What The Bible Says About Drinking

(Text: I Corinthians 6:19-20)
By: Barry L. Cameron


There's not a verse in the Bible that says, "Thou Shalt Not Drink." - If there were, we'd just read it and go home.

- But, there's also not a verse that says: "Thou Shalt Not Have An Abortion..." or "Thou Shalt Not Go To Strip Clubs..." or "Thou Shalt Not View Pornography On The Internet..."

- However, there ARE specific principles in the Word of God that cover all of those things and anything else you can think of.

- In this message, our focus is "WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT DRINKING."

ILL. Sign In A Country Store... "Since you cannot refrain from drinking, why not start a saloon in your own home? Be the only customer and you will not have to buy a license. Give your wife $50.00 to buy a case of whiskey. There are 240 drinks in a case. Buy all your drinks from your wife at .60 cents a drink and in 12 days, (when the case is gone), your wife will have $89.00 to put in the bank and $55.00 to buy another case. If you live ten more years and continue to buy all your whiskey from your wife, and then die in your boots, your widow will have $42,239.99 on deposit...enough to bring up your children, pay off the mortgage on the house, marry a decent man and forget she ever knew a drinking bum like you."

Ephesians 5:17-18, "Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit."

Proverbs 20:1, "Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise."

Proverbs 23:20-21, "Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags."

Proverbs 23:29-35, "Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife..."

Isaiah 5:11, "Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine."

Isaiah 5:20-22, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks."

Ecclesiastes 2:3, 11, "I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly--my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun."

Proverbs 31:4-7, "It is not for kings, O Lemuel--not for kings to drink wine, nor for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of the rights. Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more."

ARGUMENTS FOR DRINKING:

(1) Jesus turned water into wine. (John 2:1-11) - Yes, He did. But it wasn't Bud Light, Michelob, or Heineken.

(2) Paul encouraged Timothy to drink wine (I Timothy 5:23) - Yes, He did. But it was for stomach problems not for social partying.

(3) People drank wine in the Bible. - Yes, they did. But what kind of wine were they drinking?

(4) I don't see anything wrong with it. - What if someone says, "I don't see anything wrong with stealing your car" or "having an affair with your mate" or "beating you upside the head with a two by four"?

(5) I know a lot of good Christian people who drink socially. - "I know a lot of good Christian people who...cheat on their taxes, curse, smoke, commit adultery, abuse their children..." - Since when did the actions of others become the standard for our own righteousness? - II Corinthians 10:12 - We don't base our decisions on who does it. Rather, we're to base our decisions on what God says about it.

THE RESULTS OF DRINKING:

When you drink...

1. It can lead to drunkenness, which is clearly condemned in the Bible. (Isaiah 5:22-25; Ephesians 5:18) - John MacArthur: "Both the Old and New Testaments unequivocally condemn drunkenness. Every picture of drunkenness in the Bible is a picture of sin and disaster."

2. You support an industry that is destroying the moral fabric of America. - "Every...drink you buy is a vote to support an industry whose product leads to rape, murder, traffic deaths, poverty, divorce, incest and violence. This industry costs the American people $19 billion annually. In the U.S. alone, the total cost: medical, psychiatric and social to the user of this product is estimated at $43 billion annually." (Source: "Before You Drink"/1989)

3. You can become a statistic. - Drinking causes 150,000 deaths each year. - Over 40 million Americans are alcoholics or problem drinkers. - 10 million of them under the age of 18. - 35% of all drunk drivers are 16-24 years old. - Drinking causes 80% of all home violence and 60% of all child abuse. - 38% of those who take their own lives are alcoholics--a suicide rate 58 times higher than any other group. - The National Council on Alcoholism reveals that alcoholism is a contributor to more than 40,000 birth defects each year.

Quote: David Wilkerson, ("Sipping Saints") "Just two ounces of alcohol per day puts the fetus in a 10-percent-risk category, and all pregnant mothers are being asked to abstain from drinking even a drop of alcoholic beverage during the nine months of pregnancy. The risk of producing an abnormal baby may be as high as 74% for pregnant women who drink more than an equivalent of ten ounces of liquor per day."

