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Man, the title of my sermon this morning is Arguments for Drinking Alcohol Debunked. Arguments for drinking alcohol debunked. Many Christians today make a lot of arguments that drinking alcohol is biblical, it's fine to drink alcohol just so long as you don't get drunk, it's okay to drink, social drinking, moderate drinking, whatever, but I'm going to preach to you and show you from the Bible that these arguments don't hold water and that actually we should abstain from alcohol. We shouldn't be purchasing and drinking alcoholic beverages. Now the number one argument that I want to debunk is of course the one that we hear the most which is, well the Bible doesn't say not to drink alcohol, it only says not to get drunk and we've all heard this a bunch of times, it only says, it just says, well all it says is just not to get drunk. Well that's not all it says. You have 31,000 some verses in the Bible and that's not all it says. They want to single out some verses that tell us not to be drunk but actually what the Bible says frequently is to be sober and it also says a lot of other things. Let me show you some of the things that it says. Look down at 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 6, it says, therefore let us not sleep as do others but let us watch and be sober and you say, well sober there, that's got nothing to do with alcohol, that's just telling you to be serious. Okay what's the next verse say? For they that sleep, sleep in the night and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. So apparently be sober is talking about alcohol because when he says watch, the word watch means to stay awake. So what's the opposite of watching, sleeping. What's the opposite of being sober, being drunk, right? So he says let us watch and be sober, they that sleep, sleep in the night, they that be drunken are drunken in the night but let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. Flip back to Proverbs 23, while you're turning to Proverbs 23, let me read you some other scriptures. Titus 2 2 says that the aged men be sober. Titus 2 4, that they may teach the young women to be sober. Titus 2 6, young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 1 Peter 1 13, wherefore gird up the loins of your mind and be sober. So the Bible doesn't just say just totally stupid drunk, just totally just wasted, well as long as you're not just totally drunk you're fine, wrong. The Bible says to be totally sober, be sober. So it's not enough just well I can still walk in a straight line. You know I can still say the alphabet backwards or I can put my finger on my nose like this. Hey, that's not the standard, God wants us to gird up the loins of our mind. What does it mean to gird up the loins? It's talking about tightening things up, cinching things down and you know what alcohol is doing the exact opposite to your mind, it's loosening it, relaxing it, and hey what's up man. And by the way, smoking pot is the same way. If the Bible tells you to be sober, that includes no pot. Well it just says not to get drunk. No, it says be sober, that means don't smoke pot, don't drink alcohol, don't do anything that's causing your mind to get slack. We ought to be girding up the loins of our mind. The Bible says be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Look at Proverbs 23 and let's see if the Bible just only says don't get drunk, that's all it says, right? Verse 29, 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 at verse 31, 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 stingeth like an adder, thine eyes shall behold strange women and thy heart shall utter perverse things. Now let's just stop and use some logic. I want you to put on your thinking caps today. You know it's amazing how fundamental Baptists are often accused of being dumb or not intellectual or people who believe the Bible are somehow simpletons, but you know what? Let me just show you that we can actually use intellect and logic and reason and you know what we're going to come away with? A position against alcohol. Now let's see what the Bible says. Put aside a preconceived idea for a moment and let's use a little logic here. Look not thou, verse 31, look not thou upon the wine when it is red. Now stop right there. Let's use logic. That means that there's a type of wine that we can look upon. I mean this, right? Don't look at it when it's red. So when it's not red, he's saying, you could look at it, am I right? So there's a drink here, here we have one drink, don't look at this drink, but this drink over here, he's not telling you not to look at it and they're both called wine. Is everybody following? Two drinks called wine, one of them we don't look at, one of them we do look at, but every time the Bible says wine, it's alcoholic beverage. Two drinks, both called wine, one of them we don't look at it, one of them he's not telling us. So he's specifying a type of wine that we shouldn't look at, everybody got it? What is that type of wine? What are the characteristics? He said, when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. So he gives these three characteristics and says, don't look at the wine when it's these things, when it's red, when it gives its color in the cup, when it moves itself aright. So basically, the first two of those both have to do with the color because giving the color in the cup is just talking about it having a serious color to it. And then the second one is talking about it moving around. What does this mean? Well, let's start with the when it is red, okay? Here's an article I pasted from on a wine appreciation website. And on this wine website, here's what they said. These are experts on wine. Many people believe, are you listening? Many people believe that red wine comes from red grapes and white wine comes from white grapes. While this is usually the case, it is for a different reason than most would assume. The juice from almost all grapes is actually clear. Are you listening? The juice from almost all grapes is actually clear. So if grape juice is clear, then what makes red wine red? Most of the color in wine actually comes from the skin contact during fermentation, okay? Also known as maceration. So did you get that? When it's squeezed out of red grapes, it comes out clear. Where does the redness come from? A process during what? Oh, yeah. And this is not a fundamental Baptist website. This is a wine appreciation website that says most of the color in red wine comes from skin contact during fermentation, also known as maceration. The skins of the grapes contain most of the pigment and during fermentation, a lot of this color is imparted into the wine. Look, if you don't believe me, go down to the store today and buy a cluster of red grapes. And you know what's going to happen? When you buy that cluster of red grapes, it's going to have this little white kind of film on the grape. Who knows what I'm talking about, that white kind of cloudy stuff on the outside? That is yeast. That is what causes the fermentation. That's the natural yeast. Of course, today's wines, they use basically like industrial yeast that's added and everything. But basically, if you take a grape, and when I was a kid, I used to, kids do strange things with their food. I used to sit and peel my grapes. Who has peeled grapes before, right? And you start it with your teeth and you kind of peel it back, peel it back, and then you just eat it without the peel and then you just eat the peel separate. Why do kids do these things? I don't know, but they do. I've done it literally hundreds of times. And you know what you'll find when you peel the red