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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 You are listening to Waters Church podcast. Waters Church is a multisite, multigeneration community of faith on the East Coast of America. Now for a message from our pastor.0:13 Let's get healthy. Here it is, part 5. Think before you drink a biblical look at alcohol. We cannot talk about health without talking about this particular subject. Okay? Now the thing about0:25 me that you know is that I will say things that are true from scripture even if culture doesn't like it. I think many of you will appreciate or do appreciate that about0:37 me. But 12 of you, that's fine. And so I don't need any of you to appreciate that, but I'll still I appreciate that you do appreciate it. The good news about well, bad news about0:48 that is that someday I'm gonna hit you between the eyes, and I'll confront what your doctor said, or I'll confront what your public school educator said, or I'll confront what your grandfather said. But if1:00 I say what God says, it's truth. That's the bad thing. You'll be confronted. The good thing is, at some point, I'm gonna get around to a subject that you'll appreciate me being truthful about. And so I think1:12 that today, I'm in I'm in I'm in friendly company. I just have a feeling. But at the same time, I also think that there are some people in here and watching it every location and online, you're on the verge of1:24 self destruction, and the Lord is gonna reach down from heaven to rescue you today. Truth sets free. Amen. Now when it comes to truth, we have the Sunday morning event, which1:36 is today. Right now, I also have the kingdom come bible study on my YouTube channel. I want you to make sure you're joining me for that through the book of Matthew, getting to know Jesus. Get the journal at all of our1:46 locations. If you don't have it already, follow along with us at youtube dot com slash tim hatch life. Check that out. Good content for truth. Because when we get to know Jesus better, life gets1:57 better. I believe that. And I'm talking about alcohol today because there's a great amount of deception and destruction around2:09 this particular substance. It's not like anything else in this world. It is, commercialized. It is glorified.2:21 And in some ways, it is probably 1 of the most deceptive substances in our age even for Christians. Now,2:33 let me preface by saying, I'm going to say what scripture says. And I have watched the fundamentalist Baptist preacher bend and twist2:45 scripture to tell you that all drinking at any time is sinful. And I will not say that because the bible does not make that argument. But I will take us on our journey today through history2:57 and scripture so that we can get wisdom when it comes to alcohol. Wisdom. When you go to the bible and you want wisdom, there's 2 books that you can3:09 find, what you would call bite sized pieces of wisdom. In the old testament, it's the book of Proverbs, and the new testament is the book of James. And so when we go to when we go to Proverbs, we're looking for wisdom.3:20 What we need about all things is wisdom, but particularly about the most deceptive substances of our world, we especially need to arm ourselves with wisdom. And that is this3:32 subject. And I also wanna let you know that it is July June 20 ninth, and the fact that my oldest son turns 21 tomorrow3:44 has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I'm preaching on this topic today. It was gonna be part 7 of the series. We got 3 more parts. It was gonna be part 7. I just bumped it3:56 up a little bit early. Amen, somebody. That's fatherly love right there. The Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA championship last week and they made headlines by with 2 things. Number 1, they were the4:08 1 of the youngest teams in history to win the championship at a average age of around 29, 25.9, years of age. That's the average age of the team. But they made headlines4:20 because they actually eschewed a rite of passage for major sports teams championships, and all the headline attention went to this fact that when they headed into the locker room upon winning4:32 the NBA championship, they didn't touch the alcohol. They didn't open the beer, and they didn't pop the champagne. 