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Afterwards, and we ask again all these things in Jesus' name, amen. All right, had to deal with a little fake pizza order there, so we're a little behind this evening. But Luke chapter seven, verse 33, verse 34. So Jesus is calling out the hypocrisy of those that are saying, well, John the Baptist lived this righteous life and he never drank wine. However, you on the other hand, drink wine. And so we're gonna talk about that. Did Jesus drink alcoholic wine? The title of the sermon this evening is The Grapes of Wrath. The Grapes of Wrath. And yes, we stole that from the VeggieTales. So I knew they'd be good for something one of these days. So obviously we're gonna talk about alcohol. This evening has been a long time since I've actually, I don't think I've ever even preached a full sermon on this subject while being in this church. I have when I was in Vancouver and other places, but not here, so it's definitely something that is definitely due. Now, this is unfortunately a subject a lot of us are probably acquainted with very well. This is something that I've had to unfortunately deal with a lot in my life, not only just from being in the military, but having been raised by a mother that was a drunk. Okay, I have a lot of different stories about this. I'm not gonna bore you with all of them tonight, but I can remember growing up and being left in strangers' homes because my mother was a drunk and would make friends and obviously bring me with her and things like that. Now, looking back, I can see how God had protected me from those people, but just ever since I can remember, going back to kindergarten, my mom would get drunk and she wouldn't just get drunk like one night. Her drunkenness would last two, three, sometimes even up to four weeks at a time, just constantly drunk. And then finally, she would come out of these spells. It got so bad that she wound up in a mental ward, and I'll never forget the day that I saw her in fourth grade at a mental institution in a straitjacket because she had developed tendencies to want to end her life and I can remember even as young as however old I was in fourth grade being numb to that. You know, I mean, can you imagine that, being just a little kid and you just don't even care if your mom does do it because of the constant threatening and just the constant up and down that she had basically drug our family through. It got so bad, you know, my dad didn't really handle it the best either. In fact, he would sometimes blame me because I didn't tell him certain things or because I didn't stop it because my dad worked the night shift and obviously that is when she would do all of these different types of acts. And it basically just got so bad that when my mom did finally give it up, I think it was close to high school, when I say ninth grade, somewhere around there, and praise God she did give it up and when she did, that was gone forever, but the relationship was strained until the day she died. It just was never really there. It caused distance between me and both of my parents to the fact when my parents dropped me off to join the military, Jessica's bawling her eyes out and my dad's just like, good luck, have a nice day. I was like, yeah, see you later. That's just how it was and to make matters worse, I'm the only child and that's just what alcohol did. I mean, it literally ruined our relationship that we had. Now obviously I'm not holding a grudge. They're no longer here, I forgave them, but I do believe that stories like this are good for us to learn from and this is definitely a subject that we need to take seriously. Now keep your place there in Luke, but go to Isaiah chapter number 65. Isaiah chapter number 65. And so with that being said, obviously we're gonna answer the question tonight. Did Jesus drink alcoholic wine? What is the deal with wine in the Bible? And before we get there, we need to get some definitions straight. We need to understand the definition of wine in the Bible. When you see that word, does it always mean alcoholic? Now, a lot of times I'll be around people and they'll say, hey, you know, do you want a beer? Do you want this? Do you want something to drink? Obviously implying alcohol. My response is always the same, like, no, you know, I don't want any of that. And they'll oftentimes say this, well, even Jesus drank wine. I heard that last week. Well, even Jesus drank wine, right? So I'm not drunk, you know, so why can't you drink something with me? And it's like, you don't understand the Bible. It's the problem with that, okay? I don't want anything to do with that, but we'll get into that here in a minute. We need to get some definitions straight though, okay? We need to answer a question. Is wine in the Bible always referring to an alcoholic beverage? Well, let's take a look. Isaiah chapter 65, look at verse number eight. The Bible says this. Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster and one saith, destroy it not for a blessing is in it. So will I do for my servant's sake that I may not destroy them all? We'll stop right there and analyze the first part of this verse, okay? It says new wine. Where is new wine found? In the cluster. Does it say in the bottle, in the can? No, in the cluster. So the grape itself, that fruit itself inside of that is described as wine, okay? The Bible's using this term here. The new wine is found in the cluster. Obviously no alcohol involved at all. Now keep your place there in Isaiah, but go to Proverbs chapter number three. Proverbs chapter number three. So Proverbs chapter number three, look at verse number nine. The Bible says this. Honor the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase, verse 10. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. So you combine these two passages and there's others. The Bible has a lot to say about this subject, okay? But when you combine Isaiah 65 verse eight with Proverbs chapter three in verse number 10, you can see that grapes hanging on the vine or being freshly squeezed is referred to as wine. So why is this important? Context. Context. Just like the word repent, just like the word baptism, just like so many other words in the English language, context. This is what we need to understand so that we can defend our position and really explain to people what the Bible teaches about wine because I can't, I mean, I just can't believe it. Just like I said, just last Thursday, somebody was like, hey, even Jesus drank wine. They're trying to get me to drink. I'm like, no, you don't understand. Now I kind of laugh a little bit to the public because they're not like threatening. Like, oh, we're gonna pour booze on you. But inside the house of God, when I see Christians getting drunk and I hear about these things, I become irate. Like I just, this is one thing that will cause me to absolutely snap. I'm kind of like the booze police, you could say. I hate it with a passion because of the way that I grew up. Definitely not something that I want to see happen to anyone, let alone the children of God. So let's practice this context ideology. Go to 1 Timothy chapter number five. 1 Timothy chapter number five. We're gonna do some practice questions this evening. We're gonna put this to the test. You know, and as I'm going through this, I'm just thinking, you know, how many marriages, how many relationships, how many lives would be saved if people simply had a hatred for alcohol, had a hatred for what this stuff has done to people? 1 Timothy chapter number five. So let's take a look at this here. Verse number 23, we're gonna start with this verse and then we're gonna answer the question. Did Paul tell Timothy to drink alcoholic wine? Verse 23 says this, drink no longer water but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities. So apparently Timothy had ailments probably due from traveling here and there and things of that nature and Paul's advice to him was, hey, stop drinking the water and use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and people will often take this and say, hey, you know, this is my reason here that I can drink. Timothy was a pastor, Paul was an apostle. Paul told him to use a little bit and using a little bit is okay. The question is, what type of wine is this and how do we prove that based off of context? Well, what we're gonna do is just go back simply a couple chapters to chapter number three and let's take a look and see if we can answer that question. Was Paul telling Timothy to drink alcoholic wine? Well, let's take a look here. Verse number one of chapter number three says this. This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. Actually, now that I'm thinking about this, I think it was just Monday when I was out soul winning, I had to explain this to someone at the door and they understood and got it. Hey, so what are we talking about here? We're talking about qualifications of a bishop, an elder, a pastor in a church. Verse two, a bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober of good behavior given to hospitality, apt to teach. Verse three, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy, a filthy lucre, but a patient, not a brawler, not covetous. So you see that there in verse number three, what does that say? Not given to wine. And he repeats that starting in verse number eight in regards to the qualifications to become a deacon. So if Paul is telling Timothy, hey, you should be sober, okay? You are not to be given to wine. Why would he tempt him with alcoholic wine at the end of the letter? It doesn't make any sense, okay? So think about this. If you're not drinking water, how much of this wine are you gonna actually need to satisfy your thirst? Well, probably a decent amount. If you were to take the amount of water that you would need to satisfy your thirst, especially back in these days in their climate and their environment, and you were to drink that alcoholic wine, you would be drunk. So you would be violating the scriptures and the teaching that Paul had given him prior to that. So just a quick bit of logic and what the Bible says. We can arrive to the conclusion that Paul is not telling him to drink the alcoholic wine. Turn to Proverbs chapter number 23 and let's do another one, another exercise here. Proverbs chapter number 23. And we're gonna start answering the question now, going back to Luke chapter number seven. Did Jesus say that he was drinking alcoholic wine? Because