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[0:00] Demon drink or the subject of drinking. Christians differ on this one. Some might take a more liberal, moderate view, moderate drinking.

[0:13] ! I want to put to you the position that it's not good to drink at all. Best to steer away from it altogether. And I'm going to give you some scriptural reasons why I believe so. So we're going to go to Proverbs 23 verse 29. Proverbs 23 verse 29 it says this, 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.

[0:45] 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.

[1:00] 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.

[1:15] They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick. They have beaten me, and I felt it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

[1:26] I'm speaking of the dangers of drink. Believers differ over this subject of alcohol. Some modern preachers actually say it's a sin to prohibit alcohol.

[1:38] So I acknowledge that Christian people have different views here. And some people may violently disagree with the position that I put forward here today. Look, we all have to come to our own mind, weighing up what the scriptures say, our own conscience, our obligation above all else to be motivated to the glory of God.

[1:56] That's our motive. What does the Bible say? What are the biblical principles we can apply to this issue? Now let me admit today, I'll be honest with you tonight, I have alcohol in my home.

[2:08] I have alcohol in my home. Yes, it's in the cough mixture in my fridge. Alcohol may have a place. In so far as its usefulness as a basic antiseptic on cuts and scrapes, also for infirmities and medical purposes, as a painkiller perhaps.

[2:26] Of course, it was used in time gone by, and now we have modern anaesthetics that are much more appropriate, that supersede such usage, as I put to you.

[2:37] Yet it may have some limited use as medicine. We see alcohol can cause much harm. And I put to you, this far outweighs any benefits.

[2:47] The world acknowledges that alcohol is a mind-altering drug. Think of the statistics of alcohol. Alcoholism affects one in ten.

[2:57] One in ten adult males in Australia are affected by alcoholism. It's reckoned it costs business and government eight billion dollars a year.

[3:10] These are Australian figures, and that was ten years or twenty years ago, that figure actually. And it's billions, billions and billions every year. The world acknowledges it's a home wrecker, alcohol.

[3:23] We see the destruction, it shatters lives. It wrecks havoc across society. So then what does the Bible say about drinking? It actually says a lot about drinking.

[3:35] There's some 600 references to drink in the Bible, to drink and drinking. 600 says a lot about it. And many verses issue a strong warning. So point number one is drinking brings woes.

[3:50] Drinking brings woes. It says there, who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Friends, it's plain as day, isn't it?

[4:00] It's plain as you can see the results of alcohol, the destructive results of alcohol. You can't really argue the point. That alcohol brings much woes.

[4:14] Troubles. Think of the troubles of alcohol. The woe. The sorrow of it. The misery and the grief. And I've seen it. You know, as a preacher, I'm often the one who sees the end result of broken marriages, of individuals that are brain damaged because of alcohol.

[4:34] The destruction of alcohol is just evident. It's so clear. It's so clear. You can't argue it. The misery, the grief, the sorrow, the contentions, the strife, the fightings that are going on.

[4:49] Julie and I used to live, you know, a few stones throw from here in Elizabeth Park and we were in a semi-detached, what do they call them now? A double unit where we had just a fireplace to the adjoining house next door.

[5:05] And we heard the violence of the man who lived there. He was just on the other side of the wall, bashing his wife. The cursing and the swearing.

[5:16] The violence. The destruction. The home getting busted to pieces. And the misery of that woman that lived with this drunkard. And the destruction that we heard night after night.

[5:32] And then we heard later, he passed away. He was crossing the street drunk and was wiped out by a car. The misery, the woes of alcohol, the woes of it.

[5:45] It's woeful. The contentions, the strife, the arguments, the drunken fights. You know, we used to live in Catherine. Where, you know, sadly the indigenous population has been absolutely destroyed by the influx of alcohol.

[6:02] And the misery that it causes. The arguing, the fighting, the lack of peace. The conflict. Trouble getting along with others. Trouble getting along with the, trouble with the law.

