Sermon for Sunday August 3rd, 2008

GET BEHIND ME, SATAN! by Bruce Ball

Proverbs 23:29-23:33


Two little boys were the best of friends. As they grew up, their friendship only deepened. One became a preacher and the other a priest. And they would meet each week for coffee at the local Starbucks, no matter what else might be happening.

After one such meeting, they shook hands and started to part ways. One was parked in front of the store and the other behind the store. They went to their cars and when one of them came around from the back, the other was turning from the front … and they collided. There they were, stuck in the street with both cars smashed up.

After making sure the other was safe, the preacher begged the priest that this incident would not hurt their lifelong friendship. The priest agreed, reached into the glove box, and pulled out a small flask of whiskey and two communion cups. He poured one full and handed it to the preacher and said, ’Here, let’s drink to our friendship.’

The preacher said, ’Here’s to our friendship,’ and turned it up and drank it. As the priest put the whiskey back in his glove box, the preacher asked him if he was also going to drink to their friendship and the priest said, ’Yes, but I am going to wait until after the police leave first.’

So much for true friendship.

Today’s message may not be for all of you, but the Holy Spirit has led me to believe it is for some of you. And if it isn’t for you, it is probably for somebody in your family or some you know. So I invite every one of you to listen very carefully to every word I speak today, because these words are God inspired. And they cover nearly ever American.

America has many problems that we must face on a day-to-day basis. Some are financial and some are much worse. Some go to the very core of who and what we are as humans.

And then there is the problem in America with addictions. No matter what you can put into your system, it seems someone is addicted to it. What do you think the number one addiction in America is?

..... Marijuana?
..... Meth?
..... Heroine?
..... Cocaine?
..... Tobacco?

Would it surprise you to find out that none of these are the number one addiction? No, the number one addiction far surpasses all of these combined in number of people who are addicted to using it.

It is alcohol. And the alcohol industry has such a strong political lobby behind it, that there is no warning label on any of it. I don’t understand that because everything else has warning labels on them.

But the number one hazard to the human life has no warning label at all. Alcohol. It is devastating physically, psychologically, financially, medically, and ever other way possible.

Yet people justify why they drink as if it is perfectly fine to do so. We get married and we raise our glasses in a toast of how wonderful our marriage will be. We have a baby, a perfect little gift from God, and we raise our glasses in a toast of how blessed we are.

I am of the opinion that when something great like that comes into our lives, instead of raising our glasses of alcohol to exclaim how lucky we have been, we need to raise our Bibles and exclaim how blessed we have been.

What does God’s Word say about indulging in alcohol?

PROVERBS 23:29-32

‘Who are the people who are always crying the blues? Who do you know who reeks of self-pity? Who keeps getting beat up for no reason at all? Whose eyes are bleary and bloodshot? It’s those who spend the night with a bottle, those who consider drinking a serious business.

Don’t judge wine by its label, or its enticing aroma. But judge it rightly; by the hangover it leaves you with, and the splitting headache and the queasy stomach.

Do you really prefer seeing double, with your speech all slurred, reeling and seasick, drunk as a sailor and looking every bit the idiot you are?

You will say, ‘I got beat up, but I didn’t feel anything because I was numb from drinking. I need to hurry and get sober so I can get another drink.’

Alcohol results in more deaths than any other substance. Nearly 60% of all traffic deaths are attributed to alcohol. It causes hardening of the arteries, liver problems, and heart problems.

My oldest brother was an alcoholic, and just before he died, they operated on him to see if they could save him. They said his insides were totally eaten away by alcohol, and they just closed him back up. He died 3 days later at the young age of 55.

Alcohol has more people addicted to it than any other substance worldwide. And most of them deny the addiction.

Alcoholics deal crushing blows to their families, both psychologically and sometimes physically. Every one of my brother’s children have emotional scars causes by seeing how their father treated them and their mother when he was drunk.

But why is alcohol so dangerous? Because it is sold legally, in abundance. It is as readily available as is cereal. The other day at Quick Trip, there were two men in front of me that bought 6 cases of beer.

And all the while, they were laughing and saying they hoped they could remember where they lived the next morning.

Let’s go back and analyze the passage I just read.

‘Who are the people who are always crying the blues? Who do you know who reeks of self-pity? Who keeps getting beat up for no reason at all? Whose eyes are bleary and bloodshot? It’s those who spend the night with a bottle, those who consider drinking a serious business.’

Look at the type of person this is describing. Someone with no self-respect; a complainer who thinks everyone is out to get him. Someone who is at the mercy of everyone else. Someone who is not physically or mentally well. And it says people like this love to spend the night with a bottle. And if this is not how the person feels, it is how everyone else sees him.

