Latest / HBCWestminster / Proverbs: What Does Proverbs Say About Alcohol 10.6.19

Transcript

Proverbs: What Does Proverbs Say About Alcohol 10.6.19 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  You know, we don't, from week to week, you've noticed that we don't announce who's going to be preaching next week, because we want you to come. You guys are here, I mean, this is the classic bait and switch, right? You show up this morning, get up early, do your thing, go through all your routine, get here expecting to hear the word from Pastor Danny, and not so much. Classic bait and switch.
• 0:30
  So having said that, maybe you want to just take a few moments this morning to just kind of lower your expectations just a little bit. Kidding aside, please this morning join me in prayer before we begin and get into the Word this morning. Heavenly Father, I have come to realize that any and all effort to accomplish anything on my own without asking your help is foolish at best and has more times than I can remember resulted in utter failure.
• 1:01
  Please, Lord, take my meager attempt to preach this morning from your word. Use it for your glory, because I ask it sincerely in Jesus' name. Amen. We've been going through the book of Proverbs. Normally here at Highland, we preach God's word by a method most commonly described as expositional preaching. I'm going to hit a few points about that. There's basically two goals. First is the goal to discover and explain the original.
• 1:33
  historic, and grammatical meaning of the passage, or to put it another way, what is God's intended meaning, and secondly, to help you apply to your lives the truths revealed in the passage. We believe in preaching what is referred to as the whole counsel of God. What we mean by that is that we preach and teach verse by verse, and generally we cover entire books of the Bible in order for you to understand thoroughly what the Holy Spirit is teaching us.
• 2:02
  What is the divinely inspired message? Hebrews 4.12 tells us of the importance of God's word, and it says, For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart.
• 2:27
  I myself have been a little confused over the years by the use of terms commonly used to describe teaching and preaching methods when it comes to God's Word, so I'm going to lay it out really simplistically, very quickly this morning. If you're still confused when you get home, Google it. That's what I did. Okay, so here it is. Sermons can generally be grouped in four types, textual, topical, and expositional.
• 2:57
  Now, I've already briefly explained expositional preaching and why we do it. Textual preaching is generally similar, but it may involve just a few passages as opposed to an entire book of the Bible. So let's say a pastor might preach, say, in the second chapter of the book of Luke before he preaches Christmas Day. Topical preaching is, well, topical.
• 3:21
  And it may supplement expositional preaching, but absolutely shouldn't replace it. The last several sermons have been topical because the book of Proverbs is difficult to preach expositionally because it is, for the most part, it's topical. It's hard to preach also because in the book of Proverbs, there are so many verses which speak to convict absolutely everyone of something. You can't read Proverbs and come away without conviction.
• 3:53
  Certainly I'll tell you right up front this morning that it's my fervent prayer today, that this morning will be no exception to that. It's my goal to convey God's Word clearly and accurately, and for you to leave this place thinking and pondering everything that the Lord has to say to you today concerning our topic. I have my own strongly held opinions. You'll hear them loud and clear today, and you'll know where I stand and...
• 4:24
  you're going to know why. Now, having said that, I want to also say this. You are all a clear-thinking, rational people with, I pray, a sincere desire to apply God's will in your life. If you're a Christian worshiping with us here this morning, then it should be your overarching and undeniable conviction to fervently pursue the Apostle Paul's command to the church in Ephesus, recorded in Ephesians chapter 5.
• 4:54
  I'd like you to turn to Ephesians chapter 5 this morning, because I'm going to begin by reading all 21 verses in that chapter. I'm going to do it quickly, but it's foundational, I feel, to what we're going to talk about today. Ephesians chapter 5, beginning with verse 1, says, Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love.
• 5:27
  as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place. But instead, let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone...
• 5:56
  who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous, that is, an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them, for at one time you were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
• 6:26
  For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it's shameful even to speak of the things they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible. For anything that becomes light is visible. Therefore it says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead.
• 6:55
  and Christ will shine on you. Look carefully, then, how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.
• 7:20
  addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reference for Christ. So I want us to be on the same page this morning. That page...