2 reasons why. Number 1, they are young, and all the stats show this. Gen4:44 z is becoming the least drinking generation, since we've been recording how much generations drink. I think that's a good thing. However, they are4:56 puffing the magic dragon more than previous generations. So here's what's happened. The devil has swapped out your demons. That's what's happened. And we are always on the we are always5:08 here's what humans do. We always try it out and then figure out what wasn't working. That's that's a lot of times what America does. We try everything we should, and then we eventually get to the right thing. Well, I5:19 think we're doing that about alcohol, but we're on the front 9 of that when it comes to marijuana. I believe in 30 years, some preacher's gonna get up here with an unparalleled success in teaching the church that5:30 marijuana, we never should have done it. We never should have smoked it. Okay? Anyway, when it comes to alcohol, young teen didn't know doesn't drink. But the second reason why they didn't pop those corks5:41 was because they didn't know how. So they turned to the elder statesman of the team, Alex Caruso. He's 31. He's the oldest member of the team. And he had won a championship already, so he taught them how to take the foil5:53 off and undo the little wire thing, and then, you know, shake it and then pop it with a finger. But I found this article kind of humorous. This is from the, People Magazine. Here's the title of the article. Jaylen6:05 Williams, we'll put it on the screen, 24, drank alcohol for the first time to celebrate the NBA championship. Quote, it was all disgusting. Amen. You just can take that down. I I I I have a6:17 feeling that maybe their lack of comfortability with alcohol might have contributed to their championship. And I wonder who6:29 needs to stop losing in life because you don't fight this battle, And you don't have wisdom when it comes to what you're putting in your body. We've talked about food. We've talked about ultra processed6:41 foods. Now it's time to talk about alcohol. So let's think before you drink. I, am not a teetotaler. I never was. And teetotaler is people who believe that all alcohol at any time is sinful.6:52 I've never been. I was raised Italian Pentecostal. Do you know the difference between an Italian Pentecostal and a regular Pentecostal? Wine. That's it. That's the only7:04 difference. The Italians love their wine. My parents would host missionaries in our home. They were deacons and leaders in the church. And the missionaries would come into our home with a gallon of7:16 wine. It was an insult if you didn't bring it. And I remember even as a 12, 13 year old boy sitting around the dinner table and seeing the Italian minishment missionary pour me a small little sip of wine, and I7:28 drink it. Don't call DSS on my parents. It's too late. The statute of limitations is over now. So this was never a problem for me. I went to a bible school where they7:40 believed that all alcohol at any time was a sin, and I've read and studied their arguments, and I find them inconclusive and unbiblical. But it was amazing how I would have these late night arguments with some of the7:51 other students in the school, and we would go at it about alcohol. We would fight into the wee hours of the night. This is what bible college students do. And, here's the irony of that whole event. When I8:03 became a junior in that college, they put me on j council. J counsel was a collection of professors and students who would administer discipline to other students who had broken the8:15 code of conduct in this bible school. And wouldn't you know that 1 of my most ardent opponents, in my view of alcohol, he was a, you know, complete any alcohol consumption was8:27 sinful, and he would argue loudly and ferociously with me. His senior year, on spring break, took a trip with a bunch of other seniors down to Myrtle8:39 Beach, and they went on an alcohol bend bender for the entire week and did a con couple of other things that accompany alcohol for that entire week. They came back from spring break8:50 guilt ridden, and then there was a confession that led to that entire group of students sitting before yours truly, doling out the punishment for this guy who9:02 argued with me ferociously against any and all drinking. All that to say this, I am going to make an argument based on scripture, not on tradition or what other people9:14 say and think. And I think that's a healthy way to approach this topic. And let's remind you that the series was birthed, let's get healthy, during our 7 day fast in January. The Lord9:26 told me okay. I'm not telling he you he told you. He told me to stop drinking. He told me. Now you say, well, was it an audible voice? No. I in study, in9:38 meditation of the word, and in fasting and prayer, I felt a real strong impression. The Lord said no more. Now during this message, you're gonna find out I think why, But I will tell you this, I9:50 haven't had an alcoholic beverage since January second of this year. Healthier than ever, better than ever, my body feels better than ever, my mind is more alert than ever before, And a10:02 lot of the aging processes that I thought were my problems at the end of last year were just were just habits that had caused those problems, not age. Not age. Okay?10:13 So let me just give you a story. 