grape, you know what you're going to find? The inside's not red. And that's where all the juice is. The skin is just a dry layer of skin. And the wet, moist meat inside the typical red grape is clear. So it's the fermentation process when it soaks in the skins covered in yeast, that's where you're picking up the color. So now it makes total sense when God says, look not on the wine when it's red. He's talking about the wine that's fermented because that's how it got red in the first place. So it says also on the same website, it says, so next time you're out to dinner with friends, come armed with this fun fact. And if they don't believe you, so here let me change this. So next time you're preaching a sermon, come armed with this fun fact. And if they don't believe you, tell them to order a glass of champagne and then ask the server what grapes go into champagne. And you'll probably be surprised to hear Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, two red grapes, come out of the server's mouth. So he's going to explain to them that champagne, which is white wine, comes from red grapes. And it says this is definitive proof that one can make white wine with red grapes, okay? So that covers the when it's red, we're talking about fermentation. What about the moving itself aright, moving itself around? Here's from another article about winemaking. For most of the history of wine, winemakers did not know the mechanism that somehow converted sugary grape juice into alcoholic wine. They could observe the fermentation process. So stop for a second. We're talking about olden days before we understood the science behind fermentation, right? In old days, most of the history of wine, winemakers didn't know the mechanism. But they could observe the fermentation process, which was often described as boiling, seething, or the wine being troubled, troubled, sort of like the troubling of the water in John Chapter 5, or being troubled due to release of carbon dioxide that gave wine a frothy bubbling appearance. This history is preserved in the etymology of the word yeast itself, which essentially means to boil. So throughout history, thousands of years of mankind, people didn't understand the microorganisms that were causing fermentation. But they said, well, you know what? It's kind of a seething, troubling, almost looks like it's boiling because it's bubbling. But it's not hot. It's just bubbling because these microorganisms, just like we breathe in oxygen and we breathe out carbon dioxide, microorganisms do the same thing. So these tiny little microorganisms are off-gassing what? Carbon dioxide. That's what provides the carbonation. Now, obviously, if you get a soda, they just added carbon dioxide and some artificial this and artificial that. But in actual soft drinks or alcoholic beverages that are actually fermented, you would have real carbon dioxide being off-gassed by the organisms that are producing this. So if we just look at this logically, what is God getting after here in Proverbs 23 when he's saying, hey, there's a certain wine that we shouldn't look at. Which one? The one that's red and it gives us color in the cup and it's moving itself right. Those are both references to fermentation. What he's basically saying is don't look at the wine when it's fermented because the wine that is fermented is going to cause you to behold strange women. It's going to cause you to utter and say perverted things. That's what the Bible says. Well, all the Bible says is just don't get drunk. Really? Because the Bible's telling you not to look at it. So how can you say, well, all it's saying is don't get drunk if it says don't look at it. That's more than just don't get drunk. Well, I can drink one glass, two glass. Really? Are you going to do it with your eyes closed? Because God said don't even look at it. That's what the Bible actually says. He says this type of wine is going to cause you to do these things. How about Leviticus chapter 10? You don't have to turn there. Turn to Isaiah 65 if you would. Leviticus 10 verse 9 says do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee, when you go into the tabernacle of the congregation lest you die. So God tells the priests that if they drink wine or strong drink when they go into the tabernacle, he will kill them. And he said don't drink it. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations that you may put a difference between holy and unholy and between unclean and clean. So he's telling them don't drink. He didn't say, hey, don't get drunk. Drink it in moderation. He's saying don't drink it at all because any of it that you drink is going to impair your ability to differentiate between clean, unclean, holy, unholy. Why would God in the New Testament want us to be impaired to where we can't tell the difference between clean and unclean and holy and unclean? That makes no sense. So there's a lot more to the Bible's teaching on this than just don't get drunk. But let's move on. I've got a lot of other arguments to debunk. The second argument that you'll hear a lot is wine means wine. Wine means wine. You know, the Bible says wine and I believe it. I'm going to go with what the Bible says and wine means wine. And what these people are doing is they're failing to acknowledge the fact that words change in meaning over time. So that in 1611, the word wine would not mean the exact same thing in 2020 that the word wine means. That's why we have to let context define words for us in the Bible. And anyone who just honestly approaches the Bible is going to realize that wine in the Bible is not always booze. Now in 2020, if we say wine in the United States of America, we're talking booze. Am I right? Look down at Isaiah 65 verse 8 and tell me if this is booze. Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith destroy it not for a blessing is in it, so will I do for my servant's sakes that I may not destroy them all. Now hold on a second. This is talking about new wine being in a cluster of grapes. No one would think that a cluster of grapes has booze in it. Otherwise you'd have to show your ID when you buy grapes at the store. And by the way, this is the same ridiculous argument that you'll hear the pro drinking crowd say. Well, juice wasn't invented until the 1800s. These are the same people that tell you pants were invented in the 1700s. Isn't it amazing how the people who built the pyramids and Stonehenge couldn't figure out juice and pants? They built the aqueducts, you know, but they can't figure out juice or pants. You know, they just say, well, back then everything was booze. Now the stupidity of this argument is that literally any drink with sugar in it has trace amounts of alcohol in it. Even grape juice, apple juice, Coca Cola, any drink that has any sugar in it is going to have trace amounts of alcohol. It could never get you drunk in a million years. Now here's the, you say, where do you draw the line? Well you know what, in the United States of America where they draw the line on what's considered an alcoholic beverage and nonalcoholic beverage is that if it has less than a half percent of alcohol, it's considered nonalcoholic. Why? Because if something has less than a half a percent of alcohol, you're never going to get drunk. It's not impairing you at all. Your body will metabolize that. You won't even notice it. Okay. That's why I think it's fine to drink kombucha. You know, kombucha has a little bit of alcohol in it. It's under a half percent. That's why you don't have to show your ID to buy kombucha. Okay. When we were in Germany, everybody's refrigerator in Germany was like the size of a camping or like a dormitory refrigerator or an