so many people like to bring that up. Well, Proverbs chapter 23, let's take a look here. This is what the Bible says. These are commands. Look at verse number 19. The Bible says, hear thou my son and be wise and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of the flesh. Verse 21, for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. So you just read those, meditate on that and think about that, okay? Then go back to the miracle in Cana where Jesus turned the water into the wine, okay? Do you really think that Jesus would violate these scriptures and turn the water into alcoholic wine so that he could encourage people getting drunk and becoming winebibbers and turning into riotous eaters and drunkards and just gluttonous, just all of these things that we just read in Proverbs chapter 23. Would the creator, the word of God himself, the one who issued forth these words do that? And I think you know the answer to that. It's absolutely crazy to hear that. Go to Proverbs chapter number 31. Proverbs chapter number 31 and let's see what this says. Proverbs chapter 31, you know, in verse number one tells you that this is directed to a king, King Lemuel. And if it's good for one king, it's good for all kings and especially the king of kings. So Proverbs 31, look at verse number three. The Bible says this, give not thy strength unto women nor they ways to that which destroyeth kings. See that? So the following verses here are going to be wisdom and advice to not have a king destroyed. Verse number four, it is not for kings O Lemuel. It is not for kings to drink wine nor for princes. Strong drink, now let's just stop right there for a second. What does the Bible say that we as believers are? What two offices has God brought us into once we're saved? Kings and priests. So the question now is, does this apply to us? And the answer is yes, you are a king, you are a priest. This is wisdom for you. Then let's look at verse number five at the reason why. Why is the king, why is the prince to stay away from wine, to stay away from strong drink? Verse five, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. So what I'm gonna tell you, the more you start studying this and then the more you start hearing people say, well, Jesus turned water into wine, he was all about the wine and he just didn't get drunk. It should infuriate you. It should get under your skin. It should prompt you to want to correct these people, obviously in love, obviously to help them out, right? But it should cause you to wanna defend the truth because literally what they're saying is that Jesus sinned because he promoted drunkenness, because he promoted these types of actions and we know that our savior is perfect. Verse number six, here's the purpose of those things. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Could you imagine living back in these times, back in the days of Solomon? Maybe you have a horrible toothache or you're about to die, you're extremely severely wounded in battle. There's no pain meds, you know? And these beverages were probably used in that manner and again, I'm not endorsing it, I'm just saying this is the purpose, okay? Now what if a king or a priest has a heavy heart? Well, you're to turn to the creator, not to the bottle. Look at verse seven, let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more. So basically what this is telling you is that people that are just going to ruin their lives anyways, that's their fate. That is what they have brought on themselves and what this king's mother is saying in this passage here, hey, leave that to them. Leave this to those who want to destroy their lives because that's where they're going anyways. It is for them, it is not for you and really it's not for anyone, okay? Go to Isaiah chapter number nine, I'm sorry, go to Proverbs chapter eight, sorry, just go back, same book, Proverbs chapter number eight. So you read those words to a king then you hear a verse like this, Revelation 19, 16, talking about Jesus, talking about the return of Jesus when it says, and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. We serve the King of kings, but yet we're supposed to believe that Proverbs 31 is just for earthly kings. It was okay that Jesus, while he was here, he wasn't king yet. Well, how about that for blasphemy? Because he's always king, he's from everlasting. Proverbs chapter number eight, let's continue this here, look at verse number 12. So this is, this chapter here, this entire chapter here is basically written as if wisdom is speaking to you, as wisdom is telling you what it is, what it's about and also interesting, it's referenced as a female, but that's a sermon for another day. Look at verse number 12, I wisdom dwell with prudence and find out knowledge of witty inventions. So there's the subject, wisdom speaking here. Wisdom says in verse 13, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance and the evil way and the froward mouth do I hate. Verse 14, counsel is mine and sound wisdom, I am understanding, I have strength. Verse 15, by me, look at this next word, kings reign and princes decree justice. What does Isaiah nine, Isaiah chapter nine verse six say about Jesus? What was one of the titles given to him there? The