(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

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Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching! Brother Drew, will you pray for us? Amen. All right, I forgot my Bible. Okay. All right, before we get to that chapter, I'm gonna get into that chapter in a little more detail as we get through the sermon, but the title of my sermon this morning is Wine and Strong Drink in Light of the Bible, Wine and Strong Drink in Light of the Bible. Now wine is a generic word, and so is corn in the Bible. It talks about Jesus's disciples plucking the corn off the ears. It's not talking about like corn on the cob, if you have never noticed that before. When we think of corn, automatically as Americans, we always think of corn on the cob, I think, don't you? I mean, when instantly I said corn, you probably instantly thought of that maize that corn on the cob, which is very tasty with butter and salt and pepper, right? But that's just a generic word in the Bible for any grain, like corn of wheat or whatever, corn on the cob, it can mean corn on the cob or corn of the cob, and meat is a generic word. Meat, to us though, as Americans, what does that mean? Hey, you gonna have meat at your dinner tonight? We would say that means like some kind of red meat or pork or whatever, chicken, some kind of flesh is what it means to us, but meat in the Bible is a generic word that just means any type of food that you eat. So people will say, no, wine always means alcoholic wine in the Bible, and they're wrong about that, and I'm gonna prove that to you right now, but wine simply just means juice or liquid that's pressed out of fruit or vegetables or any plant materials, because there's actually palm wine. Palm is a tree, and there's palm wine that was made in the ancient times. I'm sure it's still made today in places, but not all, palm wine is not necessarily an alcoholic drink either. So wine, what kind of wine is being mentioned in the Bible depends upon the context of what it's being talked about, how it's being talked about in the passage. So you have to get the context of what it's talking about to know whether it's the wine that's like just fruit juice, which is a blessing, or whether it's talking about the alcoholic wine, which is never talked about as a blessing in the Bible. Now this is a very exhaustive topic, but I'm not gonna get too exhausting on it hopefully, but I am going to talk about five different things this morning here, and number one, I'm gonna talk about the examples of wine being called a blessing, and it being referred to as a blessing. So let's look at Deuteronomy chapter 11 verse 14, turn in your Bible to Deuteronomy chapter 11 verse 14. If you don't have a Bible, there should be one in the seat in front of you. If not, you can just kind of lift up your hand, one of the ushers will bring you one. Now Deuteronomy, it's Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Bible, and you'll find in verse 14 it says, that I will give you, and it's talking about when God's gonna bless his people if they do right and do good, that I will give you the rain of your land in due season. So when the crops are supposed to come, when the stuff's supposed to bring forth, that's when he's gonna give it to them. The first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, so it could be any type of crop, right? And thy wine and thine oil. So those words again are being used generically as any type of oil, any type of fruit juice, or any type of corn, any type of something you would pluck off and use that for making bread or whatever. Now turn to Second Chronicles chapter 31, Second Chronicles chapter 31 verse five, Second Chronicles 31 verse five. Second Chronicles 31 verse five, the Bible says, and as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the first fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field, and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. So again, it's talking about these things as a blessing. They brought forth the first fruits of these things, and honey is included in this one. These are things that are a blessing. When God said that they were gonna come into the land, these things are gonna be blessings to them. Turn to Proverbs chapter three, Proverbs chapter three verse number nine, Proverbs chapter three verse number nine. Now when we are increased with substance, and in the Old Testament when they tithed, a lot of people were farmers back then. That's not so much the case where we live. I don't think anybody in this room makes their living farming. Does anybody in this room make their living farming, anybody? Do you trade in cattle, or vegetables and fruits, anybody in this room? I didn't think so. So that's not how our society functions, but back then it did. And so when they would bring tithes, they would bring all these things to the Lord's house so that the priest would be able to live and eat off these things. But they also did exchange them for money where they lived, and they didn't wanna bring truck loads or cart loads or whatever of all their stuff. They would just exchange it for money, and then they would bring it to the house of the Lord and tithe. So but look what it says in Proverbs three verse nine. It says, honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase. So this is a principle in God's word, but it says, so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with, what does it say there? New wine. Now this is a very important part of what I'm about to say here, because what is new wine? Well the Bible defines itself for us sometimes. A lot of times it will define itself. What does new wine mean? Well it means oh it's just the new fermented wine that they just made. Is that what it means? Well let's turn to Isaiah 65 verse eight and see what it actually means. So what does new wine mean? Well in Isaiah 65 verse eight it explains to us what new wine is. It says thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster. So are you telling me that in a cluster of grapes you're gonna have alcoholic wine in there? Is that what you're saying? These people that think that every time wine is mentioned it's talking about alcohol? No, thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster, it's talking about inside the cluster of a grape, and one saith destroy it not for a blessing is in it. Who likes grapes in here? Everybody likes grapes, and you know what? Grapes are a luxury item. They still are expensive at the store. They're still expensive today. Grapes cannot be harvested by combines and machines. Grapes have to be picked by hand. They're delicate things. And so that's why it's more expensive. It's more expensive because they're only grown in certain parts of the world. Certain areas are good for growing them. But it says destroy it not for a blessing is in it. So will I do for my servant's sake that I may not destroy them all. So what did the Bible say new wine is? It's the juice that's found in that cluster. I'm not gonna go there for a second time, but Pharaoh had this dream, or no, not Pharaoh, but the butler and the, what was it, the butler and the baker had dreams. And they told Joseph those dreams. And the butler's job was to squeeze juice from the grape into Pharaoh's cup. And so he squeezed what? Wine into Pharaoh's cup. He was the cup bearer of that. And so it's a blessing what's found in that