Abstinence
Posted by: DRjim <DRjim@...>
Hi
While looking for other information in my files I came across this sermon on Abstinence.
JIMMc
A COMMITMENT TO TOTAL ABSTINENCE
Johny Hunt
PROV. 20:1
September 14, 1997
INTRODUCTION:
Why is there so much in the news about alcohol? Because we
in America have a big problem. About 40% of adult Americans
have direct family experiences with alcohol abuse and
alcoholism. Marvin Bloch, former chairman of the American
Medical Association Committee on Alcoholism, said, "Ours is a
drug-oriented society, largely because of alcohol. Because of
its social acceptance, alcohol is rarely thought of as a drug. But
a drug it is, in scientific fact."
Advertisers will spend over $500,000,000. to tell us to drink
this year. Seventy-five percent of all high schoolers drink, and
50% of all junior highers. Four hundred and fifty thousand
teenagers are alcoholics in the U.S.A.
An estimated 17,274 persons died in alcohol-related traffic
crashes; an average of one every 32 minutes. Forty-one
percent of all traffic related deaths in 1996 were related to
alcohol. Another 1,058,990 were injured in alcohol-related
crashes; one person every 30 seconds. Every weekday night,
from 10 P.M. to 1 A.M., one in 13 drivers is drunk. Between
1 A.M. & 6 A.M. on weekends, one in seven is drunk. About
2 in every 5 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related
crash at some time in their lives. From 1982-1995, 300,274
people died in alcohol related crashes. In the past ten years, 4
times as many Americans died in drunk driving crashes as
were killed in the Vietnam War.
Alcohol is a downer that reduces activity in the central nervous
system. The alcohol intoxicated person exhibits loose muscle
tones and loss of fine motor coordination. It decreases heart
rate and lowers blood pressure. What our nation considers
drunk (or 0.07) causes slight impairment of balance, speech,
vision, reaction time, and hearing. Judgment and self-control
are reduced, and caution, reason, and memory are impaired.
John 10:10, "The thief cometh not but to steal, and to kill, and
to destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly."
The younger an individual starts drinking, and the greater the
intensity and frequency of alcohol consumption, the greater the
risk of using other drugs.
Youth who drink alcohol are 7 1/2 times more likely to use an
illicit drug, and 50 times more likely to use cocaine than young
people who never drink alcohol.
I. DRINKING ALCOHOL AND SPIRITUALITY
Prov. 20:1, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging,
and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
"brawler" - raging
"led astray" - deceived
Billy Sunday called liquor "the Devil in liquid form"
Compare:
Wine is a deceiver - devil is a deceiver
"bites like a serpent" - devil is the old serpent
Prov. 23:32, "At the last it biteth like a serpent, and
stingeth like an adder."
Many people believe, for whatever reason, that the answer
to drinking alcoholic beverages is moderation. I personally
believe that moderation is not the solution but the cause of
alcohol abuse.
I am going to assume that all "Christians" believe that
drunkenness is a sin, however, many are unconvinced that
alcohol used with moderation, simply drinking socially,
recreationally is hardly a problem, much less a sin.
Church-goers may not be any more sympathetic to this
message than the general population. One half of all
ordained ministers drink, and 1/3 of all active church-
goers drink. Forty-eight percent of Southern Baptists
drink, and an estimated 16% of those who do drink become
alcoholics (a higher % than virtually any other religious
group in the nation). One-fourth of all active Southern
Baptist church teenagers have used alcohol in the past
12 months.
According to Prov. 20:l, wine/strong drink has an inherit
tendency to "lead one astray." From what? The path
of wisdom. The idea is that wine mocks the one who
drinks it, and strong drink makes him aggressive.
The over-consumption of alcohol makes a mockery (even
a monkey) out of me.
In other words, as alcohol tends to lead me astray from the
path of wisdom, so the path of wisdom will lead one away
from alcohol.
Some say that alcohol is a cultural thing. Take the French,
for instance. They may say, "We can handle our liquor. We
are not like those abusive Americans." Their attitude is that
they grew up with wine, no skidrows in Paris. They drink
wine in place of water.
MYTH: In France, alcohol is the number one health
menace.
- average Frenchman drinks more than any other citizen in
the world (65 gallons of wine a year)
- 23,000 Frenchmen die every year from liver disease
(cirrhosis of the liver)
- 10 times that of the U.S.
- 1/3 of all traffic accidents are alcohol-related.
MAJOR ARGUMENT:
It is not wrong to drink wine, a beer, or a mixed drink. The
Bible does not condemn it, and by the way, did not Jesus
turn water into wine?
One "minister" a few years ago applied for license for beer/
wine for their church. His argument: "Jesus was the first
bartender."