• 7:54
  being do we really want to strive in every area of our lives as Christians to be like Christ? Do we really desire with all of our hearts to surrender all to the Savior of our souls? All that to get to the point of my sermon this morning, which is what does Proverbs say about alcohol? Now, since we're going to be skipping around quite a bit this morning,
• 8:25
  Rather than have you look up all of today's scripture readings, I decided to have Lori put them on slides so we can read and ponder them together, and also so that you can jot down the references so that you'll be able to refer to them when you get home, at your leisure, whatever translation it is that you happen to study or use at home. Today's readings will all be in the English Standard Version. Let's begin with my personal favorite. Did you guys find it?
• 8:53
  Proverbs 23, 20, and 21. I say that facetiously. Let's read this together. Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty and slumber will cull them with rags. Now, why would I say facetiously that this is my favorite verse? Well, because you guys can plainly see I struggle. I've struggled with my weight all of my life.
• 9:23
  You absolutely do not want to get between me and a full plate of ribs. It's funny, and I make deprecating remarks. I hide behind things that I say about myself. You guys have heard me jokingly refer to the twins. It just takes the pressure off. It makes me feel a little bit more comfortable.
• 9:46
  I hide behind that. But the fact of the matter is that I really am ashamed of it. It's something that I feel like I need to surrender to the Lord. I haven't completely, and I'm working on it. But I've been working on it on and off all my life. Now, please, you guys, since I have divulged and confessed that to you this morning, do not be the one that thinks that you know how to fix this for me. Okay?
• 10:11
  I live with a woman who exercises every day of her life, and for crying out loud, she's a vegan. Gary Buss. Is Gary here this morning? I don't see him. Gary Buss says, I tell Gary, we're on the phone with Gary Buss. I didn't know he was a linguist, but apparently so. He says, Bob, you know that vegan is actually a word in a Native American language?
• 10:39
  And I go, no, no, Gary, I didn't know that. Is that right? Yeah. He says, it means bad hunter. Gary. So Dina and I differ. I'm a sinner saved by grace just as you are. And I intend to address that a little more fully here in a few minutes. I am and you all are a work in progress. Let's look at the second passage from Proverbs. Proverbs 21, 17. Whoever loves pleasure.
• 11:18
  will be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil will not be rich. Just let that sink in for a moment. Please, if you're taking notes, jot down all the references. I'll say that again this morning so that you can have this for further study at a later time. Let's have the next slide. Proverbs 31, 4 through 7. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it's not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink.
• 11:50
  lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Give strong drink to the one who is perishing and wine to those in bitter distress. Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. Now, we don't know who King Lemuel is. Many people have had...
• 12:13
  speculation about it but no one really knows the first part of the chapter does identify the speaker here as his mother so these words are advice to her son there's clearly an admonition to those who have authority over or who make decisions for others to do so without being intoxicated that would clearly have an adverse effect on the ability to make good decisions
• 12:35
  What I find more interesting about this passage is that it seems to support, to me, it seems to support the medicinal use of alcohol to relieve misery. Verse 6 mentions the dying. Verse 6 seems to, perhaps, refer to the despondent or the depressed. Of course, we know now that alcohol itself is a depressant and likely to make someone who is depressed to be even more so. Modern medicine now provides alternative remedies. But Lemuel clearly...
• 13:05
  He didn't have access to a little blue pill. Let's look at the next one. Proverbs 20 and verse 1. Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. There's no further comment necessary here, that standalone verse. The next and final passage that I have to share with you from Proverbs, there'll be others from elsewhere in the Bible.
• 13:39
  is rather lengthy and extremely descriptive of many of the effects of becoming not just overcome with chronic addiction problems, but also the acute effects of intoxication. Proverbs 23, 29-35 says, 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.
• 14:10
  Those who go to try mixed wine, do not look at wine when it's 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 and your heart will utter perverse things. You'll 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'll say, but I was not hurt.
• 14:40
  They beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink. Now we've come to the passage that describes who I was. None of you present here this morning who know me, and at least a small part of the story of that man, are at all surprised that I was asked to preach about this this morning. For those of you who do not know me,
• 15:13
  I'll bring you quickly up to speed. In June of 2009, just 10 years ago, I was hospitalized for alcoholic pancreatitis. And frankly, this is no joke, I should have died. Of those three weeks and four days.
• 15:29
  Four days were spent in ICU with internal bleeding, and there was no way of identifying the source. I was just bleeding out. They had a general surgeon standing by to do exploratory surgery. They monitored me extremely closely over a period of four days. The Lord slowed down that faucet, and eventually, clearly, here I am. God intervened. Many of you know that part of the story.
