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Tonight I want to preach about the subject of alcohol. I want to preach about the subject of drunkenness beer wine booze Whatever you want to call it in this scripture the Bible warns us of some of the reasons why? We should not drink alcohol why we should not drink beer. Okay. Look what the Bible says in verse number 29 It says who hath woe Who hath sorrow now, nobody wants to live a life that's filled with woe and sorrow nobody wants Sadness and depression and and these kind of bad things in their life, but it says who has sorrow who has contentions Mean you're that you're getting in fights all the time who has babbling Meaning that you just say stupid things and babble and and say things that don't make sense who has wounds without cause Meaning that you get hurt and injured for no reason You know, you you don't even know why you look down you have wounds and injuries. It says who has redness of eyes They that Terry long at the wine they that go to seek mixed wine Look not thou upon the wine when it is red when it giveth his color in the cup when it moveth itself aright at the last it biteth like a serpent and Stingeth like an adder the Bible says it it's it's something that will bite you like a snake It's poisonous is what that means It's something that's gonna cause you pain and suffering in the long run now the Bible here Says look not on the wine in verse 31 when it's red When it gives its color in the cup when it moves itself aright now The reason that it says that is because when the Bible used the word wine, sometimes it's just talking about juice Okay, the Bible used the word wine to either refer to just a fruit juice or it could be to a fermented wine So that's why the Bible says well don't look at the wine When it's red When it moves around by itself when it gives its color in the cup that's describing a fermented wine Okay Now the reason why is because if you just take a regular grape juice Right the regular grape juice. It does not move around by itself. Does it? If you have a glass of grape juice, it just sits there in the glass. It's not moving But what happens is when you ferment the grape juice The fermentation takes place with yeast. Okay, and the byproduct of that is carbon dioxide So it becomes like a carbonated, you know where it moves around and so forth also the fermentation The part that makes it alcoholic comes from the yeast that's on the outside of the grapes Okay, and the outside of the grapes is red So when they smash up the grapes and they have the juice and then they have that skin with the yeast on it And they make a red wine and it begins to effervesce as it ferments So when the Bible explains this here look not on the wine when it's red when it gives its color in the cup and when? It moves itself. All right Just to put that as simple language the Bible saying don't look upon the wine when it's alcoholic You know go ahead and drink grape juice go ahead and drink that which is just a normal soft drink, but do not drink Alcoholic beverages don't even look at them. The Bible says do not look upon the wine when it's red. Why not? Well, the Bible says in verse 33 that if you do drink this drink that he's warning us about he says Thine eyes shall behold strange women and Thine heart shall utter Perverse things. So the Bible is saying that if you drink Fermented wine if you drink alcohol One of the effects that alcohol is gonna have on you is you're gonna look upon strange women You know instead of just looking at your wife instead of just you know looking at Women and having a righteous attitude He's saying it's gonna cause you to look upon strange women and desire those strange women and you could end up committing Fornication or committing adultery Committing sin with strange women women that you don't even know wicked women Horace women this is what alcohol could lead you to do you go to a bar you start drinking next thing You know, you've got some strange woman hanging on you and you know You could be in a position where you're much more likely to commit sin when you're under the influence of alcohol Not only that the Bible says that your heart will utter perverse things I mean you'll start to say things that are perverted you'll start to say things that are ungodly and wicked as a result of drinking alcohol and Then it says yea thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mass they've stricken me shalt thou say and I was not sick They've beaten me and I felt it not When shall I rise I will seek it yet again So the Bible talks about even though you feel like you've been beaten or you've you've said all these perverse things And done all these stupid foolish things The tendency is that when you arise the next day in the morning you plan on drinking alcohol again Why because alcohol is addictive. That's why people become an alcoholic. They become a drunkard and Alcohol begins to take over their life and control their life and ruin their life And so you might start out thinking that you're just gonna drink a little bit of alcohol and just fool around With just you