prince of princes. He is the king of kings, the prince of peace, he's the mighty God, the everlasting father, the wonderful counselor, all of those things and here wisdom which is issued forth from God says by me, kings reign and princes decree justice. Is that not what Christ did while he was here? Did he not reign by justice? Did he not teach justice, give statutes and commandments? Look at verse 16, by me, princes rule and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. Verse 17, I love them that love me and those that seek me early shall find me. I mean, that brings up Gospel of Luke where Jesus is found sitting amongst adults and having a conversation and asking questions to those people that were wise in his day and remember, they marveled at his questions and his level of understanding. Look at verse 18, riches and honor are with me, yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fault is better than gold, I'm sorry, my fruit is better than gold, yea, then find gold and my revenue, then choice silver. Look at this, verse 20, I lead in the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of judgment. Where does righteousness come from? Does it come from us? No, it comes from God, it comes from the Lord God. So you expect me to read this, understand who Jesus is and then yet believe that he was promoting alcoholic beverages. That is crazy. Verse 22, the Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before his works of old. Well, that's interesting. Verse 23, I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains abounding with water before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth. Wisdom is older than the earth itself. Verse 26, while as yet he had not made the earth nor the fields nor the highest part of the dust of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he set a compass upon the face of the depth. When he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment when he appointed the foundations of the earth. Then look what wisdom says in verse 30. Then I was by him as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight rejoicing always before him. Jesus Christ has always been God. Jesus Christ is fully man, fully God. There is no way that he is going to violate any of this stuff by promoting drunkenness, by promoting alcoholic beverages. Verse 31, rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth and my delights were with the sons of men. Now go to Proverbs chapter number 20. Proverbs chapter number 20. And look at verse number one, okay? So again, context is everything. Wine is described as either alcoholic at times or it's described or it's gonna be non-alcoholic, okay? The same word is used oftentimes throughout the Bible to describe and it's our job to rightly divide the word of truth to figure out which type of wine is being spoken about in any given passage. Proverbs chapter 20 verse one, look at this. Wine is a mocker. Now what sort of wine do you think that's talking about? Non-alcoholic or alcoholic? Obviously we all know the answer to that. That is alcoholic, wine is a mocker. Strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Look, I'm not bringing this up to be unkind. I'm not bringing this up to be mean to anyone but I'm just saying that the unfortunate reality of today is the very fact that most people are deceived about this subject, therefore they are not wise. So you can talk to all kinds of people that go to church around here and they will consistently tell you that no, Jesus drank alcoholic wine, it's okay. I mean, I see this all the time, all the time. Go to Proverbs chapter 23 one more time. So wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise but yet we're supposed to believe that Jesus turned the water into alcoholic wine. You know, the chief of the feast there, do you think you would have been able to intelligently even notice the difference if he was already drunk, if he was already wasted? I doubt that. Proverbs 23, look at verse 30. They that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine. Verse 31, look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. What does that mean? How does wine move itself? What kind of wine is this talking about? It's talking about alcoholic, why? Because you could see the warning against that. Moveth itself aright, that is a reference to the fermentation process that is going on inside of the wine where it's stored. Okay, the Bible's saying don't even tempt yourself, don't even look upon that. You know, you say, well, what's the danger? Well, the danger is you could wind up being given to the wine if you were to look upon it. So it's funny, the word of God says don't even look upon this type of wine. But again, modern Christianity says no, it's okay as long as you don't get drunk because even Jesus drank alcoholic wine. Verse 32, at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women and thy heart shall utter perverse things. And again, what is that in reference to? Again, lives being destroyed, bodies being destroyed, people committing all sorts of adultery, fornications, ruining relationships with people because of the things that they've said. When you're under the influence, what does that do? It drops your guard, it