(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) Proverbs 31, when to me it takes the cake for being dumb and commonly used. Proverbs 31 verse 4, It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Give strong drink unto him that's ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. Folks, using this scripture to justify alcohol is just taking a scripture and literally getting the exact opposite meaning of what the author intended. You really, so the purpose of this is like, yup, drink up. Is that, who got that from what we just read? Drink alcohol. Drink out. Christians, drink alcohol. Christians, it's okay to drink out. Christians, don't let anybody tell you that you need to be a teetotaler. How could anyone get that, folks? But again, when you put on the I want to drink glasses, you know, basically, that's what you see here. If you see that in this passage, you are deluded. This is literally a mother telling her son not to drink. This is the prophecy that his mother, she's not saying, hey son, I want you to be like a Saint Bernard where you just go around with a barrel of booze giving it to all the poor people, and you're going to be like a human Saint Bernard. How can anyone get that from this? Folks, it's called rhetoric. It's called sarcasm. It's a rhetorical device. She's telling him drinking is for losers. You're not a loser, so don't drink. Give that to losers. But look, if God would have literally written in the Bible, give alcohol to losers, you know what? They'd still use it. You'd be like, see? See? You know, you give it to losers, you know? I'm a loser, baby. You know, it's like, hey, I'm a loser. Okay, loser, I'm not. I'm a child of God. What kind of nonsense is that? They'd literally say, well, I'm a loser. If that would give me the right to have alcohol, then okay, let's do it. Because they're just hell-bent on drinking. That's what's going on, folks. Look what the Bible says. Let's, again, put on our logical cap and our thinking cap. It's not for kings, O Lemuel. It's not for kings to drink wine. Look, if kings aren't supposed to drink wine, why should Christians drink wine when you know what? We are kings. God has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. What did the Bible say about priests? Don't drink alcohol. What did he say about kings? Don't drink alcohol. What did he say to the Nazarite? Don't drink alcohol. Don't drink these things. But we're supposed to say, like, oh, well, in the New Testament, God wants his ambassadors, kings, priests, and prophets to drink, even though the pastor's not supposed to be given to wine. How does that make any sense, folks? Obviously, God's perfect will is abstinence from alcohol then. And she's using an argument of, son, you're better than this. Son, you're better than this. Don't be like those other people. You're a king, son. It's not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink. Here's the effect of alcohol, lest they drink and forget the law. Who here wants to forget God's law? Because if so, then drink up. Who wants to pervert the judgment of the afflicted? Folks, we're supposed to rescue the perishing, not pervert the judgment of the afflicted. And then she's using sarcasm, like, give strong drink unto him that's ready to perish. Give strong drink to the losers and the derelicts of this world that don't even want to be alive. Yeah, let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery anymore, you know, as they just vomit on themselves in the gutter. Well, see, yeah. It's crazy, folks. That's a crazy way to read the Bible. Give strong drink unto him that's ready to perish. Do you know what the Bible means here when it says you're ready to perish? It means, I don't want to be alive anymore, I'm ready to die, kill me now. That's what that means. Who here would say, that's me this morning, if so, let's get you on a suicide hotline or something, you know, let me help you. Folks, that's God's people, really? So Christians are at that point where we're just like, just kill me now, I'm ready to die. Folks, who sort of believeth in him shall not perish? This life is just the beginning for us. Death, where is thy sting? Grave, where is thy victory? And you know what? This is talking about somebody who's so down and out, they're just like, kill me now. He's saying, you know what, if you're ready to embrace death, drink. I think that's a great slogan from Budweiser. Instead of this buzz for you and tap the Rockies. Why don't they do this, hey, are you ready to embrace death? Well, we're here when you need us. Are you sick of being alive? Are you ready for death's chilly hand to take you to the other side? Well, this buzz for you. Folks, that's what the Bible's saying here. Do you love death? Do you seek for death? Like in the book of Job where he talks about people seeking for death like they would look for a buried treasure. Like in Revelation chapter 9, you know, in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it. That's the kind of person he's saying, yeah, give strong drink unto him that's ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Well, you know, I'm not ready to perish, I've just kind of got a heavy heart, you know, there's a tear in my beer or whatever. It's like, well, you know what, that's one thought. You can't just separate that out. It's for the complete deadbeat that's ready to die and people are just feeling a little down. You just want to go somewhere where everybody knows your name or something. Folks, if you read that into this, you are just twisting scripture to believe what you want to believe. Let him drink. Let him drink. See, let him drink. Okay, what about when the Bible says, he that is filthy, let him be filthy still. See, be filthy. Let's be filthy. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. See, let him be unjust. Folks, this is not how you read the Bible. You need to go to like Bible kindergarten and understand what these terms mean. Let him drink. It means like, you know what, let that loser drink. Hey, let idiots smoke pot. You know what, if my neighbor wants to smoke pot, let him smoke pot. But as for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord. Let he that is unjust, let him be unjust still. He that is filthy, let him be filthy still, Revelation 22, 11. Hey, he that, let him drink. Let the loser that's ready to die drink, but not you, son. You don't drink. And that's what we ought to tell our kids. Don't you drink. Yeah, other people, let them drink. Let them party. Let them carouse. Let them fornicate. Let them be drunk and get high and waste their brains, but not you, son. Not you, Faith Ward Baptist Church. That's what he's saying.