cluster. It's not alcoholic wine. But see how it's called wine? But it's not alcoholic. Anybody with two brain cells can see that that's not talking about alcoholic wine. Does anybody wanna dispute that this morning? I don't think so. Now turn to Song of Solomon chapter eight verse two, and then we'll move on to our next point. Song of Solomon, excuse me, chapter eight verse two. You're like, why are you pointing this out, Pastor Thompson? Well, because wine has become, when people think of wine just like the other words that I gave you like corn and meat, wine to modern English speakers has become, we call grape juice grape juice, and wine we always consider alcoholic, don't we? That's just what we, that's the way we think now. But just because that's the way we think now doesn't mean that that's what the Bible intends. Okay, so we have to look at things how the Bible translated it, how the Bible intends. Now, I haven't really looked at the modern versions when it comes to these things, but I would probably venture to guess that they say wine also. They don't. What? It says juice. It does say juice. But then it says wine from John. Oh, okay, yeah, so I probably should have guessed that they're gonna say that Jesus made water into alcoholic wine because everybody wants to drink alcohol and Christians want an excuse to drink alcohol, so they'll say Jesus turned the water into alcoholic wine. After they drank all the other wine, you're telling me that Jesus made six more firkins or whatever of filled to the brim alcoholic wine so the party could keep going? So that, you know, let's keep the party going, pit bull or whatever. We're here to party. Jesus is gonna party with all these people and get them wasted off of six more firkins of alcohol. He saved the best alcohol for the last. He's our savior. He's our Lord, and he's definitely not gonna just give a bunch of alcohol to people that are already drunk. Do you think Jesus is gonna go to a wedding where people are getting wasted anyway? You're like, oh, well, he hung out with sinners. Yeah, he did, but he didn't partake in sin with sinners. That's the difference, folks. Song of Solomon 8, 2. I would lead thee and bring thee into my mother's house who would instruct me I would also think to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. So here's the King James, the only time the word juice is used in the King James Bible, and it's saying it to not be redundant. Juice was a word that was in that time, it was a word, but it wasn't a heavily used word at that time. So in order to not say the spiced wine of the wine of my pomegranate, which sounds weird, they said the spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate, so it wouldn't sound weird and it wouldn't sound redundant. But it's also saying juice of the pomegranate, so it's not saying that it's alcoholic drinking. They say, what's spiced wine? That's some kind of spiced alcohol. No, it says the juice of my pomegranate, so it's telling us, it's also defining for us what it is. Who's had pomegranates before? Very messy. Don't wear a white t-shirt when you're eating them. Don't wear anything that's white. Don't be on anything that's white, because surely it's gonna get on you somehow. So I like pomegranates, but they're very annoying to eat. So when you squeeze that red stuff on anything, it's gonna get messy. But there's another point. It's not just always grapes that bring forth wine. This is an example of another type of fruit that's bringing forth wine, isn't it? Number two, examples of wine being bad. Now, let's go to Proverbs chapter 20, verse one. And this is where the context is gonna dictate for us what type of wine it is. It's gonna dictate to us that it's, you know, when it's having negative things said about it, then that's when it's talking about the alcoholic, poisonous, intoxicating version of it. Proverbs 20, verse one. Because the Bible's not gonna say, oh, it's a blessing, and then say, oh no, don't look at it. Or oh no, this is something you should avoid. God's not gonna contradict himself. Proverbs 20, verse one, the Bible says, wine is a mocker. So, wine is a mocker. What does that mean? Well, it makes a fool out of you, doesn't it? It's a mocker. And it also says strong drink is raging. So not just wine, but any kind of alcohol, any kind of strong beverage, hard cider, beer, whiskey, all these hard alcohol type drinks. It says strong drink is raging. What happens to people when they start drinking? They do violent acts. You know, have you ever heard of those mean drunks? Well, that person's a mean drunk. That means that every time they start drinking, they start getting this attitude, they're 10 foot tall and bulletproof, or they're just mean to people. That's why alcoholics beat their wives and beat their kids, and they get in fistfights and bars and all these types of things. It says, and whosoever, what's whosoever mean? It means anyone, doesn't it? Whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. So if you're deceived by wine, then you're not wise. What type of wine is it talking about? It's talking about the kind that's gonna turn you into a raging freak, and you're not wise if you're deceived by the fact that you should be drinking it. You shouldn't be drinking it. Well, how do you know that, Pastor Thompson? Well, let's look three chapters over in Proverbs 23, verse 29, where it gives us several verses in a row of why we should avoid alcohol. And you're like, Pastor Thompson, I don't even drink alcohol. I'm a Christian, I'm a Baptist. Well, you just never know. I have to preach these types of things every year or so, at least try to get it in there, because you just never know who's dabbling in this. You never know who's struggling with this, and so I'm supposed to preach the whole Bible, and this topic comes up once a year. We're kind of in the time when, this is the time of the year when people go out and get drunk and do stupid things, and so I need to preach some summer sermons to kind of help us out, and if anybody's struggling with these things, hey, let's let the Bible convince you that what you're doing or thinking about doing or maybe you're struggling with is not right. Proverbs 23, verse 29, the Bible says, who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? So these are bad things. Woe, that means hurt or suffering, sorrow, you know, sadness, contentions, fighting, right? Babbling, this is what drunks do. You know, when they get all drunk, you can't even understand what they're saying. There's nothing more annoying than a drunk hanging on you that can't, just bleh, super annoying, right? Who hath wounds without a cause? I don't even know how I did that. Who hath redness of eyes? I mean, these alcoholic type people, they're just drunk all day long, their nose is red, their eyes are, you know, their nose is purple, their eyes are red, their liver's white. I mean, they're in bad shape. It says, they that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine. So what kind of alcohol is it talking about? It's talking about the type that, it's talking about alcoholic wine that you shouldn't be messing with. It's not the blessing kind, is it? Let's go further, 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. This is for sure talking about alcoholic wine. It's saying not to even look at it. This type of wine, this alcoholic wine, red wine, you're not supposed to look