office fridge. You know the type of fridge you'd have in your office or something that's like this big? Well in Germany, a lot of people, that was their fridge for their house. You know, in America, we've got like just, you know, we have two of them. You know, if you have a big family, we, no really, we have two of them because when you got a big family, you got to have two fridges. But I'm telling you, you go to Germany, they have this little like, you know, tiny little office fridge, dormitory fridge or whatever, and you're like, yeah, that'll work for my bedroom. You know. But anyway, so they end up storing a lot of things on the counter that we would put in the fridge. They got their eggs on the counter. They got their butter on the counter. And they even sell milk in these like ultra pasteurized, ultra high temperature pasteurization UHT milk and it's in these cardboard tetra packs and they leave it in the cupboard until they open it. And they only have to refrigerate it after it's open. All right. It doesn't taste very good by the way. But anyway, here's the thing. When we're in Germany, guess what, all the fruit juice, all just is left on the counter. So if they have apple juice, grape juice, whatever, they'll just leave it on the counter and those of you that are from Europe, you know, and you know what, you drink it a couple days later, three days later, five days later, you drink it and guess what? It starts to taste with a little bit of a vinegarish kind of flavor to it, a little bit of a slight fermented flavor. But you know what? You're not going to get drunk drinking apple juice or grape juice off the counter. Okay. So obviously, yeah, there are going to be trace amounts of alcohol need, but fruit juice wasn't invented until the 18th. So I guess when Joseph is talking to the cup bearer of Pharaoh, remember the chief butler and the chief butler squeezing grapes into Pharaoh's cup? That was his instant booze, which is like, look, I've seen some of these alcohol apologists that literally said, you know, if you don't pasteurize juice, it'll become alcohol within minutes. Within minutes. But again, this is ridiculous because the amounts of alcohol would be so tiny, it will never get you drunk, it would never be considered an alcoholic beverage. Otherwise, you know what you'd have? You'd have a bunch of wild teenagers going down to sprouts and getting some organic grapes, squeezing them into a drink just, you know, 59 minutes later, it's like, woo, you know, we're going to get drunk and park. You'd be having to pay for it and show your license to get grapes. Folks, this is nonsense. So these arguments don't hold water. And when they say, well, but when the Bible says wine, it means wine. Okay. Well, how about this? Song of Solomon, chapter two. Song of Solomon, chapter two, you say, you say, wine means wine. No, in 1611, the word wine is referring to any kind of juice, whether it's fermented or not fermented. That's why he has to specify, well, don't look on the wine when it's red, when it gives its color in the cup, when it moves itself right. The English word wine simply comes from the word vine, right? It's the fruit of the vine is basically making a drink called wine. Now today, that word only has a connotation of an alcoholic beverage. Whereas in 1611, it's being used for all kinds of juice. If you'd be honest, you'd realize that, number one, when you see it's in the cluster, which is in a grape, and number two, have you noticed the absence of the word juice in the Bible? Because are you telling me that just 100 and some references to wine and not a single reference to juice? Wouldn't it make more sense that the word wine is covering both? Because obviously, we know people are drinking juice in the Bible, like when stuff's just being squeezed directly into the cup, for example, okay? So look at Song of Solomon, because you say, wine means wine. Okay. Look at Song of Solomon, Chapter 2, Verse 12. Let's apply the same logic. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds has come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our life. Turtle means turtle, you liberal. So I guess when, in Leviticus Chapter 12, it tells you to offer for the sin offering, if you're not able to bring a lamb, then you bring two turtles, because turtle means turtle. So I guess, you know, Mary with baby Jesus is going to show up with a couple amphibians to offer for a burnt sacrifice unto the Lord. And pray tell me, who heard the turtles singing this spring? You know, you play a game with kids, you're like, what does the cow say? Moo. You know, what does the sheep say? What does the horse say? Okay, what does the turtle say? Turtles don't sing, but you know what does sing? A turtle dove. Turtle dove. Well, guess what? This is just a word that has changed in meaning, a turtle used to be short for turtle dove. But if you said turtle in 2020, is somebody going to say, now are we talking the bird or are we talking the amphibian? Turtle is automatically the amphibian, 100% of the time. It's the same thing with wine. So you can't just stick your head in its head, just buh. Wine means wine, wine means wine. No. Okay. In 2020, that word has taken on a different connotation than what it has in the Bible. And the way you prove that is by looking up every time wine is mentioned in the Bible and you'll see times when it's for sure not alcohol like when it's in a grape on a cluster. Okay. And other examples we could point to. So the wine means wine doesn't hold up. When we say wine today in America, we're talking about a drink that in the United States typically has an alcoholic content between 13.5% to 15%. Very high alcohol content. Beer is like 3% alcohol, if that gives you a reference. Kombucha, less than a half percent. Grape juice left out on the counter, well, it's going to be way less than that. Okay. So here in, now in Europe, they drink wine that's called medium alcohol wine, which is 11.5 to 13.5%. But in the US, the most common wine is medium high alcohol, which is 13.5% to 15% and so forth. So, okay. So we're debunking these arguments. Number one, we said, well, the Bible only says not to get drunk. Sorry, the Bible says a lot more than that. Okay. I could do a whole sermon on everything else the Bible says besides that, be sober, don't look at it, you know, don't drink it, it's going to cause you to not be able to tell clean from unclean and all these different things. Number two, wine's wine. Well, turtle's turtle. That's a dumb argument. The word has changed in meaning and that can be demonstrated. Number three. So you're saying that people got drunk on Welch's grape juice? Oh, so when the Bible talks about wine, it means grape juice. So they're getting drunk on grape juice. Now, this is such a dumb straw man argument because literally no one believes that. Literally no one believes that every time the Bible says wine, it's talking about grape juice. So this is just the most classic straw man. Any time you hear someone making this argument, it's showing that they either have no understanding of logic or they're just basically being a troll. They're just trolling you, they're being a smart out. This is not coming from the mouth of any intelligent person. Any person that says, so you're saying they got drunk drinking grape juice is basically just saying like I'm an idiot. Because you know what? Literally no one believes that. You could find the most straight laced fundamental Baptist on this planet and he will not say that. So that's just a straw man and all you're doing when you say that is just making yourself look stupid. Because literally no one believes that. Okay. What, I'll say it again, wine in the Bible means any kind of juice, whether fermented or unfermented. So obviously it's many times referring to an alcoholic beverage. Other times it's not. It's somebody who says, well, they're just making full of themselves is all they're doing. Number four argument that you'll hear, well, why would grape juice make man's heart glad? You get happy when you drink grape juice? Okay, go to Psalm 104. Grape juice makes you happy? You get joy from drinking juice? Yes! I do. Now here's the thing. Let me prove this from the Bible though. Let's see what the Bible says in Psalm 104 verse 14. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle and herb for the service of man that he may bring forth food out of the earth. Verse 15. And wine that maketh glad the heart of man and oil to make his face to shine and bread which strengthen the man's heart. So I bet when you eat bread, it makes your heart stronger, hmm? Folks, what's mentioned in the same breath? Wine, oil, and bread. Is this alcoholic bread? Is this some kind of a drug that they're putting on their face when they put oil on their face? Some kind of a drug that gets them high through their skin? Folks, normal people rejoice in the simple things in life like, look, hey, we get glad just with buttered bread. Fresh, hot loaf of bread smeared with a generous amount of butter? We take a bite of that, that's how we get high. That's how normal people, they are made glad. They do enjoy. And so if it's mentioned in the same list with food and wine and oil, you know what it's talking about? It's just talking about luxuries of life. Having oil to anoint yourself is a luxury. And guess what? Drinking fruit juice in the ancient world was a luxury because they don't have a machine. Think about how hard it is to make juice without a machine. Even with the machine, it's hard. Think about those citrus juicers where you actually have to do the work yourself. You know what I'm talking about where you cut the orange in half, you put it on there and you shove down on it. And many times you're using fruit that has been cultivated with modern technology to where it just has way more juice than a natural heirloom type orange would have. But even with oranges that are just brimming with juice, you sit there and you're just like working at it, working at it, you end up just throwing away like so much pulp and fiber and I'd like to see how hard it is for you to get 8 ounces, 16 ounces of juice using a hand expressor. It's a lot of work. Back then, they had slaves literally stepping on the grapes, right? So this is like manual labor. They're having to sit there and smash the grapes and do other stuff or squeezing it by hand and use... They didn't have sophisticated machines. They had a wine press, you know, similar to that principle behind that citrus juicer where they're having to smash it and they're having to do all these things. They didn't just throw it into the Jack LaLanne juicer, it's like... So they had to work really hard at it. First of all, the produce is going to be expensive because they're wasting so much because, you know, if you eat it, you get everything. You eat the grape, you eat the orange, you're getting everything. Only the rich could throw away, you know, most of the fruit and just keep the juice only so they can indulge in that. That's why wine in the Bible is often a symbol of wealth and status and money, okay? That's not referring to the alcohol side of it. It's just referring to the fact that fruit juice is going to be expensive. So, oh, you're saying that, you know, juice makes man's heart glad drinking the... Well, what is the difference between that and saying that bread is making his heart glad or strengthened? In fact, listen to this from... Stay there in Psalms, but listen to Zechariah 9.17. For how great is his goodness and how great is his beauty, corn shall make the young men cheerful and new wine the maids. First of all, it says new wine, not old wine. New wine is going to make the maids cheerful. Oh, they're getting cheerful on grape juice? Well, let me ask you this. Are the young men getting cheerful on corn? You know, last time I checked, I don't see fraternities down at ASU, you know, getting out the corn on the cob and it's like, hey, man, let's party, toga party with corn on the cob. Because guess what? Your mind is warped if you think that joy, merriment and fun comes from a bottle of booze. Guess what? To normal people, we just enjoy looking at the sunset, taking a walk in the park, walking through the forest, sitting by a stream, going swimming, eating buttered bread, drinking juice. These things actually do bring joy and gladness to our hearts. We do enjoy corn, okay? But I guess when they read this, look at Psalm 104.14, he causes the grass to grow for the cattle. I guess they just assume that's marijuana. For the cattle to be enjoying it, they must be grazing in a marijuana field. And the herb for the service of mind, the herb. Folks, if you read the Bible with a corrupt mind, you're the one who's putting that into the text. You're putting booze in. Oh, well, if they're enjoying it, it must be booze because that's all I enjoy. What does that say about you? It's not saying anything about the Word of God, it's saying something about your heart. If you read the Bible with a wicked heart, you know what you're going to do? You're just going to find all the arguments to condone of polygamy, you're going to find the arguments to enslave your fellow man, you're going to find the arguments for getting drunk because you're just seeing what you want to see. But if you actually look at what Scripture is teaching, it isn't there. Argument number five, well alcohol is a blessing. Alcohol is a blessing from God. Well again, the new wine is found in the cluster and one say it, destroy it not for a blessing is in it. The blessing is in grape juice because it's in a cluster of a grape. I don't see how anybody could look at Isaiah 65.8 and say that's booze in a cluster because we need to let the ATF know. They need to start regulating grapes because it's filled with booze, okay? Go to Genesis 9, let's see if alcohol is a blessing. Genesis chapter 9, this is the first mention of alcohol in the Bible. In fact, it's the first mention of the word wine in the Bible. First time the word wine is used in the Bible is Genesis 9. Let's check out the blessing of alcohol. Genesis 9, 20, and Noah began to be a husbandman and he planted a vineyard and he drank of the wine and was drunken and he was uncovered within his tent. So notice, the first time alcohol is consumed in the Bible, the immediate result is nakedness. The immediate result is sin, perversion, wickedness, cursing. Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brethren without, verse 23, and Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father and their faces were backward and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done unto him and he said, Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. This is not a blessing, is it? This is horrible. Go to Genesis 14, let's look at the second mention of the word wine. So the first time the word wine is used is Genesis 9. The second time the word wine is used is Genesis 14, verse 18, and the Bible reads, And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. Now we're going to come back to this bread and wine, but I'm going to prove to you this is not alcohol. This is actually the good wine that Melchizedek is bringing, I'm going to prove that to you, the bread and wine. Now go to Genesis 19, let's look at the third mention. Third mention, and let's see if alcohol is the blessing. Look at Genesis 19, verse 32. Come on, let's make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he perceived not when she lay down nor when she arose, and it came to pass on the morrow that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesterday night with my father, let's make him drink wine this night also, and go thou in and lie with him that we may preserve seed of our father, and they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him, and he perceived not when she lay down nor when she arose. Look, these are some of the worst incidents in the Bible that we're looking at, just right out of the gate. I mean, we haven't even left the book of Genesis, and the two most horrific things so far are what? Alcohol related. Isn't that interesting that we're just reading the first book of the Bible, and two of the most sordid, wicked, just disgusting incidents that we could point to are both alcohol related. That's not a blessing. This is a curse. Okay. Now, let's look at Genesis 27, 28 and get the fourth mention. Genesis 27, 28, so just to review, Genesis 9 was the horrible scene with Ham the pervert. Genesis 14, we have Melchizedek bringing bread and wine, which is a good example. Genesis 19, we see more drunkenness with incest and perversion, and then Genesis 27, we see another positive example in Genesis 27, 28, therefore, God give thee of the dew of heaven and fatness of the earth and plenty of corn and wine. This isn't about booze. It's about plenty of corn and wine. Again, corn and wine are just talking about wealth is what that's talking about, because when the Bible says corn, it's referring to grain. So it's referring to planting crops and growing grain. It's basically a reference to the sedentary life of raising vineyards, raising crops, and being able to eat the corn and drink the wine and sit under your vine and sit under your fig tree and live in your house and have peace and prosperity and stability. That's what the Bible is talking about in these. Now, let me prove to you, go if you would to Matthew 26. Let me prove to you that the bread and wine that Melchizedek brought in Genesis 14 is not, he didn't show up with a keg. He didn't show up with a box of cheap wine from CVS or something so he could all get drunk, all right? And this brings me to my sixth argument that the pro-drinking crowd will use, well communion needs to be done with, quote, real wine. We've heard this, right? Hey, when we do the Lord's Supper, we do communion, it needs to be with real wine, the real stuff, yeah, not this Baptist version of communion. First of all, why would I listen to the Catholics and Protestants about communion when they've been screwing up communion for the last well over a thousand years? Why would I listen to anything they tell me about communion when they've completely screwed up communion? Because the Catholics are saying you're eating the literal body and blood of Jesus. And the Lutherans are halfway saying that same thing, okay? You know what? The Lutherans and Catholics are calling communion a sacrament and saying that it's a means of grace that's going to somehow get you salvation or get you forgiveness of sins or however they spin their version of transubstantiation or consubstantiation or whatever where they say that it has to do with salvation, that it's getting you to heaven or something like that, okay? Not only that, but the Catholic Church 90% of the time throughout history has not even served any wine to anyone except the priest himself because they gave what's called communion in one kind, they would give the bread only. That's why many people who grew up Catholic could attest the fact that when they went to church, they never tasted any of the wine. All they did was get a wafer put on their tongue only, okay? And these are the same people that aren't breaking bread for communion, like this is my body which is broken for you. They're giving you a preformed square or round wafer. And then they're doing the last supper in the morning. So these people are, they're doing an evening meal in the morning. It's supposed to be broken bread. They give you the whole thing. You're supposed to get the bread and wine. They're only giving you the bread. It's supposed to be grape juice and unleavened bread and they're giving you booze. And then they're telling you it's giving you salvation. Is there anything that they don't get wrong about it? They got everything wrong. But yeah, let's listen, yeah, yeah, but they're doing the real communion, the real stuff. Okay, well let me ask you this. Can you give me chapter and verse that even states that Jesus, that even uses the word wine about the last supper or communion? Because they're, well, wine is the real wine. It doesn't even say wine. Does it say wine in Matthew? Does it say wine in Mark? Does it say wine in Luke? Nope. Look what the Bible says. Look down at your Bible. Matthew 26, 29, but I say unto you, I will not henceforth drink of this wine. Yeah, the real wine, the real stuff, yeah. Is that what it says? It says, but I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine. Oh man, that's got to be alcohol. Fruit of the vine? Fruit? Case closed. It's booze. Folks, it doesn't even use the word wine. It uses the word fruit of the vine. So what's being emphasized? The fact that it's alcohol or the fact that it's fruit juice? What does it actually say in your text? What does the Bible actually say? Does everybody see that? You say, well, it must be in Mark. Okay, go to Mark 14. And while you're turning to Mark, I'll read for you from Luke 22, 18. For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. Mark 14, 25, verily I say unto you, I will not drink any more of the fruit of the vine until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. And let me tell you why it would be insane and ridiculous to be using an alcoholic beverage to represent the blood of Christ, which that should already just sound blasphemous on its face. But let me explain to you why. Because what is it that makes bread leavened? What do you put in bread, you bakers out there? What do you put in bread to make it leavened? What do you put in there? And what do you put in grape juice to make it fermented? Hello, is anybody home? It's the exact same thing that is leavening the bread is fermenting the juice. Why would he say? Well, be sure to use unleavened bread to represent the sinless body of Christ. But let's just have his blood be full of sin and booze. It's ridiculous. You know what? If you're going to use an alcoholic beverage in communion, if you're going to take communion and go down and buy your Zinfandel and Chardonnay and Chablis or whatever you want to do, if you want to go down there and get your Merlot and Pinot, I don't know. I don't even know. But if you're going to go, the only reason I know someone is because I live in a neighborhood. I used to live on Chablis Circle and every street in the neighborhood was like turn on Zinfandel and then you take a left on Chablis. That's the only reason I've even heard of a lot of these. But let me tell you something. If you're going to use that, well, you know what? You might as well go down and get some Wonder Bread while you're at it. You might as well go get some Dave's Killer Bread while you're at it. Dave's Killer Bread, white bread done right. Get the real stuff. Because you know what? If you're going to leaven the fruit of the vine, you might as well leaven the bread. But guess what? It's supposed to be an unleavened bread and an unleavened fruit of the vine because the whole point is it's representing the sinless blood of Christ. And how can you sit there and say, give me the real wine? It's not even in the scripture. In