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And if you look at Proverbs 23 verse 29, it says, Who have woe, who have sorrow, who have contentions, who have babbling, who have wounds without cause, who have redness of eyes, they that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine, look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright, at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. Title for the sermon this afternoon is Stupid Excuses to Drink Alcohol. Stupid Excuses to Drink Alcohol. Now, if you've read your Bible, especially if you've got a King James Bible, you know that the word wine comes up numerous times in your Bible. In fact, keep your finger there and quickly come with me to Isaiah 65. Come with me quickly to Isaiah 65 and verse number 8. Now, one of the blessings of growing up from a migrant family is that I, the first language that I kind of got talking was Spanish and then it became English, but I can understand Spanish and I'm not really bilingual, but if you put me in a Spanish environment, I'll eventually become bilingual. So one of the advantages of knowing different languages is that you can see what root words mean. And so, for example, when we in Australia in 2024, when we think of the word wine as English speakers, we think of an alcoholic beverage very quickly, okay? But of course, it doesn't take a genius to understand the word wine comes from the word vine, okay? That makes sense, right? Wine comes from the vine, the grape juice. Well, if you think of the word vine, v-i-n-e, in Spanish, if you change the e to an o, vino, that's wine in Spanish, okay? But you can kind of see it a little bit clearer there. Vine, vino, and then if you were to change the vino, if you change the o to an a, and then you change the n and you put a little squiggly mark, which is a different letter in Spanish, it's called the enya, then it becomes vina, which is the English word for vine. And so just, you know, one of the advantages of being bilingual is I can see these words and I see the word wine, I see the word vine. And when I see the word vine, I see the word wine. And regardless of what language it is, English and Spanish. And so any essentially any products, like this is only that I understand, just because of being bilingual, any product that comes from the vine is wine, okay? Whether it's alcoholic or non-alcoholic, it's vine. It's a fruit of the vine. And so as I read my Bible, and I see the word wine, I almost automatically know that this is speaking about the products from the vine. This isn't 100% time, it's always about alcoholic beverages, okay? Now, how do we understand from the Bible, whether it's an alcoholic beverage or a non-alcoholic beverage? Well, I'll just say to you it's based on the context. If the context is negative, it's alcohol. If it's not negative, if it's a positive context, it's just grape juice, okay? And grape juice, obviously when you squeeze grapes and you have that juice, it's non-alcoholic and you can consume that, that's also wine. But I understand that in 2024, if you're only English and that's, you know, we think of wine as alcohol, I can understand how what I just said might not make sense to you. So very quickly there in Isaiah 65, just to prove it in one way. I've done other sermons that I've proved this in depth, okay? But Isaiah 65, it says this, Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster. That's the cluster of grapes. And once 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, okay? So there's a blessing in the cluster. So the juice that comes from the cluster or the wine is a blessing. So if you were to take a cluster of grapes and you squeeze those grapes and you drink that wine, guess what? It's a blessing. But is it going to make you drunk? Is it alcoholic? No. In fact, the Bible also just adds another word there as the new wine. So you know, it's something that's just been freshly squeezed, something that's just come out and it hasn't had time to go through the fermentation process to make it alcoholic, okay? That's just one reference. I can show you so many references. I can show you literature, not just from the King James Bible, but literature of people that wrote in the past, where they would take the word wine being non-alcoholic or new wine being clearly non-alcoholic. I can show you definitions in the dictionaries that speak of wine in both an alcoholic and non-alcoholic sense. And so for me, that is not even a debate. But there is still some stupid people that think every time the Bible says wine, it means alcohol. I can't help those people. Like there are so many resources to understand that it's just the fruit of the vine. Now Proverbs 23, go back to Proverbs 23, verse number 29. Proverbs 23, verse number 29. You say pastor, give me some good reasons not to drink alcohol. Let me give you several. Verse number 29, who have woe? Do you want woe in your life? Okay, anguish and sorrow and you know, no. It says who have sorrow? Do you want sadness and unnecessary sadness? Who have contentions? Do you want to be in constant conflict? Constantly fighting with people? Who have babbling? Do you want to be someone that just speaks stupidity out of the mouth? Have you seen drunken people just say complete nonsense? Who have wounds without cause? You don't just wake up one morning and just see all these wounds, battle scars from fighting because you got drunk and not even know why that happened. Who have redness of eyes? They that tarry along at the wine, they that go seek mixed wine. And so the reason it's mixed wine is because if you take grapes and you squeeze grapes, you're going to get new wine, non-alcoholic wine. But on the skin of the grapes, you'll often find a bit of a white film, which is the bacteria or the yeast I should say. The yeast and so when you mix the skin with the juice, okay, that yeast will come into the juice. That yeast will begin to eat up the sugar and the output of the yeast is alcohol. The sugar turns to alcohol. So when you mix these things, you get the colour red because the redness comes from the skin and a little bit from the seeds as well. But if you were to leave it as is, it'll start to become alcoholic. Okay, if you leave it aside, but usually when people are creating alcoholic beverages, they don't just use the yeast that's on the fruit, but they'll add additional yeast and additional sugars to make it more alcoholic or less alcoholic or to meet a certain standard. Okay, so when it says here, look at verse number 31. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red. Why is it red? Once again, because the skin and the yeast of the skin has been mixed with the fruit juice. So the instruction that God, it's a book of Proverbs. This is the book of wisdom. Look, I want to make you wise today. Okay, if you want to be wise, don't even look at wine when it is red. Look, when he giveth his colour in the cup. Okay, so if someone offers you a cup or a bottle of beer or a cup or a glass of wine, look, don't even look at it. Don't even be tempted by the product that's before you. And then it says this, when it moveth itself aright. So this is a substance that moves because when the sugars become alcohol, it's carbonation. You see that bubbly, you know, sensation in the drink because it's going through fermentation. It's become alcohol. God is telling us, don't even look at it. Okay, why? Verse number 32, at the last, it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. God says you might as well just go to snake and, you know, just go muck around with snakes and as they bite you and they, you know, inject you with their venom and causes you, you know, potentially even death. God is comparing the venom of snakes as alcoholic beverage. Okay, but God is saying don't even look at it. Now, in different conversations that I had with people, I think you can also take this a little bit too far. Okay, alcohol in of itself is not sinful. It's just a chemical product. Okay, I sometimes go to the petrol station and go get the E10 fuel. Okay, either E stands for ethanol, which is the same alcohol that people drink in their beers and stuff like that. I've got no problem to look at the ethanol, grab the pump. I'm not inserting it in my mouth. I'm not putting it into a cup to consume. Okay, I'm putting it into the car. Okay, and I suppose I've got to look at the product as I'm doing that. That's not the intention that's here. Okay, there is also alcohol in a lot of our household products. The reason your toothpaste doesn't just harden is because it's got minor amounts of alcohol in it. Or any kind of product, any kind of cream. Okay, like if you're someone that goes to the extreme, faster, we shouldn't even look at alcohol. You're looking at it like non-stop in your household because the chemical compound makes sure that the creams and things that we use don't get hardened. Okay, that's the purpose behind it. But the point is, what are we not to look at when that beverage is given in a cup to consume into our bodies? That's when you say, no, I'm not going to even look at this. I'm not even going to touch it. I might as well just go play with snakes, with poisonous snakes, if that's what I'm going to do. So God gives the instruction very clearly. Okay, and when you read the Bible, wine, positive. It's a blessing. It's non-alcoholic. Okay, and if it's a negative connotation, just like this, it's obviously alcoholic. Okay, now, even though we have what I think to be a very clear passage there, you know, and I think common sense will tell you when wine is alcoholic and when it is non-alcoholic, there are still stupid excuses that pastors will give and teach the church in light of drinking alcohol. So come with me now to Matthew 11. Come with me to Matthew 11. Look, these are things I've heard taught. There might be some other reasons people believe it. Okay, I don't know. I'm saying these are things that I've heard taught in a sermon. All right, so Matthew 11, verse 18. Matthew 11, 18, it says, for John, that's John the Baptist, came neither eating nor drinking. Remember John ate honey and locusts. He's a wild man. So he was in the wilderness. He wasn't around people's houses. So he wasn't eating and drinking. Like he wasn't feasting. He wasn't, you know, going to people's houses for invitations, for dinner and things like that. But because he wouldn't do that, they said about him, and they say, he hath a devil. Oh, what a wild man. He doesn't even come and spend time with us. He must be a devil. Okay, but it's verse number 19 I want to bring your attention to. Those that say you can drink alcohol will give this reason. The son of man, that's Jesus, came eating and drinking. So you see, he had no problem going to someone's house. If someone invited him for dinner or lunch, whatever, he had no problem. And they say, behold a man gluttonous and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners, but wisdom is justified over children. So the accusation that was made to Jesus in terms of alcohol is that he's a wine bibber. A wine bibber is someone that drinks excessive, you know, alcohol. Is a drunkard, essentially. It's another way of saying drunkard. Well, they'll say, well, you see, the only reason they can make the accusation that he's a drunkard is because he must have been drinking alcohol. And if Jesus must have been drinking alcohol, then why can't I drink alcohol? And that's the excuse that will make. All right, let's just break up verse number 19 again. The son of man came eating and drinking. That's correct. And they say, behold a man gluttonous. Do you believe Jesus was gluttonous or is that a false accusation? Common sense, right? Shouldn't have to teach this. All right. And a wine bibber. Now they're telling the truth. No, no, it's still a false accusation. Okay. All right. So if you want to turn around and say that it's legitimate that Jesus Christ was drinking alcohol, then he must have also been gluttonous. And if that's true, then about John the Baptist, it must also be true that he hath a devil. No, these are false accusations. They falsely accused John the Baptist for being a devil. They falsely accused Jesus of being gluttonous. They falsely accused him of drinking alcohol and being a drunkard. And that should be easy to understand. These are false accusations. These are, this is not true. I mean, I don't know how you walk away saying that must be true. The point behind this is it doesn't matter if a preacher is a loner in the wilderness, not wanting to hang around with people or another preacher is happy to hang around people. And it's a bit more outgoing maybe and going to people's houses. When it comes to God's Word, these Christ rejecting Jews hated the preacher and hated the preaching. And because they hated the preacher and the preaching, they made false accusations about the preachers. It doesn't matter what they did, whether they ate with them or whether they didn't eat with them. It doesn't matter. They hate the preaching. They hate the preacher. So these are false accusations. You're there in Matthew. Come with me to Matthew 26. Matthew 26 verse number 28. Imagine using an excuse to drink alcohol based on a false accusations against Christ. Like imagine like the depths you have to go to try to, you know, reinforce your beliefs and your, you know, your habits. And it's just crazy. But Matthew 26 verse number 28. This is Christ at the Last Supper at communion. He says in verse number 28. But this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shared for many for the remission of sins. So we know there was a cup of wine being offered there. What kind of cup of wine? But notice what he says in verse number 29. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine. Notice how Jesus Christ also uses that, the fruit of the vine to describe wine. He goes, I'm not going to drink of it. He goes, until that day when I drink it. Look at this new with you in my Father's kingdom. He says, look, we're going to drink wine together, but we're going to drink it new. So what kind of wine did Jesus Christ drink? Did he drink the mixed wine or the strong drinks, the alcohol? Or does he drink the new wine? He drinks the new wine, okay, which is freshly squeezed out of grapes. And I can't wait. I can't wait to be in the millennial kingdom of Christ. Or maybe this is the new heaven, the new earth. I'm not sure exactly. Okay, but I can't wait for Jesus to go, Hey, Kevin, let me fill up your cup. With this new wine that I said we're going to be feasting and drinking from, like that's going to be some awesome grape juice. That's going to be enjoyable grape juice. Okay, it's obviously not going to be an alcoholic beverage. All right, now come with me to John chapter two verse number one. John chapter two verse number one. Now, what was Christ's first miracle that he made? Turned water into wine. Okay. And then the argument is, well, see, Jesus turned water into wine. They were at a wedding. What else are you drinking at a wedding? I don't know. I didn't have any alcohol at my wedding. You know what? Jesus had come to my wedding going, man, this is just a low quality wedding, a low quality reception, because where's the booze? Where's the alcohol? But that's what I was saying. I was saying, Jesus turned water into wine. Therefore, it's fine for us to drink. Again, forgetting the context and the definition and everything to do with wine. Okay. But in John chapter two verse number one. And the third day, and the third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. And the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. Just to bring you up to speed, we're going to see this scene. They have had wine, but they finished it. It's not like they didn't have any at all, but they finished the wine that they had. We'll see that later. Verse number five, his mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said unto them, draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bear it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, they knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom. And saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine. So he said, at the beginning of our wedding reception celebrations, every man did bring forth their good wine. And then it says here, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse, but thou has kept the good wine until now. He goes, man, you kept the best for now. Like we had the good quality at the start, and then the quality got worse during the night, whatever we have along that celebration is. But now you're even bringing out the best of all the wine. Now look, that's Jesus's wine. Okay. He's offered this to those that are celebrating the marriage there in Cana. Now, do you think Jesus Christ forgot Proverbs 23? Okay. Where he says, look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth of itself aright. You think Jesus is like, oh, I forgot about that. He is the word of God. Like this season, Proverbs is the word of God. And Jesus Christ is the word of God. Like he cannot be separated from his word. Did he just suddenly forget? Oh yeah, let's make everybody drunk. Let's give them alcohol. Okay. But the reason people think this is alcohol is because they're used to weddings and receptions and parties today, which is full of booze. At my wedding, I had one guest go up to the drinking place where you can order drinks and he's like asking for alcohol. And they're like, oh no, Brian Grim didn't want any alcohol. It's like, what kind of wedding is this? There's no alcohol. It's like, yeah, just enjoy the grape juice. Well, we have the grapeitizer, you know, and things like that. Like enjoy the grape juice. Don't worry about the wine. Don't worry about the alcohol. But people have the perception that weddings must have alcohol. Therefore, Jesus Christ is giving, you know, making everybody drunk on that day, essentially. But I want you to notice what it says in verse number 10. So the governor of the feast. So the one that's organised in the celebrations, it says here, and say it unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine and when men have well drunk. I want you to notice that word, well drunk. Is everybody at the feast well drunk? Drunk doesn't mean intoxicated. It means they've been filled with drink. Okay. They've well drunk. You know what the average percentage of alcohol is in like alcoholic wine? Yeah, 12 and a half, sometimes 15%. Some of those European wines can be 18%. Look, I'll tell you this, if you've well drunk, say 12%, 13% alcohol, you're off your face. If you're well drunk, okay? Like you've consumed, you're full with drink. So much so that they finished all the wine at the feast. At this point, if this is alcohol, these people are off their face. And there comes along Jesus, let me make you more drunk. Is that what's happening? No, they're obviously drinking normal grape juice. They're not off their face. They can even tell the difference between good quality grape juice and lower quality grape juice. The better quality grape juice will be grape juice that's more refined. We'll talk about refining process in a moment as we keep going through this sermon. But to take this and say, well, this is a reason I can drink alcohol, again is another stupid reason, stupid excuse to drink alcohol. Come with me to First Timothy chapter three, First Timothy chapter three and verse number eight. First Timothy chapter three, verse number eight. We're looking at the qualifications of a deacon, okay? It'd be wonderful to have a deacon one day in our church. I think it'd be great. Maybe our church has to grow a little bit more before we start looking at that. But we have qualifications in the Bible if we decide to choose a deacon one day to help serve this church. It says here in First Timothy chapter three, verse number eight. Likewise, must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given too much wine, not greedy or filthy lucre. See, the deacons are not to be given too much wine. I do believe this is alcohol. I know some people believe it's just juice in general, okay? I believe it's alcohol. I'll tell you what in a moment, but it says, okay, so if it's not given too much wine, the deacons are allowed to have a little wine, right? Okay. Notice the first word in that verse, likewise. What does likewise mean? In the same way, in the same manner, likewise. Likewise to what? There was obviously something mentioned before the deacons and it's the qualifications of the bishop or the qualifications of the pastor. Look at verse number three. This is the qualification of the bishop. It says, not given too wine. It doesn't say not given too much wine, does it? Not given to wine at all, okay? Not a striker, not greedy or filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, et cetera, okay? So if we start this chapter, read about the qualifications for the bishop and the bishop is not to be given to wine, okay? Then we get to the qualification of the deacon later on and it says, likewise, in the same way as what? As the bishop. So the bishop's not to be given to wine. So likewise, the deacon is not to be given to wine. So when it says not given too much wine, it's the same as not given to wine at all. Now someone, a pastor friend who's no longer a pastor, thank God, no longer a pastor, flipped it on its head. He said, well, it says not given too much wine, therefore you can drink alcohol. And he flipped it the other way around. So the bishop can also have alcohol because it's likewise, it's the same thing. No, no, what came first? Not given to wine, then the likewise, not given too much wine. Not given too much wine is the same as not given to wine, okay? So it's people that just are looking for excuses. They will flip the words of the chapter the other way around. They will try to get their way, but it's clear here that if the deacons are going to be likewise to the bishops, they are not to be given to wine at all, okay? Come with me, then 1 Timothy, come with me to 1 Timothy chapter five. 1 Timothy chapter five in verse number 23. 