Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Proverbs 20:1

Is Alcoholism "A Disease?" If it is...

• It is the only disease that is contracted by an act of will.
• It is the only disease that requires a license to propagate it.
• It is the only disease that is bottled and sold.
• It is the only disease that requires outlets to spread it.
• It is the only disease that produces revenue for the governments.
• It is the only disease that provokes crime.
• It is the only disease that is habit forming.
• It is the only disease that is spread by advertisement.
• It is the only disease without a germ or virus cause, and for which there is no human corrective medicine.
  (W. F. Zweigle, Sr.)

Why do people consume alcoholic beverages?

• Popularity - If you don't drink then you are unpopular with society.
• Conformity to the crowd - Everybody drinks. Why shouldn't you?
• Thought of power - Gives you nerve to do what you ought to.
• Gesture of friendship - Anti-social and impolite not to drink.
• As a show of manliness - True of the teenagers trying to attain.
• An escape from problems - In actuality, liquor doubles the problem.
• To overcome shyness - It's better to be shy, than drunk and talkative.
• As public relations - Essential to go to a club to close a "big deal."
• Disgusted with their ordinary life - For a few hours they want to live in the world of imagination, excitement, and action.
• Loneliness - People and students drink for entertainment.
• To get confidence - Some drink before asking the boss for a pay raise.
• Because it is my business to live as I please - I can drink if I want to; but remember Romans 14:7 says our lives affect others.
• Social occasions - Like toasting a dignitary demands this; could they not be toasted with water just as easily as with liquor?

What great men have said about alcohol:

1. Shakespeare, " Alcohol is a poison men take into the mouth to steal away the brain."
2. Gladstone, "Strong drink is more destructive than war."
3.  Sir Wilfred Lawson, "The devil in solution."
4.  Abraham Lincoln, "A cancer in human society, eating out its vitals and threatening its destruction."
5.  Robert Hall, "Distilled damnation."
6.  Lord Chesterfield, "An artist in human slaughter."
7.  Ruskin, "The most criminal and artistic method of assassination ever invented by the bravos of any age or nation."
8.  General Pershing, "Drunkenness has killed more men than all of history's wars."
9.  General Robert E. Lee, "My experience has convinced me that restraint from liquors is the best safeguard to morals and health."
10. President Taft, "He who drinks is disqualified for administration."

What God says about liquor indulgence:

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Proverbs 20:1

Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath 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. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, Proverbs 23:29-35

And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent
Genesis 9:21

But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. Isaiah 28:7

Whoredom and wine and new wise take away the heart. Hosea 4:11

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:21

Reasons why I should not drink alcohol: 

1. My body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit and not to be defiled with anything that would defile it in any way.
   What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 1 Corinthians 6:19
2. I am a witness for Christ and if I should take one sip my weaker brother might be tempted, thereby, to take a larger drink.
   Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16
3. I am my brother's keeper. I have a responsibility to help my brother (neighbor) to live a noble, upright, righteous life.
   And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? Genesis 4:9
4. I am a steward of my money and I have absolutely no right whatsoever to squander it for that which is not bread or profitable for me.
   Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Isaiah 55:2
5. The Bible reveals the effects of liquor, therefore, as a Christian I heed its advice and refuse to allow one drop to enter me.
   Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.              1 Corinthians 6:10
6. I need not yield to the temptation to drink either socially or moderately. With every temptation God guarantees a way of escape.
   There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
7. I have been redeemed from sin. Therefore, I refuse to return to its slavery, in Christ I am master over evil.
   For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:14
8. My life is to be a living witness of the power of God; if I live an intoxicated life I'm an insult to the grace of God.
   Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! Habakkuh 2:15
9. I want the world to be better because I lived; if I've lived like the world then I'm on the broad road going the wrong way. If I'm living on the straight and narrow way, then I'll lift others to higher standards.
   Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.                Matthew 7:14
10. If I have to drink to be popular then I'm living with the wrong crowd; liquor is absolutely unnecessary in clean Christian circles.
11. For the sake of my wife, devoted family and the community that I live in, I refuse to touch one drop of liquor.
12. It is my prayer, that those that drink will one day be able to see through the tunnel of darkness and come to the "Cross of Jesus."

A noble example to follow:

Daniel - purposed in his heart not to defile himself.

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Daniel 1:8

God honored Daniel and advanced him to the high positions because he was an abstainer. God does honor those who obey him implicitly. Notice that Daniel: Determined to abstain.

Daniel - prayed diligently for victory,

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Daniel 6:10

• By self denial; he could have lived like the king on royal dainties which would have led to fatness, laziness and a dull mind.
• He kept close to God by constant meditation and obedience.

Alcohol:

• Leads to others sins. (Rebellion, gluttony) Dueteronomy 21:18-21
• Aids in breaking up homes.
• Brings severe judgment
• It is very costly.
• It causes one to miss God's kingdom. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Formerly, the heavy drinker was called a drunkard; now he is called an alcoholic. Today they say alcoholism is a disease; but if we understand aright the justice of God, He never punishes sick people, but does punish responsible sinners; and He does punish drunkenness, or alcoholism; if you prefer to call it so.

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

It is thought that there have been alcoholic drinks since the days of Noah when he apparently accidently discovered it in his vineyards. A Chinese emperor about 2,000 years before Christ recognized the problem of alcoholic drinks and declared a decree that anyone who sold, distributed, or drank alcoholic beverages would be beheaded. However, this only slowed things down a bit during his lifetime.

In our modern society, we see how alcohol affects the health of people. A past secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Doctor Arthur Fleming, declared that alcoholism was our fourth major health problem, ranking with heart, cancer, and mental illness. The Moynihan Report stated a few years ago that fifty percent of the nation's auto accidents have some type of alcoholic drink involved. The report also noted that the risks of being involved in an accident were fifty five to one. Other factors drinkers suffer from are falling asleep while smoking, wage losses, loss of employment, medical bills, broken lives, broken families. Drinking also causes awful pain to family, friends and loved ones. According to Dr. E. M. Jellinek of the World Health Organization, fifty percent of all crimes have alcohol involved.

Those who drink alcoholic beverages do not realize that the depressant effect on the brain lessens caution and judgment, resulting often in violence and crimes. Medical research has said that just one drink will destroy brain cells that can never be replaced or repaired, and these costs cannot be measured by dollars and cents.

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Proverbs 20:1

Oh, the awful results that come to our people by this devil curse. Alcoholic beverage companies don't tell people about what will befall them when they buy and consume their products. However, just take a look around at the wrecked vehicles, look at the jails and penal institutions, look at the hospitals. Look at those who attend AA, and broken homes and you will see the evidence of a sick society is everywhere. A report of a few years ago showed that from seventeen to forty dollars are spent to cover losses incurred from the consumption of alcoholic beverages, for each one dollar in revenue gained from the sale of it. There is nothing to be gained except for the politician to get his vote and the business man to get some money.

and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Proverbs 20:1

All of these things that we have mentioned relating to alcohol is also true of drugs. Now we have problems from alcohol and drugs. Drugs have produced a big crime wave, and are mentally affecting those who are addicted.

But! There is Hope! The hope for all men is found in the person of Jesus Christ. Only He can satisfy the emptiness of the human heart.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10

Lord, we pray for all our readers, that none would be a slave to these vices which are used of the Devil to deceive many. In Jesus' name, Amen. Preacher