Is drinking alcohol a sin? - Proverbs 20:1 - Episode #005

KOTFL #005 Outline

Is drinking alcohol a sin?

1. The Difference between now and then. 

2. The Difference between the Spirit and spirits.

3. The Difference between salvation and sanctification. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good morning and welcome to the Keep on the Funny and Preaching Podcast. This is your host well today. Welcome to episode number five. Today I'm going to cover a specific topic that I've been asked questions about over and over numerous times throughout my life and throughout being a Christian and a preacher and a pastor now here at the church. And then also I've heard other people be asked this question, and I've seen this question going on Facebook and different social media platforms. And so today, I want to cover a specific question on is alcohol or drinking alcohol a sin? Can Christians drink? Whatever you want to title that question is one of the most widely asked questions, not only by Christians, but also by a lost and dying world. But I find oftentimes that Christians argue about this topic more than lost people and Christians talk about this topic. And that is sad this morning. But obviously you would know my answer. I do believe that drinking alcohol is wrong. But today I do want to go and I want to lay groundwork through scripture this morning. I want to lay some groundwork on why I believe what I believe, and I want to go through a couple different points on reasons and things that I use when I'm talking to somebody. If this question comes up, I always refer back to these points, and so maybe it can be a help to you this morning if you have a family member who likes to ask you about this or a friend who likes to ask you about this. Maybe this can help strengthen your, strengthen your conversating in this area. Or maybe this morning you have that question and that's okay. I don't think that you're going to hell because you drink. I believe that there can be people that are saved and drink that we can't gain, we can't do anything to gain our salvation. So I don't believe that we can do anything to lose it this morning. But I do believe, just like Proverbs chapter number 20, verse number one says, which is our text verse this morning, Proverbs chapter number 20, verse number one, the Bible says, Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived, thereby is not wise. And so Solomon is one of the wisest men that we see recorded in Scripture, and maybe one of the wisest men that we've ever had here on this earth. And so for him to say that wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived, thereby is not wise. He's not saying you're not saved, but he is saying that you're not wise, and that it is not wise to partake of these things. And so this morning we hear this term, oh well, that that's not cut and dry, or oh well, that doesn't say that it's a sin, but I believe that when we pull the different scriptures together and when we read these verses in context and we look at a couple different historical aspects to this topic of alcohol, we can see that God would not have us to drink whatsoever, number one, but also the differences between now and then. So firstly, this morning I want to look at the differences between now and then. And so when we read our text verse, wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. We see that that means they're not wise, but firstly, I want to look at the differences between back then and now, because we're talking this text is written, you know, a thousand years ago, and so there's differences between now and then. I believe most of us would say that I'm 23 years old at the time of recording this, and there's been differences in the last 10 years that I can see, but there's definitely been differences in the last 20 years of pictures that I've seen from my family and all sorts of different things. And so as time progresses, we see this evolution take place, and not in terms of evolution like we've evolved from apes, that's not what I'm talking about this morning. But this morning I am talking about evolution in terms of the world does evolve. But we see this evolution of alcohol. And so I do want to look at the percentages of alcohol this morning, the different percentages of alcohol. And so when we go back to the Bible times, we go back to when this takes place in the Old Testament when people would drink wine. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs that wine, when your stomach is hurting, to go drink wine and you'll be married, right? And so we see, well, what well, Brother Max, well, yeah, well, that says it's gonna be merry. And so why can't I drink wine? Well, let me tell you this morning, when we look at percentages of alcohol, biblical wine is low and it's diluted with water. And so that alcohol by volume percentage, that's a calculation that they use to calculate how much actual alcohol is in the substance, whether that's wine, whether that's beer, whether that's liquor, whether that's vodka, whatever the case may be. I don't, I don't never drank. I don't drink, and so I don't really know the terminology. That's the best I can describe it. But when we think of that percentage, that is how much actual alcohol is in that specific substance. And so biblical wine, when we're talking about biblical wine, it's low and diluted with water, and it's maybe 2%, maybe 2%. When we look at biblical strong drink, because it says wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and so there's two different items listed. And so obviously there's a difference between wine and strong drink. So when we look at biblical wine that's low and diluted with water, maybe 2% alcohol by volume percentage. But then when we look at biblical strong drink, we're looking at four to 10% with a max of 14%. I'm talking like the max they could get was 14%, because you have to understand they did not have chemical altering back then. They did not have these chemists and alchemists and all these different things back then like we have today, where we're, and we'll get into that just a little bit. But