4. You can become an alcoholic. (Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-35) - Alcoholism is a sin.

œ I am constantly amazed at the ability of our society to rationalize sin.

- When someone murders little babies they say they are not murderers they are simply pro-choice. - When someone gets involved in homosexuality or lesbianism, instead of calling it sin or admitting that it is an abomination in the eyes of God, they say, "Oh, no, I was born this way." - When someone becomes an alcoholic, we say they have a disease. They're just sick and need medicine and therapy.

- In the U.S., beer and wine companies spend over 1 billion a year to promote that disease.

- Can you imagine the outcry if someone were advertising to promote Parkinsons or cancer?

Quote: Bob Moorehead ("Before You Take A Drink") "There had to be the first drink, and it certainly wasn't consumed with the intent and idea of deliberately becoming an addict. No alcoholic PLANNED and deliberately ACHIEVED his condition of drunkenness. Every alcoholic I know was once able to 'hold' their liquor, and some for extended periods of time. Science and technology, nor psychology can predict who will become addicted when their first drink is swallowed or during the period of 'innocent' social drinking. So, every social drinker is playing a game of 'Drinking Roulette.' The losers suffer. Every social drinker gambles with the odds every time he puts a drink to his lips."

- An alcoholic's life is shortened by 10-12 years at the very least.

5. You are destroying your own body.

- "4 out of every 10 hospital admissions are alcohol related. Alcohol related deaths outnumber drug-related deaths 33 to 1. 'Alcoholism is the nation's number 1 health problem,' states Dr. Carl Menninger. Ethyl alcohol damages every gland and organ in the body. Its users have 8 times as much cancer as do non-users. It adversely affects over 10 million Americans yearly. It destroys brain cells when present in ANY quantity in the body. If our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, does this make social drinking a sin?" (Source: "Before You Drink" by Bob Moorehead)

Quote: "The fact is, alcohol does not pass through the body into the drain. When a person drinks an alcoholic beverage, it flows into the stomach, but it doesn't stay there very long. Some of it is absorbed through the walls of the stomach, into the bloodstream. Once that happens, the drinker begins to feel the effects. Alcohol that has not been absorbed passes into the small intestine. Most of the alcohol is absorbed from the small intestine and is circulated throughout the body in the bloodstream. This is how alcohol reaches the brain and affects motor reflexes of the body.

The body disposes of alcohol in two ways: elimination and oxidation. Only about 10% of the alcohol in the body 'goes out the drain' through elimination by the kidneys. As the alcohol in the bloodstream passes through the lungs, some of it evaporates into the air. The result is usually referred to as 'alcohol breath.'" (David Wilkerson: "Sipping Saints")

"About 90% of the alcohol in the body leaves by oxidation. Oxidation is the union of a substance with oxygen to produce energy and heat. When alcohol is oxidized by the body, it forms carbon dioxide and water. The liver plays an important role in this oxidizing process. Alcohol is carried to the liver through the bloodstream. There it is changed to a chemical called acetaldehyde. Combined with oxygen, it forms another chemical called acetic acid.

The liver can only oxidize a certain amount of alcohol each minute, and the process continues until all the alcohol is out of the body. Alcohol does not leave the body very quickly, and only 10% passes out through the urine. Even if a person's blood alcohol is as low as .03 percent (i.e. after one glass of wine), some of the alcohol will remain in the body for hours. If the blood alcohol reaches .50 percent, the drinker is in a deep coma and in danger of dying. As the alcohol level reaches 1 percent in the blood, the brain is paralyzed and death occurs." (David Wilkerson: "Sipping Saints")

6. Others May Follow Your Example. - Do you really want to influence your family and your friends to take up this kind of lifestyle? - A large percentage of all alcohol-related counseling is for people whose parents were either alcoholics or serious problem drinkers.