Let's look at the words for wine and strong drink -
Strong drink - (Shay-kahr) pronounced she-care; refers to
a drink that has been distilled from fermented dates, grain,
apples, and honeycomb. Universally condemned everywhere
it is used. Only time it is recommended is a sort of narcotic
in Prov. 31:6, "Give strong drink unto him that is ready
to perish, and wine unto those that are of heavy hearts."
(time of extreme sorrow)
In Prov. 31:4-5, tells us that kings and national leaders are
to leave wine and strong drink alone. Prov. 31:4-5, "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 justice of any of the
afflicted."
Again, in Isaiah 28:7-8, leaders are rebuked. "But they also
have erred through wine, and through strong drink are
out of the way. The priest and the prophet have erred
through strong drink; they are swallowed up of wine,
they are out of the way through strong drink, they err in
vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are
full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place
clean."
EXAMPLE: Washington had 3 parties: Republican,
Democratic, and Cocktail
The word for wine in Prov. 20:1 is the Hebrew word
Yayin (Ya-yin) - may be intoxicating; may not be;
generic word. Not-intoxicating here in Isaiah 16:10,
"And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the
plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be
no singing, neither shall there be shouting; the
treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses;
I have made their vintage shouting to cease."
This word is used 141 times in the Old Testament.
It is probably intoxicating in Prov. 20:1.
How can you know? Attempt to know the content.
For instance, if Jim gave me a ride home and asked if
I wanted to stop and get a drink. I think he is talking
about a coke, orange juice, etc.
In Isaiah 65:8, the word Tirosh (Ti-rosh) is used.
Refers to grape juice right out of the grape.
Isaiah 65:8, "Thus saith the Lord: As the new wine
is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not;
for a blessing is in it; so will I do for my servants'
sakes, that I may not destroy them all."
In Prov. 23:29-31, it is fermented. When it is in a certain
condition, leave it alone.
Prov. 23:29-31, "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 its color in the cup, when
it moveth itself aright."
"woe and sorrow" 29: Emotional problems
"contentions and complaints" 29: Social problems
"wounds and redness of eyes" 29: Physical problems
"see strange things and utter perverse things" 33
New Testament word is Ionos; generic word
John 2:1-11 says nothing about man being drunk
Bill Graham Association was questioned concerning
Jesus and wine.
"It was not heavy wine which was known to be intoxicating,
but fermented wine."
Yale University's Study on alcoholism - it was revealed
that the normal process of fermentation of "fruit of the vine"
does not produce a drink with sufficient alcohol content to
bring on drunkenness. There must be a mechanical
interference with the normal process, such as the addition
of pure alcohol or other mechanical processes of distillation
or it will not produce the kind of wine that is common today.
The Hebrews would have referred to our wine and beer as
"strong drink".
Ladies and gentlemen, Jesus is not in the liquor business.
NOTE: We are not dealing with "apples for apples"
A New Testament scholar named Robert Stein researched
the wine drinking of the ancient world in both Jewish
sources and the Bible. He made a fascinating discovery
about the wine of Bible days, as compared to the wine of
today.
The wine of biblical times was not like the wine that exists
today. Stein's research uncovered the fact that wine in the
days of Jesus, for example, was actually wine mixed with
water. On average, it would be three or four parts of water
mixed with one part of wine. In other words, what the
Bible calls wine was basically purified water.
He points out that water in the ancient world was unsafe
to drink. It could be made safe by boiling it, filtering it, or
the safest way was to put wine into the water to kill the
germs.
The problem today is the alcohol content. By the way,
concentrated alcohol was only known in the Middle Ages
when the Arabs invented distillation, so what is now called
liquor or strong drink, and the 20% fortified wines of
today were unknown in Bible times.
Dr. Stein noted that one would have to drink 22 glasses
of wine in order to consume the alcohol in only 2 martinis
today.
In summary, though fermented wine was drunk in Bible
times, and though the Bible approves of wine-drinking, one
needs to remember that the alcohol content of ancient wine
was much less than that of wine today. What is consumed
today is not the wine of the New Testament. To equate the
two would be like comparing apples and oranges. Dr.
Norman Geisler concluded, "Therefore, Christians ought
not drink wine, beer, or other alcoholic beverages, for they
are actually 'strong drink,' and are forbidden in Scripture.
Even ancient pagans did not drink what some Christians
drink today."
LET'S DEAL WITH WINE AND THE LORD'S
SUPPER
Jesus never called the drink wine.
He called it "fruit of the vine" or "cup"
Matt. 26:29, Mark 14:25, Luke 22:18
Bread - unleavened bread; leaven bread for fermented;
it had foreign substance in it working, not pure.