3 months into the year, I order soda water from a waitress. She thought I said 7 and soda. She brings me 7 and soda, Jack Daniel's and10:25 soda water. I put it to my lips, it touches my tongue, and I realized suddenly, oh, wait. This got alcohol in it. I can't tell you the revulsion my body responded with as soon as10:37 it touched my tongue. And, here's what I'm trying here's what I'm why I'm sharing that. I believe that by God's grace, you can rewire your brain so that your body reacts10:49 Oh my god. In such a way that it's not you following the letter of the law, it's God's work in you to trust the holy spirit regenerating you and making you into a new person. Amen. Now let me give you another11:01 example. This past week, I ordered fast food. Don't judge. You've done it during this series. But I was in a rush, and I11:13 went to, you know, burger place, and I ordered fries and a burger and a milkshake. I said, if I'm gonna sin, I'm gonna go the whole way. Well, I put it in the car, and11:25 I was driving and, I started to eat the fries and it just again, my body just starts to go, ugh. And then I ended up only eating the meat out of the burger and11:36 I took a few tiny sips of the milkshake. I pulled over 7 dollars wasted, and I threw it into the trash. Here's what I'm hoping happens for us. We11:48 rewire our brains and our spirits to be healthy by choice, not by law.11:59 That's how God wants to change you, by the way. He doesn't wanna change you by just checking the boxes of legalistic religion. That'll end you up at a alcoholic bender on12:11 spring break. He wants to change you from the inside. That that you what what Romans 3 says, that you obey God from the heart. So let's take a look at this in 4 points and then we're12:22 done. Write this down, number 1. Wisdom goes to the word regarding alcohol. I don't care what another preacher has said by twisting the word. I don't care what your parents have12:34 said. I'm not concerned about your culture. Irish and Italians, listen up. I wanna talk to you from the word. What does the word say about alcohol? So again,12:46 Proverbs is wisdom. And then the heart of Proverbs is repeated throughout the text. It's a fatherly father's advice or father's word to his son. Proverbs 23 19, just a few verses earlier, he says12:58 this, hear who? My son or my child, my daughter, and be wise and direct your heart in the way. The the point, the purpose of Proverbs13:09 is to aim your heart in the right direction. Again, we wanna obey God from the heart, not from legalistic obedience to the letter13:21 of the law. That's what the Pharisees did, the letter of the law. That's what legalism does. Do this, don't do that, touch this, don't touch that. It doesn't change anybody. Just just makes you a13:33 slave to a different form of sin, which is called ultra religiosity. And listen to me, as a reminder, the most religious people in the time of13:45 Jesus put him on the cross. So as much as sinful rebellion can damn your soul to hell, so can legalistic13:56 religion. And we wanna be free from that. Jesus wants to break the chains of the devil and the flesh and hell on your heart and make your inner person brand14:08 new so that you walk in a newness of life. Now let's talk about alcohol from God's word regarding all the scriptures. And you can see this all over the scripture. There's both good14:20 and bad versus the scripture about wine and alcohol. So literate in your notes, wine is a part of God's good creation. All of God's good all of God's creation is good. When God made the14:32 made the world in Genesis chapter 1, it was good. When he made man, he said, now it is very good. Now sin has come in and he has tainted and sin has tainted, God's creation. That's why we have hurricanes and tornadoes14:44 and fires and earthquakes. That's why we have bad bacterias and viruses and pandemics and all sorts of things. Hard relationships, difficult issues, divorce, you know, all all kinds of immorality. That's where it all14:55 comes from, from sin. But God's creation is still good. It can still be enjoyed. In fact, there's a verse that says God made everything for us to enjoy. So so we are not what the15:07 first century Christians called Gnostics. Gnostics believed that the material world was always evil and only the spiritual world mattered. That's a ancient heretical viewpoint. We do not ascribe to that.15:20 We believe that God's creation is good. The grass is good. Bread is good. Meat is good. Animals are good. So this is not wine is part of that. Wine is referred to all over the15:31 New Testament as part of God's good creation. Old Testament and New Testament, by the way. Psalm 1 0 4 verse fifth 14 says, you cause the grass to grow for the livestock, good, plants for man to cultivate, good, that he15:43 may bring forth forth fruit from the earth, good. Right? And wine to gladden the heart, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man's heart. So an agricultural society would have looked upon their15:53 fruitfulness, would have looked upon their crops growing and becoming something good and useful for their benefit and health. And for wine, that would lead to joy