The Deceitfulness Of Liquor!
by David J. Stewart
"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise" (Proverb 20:1)
I've known many believers to foolishly
argue that Jesus turned water into intoxicating liquor (coincidentally all of
those believers drank alcohol). Though I
have tried to convince them otherwise using the Scriptures, they had already
made up their minds. The bottom line is that YOU CAN'T ARGUE WITH
STATISTICS.
16,000
people were killed in alcohol related deaths in 2001 alone, and another 305,000
were hurt in alcohol related injuries.
The Bible tells us in Proverb 20:1 that "strong drink is raging." One needs only listen to the news to realize that God's Word stands true. Death after death is caused because of liquor. Click HERE to read about a husband and his three children who were murdered by a drunk driver. Also, Drunk Driving Kills! Do a search below at Google, type in "killed by drunk driver" and plan to spend awhile reading about all the misery and destroyed lives.
God knew what He was talking about when He put Proverb 20:1 in His Word. We also read that "Wine is a mocker." Wine is being personified here, it sits back and laughs at it's victims. Read Proverb 20:1 again, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." The word "deceived" in Hebrew means "to reel in" or "to cause to go astray, mislead." Just as you would reel in a fish, so does the devil reel in the unsuspecting with alcohol. Liquor by nature has an element of deceit inherent to it--This is what the Bible teaches.
You can argue about what Paul meant when he said "a little wine for the stomach's sake," but you can't argue with Proverb 20:1. Wine is a mocker, it scorns and laughs at it's foolish victims. Intoxicating drink is raging, it has unstable tendencies. When consumed by mortal men and women, liquor consumes. "Deceit" is the keyword when the Bible speaks of liquor. If you drink beer, you are being deceived! Liquor is an accident waiting to happen!
I stood at a gravesite, over the bodies of a dead mother and her unborn baby--both killed by a drunk driver. I watched their coffins lowered into the ground. I saw the husband and remaining children cry with unforgettable tears. Yes friend, this is what the devil doesn't want you to see. This is what Miller, Budweiser (Bud Stupider), and all the other evil beer manufacturers DON'T want you to see. The devil always shows folks the front yard, not the back yard. Listen friend, you cannot eat at the devil's table without being poisoned. You cannot play with fire without being burned.
Liquor is "deceitful." Do you think any youngster says, "When I grow up, I want to drink beer and kill someone with my car?" No, but it happens doesn't it? Why? Because beer is deceitful! Do you think any man says, "Today I want to get drunk and beat my wife?" No, but it happens doesn't it? Why? because Liquor is deceitful! I watched a man at work years ago run a knife right through his hand while trying to cut a rubber hose--he had one drink too many before work. The same man was drinking and driving with a "buddy" of his in a pickup truck. There was an accident.
The "buddy" sued his friend and was awarded $19,000 in garnished wages. No one in their right mind would want this to happen! But it happened! Why? Because liquor is deceitful. I watched a neighbor years ago smash out the front windows of his house. His wife came out with black and blue marks all over her face. The drunk man stumbled out to the street and drove away. The greedy sin-loving beer companies don't want anyone to see this. By the way, I am sickened by the new "drink responsibly" propaganda. Gamble, smoke, drink and die, responsibly, please!
Liquor is "liquid devil." As I've already mentioned, you can't argue with the facts. The statistics are disheartening... 16,000 people killed in 2001 by alcohol related deaths. Many of the people who were devastated by the World Trade Tower attacks fail to realize that 500% more people were killed by alcohol last year alone on our roadways. Would to God that liquor were abolished completely. I hate beer and all the such. By the way, God does too! Jesus never made intoxicating wine--it would be a violation of proverb 20:1. Did you know that there are over a dozen different meanings of the word "wine" in the Greek? Sadly, some ministers ignorantly try to justify their drinking of alcohol by exploiting the Bible.
Listen to the solemn words of Proverb 31:4, "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink." Wine dulls the thinking and liquor diminishes the thinking integrity. Is not a believer higher in heaven than an earthly king or a prince? Most definitely, yes! Is not a child of God to have clear thinking? Absolutely! "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" (1 Peter 5:8). If you look for the word "sober" in the New Testament, it appears over and over concerning believers-we are to be sober (alert). The word "sober" means that we are to avoid ANYTHING that dulls our thinking or makes us vulnerable to Satanic attack. No believer has any business drinking alcohol. The Bible warns that the devil has it in for us-Satan wants to make us disappear, he wants to destroy us. Liquor is a very effective tool of the devil.
All beer drinkers say the same thing, "you have to drink responsibly!" Oh, then why are there so many tragedies? Why so many lost jobs and beaten families? Why 305,000 alcohol related accidents last year alone? Why 16,000 deaths last year on our roadways because of liquor?
Again, the Bible warns us about the DECEITFULNESS of liquor in proverb 20:1. Turn if you will to Proverb 20:17, "Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel." My friend, God is NEVER wrong. Sin is fun, the Bible acknowledges it so. "Bread of deceit is SWEET" according to the Bible. BUT, your mouth will be "filled with gravel" afterwards. Liquor will fill your mouth with gravel. I always think of a joke I heard, "What's the difference between one beer and another?" Answer: about 20 minutes! That's about how I feel about beer. Beer is disgusting, it is trouble, it is better left alone. The element of deceit is too great. No youngster says, "When I grow up I want to be a bum, laying on a park bench in my own vomit." But it happens! Why? Because liquor is deceitful!
"You can't take two drinks of beer, if you don't take one."--Pastor Jack Hyles
Brother Hyles hit the nail right on the head; We should stay as far away from sin as possible. If sin brings death, then we must avoid sin. If temptation brings sin, then we must avoid temptation, and so forth. If liquor has the power to destroy us (and it surely does), then we should NOT drink it at all. We should avoid alcohol like we would avoid a deadly rattle-snake. If you drink beer, champagne or wine--you are being deceived. The devil is laughing his head off in mockery of all those fools who drink alcohol. The element of deceit is that "everyone thinks they can handle it." Statistics prove that many, many people cannot handle alcohol.
This means that there are a great number of people who sincerely think that can handle liquor who are in for a horrible surprise. If you have any sense at all, you will leave alcohol alone. It's a shame that so many believers have been dubbed by the devil. If liquor was sinful during the prohibition years, then it still sinful today. Most people laugh and think it's a big joke when someone speaks out against liquor. This is because they've never lost a loved one to a drunk driver... a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, et cetera.
My uncle died from an alcohol-related death, he crashed into a tree in upper Michigan. I watched my own mother drink herself to sleep night after night, year after year. I watched her puke her guts out in our kitchen sink for years. The smoking and drinking eventually caught up with her though at age 53. She had a crippling stroke and never walked again. She died at 65, after years of misery and suffering. She endured severe health problems: including 2 leg amputations. Though she was a believer, she destroyed her own health. All the more reason I detest cigarettes and liquor. I once saw my father lying on the floor in a pool of wine and broken glass. He fell while drunk and cut his head open, he was rushed to the hospital. Though he usually handled his liquor well, he had always turned to the bottle to solve his problems. Liquor is liquid devil!
"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." (Proverb 20:1)
"I've stood for more sneers and scoffs and insults and had my life threatened from one end of the land to the other by this God-forsaken gang of thugs and cutthroats because I have come out uncompromisingly against them." -Billy Sunday
Billy Sunday (1862-1935)
Hear Billy Sunday's "Booze Kills!" (MP3)
Hear Billy Sunday on Prohibition (MP3)
The Salvation of a Nation (by Pastor Jack Hyles)