[6:14] Trouble with relationships. Woes, woes, woes. Trouble. The trouble. It talks about the babbling here. We hear, as I heard my neighbour, the complaining, the raving.

[6:30] The crazy talk. The foolishness. Friends, alcohol attacks the brain. And only a small quantity is needed to cause the brain to lower the power of restraint. To fog the memory.

[6:42] And the speed of the senses. That's why drink driving is so dangerous. These are obvious things, aren't they? Drinking creates an altered state of consciousness in which you will not or cannot maintain self-control.

[6:56] The woes of drinking. It brings much sorrow and heartache. It says that it brings shame. Thine eyes shall behold strange women. It leads to looseness and a lack of morals.

[7:08] A lack of judgement about moral choices. It's not your wife you'll be holding. It's strange women that you'll be holding. Alcohol makes people say perverse things. Things they would not say if they were sober.

[7:19] And it can do damage to your testimony and bring shame. Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself. Not to drink the king's wine.

[7:30] He made a decision. I think he made the wisest decision. He made the right decision. We can make the Daniel decision ourselves. Not to defile ourselves. To purpose in our heart.

[7:40] Alcohol brings a trail of trouble. And a heartbreak. And those who provide alcoholic drinks are also under a curse. We'll go to the next one. Here's some more woes. Those who provide alcoholic drinks are also under a curse.

[7:54] It says Habakkuk 2.15. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink. Don't give anyone a drink. Don't buy anyone a drink. Don't work in a drinking place where you've got to give people drinks.

[8:08] God helping you get out of such an industry if you're in it. Another woe is woe unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink. That they continue until night.

[8:19] Till wine inflame them. It talks further in there of the context of reeling, of staggering, of impaired judgment, of vision, of tottering and stumbling.

[8:29] And the word of God uses the word vomit to talk about the end result. Vomit and filthiness. And that's the context of Isaiah 28.7-8.

[8:40] So there's impaired judgment. There's this reeling and rolling. There's tottering. There's stumbling. There's vomit and filthiness. Drinking brings wounds. Second point.

[8:52] Drinking brings wounds. Proverbs 23.29 again. It talks about who hath wounds without cause. Who hath wounds without cause. Wounds without cause.

[9:02] It talks about needless cuts and bruises. When the drunkard wakes from their drowsiness and has their hangover, they wake up and they wonder, why is their hand all smashed up?

[9:17] Why is there cuts and abrasions on their face? Why is there some pain from what they've done while they've been drinking, while they've been drunk? Wounds to the drinker and wounds to those around them.

[9:28] Alcohol drinking brings wounds. Alcohol causes men to stagger, to fight. It turns men into beasts. Our text tells of a redness of eyes.

[9:41] It says, who hath redness of eyes? Their eyes are bloodshot. You see the end result. You see someone who's a drinker and you see it's in their face. You can see they're a drinker. The redness, the flushing, the redness of the eyes.

[9:55] Alcohol affects the body. It affects all the organs of the body. It affects the eyes. It affects the kidneys. The liver. The brain. The nervous system. The cardiovascular system.

[10:05] The reproductive system. An unborn child becomes as intoxicated as the mother. Pregnant women don't drink.

[10:17] And I've worked in the disability sector. I've seen fetal alcohol syndrome. The end result. It's not a pretty picture of the disability that's caused by a woman who drinks while she is pregnant.

[10:30] Fetal alcohol syndrome. It's a vile, vile thing. Alcohol. Alcohol. It has no beneficial effect. But alcohol can cause permanent damage.

[10:43] Heart disease. High blood pressure. Heart strokes. Cancer of the throat. Of the mouth. Cirrhosis of the liver. Diabetes. Pancreatus. We're called to present our bodies a living sacrifice.

[10:55] Holy. Acceptable unto the Lord. Our bodies are called temples of the Holy Spirit. Now this might sound strong to you. But these are plain facts.