1 Timothy chapter five, verse number 23. Now granted, I did believe this was a reference to alcohol. Okay, going back a few years ago. Not while I was a pastor, before I was a pastor, I used to think this might have been a reference to alcohol. The Bible says there in 1 Timothy 5.3. So, well, I'll read it to you. It says, drink no longer water. So actually, let me explain to you. So we're reading the book, the epistle to Timothy. So Paul is writing to Timothy, okay? So Paul is telling Timothy, Timothy is a pastor by the way, drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake, and thine often infirmities. So I thought maybe this is alcohol, maybe Timothy's obviously got often infirmities, he's got some problem with his stomach, some stomach issues, okay? He's been drinking water, but he's not getting better. Maybe the apostle has given him permission, drink some alcohol, maybe that's going to kill whatever it is that's in his gut. I don't know, I don't drink alcohol. I have no idea. It's just that over the years, I've heard things like, a little bit of wine, a glass of wine a day is good for your health. Have you guys heard that? So I just assumed, I never looked into it, I just assumed like, maybe, I guess so. If that's what they say, maybe a little bit, and maybe because he's a pastor, he's not allowed to, but he's given this exception because he's got this stomach ache that is this constant problem in his life. Anyway, so I went to do my own research about this and guess what I found out? There are no health benefits to alcohol. Like, I'm not, I didn't go to a Bible, I didn't go to a Christian and independent Baptist website. I'm talking about secular research and study, okay? Everybody acknowledges alcohol has zero health benefits. There is nothing that you're going to get, you're going to fix in your body with alcohol. In fact, alcohol causes pancreatitis, diarrhoea, damages your intestines, creates stomach ulcers and creates bloating and gas in your body. So if Timothy, poor Timothy with his stomach issues, I don't know what he's having, and let's say he misinterprets Paul, I guess I can have some alcohol. It's just going to make him worse. It's just going to damage his stomach even worse or his intestines or whatever it is that's causing problems. The reason they say, you know, a glass of wine is good for your health is not because of the alcohol, it's because of the grape juice. So if you remove the alcohol from the grape juice, you've got the health benefits, but you don't have the damages that alcohol causes, okay? So let me give you some health benefits to just freshly squeezed grape juice, okay? It can fight microorganisms within your guts. It's got antiseptic properties to fight harmful yeast, bacteria and viruses in your gut. That's just natural grape juice, okay? It helps the digestive system. The insoluble fibre reduces constipation, diarrhoea, stomach aches, cramps, bloating and gas. Now, based on that, and look, that's research from secular websites. You can do your own research. Don't believe this past time. Now, poor Timothy is having constant issues with his gut, okay? Water's not helping him. Here comes Paul, drink a little wine. Now that we understand, what do you think he's talking about? Obviously non-alcoholic, freshly squeezed grape juice. Hey, Timothy, did you try some grape juice? Drink a bit of that and see if that helps. Doesn't that make a lot more sense? But if you wanna make stupid excuses to drink alcohol, that's another passage that they bring up. But it's gonna damage your intestines, damage your stomach even more so than what he had previously. Come with me to Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians chapter five, verse 18. Ephesians chapter five, verse 18. Ephesians 5, 18 reads, and be not drunk with wine. So most people, even those that do want to socially drink, whatever that means, will say, yes, yes, being drunk is a sin. Drinking a little bit though is okay, but you know, getting drunk of course is a sin. Okay, be not drunk with wine. Then it says this, wherein is excess, but be filled with the spirits. So they say the instruction here is not to excessively drink alcoholic wine. So not in excess means you can drink a little bit. Just make sure it's not excessive. And those that drink a little bit of wine, like I said, it's like at least 12%, 13, 15, 18% alcohol, okay, in that wine. What people often say, I don't know, I don't drink this stuff, I hate it. I hate alcohol. I love grape juice. If you ever want to buy me a gift, buy me a bottle of grape juice, all right. Anyway, I lost my train of thought. Buy me grape juice. So I was gonna say, so someone help me out here. What's that, sorry? Verse 18. Yeah, where it is excess. Yeah, yeah, all right, so yeah. So if they say, you know, you can drink a glass of wine. What do they say the end result of that is? Often they'll say, well, I get a bit of a buzz. They'll say something like that, right? I get a little tipsy, but I'm not drunk. Is that what they say? It gives me a buzz, gives me a high. It makes me tipsy, but I'm not drunk. Okay, but if you look up the dictionary definition for the word tipsy, what is it? Slightly drunk. You are drunk. You're just not as drunk as someone else, but you're still drunk. In fact, even more than avoiding alcohol, what the Bible clearly teaches over and over again, Old Testament, New Testament is to be sober minded. God doesn't want any chemicals or drugs or alcohol to affect our sobriety. Being sober minded. I mean, that's so clear in the Bible over and over again. Do your own research on this. God wants us to be of a sound mind. So if you're getting a bit of a buzz, a little tipsy, you've really lost your sobriety. You haven't got the sound mind that God wanted. That's the excuse. Well, what's the answer to this? Okay, look, there's two answers to this. I'll give you two answers that I've heard. Both of these answers don't tell you to drink alcohol. Okay, some interpret this to mean, because you know how it says, and but be filled with the spirit. So it's comparing alcohol with the whole spirit of God. Some people say, well, don't drink wine. Sorry, I've been not drunk with wine, wherein is excess. They're saying that within the wine, it creates like excessive behaviour. Like for example, if you're someone that's usually downcast and you drink alcohol, your emotions usually starts to become excessive. So you'll be even more depressed. If you're someone that's generally happy-go-lucky and you drink alcohol, you're going to be