Today I am going to preach on the subject of alcohol and its effects. Let me begin by by making some general observations and quoting some statical facts concerning alcohol.
I believe that alcohol is the most abused drug in America. While we have gone through many years of the scare of drugs from marijuana all the way up through the harder drugs, speed, heroin, PCP, crack cocaine and many others. We have failed to realize that the greatest abuse of drugs there is - is the most acceptable one of alcohol. While America has passed laws and invested money into the fight against street drugs (and I am glad we do like no other country) we have voted ourselves by popular demand into a legal and socially accepted deception concerning alcohol.
Listen to some of the statics as stated by Lawrence Greenfield the deputy director of the Bureau of Justice and also from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In 1996, 1.5 million arrests were made for drinking under the influence of alcohol. It was also reported that 41% of all people who die in car accidents (the accident that killed them)can be related to alcohol. In the 1990’s about 3 million violent crimes occured each year and 35% of those crimes involved an offender who had been drinking.
The leading cause of death for young adults (15 y/o to 24 y/o) is drinking/driving accidents. In speaking about this group we need to realize that teenage alcoholism has been on a rapid rise since the late 1980’s. In New York City it is reported that 8 out of 10 teenagers admit to drinking alcohol and 12% of those are already alcoholics.
Nationally the statics say, 1 out of every 4 high school students admits to drinking on a regular basis and 1 out of every 20 teenagers in this country gets drunk at least once a week. You may ask, of these teenagers that drink, how do they get their alcohol?
31% of all teenagers that drink say that they get
their alcohol from the family home supply with
their parents approval or permission.
29% of the same group of drinking teenagers say
they get alcohol also from the family home supply
without the approval or permission of their
parents.
If these statics are accurate, it means that 60%
of drinking teenagers are drinking because their
parents whether approving or disapproving are
their providers, their bootleggers.
It’s not with a fake I.D. or someone older buying it for them. 60% of teenage drinkers in our country get their supply of alcohol right from their own homes. A recent popular Christian speaker noted the following police report he read recently. It appeared that a police officer had the heartbreaking experience of taking a drunken teenager home. when he delivered the boy over to his parents, the parents ask, "is he smoking marijuana or taking drugs?" "No," said the police officer, "he is drinking alcohol." And the parents responded, "Thank goodness, we told him if he wouldn’t smoke pot or take drugs, we would allow him to drink all the beer he wanted." Listen folks, those parents are deceived into thinking that there is acceptability to drinking alcohol. In L.A. and in N.Y.C., and in Washington D.C. and yes in Erie, PA also by enlarge it is no big deal to drink. There are an estimated 1.3 million boys and girls in this country from 12 y/o to 18 y/o who already have a serious drinking problem.
Let’s look close at what the Bible says about alcohol. Soloman wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as recorded for us in Proverbs 20:1,
"Wine (alcoholic beverage)is a mocker..." The Living Bible says "Wine gives false courage, hard liquor leads to brawls." Listen to God’s Word wine is literally a liar, wine gives false courage and wine always promises what wine cannot deliever. Wine promises pleasure and pays off in pain. The Biblical word for "wine..." is a general term used about 135 times in the Old Testament, and refers to all kinds of fruit of the vine from grape juice to fermented fruit of the vine that can cause drunkedness. Notice closely, Wine gives false courage or we could say false hope.
Alcohol promises pleasure
Alcohol promises social acceptance
Alcohol promises appealing motchoism
Alcohol promises sexual appeal
The pages of magazines and the television screen would make you think if you just drink light beer, the Silver bullet, Red Dog, or Miller High Life that your friends would just love you and your problems will fade away.
When you are depressed it will make you happy,
When you are a nobody it will make you a somebody,
When you are cold it will make you hot,
Somehow advertising never shows, the real finished product of alcohol.
I worked for 17 years as a respiratory therapist. One night while at work as a Respiratory Therapist at Los Alomitos Medical Center I was paged to the E.R. stat. A family while driving down a city streetwas hit head on by a drunk driver.