[11:07] Drinking injures your life. It injures your health. It injures your testimony. It injures those you love. Alcohol is a poison. Apparently the bartender says, name your poison.

[11:21] When they take your order. Name your poison. That's what it is. It's toxic. Intoxication is what happens. You get intoxicated.

[11:33] That's the result of alcohol. Because it is toxic. It is a poison. Alcohol does damage. Drinking brings wounds. Violence.

[11:43] Mental illness. Abuse. Ruined lives. It's a killer. You might say, oh I can handle it. Just a little. Just a little. Just a little sip now and again.

[11:55] Do we want to support that industry? Do we want to be seen down the pub buying it?

[12:05] It's been said that alcohol is responsible for 80%. 80% of home violence. It's huge.

[12:16] 30% of all suicides. You know, I've heard of suicides lately. It's grievous. 60% of all child abuse. 60%.

[12:28] 60% of all divorces. They reckon alcohol was a feature. Probably half of all traffic fatalities and homicides. The World Health Organization, which is the International Agency for Research on Cancer, is the subheading there.

[12:46] This agency that's part of the World Health Organization classifies alcohol as a group one carcinogen. A group one carcinogen. In other words, it causes cancer.

[12:59] And it's right at the top. It's one of the top things. Group one. It's the main carcinogen. In 2018, British scientists stated drinking alcohol produces a harmful chemical in the body, which can lead to permanent genetic damage in the DNA of stem cells.

[13:15] It's damaging your DNA. The very building block of your body. Alcohol, even in the smallest quantity, begins to affect the highest centres of the brain. Judgment, reasoning, and self-control.

[13:27] It throws the whole computer system. That is your brain. Alcohol, it kills brain cells. And once killed, they are never replaced. Now we have 17 billion brain cells, give or take.

[13:38] 17 billion, that's lots. But every time someone drinks, brain cells are damaged. They're killed. Killed off.

[13:49] And once killed off, the brain cells cannot be recreated. The human body is incapable of creating new brain cells. So when you drink, you're causing yourself brain damage.

[14:03] That's what the medical people tell us. It's wounds, isn't it? It's hurting you. It's not good for you. Studies show it to be a leading risk factor for overall premature death and disease.

[14:15] Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. You don't want to be causing an earlier death than necessary. It's a poison. It's thought that alcohol causes blood sludging, which depletes oxygen supply to the organs of the body.

[14:32] Blood sludging is apparently where the red blood cells clump and pile up and clog. The capillaries, the flow of the blood slows. Vital organs, including the brain, are starved of oxygen.

[14:44] It's reckoned that alcohol abuse shortens lives by an average of 10 to 12 years. 10 to 12 years. Do you want to lose that? The writer describes those who seek after the bottle, they pass their time with it.

[14:59] Friends, alcohol is got a grip on people. It's got a grip on you. If you're taken by it, it's poison. It affects the mind, the senses, the emotions. It clouds the mind.

[15:10] It reduces self-control, muscular action, sight and steadiness. Those under the control of alcohol, they lose their reasoning, their character, their spirit, their strength, their health, their judgment.

[15:25] We'll go to Proverbs 31 verse 4. It says this. It is not for kings, O Lemuel. It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink.

[15:35] Lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. The word of God tells us here, kings are not to drink.

[15:49] Because it affects their judgment, impairs their judgment. And friends, the Bible talks about, as believers, God's people are called as likened to kings and priests.

[16:01] And both kings and priests were told to put a barge pole between them and alcohol, not to drink. So, if we are kings and priests, then why don't we have the same direction and the same wise counsel and heed it?

[16:19] The danger is obvious. The drinker can be broken in heart and mind. Deep wounds. We're talking about wounds. Wounds inflicted on themselves and those they love.

[16:30] You know, someone who's under the control of drink can hurt the one they love the most. And then they wake up and realise what they've done. The Bible warns about this. Back in Proverbs 23, we read, verse 34, it predicts of the causing of death, such as drowning.