at. You're not supposed to be anywhere near when it giveth its color in the cup. When it's alcoholic, when it's gone through that metamorphosis, when it's gone through a process to change it into alcoholic wine, look, if you just let grapes grow and they just rot on the vine, nobody picks them, it doesn't just automatically turn into wine. Did you know that? You don't just find some rotting cluster of grapes and go, oh, I'm drunk. That's not, look, it has to go through a process intentionally to turn it that way. And so, and if you just leave it sitting on the counter, it's gonna turn into vinegar. If you eat a grape and it's past its prime, it's gross, it tastes gross, it turns into vinegar. That's what happens to it. You have to intentionally add sugar, you have to add yeast to it, and that's when it starts to turn itself, that's when it starts to turn itself right in the cup and so on and so forth. But the Bible says you're not even supposed to look at it. Don't look, just don't even look at it. And I've been mocked for saying this, but I still believe this. I don't think you should walk down the liquor aisles in the store. Especially if you're someone that's already had a problem drinking in the past. Don't even go down that aisle. You know, when you see that beer just, you know, it looks tempting on a hot day or whatever because you used to drink or whatever. Look, beer tastes like piss. Not that I know what that tastes like, but I imagine that's what it would taste like. It doesn't taste good unless you've acquired some kind of alcoholic taste for it. No kid that accidentally took a sip of beer one time is gonna say, oh, that's so good, can I have some more? They usually spit it out or say that's disgusting. My stepdad gave me a sip of beer and I thought it was disgusting when I was a kid. He shouldn't have done that. You know, I think it's weird when parents let their kids drink. Like, why would you do that? You wanna turn your kid into an alcoholic or something? But people do. People do that kind of stuff. But the Bible says we're not supposed to look at it. So if you're not supposed to look at it, why would you walk down an aisle that has just all this alcohol? But you know, today our society's become such a drunkard society, you can't go to any restaurants anymore, any stores anymore, anywhere where alcohol's just not out in your face all the time. When we go out to restaurants as a church, a lot of times, I have to just tell them, hey, we're not having any alcohol because they're like, here's the cocktail menu and stuff, it's just like, we're a church group, they know we're a church group and yet they still bring out the cocktail menu. It's like, well, all the other churches must just automatically just have the cocktail menu then. Well, we don't do that. Like, no alcohol, don't let any, you know, if someone just was tagging along, they're new to our church and they don't realize this, you know, I wouldn't want them to accidentally get one and think it's okay, so I just tell the servers right away, nobody's getting alcohol here. But you're not supposed to look at it. It says, at the last it biteth like a serpent. You like getting bit by snakes, who likes getting bit by snakes? I don't. And stingeth like an adder. Adder is a poisonous snake. What's God saying here? He's saying that drinking alcohol is like taking a bite from a poisonous snake. Thine eyes shall behold strange women and thine heart shall utter perverse things. What do drunks do? Well, they lose all sense of judgment, all sense of right and wrong, and that's why they're called wines and spirits, because you're taken over by another spirit, my friend, when you've allowed alcohol to enter into your system and to mess with your mind and your inhibitions and judgment. We're supposed to be filled by the Holy Spirit, not the spirit of liquor and wines and spirits. And it's funny, Eli, in the Bible, when Hannah was praying and her lips were moving, he thought she was drunk. And he says, hey, put away the bottle from me, or whatever, and she's like, don't think that I'm a child of Belial. Don't think that my handmaid's a child of Belial. So what did they equate that with in the Old Testament? What did Hannah equate someone that's a drunkard in the Old Testament with, someone that's a child of the devil? So that's how serious she took it. What an accusation. It says, thine heart shall utter perverse things. You wanna turn into a pervert? Well, just drink a bunch of alcohol and look at strange women. You'll become a pervert real quick. And this isn't, Christians are not immune to these things. So what is, one of the worst things you could call a man is a pervert, like a literal pervert. I'm not talking about a Bible pervert, preaching pervert. Those are bad enough. But to be called a literal pervert, that's sick. That's not something I'd ever want to be called as a pervert. But that's what alcohol will do. It'll drop all your judgment, drop all your inhibitions and then your, next thing you know, you're beholding strange women and your heart is uttering perverse things. Yea, thou shall be as he that lieth down the midst of a sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mass. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick. They have beaten me, and I felt it not. When shall I wake? I will seek it yet again. This is talking about someone that's a quote unquote alcoholic, but that's the modern way that people describe it. An alcoholic is basically saying that someone has a disease. This person has a disease, they can't help it. No, you can help it. Don't drink. You know, because alcohol is addicting. It's not a disease, it's not something that you catch like a cold, oh, I'm an alcoholic. It's not a disease, folks. You know, and you can catch things, you can catch things from having multiple partners or people that had some kind of disease when you did something that you're not supposed to do outside of the bonds of marriage. You can pick up stuff that are diseases. You still picked it up, it's still a disease. But alcoholism is something that could be a trait within your family, though. It could be something that your family already has a proclivity to, or your family's already weak to because you already had multiple generations of drunkards in the past. My grandfather said to me one time, he said, we were talking about inheritance and all this other stuff, and he said the only thing I inherited from my dad was alcoholism, which, that's a sad thing to say. But he probably inherited from watching him drink the whole time that he grew up, and him making a fool out of himself as he grew up. I mean, my grandfather talked about how he had to knock his dad out a couple times. Like his own dad. He must have been pretty, you know, messed up. I mean, he told me that he came home with his wife or whatever, and his dad was so drunk and acting like such an idiot that he had to drop him. I'm just like, wow. And then my dad had to hold him down at my parents' wedding, because he smacked his wife in front of everybody at the wedding. Because he's drunk. I mean, it's pretty bad. It's not anything to brag about. Oh, look how drunk I was this one time when I slapped my wife in front of everybody. I don't even think he's, I think he punched her. I think he punched his wife. It wasn't my grandma, it was somebody else. But still. I mean, thanks for coming to the wedding, dad. You