Biblical Reasons Not To Consume Alcohol
By Dan Kitteringham

(1) "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18) dissipation means to lead a dissolute life (squander, waste) which means to be loose in morals (licentious). When one drinks alcohol (wine, strong drink, etc), that person's morals become loose. That person becomes "worldly" and forgets the basic morals that God has given them from birth. That person's principals change. One must hold onto the Holy Spirit to keep God's word.

(2) "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted." (Proverbs 31:4-5) Lemuel was the king of Massa, a north Arabian tribe. He wrote the last chapter of the book of Proverbs.

Wine and strong drink change and distort one's judgment in matters of life. A person of authority should be sober to give the exact judgment of any of the afflicted, burdened, oppressed, etc, that is needed.

(3) "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." (Proverbs 20:1) mocker means to mimic (to copy, imitate), to fake, sneer (harass), to ridicule. raging means furious, extreme, boisterous (disruptive, loud, ride, unruly), violent. Here, wine fools one's heart to forget the troubles of life. It imitates peace and happiness in one's heart, but behind it all is the same old feelings and troubles. Wine brings in false peace, and false happiness.

Strong drink causes the troubles of one's heart to multiply into anger, wildness, and violence. The goodness of one's heart is oppressed (persecuted). The evilness and sin of one's heart is adhered to and welcomed.

(4) "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands." (Isaiah 5:11-12)

Here, a person who follows strong drink and wine all day, every day, forgets the laws of God. That person celebrates his own efforts and do not "regard the work of the Lord". That person does not see God's hand in the world. Alcohol is on that person's mind. But God should be in that person's heart. That person does not want to give up a "good time".

(5) "Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses." (Leviticus 10:9-11)

A person must stay sober in order to teach and spread the word of God. Here the Lord is commanding Aaron, the brother of Moses, and first high priest of Israel, not to drink any wine nor strong drink. Aaron, as a man of God and religious leader, must be sober and pure in heart and mind in order to do the works that God has for him. These commandments were also given to each priest after Aaron.

Verse 10 says that one must be sober in order to tell the difference between good and evil. This is needed in order to study the word of God and do His work. Every day life also requires sober attention to make good choices.

Verse 11 talks about teaching the children of Israel the ways of God. Christians, when they go out and preach the word of God, and teach about God's ways, must also be sober. Being sober gives a person better ability to observe life and its matters. One can not be drunk and preach the word of God. That is hypocrisy (pretending virtue and moral excellence).

Reference to this can be found in 1Timothy 3:1-6. Here, Paul is describing how a person should be and must be if that person wants to follow God's work. Verse 3 says that one must be "not given to wine," as part of being a follower of Jesus Christ. This is also described in Titus 1:7 and Isaiah 28:7.

(6) Vows of abstention (for example: from alcohol- wine and strong drink) are a way of proving one's self to God. In a vow of abstention a person relies on their faith in God through the Holy Spirit to sustain that person.

References: Numbers 6:3, Judges 13:4,7,14, Jeremiah 35:6, Luke 1:15. Vows of abstention binds oneself (one's soul) with a bond (promise) made to God.

(7) Wine and strong drink is considered a cause of trouble and a social evil.

References: Genesis 9:20-27; 19:31-38, 1Samuel 1:15-16, Hosea 4:18, Luke 21:34. Alcohol is used widely as an ingredient in sinful acts. A drunk man who rapes a woman is blinded by the affects of alcohol. The alcohol hides the morals and goodness that is in that man's heart. Lust and covetousness comes out and is welcomed by the man. The woman would most likely be safe if the man was sober. A drunk driver kills another person in an accident. That accident could have been avoided more if the driver was sober. A drunk woman is looked upon as an easy target by men at a bar, party, etc. The woman is no longer respected but is lusted after. She is looked upon as just another flimsy, or sex machine, or one who has no self worth. Her attractiveness is lost in her drunkenness. Pregnancy soon follows in a lot of cases. A drunk man is not always to be trusted. His judgment is off. He could strike out at any time given the right circumstances. He is no longer attracted to the woman of his dreams, but to the first woman who lays eyes upon him. If sober he would see her as just another person. But, being drunk, he sees her as a quick fix for his sexual desires. If committed to his girlfriend, wife, or fiancée when sober, lust of another crosses his heart more easily when drunk.