[16:47] Alcohol features very high in drownings, apparently. And you can think of someone who's lying on the top of a mast. This is back at Proverbs 23, 34. You can imagine the picture of someone lying on the top of a ship's mast of the, what do they call it, the bird's nest, or where the lookout sits on the top of the mast.

[17:06] It's the picture of someone who's rocking and reeling in that kind of alone place of being in this state of dizziness. And verse 35 warns against numbness.

[17:16] It says, they've beaten me and I've felt it not. Of addiction. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again. That's addiction. You know, they drink, drink. They see the wounds, the misery.

[17:27] And then they say, I will seek it yet again. They just can't stop. Friends, we're not to defile God's temple. Your body. If you're a Christian, friends, I exhort you to steer away from alcohol.

[17:42] We see another thing about alcohol. The next point is that drinking brings waste. There's a waste. All sin brings a bitterness in the end. Especially this sin.

[17:53] Now Shakespeare, I don't know that he was a Christian necessarily, but he did say some wise things. And Shakespeare said this, alcohol is a poison men take into the mouth to steal away the brain.

[18:08] They take it into the mouth and it steals away the brain. The sin of drunkenness. It bites like a serpent. It strikes like a poisonous snake.

[18:19] Its poisonous fangs will drain and destroy you, disgrace you. Now, I mentioned lately we've had a snake in the garden. And I didn't really stop to take a photo of it.

[18:31] I just wanted to get away from it. Because if you don't want to be bitten by a snake, you don't play with it. You don't toy with a snake. You get away from it, right? The Bible says that drink, as pictured here in our text, is like a snake.

[18:49] It's like a serpent. It's like an adder that will strike. And alcohol cannot strike you unless you give it the opportunity. So the best thing to do, don't give it the opportunity. Treat it like a snake.

[19:01] Treat it like the snake that it is. You don't toy with snakes. You don't play with snakes. You get away from snakes, right? Alcohol costs. There's more than 40 million problem drinkers in America, they say.

[19:14] Alcohol is the number one drug problem among teenagers. Alcohol costs $100 billion US a year in the US. So it's a plain...

[19:26] Worldly statistics are bad enough to make us, to shake us from such a thing. Here's an Australian statistic. About 300,000 Australian alcoholics are brain damaged by booze.

[19:40] 300,000 brain damaged by booze. 40% of all hospital admissions are alcohol related. Now, I'm not sure these statistics are from different places, might be regarding different nations.

[19:54] But alcohol strongly features in the misery, the waste of sadness. Alcohol.

[20:05] Government studies say that alcohol is the most dangerous drug in the country. You know, I've worked in situations... I worked at TAFE and lectured in substance abuse.

[20:20] The world says it's wrong. The world knows it's wrong. The world says this is stupid. Don't do it. It's a waste, friends. And the Bible says that's exactly what it is. It's a waste.

[20:30] The Bible warns us about the sin of being a waster. A waster. What a waste it is. The money. Money. The waste of money. The waste of a life.

[20:41] The waste of what a man could be. The waste of the money you could use for something useful. Waste, waste, waste. Proverbs 23, 19, 21, it says, Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

[20:58] But be not among wine-bibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh. It says, verse 21, for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe the man with rags.

[21:12] It's saying here, the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. Again, drinking, drunkenness, alcoholism, it leads to child abuse and neglect.

[21:24] Children get taken away from parents who are drinkers. And so they should be. If they're in danger, they should be taken. Now, that might sound harsh, but friends, a drinker can be destructive, even to the ones they love the most.

[21:43] Child abuse and neglect. Poverty. The wise counsel here, where the Proverbs writer, as it's Solomon said, Hear thou, my son.

[21:54] He's saying, son, listen to me, this is important. If you're telling the one you love, your son, the wisest counsel is to not hang around these wine-bibbers, these ones that are glug, glug, glug.

[22:06] Don't hang around them. It's not good for you. They're associated with poverty. And drinking is associated with poverty. And I put you at spiritual poverty as well as financial poverty.

