Why Not To Drink Alcohol, Reasons Not To Drink Alcohol
Categories: Audio Sermons, Bible Outlines, Sermon Outlines, Topical Sermon OutlinesTHE USE OF ALCOHOL AS A BEVERAGE, PART 2. Don’t miss part 1
Guest post by Travis Main, preacher for Cody church of Christ and of That Christian Website.
I. Introduction – Series on Living a life of Freedom in Christ
A. The Use of Alcohol as a beverage.
1. Definitions of the words: Wine, drunk and drunkenness, intoxication, and strong drink.
2. Statistics of Usage – Finding a great number of Christians involved in a destructive behavior.
3. Scriptural Descriptions of Alcohol – Finding neither O.T or N.T spoke favorably of alcohol.
B. We will now begin our second part of this study examining:
1. Reasons not to drink alcohol.
2. Passages used to support drinking alcohol.
II. Reasons not to drink
A. Reason not to Drink… The Christian is commanded not to do so.
1. Eph. 5:18 – No drunkenness
a. A Christian will claim they feel they can socially drink or moderately drink.
* Eph. 5:18 disagrees.
b. As mentioned in our first lesson, the word drunkenness comes from the Greek “Methuo”
* This word means intoxication and the AMA establishes this starts immediately.
* Commentators further explain this word “Methuo” as a process.
* “To begin to be softened” (Young & Haynes)
* “To grow drunk” (E.W. Bullinger)
* “To become intoxicated” (Thayer)
* Thus, we are not talking of someone ridiculously drunk, we are talking about anyone who takes their first swallow.
c. Dissipation – the KJV uses excess – This is probably the last definition I would use.
* Unsavedness, prodigiality, extravagant recklessness, an abandoned life – These fit better!
* The word “Methuo” expresses foolishness form the beginning, not an excessive end.
B. Reason not to Drink… It weakens your resolve against sin
1. 2 Cor. 5:13 – For whether we are beside ourselves, it is unto God; or whether we are of sober mind, it is unto you.
a. The word sober here is a different one than used in the first lesson.
b. It is: sophroneo.
* It means according to Thayer: “To be of sound mind”, “To Curb one’s passions.”
* Tit. 2:6 – the younger men likewise exhort to be sober-minded:
* 1 Pet. 4:7 – But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer:
* These verses use the same word.
2. 1 Tim. 3:2 – The bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
a. The word sober here is a different one than the first two, but from the same root as the second.
b. It is sophron
* It means “sound mind” and “self controlled”
* 1 Tim. 3:11 – Women in like manner must be grave, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.
* Tit. 1:8 …given to hospitality, a lover of good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled;
* These verses use the same word.
3. Now Consider:
a. First, that Medical Authorities say with one drink you begin to lose control.
b. The Bible establishes the process starts in a drink.
c. Hab. 2:15 – Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, to thee that addest thy venom, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
* Why did this happen? Someone lost the soundness of their mind.
* For most women, there inhibitions are obviously dropping at 3 oz of wine.
d. Biblical sobriety cannot be had by taking a drink of alcohol.
C. Reason not to Drink… Alcohol is destructive to the body
1. There are a litany of statistics on kidney, liver, and other bodily damage because of alcohol.
a. It usually slowly kills and at other times, it creates swift death for many.
2. 1 Cor. 6:19 – Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? And ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body.
a. We were put here to glorify God through good works.
* When we destroy our body, we are putting our pleasure ahead of our duty to God.
* Matt. 6:33 – Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…
D. Reason not to Drink… Addictive Substance
1. Isa. 5:11 – Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that tarry late into the night, till wine inflame them!
2. 1 Cor. 6:12 – All things are lawful for me; but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful for me; but I will not be brought under the power of any.
a. Alcohol is a narcotic with strong addictive properties.
b. To lose control to alcohol is to make it your master and not God.
E. Reason not to Drink… It is a poor influence
1. 2 Cor. 6:17-18 – Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
2. How can we be separate when lower our boundaries as they do?
a. One in five kids drink because mom and dad do.
3. 2 Cor. 5:17 – Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.
a. Our childish worldliness is to be put away in Christ.
4. Matt. 5:14-16 – Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house. Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
a. With all the world, seeing our actions, do we want to have them influenced by our drinking?
b. Remember, statistically, the more a person drinks, the weaker their relationship with Christ.
F. Finally, Reason not to Drink… It is a stumbling block
1. Rom. 14:21 – It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor to do anything whereby thy brother stumbleth.
2. 1 Cor. 8:13 – Wherefore, if meat causeth my brother to stumble, I will eat no flesh for evermore, that I cause not my brother to stumble.
a. 14 million are addicted or abusers of alcohol – What does your example say to them?
b. Millions more are in the wings to be alcoholics, are you going to be that spark?
c. Matt. 18:6 – But whoso shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it is profitable for him that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depth of the sea.