and God's word says, it's good. This is a gift from16:04 God. In fact, in Proverbs chapter 3, this is not in your notes, but it's a verse that refers to wine. When you tithe, when you support God's kingdom financially, it says16:16 that your wine your vats will be bursting with new wine and your barns will be filled with plenty. So there even there, wine is a symbol of prosperity that God gives to those who honor16:28 him financially. Now we also know that Jesus turned water into what? Wine. It's his first sign miracle in John chapter 2. The wine ran out. Jesus said, pour the water into the ceremonial16:40 washing bins and 180 gallons of wine instantly created by our Lord Jesus Christ. We also know that Jesus himself drank alcohol. Jesus drank16:52 alcohol. We know this from his own words in John chapter 7. When they criticized Jesus, the religious leaders, they criticized Jesus because he they said he was a friend of sinners and a and a wine bibber and a17:03 glutton. He wasn't a glutton. He didn't overdo it. He drank, I'm sure, responsibly and ate responsibly, but he associated with sinners who probably drank too much and ate too much because he's the friend of sinners. And,17:15 when they criticized him, Jesus said, you know, there's nothing that we can do to please you people. Because he says, John the Baptist, my predecessor came, he didn't drink, he never touched17:27 alcohol, and he didn't eat regular meals. He ate locusts and wild honey, and you didn't listen to him. Now I come and do the opposite. I drink and I eat freely, and you don't listen to me.17:40 So by his own testimony, Jesus, we know, drank. In Deuteronomy chapter 14, God gives instructions for the people of Israel around their feasts. And he said when you travel to Jerusalem to celebrate these feasts,17:52 these annual 3 pilgrimage feasts by the way, the annual pilgrimage feasts of Israel are a lot like our annual feasts in America. We have 3 annual feasts. We have Christmas, Thanksgiving, and July fourth. That's18:04 where we'll travel to some place and we'll eat together. Well, ancient Israel had those. God instructs them and says, bind up the money in your bag. When you get to Jerusalem, spend the money. This is Deuteronomy 14 26.18:15 Spend the money for whatever you desire, ox and sheep, wine or strong drink. So there's a deterrent there's a distinction between wine and strong drink. Even in the ancient testimony of God, whatever your appetite craves18:26 and there you will eat before the Lord and rejoice, you and your household. So there no case can be made. I'm sorry to say this to anybody who might get offended here. There's no case to be made for.18:37 All alcohol consumption at any time is always sin. It's just not scriptural. But what I see a lot of times happening with churches and Christians and leaders is we don't give proper18:49 historical and biblical context to the nature of that alcohol from the ancient world. Write this down. This is letter b. Ancient world health required fermentation.19:01 Today, you can go home, put a glass under your faucet, open the faucet, get the water, and drink it, and you will not die.19:13 Ladies and gentlemen, I need you to understand what an outlier you are from the rest of human history. You understand that this is 14019:25 year old invention. Only 140 years old have we been able to purify and filter water to make it safe to drink. In the19:37 ancient world, if you drank the water, most times you died. This is why Paul tells Timothy in first Timothy 5 23, he says no longer drink water only. Now,19:49 let's stop here for a second. Timothy is a pastor in a church in Ephesus in the first century. He's a young man. The letters of first and second Timothy, they are not written to all Christians. They are written to19:59 pastors. How instruct you wanna know what your is required of me? Read first Timothy, second Timothy, Titus. And so he says, stop only drinking water. Use a little20:11 wine for the sake of your stomach and frequent ailments. Which means that as a pastor, pastor Timothy decided that I don't want to drink wine anymore. Otherwise, this command would have not been necessary.20:23 But he was drinking water. Now if you ever travel outside of this country, particularly to South Central America or Africa, which I have done all 3, Any tour guide worth a salt will tell20:34 you, don't drink the water. So you have to have lots of bottles of water. And they will also tell you, don't eat raw vegetables. I was on a trip with a couple of pastors to El Salvador, and the20:46 first thing we saw, day 1, the spread of amazing, you know, El Salvadorian salsa. 