Alcohol

The Nature of Alcohol

Proverbs 20
1. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

Proverbs 21
17. He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.

Proverbs 23
29. Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30. They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34. 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.
35. 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.

Ephesians 5
18. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Christians and Alcohol

Romans 13
13. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

Galatians 5
19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20. Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21. Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Peter 4
3. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:

1 Corinthians 5
11. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

Habakkuk 2
15. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!

Christian Testimony

Romans 14
21. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

Leadership

1 Timothy 3
3. Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
8. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;

Proverbs 31
4. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
5. Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
6. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
7. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

Titus 1
7. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

Thoughts

It shouldn’t be about what WE want to do, but rather how does this reflect on the Church, and more importantly, on Jesus Christ! Keeping our testimony does require discipline at time, and abstaining from negative aspects of life.

One way to frame it could be; should the question be “Can a Christian drink alcohol?” to “Should a Christian drink alcohol?”.

Reference

https://churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/298190-can-christian-drink-alcohol.html

The Holy Spirit

The ONLY way to receive the Holy Spirit, is to ‘speak in other tongues.’

Isaiah 28:11-12
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

Zephaniah 3:9
9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.

Mark 16:17
17  And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

Acts 2
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
WHOLE CHAPTER APPLIES

Acts 8
26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.
29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
WHOLE CHAPTER APPLIES

Acts 10
44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
WHOLE CHAPTER APPLIES

Acts19
2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.
4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
WHOLE CHAPTER APPLIES

1 Corinthians 12
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
WHOLE CHAPTER APPLIES

1 Corinthians 13
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
WHOLE CHAPTER APPLIES

1 Corinthians 14
2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
WHOLE CHAPTER APPLIES

Romans 8:9-11
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
WHOLE CHAPTER APPLIES

Ephesians 1:11-14
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 4:29-30
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:25
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

John 14:26
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Matthew 21:22
22  And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

James 4:5

James 4:5 (AMP)
5 Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love?

2 Corinthians 9:7-8
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Expectation

Scriptures

Acts 12:1-11
When God delivers, he delivers not only from that situation, but the complete expectation of those against us.

Ephesians 4:14-15

Type of expectations:

  • Cultural
  • Social
  • Work
  • Health
  • Fashion
  • Other peoples
  • Our own (self-indulging, abasing)

Isaiah 43:1-7
We have God personally defending and looking after us. We are precious in his eyes.

Romans 8:1-2
There is no condemnation (by any one or anything). The Spirit of Life has made us free (from death)

Romans 6:9-11
Death no longer has dominion over Christ, and if we determine ourselves to be alive unto Christ …
Romans 6:17-18
We have been made FREE from sin and become the servants of righteousness.

Romans 8:15
Romans 8:31
We are no longer under bondage, we have been made free and nothing can be against us.

We need to be careful that in our position of freedom we don’t allow pride to creep into our heart and rob us of our position with Christ. Psalms 10:4

Galations 5:1
Galations 5:7-9
Galations 5:16-18
Take warning that we don’t become entangled in a life that will lead to natural expectations. We are encouraged to continue in the things we have learnt and to walk in the Spirit.

Titus 2:11-14
Here we are reminded yet again that we have our salvation by the grace of God. The Holy Spirit teaches us how we should live, what we should do and the things to look for.

John 8:31-32
The truth will make us free

Hebrews 9:11-14
Christ has redeemed us with HIS blood that we should now serve the living God. Our expected end has changed.

1 Peter 1:18-21
Redeemed not with corruptible things, but with the blood of Christ, that our faith and hope might be in Him.

Hebrews 4:1-11
We have been promised true rest, and we need to give this promise of rest true diligence in working towards it, that we do receive it. God has promised us.
Therefore, the more we cease from our OWN works (expectation), the more we enter into his rest (expectation and promise).

Isaiah 55:9
His thoughts are higher than ours. We can remove our own and others expectation from our mind, that we might simply serve God.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
God thinks peace towards us. His thinks to give us an expected end – one of hope, of truth, of rest, of compassion, of joy, of peace …

Titus 3:4-7
A reminder that it wasn’t of anything that we’ve done, but rather by the grace of God that our expectation can be in the hope of eternal life.

Psalms 15

Psalms 15

  1. Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?
    who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
  2. He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness,
    and speaketh the truth in his heart.
  3. He that backbiteth not with his tongue,
    nor doeth evil to his neighbour,
    nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
  4. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned;
    but he honoureth them that fear the Lord.
    He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.
  5. He that putteth not out his money to usury,
    nor taketh reward against the innocent.
    He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

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