know what I mean? So, number three, alcoholic wine brings tragedy in people's lives. Let's look at some Bible stories. Let's look at the first tragedy, the first time wine and drunkenness is ever brought up. The first time wine, alcoholic wine, is ever brought up in the Bible is a tragedy. Genesis chapter nine. Let's look at Genesis chapter nine. Genesis chapter nine, verse 20, it says, and Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine and was drunken, and he was uncovered within his tent. So, what happened? Well, he lost all of his inhibitions, and he just took all of his clothes off. That's another thing that happens. You know, nakedness happening. So, Noah's so drunk, he just is laying on his bed naked for whatever weird reason, and he's obviously drinking the bad kind of wine here, right, because he's drunk, and he wasn't just freshly squeezed grape juice and got drunk. He had to process this stuff. It says, and Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father. Now, people will give this weird interpretation that it's talking about that Ham did something to Noah's wife, but what's the context? Noah was naked in his tent. It wasn't Noah's wife. It was Noah. Now, there is the saying in the Bible where it says don't uncover the nakedness of your father which is talking about that person's wife, but in this instance, it's not talking about that. It says saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brethren without. It says that he was uncovered. It doesn't say that his wife was uncovered, and Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both shoulders and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father, and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. Now, again, people say, well, it's just the fact that he saw him naked. That's why he curses Canaan. That's not, people accidentally see their parents naked sometimes. That's not, you know, it's horrifying. I get that. It's not something you ever want to see again. I get that too, but it's not something that you would want to curse their whole family line for, okay? So where am I going with this? Well, look what it says. And Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done unto him. So the Bible's not gonna give us the gory details of what happened. This is a euphemism. This is God not wanting to share the raunchy thing that whatever Ham did to him, but I believe that Ham did some homo act to him. It says he knew what his younger son had done unto him. He did something to him. He didn't just see him naked. He did something to him. And it says, and he said, curse be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. I don't have time to get into all that. Why did he curse Canaan? He's a prophet. He sees into the future. What is this family gonna be like later? He curses that side of the family. I mean, that's basically what I think probably happened, but people come up with all kinds of weird stuff, but instead of just seeing what the Bible says here, he did something to his dad. What was the cause of it, though? Noah got drunk. Noah drank wine. Noah drank alcohol. Was Noah a great man? Yeah, he was, but he probably, after saving the world, basically, through obeying God's voice, and then people get drunk for things that they're sad about. I'm sure he lost people that he cared about and all this other stuff, and this is when people get drunk. They miss somebody. They're sad about something. They're being nostalgic, and he just can't deal with it or something. He wants to forget about his pain. This is why people do drugs. This is why people drink alcohol. It's why people wanna numb themselves from things, but look, it's not gonna numb yourself. It's just gonna cause more pain in your life. I don't think that most people that go out and kill people drinking and driving realize that they don't get in the car and go, I think I'm gonna go kill some family when I go drink and drive today. I don't think anybody thinks that, but you know what? They should've never picked up the keys and got it in the car in the first place and drove drunk, because people die all the time because someone gets in their car and drives drunk. People die all the time because people get drunk. Every single day, people die in this country because people drive drunk. Every single day, women are beaten because men get drunk. Every single day, children are neglected because their parents are drunkards and leave their four-year-old kid on a boat all day on the 4th of July, and all kinds of different horrific stories that happen. Abuse in homes happen because of drunkenness. It's not something to play around with. It's not a blessing. The Bible never describes it as a blessing. Genesis chapter 19, I'm not gonna have you turn there, but what's the end of Lot? He's in a cave with his two daughters, and somehow wine got brought with them. He doesn't even have his own wife with him. She turns back and looks at Sodom and turns into a pillar of salt, but he remembered to bring the wine. They had that wine with them, and then he has children with his own daughters. That's not an end that I think Lot intended when he split with his uncle Abraham. He said, I'll take the well-watered plains of Sodom. It's like the land of Egypt. Yeah, the land of Egypt is full of drunkards and necromancers and all kinds of wickedness also, but we should steer, as Christians, we should steer very far away from alcohol because it's sinful. It's definitely not considered a blessing in the Bible. It's considered sin to be a drunk and a drunkard. Anybody that's a drunkard in this church, and I find out about it, they're gonna be cast out of the church. That's what the Bible says. We're supposed to put ourself away from that wicked person, the Bible says. There's a list in First Corinthians five that says those people are supposed to be excluded from the congregation. You're like, you're not gonna let a drunk in the church? No, I'm not. The Bible says we're not supposed to. Now, in First Samuel, Abigail's husband, Nabal, he gets wasted, and then what happens? His heart turns to stone when she tells him the story about David, and then he dies because he's such a drunk, God just kills him, he's a reprobate. You know, a lot of times these people become reprobates. In Second Samuel 13, you have Absalom, goes out and has his brothers get drunk, and then he murders his brother. When he's all drunk and feeling stupid, Absalom murders him. And David says, he like, inside his heart, let's turn there, turn to Second Samuel chapter 13. Trying to skip some of this because I just have, I just don't have enough time to get all this in, but I do wanna go through this real quick. Second Samuel 13, verse 26, the Bible says, Then said Absalom, if not, I pray thee, let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said unto him, why should he go with thee? Right here, David has something, he has this feeling like, why is Amnon, why do you want Amnon to go? Let me tell you something, parents, when you have some kind of feeling in your gut that you shouldn't let your kids go somewhere, you should trust that feeling. That's called intuition. Trust your gut feeling, you're like, I don't know. They're begging you, your kid's begging, oh, please just let us go. David felt something here that he shouldn't let him go. Why should he go with thee? But Absalom pressed him. It's peer pressure, but I mean, he's