Why do people drink? They drink to hide from the life that scares them to death. They know drunkenness is a bad thing, but in their minds, it isn’t nearly as bad as having to deal with reality.

That passage goes on to say,

’Don’t judge wine by its label, or its enticing aroma. But judge it rightly; by the hangover it leaves you with, and the splitting headache and the queasy stomach.

’Do you really prefer seeing double, with your speech all slurred, reeling and seasick, drunk as a sailor and looking every bit the idiot you are?’

Don’t judge alcohol by how people portray it as the good life. That is exactly how Satan makes all sin look; enticing, wrapped in pretty paper with bows and sprinkles all over it. He will never tell you beforehand just how dangerous it is.

Would you put on a blindfold, let somebody lead you to the edge of a swimming pool, and then jump in whenever they told you to? No, because you don’t trust them that much, do you? But why do we let someone who claims to be a friend lead us to drinking?

We need to investigate things. We are supposed to evaluate and choose wisely, which most people don’t.

You know what alcohol does to you. It makes you nauseous; it gives you splitting headaches, and it makes your brain swell against the inside of your skull killing millions of memory cells. Someone once said that during a hangover, they would have to die, just to feel better.

The passage concludes by saying you look like an idiot when you are drunk or when you are hung-over. Don’t get mad at me for saying that, because that is what Solomon said, and we all know he was the wisest man to have ever lived except for Jesus.

Abe Lincoln said that alcohol has many defenders, but has no defense. With so many defenders telling you why you should drink let me stand up here this morning and tell you that you should not drink.


1. HOW GOD SEES ALCOHOL

PROVERBS 23:31 says to not even look at alcohol! How much stronger can you tell someone to stay away from something? God does not want you to drink.

There is an old Chinese proverb that says: ‘First man takes a drink, and then drinks takes the man.’

Some can drink more than others, but you will never know how much you can drink unless you test yourself. And if you test yourself just to find that you are one of those who cannot hold your booze – guess what? It’s too late. Your body has already succumbed to the desire for it.

The Bible never glorifies or approves the usage of strong or intoxicating drink except for one reason: as a medication or narcotic for people who are in pain or great distress.

In PROVERBS 31:4-5, it plainly tells us,

‘Leaders can’t afford to make fools of themselves by gulping wine and swilling beer. That will cause them to be hung over, and then they won’t know right from wrong, and the people who depend on them will suffer.

’Use wine and beer only as sedatives, to kill the pain of the terminally ill, for whom life is worse than the day they wait for.’

Today, we use alcohol in the way God outlined in the above passage. We have Nyquil when we have that stuffy head thing that won’t go away. We use alcohol to disinfect things and to help relieve pain in certain circumstances.

And none of these have to do with drinking it to have fun!

In 1 TIMOTHY 5:23, Paul tells Timothy, his young protégé –

‘Stop drinking only water and use a little wine because of your stomach, and your frequent illnesses.’

In chapter 3, Paul told Timothy not to drink, and he said deacons should abstain as well. This is a clear statement that men of God should not drink socially, but by reading the entire passage, we see it is okay to take alcohol when needed for medicinal care.

He is talking about the difference between drinking beer with friends and taking Nyquil when you are ill.

To be quite short on the subject, we have to make many decisions in our lives and in our walks with Jesus. One of those decisions is just how serious of a Christian are we?

God’s word admonishes us not to drink intoxicating beverages. That includes the beer we drink at football games and the wine coolers we drink at parties. And yet, we still continue to drink.

In how many areas of your life do you feel comfortable in disobeying God? Is it okay to disobey God so you can lie? Is it okay to hate somebody? Is it okay to murder? So, in what areas are you disobeying God now? And if you don’t think it is okay to disobey God, don’t you think you should stop?

Do you think it is okay to go ahead and drink when He has told us not to? Again, I ask you: How serious are you about being a Christian? Are you serious enough to want to go to Heaven? Are you serious enough to sacrifice having your way so God can finally have His way?

Oh, while we are on the subject, let me say this: There is an old lie that Satan has permeated society with. That lie says, ‘it’s okay in moderation.’ I have searched my Bible and find no reference to that, so I would have to conclude that it is NOT okay, even in moderation.

We need to stop trusting our desires more than we trust His Word.

Now, let’s talk about –


2. WHAT ALCOHOL DOES

Here are some things I have personally seen alcohol do to families.

..... It turns the teens into rebels who literally hate their parents
..... It turns otherwise loving men into wife-beaters
..... It causes parents to deprive their kids

And as I said earlier, I have seen it actually kill people, like my brother, cutting their lives short, and knowing where they go only adds to the suffering.

Alcohol is the elixir of stupidity. Have you ever listened to someone who is drunk? They do everything but make any sense, don’t they? And what do we do? We laugh as if they are genuinely entertaining us. But in truth, all we can really feel is absolute pity for the poor drunk, for he has no sense about him.