Abstainers In The Bible: (There actually were some folks in the Bible who were tee-totalers.) 1. Samuel (I Samuel 1:11) 2. Samson (Judges 13:3-5) 3. John the Baptist (Luke 1:15) 4. The Recabites (Jeremiah 35:1-19)

- There were many others who took the Nazirite vow. (A vow to be "separated or consecrated") - II Corinthians 6:14-18 (We are to be "separate" from the world) - II Corinthians 7:1 (We're to purify ourselves from everything that contaminates...") - I Peter 2:9-12 (Holiness)

EIGHT GUIDELINES FOR CHRISTIANS (Dr. John MacArthur)

1. Is Today's Wine The Same As That In Bible Times?

"Many sincere, Bible-honoring Christians justify their drinking wine on the basis of its being an acceptable practice both in the Old and New Testaments. But if the kind of wine used then was different from that used today, then application of the biblical teaching concerning wine will also be different."

David Wilkerson: "As far as I am concerned, Scripture and historical facts prove there were two kinds of wine. One was intoxicating, the other was not...God by His direct act, does not make alcohol. The laws of nature, if left to themselves, do not produce it. By these laws, the grapes ripen; if not eaten, they rot and are decomposed. The manufacture of alcohol is wholly man's device."

- In other words, man has to mess with the fruit of the vine in order to produce a drink that becomes alcoholic.

THREE KINDS OF WINE:

1. Sikera (Luke 1:15) and Shekar (Proverbs 20:1; Isaiah 5:11) "Alcoholic Wine" - This refers to strong drink. Led to rapid intoxication of those who drank it.

2. Gleukos (Acts 2:13) "New Wine" (Non-alcoholic) - Freshly squeezed juice...could ferment rapidly and was generally mixed with water before drinking. (John 2. Six jars full of water)

3. Oinos (Matthew 9:17) and Yayin (Proverbs 23:30) - The most common N.T. Greek word for wine and in its most general sense simply refers to the juice of the grapes. - They would boil the fresh grape juice into a thick paste or syrup, which they could store for long periods of time in wineskins (Matthew 9:17)

MacArthur: "Because boiling removes most of the water and kills all the bacteria, the concentrated state of the juice does not ferment. Even when the reconstituted mixture was allowed to ferment, its alcohol content was quite low." "Since the strongest wine normally drunk was mixed at least with three parts water to one part wine, its alcohol content would have been...well below the 3.2 percent that today is generally considered necessary to classify a beverage as alcoholic."

"It is clear, therefore, that whether the yayin or oinos mentioned in Scripture refers to the thick syrup itself, to a mixture of water and syrup, or to a mixture of water and pure wine, the wine was either nonalcoholic or only slightly alcoholic. To get drunk with mixed wine (oinos) would have required consuming a large quantity--as is suggested in other New Testament passage. 'Addicted to wine' (I Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7) translates one Greek word (paroinos) and literally means 'at, or beside wine,' and carries the idea of sitting beside the wine cup for an extended period of time."

"The answer to the first question is clearly no. The wine of Bible times was not the same as the unmixed wine of our own day. Even the more civilized pagans of Bible times would have considered the drinking of modern wines to be barbaric and irresponsible."

2. Is It Necessary?

MacArthur: "In Bible times, good drinking water either did not exist or was scarce. The safest drink was wine, and wine that had alcoholic content was especially safe because of the antiseptic effect of the alcohol. It actually purified the water." "Modern believers therefore cannot appeal to the biblical practice to justify their own drinking, because so many alternatives are now readily and cheaply available."

3. Is It The Best Choice?

- Not for leaders (Proverbs 31:4-5) - There's a stricter judgment for teachers (James 3:1)

MacArthur: "In both the Old and New Testaments drinking wine or strong drink disqualified a person from the leadership of God's people."

