We have begun a short series on wine in the Bible. And last week, I laid out for you the six places that we're going when we talk about wine in the Bible and the reason for why we're going to those six places. And I did that in part for accountability, which I told you I don't want this to be, you know, 200 messages on alcohol. I want it to be short and I want to get to the point. And I told you the reason that we are discussing this as a congregation is that the session has made a unanimous decision to incorporate wine into the communion cup, which for us is a change in practice and our our practice has been the same for 116 years. So it's something that we want to give some instruction on. And the point of this series is to talk about why we would have wine in the communion cup. But when we talk about wine, we need to understand that there are two issues. There's the issue of the sacrament, which is a discussion that's important, but there's also the discussion which some would call the recreational use of alcohol as well. And for me, I like to divide those two questions and talk about one differently than I talk about the other. Now, where we are today in our series is I want to talk to you about the dangers of wine or the warnings that we find in the Word of God. Now, when we talk about the warnings, we're not specifically talking about the communion cup. We're talking about the recreational use of alcohol. Now, I'd like to read for you from the book of Proverbs as well. We read from the words of institution, but I'd also like to read to you from Proverbs chapter 23. Proverbs 23 is a chapter that, or a portion of a chapter, that is dealing with alcohol, not as it relates to worship, because remember last week we talked about how in the Old Testament there is wine and alcohol used in the worship of the Old Testament church. But Proverbs 23 is talking about the recreational use and the choices that people would make in that recreational use. So I want to begin reading at verse 29. And I would like to read until verse 33. Beginning at verse 29, who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who tarry long over wine. Those who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end, it bites like a serpent and it stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things and your heart utter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. They struck me, you will say, but I was not hurt. They beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink. You see, the book of Proverbs gives a strong warning. And we have to differentiate between that sacramental use that we saw even in the Old Testament and the recreational use that comes as a warning. There's a danger and the warning is a warning against drunkenness. This last week I read maybe 20 years worth of papers from the Synod's board or the Synod's committee for temperance. And what I noticed at the end of each of these committee reports that I'd read from the late 1800s and the early 1900s is that there was a recommendation that the fourth Sabbath of November would be called World Temperance Sabbath. So world temperate Sabbath, not just RPC and a temperate Sabbath, but world temperate Sabbath. There were sermons on the fourth Sabbath of November, which in God's providence is this week. There were four, there were sermons preached against the abuses of alcohol in pulpits across the world. Now I wonder today how many sermons we hear that talk about drunkenness or the abuse of alcohol. You can find, as I mentioned, this World Temperance Sabbath throughout the minutes of synod, and it was important that this was something that was being preached because during those years in the United States, mid to late 1800s into the early 1900s, drunkenness and what we would call now alcohol abuse, that's a more modern term, they wouldn't use that back then, but drunkenness was at that time reaching an all high and it became a social epidemic that was rampant across the United States. Now, as we come to look at the second sermon on wine, I want to have you recall that my job as a minister of the gospel is to bring you what the scriptures say is the full counsel of God. And part of that full counsel of God is that I would call on you to examine yourself and to consider your use of alcohol and whether it would go into what the scriptures call drunkenness. Do you move into that section that we would call today abuse? Because what we see in the Word of God is that the abuse of alcohol is a dangerous sin that has potential not only of destroying one's life, but it has potential of destroying one's soul. I want to make a statement that maybe you can meditate on, but I stand on this. Alcohol is not just a social choice, It is a theological choice. So when we choose to drink alcohol and how much we choose to drink or how little we choose to drink and the occasions with which to drink, these are theological decisions as much as they are social decisions. And we'll go into the scriptures and I'll show that to you. The promise of the Apostle Paul is that the drunkard will not enter the kingdom of God. So that's alcohol and the consumption of it and the choice of how much one chooses to drink. And Paul saying, you have made a theological decision with your life. Solomon wrote the Proverbs as instruction for young men And. He wanted his sons, these young men, to receive wisdom and instruction from the Word of God in Proverbs 1, verses 1 through 5. Give us that whole reason. This is why I'm writing Proverbs. That's the best thing to do as an author, right, is to just say, here's why I'm writing to you. And that's what Solomon does. Listen to the first five verses. He says, to know wisdom, instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealings and righteousness, justice and equity. to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth. Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance." So that's the purpose. Wisdom, instruction, insight, wise dealings, instruction in righteousness, justice, equity, give prudence to the simple. All of these reasons are found within the Word of God, within the Proverbs, so that there would be discretion given, especially to the youth, Solomon says. So that the youth would receive guidance. So what would the wisdom, instruction, prudence, knowledge and guidance be as we think about this relationship between the Christian and drunkenness? or this statement that alcohol is not just a social decision, but a theological decision. We find that in Proverbs 23, which we've already read. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds? Who wakes up in the morning and says, you know, it didn't even hurt. I need another drink. Solomon gives this instruction so that those within, listen to this, those within the covenant community may make decisions about alcohol consumption and how much alcohol one would consume. Spent some time trying to find some statistics. Most of the statistics that I normally look at are, you know, late 1600s and stuff like that, but here's some current statistics. The Center for Disease Control says in the United States that excessive alcohol use, and there's a definition for excessive alcohol use, but I won't, it's quite nuanced, but you can look it up on Center for Disease Control, says that there are approximately 88,000 deaths per year related to excessive alcohol use and the average shortening of lives by those who die from alcohol abuse is an average of 30 years. It says that excessive drinking is responsible for 1 in 10 deaths among working age adults between the ages of 20 and 64. The economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption is $250 billion a year in the United States. There's medical concerns, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, digestive problems, breast cancer, mouth cancer, throat cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, colon cancer. Also, learning and memory problems, including dementia and poor school performance and mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety. Social problems, including loss of productivity, loss of family, increased family problems and unemployment. and of course alcohol dependence as well. So that's just from the Center for Disease Control. And then I looked also at the Pew Research Foundation, and Pew Research says that 51% of Protestants in the United States consume alcohol, and listen to this, with 15%, so 51% of Protestants consume alcohol, 15% of that 51% say they've participated in binge drinking in the last month. For those who do not attend worship services regularly, that number goes up to 21%. And among those who call themselves Protestants that are between the ages of 18 and 29, 30% report binge drinking in the last month. And think about that, ages 18 to 29, 18 to 21, it's illegal to even consume alcohol in the United States. So, looking at those numbers and looking at the Center of Disease Control, I want you to think about how in reformed churches, we've become largely silent on this issue. And yet, the problem remains among those who call themselves Christians. I have no idea how those numbers would play out in the RPCNA. My guess is they would be lower, but I can't guarantee that. But what we can say is that because alcohol is a theological decision, we can say that drunkenness is a sin against God that causes destruction to the image of God and causes destruction to the society that he is building, whether that's in the culture or whether that's that's in the church, and there's the potential with alcohol abuse or drunkenness to lead even to adding to the damnation of one's soul. Alcohol abuse or drunkenness is expressly condemned in the Word of God Ephesians 5, 18 says, be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. So that's a warning. It's a warning. Paul says, here's something that we will have issue with in the church. Don't be drunk with wine, but instead, he contrasts it, be filled with the Spirit. We're going to come back to that verse. Galatians 5, 19 and 21 says, the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, rivalries, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. So Paul puts that out as a theological statement rather than just a social statement. You are to examine yourself against the word of God, against your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and ask yourself categorically, is there a problem? Is there a problem where Paul would give you this warning, brother, sister, consider the use, consider whether you have heard these words, you will not inherit the kingdom of God. First Corinthians six, Paul says similar things again. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral or idolaters or adulterers or men who practice homosexuality or thieves or the greedy or drunks or revilers or swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Paul puts this out as a theological statement. Where he says Christian examine yourself. Christian consider drunkenness. Consider whether the consumption of alcohol in your life is too high, where categorically you may be over here, where Paul says we would call that a drunk. One pastor said every illustration of drunkenness in the Bible is a disaster. There's no good in it. It never makes anything better. It never solves problems. Noah becomes drunk and in his nakedness he acts shamelessly. Lot becomes drunk and his daughters commit incest with him. Nabal becomes drunk at a critical time. God takes his life. Elah becomes drunk and was murdered by Zimri. Ben-Hadad and his kings became drunk and were slaughtered. And only Ben Hadad was spared, and that was a sin to spare him. Belshazzar and Daniel 5 met together with a great feast, and it says they drank wine, and they praised the gods of gold and silver and of bronze and of iron and of wood and of stone. And in the midst of their drunken brawl, the kingdom was ripped out from under him. The Corinthians were drunk, and in their drunkenness desecrated the Lord's table and made some of them sick, and God even executed some of them. You see, drunkenness is always associated in the Bible with terrible things, unrestrained living, immorality, dissolute behavior, reckless, wild behavior. So the scriptures condemn drunkenness as a sin, as a violation of the moral law of God, In every example in the scriptures of drunkenness, we see consequences that come from that. And again, I'm asking you, examine this as a theological statement. Examine your relationship with this theologically. You're thinking about Christ and you're thinking about what Jesus has done. And as a theological statement, we've divided sacramental use from recreational use. I'm going to make an argument over here on the sacramental side, that'll be in a couple of weeks, but over here on the recreational side, you are free to choose to drink or to not drink. And yet these warnings stand in scripture as something that you need to examine yourself against when you consider it. The warnings in scripture also include warnings to not be associated with those that practice this in. Proverbs 2320 says be not among drunkards for the drunkard will come to poverty and slumber will clothe them with rags. This will ruin your life. If this is the sin, the theological sin that you choose to walk in, it will lead, says the Proverbs, to poverty and rags. And Solomon's saying, young men, choose your friends wisely. Choose those with whom you want to associate