach somebody something that you weren't doing yourself something you don't know yourself So the aged women are supposed to be sober and the young women too, yeah, let's say well who does that leave well the young men Well, let's look at verse 6 where it says young men likewise Exhored to be sober minded. That's everybody. That's every single one of us. We're all supposed to be sober There's nobody in this room that could say well, it's only for so-and-so or it's not for me. It's just for them We're all supposed to be sober. Yeah, we should all want to be sober. You know I enjoy being sober I enjoy having a clear mind I enjoy not having to worry whether or not that person that wants to buy me a drink is a flaming faggot Yeah, I was trying to take advantage of me I enjoy not having to wake up in the yard at my own house not knowing how I got there in my own vomit I enjoy not having to lay down in my bed and have the room spin around me And wish it would stop and spin and spin and spin I enjoy not having to wake up in the next morning and have a splitting headache and not knowing what happened the night before I enjoy that I enjoy being sober sober. Let me tell you something if you need alcohol have a good time You're a loser That's a fact. Yeah, if you can't have a good time without getting drunk. You're a boring person, and you're a loser And you can like it a little bit. That's a fact I Tell you what I've had some of the bet the best fun of the best relationships the best time with my friends Being sober being with sober people right and we can have just as good a time as anybody else. I've laughed harder I've enjoyed myself more and being sober than any than any other time in my life. You can't even compare it I don't care. What kegger we were at I don't care. What bonfire you were at I don't care what frat house you were in I don't care What club it was nowhere near as good as time of I've had with sober friends Because you know what it was guilt-free. Yeah, there was no remorse and there was no risk There was no risk involved You know brother brother keifer came down with me this morning And he got in the van he and his wife to come down here with me He didn't have to sit there and give me a breathalyzer I wonder whether or not I was gonna take us creating off the ten into some you know into some semi truck coming in the Other lane you know there was there wasn't did you feel a lot of risk this morning? What if I've been drunk You know and I still hey, I'm just it was last night. I still walk. It's wearing off. Yeah, I was drunk I'm not drunk right he probably if you know he's smart enough guy and say you know what I'll pass You know and you should and by the way we need about conversation faster, but anyway That's that's a huge hypothetical But hey I'm trying to make here is that We don't need to have alcohol to have a good time we don't have to do that We don't want to take the risk that's involved. Are you still there in? Proverbs chapter 31 Let me get over there myself. We'll wrap this thing up here I Don't know where I was going Oh 23 I'm sorry proverbs 23 Proverbs chapter 23 verse 39 Bible reads here who hath woe who hath sorrow who hath contentions I? Mean I don't want it. We're just getting into this these few verses here. I don't want any of this I don't want whoa. I don't want sir. Let me tell you something. I got enough sorrow from alcohol that I didn't even drink for my life You know I'm sure if we went around the room and wanted to get real personal We could probably a lot of people could chat the same testimony because after all we have children are growing up in homes We're just drinking going on we have people that are getting saved later in life that were probably drinking before they got saved You know and we don't want whoa I don't who has sorrow plenty of sorrow to go around from alcohol I remember that that friend of mine in high school that that died in that fiery wreck Going to his funeral and seeing the sorrow and the pain in His parents eyes. I remember the dad coming to the The kid who had thrown the party he was there at the funeral and saying we're gonna have a talk You know I need to get together. I don't I don't know what it went on in that conversation I could keep I can't imagine the guilt that you'd have to feel of Sitting there pouring alcohol down your friends going and then just watching him getting his truck and go down the road and get killed Who has sorrow who hath world who hath contentions? Who's the one that goes out and gets his teeth knocked out in the bar fight? Who's the one that goes out and gets a bottle busted over his head? He's drunk out in the alley and kicked in the ribs Who is that who hath babbling? I can't stand being around drunks anymore. I just can't stand it It's the most obnoxious group of people to ever be around. I want to get as far away from them as I can I remember delivering pizza when I got here I had to go to some hotel and there was a bunch of just some I don't know some stupid convention going on had to get an elevator with the couple of this just drunk couple Just blabbing on about the dumbest things and and talking to me