removes the natural restraint that you could have to not say something and it causes everything in your heart to just barf out of yourself. And then what happens? Well, you can't take it back once it's said and people's feelings get hurt and relationships get ruined and you know what? A lot of times people aren't going to settle for the excuse, oh, that person was drunk. They're gonna be like, no, that's how you always feel. The alcohol just gave you the courage to actually say it and spit it out your mouth. Verse 34, yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. So on the top of a ship. Verse 35, they have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick. They have beaten me and I felt it not. When shall I awake, I will seek it yet again. So even though it does these things to people, it causes people to do things they normally would not do. It causes people to have all of these issues. You're abusing yourself with mankind, literally is what's going on here. And what is the prevailing attitude that most drunks have? The last part of verse 35, I will seek it yet again. Go talk to your Friday night drunk, your people on the way to the bars. The guy that's gotta throw down a six or an eight or a 12 pack after work just to be able to get through the evening with his family. And all the fighting and the damage that that causes. You know what they say in their heart? Yet I will seek it again. You get addicted to how that makes you feel, you become selfish, and then what happens? Again, like I've been saying, lives are ruined. Go to 1 Samuel chapter 25. We're getting close to being done. 1 Samuel chapter number 25. So again, the Proverbs, the word of God, the warnings, the definitions, you combine all of these things, I think it's very clear the answer to the question, did Jesus drink alcoholic wine? The answer is no. He would not go against his own word. I mean, this is basic doctrine. This is like day one, you just get saved. John chapter one, verse one. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. I mean, you know, he is the word of God. So what does that tell you? That people out there don't know who Jesus is. They don't understand that he's the word of God. But yet they can tell you all day long how many times wine's in the Bible, and oh, wine is just not having too much. You gotta have balance with it. Now I'll be honest with you. There are people, and I know them, that consistently drink and seem to have it all together. Those people do exist. I met this guy, older guy, government official, when I was over in Japan, and just happened to be going through the commissary. The commissary's a place where the military gets to buy food. As a DOD civilian, I was allowed to shop there at this time in my life, and I seen this guy from church. You know, I was just going to get some ground beef because all I could make were tacos and eggs, man. That's all I can cook. So I got my taco meat. I got my eggs in the basket. This dude comes around the corner, and he's got all kinds of wine in the cart. I just looked at the other side. I started shaking my head. He's like, now hold on. He tells me, hold on. Even Jesus drank wine. And he's like, I love our church, but me and the pastor disagree on this. I was like, I didn't even say anything, you know? And then me and him and the pastor had to sit down and had a discussion after that. I wasn't rude to the guy. In fact, I was just laughing because of how he responded. You know, he's just like, hold on, because he kind of knew that, obviously, what I had seen, and his conscience had smote him. This is basically what happened. This guy's conscience smote him, because if he wasn't doing anything wrong, and his position on this was correct, then why didn't he just be like, so what, what's up? You know, but he didn't. He was just like, hold on, I can explain. Me and the preacher agree on this, and we'll talk about it. I'm like, whatever, man, just, you know, go about your way, and we went rounds about this. But that guy, I mean, that guy probably makes, you know, easy quarter million dollars a year, and, you know, stays out of trouble. But look, he's the exception. Most people cannot handle that, okay? Somehow, this guy did. There are people like that, and heck, even today, I lost contact with him. Who really knows, you know? I just can't imagine that that constant bombardment on your liver and your organs, and that alcohol penetrating your blood-brain barrier is actually gonna produce anything healthy. You know, people say, oh, what about all the studies about wine and a little red wine helping you out? Who pays for the studies? Go look at who pays for those studies, okay? And let me know if it leads back to a wine company. I think you'll be shocked. I think you'd be surprised. In fact, most of the time, what happens is people ruin their lives. We talked on Sunday morning about Ahasuerus. Now, he throws this six-month-long party. You know, he's sitting down having a great old time. The Bible says that he was well drunk in heart and merry with inside of him, and he's like, you know, I'm gonna parade my wife around. I'm gonna parade the queen around, show off her beauty, okay, and she refuses. Definitely wrong, we talked about that on