[22:18] You're going to impoverish yourself spiritually if you're taken by drink. So let me be plain. Drunkenness is a wicked sin of the flesh.

[22:29] Now, you might say, oh, I can drink without being a drunkard. Look, maybe you can. But how close to the edge do you want to be, off that steep cliff, where you're going to fall to your destruction?

[22:42] Friends, the Bible says drunkards will go to hell. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 10. The drunkard is left with such waste. There's such waste. The drunkard is left with little but an empty purse, a hangover, a splitting headache, a queasy stomach, an early grave.

[22:59] Proverbs 21 verse 17 says, Here that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man. Here that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. That's Proverbs 21 verse 17.

[23:13] Here that loveth wine shall not be rich. It's going to take from you. It's wasteful. It brings loss. Loss. Think of the loss of alcohol.

[23:25] It brings a loss of coordination. You don't have your senses anymore. You lose them. A loss of coordination. A loss of ability to think or speak clearly. It affects your sight.

[23:36] Hallucinations. You'll see weird things. Your mind will play tricks on you. You'll see strange sights. You'll speak strange things. It talks about uttering perverse things.

[23:48] When someone's drunk, they say embarrassing things. You know, you see videos of the drinkers, don't you? Where someone's filmed them while they've been carrying on. Doing crazy things.

[24:00] Dangerous things. Embarrassing things. Friends, if you're a drinker, you'll lose your reputation, your character, your dignity. You could face the loss of morality, of purity, of modesty.

[24:13] Young people lose their purity while their inhibitions and conscience are dulled by drink. You know, a young woman, drunk, is taken advantage of. She doesn't even know what's happened to her until she wakes up and it's too late.

[24:28] It's a shameful, shameful thing, isn't it? What a waste. What a waste. Drink. It inflames passion. It leads to sin. It causes shame, disgrace.

[24:40] As we talked about earlier, it's like someone trying to sleep on the top of the mast of a ship. Tossed to and fro. This rolling, reeling. This seasickness. As drunk as a sailor.

[24:51] It's the picture of it. And you might say, preacher, you're just coming on a bit strong. I just have a little bit now and again. I just keep a little bit in the fridge and I just have a little join in the parties and, you know, drink with my mates.

[25:06] And I can keep it under control. Friends, the Bible urges us to be mindful of the dangers. The dangers of drink.

[25:17] It's a waste. It's a wasted life. If you're wasting your life, if you're drinking. It reckons that one million Australian men and women are now slaves to the bottle. One million addicts.

[25:28] Alcohol addicts. The addict to drink just goes back again and he says, I will seek it yet again. They just want it again and again and again. Give me another drink.

[25:40] Bring me another drink. Even when the drink has ruined their marriage, when it's ruined their health, it's destroyed, it's taken their job. The drinker usually does not want to quit.

[25:52] Does not quit. Matthew Henry, a great commentator of yesteryear, describes it like this. It's like a deep ditch and a narrow pit, which is almost impossible to get out of.

[26:08] And therefore it is wisdom to keep far from the brink of it. Take heed of making any approaches towards this sin, because it is so hard to make a retreat from it.

[26:18] Conscience, which should head the retreat, being debauched by it and divine grace forfeited. Friends, it's going to put you in a dangerous, dangerous place. Alcohol, it's enslaving, controlling and addictive.

[26:34] And I know in some churches it's almost like, oh, we never preach against such a thing as that. Everybody's doing it. It's kind of popular. That's Australian culture. You know, everybody's doing it.

[26:45] You know, you're a fuddy-duddy. You're old-fashioned. You're just being a Bible basher to talk against alcohol. Friends, the Bible talks against alcohol. It says alcohol is a mocker.

[26:56] Alcohol makes people act a fool. What are we to do? Someone proposed moderation as the answer. Someone commented like this. Moderation is not the cure for the liquor problem.