1 pastor couldn't resist. He ate the salsa and he was laid out for the entire week because they wash it in their20:58 water. Anyway, in the ancient world, in order to drink water, you had to mix it with fermented wine. Now21:11 the wine in the ancient world was usually made by a local farmer who gathered grapes from his vine, put the grapes in a jar, laid the jar out in open air, fermentation would happen,21:23 and at the most, historians tell us, that liquid, that substance would become somewhere between 6 to 10 or 12 percent alcohol. And then you would take and21:35 dilute that substance in water at a ratio of anywhere from 3 to 1 all the way up to 20 to 1. 20 parts water to 1 part of that fermentate fermented21:47 drink. To make it safe, to kill the the microbes and spare you serious sickness, it would kill salmonella, eccoli, and, cholera among many others. By the way, in Roman21:58 times and Greek times, even pagan Greeks believed that if you drank undiluted wine, you were considered a barbarian.22:10 Now think about that was only 6 to 12 percent alcohol, But you needed it. Fermentation was a gift of God's common grace that by the way was22:22 necessary right up until the mid 18 hundreds to make water palpable for consumption. So22:34 all of that to say this, letter c in your notes, biblical wine is not like modern wine. Let me say it another way. It's nothing like modern wine and alcohol.22:46 Biblical wine, when you mixed it and diluted it, would become around 3 to 4 percent alcohol. 3 to 4 percent alcohol. And if you went 20 to 1, it'd become 1 to 2. We're almost to kombucha level. Come22:58 on, somebody. So anybody making a modern parallel to what we consume today in, you know, whiskey and gin23:10 and hard liquor, No relevance to ancient world wine. Today, we can get liquor and and alcohol up to 75 percent23:22 of ethyl alcohol, the only form of alcohol that's safe for us to drink. 75 percent. And there's a scripture in Isaiah that says, woe to those who are heroes23:34 at drinking strong drink. Woe to them that are heroes of drinking strong drink. In other words, some people, and I've met these people, even Christians, love to brag23:46 about the fact that they have high proof alcohol in their home. Now you have to understand something. Again, I am not saying that that is sin. I'm just saying your attitude toward it23:58 might not be rooted, listen, in wisdom. In wisdom. So how did we go from 6 to 12 percent of a liquid that you would dilute in water to24:10 75 percent alcohol in modern, you know, liquor offerings at your package store? Okay. You'll never believe this. The modern process24:21 of distilling alcohol actually has its roots in the Islamic revolution of the 8 hundreds. The Arabs gave us this.24:33 So the Arabs, when Islam was taking over the Middle East, and by the way, they were taking over the Middle East through pillaging, raping, and murdering. Pillaging, raping, and24:45 murdering. And anybody who tells you that Islam is a religion of peace has no idea what they're talking about. And they would wipe out Christians, and they would wipe out24:56 Jews. And the Christians tried to push back around the thousand year mark and they gave up. But they took over the they they took over the Middle East, and they're still there to this day. The25:08 only non Muslim country in the Middle East is Israel. Israel. And, they tried to take over the West. We call that World War 1, and by God's grace, Christianity25:20 1. That's what World War 1 was. Just just understand that. Anyway, 809 hundred AD, the Arabs were taking over large swaths of the population.25:32 And they came up with a distilling process by which they would take fermented alcohol, 6 to 12 percent, and they would heat it up. The condensation would cause the vapor of alcohol. Now check this out. The vapor of25:42 alcohol would rise to this little contraption that they made to to catch it. It would condense. They would gather, flip it over, pour it into another vessel, and it would become up to 30 to 45 percent alcohol.25:54 Now here's here's the information I was floored by when I found it out. Do you know what they called the vapor as they walked? They could see the vapor lift through the heating process and condense at the26:06 top of that contraption. They called it spirits. They said they called it spirits because it's like when somebody dies, the spirit leaves the body.26:18 Listen to me very carefully. Here's here's some nomenclature that I came up with as I thought about that. When you are drinking high volume alcohol, you are actually drinking26:30 death according to its historical context. There is no, what I'm trying to tell you is, comparison26:42 to what God's word calls good and a source of joy and something that we should, know, embrace and modern distilling prog26:54 products that are foisted upon us through endless advertisements, billboards, and commercials. So you gotta have that mindset.27:06 Now, here's the other fact. Even though fermentation was necessary to drink water to make it safe, do you know, write this down, that, God commends in the Old Testament and27:18 in the New certain people to abstain, select people to abstain. Let me give you the the list and you can write down other notes. By the way, don't just