know, I just drink a beer now and then drink a little bit of wine but it tends to become addictive and Dominate your life and you can get to a point where you become a total drunk now Go back just a few pages in your Bible to Proverbs chapter 20 Proverbs chapter number 20 verse number 1 says this wine is a mocker Strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise now What does it mean when the Bible says wine is a mocker kids? Listen up. What does it mean to mock someone? When you mock someone, you know what that means? It means you're making fun of them, right? You're making a fool out of them. You're trying to make them look stupid, right? Well, the Bible says wine is a mocker. You know what that means? That means when you drink alcohol alcohol is gonna make an idiot out of you Alcohol is gonna make you look like an idiot gonna make you look stupid You know people they drink alcohol and they end up looking like an idiot. They end up making a fool of themselves Why because wine is a mocker. That's why it mocks you it makes fun of you. It makes you say and do Stupid things and you end up look like an idiot to anyone who's sober He said wine is a mocker Strong drink is raging. What does that mean? Strong drink is raging Well rage is when you get really angry, right? Have you ever heard of road rage when people are driving and they get in America in the United States? You know you're driving and you get real mad at somebody, you know, that's called road rage Okay, so the Bible says that strong drink or alcohol is raging That's why a lot of times when people get out of the influence of alcohol they get in a fistfight Because it's raging they can sometimes get angry or fly off the handle and get in a fight They wouldn't normally get into that's why it also said that they have a lot of contentions and wounds without cause Because they get into a fight and then they get hurt and so forth So wine is a mocker strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived Thereby is not wise if you fall for the deception of alcohol you're not wise You're foolish. You're being stupid. If you if you fall for the devil's lies about Alcohol about wine. He said if you are deceived thereby you are not wise now in America The most popular beer brand is called Budweiser Who's ever heard of that before Budweiser? It's in America. That's the most popular It's called the king of beers, but let me tell you something. It should be called Bud dumber It should be called Budweiser. It doesn't make you wiser It makes you dumber Bud dumber because the Bible says whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise now There's a lot of deception out there about alcohol. Let me tell you about some of it For example when you watch TV and you watch movies the people on the movies and on the TV that drink alcohol, they're really cool people and They're good-looking and they're having fun and they're having a good time, you know, if you look at the beer commercial You'll see a lot of times these guys that have big muscles, you know and they're out at the beach and they got their swim trunks on they're playing volleyball and they're drinking a beer and they have a Perfect physique and they're ripped and have a good and then you see the girls in the bikinis and they're so beautiful And they're having so much fun and you see that and it makes alcohol look really good And you think man, you know, I'd like to drink a beer like that. I want to have fun like that I want to be like these cool people then I'm seeing on the billboard and on TV and in the magazine, you know I mean, I think I'm gonna drink it's it's a it's a lie though. It's not real TV's not real the advertising is not real. You see the reality of what alcohol does to your body you know if you're a man and you drink alcohol, here's what it gives you a beer belly a Beer belly, okay. Have you ever seen a man walk around? He looks like he's pregnant Like it. Yeah, you know and everything else is a normal size Like his arms are normal his legs are normal and he's just got a big old belly now I don't think that that's the physique That that people really want you know what I mean? Like why don't they show that on the billboard? Why don't they show a guy with a huge beer belly a man with a big belly and say this buds for you. I Mean, is that what they should know? No, they show a guy with a perfect physique, but beer actually gives you a beer belly You see beer is Made from hops. That's one of the things that's in beer and it has a Feminizing effect on men actually, you know, I don't want to get all scientific on you But if you drink beer, okay, it actually will make you more girly and feminine. That's not a joke I mean I spoke to a doctor about this That's an expert on hormones and hormone therapy and she talked about the fact that the hops You know ends up being an estrogen mimicker and because men drink a lot of beer They have too much estrogen which is a female hormone and they can get like man breasts or like a beer belly and it makes them soft and they actually don't Have as much manliness as they would have had if