Drinking Alcohol
A. A SUBJECT THAT IS LARGELY IGNORED THESE DAYS.
1. Nearly everyone I know who is not a Christians drinks some.
2. This is one of those subjects where each one of us needs to make a stand.
B. DRINKING ALCOHOL IS A MAJOR PART OF OUR CULTURE.
1. Beer and ballgames! Graduations, spring break, Lost weekends, “I love to party.”
2. Parents are aware of their minor children being drunks, “A rite of passage.”
C. SORROW AND TRAGEDY ARE ALSO A PART OF OUR CULTURE.
1. Drunk driving and death.
2. Divorce and angry words
3. Uninhibited speech and rage.
4. Disease. Heart disease, liver, diabetes. Many celebrities die while “slightly” drunk.
D. TERRY ROACH ONCE TOLD ME TO PREACH AS LONG AS IT TAKES TO GET THE
POINT ACROSS AND HE WOULD BLOCK THE DOOR.
A. INTRODUCTION, pg. 3.
B. WHAT IS ALCOHOL?, pg. 7.
C. EFFECTS ON THE INDIVIDUAL, caption, pg 8. see also pg 15-18, captions on pg 12-13.
A. DRINKING WINE IS FOOLISH (Prov. 20:1; 21:17; 23:20-21).
1. Neither happiness nor prosperity is the product of alcohol.
2. It is the source of so much unnecessary woe (Prov. 23:29-35).
B. CONSIDER THE PAIN AND SORROW WINE CAUSED THESE OT CHARACTERS.
1. Noah (Gen. 9:20ff). He was shamed before his sons because he was drunk.
2. Lot (Gen. 19:30-38) His incest occurred when he was drunk.
3. Elah, king of Israel (1 Kings 16:8-10)
4. Ben-hadad, king of Syria (1 Kings 20:16).
5. Ahasuerus, king of Persia, was drinking when he commanded that Vashti be brought
before a crowd of guests to show off her beauty (Esther 1:9-11).
C. THE NEW TESTAMENT SPEAKS (Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:18; 1 Cor. 5:11; Rom. 13:13;
1 Pet. 4:2-4).
D. WHAT DID JESUS MAKE? (John 2:1-3).
1. “We find that the Greek word oinos is used to translate both tirosh (grapejuice) and
yayin (wine). An examiniation of New Testament passages also shows tht oinos
may mean either wine or grape juice, and only the context can show which it is,”
Joseph P. Free, ARCHAEOLOGY AND BIBLE HISTORY , pp. 352-353.
2. Fermented (Eph. 5:18).
3. Not fermented (Matt. 9:17; Prov. 3:10; Hos. 9:3; Joel 2:24).
E. WHAT ABOUT THESE PASSAGES?
1. 1 Tim. 5:23 – Medicinal alcohol. The same would apply to morphine or codeine.
2. Psa. 104:15. Not as our wine. The nature of fermentation in the Middle East.
3. Prov. 31:4-7. Kings need a clear head. Alcohol helps those who are victimized by it
to forget their victimization (Prov. 23:35).
F. WE ARE TO BE SOBER, AND SOBER-MINDED! (1 Thess. 5:7-8).
G. BELONGS TO THE PAST – WE DON’T DRINK ANYMORE (1 Pet. 4:3-4).
1. Winebibbings, revellings, and carousings all involve situations of drinking.
2. They think it strange that you don’t drink with them.
H. WE ARE TO NOTHING THAT WOULD CAUSE ANOTHER TO STUMBLE
(Rom. 14:21).
A. I WILL NEVER KNOW IF I WOULD HAVE BECOME AN ALCOHOLIC.
1. If I was a wine sipper …. My dark night.
2. What about those who are just escaping (2 Pet. 2:18-19).
3. What about the child who learns from you. Is he a potential alcoholic?
(Matt. 18:6-7).
4. This is enough to convince anyone with a spiritual perspective (1 Cor. 2:14-15).
A. 1 Cor. 6:9-11.
B. STAY OFF THE SAUCE.
[The good wine] This shows that this had all the qualities of real wine. We should not be deceived by the phrase "`good wine.'" WE often use the phrase to denote that it is good in proportion to its strength and its power to intoxicate; but no such sense is to be attached to the word here. Pliny, Plutarch, and Horace describe wine as "good," or mention that as "the best wine," which was harmless or "innocent" - poculo vini "innocentis." The most useful wine - "utilissimum vinum" - was that which had little strength; and the most wholesome wine - "saluberrimum vinum" - was that which had not been adulterated by "the addition of anything to the 'must' or juice." Pliny expressly says that a good wine was one that was destitute of spirit (lib. iv. c. 13). It should not be assumed, therefore, that the "good wine" was "stronger" than the other: it is rather to be presumed that it was milder.
The wine referred to here was doubtless such as was commonly drunk in Palestine. That was the pure juice of the grape. It was not brandied wine, nor drugged wine, nor wine compounded of various substances, such as we drink in this land. The common wine drunk in Palestine was that which was the simple juice of the grape. WE use the word "wine" now to denote the kind of liquid which passes under that name in this country-always containing a considerable portion of alcohol not only the alcohol produced by fermentation, but alcohol "added" to keep it or make it stronger. But we have no right to take THAT sense of the word, and go with it to the interpretation of the Scriptures. We should endeavor to place ourselves in the exact circumstances of those times, ascertain precisely what idea the word would convey to those who used it then, and apply THAT sense to the word in the interpretation of the Bible; and there is not the slightest evidence that the word so used would have conveyed any idea but that of the pure juice of the grape, nor the slightest circumstance mentioned in this account that would not be fully met by such a supposition.
No man should adduce THIS instance in favor of drinking wine unless he can prove that the wine made in the waterpots of Cana was JUST LIKE the wine which he proposes to drink. The Saviour's example may be always pleaded JUST AS IT WAS; but it is a matter of obvious and simple justice that we should find out exactly what the example was before we plead it….
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)