Sunday, but let's talk about him for a second. Could he have avoided that had he not been given over to wine? Probably, probably could have saved that relationship. Let's talk about Noah for a second. It's not quite June yet, so I don't wanna go to those passages and really dig deep, but what happened to Noah? Okay, what caused Noah to be preyed upon and an entire nation, the nation known as the Canaanites, to become cursed? Why? Because he was drunk. Now, obviously, there's issues with Mr. Hambone, and we will deal with that next month, but the point is that story is written the way that it is to let us know something. Hey, we need to be above that. We need to be beyond that because when you are well drunk and when you are drunk, your deception, I mean, your discernment, rather, is just not there, okay? Your guard's down, he's passed out, and he is able to be somehow preyed upon. What about Lot? Hey, do we need to go to Lot and talk about Moab and how Ammon came to be? I don't wanna talk about that right now. I'm getting sick of this. I've just seen these freaks out here this evening. I'm like, oh, I don't wanna talk about that, but I think you know the answer, okay? He allowed his daughters, yeah, sure, I'll drink some wine. They got him so drunk that incest occurred. Talk about ruining the third, up to the third, fourth, and beyond generations because of alcohol. I mean, how deep did that rabbit hole, how deep did that decision for him to say, yes, I will drink this wine? How many generations after that decision were affected? I mean, the children of Israel are fighting the Moabites and the Ammonites practically up until they're completely removed from the land. And now let's talk about Nabal. I mean, the Bible's full of stupid things people have done drunk, absolutely foolish things. I mean, and even worse than that. I mean, the Bible says that, what is it? Back in Joel, okay, the conditions got so bad during the times of Joel's ministry, where he was prophesying, he was preaching to the southern kingdom of Judah, things were so bad that little girls were being sold for wine, and boys were being given as harlots. This stuff is like a drug, probably even worse. It is a drug, alcoholic wine. It's absolutely life-ruining. I'm gonna leave you with this final one here in 1 Samuel chapter 25. So just to kind of get you caught up to speed, what's going on here is David is on the run from King Saul. And while he's on the run, he's protecting this guy whose name is Nabal. And he's protecting his flocks, he's protecting his people and his possessions, because for whatever reason Nabal is not around. And in return, David sends his men to Nabal and says, hey, you know, you can ask your men, we protected them, we provided provision, we did what we could. Is there any way you could spare some help for us? Okay, and then the Bible says that this guy Nabal railed on them, basically said, I don't care who you are, you know, a lot of people have broken away from their masters, a lot of people just, you know, cut ties with their masters, I'm not gonna help you out one bit. So David does what David does best. David gets mad and says, well, okay, now you go tell him that I'm not gonna leave anyone that pisses against the wall. I'm gonna kill every man, I'm just gonna come in there and just wreak havoc. Well, Nabal has a wife and her name is Abigail. And the Bible says that she was of a beautiful countenance. She hears this. And so she realizes that, you know, no one can talk to her husband. The Bible says that he's like a man of Belial, you just can't reason with him. And so she says, you know what, I'm gonna take it upon myself to go stop this. And she goes and takes provision for David and his men. And she wants to tell her husband, but she can't yet because he is drunk. And let's pick up the story there. First Samuel 25, look at verse number 36. First Samuel 25, verse 36. It says this, and Abigail came to Nabal. Okay, she came, she wanted to tell him. And the Bible says this, and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken. Wherefore she told him nothing, less or more until the morning light. Why is the heart drunken? What does the Bible say about the heart, the old man, the flesh, that is deceitful above all things? The more of the world that you give your heart, the more merry it gets, the more comforting it gets. But in this situation here, excuse me, this guy can't talk to his own wife because he is well drunken. And so she says, it's not gonna do me any good to speak to him now. So right now, his heart is way up here. It is super high. Okay, now look at the next verse, verse 37. But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. So what in the world is this? Look at verse 38, because I want you to get the context here. I understand that God is definitely paying this guy back because he's evil. Verse 38, and it came to pass about 10 days after that the Lord smote Nabal that he died. But think about what just happened here. I mean, he was on the highest level. His heart was merry with wine. His heart, he was content and happy, not a carrot of the world, just completely happy within himself because of the wine, because he was well drunken. As soon as he sobers up, he gets news