When we put alcohol into our mouths, it steals what brains we have away. Someone once told me they drank Vodka so people couldn’t smell it on their breath. I think they should switch to something that does smell. It is better if people know you’re drunk instead of thinking you are just stupid.

Let me give you a very realistic scenario that can actually happen to you on any given day.

You stop with friends and have one drink after work, and then as you get back in your car and drive home, a bicycle pulls out in front of you. It is not your fault, but you run over him, killing him under your car.

Now, if you had no alcohol in your system, the police would most likely say it was the bicyclist’s fault. But since you have even a little alcohol in your system, you could very well be charged with vehicular manslaughter and go to prison for years.

Now think about this. Was that drink worth it? What did it do to your job, your family, your loved ones, and your friends? If you had not had that one drink, would you maybe have been able to stop in time to save him? One drink and you lost everything you ever had in life. One drink does make a difference.

Alcohol will offer you a colorful life. You will have red eyes, ugly brown breath, and a cowardly yellow streak down your back because you won’t stand up against the pain you inflict on others.

PROVERBS 23:33 says that alcohol will make your eyes see strange things and it will make you think strange thoughts. Why would you want to do that?

You say you need a true high, a way to escape the negatives of this world. I have an alternative to alcohol. And I promise it will give you a much higher high, it will be totally safe, and it will actually enhance your life.

EPHESIANS 5:18 tells us to NOT get drunk on alcohol, but on God’s Sweet Holy Spirit. And if we will stop being disobedient and stop following Satan, and just humble our hearts to the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit will indwell you and you can start seeing what a real high; a real love; a real joy really is.

Everyone wants to be accepted by others, but I can tell you this flat out … drinking is not a way to be accepted by anybody but other lowly drunks. Are those the types of people you want to be like? Is that how you want others to see you? Then stop and stop today!

I am not mad at anybody here today, but it is certainly my calling and my job to give you the truth of God’s Word, especially when I see you doing something that is causing you to be separated from God.

Let’s talk about -


3. WHAT YOU SHOULD DO NOW

If you are a social drinker, let me tell you that you have been deceived. The devil has told you it is not only okay to do that, but it is needed so you can keep your friends.

There might be some here today who feel very uncomfortable with this message and wish I would just end it. Let me advise you that it is not me you are offended with. It is the devil who has offended you. And the Holy Spirit is just now awakening you to that fact.

There might be some here today who feel it is no big deal to make your regular trip down to the casinos, where you will have a few drinks while you “take a chance” on coming out a big winner. Now, you might be able to handle those few drinks, but can you really handle the compulsion to gamble?

There are more addictive things around us than we are even aware, and we must start keeping a Christian eye out for them. And even if you can handle whatever it is you are doing, what kind of example are you showing to the children in your life? Is your greatest desire to watch them grow up to be just like you? What kind of reflection are you showing to everyone else in your life?

Stand up like an adult and go home and throw your alcohol away, before it starts throwing you away. Start changing your life by changing your attitude.

I believe that if you have a loved one who is walking that fine line between addiction and insanity, your place is to come to the altar every time you are in this church; to cry out to God in prayer and intervene for that loved one.

If you want him to change, why aren’t you praying for him, loudly and continually?

Let me close by asking you why you think so many people jump into the bottle instead of jumping into the Bible. Here is a true story.

Many years ago, in St. Louis, a Christian businessman was wrapping up some legal business with his lawyer. Before he left, the Christian turned to his lawyer and asked him why he wasn’t a Christian. The lawyer replied that somewhere in the Bible it said that drunkards could have no part in Heaven.

The Christian man said, ’I didn’t ask you to give me a justification, I asked why you weren’t a Christian.’

The lawyer thought for a moment and then said, ’Because nobody ever asked me to.’ At that, the Christian businessman laid down his briefcase and walked over to the lawyer. He took his hand and asked him to pray with him.

As they knelt in prayer, the lawyer received Jesus Christ as his Savior. And as he did, the desire for the alcohol left him, and the shame of how he had been so addicted to it left.

The lawyer’s name was Cyrus L. Scofield. He would later become the author of the Scofield Reference Bible. He found out that the greatest discovery a man can make is discovering he can change his life by altering his attitude.

If you are a drinker, in the name of Jesus I implore you to stop – right now! If you have a drinker in your family, I implore you, in the name of Jesus, to stop wishing he would quit and start praying he will quit.

And to both of these people, I implore you to bound together with each other and come forward this morning, as a unit, as one in the name of Jesus, to bind and break this addiction once and for all. Stand together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

It’s time to stop being disobedient to God. Because you really will have hell to pay if you don’t.