they not drunk a beer now the world and the devil are gonna lie To you and tell you oh man if you drink beer, you're a real man You know what? I keep seeing all over Georgetown Guyana Did you guys see this a man's beer? Did you guys see that? Who's seen that ad before? This is a man's beer Yeah, but guess what if you drink that beer you will be less manly. It's been scientifically proven It's not gonna make you manly It's not gonna make you cool. And if you're deceived by that ad that said a man's beer, you're not wise If you're wise you'll listen to the Word of God, you'll listen a Bible and not fall for all these advertised Look, they just want to make money. They just want to sell you beer. So they look yeah, this is a man's beer No No, actually that's got estrogen mimickers in it that actually have a feminizing effect on your body even from a scientific standpoint There's nothing Manly about drinking, you know, not only that But they show all these beautiful wonderful people drinking, you know Another thing that alcohol will do to you it messes up your nose Okay, people who drink a lot of alcohol it messes up there You can actually look at someone who's an alcoholic and look at their nose and say that guy drank a lot of alcohol You know because it actually damages some of your your extremities like your nose and your ears and things like that Also alcohol is doing damage to the inside of your body Especially your liver which is one of the most important organs in your body. You can't live without your liver Alcohol is poisoning your liver when you drink alcohol Okay, so it actually is damaging your body, but the devil wants to show you all these pictures of these really healthy Beautiful energetic people that are drinking but it's a lie. It's a deception. It's not real don't fall for it If you're deceived by it, you're not wise Now if you would turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 5 Isaiah chapter 5 in your Bible if you have a Bible tonight Isaiah chapter 5 The Bible says in verse 11 of Isaiah chapter 5 It says woe unto them that rise up early in the morning That they may follow strong drink That continue until night till wine inflame them So the Bible is telling us here, you know the worst situation are these people who literally they get up in the morning and They they actually have alcohol for breakfast Okay, they drink this thing called a Bloody Mary It's tomato juice and and and I don't know some kind of lip vodka or whatever Tabasco sauce and they they drink this drink they drink alcohol for breakfast and then they continue all day. I've seen people like that You don't want to be that kind of person you don't want to be that kind of a loser that would that would live your life that way He said in verse 20 woe unto them that call evil good and good evil That put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine and Men of strength to mingle strong drink, you know People think that they're men of strength to straight drink strong drink, but drinking alcohol doesn't make you tough It doesn't make you strong. It just makes you foolish is all it does go back to Proverbs chapter number 30 I'm sorry Proverbs 31 few pages back to the left in your Bible Proverbs chapter number 31 is another good scripture on the subject while you're turning to Proverbs 31 I'm gonna quote you another scripture from Habakkuk chapter 2 now Habakkuk is a little tiny book in the Bible that that isn't really something that you hear a lot about But Habakkuk 2 15 is a pretty famous verse actually you go ahead and turn to Proverbs 31 I'm gonna read for you Habakkuk 2 15. It says woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink That putteth thy bottle to him and makest him drunk and also that thou mayest look on Their nakedness now the Bible's warning here about a person who would give alcohol to another person And the per the goal is that they might look on their nakedness so what this tells me is that alcohol could make you vulnerable and Alcohol could put you in a position where you could be a victim of someone else someone else might want to give you alcohol Because they want to take advantage of you because they want to abuse you The Bible says wound in the giveth his neighbor drink and put us thy bottle to him and make us him drunk And also that thou mayest look on your nakedness now look Notice the pronouns there. It says well unto him. Is that a man or a woman? Kids help me out. Is that a man or a woman? Woe unto him. What is it? Yeah, well unto him they give it his neighbor drink. Is that a man or a woman? And put us thy bottle to him And make us him drunken also That thou mayest look on their nakedness now What that said that's a man Giving alcohol to another man to look on his nakedness. There's no woman in that verse That's disgusting. I mean, I don't want some dude. I don't want some man Giving me alcohol and trying to look on my nakedness. I'm gonna keep my nakedness to myself I don't want to reveal it under some dude reveal it under some man. You know, there are a bunch of perverts Sodomites homos out there that would want to give