than the third person Can hear everything we're saying Yeah, you tell me I'm standing right here Yeah, and they were talking about some filthy disgusting things. Yeah, but I can't repeat and I remember just Does this thing move any quicker and they just think they're so cool They just think that they that you know, they they're just ten feet tall and bulletproof and you just push them right over Who have babbling they don't even make sense You ever see anybody who's just so drunk they try to talk to me go you can't even tell what they're saying Yeah, I've seen people talk like come to the come to the door knock on it blah blah blah blah blah And they just literally pass out in front of me Hit their head on the corner of the wall land on their button and smack their head on the back on the ground I'm like, are you alive? You know, did you just kill yourself in front of me? Who went babbling who hath wounds without cause How did I get that wound? I don't remember again. I don't remember getting in that fight Oh, you should have seen yourself last night. You should have seen what you did Did you do you realize who it is you were talking to go to the biggest guy in the room? And you're trying to pick a fight. Yeah, you're gonna wake up now. How did I get that wound? That happens all the time who hath redness of eyes. You can tell who the drunk is. Can you it's obvious you seem a mile away They that tarry along at the wine they that go to seek mixed wine You say well, you know it says they that Terry at the wine. They that seek mixed wine. They're there too long This is just talking about people who drink too much. All right Well, you know what if you want to get that literal with the verse in this chapter Let's go to verse 31 and let's get literal Look not upon the wine when it is red. Yeah, so if you want to go drink your wine, you want to go drink your alcohol? That's fine. Just don't look at it Go go go to uh, you know wines and wines and and more or whatever the place is Go to your alcohol store go to go there and get your get your alcohol. Just remember we're taking the lens very literally now so when you pull up the first thing you need to do before you even go inside is get a Blindfold and put it around your head so you can't see then go in there find your favorite alcoholic beverage Remember blindfold on the whole time and then go to the cashier and Try to get there and and hopefully you pull out. Hope you're gonna pay by card because they're gonna say oh, yeah Yeah, that's a 20 Thanks, buddy You know, it's really the hundred they're gonna get you some bad change because you're blindfold remember cuz boxes can look at it So then take your alcohol and then put it, you know have them close in the bag So you can't see it go back to your car and now you can take the blindfold off So now you can drive home right cuz now you're not looking at it then when you get home You know make sure you don't drink it anywhere you have nice carpet Because when you get that wine open you got to put that Blindfold back on and now you got to pour that glass of wine and now look at it All right, and then you got to get to your lips and not look at it, right? Don't look at the wine Look the Bible is making the point here that if you shouldn't even look at it. What are you doing drinking? Yeah, that's right That's the point Don't even look at it look the other way and if you're one who has a problem with alcohol in the past if you're one Who's been given a drink in the past? I highly recommend you make a practice of this Yeah when you go to when you go to the store to get something and there and it's you got to either go the long way or Down the alcohol while go along man. Don't walk by it when you see the beer commercial click When you see the advertisement for the booze Look the other way don't look at it Look not upon the wine where they give it the color in the cup when it move it and so forth Why not because we're just a bunch of fuddy-duddies Because we're just much too goody two-shoes because we're just a bunch of self-righteous people We just want to think we're better than everybody else. Is that why? No, because at the last it bite it like a serpent and stink it like an adder What what if what if we took that literally? Like hey go ahead and drink your six-pack go ahead and drink your wine Just stick your stand in the snap of the sack of snakes when you're done and let it bite you I think a lot of us would probably pass if every time we drunk we had to get bit by a snake You probably like to be like that'd be a good, you know, that's that's what the a8 You know, that's that'd be a good solution for that. You want to sober these guys up quick You know just have a snake on hand at all times ready to just pounce on them anytime. They take a sip of alcohol There's a little way that out Yeah, you know have a diamondback rattler just waiting to just take a big old chunk out of them every time They want to drink it bite it like a serpent It's stinging like an adder thine eyes shall behold strange women and thine heart shall utter perverse things I've said things drunk that I would I've people were to come if you were