[27:07] Moderation is the cause of the liquor problem. Becoming an alcoholic does not begin with the last drink. It begins with the first. Just leave it alone.

[27:18] Just leave it alone. What is the biblical way? Choose instead to be wise. Choose instead to be wise. Friends, it says wine is a mocker. Whoever strong drink is raging.

[27:29] And whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Wine is powerful. Alcohol is powerful. Now, of course, in the Bible, there are descriptions of wine.

[27:42] Some would say, well, there's occasions where it's not spoken against. I put to you that that is not alcoholic wine. It's not alcoholic wine. Some would say, well, Jesus made wine at Cana.

[27:56] I put to you that it's not alcoholic wine. He would know the scriptures that say, woe unto them that gives their neighbor a drink, as in an alcoholic drink. He didn't give an alcoholic drink, I put to you.

[28:08] He gave new wine. It was fresh wine. You know, I like to have the fruit of the vine. I like grape juice. And that's the sense of it. It's grape juice.

[28:19] And some would say, well, in Bible days, it must have been fermented. No. They did have preservation. There were ways where they could stop the wine from fermenting. So, it's not a given that it was fermented or that it always fermented.

[28:35] And, of course, modern drinking or drinks of today are very high concentrations. Even if there was some alcohol content, it was watered down some 20 times, they say, that it was very mild.

[28:52] It wouldn't have been anything like the alcohol that you can buy down the shop. So, alcohol is a mocker. It's enslaving, controlling and addictive.

[29:04] And moderation is not the answer. Just leave it alone. So, friends, alcohol is powerful. It can hurt you and it can take over people.

[29:15] It makes a fool out of you. Look at Bible examples about drinking. Friends, there are many. Noah, Lot. They got drunk. And these were God's people.

[29:29] And drink brought shame to them and misery. It can make a fool out of you like Noah and Lot. And the drinker is the slave of a master who mocks him.

[29:42] It's a mocker. It's going to make you look like an idiot. It does, doesn't it? The world knows that. Someone who drinks and goes drunk, drunken, they look like a fool.

[29:56] People take funny videos of them and show them later. It's a mocker. It's a master who will mock you. And it's raging. There's a craving. This raging more and more.

[30:09] I want more of it. There's craving for it. More and more of it. And it produces spiritual weakness. The man who does not drink is stronger for it. Wiser for it.

[30:22] The Bible commends those who do not drink. It's the wise choice. But the drinker is at risk. I put to you, you might say, look, I can handle it.

[30:35] Look, be warned. Drinking can damage. It can hurt. Causes wounds. It brings woes. It steals character.

[30:46] It robs family treasures. It causes hurts that cannot be healed. Those moments of drunkenness, the damage, the wasted lives, the wisest and safest course of action is not to drink.

[31:00] Leave off alcohol. Those key biblical principles of wisdom and witness we call to exercise wisdom. Leave it alone. Alcohol is a drug that should be avoided at all costs.

[31:13] For many, alcohol is a substitute for God. That's the reality, isn't it? I'm not saying that if you're a believer who thinks you can drink. Look, I'm not saying that of you.

[31:25] And again, we've got to make a decision of our own conscience before God. God, if you can say, I don't consider it a sin. Well, it's between you and God.

[31:39] But rather, why toy with something that's got a question mark? That's my plea to you. It says abstain from all appearance of evil.

[31:52] There's an appearance of evil. Surely. Seeing the damage it does, the harm. It's harmful. It's very harmful. And the Bible commands abstinence.

[32:04] To abstain means to make a choice. To abstain from all appearance of evil. It's a good thing to abstain from that which is questionable. The question we should ask ourselves is not, can a Christian drink, but should a Christian drink.

[32:23] Should we? We're urged to be sober, to temperance. I like how someone put it like this. The key to full joy is not the bottle or the bar.

[32:36] It's a relationship with Jesus Christ. The cure is not a 12-step program. It's a one-step program. Take a step towards Jesus. It's not a 12-step program.