A dad
A Mom
And a 8 y/o daughter, named Sara was pronounced
dead at the scene, while their 4 y/o son was
rushed to the E.R. where I worked.
Three days later the 4 y/o boy asked the nurse,
"Where is my mommy?"
"Where is my daddy?"
"Where is Sara?"
Listen closely, thats the finished product of alcohol, don’t be deceived. Thats the finished product of the brewers art. Hit by a drunk driver guilty of nothing except driving their family car down a city street.
Alcohol literally lies to you, mocks you by giving false promises. It seems to promise you alot of friends, but many have found out as the prodigal son did in Luke 15, that the friends it provides are fair weather friends indeed. Alcohol promises you social acceptability. Well, you get to the place where you are a hopeless drunk, wallowing in your stink and filth, then see how many parties you get invited too. Booze and hard liquor leads to brawls and fighting the scripture tells us. Lots of guys and gals, get a belley full of alcohol and they become mean and tough, doing and saying things they wouldn’t do and wouldn’t say if they were sober.
Listen: Do you want to find friends, social acceptability, freedom, emotional stability, and true happiness in life? Realize you won’t find it in the drinking crowd! But you will find those things when you are right with God and right with others. Every thing alcohol promises and cannot deliever can be delievered and much more to you,
good measure
pressed down
running over
in Jesus Christ, and fellowship with His family the New Testament local church. Don’t be deceived. Why go to a bar looking for a relationship or a way out of some situation? COME TO JESUS, LIVE FOR HIM...
He alone will give you love,
He alone will deliever you from bondage,
He alone will give you a fulfilling life.
Many think they are the exception. "Preacher, I understand, but I can control it...believer me I can."
Listen: It has been said, "There is not one alcoholic alive today that didn’t start out an incident kid that never had a drink. There is not one drunk in the world today that decided one day, ’I’m going to be a no good drunk.’ "
The above resources as quoted earlier, tell us that one out of every 22 Americans that take that first drink will be hooked and become helpless alcoholics.
You may say I’m to intelligent. Some of the highest IQ’s in America are hopeless alcoholics. You may say well I’m religious. Religion will not keep you from being a drunk. It will just make you a drunk that can quote scripture. But you say I’m moral, morality will not keep you from being a drunk. Drunkedness will keep you from being moral. It will literally destroy your morality. Don’t be deceived, alcohol promises pleasure but pays off in pain. In closing today turn with me in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 23 and starting with verse 29.
"Who has Woe? Who has Sorrow..." The Hebrew word for woe means pain and grief.
"Who has contensions..." Thats the idea of one who is always fighting.
"Who has babbling..." That is who has sorrowful thoughts in the mind that shows itself in constant complaining. This Hebrew word babblings can also mean misery. A drunk will have the characteristic of always moaning, always complaining, always feeling sorry for himself, always shifting the blame to others, always talking about what a bad rap society or family or someone has given him.
"Who has wounds without cause..." needless wounds.
"Who has redness of eyes..." The Hebrew wor indicates a flashing of the eyes or a violent excitment expressed through the eyes.
Who has these six characteristics? These six problems in their lives, verse 30 says "Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine (mixed drinks)." Again the word for wine is a broad term, and in the day this passage was written, in Soloman’s day there was intoxicating wine, alcoholic drinks. There are examples of drunkedness in the Old Testament. But listen closely now trying to take Judean wine of 2000 years ago and compare it to the modern synthetic wiskey and 80+ proff liquor of today is rediculous. The wine of the Bible did not have the added alcohol content that is poured into the mixed wine that is hard liquor and beer of our day. So we really cannot compare the scriptural passage to the product of the brewers art, that of our modern alcoholic drinks. Therefore, WHATEVER THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT HOW BAD STRONG DRINK WAS THEN, IT IS MANY TIMES WORSE TODAY.
Verse 31 - Oh it looks so good in the cup and it feels so smooth going down.
Verse 32 - 35 Oh my dear friend listen to these verses and DON’T BE TRICKED BY HOW IT LOOKS OR HOW IT FEELS, it will in the end destroy you and others along the way. Thats an aftertaste you surely can do without.