not his peer, but it's pressure, isn't it? He pressed him and he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. Big mistake, David should not have caved to that pressure. Now Absalom had commanded his servants saying, mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, smite Amnon, then kill him. Fear not, have not I commanded you? Be courageous and valiant. And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and every man gat him up upon his mule and fled. So another story of tragedy. One of David's sons murdered his other son. And Absalom ends up doing some really wicked things, and he ends up dying too, but look how he used alcohol to get his inhibitions down. He pressed David to get him to let all his sons go, and at first David thought that all the sons got killed, but it was just this one that he got revenge on and killed him. I mean, you know the story of Belshazzar, right before Babylon's overthrown, he's drinking wine out of the lord's cups that are used for the service of the lord and the tabernacle. They're all just like, hey, let's use those cups from the temple. Let's use those temple cups. They're all getting wasted, drinking wine out of it, and then that was the end of his reign. Then you saw the writing on the wall happen. Number four, though. Number three, when you drink alcohol, bad things are gonna happen. I mean, there's nobody's gonna say, you know I regret just not drinking more. No one's ever gonna say that. I wish I could've just went back and just drank more alcohol. No one's gonna ever say that, but you know what they will say? Man, I wish I would've never drank. I wish this day would've never happened. I wish my marriage would've never failed because of this. I wish I would've paid more attention to my kids. I wish I would've made that mistake when I got drunk that one time. There's a lot of people that think that, but then they'll seek it yet again, won't they? They're still in the bar the next day, drinking their life away, spending their hard-earned money, just getting drunk every single day. Number four, believers should abstain from wine and strong drink, AKA alcoholic beverages. Turn to, turn to, let's see, Numbers chapter 24. Numbers chapter 24, actually, I'm just gonna read that. Turn to Judges chapter one, Numbers chapter 24. So we started off the sermon where we're talking about Jeremiah chapter 35 and the Rechabites. And if you were paying attention during the Bible reading, Jeremiah is supposed to bring the Rechabites and bring them into the house of the Lord, and he's supposed to give them wine. And what ends up happening? They say, we're not gonna drink that wine. We're not gonna do that. Our Father commanded us not to do that. He said, don't do that. And so they didn't do it. Now these people, the Canaanites, they're related to this man. They're not Israelites, but they're associated very closely with the children of Israel. And some of them married in to Moses's family, and they went into the Promised Land with them when they went and destroyed the judges. In the times of the judges, they went and destroyed Canaan, and Moses's father-in-law is related to them. So, let's see, judges one. So who's ever read the Canaanites? You're like, who are the Canaanites? Anybody ever just, nobody? Okay, well I'll just read Numbers 24, 21. It says, this is Balaam given the prophecy. It says, he looked on the Canaanites and took up his parable and said, strong is thy dwelling place, and thou putest in thy nest in a rock. Nevertheless, the Canaanite shall be wasted until Asur shall carry thee away captive. And he took up his parable and said, at last, who shall live when God doeth this? So the Canaanites are a certain people that are in that Promised Land type area, but they're not the children of Israel. Judges chapter one says, in verse 16, and the children of the Canaanite, Moses's father-in-law, so these are the children of Moses's father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees, and the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad, and they went and dwelt among the people. Now Moses's father-in-law, what does it say he was? He was a priest of Midian, wasn't he? So they're related to the Midianites, aren't they? So, and when it says he's a priest of Midian, so obviously he believed in the Lord, because he's not gonna just let his father-in-law come and sacrifice with the children of Israel. I've already mentioned this fact before, but they're closely related to the children of Israel, they're believers in the one true God, and this shines through throughout the whole Old Testament. These people are kind of together with the children of Israel, but they're not part of the children of Israel, as in one of the tribes, necessarily. They're closely associated with the children of Judah, and of course, Moses's family. Judges 1, 17 says, and Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it, and the same of that city was called Horma. So they went with Judah and Simeon, and destroyed these places. Now, turn to Judges 4, Judges chapter 4. I'm trying to hurry with this. I just kinda wanna lay out who these people are for you. Judges chapter 4, it says, Now Heber the Canaanite, which was of the children of Chobab, the father-in-law of Moses, had severed himself from the Canaanites, and pitched his tent into the plain of Zainim, which is by Kadesh. So Heber, he's a Canaanite. And what's it say? He was of the children of Chobab, the father-in-law of Moses. He severed himself from the Canaanites. So he's a Canaanite, but he severed himself away, and he's part of them. So his wife's name is Jail. I don't have time to go through the whole story, but who's Jail? She's the one that smote Cicero, and where did she smite him at? In a tent, right? She took the spike, and he asked for a cup of water, and she gave him butter and a lordly dish, right? And then the spike threw the head. In Judges 5, 24, it says, Blessed above women shall jail the wife of Heber the Canaanite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. So these people that are Canaanites, they begin, they get blessed by God because of their, of how they are. Like, she kills Israel's enemy, and she's blessed because of that. And Heber, her husband has mentioned, these Canaanites, these people are dwellers in tents. They're nomadic people, and they attach themselves to God's people. And turn to 2 Kings, chapter 10, verse 15. I'll just be able to show you a couple brief verses here. But you probably, I've read these scriptures before to you many times. You've heard these in sermons probably many times, but maybe never made the connection here. But it says, And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rekab. Meeting, or coming to meet him, and he saluted him and said to him, is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, it is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand, and he took him up into his chariot, into the chariot, and he said, come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. So they made him right in his chariot. So who's this guy? Well, he's Jehonadab, the son of Rekab. And so he is related to the same people, the Canaanites. Now, Jehu takes him, and he kills all these Baal worshiping freaks. And it says in verse 23, And Jehu went and Jehonadab the son of Rekab into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, search and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but