Matthew, in Mark, it's careful to say the fruit of the vine. Just so there'd be no misunderstanding. Give me a break. That's a ridiculous argument. And so obviously when Melchizedek shows up bringing bread and wine, guess what he's bringing? He's bringing that which is unleavened. Now, does it say that the bread's unleavened? No. But it's obvious that he's foreshadowing the Last Supper of Jesus Christ. Any biblical scholar or theologian would even admit, even they're smart enough to understand, that when he shows up there, everyone would agree he's foreshadowing the Last Supper of Jesus Christ. He's foreshadowing the blood and body of Christ being sacrificed. That's obvious to anyone. And so therefore, it's the fruit of the vine that they drank. And he even says, folks, are you in Mark? Look down at Mark, folks. Folks, I'm telling you, people who want to drink, you say, how can they be missing all this? Because they put on these I-want-to-drink glasses, and they see what they want to see. But what does the Bible actually... I mean, when they read this, they read booze, even though it isn't there. Look at Mark 14, 25, verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day that I drink the really good stuff that's well-aged, and it's a really good year. He says, I'll drink it new. I'll drink it new in the kingdom of God. What's he drinking, new or old stuff? New. This fruit of the vine. I'm going to drink this fruit of the vine again when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. Excuse me, Jesus, why aren't you drinking it new right now? He's drinking it new right now. He's drinking it new now, and he's going to drink it new then. Anyone who's just actually approaching this verse with logic and common sense, Mark 14, 25, would say that he's drinking grape juice, unless they just have a booze agenda or the turtle is a turtle type of a logic. Turtle is a turtle is a turtle. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 14, Deuteronomy chapter 14. So I'm trying to hit all the... It's hard to squeeze all this into one sermon because there's so many arguments that people will try to throw at you because they want to drink. It's that simple. They want to drink. You know, use no longer water. Drink no longer water, but use a little wine. Notice he's not saying, hey, stop drinking fruit juice and get on some booze. He's saying drink no longer water, use a little wine. Folks, he's not saying drink a little alcohol. He's saying drink a little something other than water, than just water, a little bit of juice. And you say, oh, yeah, juice is going to be good for your stomach. Yeah? Folks, you could drink things like apple cider vinegar. You could drink fruit juice. And you say, well, why, you know, my doctor told me to drink a glass of wine three times a week for my heart. Did you know that all of those same benefits would be gotten from drinking a glass of red grape juice three times a week? That's where the antioxidants are. That's where the health is found. And you know what? Alcohol is a poison that's damaging to your stomach. I've heard of people having to have part of their stomach removed from alcohol abuse. Alcohol is poisoning your stomach, poisoning your liver, poisoning your brain. But, oh, yeah, here, drink up. This will be for your health. And by the way, a little wine, don't just drink no longer water. He's saying never drink water again, man. It's all booze from here on out. He just finished saying that the pastor is not supposed to be given the wine. So he's telling him drink no longer water, but use a little wine. He's saying use a little, like, add a little bit of juice to basically help it go down with your stomach. You know, it's like when you're sick, you know, sometimes your mom will give you something other than water, like she'll give you cranberry juice, right? Who's ever been sick and throwing up and the only thing you can keep down is the cranberry juice? Hands all over the building, right? Cranberry juice. I used to hate cranberry juice. One time I got really sick when I was a kid. I had to drink it every day for two weeks. And on the last day, I was like, I love this drink. It's my favorite drink. The first day, I was like, you know, because you get used to stuff, right? You know, ginger ale, 7-Up, cranberry juice, these are, you know, the cures when you're a kid, right? I mean, you know, it's that and watching The Price is Right, and then you're good to go in a couple days. I mean, that's the treatment. You know, take two of these, watch The Price is Right and call me in the morning, all right? So, you know, that was a bonus point. That's not in my sermon. Go if you would to Deuteronomy 14. Here's another. This is a verse that they love to turn to, to say, hey, God's telling us to drink here. Look at Deuteronomy 14, 22, thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed that the field bringeth forth year by year, and thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn and of thy wine and of thine oil and the firstlings of thy herds of thy flocks, that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God all the way. Now here's what's going on. So when they bring the tithe, they actually partake of the tithe as well. They partake of part of it. So they bring a one-tenth of all their increase, you know, whatever the farm produced, whatever their cattle produced, whatever. They bring one-tenth of the increase, and then they're going to give that to the house of the Lord, and that's going to be for the maintenance of the Levites and the priests and so forth, but then they also enjoy with them. They actually eat and drink with them just during the holiday, just during this feast unto the Lord. They actually participate with that, but obviously most of it's going to end up being consumed by those tribes that serve the Lord, or that tribe which serves the Lord full time, which is the Levites, and the subset within that would be the priests, which get the tithe of the tithes, okay? So basically, we see that they're bringing the tithe of their corn, their wine, their oil, the first things of the flock, and then they're going to go there to the place which the Lord shall choose to put his name there, which is later going to be revealed to be Jerusalem, but they don't know that yet in Deuteronomy, so Jerusalem's not mentioned. It's just a place that he's going to choose. And he says in verse 24, if the way be too long for thee so that thou art not able to carry it, or if the place be too far from thee which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, then thou shalt turn it into money. So get the picture. I got all these, okay, I got my tithe of my goats, my sheep, I got the corn, the wine, the oil, and it's just so much stuff, and it's like 100 miles away. This is not practical, is it? Now, the whole nation of Israel from Dan to Beersheba is only 144 miles, and Jerusalem's pretty centrally located, so that's probably the furthest distance. But even if you have to go 50 miles with that stuff, it's just not convenient. So he says, look, you don't have to actually bring that exact stuff. You can turn it into money and then buy it when you get there. So let's say I have all this corn, and I could sell the corn, okay, and then I could just get the money, and then when I go to Jerusalem, then I can buy stuff to give the priests instead of offering the exact goat. You're not supposed to change a good for a bad and a bad for good, but you sell the correct one. You sell the firstling. You don't swap it out, but you get the value for it, and then you take that money, and then that's what you're going to buy for your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and