Wine and strong drink is considered any type of alcohol used for consumption. Beer, wine, whiskey, spirits, vodka, liqueurs alcohol is alcohol, and based on what the bible says, is a source of evil and is only for the weak willed. A person of God must stay away from alcohol in order to keep a clean conscience, and keep his heart pure for God's work. A leader, a judge, or any person of authority must stay away from alcohol in order to make sound and true judgments and decisions. The worldly person does not see their own bad judgments and wrong choices because of the blindness that alcohol puts in their heart. A Christian must stay away from alcohol to keep practicing the word of God, to follow God's heart in every possibly way, and so that people cannot find fault in that Christian.

That does not say that every Christian who has abstained from alcohol does not have faults. It is to say that abstaining from alcohol, especially for God, helps to minimize any faults that may enter into a Christian's life. Abstaining from alcohol, whether in a vow, a simple promise, or just to stay clean, helps a person to observe and understand God's word and the world with a clearer head, and a purer heart. Anyone who has tasted alcohol and also tasted the Holy Spirit knows which gives a better and more peace and abundance. That would be the Holy Spirit which sustains a person and strengthens the heart. Alcohol only sustains a craving, and rages the heart, the quick fix of life. Salvation in Jesus Christ overcomes any craving one might have, and fills in the emptiness of the heart.

CHURCH HISTORY: A BIBLICAL VIEW
Part IV - No. 27 Compiled and written by Gary Eubanks

By the end of the Fifteenth Century some nations of Europe, particularly France, England, and Spain, had developed a strong sense of national identity and unity. Consequently, the Roman Catholic Churches within them were becoming increasingly nationalized; that is, they were giving more of their allegiance to their respective national sovereigns and less of it to the Pope.

Spain had an especially difficult struggle to establish its national unity because it had been under the control of the Moslems since 711. By the Thirteenth Century the Moslems (Moors) had been confined to the Kingdom of Grenada. The rest of Spain was divided among four Catholic kingdoms, but the larger part of Spain was united by the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in 1469. This made for a strong Spanish monarchy, and in 1492 Grenada was taken from the Moors. As a result of the long struggle with the Moslems, Spanish nationalism and Catholicism were intimately interwoven. Catholic orthodoxy and patriotism were viewed by Spaniards as being essentially the same. Therefore, anyone who was not a staunch Catholic, be he a Jew, Moslem, heretic, Protestant, or sorcerer, was considered a threat to the state as well as the Church. This, in addition to the fact that Queen Isabella herself was a very zealous devotee of Catholicism, rendered Spain very intolerant of any religious views other than those of orthodox Catholicism.

Established in 1480 under royal authority and with papal permission, the Inquisition cast one of the darkest shadows across the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Designed to rid the Church in Spain of false adherents, it fell most heavily upon Jews who had supposedly been converted but were secretly practicing the Jewish religion. Some rather unreliable tests were devised to detect secret Jews. The slightest deviation from strict Catholic practice, such as a refusal to eat pork or affirming that the Virgin herself and not her image effected cures, was regarded as acceptable evidence of guilt. The Inquisition acted on the presumption that the accused was guilty until he could establish his innocence. People were encouraged to inform on one another. Secrecy was a primary feature of inquisitorial procedure. After imprisonment the accused was deprived of all visitation by his friends. Papers bearing upon his case were kept from him. He was not even informed of the names of his accusers or those who gave testimony against him. The testimony of the most otherwise unworthy witnesses was considered acceptable - even that of Jews, heretics, and excommunicated persons. On the other hand, only those who were non-relatives and known as zealous for the orthodox Catholic faith could testify in behalf of the accused. Torture of the accused was permissible in order to extract confessions and information on accomplices and to provide a deterrent to others who might be inclined to heresy. Schaff describes two of these tortures:

