Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
It’s a glorious day Friends! The Lord is out and about overseeing His marvellous creation, and luckily we’re alive to tell of it. Give Him some thanks and praise and bless His Holy Name for all His wonderful works on our behalf! And today we’ll touch on a subject that’s sure to cause some controversy and disagreement; that of imbibing alcoholic beverages. Sol says that ‘Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.’ And he’s quite right. Wine is looked upon as a ‘mocker’ because it deceives those who partake of it, while strong drink is intoxicating and arouses brawling, and neither action would be considered wise living. But Friends there are many other things that we like and claim to be okay but they also deceive us and arouse our brawling instincts. And I don’t know of anywhere in the Good Book where it explicitly says that the consumption of alcoholic beverages is sinful or definitely prohibited for a follower of Christ. In fact Bruh Paul recommended that Timothy should ‘Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities (frequent sicknesses).’ (1 Tim.5:23) And it’s been scientifically proven that certain alcoholic beverages in small quantities can be medicinally helpful. Jesus also turned water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana.’ (John 2:1-10) If it was wrong, He certainly wouldn’t have done it. And I’m sure that on neither occasion were they speaking of what we today call non-alcoholic wine. All the scriptures I can find on the subject speak of excessive imbibing. Bruh Paul told the Ephesians: ‘And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess (dissipation); but be filled with the Spirit.’ (Eph.5:18) Meanwhile Peter exhorts us to not live in the flesh, but the will of God. ‘For the time past of our life may suffice us (is enough) to have wrought (done) the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine (drunkenness) revellings, banquetings (drinking parties), and abominable idolatries. Wherefore they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot (dissipation), speaking evil of you.’ (1 Pet.3:3-4) Hn, hn! I have to chuckle because I know that applies to many believers who lived a riotous life of excess before finding Christ, only to have their old party buddies bad talk them when they refuse to continue their former life style. Thankfully mine was not one of dissipation. Although I did participate in some of those things mentioned above, it was very seldom to excess. I luckily learned the way of moderation at an early age. As Bruh Paul told the Philippians: ‘Let your moderation be known unto all men.’ (Phil.4:5) And we see from Peter’s talk that what he’s against is basic excessiveness, for anything done to the extreme is bad. Now I’m not advocating the consumption or none consumption of alcoholic beverages. I’m just trying to show how we can go overboard at times with our own man made laws and customs. I myself have an occasional drink, not as much as before, but even then it was never a lot, and I will continue to do so. If anyone considers it sinful, disgusting or whatever, too bad yes. Let them cast the first stone. The problem with alcoholic beverages is control and to know your limits, because it can cause your perception of reality to be seriously altered. But the same can be said for many medicines handed out willy-nilly since they react differently on different people. Some people like alcohol and some don’t. But if you like it or desire to take the occasional drink, make sure you don’t imbibe more than you can handle or control, because everyone’s capacity is different. Some might be able to imbibe a fair amount without it affecting them, while others just smell the cork and get woozy. (smile) And we have a good example of excess from olden times in Noah. ‘And Noah began to be a husbandman (farmer), and he planted a vineyard. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken: and he was uncovered within his tent.’ (Gen.9:20-21) It so happened that Ham, one of his sons saw him naked and went out and told his brothers Shem and Japheth. Now they went into the tent faces backwards and covered their father, without seeing his nakedness. ‘And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.’ (Gen.9:24) And Noah laid a curse on Ham’s children, Canaan. But according to the scholars, though a lot has been said about Ham seeing Noah naked, it doesn’t seem as if anything untoward, sexual or otherwise took place. What displeases me about the incident is that Noah got up on his high horse and cursed Ham’s descendants, but never considered his own misdemeanour of being a drunken father. And that same attitude has filtered down through the ages till today we blame everybody else but ourselves for our problems. We also blame a lot of stuff on alcohol and illegal drugs without knowing the real or true facts. It’s just a convenient whipping post. Not that they don’t cause problems, but they certainly don’t cause all the accidents or the crime. I’m not even sure that they cause the majority. Have we ever done a proper study of how many people are just so tired and stressed out that they fall asleep behind the wheel? Or why there seems to be so much more abuse within families? Drugs or alcohol can’t cause them all, especially in these times of abnormal stress and anxiety. All I’m saying here Friends is that we can’t blame the litany of our problems on a miniscule number of things. Our society is much too large and complex for that. However, we’ll end with a serious warning from Sol on the topic of wine. And does he ever describe it right! You can tell he was a connoisseur. (smile) ‘Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour (sparkles) in the cup, when it moveth itself aright (goes smoothly). At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like and adder (viper).’ (Prov.23:31-32)Those are very true words Friends. So if you can’t handle it: LEAVE IT ALONE! And if you can, be very careful of how much you imbibe, try and let it be as little as possible, cause it can seriously disturb your perception of reality. In truth though, in these crazy, ungodly times, a whole lot of other things are disturbing our perception of reality, without our brains being muddled with alcohol. You have to be careful of everything these days, even the food you eat, cause it’s loaded with stuff that is cancer causing to make it look nice or stay fresh longer. Much LOVE!…if in doubt on anything…talk to God first…