stick to the fill in the blanks today. Write down other notes as God27:29 leads you. 3 groups of people that God tells not to drink. Number 1 is the priests. The priests who served in the temple. Here's this verse from Leviticus 10. And the Lord27:41 spoke to Aaron, verse 8, saying, drink no wine or strong drink, Aaron the priest, you or your sons who would become priests when you go into the tent of27:52 meeting, lest you die. In other words, the closer the temple was where God dwelled. The closer you get to me serving me on behalf of my28:04 people, Aaron, alcohol should have nothing to do with your body. That's what God says to the priest. Number 2,28:15 kings. This is in Proverbs, 31 verse 4. It is not for kings, Olemuel. It is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to take strong drink.28:27 Here's verse 5 of that text, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Now already these 2 groups28:39 of people, spiritual priests for God's spiritual kingdom and civic leaders for the kingdoms of this world, God says, I don't want those people drinking.28:51 Why? Because I can't and I do not want the alcohol to taint their mental capacities because they're thinking29:03 and they're planning and they're writing on behalf of my people. My people need protection. Now now for for all of his faults which have been29:15 cataloged in the news for the last 10 years, president Donald Trump does not drink. I don't know about you, but I like that.29:26 I don't want my president drunk. I think we've had a few. You look at the history of this country.29:39 I don't want my congressmen and congress ladies to drink. They're making they're making decisions about how we're gonna live. And alcohol29:50 affects the mind immediately. There was a third group that God said don't drink, that was the Nazarites. This was a willful vow that people would take in the ancient world in Jew in the in in in Israel30:02 to be selectively consecrated to God. And, the rules are out listed out in Numbers chapter 6. There was no touching a dead body, there was no30:14 cutting your hair, and there was no drinking anything from the grape. No alcohol whatsoever. By the way, there's a famous Nazarite that we all know who failed miserably at this. What was his30:26 name? Samson. Before Samson cut his hair or allowed Delilah to cut his hair. Listen to this, men. The bible says that he went down to the vineyards of30:37 Timnah. Why do you go to the vineyards? And by the way, on the way back from the vineyards, he reaches his hand into the body of a dead lion to scoop out some honey.30:49 He breaks the first 2 requisites for Nazarite vow after drinking. Then he gets his haircut and loses his power. Another Nazarite31:01 is named Samuel, who transitions the kingdom of Israel from the judges into the kings. And then another Nazarite is in the New Testament. His name is John the Baptist, who transitions us from the31:13 old covenant into the new covenant. And it it came across to me as I studied this content and I realized something, and I want you to write this down. When God calls someone to something31:25 big, he expects them to stay sober. Now now I I don't know about you, but as I started to study this, I31:37 I suddenly realized this is why God spoke to me during our 7 day fast about me. I believe God has called this church to something big.31:50 Let me say it another way. I believe God has called our church to really big things. And I want us to accomplish all that God has in store for us, and I don't want32:02 alcohol to co opt or to corrupt anything that God has in store for this wonderful church that he has given us. Amen, somebody. Now,32:15 I wanna make sure you're hearing me. This was God's specific word to me. I'm not putting this on you. I'm your pastor. I have I have responsibility to declare to32:27 you the truth of God's word, to shepherd your souls. You understand that God's gonna hold me accountable for what I said to you from this stage. So I it's a higher responsibility32:39 that I I cannot allow alcohol to have any part of anymore. Amen. And by and by the way, when I did drink, I gotta tell you, just this is just, you know, just to, you know, share with you that I'm human just like you. I32:51 drank for the stupidest reason possible because I saw other people do it. And when they would order, I'd say, I'll try it. And I didn't even like it. There33:03 I think a lot of you, that's where you are. If you were in the if you weren't in the community that you were in, following the people that you were around, you'd never drink. So here's my33:15 point. In Christ, you are part of a new community, a heavenly community. Follow them. And by the some of you, this okay. This is where we're gonna get to in part, 6 of this series. Get your33:26 primary community in the church so that they lead you toward Christ and not away from him. Now letter d in your notes. God33:38 does have absolutes on alcohol. He absolutely