wisely. But that's not just in the Proverbs. It's in 1st Corinthians 5 as well. 1st Corinthians 511 says I'm writing to you to not associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality, greed, an idolater, reviler, drunkard, swindler, and don't even eat with such a one. Again, these are theological statements. drunkenness is associated in the scripture with tragedy. That's why, in part, the Word of God says, the New Testament says that leaders in the church are not to be given too much wine. This is something that could easily sidetrack or sideline a ministry. The Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 4, The time past of our life would suffice us to have wrought the will of the pagans when we walked in lasciviousness, lust, excess of wine, wild parties, carousing, and abominable idolatries. You see, that all goes together as a theological statement. It's a lifestyle of those who are opposed to God And the New Testament would have us to consider if we are in Christ and if we've been freed from Christ, then those that lifestyle that includes sensuality and orgies and drunkenness and brawling, that lifestyle is to be put off from among you. If you are in Christ. I told you we'd go back to Ephesians 518. It says be not drunk with wine for that is debauchery. But be filled with the Holy Spirit. You see, it's important to understand why the Word of God would tell you to not be drunk with wine. And Paul says, because it's debauchery. That word debauchery means excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures. And the Greek word shows us that Paul is saying that from this drunkenness with wine arises this lifestyle that we would call debauched. This excessive indulgence in sensuality. Calvin said, I understand by it it is implied in a wanton and dissolute life, the meaning is that drunkards throw off quickly every restraint of modesty and shame, that where wine reigns, reckless extravagance naturally follows, and consequently that All who have any regard to moderation or decency ought to avoid and abhor drunkenness. The children of this world are accustomed to indulge in deep drinking as an excitement to celebrate. Such carnal excitement is contrasted with the holy joy which the Spirit of God is the author and which produces entirely the opposite effects. To what end does drunkenness lead? unbounded licentiousness, unbridled, indecent merriment. So what Paul is saying here in Ephesians 5, he's saying, There is a way of life to have joy and to have merriment and to have excitement in the things of this world. And that categorically flows from drunkenness. But he says, don't do that. That is not the joy for which the Christian ought to be known. And he brings this over here and he says, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. from that spiritual life, from that life of being in Christ, and from that life of someone who has bathed deeply in the things of God, and someone who drinks deeply from the well of the Word of God, and someone who sings joyfully from the Scriptures, Therein we are to find our joy as believers. And that's interesting to me that here Paul doesn't say, don't be drunk with wine and then give, you know, 12 steps or something to that effect for how to avoid that. He says, be filled with the spirit. Be filled with the spirit. Let the spirit of God live out of you so that the joy of the Christian life is seen around you. Go back to the proverb. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? those who tarry long over wine, who go to the mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end, it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things. Your heart will utter perverse things. You will be like the one who lies down in the midst of the sea. like one who lies on the top of a mast. They struck me, you will say, but I was not hurt. They beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink." Friends, this is what drunkenness does. And again, all of these writings are within the context of the covenant community. It's not the church looking in judgment at the world and saying, look how nasty they are. Look at the way they're drinking. Look at their abuse of alcohol. It's within the context of the covenant community. The scriptures are given. And this warning is given to us as the people of God to not add woe to life and sorrow to life and redness of eyes to life to not be as it were bit by a snake. All of these consequences. But friends, if you want joy, unspeakable. and the fullness of the glory of God in your life. If you want comfort beyond comfort that you can dream of, then Paul says, Be filled with the spirit. That's the contrast. That's, in a sense, Paul's cure here for drunkenness. And I'm not saying that, you know, that if you have friends or loved ones that struggle with drunkenness, that all you need to say is, you know, be filled with the spirit and that's going to cure them. But I'm saying that when we look at drunkenness as a theological problem, rather than merely a social problem, what we come to as we come to a lack of understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and a lack of seeing the glory of Christ and the value of Christ in the life of the Christian. And that's interesting to me. Be filled with the Spirit. Let that overflowing of the words of Christ in the filling of you with songs of praise. Let that be the way that you show. You are winning this fight. The fundamental meaning of of being filled with the Spirit is being filled with that joy that comes from God. And even overflowing in song, you know it's connected to the singing of Psalms, isn't it? Nehemiah 810 tells us the joy of the Lord is our strength. And we're called to be here happy in Christ. And that's exactly what drunkenness serves as the opposite of. Not a happiness in Christ, but instead this pursuit over here of worldly pleasure, this theological decision that one would choose to be outside of the kingdom of God rather than being over here overflowing with the fullness of God and having the kingdom flow out of you. It's why these are theological decisions. This is not the pursuit of sensual desire. But the pursuit of Jesus Christ. in this life. Congregation, I would encourage you that if you are struggling with this sin, that if it's something that you find yourself wrestling with, that if drunkenness is something that maybe you have shame concerning, remember there's forgiveness in Christ. That Jesus loves sinners. that Jesus Himself was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard. And His love for sinners, He would call you to Himself to put off sin, to come to Him, and to find that fullness of joy that comes through the Spirit-filled life. Amen.