the worshipers of Baal only. So they end up killing all the worshipers of Baal, and they turn the house of Baal into a drought house unto this day, and Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. You're like, well, how are you making this connection? I'll show you in just a second here. Turn to, let's see, turn to First Chronicles, chapter two, verse 55. Now, here's the great verse I missed when I went through that chapter. Remember, that was a really long chapter, and I was like, okay, let's just skip through the rest of this. Well, I'm glad that I did, because now I can bring you to the attention of this verse. First Chronicles, chapter two, verse 55. I remember this is talking about, this chapter is tracking the children of Judah, but it says, in the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez, the Terethites, the Shemeothites, the Succothites, these are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rakab. So the father of the house of Rakab, then we have Jehonadab, the son of Rakab, right here. So that ties that together, that Jehonadab is the son of Rakab. You're like, well, this isn't making sense to me. Now turn back to Jeremiah chapter 35, where we started in our Bible reading this morning. Why is this all important? Well, think about the line. So they come from Moses' father-in-law. They're doing great things for God on the side here. They attach themselves to the children of Israel. Jail kills Sisera, one of their great enemies, and ends the war, a woman, wins the victory for them. And then they kind of come along, they become scribes. And then Jeremiah, God has a remembrance of these people. Why does he have a remembrance of these people? Well, because of their faithfulness. And what's their faithfulness? Well, they're faithful to what this man Jehonadab, who helped kill all the prophets of Baal and destroyed idolatry out of Israel. So he had a big part to play. He's like, hey, is your heart right like my heart's right? He's like, it is. He's like, well, get in my chariot. Let's go kill these Baal-worshipping sons of guns and make their house a drought house. You know what a drought house is? It's like an outhouse. It's what it is. So Jeremiah chapter 35 verse two says, and unto the house of the Rechabites, which are the Kenites, and speak unto them and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. And I took Jazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habbazaniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdalia, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maasiah, the son of Shalom, the keeper of the door. And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine and cups, and I said unto them, drink ye wine. So God tells Jeremiah, bring them here, make them drink wine. Verse six, but they said, we will drink no wine, for John Adab, the son of Rechab, our father commanded us, saying, ye shall drink no wine, neither ye nor your sons forever. This man, you know, John Adab is the same as Jehanadab, it's the same guy. So this man is such a great man, he helps destroy idolatry in Israel, and then he commands his sons after him to command their sons after them, and their sons after them. This is hundreds of years later. This is a couple hundred years later, and they're still keeping this commandment not to drink alcohol, why? Because it's not good, because it's wicked, because it's evil, because it causes you to do wicked things. But look how God cares for these people, these nomads that are just kind of hanging on the outskirts, they're attaching themselves to the children of Israel, but they're not the children of Israel. They're strangers in the land with the children of Israel. The land was given to Israel, they were once strangers and sojourners in the land, then it became their land. These people are dwellers in tents, look what it says, neither shall ye build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any, but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers. It's a good plan. Why? Because they have no covetousness to bring forth. They've gotten rid of all the idols, they've helped the children of Israel do that, but slowly but surely they've become scribes, they've even, their children have married in with the Levites, which I don't have time to develop that, but it's actually a pretty cool story, that these Kenites, I've always kind of just wondered, who are these Kenites? And I kind of just did a deep dive on it last night. So, anyway, verse eight. Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rekab, our father in all that he hath charged us to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters, nor to build houses for us to dwell in, neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed. But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all the Jonadab our father commanded us. And it came to pass when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came up into the land, that we said, come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians, so we dwell at Jerusalem. Then came the word of the Lord saying, or unto Jeremiah, saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, go and tell the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, we will not receive instruction to hearken unto my words, or will you not receive instruction to hearken unto my words, saith the Lord? The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine are performed, for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment, notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, but you hearken not unto me. What's he saying here? He's saying, they listen to the commandment of their father, which is good, which is right, which ultimately is the commandment of the heavenly father, right? And these guys that are children of Judah that are supposedly the worshipers of the Lord won't even listen and not drink alcohol. And let this not be a lesson that we have to learn also, that we don't listen and hearken to the word of the Lord that says don't even look at that wine, don't even look at that poison, don't put that poison into your body, don't drink that stuff around your children, command your children, don't drink this stuff, it's poison, command all your families not to drink alcohol. But it says, but ye hearken not unto me. I have sinned also unto you, all my servants, the prophets, rising up early and sending them, singing, return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers, but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearken unto me because the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rekab, have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them, but this people hath not hearkened unto me. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard, and I have called unto them, and they have not answered. And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rekabites, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you, therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Jonadab, the son of Rekab, shall not want a man to stand before me forever. What a blessing to that man. What a blessing to the man that helped Jehu get rid of all the false prophets and all the false Baal worshipers, and then generations of children after him did not drink alcohol, refused to do that, and not only that, but also had humbleness in their dwelling places, lived in tents, didn't have these big vineyards, and have all this land, and it helped them to stay humble. They listened to their father. Now, after this, Jerusalem's destroyed, and where are they at? Jerusalem. Turn to Nehemiah chapter three, verse 14. Nehemiah chapter three, verse 14. Did God keep his promise? He says, but the dumb gate repaired Malchiah, the son of what? What's his name? Well, I'm pronouncing it Rekab, but you might say Rechab. I like Rekab better. See the same family? The ruler of, part of Betharim, he built it and set up the borders, the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. So this is after, this is 70 years afterwards, right? After the captivity. Did God keep his promise? Yeah, he did. Because why? Because he said there shall not, John Adab the son of Rekab shall not want a man to stand before me forever. So he's one of the rulers here, coming back into the promised land, he's one of the Rekabites, he's one of the Kenites. So, and he's counted in the genealogy in First Chronicles chapter two, verse 55, as one of the Kenites, one of the scribes. So he's a scribe at Jabez, his family. So, again, why show all this? Well, look at the blessings that come from abstaining from alcohol, and idolatry, and covetousness. And I'm not saying that we need to go all live in tents and stuff, but maybe we should just not put so much stock in all the things that we have also, and maybe live a more simple life than we are living now. And all the glitz, and glamour, and all the stuff that we hold so precious to us that we should maybe let go of some of the things that we have such a big hold on us in our lives, and definitely stay really clear from alcohol. Turn to Leviticus chapter 10, verse one. Leviticus chapter 10, verse one. Close to wrapping up here, just a few more minutes. Leviticus chapter 10, verse one. We're like, well, where does the Bible say we shouldn't drink alcohol? You haven't really showed me anything. Well, how are you gonna drink something you can't even look at? Well, you can close your eyes. Okay. What about all the warnings it says about drinking it, though? What are you gonna do with that? People could just talk all day long, but people could say that Jesus drank alcohol. They'll say, well, at the Lord's Supper, it says fruit of the vine. I think I already explained that one, didn't I? You think Jesus is gonna take alcoholic wine, which is poison, and use that as a symbol for his perfect, precious blood, and have those disciples drink something like that? He doesn't use leavened bread, because that represents what? Sin. And so alcoholic wine would represent what? It represents sin, wouldn't it? That's why the Bible specifically says fruit of the vine. I think it was rendered that way just so people wouldn't try to say that. But what does the Catholic Church try to give everybody every week? Real wine. What do a lot of churches do communion every week? They got a box of franza, probably that they pulled from their fridge that morning, because they drank it themselves at home, or callos rossi or something, some kind of boxed wine, and bring it and let people take communion of it. It's wicked. It's ungodly. Leviticus chapter 10. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense therein, and offered strange fire before the Lord, when he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, this is it that the Lord spake, saying I will be sanctified, and then that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified, and Aaron held his peace. So this is Aaron's sons, the first priests, and what happens? Well, they offer strange fire, and the Bible doesn't say what that means, but right after this, a few verses down, look at verse nine, it 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 what? Die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, and that you may put difference between holy and what? Unholy. And between unclean and clean. You think that God just brought that up for no reason? You think he just, out of the blue, God just said, by the way, I know I just killed your sons, but don't drink alcohol. You know what I think? I think that they drank alcohol. They were probably drunk or buzzed when they walked in there to do those things, and they didn't put holy, they didn't make a difference between holy and unholy. They probably drank booze, and either they did something wrong in their offering, the way that they lit it, or whatever they did, they did something that God wasn't happy with, and he killed them for it. He burnt them with fire. So, and they're priests. And you know what, in the New Testament, we are kings and priests unto our God. That's what the Bible says. As New Testament believers, we all are filled with the Spirit of God. We don't have to go through a priest or our high priest is Jesus Christ. That's the only high priest we go through. And we are priests unto God in the fact that we believe in the priesthood of the believer at this church. Every believer can go to God through the Lord Jesus Christ and pray to him and ask him our petitions, or we can work for him in any capacity. We are kings and priests, and you're like, well, how are we kings? Well, we're gonna rule and reign with him someday. Proverbs 31, turn to Proverbs 31. And you know, people kinda are like, who's King Lemuel? Nobody really knows who King Lemuel is. There's no king of Israel or king of Judah named King Lemuel. And I don't know what the big conspiracy theory story is of him. I've never really looked into it much. But does it really matter? It's scripture, isn't it? So, he's a king somewhere. And his words are written for us in Proverbs chapter 31, a great chapter in the Bible. It says, the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. What my son, and what the son of my womb, and what the son of my vows? Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings. What ways 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 judgment of any of the afflicted. So, kings should not drink wine, nor strong drink. Isn't that what the Bible says? So, if we're kings and priests unto the Lord, in Leviticus chapter 10, the priests were not allowed to drink wine and come unto the house of the Lord. So, isn't it funny though, that in the New Testament, being a drunkard is one of the things that you should not be allowed into church for. It's not funny, it's just a fact. Why does that translate over to the New Testament? Well, because he doesn't want his priests and his kings being drunkards, that's why. Because alcohol is forbidden to Christians, that's why. Amen. I mean, I don't know how people, they still will just, people just want to sin. They just want to drink. No matter what you show them, some people just will do whatever they want, and they don't care. But you can show them verse upon verse, and they still just won't care. Look what it says in verse six. Strong drink, give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish. Someone's dying, you know, they give them morphine or stuff like that, like in hospice care, things like that. I think that's what this verse is talking about. Give strong drink to them that is ready to perish. You know, if someone's like literally dying, they're in pain of some sort, and wine to them to heavy hearts, let him drink, forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. It's kind of also just like, you know, this fool that's, you