you alcohol That they might corrupt you and that they might abuse you and that you might be a victim Listen to me The reason why it's so foolish to drink alcohol is because now that you've drunk alcohol all kinds of things can happen to you and You can't really protect yourself or defend yourself or even fully always know what's going on You know, I had a friend that I work with and he used to drink alcohol but one time he got really drunk and He drank a bunch of alcohol and he passed out in the front yard of his house He passed out in the front lawn. He's just laying on the front yard of his house. Just laying there on the ground Well, his brother was there. So his brother picked him up and brought him into the house Took his clothes off him and put him in the shower Showered him Took him out of the shower Dried him off with the towel Dressed him in clothes and put him in his bed to sleep that night and the next morning He told him this is what I did. I found you. I brought you in I undressed you I showered you I and he did not know that any of those things happened He did not even realize because he was so drunk. He didn't even know what was happening and My friend didn't believe his brother so my brother his brother had actually taken a picture of him in the shower just like You know all drunk he took a picture of him in the shower and he showed him pictures and look I'm telling you the truth. This is how drunk you were. I showered you and you didn't even know Now it's a good thing that it was his brother that loved him and was taking care of him Because what if it would have been some stranger? What if it would have been some sodomite? What if it would have been some weirdo who knows who it was, right? That could have been a bad situation Look why would you want to drink alcohol and put yourself in that position and you say well I'm just gonna drink a little bit I'm just gonna drink a little bit, but here's the thing It always starts with a little bit and then you drink and they might as well have another one and then you get carried away You party in you and you just keep drinking keep drinking and one becomes two becomes three becomes four It always starts out with a little bit but sin always takes you further than you want to go And it costs you more than you were willing it It keeps you there longer than you wanted to stay and it costs you more than you wanted to pay And so you need to be aware of the deceitfulness of sin and alcohol look down at your Bible there in Proverbs 31 the Bible reads in Proverbs 31 In verse 3 give not thy strength unto women nor thy ways to that which destroyeth Kings 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 is 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 now what the Bible is saying here Is that Kings should not drink? Princes should not drink because if they drink the Bible said in verse 5 they're gonna forget the law and They're gonna pervert judgment now look. I don't want to forget the laws of God I want to hide God's Word in my heart. I want to remember God's Word. I want to remember God's commandments I don't want to get drunk and forget all about God's laws and pervert judgment The Bible says that strong drink is not for kings, and it's not for princes. It's for those that are ready to perish Okay, now the Bible says that we as Christians God considers us as kings and priests He's made us unto our God kings and priests the Bible says in Revelation 1 We are princes with God as Israel was and so it's not for people like us to drink Why because God has something good for us to do with our life? We're not just losers who just sit around drinking You know we need to be sharp, and we need to be sober, and we need to be ready to serve the Lord and The Bible says give strong drink unto those that are ready to perish Well, you know what the Bible says that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life You know I'm not ready to perish I'm not some drunk in the gutter just to drink away my misery and just to just to Drink before I perish look I don't live in misery the joy of the Lord is my strength the fruit of the Spirit is joy We rejoice with joy Unspeakable and full of glory we have joy as Christians We don't need to go drown our sorrows in a bottle because we have joy of the Holy Ghost Leave that you know the unsaved guy who has no hope yeah Let him drink and screw up his life But for us as kings and princes and priests of God We are above that God has raised us up out of that and we have no business drinking Go if you would to Daniel chapter 5 Daniel chapter number 5 now this is a pretty famous Bible story in Daniel chapter 5 about the handwriting on the wall and in this story there's a king named Belshazzar and Belshazzar is a wicked king who takes a bunch of Glasses that belong to the Lord a bunch of drinking cups and drinking glasses that actually belonged to the temple of the Lord they belong to God's house and He has a big drunken party and he decides to take the glasses from the church kids listen up he takes the cups and the glasses from the church and He decides we're gonna