Wine - is rotten grape juice. I don't believe Jesus
would have used something with foreign substance
to equate with His precious blood.
II. DRINKING ALCOHOL AND SOCIETY.
Shakespeare said, "Oh God that men would put an
enemy in their mouth to steal away their brains."
SPEAKS OF MY AREA OF INFLUENCE.
You say, "I will never abuse alcohol. I will never
become an alcoholic.
One out of every ten that start to drink will become
an alcoholic.
One man put it this way: Wine is a deceiver
- We drank for happiness and became unhappy
- We drank for joy and became miserable
- We drank for sociability and became argumentative
- We drank for sophistication and became obnoxious
- We drank for friendship and became enemies
- We drank for sleep and became awakened without rest
- We drank for strength and felt weak
- We drank for relaxation and got the shakes
- We drank for bravery and became afraid
- We drank for confidence and became doubtful
- We drank to make conversation easier and slurred
our speech
- We drank to feel heavenly and ended up feeling like
we had been to hell
- We drank to forget and were forever haunted
- We drank for freedom and became a slave
- We drank to erase problems and saw them multiply
- We drank to cope with life and invited death.
- 18 million alcoholics in America
- 80, 000 deaths per year related to alcohol
- 55% of all traffic accidents related to alcohol
- #3 health problem in our country, next only to cancer
and heart disease
- 80% crime related to alcohol
-50% of murders related to alcohol
Someone says, "But, it is good for business. It will
guarantee lots of revenue. For every dollar in revenue,
it costs 8 dollars to clean up.
ILLUSTRATIONS:
Donkey and Flea
Let me suck 8 quarts of blood and I will give you back
one for every 8. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Only a donkey would think this way!
NOTE: Fewer than one-in-three parents of tenth graders
are giving their children a clear "no use" message about
alcohol.
When parents "bargain" with youth; for example, allowing
them to drink as long as they promise to not drive, the
youth are more likely to drive after drinking, or be in a
vehicle driven by someone who has been drinking.
When school-age youth are allowed to drink alcohol at
home, they are not only more likely to use alcohol and
other drugs outside the home, but they are more likely
to develop serious behavioral and health problems
related to their use of alcohol and other drugs.
One-in-three college students now drink primarily to
get drunk.
Each year, students spend $5.5 billion on alcohol - more
than they spend on soft drinks, tea, milk, juice, coffee, or
books combined. On a typical campus, per capita
students' spending for alcohol is $446. per student. This
far exceeds the per capita budget of the college library.
Sixty percent of college women diagnosed with a sexually
transmitted disease were drunk at the time of infection.
Nearly 1/3 of college students surveyed said they wished
alcohol was not available at campus events, and nearly
90% wished other drugs would disappear from campuses.
Approximately 240,000 to 360,000 of the nations' 12
million current undergraduates will ultimately die from
alcohol-related causes; more than the number that will
get MA's and PhD's combined.
Alcohol destroys our homes, our lives, and our nation,
and ultimately our souls.
As God allows me to personally be Salt and Light, I
commit to never drink alcohol. Your children will not
be encouraged where I pastor. Moderation or Recreation
is not my testimony, but TOTAL ABSTINENCE.
II. DRINKING ALCOHOL AND SANCTITY
SPEAKS OF MY AREA OF WITNESS
I am hard-pressed to think of any way that casual, social
drinking can enhance your witness, much less bring people
to Christ.
Alcohol grips; it is an addictive drug. Jesus Christ came
to set me at liberty not bondage.
Abraham Lincoln said, "Alcohol has many defenders, but
no defense."
HIS RESOLUTION:
Whereas, the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage is
productive of pauperism, degradation, and crime; and
believing it is our duty to discourage that which produces
more evil than good, we therefore pledge ourselves to
abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage."
QUESTION: Not, "Will it hurt me?" but "Will it cause
me to hurt someone else?" "Would someone else stumble
by my influence or witness?"
Romans 14:21, "It is good neither to eat meat, nor to
drink wine, nor anything by which thy brother
stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak."
CONCLUSION:
Alcohol is just one of the many substitutes for the joy of
Christ. Ephesians 5:18, "And be not drunk with wine, in which
is excess, but be filled with the Spirit."
No need for the bottle if you know the Lord Jesus Christ. You
can have a good time and remember it the next day.
Hear My Heart: This message is not to condemn the drinker,
but to warn you and encourage you to Christ.
Prov. 10:22, "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he
addeth no sorrow with it."
-- Jesus is the sweetest name I know Have you acknowledged His Lordship in your life? My sermons page:www.preachhim.org
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