your tithes and things like that. So that's what he's explaining here. So he says, if the way be too long for thee so that thou art not able to carry it, or if the place be too far from thee which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, then thou shalt turn it into money, verse 25, and bind up the money in thine hand. This is just more portable. It's more convenient. And shalt go into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen or for sheep or for wine or for strong drink, ah, there it is, or for strong drink or for whatsoever thy soul desireth, and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice now in thine household. Now let me ask you something. Where does this say drink? He said, buy the wine and the strong drink, and you will eat before the Lord. He didn't say, we're going to drink, we're going to eat and drink and get drunk and we're going to party. Folks, they're going there to worship the Lord, to do sacrifices. God's really specific about keeping his tabernacle really holy, keeping the altar holy, keeping the sacrifice holy. I mean, if you've been reading in Exodus with us, you know, you better mind your P's and Q's when you're going about that altar, lest you die, okay? He flat out said in Leviticus that the priest can never drink any wine or strong drink lest they die when they go into the tabernacle, anywhere near the tabernacle. Now he's not telling them to drink at other times, but he's saying if you do it and then go to church like that, you die, right? And he's not saying they're going to be executed, he's just saying that he will kill them, okay? So the point is that when it says here that they're going to bestow their money to get sheep, oxen, oil, wine, strong drink, first of all, the strong drink could be used in cooking because often alcohol is used in cooking, but it's not going to get you drunk. It's something that you'd use for like a flambe or certain sauces and things that you would use alcohol in cooking or pouring it out for the drink offering unto the Lord. One of the things that they're buying with this stuff is offerings for the Lord and one of the offerings is a drink offering, so that's the type of thing that you would pour out unto the Lord or burn because it's flammable, okay? But he's not saying here to go and go to church, go to a literal church activity because that's what this is, the three times a year. What is this? This is the day of atonement. I mean, this is not a drunk party at the day of atonement. You haven't read about the day of atonement, all right? You haven't read about the Feast of Tabernacles and these things if you think this is a place to go and buy. And a lot of times, by the way, when people see strong drink here, you know what they interpret this as? Hard liquor. And let me explain something to you. Hard liquor was invented around 1300 A.D., okay? There was no hard liquor before 1300 A.D., so drinks like vodka, whiskey, and what else, gin, rum, those drinks didn't exist until the Middle Ages, 1300 A.D., okay? So the strong drink could be referring to basically just being very concentrated. It doesn't necessarily mean strong in alcohol necessarily. It could be a strength in flavor, spice, potency, it's undiluted, it's concentrate or whatever. Or if it's a high alcohol content, it could be used for cooking, flambe, pour down on the Lord. I'm not going to take one verse here and turn the rest of the Bible's teaching on alcohol on its head. That's a good way to get into false doctrine. Because you know what? That's how every false doctrine is. Take one verse and ignore a hundred. Ignore a hundred warnings and just say, well, you know, he said right there whatever I lust after. Lust just means desire, covet, or wish to have. That's all that means there. All right. I got to hurry. Go to Proverbs 31, Proverbs 31. Here's what the Bible says in Proverbs 20 while you're turning, wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived, they're biased, not wise. You're not wise if you are deceived by this. And by the way, if somebody is deceived, it means they don't know what they're getting into. Because Adam was not deceived, the Bible says. But the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Adam was not. Adam knew. Eve was kind of tricked by the serpent, but Adam knew what he was doing was wrong. When he ate of the fruit, he knew he was doing wrong. He was just doing wrong. What's the deception about alcohol? Because he says, wine is a mocker. What's a mocker? Someone who makes an idiot out of you, someone who makes fun of you. Wine's a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. The deception is, oh, you can drink and you'll be fine. Oh, you can drink and be a good Christian. You can drink and God's pleased with that. You can drink and it'll be great. That's the deception. And if you're deceived by that, you're not wise. You know what the wise person will do? They'll see what the Bible says. They'll read Genesis 9, they'll read Genesis 19, they'll read Habakkuk 2.15, and they'll read a hundred other verses warning them and they'll be like, man, I don't want to go anywhere now that stuff. I want to gird up the loins of my mind and be sober. That's what I want to do. Now I saved what I consider the dumbest argument for last. This is what I consider the absolute dumbest argument, but it comes up literally every time. Any time you discuss alcohol with Christians who want to justify alcohol, Proverbs 31 comes up every time and it's just like, I just don't even know what to say to this sometimes because it's just so dumb. This is the dumbest argument and I've saved it for last. But ironically, it's one of the most common arguments. I mean, at least, you know, some of the other arguments you can kind of see where they're coming from. If they're taking it out of context or looking at it wrong, you can see where they're coming from with some of these. This Proverbs 31 one to me takes the cake for being dumb and commonly used. Proverbs 31 verse 4, it is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine nor for princes strong drink, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Give strong drink unto him that's ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more. Folks, using this scripture to justify alcohol is just taking a scripture and literally getting the exact opposite meaning of what the author intended. So the purpose of this is like, yup, drink up. Who got that from what we just read? Drink alcohol. Drink out. Christians, drink alcohol. Christians, it's okay to drink alcohol. Christians, don't let anybody tell you that you need to be a teetotaler. How could anyone get that, folks? But again, when you put on the I want to drink glasses, you know, basically that's what you see here. If you see that in this passage, you are deluded. This is literally a mother telling her son not to drink. This is the prophecy that his mother... She's not saying, hey, son, I want you to be like a St. Bernard where you just go around with a barrel of booze giving it to all the poor people and you're going to be like a human St. Bernard. How can anyone get that from this? Folks, it's called rhetoric. It's called sarcasm. It's a rhetorical device. He's telling him drinking is for losers. You're not a loser, so don't drink. Give that to losers. But look, if God would have literally written in the Bible give drink, give alcohol to losers, you know what? They'd still use it. Be like, see? See? You know, you give it to losers. You know? I'm a loser, baby. You know? It's like, what? Hey, I'm a loser. Okay, loser, I'm not. I'm a child of God. What kind of nonsense is that? They'd