• 15:59
  but really the most important part of the whole story is just the last two words of it. God intervened. He also took my alcohol addiction. He just took it. I walked out of the hospital three weeks later, and I never took another drink. If you'd known me for the years leading up to this event, Vicki, you're here this morning. My friend Vicki Rogers has come.
• 16:32
  She got wind that I was preaching on this. I've known Vicki since high school. She and her husband, Kevin, were there at the hospital. They were the only ones that knew about it, frankly. If you'd known me for the years leading up to this event, you would realize that it had nothing to do with the hardcore blackout drunk that was admitted with what, in my case, the doctors were convinced was soon to be a fatal disease. For the next couple of years...
• 17:00
  I had no clear understanding of why I've been shown such undeniable grace. And then in 2011, fall 2011, came God's clear call. Dina and I were drawn to Highland Baptist Church. I'm sorry, a lot of this is going to make me emotional. You guys know I'm already the crying preacher, so I know you're going to give me grace because you've heard it many, many times before.
• 17:31
  Through a series of events that have no other explanation but God's direct intervention, here I am standing up here talking to you about this as a pastor in this church. That's all God. That's none of it me. Here, in essence, are the two sides of the issue I want to speak to you about this morning. And please believe me, it isn't easy. It isn't easy because I know that many of you believe
• 18:06
  That is nowhere in Scripture is it specifically prohibited that it's perfectly okay for the Christian to drink in moderation. All I ask this morning is that you listen to me carefully and that you reevaluate your position on this question. I did not just say change your position on this question. I just want you to listen carefully and prayerfully and to reevaluate.
• 18:37
  I, just as you who advocate moderation, am aware of the undisputed fact that our Lord turned water into wine at the wedding at Cana. I also am aware that the Apostle Paul advised Timothy in 1 Timothy 4.23 to no longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
• 18:58
  Now, there is evidence to indicate that the wine referred to had a much lower alcohol content than what's typical today because of the yeast used in the fermentation process. Whatever. Whatever. I don't want to go further down that path. What they lacked in quality, you know darn well a lot of them certainly made up in quantity. The point of this is that it certainly absolutely was not grape juice that we're talking about here.
• 19:29
  Now before I get into an argument, which you know by now is going to be for abstinence, I want to be clear that there's one point on which we agree without question. So everybody, let's get on this point together. The Bible clearly condemns drunkenness. Isaiah 5, 11 and 12.
• 20:14
  Romans 13, 13 and 14 says,
• 20:19
  Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and in jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. Turn with me to Galatians chapter 5 right now. Everybody grab your Bible because this section to me...
• 20:48
  clearly indicates the gravity of drunkenness probably more than any other passage. Galatians chapter 5, verses 19 to 21. Now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.
• 21:41
  I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now to what's on my heart today regarding moderation as opposed to abstinence. There are simply, you know, the question, I guess, to drink or not to drink. I'm going to pretend this morning that I know how you think, because frankly, I do know how you think. I know exactly how you think.
• 22:23
  The reason is because I've stood firmly on both sides of this issue. I have a lot of experience. Freedom in Christ. We have freedom in Christ. But just because we have freedom, do not mistake freedom for license. What does Paul say to the Galatians in the first part of chapter 5? Now, if you still have your Bibles open, let's look at verse 1. Verse 1 says, For freedom...
• 22:55
  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Now drop down to verse 13, and we're going to read verse 13 through verse 14. For you are called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, you shall love your neighbor.
• 23:30
  as yourself. Now turn with me a few pages to the left. We're going to go to Romans chapter 14. We're going to find another salient point that Paul makes, which I find useful in treatment of this subject. Our slide only takes us through verse 21. Dina discovered that last night, and we didn't feel we could change it. That's why I want you to turn there. I want to read through verse 23 here. Do not, it says, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God.
• 24:12
  Everything is indeed clean, but it's wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts,
• 24:41
  is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. All right. Brother Bob, we're so sorry that you were a drunk, and we're so happy that the Lord brought you to the place where you were finally able to surrender to his will, but we don't quite get the point. We are not drunkards. We drink in moderation. First of all,
• 25:17
  You need to understand this morning that I firmly believe that the labeling of alcoholism as a disease is just patently wrong. I absolutely believe that addiction to drugs and alcohol is a drug, is a result of sin. You all need to understand this morning that I did not become an alcoholic overnight. To begin with, you need to know that I was raised Southern Baptist.
