Have Another Drink

HAVE ANOTHER DRINK

By Pastor Jim May

Acts 2:1-13, "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine."

New Years Eve, a time of celebration waiting for the ball to drop over Times Square, the Jambalaya Pot over the Jackson Brewery in New Orleans, and the clock to move to the hour of midnight and the beginning of a New Year! Oh how the world loves a celebration; any excuse to have another drink; one more chance to drown your sorrows, forget your past for a moment, and think of better times. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may literally die.

New Years day has fully come, but the partygoers and revelers are certainly not in one mind and one accord. Some are still in a drunken stupor from the night before, and adding to that stupor as the day goes on. Some are hugging “John” as their head spins and their stomach churns from the wonderful excitement of the night before. Some are asleep, trying to sleep off the effects of a night of celebration.

There was a rush all right, when they snorted the coke. There was a rush when the alcohol began to flow, and it filled their house, their heart and their mind. It was a mighty wind, but it was not the wind of the Spirit of God, but the wind of sin that came crushing into their hearts driving them ever deeper into the depths of depravity.

Some tried to speak through swollen tongues and a tongue that seemed to be disconnected through the power of drugs and alcohol, and the language they spoke could definitely be considered a “different tongue” than any you would have heard before. They spoke the language of sin, the tongue of the devil and through their words and actions they gave praise to Satan’s power over them.

Noise filled the air as literally millions of dollars in fireworks lit up the skies; burning away, in smoke and flame, while children went to bed hungry and crying out for their celebrating parents. But there was no time for the kids. There was just too much to celebrate and too many adult beverages to consume to worry about kids at a time like this.

Yes, that’s the way it is in our modern civilized world. Everyone is looking only for a good time. Where’s the party, and pass the booze. Let’s get it on. Go for the gusto. Give it all you got – then turn out the lights when the last hoorah is done.

I’m convinced that the words of the preacher in Ecclesiastes 1:9 are true, "… there is no new thing under the sun."

Mankind has always been just as he is today, from the time of the Fall in the Garden of Eden, until the time that Jesus comes back to stop it all, there has been no change in the hearts of unregenerate men. They are all looking for another way to forget their sin.

As we look at the passage of scripture that we read in Acts chapter 2, we get the impression that those who stood around on that day, hearing and seeing the wonderful outpouring of the Holy Ghost with fire and the evidence of speaking in other tongues, actually thought that this was just one more bunch of drunken revelers on the Day of Pentecost. Though it was not as prevalent in Jewish society for people to be drunk so early in the day in those days, it must have been fairly common for such a thought to even enter into the mind of the people.