like crazy. You know, like it makes your emotions excessive, if that makes sense. Okay, you will do things that you wouldn't normally do if you were sober minded, because you're doing excessive things. You're acting excessively outside of the norm. And so they'll say that is what wine does. It creates excessiveness. And then the comparison they've been, but be filled with the spirit. So when we are filled with the spirit, we also can do excessive things. Like we can accomplish great works for God that we would not otherwise be able to accomplish if not for the help and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So I haven't got a problem with that. If that's what you want to believe. Okay, I've got no problem with that. Let me show you another way that this can be understood. Keep your finger, actually keep your finger there. Come with me to first Peter chapter four. First Peter chapter four, first Peter chapter four, please. Verse number three, first Peter chapter four and verse number three, because this language is used as well here in first Peter chapter four, verse number three. First Peter chapter four, verse number three, it says, for the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we worked in lasciviousness, lust, all these things are negative things. When we used to do this, working lascivious, lust of this excess of wine, revelance, banquetance and abominable idolatries. So you can see that excess of wine is a negative thing. Okay, and that's again, the teaching there is, well, that's excess wine. Like if you drink a little bit, it's okay. All right, but look how the language continues in verse number four. Wherein they think it's strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. Okay, so if we take that thought, that excessive wine is wrong, but a little bit of wine is good. Okay, we can apply it to the next verse. Excessiveness in writing is bad, but a little bit of writing is okay. Is that what it's teaching? You know, if one day the government wants to bring back the restrictions that we had a few years ago, and we want to go out and protest in the streets, all right, and we start rioting in the streets, and people start to burn down buildings. You've seen this stuff happen in the United States. They burn down cars, all right, police cars. You go, man, that's excessive. They're burning down buildings. I'll just burn one car. I won't be excessive in my actions. Just one police car, that's all I'll do. That's okay, but excessive rioting, that's wrong. Oh, you say that's, you're being stupid. Yeah, these are stupid reasons to drink wine. These are stupid excuses people make to drink alcohol. Obviously, anybody would say, yes, excessiveness of right is wrong, but any kind of rioting is wrong. Well, using the same language, the previous verse, obviously, any kind of drinking alcoholic beverages is wrong. So like I said, there are two ways that you can at least explain that. The reason I like that passage in 1 Peter is because of the context and the consistency of the language. Okay, you can't have a little bit of wine is okay, but all rioting is wrong. No, if a little bit of alcohol is okay, then a little bit of rioting is okay as well. And obviously, that's where the logic falls apart. Come with me to Deuteronomy chapter 14. Deuteronomy chapter 14 and verse number 24. Deuteronomy chapter 14, please. Now, the next two passages that we're going to look at, for me, are the hardest ones. Like, I think these are the strongest, the strongest case they've got to drink alcohol. But again, the only reason it's the strongest case to drink alcohol is because you're approaching the Bible thinking alcohol is okay. Like again, when I put a lot of value of when I read the Bible as a kid, a lot of that, a lot of the things I believe today is because of what I believed as a kid. Because when you're a kid, you don't have biases. You're just trying to understand. You're not trying to line up with this IFB movement or line up with this church or line up with that doctrine. When you're a kid, you're just trying to read, trying to understand, trying to appreciate God's Word, right? And so many times you're left with an idea because someone's implanted an idea in your head. And then because that's happened, it's kind of like the mark of the beast. So many people have implanted the idea that, you know, Christians are going to be, are you going to take it or are you not? It's not in the Bible, but the idea has been planted. So every time you read it, you kind of see it, but it's not in the Bible. Does that make sense? Anyway, Deuteronomy 14, verse number 24. Deuteronomy 14, verse number 24. This is about the time when they would have different feasts and offerings under the old covenant. And sometimes when they would need to bring their offerings, it was too much to bring on their journey. So let's say you wanted to offer the sacrifice of your, it mentions oxen here, I think. Instead of bringing, you know, like a ox with you, you know, you can actually sell it, then make it to Jerusalem and you could buy at a market an ox and offer that with the money that you sold. You buy that, use that money to buy an ox and then that ox you offer as a sacrifice. Okay. So in Deuteronomy 14, 24, it says, if the way be too long for thee, that travels too far, so that thou art not able to carry it, or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God have blessed thee, then shalt thou turn it into money, see that, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shall go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and thou shall bestow that money, for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. Look for oxen or for sheep, obviously these are animals used for sacrifice. Look at this, or for wine. Oh, people lusting for wine. Now look, I don't believe that's alcohol there, but next one, or for strong drink. Now the Bible many times does use the term strong drink for alcohol. I accept that. I concede, okay. So they're saying, see, they're lust enough for these things, the wine, the strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth, and thou shall eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shall rejoice thou and thine household. So they'll read it. See, if you're lusting for alcohol and strong drink, you want a beer and you want some wine, all right, just sell your oxen, go to the place that God wants you to celebrate with your family, buy the alcohol and drink it up with your wife and kids. It kind of sounds like that, right? It says thou and thine household, we all just enjoy the alcohol, okay. Now, what's the answer to this? I'll give you two answers. And I think, again, both answers are more than sufficient, okay. Keep your finger there actually. And come with me to Numbers 28. Come with me to Numbers 28. Numbers 28. And verse number seven. Numbers 28 and verse number seven. Numbers 28 and verse number seven. So when it comes to offerings, it wasn't just animals. You know, sometimes you offer your crops, okay. And this is a reference of a drink offering, okay. So obviously, what you're offering is not what you're consuming, okay. And it says