know, because perish can also mean going to hell. So these are the types of people that are drinking anyway. A lot of people that are drunkards are just headed for hell. I'm not saying every drunkard is. There's drunkards that are saved. I'm not saying you can't be saved and be a drunkard. You can. You can get saved, so a drunkard could be sober, get saved, and then continue to be a drunkard for the rest of their life, and they're still saved. You're just not living a victorious Christian life. You're gonna live in misery and judgment, but you're still gonna be saved. So I'm just gonna give you some final warnings, and we'll be done here. Daniel 1.8, go ahead and turn to Luke chapter 1, verse 15. I'm gonna read Daniel 1.8. Daniel 1.8 says, but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore, he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. So Daniel did not want to eat their food or drink the wine of the king. Why? What was the problem with the wine? It's probably alcoholic, that's why. So they didn't have that restriction in God's law to not do that. So now Luke chapter 1, verse 15, here's a New Testament one for you. Just talking about John the Baptist. It says, for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord. Why? One of the reasons, it says, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. What's the big deal about that? He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb. He'll drink neither wine nor strong drink. Why mention that if it's not something God doesn't want us to do? Doesn't make sense. Ephesians 5, 18. And if John the Baptist isn't gonna drink wine or strong drink, you think Jesus is going to? Come on, man. In the words of Joe Biden, come on, man. Ephesians chapter 5, 18. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. So we're commanded to be filled with the Spirit, not to be filled with wine. See, those are two opposite things. So you can't be filled with wine and be filled with the Spirit. Those are opposites. Galatians says in 5, 21, says, envies, murders, drunkenness, and revelings and such alike, these are things which people that aren't going to heaven are doing. And these are works of the flesh as it's described. And I said earlier about people calling alcohol a disease. It's not a disease. Again, a disease is something you catch. Alcohol causes you to lose brain cells, gives people cirrhosis of the liver. It literally pickles you over time. It induces murder, fornication, adultery, domestic abuse, death on highways and streets, divorce, embarrassment, perversions. And we need to just call it what it is. The devil's brew, the liquid devil, liquid hell, booze, poison, but it's not a blessing. Let's call people that abuse it what they really are, not alcoholics, but they're drunkards, they're drunks. We always try to soften our language. They're unalivers. No, they're murderers, unalivers. Good night. Last verse I'll have you turn to is Isaiah 5-11, and then we'll be done. Isaiah 5-11, if you don't wanna turn there, just listen to me read it. It says, woe unto them that rise up early in the morning that may follow strong drink that continue until night, till wine inflame them. Verse 22 says, woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong wine. So, a woe is pronounced upon them. God's saying that bad things are coming to these people that rise up early in the morning to follow strong drink and continue until night. People that are just drunkards that drink from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed at night. Well, what about the casual drinker, Pastor Thompson? What if I just get drunk once a year on this special day? Then you're still a drunkard, aren't you? You're still doing it once a year. You're like, well, it's just once a year. You're still a drunkard. You're still getting drunk once a year. What about if I just have a glass of wine with my dinner? Well, have a glass of grape juice. It gives you the same exact benefit. It's the same exact benefit. They're like, oh yeah, a glass of red alcoholic wine with your dinner. It's still the same benefit, folks. They just want you to buy wine. That's like the wine companies, the wino companies around the world. They want you to have a glass of red wine. They want you to buy that bottle. If every household listened to that, everybody would have a bottle of red wine all year long, and you'd be, think about how rich those companies get because of that stupid saying. But you're still gonna get the same benefit with a glass of grape juice. In England, it's a thing to have grape juice in your fridge, and then they put a little bit of sparkling water, you know, a little bit of Pellegrino or whatever, a little bit of seltzer water, and they mix it with, that's the mixed wine that you should be having. You want to seek some mixed wine, have a little bit of grape juice, cut it with some Pellegrino. It's like having soda or whatever. That's not too much sugar. So in conclusion, Christians should not look at, drink, sell, grow the things to make them. Or deliver alcohol. Avoid the billboards, television commercials, walking down the aisle in the grocery store. It's high time that Christians just forget what society says and start carrying what the actual Bible says, what God actually thinks about things. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for what the Bible says. And Lord, I know that sometimes people will think this is an extreme message, but Lord, it's what you say. And I use your words today, and I pray that if there's anybody that's struggling with these things, that needs help with these things, that Lord, they would take these things to heart, that they would look at the scriptures for themselves, and just go back over it, and see what the Bible says, and that they would just agree with you, and implement these things in their life if they're into these things. Or just anybody out there that needs help with this, I pray, Lord, this sermon might have helped them. These scriptures might have helped them, Lord. And I pray that you would just help us to walk in your ways, Lord, and to keep things simple in our lives, and to avoid alcohol at all costs. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 34. Your red or green hymnals. I Know That My Redeemer Liveth 34. I Know My Redeemer Liveth on the first. I Know That My Redeemer Liveth. I Know My Redeemer Liveth on the first. I know my Redeemer liveth on the first. I know that my Redeemer liveth, and on the earth again shall stand. I know eternal life he giveth, that grace and power are in his hand. I know, I know that Jesus liveth, and on the earth again shall stand. I know, I know that life he giveth, that grace and power are in his hand. I know his promise never faileth, the word he speaks, it cannot die. The cruel death my pleasure sailth, yet I shall see him by and by. I know, I know that Jesus liveth, and on the earth again shall stand. I know, I know that life he giveth, that grace and power are in his hand. I know my mansion he prepareth, that where he is there I may be. Oh wondrous thought for me, he careth, and he at last will come for me. I know, I know that Jesus liveth, and on the earth again shall stand. I know, I know that life he giveth, that grace and power are in his hand. Great singing. Thank you all for being here with us this Sunday morning. Brother Brandon, will you end us in a word of prayer? Amen, you are dismissed.