does. Number 1, write it down. Drunkenness is always a sin. When Paul lists the, works of the flesh, the deeds of the flesh,33:50 he says they're obvious. And he goes on a long list in Galatians chapter 5, and he contrasts them with the fruit of the spirit. He says this in verse 21 of Galatians 5. Drunkenness, orgies, and things like these, I warn34:00 you as I warned you before, that all who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Drunkenness is a work of the flesh. Now, I am going to upset a small34:12 fraction of all of our churches by saying the next statement. When you are set free by Jesus from alcohol, you are no longer an34:24 alcoholic. I know because your primary community is the meeting34:36 and you haven't fully jumped into the deep end of the pool of Waters church yet, They tell you otherwise. I'm telling you what God's word says.34:47 God's word says that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. All the old is passed away. Behold, all things become new. And you are34:59 no longer your biggest desire or worst desire. You are now identified as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, sons and daughters of the most35:11 high God, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, a holy nation called out of darkness into his marvelous light that we might declare his glory to this world. That's who you are.35:24 So I'm just trying to tell you, you gotta get your heart rooted in scripture. Yes. Not in the mindset of people who do not honor the lord. Anyway, drunkenness is35:36 always a sin. The bible says if earlier in chapter 23 of Proverbs, the drunkard will come to poverty. A lot most of the homelessness that we see dominating the streets of America is35:48 rooted in alcoholism. It really is. It destroys lives. It kills people. Number 2, write this down. We are always called to be sober minded. This is all over the36:00 New Testament. Here's what it says in first Peter chapter 5 verse 8. Be sober minded. Be watchful. Now if you don't mind, can you all read the last pass part36:12 of that passage? Your adversary, the devil prowls. You're in a spiritual fight. Your mind is the36:23 battlefield. Somebody say my mind My mind. Is the battlefield. If the devil can take a beachhead, a stronghold in here, he can have his way36:35 with every other part of you. Why do you want him do him any favors to weaken this organ that God has given you in your head? Be sober minded. Be36:47 watchful. You're in a spiritual fight. You're in a spiritual war. Okay? So this is also in the text, in the in the scriptures, and this I believe is an absolute from God. Number 3, my freedom must not cause36:59 others to stumble. This is in first Corinthians chapter 8. This is in Romans, chapter 14. This is a standard that God that Paul lays out for the first century church. I believe we have to37:11 adapt it in new and different ways in our culture that if you do not have an issue with something that the bible does not explicitly condemn, please do37:23 not partake around somebody who does have an issue with it. This could be applied to an innumerable,37:35 examples. For instance, 1 time I failed this church and I had our band play a secular song before service, and I found out later that some people used to, you know, smoke weed and do drugs to that very song.37:47 And they really had a problem when we had that song played, and I feel terrible about that. What we did was we allowed our freedom. The secular song has nothing to do with us, nothing to do with me, but it had a37:59 profound negative effect on 1 of my brothers and sisters in Christ. So we we stop. We we limit our freedom for the sake of other people. This is particularly true38:11 in the case of alcohol. Alcohol has ravaged people's families, marriages, legacies, finances. So if I'm around somebody and if38:23 you're around anybody in our church and they are weak in this area or they come out of that lifestyle, please do not drink when they're there. Romans chapter 1438:35 says, it is good not to drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. In first Corinthians chapter 8, Paul says, there's gonna be a moment's church. Now 1 of the issues that they stumbled over was meat38:44 sacrificed idols. You would go to the market, you would buy meat, and that meat was from an animal that had been sacrificed to a pagan god. And, the Jews knew there was no other god but Yahweh, so they ate freely because38:53 they said, we know that that god doesn't exist, so we can eat the meat. Who cares? They they sacrificed it to nothing. But the Gentile Christians who had come out of those pagan celebrations had a real, you know, problem39:04 in their conscience with that meat. So here's what Paul says. You're gonna come to a point where you, the strong brother who has no problem with eating the meat, goes to the house of a non believer with a weaker brotherShow more
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