here in Numbers 28 verse number seven. Again, I've got no problem with that being alcohol. I've got no problem, okay. But look at this. They shall cause a strong wine to be poured unto the Lord for a drink offering. So what they would do if you were bringing, you know, the fruit of the vine as your, you know, your offerings or your first fruits or what have you, you take that juice, you'd offer it, and they take that strong wine and pour it out. It's been offered. I don't know if it was poured on the altar. I think it was poured onto the altar or something like that. Okay. So it's not even being consumed by the one offering and it's not being consumed by the Levites. Okay. Why is it strong? Well, again, if you're traveling, like if you just crushed freshly squeezed grape juice and you've done it with the skin and you're traveling a distance like we saw earlier and did it on me, on your journey, it could cause, you know, the liquid to become alcoholic, right. Cause the yeast will start eating up the sugar, start becoming alcoholic. You come, now you've got strong wine in your hand. It doesn't matter. It's getting poured out anyway. No one's consuming that anyway. Okay. But you've offered what has come from your labor, from your agriculture, et cetera. Okay. So that's one definition. Some people will argue and say, yeah, but you know, Ian did it on me, did say they're eating. And okay, you know, I know we think of eat as food, but the Bible does use the word eat also when it comes to drink. So it says here they are consuming it. All right. Let's see if there's anything else in the Bible that speaks about us being permitted or allowed to drink something that is strong, like a strong drink. Okay. Do you believe there is? I'll show you that there is. I'll show you that there is. You're there in Numbers. Come with me to Numbers chapter six, Numbers chapter six. And look, the only reason I know this is not cause I'm some wise, smart man. I'm not at all. Okay. It's just that when people challenge you, oh, but pastor Kevin, you can drink wine. Look what it says here. I'm like, okay, well, let me look into it first. And here's the thing, because I don't drink alcohol and I don't make alcohol and I don't really know the process. I don't always have the answer immediately. But once you do a bit of research, it's not that hard to understand. Let me show you in Numbers chapter six, verse number one. The Lord speak unto Moses saying, speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, when either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord. Let's stop for a moment. The most famous Nazarite in the Bible is Samson. And remember that Samson was not allowed to eat any grapes, was not allowed to drink any grape juice or wine or anything like that. Well, because it says in verse number three, he that separate himself from wine and strong drink. What is this separating from wine and strong drink? Look at this, and shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink. Neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes nor eat moist grapes or dried. So not even sultanas, okay? But notice that it said vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink. Now, probably a lot of you guys have vinegar in your household, either white vinegar for cleaning or even for salads or red vinegar, balsamic vinegar. Do you guys know how vinegar is made? I did not know until a few years ago. To make vinegar from fresh grapes, it's a double fermentation process. It's a double fermentation process. So you take the juice of the grapes with the skin, with the yeast and the yeast converts the sugar to alcohol. Okay, then you add other microorganisms and those microorganisms transfers the ethanol or the alcohol into acidic acid. That's vinegar. Did they eat vinegar or drink vinegar back then, back in those days? Yeah, do we drink vinegar? Sometimes you might put it in your salad or something like that. Yeah, does it make you drunk? No, because all the alcohol content has been changed to acidic acid. Now, maybe you didn't know that. I didn't know that, I don't blame you. But again, when we read a passage like that, well, this sounds like we can drink alcohol, hold on. I know of all these other passages that say otherwise. How about we understand what God means by strong drink. Grant, I accept it's alcohol. Yes, because it's alcohol used for double fermentation. They're not drinking the alcohol. They're waiting for the alcohol to be changed before they're consuming it, before they're drinking it. So yeah, you can drink strong drink if it was vinegar. Okay, because vinegar is a product from strong drink. Does that make sense? I hope it makes sense. You know, it reminds me a lot of, we don't do it anymore. I don't think we ever did it much anyway. But I love spaghetti bolognese. And I remember going to a restaurant like this, this like legitimate Italian restaurant. And like it's probably owned by mobsters or something like that, right? But like, you know, I was eating this spaghetti and I was on a date with Christina. I'm like, honey, this is like the best spaghetti I've ever eaten. And then she had a look at it. She goes, oh, you know the flavor that you're tasting? That's actually the red wine. Okay, now, did I finish my spaghetti? Was I drunk? No, but they use strong drink. Okay, they use strong drink to increase, improve the flavor, I guess, of the sauce. I was actually enjoying it. Okay, but I wasn't getting drunk. And if I had a choice, I'd go back and have that spaghetti again, because I enjoyed it that much. But because I'm a pastor, I don't want to be a stumbling block to the brethren. So I don't. Okay. This is also, some people have, some ladies might have a vanilla extract or in the kitchens, when they do bacon and muffins and they use vanilla to, I don't know, make vanilla ice cream or something like that. Well, you know that vanilla extract has a high content of alcohol in it to break down the vinegar to be used for, you know, a few drops here and there for your cooking. But are you gonna get drunk eating your vanilla ice cream or eating your vanilla muffins? No. Okay, obviously not. Okay, so this is the same idea. Alcohol can be used for something beneficial. But what God is clearly against is having an alcoholic beverage put before you that will intoxicate you. That is the poison of asps. That is essentially venom of snakes. That is what God is contrary. Okay, that's why alcohol for me is a wonderful chemical. It's found in so many places. So many of your creams can be helpful in so many ways. Okay, but to consume it where it can intoxicate you, that is what God is clearly against. Does that make sense? All right, so it's double fermentation that brings, if you've got vinegar at home, it was alcoholic. Don't panic. It won't make you drunk. All right, come with me to Isaiah 25. Come with me to Isaiah 25. Now, I do believe this reference that we're about to read is the millennial reign of Christ. Okay, in Isaiah 25 verse number five, it says this. Thou shall bring down the noise of strangers as the heat in a dry place, even the heat with the shadow of a