• 25:50
  My parents were very conservative. I was raised in a home where alcohol was never present. I remember coming home one evening after going to the drive-in movies in my teenage years with a couple of high school buddies. I consumed one beer. Dave and I walked into the front room of the house. My mom smelled it from the back room of the house.
• 26:12
  Dave, bless his heart, I've never seen a guy berated so hard and so long. It was like he was standing in front of a hurricane. She dressed that man down. He went out stumbling to the front door like he had his tail between his legs and he'd been whipped to death. I don't even remember what my punishment was. I don't know if I had any punishment, but boy, I remember poor Dave. You know, the point of that is, is that all of you that are here this morning who have grown children,
• 26:44
  You know that regardless of the way you have raised those children, that one day they are going to come to the point where they will be making this decision on their own. It's their decision to make. And once you've raised them, they got to make it. During my late teens and early 20s, I made every attempt to drink in moderation. There were admittedly times that I drank with purpose.
• 27:16
  But I certainly didn't drink on a daily basis, and when I did drink, I was reasonable about it. There were those occasions that I know I drank too much, but I genuinely felt bad about it, and it didn't happen with frequency. For the purpose of full disclosure here, and to round out for some of you who may be interested, during my freshman year in college, I smoked dope occasionally with the guys in the dorm. Unlike President Bill Clinton, it takes a certain age to get this reference. I inhaled. I inhaled.
• 27:48
  Deeply. Very soon after my 21st birthday, Dina and I were married, and it was within about six months after that that I got a full-time job working for the police department. Now, of course, I had to admit the drug use during the application process. But even in those days, they were fine with the fact that it had been more or less experimental, and their main thing was, is I think, when they asked me when was the last time, I wasn't looking at my wristwatch.
• 28:19
  So I was able to get in. Of course, going forward, the strict policy of the police department was none of that. What I want you to understand about those years, 12 years, is that most of them were spent working nights and that my experience with alcohol and other drugs, oh, did I mention that alcohol is a drug? And the carnage caused by them was absolutely overwhelming. Now, you all know these things, okay? You've read books.
• 29:03
  You're well educated with regard to these things. The difference here this morning between me and you is that I lived it, okay? I'm not a book or a documentary. I'm a man that most of you know and I pray most of you trust. And for that reason, I would very much like this morning if you would listen and remember what it is that I tell you. I hated drunks. I hated...
• 29:32
  The broken furniture and the crying babies and bleeding and beaten spouses and shattered lives. I hated the wrecks and the fatalities and the tears and the brokenness. I'm not trying to exaggerate this morning because, believe me, this needs no exaggeration. But I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn that most of the calls I responded to during those 12 years driving around in the middle of the night involved people intoxicated to some extent by drugs and alcohol. However...
• 30:01
  I was absolutely sure of this. I would never become what I saw. It started out innocently. I was a Christian man. I was not, and I would never be, a drunk. I did, however, know for a fact that I had complete freedom in Jesus Christ. I was free to do anything, well, at least when it came to eating and drinking in moderation. That's what I did.
• 30:38
  I had a beer when I got home from work. I like beer. It just tastes great. Nothing quenches your thirst and goes down quite like an ice-cold beer on a hot summer day after cutting the grass. Man, nothing takes the edge off a stressful day at work quite like a nice glass of wine. You know, you don't have to get drunk to enjoy life, but a couple of beers or a nice glass of wine at a cocktail party sure seem to lighten the mood, doesn't it?
• 31:17
  You know, alcohol is metabolized in the human body at a rate of 0.016% per hour, or about one average drink per hour. If I just keep my rate of consumption to one drink per hour, I won't get drunk. Yeah, honey, it's my second, but I'm sure it's been over an hour. I know things got a little out of hand last night. I'm sorry, it won't happen again. Life is stressful. What's wrong with wanting to feel good once in a while?
• 31:54
  You know I only drink on my days off, and I've never missed a day at work because of it. I've never been too hungover to get the job done. The days turn into weeks, turn into months, turn into years. I was absolutely not an alcoholic. The stress of the job was cumulative. Clearly, I told myself the problem's this job. The job's the problem. The alcohol is only a symptom. After 12 years, I quit the police department.