The modes of torture most in use were the water ordeal and the garruche. In the water-cure, the victim, tightly bound, was stretched upon a rack or bed, and with the body in an inclined position, the head downward. The jaws were distended, a linen cloth was thrust down the victim's throat and water from a quart jar allowed to trickle through it into his inward parts. On occasion, seven or eight such jars were slowly emptied. The garrucha, otherwise known as the strappade, has already been described. In its application in Spain it was customary to attach weights to the feet and to suspend the body in such a manner that the toes alone touched the ground, and the Spanish rule required that the body be raised and lowered leisurely so as to increase the pain (History of the Christian Church, Vol. VI, pp. 548, 549).

Various penalties were laid upon those convicted. These included confiscation of goods and property, imprisonment, public scourging, the galleys, exile, and death. The accused received their sentence at a public ceremony known as auto de fe ("act of faith"). This was treated as a public holiday and might be used to commemorate the marriage of rulers or their recovery from sickness. On the assigned day the prisoners were led in a procession by priests and Inquisitorial officials to a public square. There a sermon was preached, an oath was taken of the people and rulers to support the Inquisition, and sentences were pronounced. Because Inquisitorial officials were forbidden to pass the death sentence, prisoners were turned over to the civil officers for punishment. Church officials even asked the civil officers to exercise mercy and spill no blood. However, this was an empty formality, for everyone knew the serious offenders were to be burned at the stake. Inquisitorial agents even attended the burnings and made records for the use of the Inquisition. It is estimated that in the years 1480-1524, 14,344 were burnt alive, 1,368 were burnt in effigy, and 195,937 condemned to other penalties or released as penitents. The Spanish Inquisition was not finally suppressed until 1834.

MY DRUG PROBLEM…
Author unknown

It's not easy owning up to this. I am very reluctant to expose a problem that started in my childhood, but if confession is good for the soul, maybe I'll feel better.

I can't really say when my problem started because it seems it's always been with me. When I was less than a year old my father walked out on my mother, leaving her with four children. Dad and his live-in-lover ate
well. We didn't.

Maybe the poverty had something to do with it. The thing I remember is, that being poor was very inexpensive, but it had drawbacks. We couldn't even afford electricity. I was the only one on our block who had a kerosene stereo.

Another thing about those hated times is mother couldn't buy Spock's book on child raising and I couldn't hire an attorney to sue for separation, so we did with what we had and used the Holy Bible as a
guide. That's very likely where the drug problem started.

As a child, I was drug to Sunday School, drug to Sunday evening service, and drug to Wednesday evening Bible study. And when we had revival meetings, my cruel mother drug me to church nightly.

I will always believe my life is forever marked by a childhood incident at the grocery store. I gave into temptation and stole a handful of candy only to have my sin revealed. I felt like a dope when mother drug me to the owner of the store, I acknowledged my wrongdoing and paid for my sin.

I can't remember the entire episode, or the speech that followed, but it seems like she said something about values and respecting what other people owned. She said, "The Bible says, "Thou shalt not steal.' If you want
things, learn to work for them. Don't steal from someone else." With that I was saddled with yet another lifetime burden: a work ethic.

I really should mention how my ego suffered irreparable damage by not having my way all the time. Numerous times I was drug to the woodshed for an attitude adjustment. The altering instrument was from a cottonwood tree in the backyard bereft of its lower limbs.

Actually, I really shouldn't be reluctant to talk about such drug problems because they've spared me heartache throughout all of my adult life. They've shaped my values and given me a sense of responsibility. Instead of being desensitized, I've learned respect for others and myself.

And though I am not so vain as to make a claim of moral perfection, I will always be grateful for the good influences of the drugs. Traces of them are still in my veins.