that his wife saved his life, saved his life, saved her life, saved everybody's life, and just gave him of some of his abundance. And he is so mad, he is so hurt, he is so shocked, so heartbroken, that his heart literally dies within him, and he becomes as stone. He literally goes into a coma, and then 10 days later, God just cuts him off. I say, great, what does this mean? What I believe this is teaching us here, drinking alcoholic beverages reduces the heart, reduces just your ability to handle truth, to handle news. I mean, think about this, okay? I told you a story of one guy who went to church who was a regular drinker, okay? But he wasn't a soul winner. How many soul winners? How many people do you know that say, hey, I'm zealous, I'm gonna get on fire, I wanna learn this, I wanna learn that, I wanna apply this thing, I wanna just be a wrecking ball for the kingdom of God. How many of those people are regular drinkers? Can you name me one? Can you name me two? Can you give me a handful? And I'm telling you, it's because of this principle here. It causes emotional unstability. It ruins who you are. Think about this. What kind of man gets this type of news that his wife saved his life and just dies within him? He literally died because of that. Now, does that happen to everyone? No, obviously in the story, God is protecting David and he's looking after him, but these things are written for our admonition. These things are written to teach us something here. And if you've never been around drugs, you might be like, ah, I don't understand quite what you're talking about. But if you have, and you think about these people, okay, you're gonna realize that this is who they are. This is truth. This is what happens. So we're just about done here. I just wanna kinda quickly review, okay? When it comes to wine in the Bible, there's a lot of verses that mention wine. It is our job to rightly divide the word of truth. Is it talking about the new wine that we read about in Isaiah chapter 65? Or is it talking about the alcoholic wine that we read so much about in the Proverbs? It's our job to make that determination and to be able to prove it to people. I just had to prove it to a guy just Monday, just as recent as Monday around here. Because again, like I told you, people go to church around here and they kind of know what they're being taught. They're paying attention, okay? And I just think, and you know, the guy thanked me for explaining this to him after he was done. And he's like, I've never considered that. I had no idea. Okay, and hey, who knows? Maybe that seed that you plant like that in somebody will save someone's life. Maybe it'll stop someone from getting behind the wheel of a vehicle, tipsy, thinking they're just tipsy when they're actually drunk and taking another person's life or losing their life. Okay, so we need to understand the context what this word means and be able and ready to defend it. Okay, so you're either gonna have grapes to have or grapes of wrath. And that's when the ball suffered from. That's what Lot suffered from. That's what Noah suffered from. That's what so many people that ruined their lives in the Bible suffered from. Eli's children, sons of Belial, getting drunk. Think about it, alcohol has ruined nations and generations and generations and generations of people, all because of one person deciding that it was okay. The Bible says the contrary. So hopefully this gives you something to think about, but more so just gives you the wrath and that urge to wanna tell people the truth and to protect truth and to protect what and who our Savior is and what He taught. Because so many people out there, like I said, they will tell you till they're blue in the face, no, Jesus drank wine that was alcoholic. But we've seen tonight that that is contrary to who He is. That is contrary to the Word of God. That is not true. You know, what's the worst that's gonna happen to me? You think I'm gonna get to heaven and Jesus is gonna be like, oh, I can't believe you taught that. You know the answer to that. Can't believe your church believed that. You think He's gonna say that? But that's how some of these people act. They think that we're the devil because we preach against wine and because we have standards and we wanna follow the Word of God and we wanna grow. And they think that we're the problem with society. And they're kind of technically right. We are a problem to society if you think about it. Because what this book says so many times is not in season and flies in the face of what is being pushed and shoved down our throats. And it's time for us to stand up and fight against these things and teach people the truth. And again, this is one that you could be saving someone's physical life all because you took the time to explain to them the truth. So stop right here, bow our heads, and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, for the truth that you constantly bring us every single week. I just pray you help us to remember these things and to lovingly be able to take them into the community and teach people the truth. And please lead us to those people, Lord, and bless the fellowship after the service. In Jesus' name, I pray, amen. ["O Come All Ye Faithful"]