- The fact that Paul had to tell Timothy to "stop drinking only water and use a little wine" for his stomach ailments testifies to the fact that Timothy was an abstainer. (I Timothy 5:23) - Romans 12:1-2. Present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

- Our bodies are to be in total consecration to God.

4. Is It Habit Forming?

- I Corinthians 6:12. "I will not be mastered by anything." - A Christian not only must avoid sin, but avoid the potential for sin.

- Alcohol is universally acknowledged to be highly addictive.

5. Is It Potentially Destructive?

- We've already covered a number of the problems that can and do result from drinking alcohol. - We have to ask ourselves, is it really wise for us to have any part of something that has such great potential for destruction and sin?

6. Will It Offend Other Christians?

- Romans 14:15-21

7. Will It Harm My Christian Testimony?

- I Corinthians 10:31-33 - You normally won't know how bad you blew your testimony until you get to Heaven.

8. Is It Right?

- Is it right for a Christian to drink at all?

MacArthur: "We have seen that the answer to the first question is clearly no--the wine drunk in Bible times is not the same as contemporary wine. The answers to the second and third questions are also no for the majority of believers today--it is generally unnecessary to drink wine and is seldom the best choice. The answer to the next four questions is yes in at least some degree. Drinking is clearly habit forming and potentially destructive, and it is likely to offend other Christians and could harm our testimony before unbelievers."

"As we ask ourselves questions about drinking, the final one is the most important: Can I do it before others and before God in total faith and confidence that it is right?"

- After examining the evidence we've covered, and there's a whole lot more we could've covered...I'd have to say, "No."

Part 2

(Text: John 2:1-11)
By: Barry L. Cameron


• Some people use John 2:1-11 as a justification for drinking alcohol, since Jesus turned water into wine.

- First of all, we need to understand that wine was the safest, most common beverage of the day. - With no refrigeration or purification systems, water wasn’t always safe to drink.

• I’ve traveled overseas enough to know you never order iced tea, because it’s made from the local water. Even the ice can be sour and sickening. It’s better to have a safe can of coke. (Yes, it’s almost universally available.)

ILL. My first-ever mission trip. Having iced tea in the tropical rainforest of Panama. The natives used the river for bathing and also for their bathroom. - They boiled their water over a fire to cook and drink. - But when they gave us sweet tea and told us it was from the river, it just didn’t work.

William Barclay, “For a Jewish feast, wine was essential. ‘Without wine,’ said the Rabbis, ‘there is no joy.’ It was not that people were drunken, but in the East wine was essential. At any time the failure of provisions would have been a problem, for hospitality in the East is a sacred duty; but for the provisions to fail at a wedding would be a terrible humiliation for the bride and bridegroom.”

James Montgomery Boice, “To run out of wine would almost have been the equivalent of admitting that neither the guests nor the bride and groom were happy.”

• The word for WINE is a generic, Greek word: OINOS (the juice of the grapes).

- It predominantly has to do with wine mixed with water.

- GLEUKOS/TIROSH – “new wine.” Without refrigeration would ferment very quickly.

- SIKERA/SHAKAR – “strong drink,” “unmixed wine” and is always prohibited in the Bible.

Was the WINE in Bible times the same as ours today?

• The OINOS wine would not be the same as ours today. It would be more like grape juice.

• GLEUKOS and SIKERA would be very similar to the alcoholic beverages of our day.

Acts 2:13. The crowd said the Apostles were full of “new wine”. (“They’re drunk!” - GLEUKOS)

• Most scholars agree, the generic OINOS wine of Bible times was thoroughly and completely mixed with water.

- The lowest acceptable mixture was 3:1. Most were 5:1 or 10:1. - Anyone who drank unmixed wine in Bible times was considered a barbarian.

• Drunkenness is strictly forbidden in Scripture. (Ephesians 5:18; Romans 13:13-14; Proverbs 20:1; 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

• Virtually every old wino uses this passage to justify their drunkenness.

- But it’s pretty clear the wine here was quite different than the wine of our day.

