Proverbs 20:1 “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”
Proverbs 23:29-32 “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.”
Recently one of the staff of a well known ministry and Bible college was arrested for driving drunk with two of his underage children in the vehicle. He drove off roadway and struck a curb. According to a recent article , he had a blood alcohol content of 0.175 {more than twice the legal limit} and was driving dangerously with two of his children in the vehicle.
I am sure he thought he could handle it.
When I was saved in 1989 it was common knowledge that alcohol and Christianity did not mix.
It was not unusual, 30 years ago to hear several sermons a year against drinking alcohol.
I attended a Independent Fundamental Baptist church as a teenager and I also attended an IFB school.
It was a well known fact and stated in a church covenant on the wall that IFB folks were not to drink alcohol.
Preachers didn’t preach against “drunkenness”…they preached against drinking.
But that was the “old days.”
We now have…
Christians who drink alcohol.
Christians who gamble.
Christians who cuss.
Christians who look at pornography.
Christians who shack up.
50 years of moral relativism through the worlds education system and media has seeped into the churches.
There is not much today that is not “ok”, even amongst Christians.
A preacher who preaches against drinking alcohol today will often be labeled a legalist.
The Bible plainly states that “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”
Many have been deceived by booze.
The minister who was caught driving under the influence with his kids in the car had been deceived.
He made an unwise decision.
Now the booze, the unsaved world and the devil mock the poor man.
People make all kinds of silly arguments defending the drinking of alcohol.
They bring up gluttony, smoking and eating unhealthy.
I have never heard of anyone wrecking a car or losing their job because they had eaten too much.
I have never heard of anyone leaving their spouse because they would not stop eating unhealthy food.
Having preached in missions and jails, I have never met a man or woman whose life was in ruins because they consumed too much processed food.
I have never met someone who had lost their drivers license for driving while smoking cigarettes.
Those who defend drinking alcohol often mention risky behavior, like skydiving or white-water rafting… “we all make decisions to take certain risks.”
While that is true, unlike skydiving or drag racing or whitewater rafting there are far greater risk involved with drinking alcohol and it impacts a far greater number of people.
For example:
*Every day in America, 27 people die as a result of drunk driving crashes.
*In 2015, 10,265 people died in drunk driving crashes – one every 51 minutes
*Over 50% of automobile accidents are caused by alcohol impaired drivers.
*Over 50% of all fatal highway crashes involving two or more cars are alcohol related.
*Over 65% of all fatal single car crashes are alcohol related.
*50 to 75% of convicted drunk drivers continue to drive on a suspended license.
*Every two minutes, a person is injured in a drunk driving crash.
*On average, two in three people will be involved in a drunk driving crash in their lifetime.
*In 2013, 28.7 million people admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol – that’s more than the population of Texas.
*An average drunk driver has driven drunk over 80 times before first arrest.
*Adults drank too much and drove about 121 million times per year – over 300,000 incidents of drinking and driving a day.
The carnage caused from drinking alcohol is enormous and the damage to peoples health is far greater than most people realize.
“Alcoholism is the 3rd leading lifestyle-related cause of death in the nation.
Up to 40% of all hospital beds in the United States (except for those being used by maternity and intensive care patients) are being used to treat health conditions that are related to alcohol consumption.”
In the end drinking alcohol will cause a person to…
lose his property
lose his reputation.
lose his health.
lose his family.
lose his immortal soul.
Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God. {I Corinthians 6:9-11}
“At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, when a younger man, believed it was okay to drink alcohol socially.
When an older man, he stated; “Next to the preaching of the Gospel, the most necessary thing to be done in England is to induce our people to become abstainers.”
I believe the “old time” Christians were right…Christians shouldn’t drink.
My advice is never touch the stuff. Don’t even look at it. – Brother Shawn
“It is very clear that if a man is a total abstainer, he can never be a drunkard. As much cannot be said of the moderate man.” – Alexander Maclaren
“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
“The sight of a drunkard is a better sermon against that vice than the best that was ever preached upon the subject.” – George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633–1695)
“Drunkenness is the devil’s back door to hell and everything that is hellish. For he that once gives away his brains to drink is ready to be caught by Satan for anything.” – Charles H. Spurgeon
https://www.ncadd.org/about-addiction/alcohol/facts-about-alcohol
The Christian Excavator 