It’s a glorious day Friends! The Lord is out and about overseeing His marvellous creation, and luckily we’re alive to tell of it. Give Him some thanks and praise and bless His Holy Name for all His wonderful works on our behalf! And today we’ll touch on a subject that’s sure to cause some controversy and disagreement; that of imbibing alcoholic beverages. Sol says that ‘Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.’ And he’s quite right. Wine is looked upon as a ‘mocker’ because it deceives those who partake of it, while strong drink is intoxicating and arouses brawling, and neither action would be considered wise living. But Friends there are many other things that we like and claim to be okay but they also deceive us and arouse our brawling instincts. And I don’t know of anywhere in the Good Book where it explicitly says that the consumption of alcoholic beverages is sinful or definitely prohibited for a follower of Christ. In fact Bruh Paul recommended that Timothy should ‘Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities (frequent sicknesses).’ (1 Tim.5:23) And it’s been scientifically proven that certain alcoholic beverages in small quantities can be medicinally helpful. Jesus also turned water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana.’ (John 2:1-10) If it was wrong, He certainly wouldn’t have done it. And I’m sure that on neither occasion were they speaking of what we today call non-alcoholic wine. All the scriptures I can find on the subject speak of excessive imbibing. Bruh Paul told the Ephesians: ‘And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess (dissipation); but be filled with the Spirit.’ (Eph.5:18) Meanwhile Peter exhorts us to not live in the flesh, but the will of God. ‘For the time past of our life may suffice us (is enough) to have wrought (done) the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine (drunkenness) revellings, banquetings (drinking parties), and abominable idolatries. Wherefore they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot (dissipation), speaking evil of you.’ (1 Pet.3:3-4) Hn, hn! I have to chuckle because I know that applies to many believers who lived a riotous life of excess before finding Christ, only to have their old party buddies bad talk them when they refuse to continue their former life style. Thankfully mine was not one of dissipation. Although I did participate in some of those things mentioned above, it was very seldom to excess. I luckily learned the way of moderation at an early age. As Bruh Paul told the Philippians: ‘Let your moderation be known unto all men.’ (Phil.4:5) And we see from Peter’s talk that what he’s against is basic excessiveness, for anything done to the extreme is bad. Now I’m not advocating the consumption or none consumption of alcoholic beverages. I’m just trying to show how we can go overboard at times with our own man made laws and customs. I myself have an occasional drink, not as much as before, but even then it was never a lot, and I will continue to do so. If anyone considers it sinful, disgusting or whatever, too bad yes. Let them cast the first stone. The problem with alcoholic beverages is control and to know your limits, because it can cause your perception of reality to be seriously altered. But the same can be said for many medicines handed out willy-nilly since they react differently on different people. Some people like alcohol and some don’t. But if you like it or desire to take the occasional drink, make sure you don’t imbibe more than you can handle or control, because everyone’s capacity is different. Some might be able to imbibe a fair amount without it affecting them, while others just smell the cork and get woozy. (smile) And we have a good example of excess from olden times in Noah. ‘And Noah began to be a husbandman (farmer), and he planted a vineyard. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken: and he was uncovered within his tent.’ (Gen.9:20-21) It so happened that Ham, one of his sons saw him naked and went out and told his brothers Shem and Japheth. Now they went into the tent faces backwards and covered their father, without seeing his nakedness. ‘And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.’ (Gen.9:24) And Noah laid a curse on Ham’s children, Canaan. But according to the scholars, though a lot has been said about Ham seeing Noah naked, it doesn’t seem as if anything untoward, sexual or otherwise took place. What displeases me about the incident is that Noah got up on his high horse and cursed Ham’s descendants, but never considered his own misdemeanour of being a drunken father. And that same attitude has filtered down through the ages till today we blame everybody else but ourselves for our problems. We also blame a lot of stuff on alcohol and illegal drugs without knowing the real or true facts. It’s just a convenient whipping post. Not that they don’t cause problems, but they certainly don’t cause all the accidents or the crime. I’m not even sure that they cause the majority. Have we ever done a proper study of how many people are just so tired and stressed out that they fall asleep behind the wheel? Or why there seems to be so much more abuse within families? Drugs or alcohol can’t cause them all, especially in these times of abnormal stress and anxiety. All I’m saying here Friends is that we can’t blame the litany of our problems on a miniscule number of things. Our society is much too large and complex for that. However, we’ll end with a serious warning from Sol on the topic of wine. And does he ever describe it right! You can tell he was a connoisseur. (smile) ‘Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour (sparkles) in the cup, when it moveth itself aright (goes smoothly). At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like and adder (viper).’ (Prov.23:31-32)Those are very true words Friends. So if you can’t handle it: LEAVE IT ALONE! And if you can, be very careful of how much you imbibe, try and let it be as little as possible, cause it can seriously disturb your perception of reality. In truth though, in these crazy, ungodly times, a whole lot of other things are disturbing our perception of reality, without our brains being muddled with alcohol. You have to be careful of everything these days, even the food you eat, cause it’s loaded with stuff that is cancer causing to make it look nice or stay fresh longer. Much LOVE!…if in doubt on anything…talk to God first…
SCRIP-BITS 