TWO IMPORTANT POINTS:

(1) There isn’t a verse in the Bible that says you can’t drink wine. (Nor is there a verse that says you can’t play the Lottery, go gambling, or visit porn sites.)

- There are some verses that appear to commend drinking wine.

• But remember, when you read these verses, the wine of Bible times is quite different from our day and was always diluted with water to the point of almost no alcoholic content whatsoever.

• In Exodus 29 and Leviticus 23, the priests were told to bring drink offerings of wine to the tabernacle for God.

• Judges 9:13 and Psalm 104:15 mention a special wine that cheers and makes one happy.

• In Isaiah 55:1-2, wine is equated with salvation. “Come buy wine and milk,” is really an invitation to salvation.

• Matthew 26. Jesus drank from a cup of wine as He instituted what we know as the Lord’s Supper.

• I Timothy 5:23, Paul had to tell Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach’s sake.

• Luke 10:34. The Good Samaritan poured wine in the wounds of the man beaten and left for dead on the side of the road.

• Proverbs 31:6-7 says when someone is dying, give them wine as a sedative to ease the pain.

(2) No one has ever told me, “Pastor, since I became a Christian, I’ve discovered alcohol.”

- What I have seen is people who become Christians who want to hang on to the old life. - Even though II Corinthians 5:17 says, “The old has gone, all things have become new.”

• They want Jesus and salvation, but still want to hang out with the gang and have a few beers.

• Social drinking is not a result of the new life you have in Christ, but rather a desire on someone’s part to baptize their old habits and old desires so they don’t really have to change anything.

- Even though Galatians 5:24 says, “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”

• Why would a Christian, especially a Christian leader, attempt to justify what the Bible says to crucify?

- Even though Colossians 3:5 says, “Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature.” - Even though II Corinthians 7:1 says, “Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”

WHAT ABOUT LEADERS AND DRINKING?

• The Bible is clear that leaders are called to a higher standard.

- Leviticus 10:8-11. Abstinence from drinking wine or any strong drink was the higher standard for the O.T. Priesthood. (I Peter 2:9 says we are “a royal priesthood.”) - Proverbs 31:4-6. Abstinence from drinking wine was the higher standard for Kings and Princes. - Numbers 6:1-3. Total abstinence from wine and any other fermented drink was the higher standard for anyone who took the NAZIRITE vow.

• The highest vow of separation you could make unto the Lord.

• It was so specific, you weren’t even to drink grape juice, eat grapes or raisins.

WHO TOOK THE NAZIRITE VOW?

• Samuel, Samson, and John the Baptist. It was common among God’s people.

- Amos 2:11, says that God raised up many young men as NAZIRITES. - Amos 2:12, God rebukes the people for corrupting those same young men and making them drink wine.

Luke 1:15. The angel of God told John the Baptist’s parents he was going to be “great in the sight of the Lord” and he is “never to take wine or other fermented drink.”

- I Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7. Total abstinence is the higher standard for church leaders.

• The phrase used, “not given to drunkenness” is really one word in the Greek.

• It’s the word, PAROINON and means “being beside wine.”

• One desiring to be a leader shouldn’t even be “beside wine.” (Not tempted, not even near it.)

• If O.T. priests, judges, princes and Kings were to totally abstain, what should be our standard for leaders in the church today? Elders, deacons, pastors, teachers, etc.

“People who are always defending their freedoms are most likely already taking liberties they ought not be taking.”

Jude 4. Jude warns about those “godless men who change the grace of God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”

• Some people can always find a verse that seems to defend their particular vice.

- Is that really what we ought to be doing, rationalizing our desire to keep living like we’ve always lived? - Or should we be striving to live a holy life, set apart from this world and our old way of life?

Here’s a pretty good test for you . . .

• “If it doesn’t fly in Jr. High, it doesn’t fly.” - Can we teach it to our Jr. Highers and tell them this is the way to live a holy life?

“If we can’t preach what you practice, you need to change your practice.”