drink we're gonna drink beer we're gonna drink wine We're gonna drink You know rum in these and we're gonna have a party and we're gonna take God's cups and God's glasses And we're gonna drink all right Watch what happens in the story look down at your Bible if you got one Daniel chapter 5 if you got one It says in verse 1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine Before the thousand Belshazzar while he tasted the wine Commanded to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple Which was in Jerusalem that the king and his princes his wives and his concubines might drink wine therein Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God Which was at Jerusalem and the king and his princes his wives and his concubines Drank in them they drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver of brass of iron of wood and of stone so the Bible says That Belshazzar was drinking wine. He's getting drunk and While he's drinking he has the idea to take the church glasses You know to take the vessels from the house of the Lord and to drink in them. Yeah, let's drink in them now That's pretty interesting the effect that alcohol had on Belshazzar because once he started drinking Now all of a sudden he wants to desecrate God's house. Why is that because drinking? Emboldens you to sin, you know people talk about how they drink up their courage to do something They drink up the courage. Okay, so basically maybe they're a little bit timid Maybe they're a little shy but then they drink and then it gives them boldness Okay, and here Belshazzar had boldness to do something that was very wicked something that was very blasphemous by desecrating the vessels Of the house of God and because he did that God Sends these fingers from a man's hand. So just picture the story kids Belshazzar is drinking wine and All of a sudden he looks over at the wall and there's just fingers from a man's hand. No, no arm No body, no head just fingers and the fingers start writing on the wall and If you saw that you'd probably be pretty scared wouldn't you if you just saw fingers all by themselves just writing on the wall? That's what Belshazzar saw and when he saw that he got really scared He's drinking and partying and whoa, but then he sees those fingers of a hands man. He gets really scared He gets so scared he starts shaking and the Bible says he was shaking so much that his knees were actually hitting each other You know sometimes like on a cartoon people knees I'll go, you know, he was so scared that his knees were knocking together He was shaking. He got so scared and of course he calls in Daniel and Daniel comes Interprets the writing on the wall and that writing on the wall was telling him that God was gonna punish him God's gonna judge him and he's gonna lose everything that night He's actually gonna be killed and that's what happened that night because God didn't like the fact that they're drinking wine in those in those vessels, so What we see here is that alcohol gives you the boldness to do wrong now This is the last scripture. I want to turn to Ephesians chapter 5 go to Ephesians chapter 5 in the New Testament Ephesians chapter 5 Ephesians chapter number 5 verse 18 says this It says and be not drunk with wine wherein is excess But be filled with the Spirit. Okay, so the Bible says be not drunk with wine But be filled with the Spirit Don't get drunk be filled with the Spirit now. Why does he contrast these two things? I'll tell you why Because when you're filled with the Spirit The Bible says God will give you boldness For example in Acts chapter 4 verse 31 It said and when they had prayed The place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the Word of God With boldness so because they were filled with the Holy Ghost they spake the Word of God boldly So if we're filled with the Holy Spirit that could give us the boldness to witness to someone To give the gospel to someone so I might be a little timid or shy about giving the gospel But if we're filled with the Spirit God can give us the boldness to give the gospel to witness to our friends and loved ones Or to neighbors strangers anybody everybody not only that but Pastors and preachers when they get up to preach sometimes they have to preach things that are hard You know They have to preach things that people don't like and maybe they know that there are people there That are not gonna like what they preach but they have to preach it because it's the truth They have to preach it because it's the Word of God and a lot of pastors they get scared they get nervous and you know What they do they just say let's just skip that We're just gonna go ahead and skip that part because they're they're scared right, but if they're a spirit filled preacher They'll have the boldness to preach everything in the Bible to preach all the counsel of God all the truth and not hold anything back a preacher who holds back is not spirit filled a Preacher who preaches everything in the Bible is a spirit filled preacher So the Holy Spirit gives boldness to preach boldness to be a soul winner boldness to serve the Lord Alcohol