cloud, the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things. Oh wow, we're going to have a feast. Again, I can't wait. You know, we're seeing that hymn, Come and Dine. Run that song, Come and Dine. There's coming a time when Christ is going to beat us. He's going to serve us. Like, that's amazing. Like, I can't even get the idea. I'll be like, can Jesus, will you sit down? I'll serve you. But Jesus is so excited in this kingdom that he wants to serve us. So do you want a feast of fat things? Come have a taste. Look at this. A feast of wines on the lees. Now, we already saw what Christ said at the Passover. Sorry, at the last supper. He says, I'm not going to drink till, okay, he drinks the new wine. Okay, so this lines up with that. That we're going to be drinking a feast of wines on the lees. So this must be new wine, shouldn't it? Like, if we're going to be consistent with the New Testament. The fat things are full of marrow of wines on the lees, well refined. What does wines on the lees mean? It says well refined. Remember how I told you that the quality of your juice depends on how refined your juice is. So the fact that this is well refined wine. The Bible is telling us this is good quality wine. Okay, but this is where the alcoholic will look at this. Hold on, Pastor Kevin, it says wines on the lees. Again, I don't drink alcohol. I don't know. I don't care for it. So I don't even know what lees is when I get challenged. Okay, but hold on. I know what the rest of the Bible says. Let me come back and look into that. Let me see if there's other ways to understand this that doesn't obviously contradict with the whole Bible. Well, what they say is when you think of lees. Now, so if this is wine on the lees, lees are essentially particles in your drink. That's what lees are. So to refine a drink, you're trying to get rid of the particles. Have you ever made orange juice just yourself? You've got some oranges and you know, you've done your juice. Not only do you get the juice, you might get seeds, you might get the pulp of the fruits. Maybe even some of the skin might fall into your orange juice as you're doing that. So once you've done your own manual orange juice, you want to refine it. You want to make it, try to make it just. I mean, I like pulp in my orange juice. I like orange juice by the way. I like pulp in my orange juice. But if you want to remove that, you'll have to refine it. And the more you refine it, the more you get rid of the particles, the better the quality of the drink is. So lees here, if you were to go and speak to, you know, someone that makes wine, alcoholic wine, they'll say to you, well, the lees is because when you mix the grape with the skin, which has the yeast, the yeast then is consuming the sugar, transforming it into alcohol. And then the cells of those dead yeast, once they've eaten everything up, they die. They have no more food source. Okay. They then die and the cells of the yeast fall to the bottom of the barrel or to the cup, whatever like that. Okay. So they'll say that's the lees. And then before we serve it, we want to refine the lees out of the drink. So it's still alcoholic, but we want to refine the lees out of the drink. Well, if that's, if that's how you define this, then Jesus Christ is offering us well refined alcoholic grape juice. But that's because their definition of lees is yeast cells that have died and gone to the bottom and needs to be refined. Okay. I did some research, did some research, I looked up how French people make wine because they're known for their wine, aren't they? Just and look, they don't just make alcoholic wine. They make fruit grape juice and, and all of that. Okay. I found out that when it comes to lees, which is just again solids or particles in your drinks, there are two ways that there are two, there are two types of lees if you want. The first one are your gross lees. And then you've got your fine lees. Okay. So what it is when you're crushing the grapes, okay. And like I said, bits of seed, bits of skin, bits of maybe even a bit of the leaves potentially in that cluster goes into the drink. That's known as the gross lees, lees, sorry, gross lees. Okay. So like I said, these are skin, seeds, leaves and fruit pulp. All right. So that's lees and that's gross lees, lees. It's like when you receive your pay by your employer, you've got your gross pay. Okay. But then, then the government refines it for you. They take, they take a potion out of it, right. They give you well refined income. But anyway, that's the same idea. So there's a gross lees which is not, has nothing to do with an alcoholic process. Nothing to do whatsoever. It's getting rid of those particles. Then because they're trying to make alcoholic beverage, they've got the yeast still in there and they're waiting for that drink to be carbonated or changed to from sugar to alcohol. Then that's what they call the fine lees. Then we get rid of the dead yeast cells and then they offer it to the pubs or whatever it is, right. To places where you can buy alcohol. All right. Well, if that's true, which I believe it is, okay, then when we read about Christ offering us a feast of wines on the lees, well refined, should we conclude knowing that Jesus Christ is going to drink new wine? Should we conclude that's the gross lees, which are the particles or should we conclude those are the fine lees, which are the dead yeast cells? Obviously the gross lees. Obviously when Christ is offering us drinks, he's making sure that we're receiving the best new wine that we've ever tasted. There's not going to be any particles. It's going to go down smooth. It's going to be high quality grape juice that it doesn't have to mean. Obviously it doesn't. Otherwise we've got a contradiction in scripture that Christ is offering us alcoholic beverage and he's removing the dead yeast cells out of it. No, he's removing the gross lees out of it, refining the drink for us. And it's still new wine. Does that make sense? Okay. All right. Come with me to Proverbs 31, please. Proverbs 31. We started with Proverbs. Let's go to Proverbs 31. I'm sorry if my explanations are long-winded, but anyway, Proverbs 31. Maybe there's a quicker way to explain these things. I don't know. I'm doing my best, but Proverbs 31 verse number four, Proverbs 31 verse number four. The Bible reads, it is not for kings, O Lemuel. It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink. Why? It says, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Why should we not drink? We forget the law. We have perverted judgments. This is why we don't drink and drive. This is why even an ungodly society says, look, don't drink. Like even, even a learner don't drink at all. If you're on your pee plates, don't drink at all, right? Because they know that when you drive, your judgment is perverted. You lose sobriety. Oh, I'm just a little bit tipsy. I'm just going to buzz. You'll kill yourself driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or you'll kill someone else. So the instruction is, kings, it's not for you. It's not for the princes. It's not for your sons, kings. Verse number six, this is what they'll say. The ones that are trying