Here’s the heart of a genuine leader: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God – even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.” (I Corinthians 10:31-33)

Now, back to our text in John 2:1-11 . . .

• In a million years I could never be convinced this was fermented, alcoholic wine, for two specific reasons:

#1 – It’s contrary to the passion of Jesus.

- I can’t conceive that the Lord Jesus Christ, Who loves people enough to die for them on the cross, would bring into existence something that causes so much destruction, devastation and death.

- Broken homes, divorces, abused children, battered wives, lost jobs, shattered families who’ve lost loved ones in traffic fatalities caused by drunken drivers.

- Jesus would never create something that would hurt anyone.

• Friend, don’t try to recruit Jesus Christ to sell a product that is wrecking the homes and the hopes of so many people here in America.

#2 – It’s contrary to the pattern of Jesus. - Everything Jesus touched He made better. Fermented wine is rotten grape juice.

• Rotten grapes. That’s why they used to call it old “rot-gut.”

• Have you ever smelled alcoholic beverages. Wine is putrefied grapes. - Jesus bypassed the grapes altogether.

Matthew 26:29. On His last night with His disciples, Jesus took the cup and used the phrase, “fruit of the vine.”

“I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

• Don’t take rotten, putrefied grapes and try to make it a symbol of the precious blood of Jesus. - The wine Jesus makes is so far superior to that and so much better for you.

The QUANTITY of the wine:

• With 6 water jars that would hold 20-30 gallons, it would’ve served almost 2500 servings. - Why did Jesus create so much wine? Everything He does He does in abundance. - Everything Jesus does, He does on a big scale.

• When Jesus makes space, He makes it infinite. - When Jesus makes stars, He makes billions and billions. - When Jesus makes water, He makes oceans and lakes and rivers and streams.

• The same thing is true in GRACE. When Jesus saves, He saves from the guttermost to the uttermost. - And when He saves us, He doesn’t just give partial redemption, He gives abundant redemption. - He does it big.

The QUALITY of the wine:

Verse 10. The master of the banquet was overwhelmed. - Most people gave the best first and then brought out the cheaper stuff.

• Not because people would be drunk, but because they would no longer be thirsty.

Verse 10. “You’ve saved the best for last.”

• This is the difference between what the devil does and what Jesus does. - The devil always gives his best first. - Proverbs 9:17, “Stolen water is sweet and food eaten in secret is delicious.”

• The children of Israel went down to Egypt and it started off with the pastures of Goshen. - They ended up with the fetters of Egyptian bondage.

• The Prodigal son went to a far country and started off with a feast with the harlots. - He wound up with a famine with the hogs.

• The devil will give you that first taste of that secret sin. It’s so sweet. - But the next cup is bitter: the cup of guilt. - The next cup gets even more bitter: the cup of addiction. - The next cup gets even more bitter: the cup of regrets.

• Finally, in a devil’s Hell, the devil will say, “I’ve saved the worst for last.”

With Jesus it’s a totally different story.

• The first cup is conviction and that’s not too pleasant: to admit you’re a sinner.

• The second cup is repentance: that’s pretty tough too, admitting you messed up and need God’s help.

• The third cup is forgiveness: and that’s pretty sweet.

• The next cup is living for Jesus: it just gets better and better.

Then one day, we stand before Jesus and step out of time into eternity on to the streets of gold, and we’ll say, “Jesus, you’ve saved the best for last!”

ILL. An old infidel was lecturing one day on the miracles of Jesus and attempting to explain all of them away.

- He particularly attacked this miracle of turning water into wine. “Who ever heard of such a thing?”

- An old converted alcoholic stood and said, “I don’t know a whole lot about the Bible and I can’t speak to the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine, but I can tell you what He did in my life. He turned an old wino into a faithful husband and father, who no longer neglects his family and now has a wife and kids who love him. Sir, I don’t know what you’d call that, but I call it a miracle.”

• Jesus wants to do a miracle in your life today too.