to come in here and repeat things that I've said When I was under the influence of alcohol, I'd run screaming out of this room like a little girl I've never shown my face again. It's that embarrassing the things people do when they're not sober. Yep. It's a shame You'll utter perverse things you'll behold strange women Yea thou shalt be and by the way, it says strange women doesn't mean you know, the goth chick It's just talking about a wife. That isn't yours. Yeah, that's what I'm about. You'll go out and you'll commit adultery You'll go out and you'll commit fornication When you're drunk, you're you're a lot less inhibited to do things you would never otherwise do when you're drunk Yea thou shalt be a sea that lieth down in the midst of the sea or a sea that lieth upon the top of a mast I Mean you imagine that just being in a sea on the top of a ship's mast That's what it's like when you get drunk You got you got your kids want to know you get curious about what alcohol is like What it's like when you get drunk just go out to sea Okay and climb up that's mast of a ship and and and just have somebody go out in this in a storm You know or better yet Let's be more practical go down to the playground and get on the merry-go-round And just have dad or mom just spin that thing until you're just clutching on for dear life And then get off and that sensation where you can't walk and you're dizzy. Yep, and you just fall on the ground You you just experience what it's like to be a drunk. That's what it is Every kid in here is going. What's the why? Why would people want that you know if I spin my kids around my boy loves it He'll lay on the floor, and I'll just spin him on the floor like that And then he'll try to get up and walk Well, he's a he of course. He likes it cuz he's just a little boy. He's a dummy He doesn't know any better. He's a child That's what these people are like they want to go out and get drunk and experience this Let me just go out get drunk to the points that I can't walk I Really like that if that feels good. You're an idiot. Yeah, like a little two-year-old likes to get spun around before yeah They have stricken me that'll say I was not sick. They have beat me. I felt it not when shall I wait I will seek again again They have beat me, and I felt it not you know that's that that's the classic bar fight right there That's like that's that's the guy who gets drunk and thinks he could take on six guys in the room Yeah, because he can't feel anything I've had friends like that. It's there. You know they're the ones that wake up with bloody noses black eyes and broken bones And they say I felt it not you will the next day You'll what you'll feel it later So we see you know I'm not gonna Rattle my cage too long here about alcohol But I wanted to preach this sermon because the fact is we are living in a nation of drunks And we're living in a culture that promotes the drinking of alcohol We're living in a nation where you know at least at least in the past you could say about st. Patty's Day at least it was quasi Christian at least it had some kind of religious connotation at least it was like Something remotely wholesome. I mean yeah, it was a false gospel that st. Patrick was promoting But at least he wasn't going over there throwing beans on him. You know and and trying to get him drunk You know and dying the river green Drinking green beer you know that wasn't that wasn't it You know at least it was somewhat wholesome, but today. It's it's descended way beyond that Today it's not they don't even know who st. Patrick is right. They don't even know why they're celebrating it They just know it's another day It's just an excuse for them to get drunk on a Sunday instead of a Saturday right they will say Patrick's Day You know I gotta wear green so nobody pinches me, and I gotta go out and get drunk because the st. Patrick's Day, so that's the sermon this morning That's the warning about alcohol it has real effects on real people And that's why we need to stay as far away from it as possible. Let's go ahead and pray. I mean father again Thank you for the stern warning from the Word of God That tells us about the dangers of alcohol that we don't have to go out and find out for ourselves Just how bad it really is That we can listen to others who have suffered because of it that we can go to your book and we can read it and we can see all these warnings and And what it leads to and Lord even the actual physical effects of what it's like of being on top of a mast Of being beaten and not and not feeling it Lord I pray that there would be a generation that rise up even in this room They can have that testimony that they have never once tasted alcohol What a great testimony to have that they could spare themselves the sorrow and the suffering Lord help us as parents Lord if even if we have in the past been those that have drinked it to raise up that Generation and to be that godly example of soberness and of righteousness we ask in Christ's name. Amen All right, well, we'll go ahead and sing one last song Remember which one it is we're gonna see We're gonna sing song number 183 Oh How I love Jesus