[32:48] It's take a step towards Jesus. In repentance and faith, trust Christ as your Saviour and Lord. Take a step of trusting Him. And then you'll have permanent peace that will pass all understanding.

[33:03] The Bible is clear. Something we cannot argue about is being not drunk with wine. You cannot argue that.

[33:13] The Bible says, be not drunk with wine. And how much does it take? How much does it take to impair your judgment? How much does it take for that unsteadiness, that impact, that effect?

[33:31] Steer clear is the best counsel I could give to you. Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father.

[33:54] In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So instead of turning to the bottle, be filled with God's Spirit. Rather that. Rather that. Fill your life with God, the things of God, the Spirit of God, His joy, His life, His presence.

[34:11] Let Him fill you. Not the bottle. Is drinking potentially destructive? I think we'd all have to agree. It is. Think of your Christian testimony.

[34:24] Drinking can cause people to stumble. Better even if you think you've got the liberty to drink, to not drink anyway. Rather not drink.

[34:35] Even if you think you can. Is it necessary? Why buy it? It's not necessary.

[34:47] Is it right? Friends, people call it demon drink. Demon drink.

[34:58] That sounds a bit strong, doesn't it? But it's almost a spirit. Well, they call them spirits, don't they? And look, I know there's people, you've been through there, you've been there.

[35:10] And God's delivered you. Amen. Thanks be to God. We can know His deliverance. And we can know His salvation. And if you're a believer who thinks you can drink, friends, as people have got out of alcoholism, you're not going to want to set that example to them.

[35:28] You're not going to want to drink in front of others. To cause stumbling. No, no, no. And the Lord can make you make wise decisions in this area.

[35:41] Save yourselves from the woes, the wounds, and the waste. Demon drink. It can ensnare and hold people in a vice-like demonic grip.

[35:55] But the Bible says, He has come to make us free. Jesus has come to set the captives free. And even though that vice-like demonic grip, you might say, look, I feel like a drink right now.

[36:12] You know, I'm always thinking about the drink. You know, it's like, get me another drink. I will seek it yet again. God can help you break that cycle, that vicious cycle.

[36:24] God can help you find peace and freedom and delivery. It seems like it's never going to let you go, but Jesus can set you free. Jesus can set you free.

[36:34] Essentially, be saved. First and foremost, trust Christ as your saviour. And see his setting free power.

[36:48] As a believer who walks with God, who walks with your saviour, you want to do his will, you want to bring glory unto him, you want to not cause any stumbling, you want to choose wisely what's necessary, what's useful, what's right, what's proper, what's fitting, what's the highest and best.

[37:14] And then you'll make the right decision. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you that you, in your grace, should deign to give your gift of eternal life to such as we.

[37:27] Lord, we pray for every soul. Lord, we know we all can struggle with many things. Some might be struggling with this issue. Lord, we know you give us liberty yet.

[37:40] You give us wisdom. You want us to be a witness. You want us to be a testimony to your soul setting free power. Lord, we pray each one might know your deliverance from any addiction.

[37:52] If alcohol is an addiction, if drinking drunkenness is an issue. Lord, we pray for your setting free power to bring liberty to the captives.

[38:04] Lord, that we've got the liberty really to do what is the right thing to do, not a liberty to do what is questionable or what might rather be something we should abstain from, even the appearance of it.

[38:20] And Lord, I pray that these things might work in us. And Lord, that your word would be what is clear, not my opinion or such, Lord, but that your word would be clear about these things, I pray in Jesus' name.

[38:36] Amen. Let's choose the highest and best. Amen. When we walk with the Lord, that's what we want. Again, my message is not meant to bring any condemnation or to be my own personal preference or opinion.

[38:52] It's the word of God. Take the word of God as read, apply it to your life as you see it applies. And prayerfully seek God to find and do his will.

[39:05]  That's what we all need. And I'm not putting a yoke on anyone here tonight. I'm just, I'd want to see yokes lifted. Amen. Amen.