Most people look at the purpose of alcohol is to get drunk.
Drunkenness is a sin and Eph 5:18 Drunkenness leads to more sin.
If you are under 21 by the law of our land you cannot drink and Christians are called to obey the law that is set up, unless it tells us to disobey Jesus.
The sermon on gluttony I did two weeks ago can serve as sort of a introduction
What are the positive things that God’s Word says about alcohol?
-Used as an illustration of blessings- Pro 3:10, Psalm 4:7, Eccl 9:7
-There are some medicinal benefits Quotes from Medical news 1 Timothy 5:23
-Pleasure- Like food alcohol is for our enjoyment as well Psalm 104:15, Deut 14:22-26
John Calvin says that "it is lawful to use wine not only in cases of necessity, but also thereby to make us merry,
-Celebration – John 2:10-11 Wedding feast If it was wrong to drink wine and celebrate with it Jesus would not have performed that miracle. The word bridal
Bless others with it: Provebs 31:6-7
-Drinking of alcohol is not sin Matt 11:19 Jesus drank
Historically there are three main views
The youngest view
#1 Prohibition- Culmination in America in 1913 with the prohibition act.
I can see the reasoning and I think that the intent is not evil it is just not biblical to take away liberties of a person and in some cases make the Bible say things it does not.
This view takes the dangers of alcohol and says that because of these we should get rid of it.
The dangers
Pro 20:1-causes fights
21:17- lead you astray
23:20 – mix issue
23:21 poverty
26:9 dangerous
23:30-35 The cycle of alcohol abuse
Some say this is historical Christianity, no. Calvin payment as a Pastor was 7 barrels of wine a year in order to have something to serve his house guests, pilgrims brought 7,500 gallons of alcohol over with them and one of the first buildings they built was a brewery
Increase Mather a puritian ministrer in early 1700’s and president of Harvard, expressed the common view in a sermon against drunkenness: "Drink is in itself a good creation of God, and to be received with thankfulness, but the abuse of drink is from Satan; the wine is from God, but the drunkard is from the Devil."[
Martin Luther the Reformer quote "[W]e must not ... reject [or] condemn anything because it is abused.... [W]ine and women bring many a man to misery and make a fool of him so [we would need to] kill all the women and pour out all the wine
Should we ban the internet, books, movies phones etc. no as Christians we redeem (take them back) them and use them for good and for God.
Jesus came into culture and did not sin but was among culture
GOSPEL
Bottom line is it’s the person heart.
No matter what good thing there is some freak will try to abuse it
The trap prohibitionists fall into is legalism and not being true to the text, prohibitionist teach that anytime wine is used in a positive in the bible it is non-alcoholic and anytime it is used as a negative it is alcoholic.
#2 Abstention - would say there is nothing sinful about alcohol but I choose to abstain, that is a sound position to take but one must be careful not to impose your preference or conviction on another Christian.
Preferences, convictions and absolutes.
I can’t stand before you and teach that you should abstain. But I can as a Pastor warn you that maybe because of your lack of self control you should abstain, But I would suggest that the discipline of self control should be worked on because there are many things in life that can cause you to sin that cannot abstain from such as food,
The trap self righteousness and legalism
Moderation- This view is I believe the most biblical because it takes into consideration that alcohol is a good gift of God and can be rightly used. And also realizes the dangers of alcohol.
Moderation or self-control in all of one's behavior, not abstinence, is the biblical norm
Trap is self control, you can’t be a moderationist if you lack self control in this area.
How do you know you are heading down the wrong road toward drunkenness?
-You can’t have fun w/o a drink.
-You need a drink to get to sleep
-You focus too much on having a drink
-What you drink become your identity
-Drinking becomes an escape
In taking the Moderations viewpoint are there times that you should not drink.
-Work Proverbs 31:4 also Lev 10:9
-Around weaker Christians Romans 14:20-21
1 Cor. 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
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