G. If you needed a reason not to drink, here are 6.
III. Passages used to support drinking alcohol
A. Deut. 14:26
1. Wine – Yayin – Used many times in regard to non-alcoholic wine – grape juice.
2. Strong Drink – Shechar – typically a strong intoxicating drink. However, also…
a. Sweet syrups (the term is related to our words “sugar” and “saccharine”) such as the honey of dates or palm syrup. It was employed for sweet drinks and articles of food;
b. Date or palm wine in its fresh and unfermented state”
* Frederick Lees, Ph.D., in Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
3. Remember: Scripture does not contradict itself. It will not condemn then encourage drinking.
B. Prov. 31:4-5; 6-7
1. In verses 4-5, alcohol is condemned.
2. In verses 6-7, it appears giving wine to others is a merciful thing.
a. Rather these verses are saying “Let this rotgut destruction be to the fools that would take it).
* Those who are ready to destroy their lives
* Those who are focused on their plight rather than God.
3. It is not an encouragement to destroy, but leaving fools to their vices.
C. Luke 7:31-35 – Jesus was a drinking man (winebibber)
1. Luke 1:13-15 – John was a Nazirite from Birth.
a. This meant he could eat or drink no product of the grape.
2. Mark 1:6 – And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and had a leathern girdle about his loins, and did eat locusts and wild honey.
a. John’s diet was very unique and he hung out in the wilderness.
3. Christ ate normal food including the product of the grape.
a. However, would Christ drink what the Bible condemned? No!
b. Did John have a demon? Then why would we believe false accusations about Christ?
D. John 2 – The wedding at Cana – Widely used Example.
1. The key phrase focused on in the KJV is “well drunk”.
a. This simply means their thirst has been satisfied, they have freely drank.
2. Next it is established that the “good wine” is alcoholic wine.
a. Historically, the desired wine was considered the non-alcoholic wine.
b. Traditionally, Jewish Marriages did not utilize alcoholic wine.
c. To recognize taste of any drink, non-alcoholic beverages would have had to have been served.
* Folks whose taste buds had been satiated with alcohol would have had not noticed the taste.
3. Christ would have went against scripture in providing alcohol
a. This would have established him as a sinner on many levels – contrary to scripture.
E. Acts 2:14-15
1. Peter establishes that the men were not drunk.
2. He notes as one reason, the time of day.
3. He could have gone into a host of other reasons.
4. Absence of him not saying drinking is sinful, does not make it acceptable.
F. I Tim. 3:8; Titus 2:3
1. We have already seen that Christians are to be sober.
a. So what is this idea about “much wine”
2. Consider:
a. Ecc. 7:17- Be not overly wicked – So they could be a portion wicked?
b. James 1:21- Putting off all overflowing of wickedness – They were allowed a measure of wicked?
c. 1 Pet. 4:4 – Same excess of riot – Allowed a portion of riot?
d. 1 Timothy 3:8 – Not greedy of filthy lucre – allowed a fair share of filthy lucre?
3. Paul is not saying any wine is acceptable, he is simply saying they had best not be drinkers.
G. 1 Tim. 5:23 – (Wayne Jackson calls this the wino’s golden text)
1. Paul says don’t just drink water, drink oinous. If in this instance it were alcoholic (I don’t believe it is), this is not social drinking but a drink for medicinal useage.
a. One view is the alcohol would kill bacteria from bad water in the area of Asia Minor.
b. Yet, it appears that Timothy was an exclusive water drinker.
* Paul is telling him, try some grape juice, it will be better for your health.
* If Paul wanted to just kill germs, he could have said boil the water or add alcohol to it direct.
2. In regard to why Grape Juice wine rather than alcoholic wine
a. Grape Juice was long used as a healthy drink and is better than alcoholic wine.
b. There is no way to know what Paul was suggesting, nor medicinally would there have been sin, but consider this data anyway:
3. Department of Chemistry University of Scranton published in the Journal of Atherosclerosis Research: Grape juice was found more effective than red wine with alcohol or dealcoholized wine, or ethanol in dealing with atherosclerosis.
4. New Jersey Medical School – Grapes also have a constituent called resveretrol that may have beneficial effects against both cancer and heart disease.
IV. Closing
A. There are many secular reasons not to drink alcohol.
B. There are many biblical reasons not to drink alcohol.
C. Claims that the Bible has verses which promote the use of Beverage alcohol are False.
D. The Bible does not contradict itself when it comes to Alcohol.
1. There is only one level of usage of alcohol that is acceptable.
2. That is zero. Total abstinence from Beverage Alcohol is what God requires.