literally say, well, I'm a loser. If thou give me the right to have alcohol, then okay, let's do it. Because they're just hell-bent on drinking. That's what's going on, folks. Look what the Bible says. Let's again put on our logical cap and our thinking cap. It's not for kings, O Lemuel. It's not for kings to drink wine. Look, if kings aren't supposed to drink wine, why should Christians drink wine when you know what? We are kings. God has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. What did the Bible say about priests? Don't drink alcohol. What did he say about kings? Don't drink alcohol. What did he say to the Nazarite? Don't drink alcohol. Don't drink these things. But we're supposed to say, like, oh, well, in the New Testament, God wants his ambassadors, kings, priests, and prophets to drink, even though the pastor's not supposed to be given to wine. How does that make any sense, folks? Obviously, God's perfect will is abstinence from alcohol, then. And she's using an argument of, son, you're better than this. Son, you're better than this. Don't be like those other people. You're a king, son. It's not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink. Here's the effect of alcohol, lest they drink and forget the law. Who here wants to forget God's law? Because if so, then drink up. Who wants to pervert the judgment of the afflicted? Folks, we're supposed to rescue the perishing, not pervert the judgment of the afflicted. And then she's using sarcasm, like, give strong drink unto him that's ready to perish. Give strong drink to the losers and the derelicts of this world that don't even want to be alive. Yeah, let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery anymore, you know, because they just vomit on themselves in the gutter. Well, see, it's crazy, folks. That's a crazy way to read the Bible. Give strong drink unto him that's ready to perish. Do you know what the Bible means? Everyone says you're ready to perish. It means I don't want to be alive anymore. I'm ready to die. Kill me now. That's what that means. Who here would say, that's me this morning? So, let's get you on a suicide hotline or something. You know, let me help you. Folks, that's God's people? Really? So Christians are at that point where we're just like, just kill me now. I'm ready to die. Folks, who so believed in him shall not perish? This life is just the beginning for us. Death, where is thy sting? Grave, where is thy victory? And you know what? This is talking about somebody who's so down and out, they're just like, kill me now. He's saying, you know what, if you're ready to embrace death, drink. And I think that's a great slogan for Budweiser. Instead of this buzz for you and tap the Rockies. Why don't they do this? Hey, are you ready to embrace death? Well, we're here when you need us. Are you sick of being alive? Are you ready for death's chilly hand to take you to the other side? Well, this buzz for you. Folks, that's what the Bible is saying here. Do you love death? Do you seek for death? Like in the book of Job where he talks about people seeking for death like they would look for a buried treasure. Like in Revelation chapter 9, you know, in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it. That's the kind of person he's saying. Give strong drink unto him that's ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Well, you know, I'm not ready to perish. I've just kind of got a heavy heart. You know, there's a tear in my beer or whatever. It's like, well, you know what? That's one thought. You can't just separate that out. It's for the complete deadbeat that's ready to die. And people are just feeling a little down. You just want to go somewhere where everybody knows your name. Folks, if you read that into this, you are just twisting scripture to believe what you want to believe. Let him drink. Let him drink. See, let him drink. Okay, what about when the Bible says, he that is filthy, let him be filthy still. See? Be filthy. Let's be filthy. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. See, let him be unjust. Folks, this is not how you read the Bible. You need to go to like Bible kindergarten and understand what these terms mean. Let him drink. It means like, you know what? Let that loser drink. Hey, let idiots smoke pot. You know what? If my neighbor wants to smoke pot, let him smoke pot. But as for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. He that is filthy, let him be filthy still, Revelation 22, 11. Hey, let him drink. Let the loser that's ready to die drink, but not you, son. You don't drink. And that's what we ought to tell our kids. Don't you drink. Yeah, other people, let them drink. Let them party. Let them carouse. Let them fornicate. Let them be drunk and get high and waste their brains. But not you, son. Not you, Faith Ward Baptist Church. That's what he's saying. Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more. You know why I don't need spirits to do that for me? Because I got the Holy Spirit to do that for me. The Holy Spirit's the comforter. That's why I don't need southern comfort. I just need the comforter. The Holy Ghost of God. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Not I'm going to drink up the strength. Drink up the courage. Hey, the Holy Spirit gives us boldness. We don't need to drink up the courage for anything. Alcohol gives you the courage to do sin. The Holy Spirit gives you the courage to do right. He gives you the boldness to knock that door and give the gospel. That's why he said, be not drunk with wine. We're in a success, but be filled with the Spirit. People get drunk, get filled with the Spirit, right? Why? Because these are two opposite ends of the spectrum. You're never more carnal than when you're drunk. Be filled with the spirits on one end and then the opposite is being filled with the spirits. Being drunk, that's basically the ultimate in being carnal. So folks, the Bible's clear. Don't look at it. Be sober. And obviously, yeah, the Bible commands us not to get drunk. But you know what? I'm not in any danger of getting drunk because I don't drink. That's the best way. The best way not to get drunk is to not drink because you know what? The first thing that goes is your good judgment. Even the driving handbook will tell you, you have one drink, your good judgment is impaired. And you know what that good judgment says? I'm only going to drink one, but then you drink one and you're like, nah, let's have a second. What the heck? Let's have a third. That's how it works. Last thing you know, you wake up in someone else's bed or you wake up in the gutter or you wake up in the fountain or something. Folks, it's not worth it. You're playing with fire. The Bible says no. I am 100% against drinking and I think the Christians who you try to use the Bible to justify drinking are twisting scripture and I've debunked the lion's share of their arguments this morning. Let's borrow this in a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for all the blessings that you do give us. Thank you for the fruits and vegetables that we enjoy. Thank you for the buttered bread and the sausages and thank you for the glass of cold milk that brings gladness to our heart, Lord. Thank you for a cup of cold water. Thank you for every beautiful Arizona sunset that we get to look at, Lord. Help us to enjoy the people that we love and enjoy communing with you and not to just seek out some kind of a reality escape in a bottle, Lord, but help us to be sober because the devil is ready to devour those who slacken the cords of their mind through drink and marijuana. Lord, I pray that you bless our church, Lord, and in Jesus' name we pray amen.