to make stupid excuses to drink alcohol. Let's say this. Well, it's not for kings, but it says, give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. See, if someone's got a heavy heart, they're upset. They're going through a hard time. The best thing you can do for those people, offer them some alcohol so they can have a good time. I don't know how they read that into it. I don't understand. Isn't it clear that the instruction is sarcasm? It's not for kings. Don't pervert your judgment. Okay, don't you forget the law. But for the low lives, people that just want to perish, they just want to die, that's for them. It's for the scum of the earth. It's for the low lives. Give it to them. It's not saying, hey, here's some commandments of God. Go make people drunk that have a sorrowful heart. No, it's like sarcasm or irony. It's not for God's people. It's not for people that are trying to live a life of sobriety. Those that want to waste their lives and destroy themselves, that's for them. They want to perish. Let them drink it. So be it. You know what he reminds me a lot of? He reminds me of Revelation 22 11. I'll just read it to you. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. Is that teaching, all right, I'm doing wickedly. I'll just continue being wicked because God told me to. It's saying, look, if they want to be unjust, just let them be unjust. Like we can't change the world. We can't make everybody just live in a righteous holy life. It says, he which is filthy, let him be filthy still. But he that is righteous, let him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him be holy still. So this is saying, look, for those that are saved, those that are righteous and holy, continue being righteous and holy. And for the rest of the world, just let them carry on what they're doing. You can't change the world. Yeah, you can't change drunkards. If people want to go to the pubs and they want to, you know, vomit all over themselves and they want to put their heads in toilets. If they want to get so confused and commit fornication and adultery and live such a wicked lifestyle that perishes, you know, if they want to be intoxicated, if they want to act like, you know, they want to play with snakes and the poison of snakes, just let them do what they want to do. But it's not for God's people. That's instruction. Why? It perverts our judgment. Can you come with me to one more passage? Leviticus chapter 10. Leviticus chapter 10 verse 8. Not only is alcohol not for kings. Not for kings. Who's Jesus? The king of kings and he's offering people alcohol. What? What they say, right? And just think about how their arguments are so inconsistent. Look, if you've got an addiction to alcohol, I'll pray for you. You know, if someone is a drunkard, they're not meant to be in the church. Okay, because a little leaven, leaven of the whole lump, it can affect everybody. Okay, but I understand if you're struggling, we've all got different sins. We've got different struggles. I'll pray for you. No, I'll be thinking, I love you. I want you to get that out of your life. Leviticus chapter 10 verse 8. And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Aaron was the first high priest. Do not drink wine nor strong drink. Thou nor thy sons with thee. When you go into the tabernacle of the congregation, look at this, lest ye die, it shall be a statue forever throughout your generations. God says, you know what, if you want to serve me in the tabernacle, and you drink, and you get drunk, you drink alcohol, God says, I'm going to kill you. All right. I mean, think of me as a pastor, coming to God's house to teach people God's word. I'm drinking alcohol, I'm drunk. Man, I'd be expecting that God would just, you want to teach my people and you're under the influence of alcohol. God just might very well just end my life right there. It's for those that want to perish. It's for the scum of the earth. Why? Why does he say this? Look at verse 11. The year may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean. You see, the priests will also teach in God's word. If they're under the influence of alcohol, that's what's going to happen. They're going to call what's holy, unholy. They're going to call what's clean, unclean, and vice versa. Their judgment's going to be perverted. They're going to be teaching wrong things. Look at verse 11. That ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes, which the Lord has spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. So we've got some clear passages. Under the old covenant, not for kings, not for priests, under the old covenant. Why? Because they've got to pass judgment. They've got to teach. They've got to separate the difference between holy and unholy. You said pass us the Old Testament. We're in the New Testament. Correct. The Bible says in Revelation 5 10, And has made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. What are you in the New Testament? You're a king. You're a priest. You think under the old covenant, they were not allowed, but under the new covenant, now kings and priests can drink it up and pervert judgment. Of course not. Everything in the old covenant, everything in the Old Testament was symbolic or a type of some greater truth. The perfect priest and king, of course, is Jesus Christ. But he has made us kings and priests and alcohol is not for you, God's people. God's people. Don't turn around and say, well, I'm not a king. I'm not a priest. Yes, you are. You are. Christ has made you a king and priest and you are going to reign on the earth. You're going to pass judgment on the earth. So brethren, look, I find the Bible to be clear about alcohol. Don't drink it. It doesn't even taste good. That's not, I don't know. People say, oh, you've got to acquire a taste. Why? I have to keep drinking until I acquire a taste. Oh, now I like it because I'm so off my face and drunk. And I can't even tell the difference between what tastes good and what doesn't taste good anymore. That's such a stupid way to live a life. Look, I've drunk alcohol. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I'm some perfect person. You know, when I turned 18, I was like, all right, I can drink alcohol with my mates now. I take a beer and go, this tastes like crap. This is garbage. But, you know, to act cool. You know, like I remember I was at my friend's birthday party and I grabbed some bottles because I hated it that much. I grabbed some bottles to look cool. All right, bro. Thanks. Thanks for the party. I'm taking these drinks with me. And then I just threw in the bin because I didn't want my friends to get intoxicated. I mean, it's filthy. It's disgusting. If you've grown up in a household where they drink alcohol, you've probably seen abuse. You've probably seen, you know, husbands beating up their wives and things like that. That's the kind of damage that alcohol can do. Please, especially young people, stay away from alcohol. You are a king. You are a priest. You're a special person in the eyes of Christ. And all that's going to do is damage your life, pervert your thoughts. Okay. And bring judgment upon you from God. Okay, let's pray.