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Here's the end of alcohol. I'm going to read from Joel 3, verse number 3. The Bible says, And they have cast lots for My people, and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine that they might drink. This is talking about when people just get to the most base level, just the most degenerate state that they could be in, that they're willing to give a boy for a harlot, for a hooker, for a whore. Just to satisfy or to gratify their flesh because they're so warped and twisted and perverted that they're willing to give up a human being, a person, sell a boy or sell a girl to satisfy that lust. Because of how strong they've gotten into bondage to their own lusts. Can you imagine selling a girl, selling a girl, just for, just for some poison, for wine. That ought to sober you up into realizing how serious this is. There's people that, look, this isn't make believe. This is truth. This is the Bible. Why would you ever want to think, hey, even having that first glass, oh I just want to try it out, I think it might just be fun. It could lead here. I don't want to go down the path that that's the end of it. At all. I don't want to start going that way and then cut off. Because what if you don't cut off? That's where you end up. And it's better to think about these things when you're sober, when you're in your right mind, than when you already start going down that path. Because once you start going down that path, your judgment is already clouded. It's going to be harder to get off that path once you start down it. It's a lot easier to make the right decision before you ever go down that path. Because once you start gratifying the flesh that way, you might want to continue going, and before you realize it, oh man, I've gone way too far. I didn't want to do this. And the damage is already done. And it's already too late. Proverbs 31, we're going to see here, alcohol makes you forget things and pervert judgment. Look at verse number 4, the Bible says, It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink. You say, oh, but I'm not a king or a prince, not according to the Bible. If you're born again, you're a child of God. You're part of a holy priesthood, a royal priesthood. As a child of God through Jesus Christ, we are kings and princes. You're going to rule and reign with Jesus Christ in the millennial reign. Okay, you need to start thinking of yourself a little bit better. Like, hey, I know there's some people out there that drink booze, there's some people out there giving a wine, but you know what, it's not for me, it's not for kings, it's not for princes. This is the instruction and wisdom given to a son by his mother. Hey, it's not for kings, O Lemuel. You're better than that. It's not for kings to drink wine and strong drink. Why? He says, lest they drink and forget the law. Now, okay, it's not for kings to forget the law, yeah, because they're in charge. Is it for anybody to forget the law? Should anyone just be like, ah, I'm just going to forget God's law? But when you start drinking, you're going to forget about God's laws. You will. Guaranteed. Lest they forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. It's going to mess with your head. Look at verse number six. Give strong drink unto him that is 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. This isn't saying it's okay for people who are miserable to drink. This is just saying, look, you are better than that because you're a child of God. And it's not a lifting yourself up in pride. It's the keeping yourself from getting so low. Okay, some people are going to be out there and they're going to drown themselves in their sorrows. Let them do that. You don't do that. But look what it says. It says let him forget his poverty because when you drink, you start forgetting. It affects your brain. Your brain functions. You start forgetting. You forget the law. You forget God's law. You're going to start forgetting other things. Forget his poverty, other problems, his misery, other problems he had in his life. People want to drown their sorrows. It's a phrase that's used commonly. Because they don't want to think about the problems in their life, the stresses, the other obligations they may have. So they just choose to, well, I'm just going to make myself feel good. And this goes similar to the exact problem that Saul had. Right? You're vexed by something. Something's troubling you. Something's bothering you. Instead of dealing with that problem and actually fixing it and making your life better because you're going to deal with whatever the problem is, people just turn to something that's going to make them feel good. In Saul's case, he turned to this music. Oh, I just want the music to make me feel better. Here's people, I'm just going to turn to alcohol. I'm just going to consume this substance that's just going to make me forget about everything because I don't want to deal with it. That doesn't make the problem go away. In fact, it just makes it worse. When you try to kick the can down the road with a problem, oh, I'll just deal with that later. You know what happens? It snowballs. The problem gets worse and worse and worse. And it's this terrible cycle of, well, now it's even worse, and now I really don't want to deal with it. And people go and continue down to try to forget things. It's like, but it's not gone. It's a fake. It's a fraud. The alcohol is just, okay, you forget about it temporarily, but then it's still right there in your face because it's part of reality. Don't escape your problem. Don't look for an escape through substances, through drugs or alcohol. It's never going to satisfy. It's only going to get worse.