• 32:30
  Nothing, I told myself, will ever compare to the life and death stress that I worked with on a daily basis in this profession. After I put that job behind me, everything would change. But it didn't change. I continued to hold down jobs, but I'd become a functional alcoholic. There were many, many jobs. Eventually, while working construction in the 1990s, I developed degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis and added pain meds to the mix.
• 33:03
  It would be 20 more years before the daily prayer of my wife, who absolutely steadfastly refused to leave me, would result in my loving Heavenly Father waking me one Saturday morning with the pain resulting in the near-death experience with which I started this narrative. Listen to me. If you're sitting out there this morning thinking to yourself that none of this will ever happen to you,
• 33:28
  that Satan is not clever enough to ever lead you down a path that ends with your mortal destruction. Well, you're quite simply, just as I was, an arrogant fool. Satan prowls around like a lion seeking to devour arrogant fools. Well, you say, I have Jesus in my heart and the seal of the Holy Spirit, and I don't have to be afraid of Satan. I say again, you're an arrogant fool.
• 34:03
  If I had died in June of 2009 from complications from alcoholic pancreatitis, I absolutely have no doubt in my mind or my heart that I would be in heaven. You can disagree all you want. I know I was saved. As you can read for yourself in 1 Corinthians 3, I'm God's temple. I had certainly come very close to destroying that temple, but I believe I would have escaped somehow through the flames. I should have died. I wanted to die.
• 34:39
  Dina prayed. If you have a loved one in similar circumstances, I know she would encourage you to pray this morning. You know, I could have avoided the circumstances altogether if I had done but one thing. What if I had chosen abstinence? Because of my alcohol and drugs, Satan gladly made a train wreck out of my life. Because of my wife's persistence in prayer,
• 35:15
  Because of God's grace and because of my ultimate surrender to Jesus, I have a second chance. And I have a chance to plead with you this morning to examine yourself closely. In everything that you do in your life, do you do all to the glory of God in Christ Jesus? When it comes to the question of the consumption of alcohol or drugs in your life, can you honestly say that you're doing it to the glory of God? Ask yourself this question today in your heart.
• 35:48
  In your heart, you know that place in there that only you and God know about? In that place, ask him. If he asked you to quit, would you give it up? Could you? You know, once upon a time, I would have been sitting where you are this morning, and I would have decided, you know what? This is crazy.
• 36:09
  You know, I don't have to sit here and listen to this. You know what? I don't have to come back here anymore. These people make me feel uncomfortable. Listen to me this morning. If you're that uncomfortable, it's not Satan that's making you feel that way this morning. I love you. For crying out loud, Jesus loves you. Go home and have a beer. You're missing the point. You're completely missing the point.
• 36:38
  The point being found in Matthew 22, 35 through 39. I'll just read it. Jot it down so you can look it up later. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? And he said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. And this is the great first commandment. And a second is like it.
• 37:09
  You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Go home today and consider these things carefully. You absolutely have complete freedom in Christ Jesus. You and only you, in light of the scriptures, are to decide where you need to place guardrails in your life. You need to have guardrails in order to be absolutely certain that nothing becomes an idol to come between you and the Holy Spirit having complete control over your life.
• 37:44
  Remember, please, Ephesians 5, and look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
• 38:14
  singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. You guys, I walked the line between moderation and intoxication for over 30 years. You know as well as I do, sometimes you don't even know when you've crossed over the line. Today we observe communion together.
• 38:57
  Pastor Danny is going to come up in a moment and lead us after I pray. I want to remind you of what Jesus said after serving communion in Matthew 26 and verse 29. And with this, I'll end. He said, I tell you that I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
• 39:25
  On that day, there'll be no more chance for sin, you guys. I can't wait to taste it. Pray with me. Father, I just ask that your Holy Spirit, who I know is present with us right now, would move in hearts and minds and convict where there needs to be conviction, heal where there needs to be healing. And oh, Lord.
• 40:03
  Let them know of your great grace and your mercy and your love and your kindness. Please, oh God, let us love you with all of our hearts and mind and soul and strength, with every ounce of our being, because, Lord Jesus, you most certainly deserve all of our love. I pray this morning in Jesus' name. Amen.