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Alcohol and God
Text: Isaiah 28:1-8
You know I see a lot of Christians both men and women who see nothing wrong with drinking alcohol once and a while.
Some see nothing wrong with drinking every day, they get off work and can not wait to pop the top on a beer. Well I intend
to show you that God does not approve of drinking alcohol in any way. The text we just read was telling the fate of the people
of Ephraim. They had become a society of drunkards and evil doers. So the wrath of God was on them.
The Bible goes on to tell us in the book of Habakkuk 2:15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttestthy
bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
This tells me not to allow myself to give Alcohol to any one, so if it is a sin to give alcohol it must also be a sin
to partake of alcohol. The Bible backs this up in Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled
with the spirit. So if alcohol is a sin to give and a sin to partake of then how can you justify drinking. You can not, in
Gods eye a sin is a sin and once you have been filled with the Holy Spirit you should be able to see a sin for what it is.
I know a lot of Christians that are going to wonder what happened when they stand before the judgment of God. Some of you
are thinking well if it is a sin why did Jesus drink wine.
Lets clarify that right here and now look at what it says in Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord,
and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. This
make it impossible for Jesus to par-take of wine, if he did it would go againest God.But this will become clear later on into
this sermon.
What then, about the wine that Jesus made at the marriage feast? Was it alcoholic?The Greek word used here is "oinos,"
a variation of the Hebrew word "yayin."This word can refer to grape juice in any stage, either fermented,or unfermented.
With this in mind and knowing the scripture I feel quit sure that the wine Jesus made was only grape juice as was the wine
he himself drank. Also look at what some Bible scholars have to say, you know I did my research before bring up this subject:
The Meaning of Oinos. The popular assumption that both in secular and Biblical Greek the word oinos meant fermented
grape juice exclusively was examined at great length. But we submitted numerous examples from both pagan and Christian authors
who used the Greek word oinos referring both to fermented and unfermented grape juice. We also noticed that oinos is used
at least 33 times in the Septuagint to translate tirosh, the Hebrew word for grape juice.
A better acquaintance with the use of the word "wine," not only in the Greek language, but also in old English,
Latin and Hebrew, would have saved scholars from falling into the mistaken conclusion that oinos means only fermented wine.
The truth of the matter is, as we have shown, that oinos is a generic term, including all kinds of wine, unfermented and fermented,
like yayin in Hebrew and vinum in Latin. Thus the fact that the wine made by Christ at Cana is called oinos, offers no ground
for concluding that it was fermented wine. Its nature must be determined by internal evidence and moral likelihood. The record
of the evangelist, as we shall see, affords information for determining this question.
Regardless of your opinion of casual drinking, I'm sure most of you will agree that drunkenness is definitely a sin.
In light of this, would Jesus contribute to drunkenness? At the time Jesus had arrived at the feast, the guests had "well
drunk" of whatever they were drinking (V.10.) Jesus knew well the solemn warnings of Habakkuk 2:15,"Woe to him who
gives his neighbor intoxicating drink". With this in mind, we can be sure that the beverage Jesus made was a refreshing,
nonalcoholic grape drink. To do otherwise would have been totally incompatible with His nature. It would have been considered
a sin and would destroy all that we know to be truth.
Look further at what the Bible says in Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived
thereby is not wise. Therefore sould we not look on drinking as sin? Would it not go againest God for Jesus to have condoned
drinking? I believe Jesus the Son of God would have been very much opposed to drinking wine or any other strong drink. Futher
more I think that we as Christians, our bodies being the temple of Christ should not condone Drinking Alcohol.
Ok listen to me.If Alcohol is bad and causes so much hurt and is against Gods will why do so many people fall victim
to its effect? Look at what we know about alcohol, we all know someone enslaved by alcohol.Alchol causes the most highway
deaths, it causes divorice, it causes spousal abuse and child abuse. I know that Alcohol has a place and it belongs there,
it is called HELL! A lot of people try to get help with their drinking and they are trying to get it from every place but
the right place, God. Only God can take away the desire to drink alcohol, God is the only cure.
Take a look at what someone wrote about Alcohol in society today:
The Disease:
If alcoholism is a disease,
* It is the only disease that is bottled and sold;
* It is the only disease that is contracted by the will of man;
* It is the only disease that requires a license to propagate it;
* It is the only disease that requires outlets to spread it.
If alcoholism is a disease,
* It is the only disease that produces revenue for the government;
* It is the only disease that provokes crime;
* It is the only disease that is habit forming;
* It is the only disease that brings violent death on the highways;
* It is the only disease that is spread by advertising;
* It is the only disease without a germ or virus cause.
It just might be that it's not a disease at all.
Author unknown
It is time we see Alcohol for what it is, it is a sin against every thing the Christ stood for, God does not condone
it and we should not either.
If you know some one who has an alcohol problem maybe you need to be in prayer for them this morning, if you have a problem
with alcohol maybe you need to go to the alter and ask God for help. How do you know if you have a problem; that is easy if
you drink alcohol and proclaim to be a Christian you have a problem. The Bible says you can not live in the world and serve
God. Satan has been using Alcohol long enough to destroy people who know God. Now lets put it in its place. Lets help others
get off Alcohol and drugs by Praying and lets send Satan a message that God's people will not be decived any longer.
By: bro. Roger Jennings
Testimony of a Believer
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