Intoxicated Series

Illustration: 85 Abstinence Without God Fails

There is a clear difference between pure self will, and a Spirit controlled life.

The Hon. Thomas Marshall of Kentucky made a ten minutes’ speech in Broadway Tabernacle, saying, “were this great globe one chrysolite, and I offered the possession if I would drink one glass of brandy, I would refuse it with scorn. And I want no religion—I want the temperance pledge.” Expressing a desire to form a temperance movement, that abstained from alcohol to display personal strength, he said: “We want no religion in this movement; let it be purely secular, and keep religion where it belongs.” Yet Tom Marshall, with all his self-confidence and energies, fell and died at Poughkeepsie in clothes given him by Christian charity (Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 128). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.).

Drinking or not drinking is not in itself a mark, and certainly not a measure, of Christianity. Biblical Christianity is determined by what we are inside, of which what we do on the outside is but a manifestation. What we do on the outside cannot create something on the inside. Once the inside changes, outward changes will inevitably result.

2) The Product (Ephesians 5:18b)

Ephesians 5:18b [18](And do not get drunk) with wine, (for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit), (ESV)

Despite its many warnings about the dangers of wine, the drinking of it is not totally forbidden in Scripture and is, in fact, sometimes even commended. Drink offerings of wine accompanied many of the Old Testament sacrifices (Ex. 29:40; Num. 15:5; cf. 28:7). It is likely that a supply of wine was kept in the Temple for that purpose. The psalmist spoke of “wine which makes man’s heart glad” (Ps. 104:15), and the writer of Proverbs advised giving “strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to him whose life is bitter” (Prov. 31:6). In speaking of God’s gracious invitation to salvation, Isaiah declared, “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost” (Isa. 55:1). Paul advised Timothy, “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Tim. 5:23). Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana (John 2:6–10). He also spoke favorably of wine in the parable of the Good Samaritan, who poured oil and wine on the wounds of the man he found beaten by the roadside (Luke 10:34).

Like many other things, the kind of wine of which Scripture speaks has the potential either for evil or good. Before the fall, there was a time when the juice of the grape, like every other thing God created, was only good and did not have even the potential for evil. Fermentation, a form of decay, likely was made possible by the corruption of nature at the Fall and actually began with the vast environmental change caused by the Flood and the accompanying removal of the vapor canopy over the earth that had protected it from direct sunlight. It is not unreasonable to believe that in the final consummation of the kingdom, the process will again be reversed, when the curse is removed and nature is restored to its original state of perfect goodness. Naturally fermented wine has an alcoholic content of from nine to eleven percent. For an alcoholic beverage such as brandy to have a higher content, it must be artificially fortified by distilling already–fermented wine. The unmixed wine of the ancients therefore had a maximum alcohol content of eleven percent. Even mixed half and half (a mixture which Mnesitheus said would bring madness), the wine would have had less than five percent alcohol. Since the strongest wine normally drunk was mixed at least with three parts water to one of wine, its alcohol content would have been in a range no higher than 2.25–2.75 percent—well below the 3.2 percent that today is generally considered necessary to classify a beverage as alcoholic. It is clear, therefore, that whether the yayin or oinos mentioned in Scripture refers to the thick syrup itself, to a mixture of water and syrup, or to a mixture of water and pure wine, the wine was either nonalcoholic or only slightly alcoholic. To get drunk with mixed wine (oinos) would have required consuming a large quantity—as is suggested in other New Testament passages. The wine of Bible times was not the same as the unmixed wine of our own day. Even the more civilized pagans of Bible times would have considered the drinking of modern wines to be barbaric and irresponsible. In Bible times, as in many parts of the world today, good drinking water either did not exist or was scarce. The safest drink was wine, and wine that had alcoholic content was especially safe because of the antiseptic effect of the alcohol. It actually purified the water.