does the exact opposite alcohol gives you boldness to get in a fight boldness to commit fornication boldness to commit adultery boldness to blaspheme the Lord boldness to say perverted things boldness to steal things Boldness to do all kinds of wicked things I mean there are people that I talked to they got drunk and they went and robbed a store because they were drunk and They would have never done that except they were drunk They went into a store They broke a window and took a bunch of DVD players or VCRs and got arrested stealing stuff out of a store Why because they were drunk? I? Know of a man who was who was pure when he got married He was a virgin when he got married and he was faithful to his wife. He had only been with his wife He got drunk at a work Christmas party at the office Christmas party He got drunk and he committed adultery and he ended up ruining his marriage. He got divorced messed up his life Because he got to see alcohol gives you the boldness to do sins that you would have never done You would have never done those sins when you were sober, but because you were drunk You'll do those sins. And here's the thing the Holy Spirit gives you the boldness to do what's right To serve the Lord to preach to go sewing. That's why the Bible says be not drunk with wine We're in his excess but be filled with the Spirit why because alcohol is gonna lead you into sin Whereas fullness of the Spirit is gonna lead you into service for the Lord doing good things. It's the opposite of one another and That's why many times bars and Places where alcohol are served. I don't know if they call it this in Guyana but in the United States, it will often say wine and spirits at A bar they'll actually say spirits We're here to serve you spirits, right? Why because it's it's actually the opposite of the Holy Spirit In its effect on you. It's like the effect of Unclean spirits, you know because the fact that it gives you the boldness to commit sin and do wrong Listen, nothing good can come of you drinking alcohol and you kids that are young you're seeing all this advertising You see all the billboards you see it on TV. You see the newspapers Do not be deceived by it. If you're deceived by it, you're not wise and if you want to live a good Christian life, you want to grow up and have a Godly marriage and a godly family and be a church member that could make The Lord pleased with you and your pastor would be pleased with you and you could be a blessing You need to abstain from alcohol You need to stay away from it and a lot of people around you are gonna be drinking and they're gonna be times When people will offer you alcohol, you need to say no to that and and stand up For this truth that God wants us to be sober Tells over and over again be sober be sober be sober and the thing about this is that most people who drink Especially people who drink a lot and people who get drunk a lot most of them started when they're young actually If you actually talk to people who are serious drinkers serious alcoholics and ask them, when did you start drinking? You know what? They'll usually tell you nine years old 11 years old 13 years old 14 what in the world now, I don't know in America in the United States You have to be 21 to drink alcohol. How much how old do you have to be to drink here? 18 so here is 18 in the United States. You have to be 21 years old, but let me tell you something Most people who fall into this sin they do it long before they're 21 So the question is where do they get the alcohol? You can't buy it until they're 21 Where did they get it? I'll tell you the most common place that they get it from is they steal it from their parents They steal it from their parents I mean I talked to tons of people who drank as teenagers and they all say I stole it from my parents or they say We stole it from my friend's parents. My friend stole it from his parents. That's how we got alcohol You know what that tells me parents is that you need to keep alcohol out of your house Because How can the kids steal alcohol from you if you don't have alcohol in the house And you say oh well, I can handle it. I can just drink a little bit Okay, but by bringing alcohol into your house You know your your children could get access to that and then they might become a drunk and an alcoholic Because they tried it when they're nine when they're 11 when they're 12 when they're 14 You know We need to just clean this stuff out of our houses get this stuff out of our life Not touch it with a 10-foot pole wine is a marker Strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for the warnings that you've given us in the Bible Lord and thank you that you've given us a Ministry and a calling and a life that's worth living serving you preaching the Word of God winning souls Raising a godly family Lord Thank you for giving us a life that has purpose so that we can actually do something with our life instead of just being a Drunk and a fool Lord help no one that's in this service tonight to be deceived by alcohol Lord Help everyone who's here to realize the dangers and in Jesus name we pray. Amen