they did not have that capability to make that alcohol by volume percentage any stronger. And so please understand today that when we're talking about Bible wine and Bible strong drink, they're two far completely different things. Look at modern wine. Modern wine, and this is just simple study. I mean, you can look this up on your own. Modern wine, alcohol by volume percentage is 12 to 15%. Modern liquor today is 20 to 50 percent. And so we're looking at two completely different things. When we're talking about modern wine and modern strong drink versus biblical wine and biblical strong drink, we see maybe 2% is biblical wine, but then modern wine is 12 to 15%. And then we look at biblical strong drink, which is 4% to 10% with a max of 14%, and modern liquor today, which is 20 to 50%. And so when we're looking at actually strong drink, actually more refers to modern wine. It's honestly, and modern wine actually far exceeds that alcohol by volume percentage of modern wine. But when we're looking at that, that's more in the range of what we're talking about. And so this morning, as we cover these things, think about those percentages of alcohol in there and think God God's word is timeless. God knew, God far knew that our alcohol was gonna exceed these limits. God knew those things. And so that is why when we get into the New Testament, we get into reading certain portions of scripture that are far thousands of years later. Remember this, these these are thousands of year differences, and they start to change things as they go. And I'll read those here in just a minute. The Bible commands complete sobriety, it never mentions moderation. It says the wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging. Whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. And that's in the book of Proverbs. But look with me in the book of 1 Peter, chapter number 5, verse number 8. The Bible says, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. How about 1 Thessalonians chapter number 5, verse number 6 to verse number 8? The Bible says, Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for an helmet the hope of salvation. So two different verses there, and there is far more times that the Bible talks about being sober, two different verses there where the Bible is commanding us, be sober. It says, be sober, let us watch and be sober. And so when the Bible's talking about being sober, it's talking about complete sobriety. It's not talking about having one or two drinks or just a glass of wine, whatever the case may be. No, the Bible's commanding us to be sober because we have a real adversary this morning. The devil is walking about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He wants to seek, kill, and destroy you and your entire family. Parents, let me encourage you this morning to abstain from the practice of alcohol. You cannot tell your for your kids, hey, don't go to that party, don't drink that, don't drink, don't drink, don't drink. But then you're doing the exact same thing just because you think you can control yourself, in quotes this morning. No, you cannot control yourself. If you could control yourself, you wouldn't pick up the glass of wine or the bottle of alcohol to begin with. And so we see that there is very distinct differences between alcohol now and alcohol back then. But secondly, I want to look at the difference in the capital S spirit and the spirits, lowercase spirits. Ephesians chapter number 5, verse number 18 says, And be not drunk with wine where it is excess, but be filled with the spirit, capital S spirit. That's the Holy Spirit. That capital S spirit, whenever we see that throughout the Word of God, that is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost of God that that is referring to. He's also referred to as the comforter. He's the one who rebukes and reproves this world of sin. He's the one who convicts our heart of sin, tells us what to do, tells us what not to do. He also is here to bring conviction on those who are lost, that they might get saved this morning. He's our way of understanding the Word of God, help us pray and reveal God's will for our life. The Holy Spirit is nothing but good. He is our comforter and helper and brings us complete peace in our life. But this morning we are supposed to be filled with the Capo S spirit, not the lowercase spirits. I don't know. All of us live sure there's I and I know actually, I think this is really cool, and I'll mention this that I've got eight different people, eight different countries that listen into this podcast, and it's such a blessing to look and see all the different countries that are represented and go through and see Jamaica and Taiwan and the United Kingdom and the Dominican Republic and all these different places where I see people are listening from. I'm gonna cry this morning because it just blesses my heart to know that people actually enjoy listening to this and listening to this crazy person get on here and talk about the Bible. And I'm so thankful that y'all trust me with the word of God, and I'm thankful that God has trusted me this morning. I couldn't do this without him this morning. I'm just gonna give God glory for a second. I'm thankful for all he's done in my life. I'm thankful that he kept me from an alcoholic life. And I'll tell you this morning, I'm very passionate about this subject. And the reason is, and I've mentioned this before, that my parents were both alcoholics for a time, and I've seen my family struggle a lot with alcoholism, and I've seen multiple, I've seen people die from alcoholism in my family. I've seen multiple deaths around me of alcoholism. I've seen people close to me struggle with alcoholism my whole life. And I'll be honest this morning, this this subject and this topic is something I'm extremely passionate about because for the simple fact of I could have fallen into this. I didn't get saved until I was 19 years old, and there were many times where I was offered these substances, and God, by by God's grace, he kept me from these things. It's not because I was saved, it's not because I had a conviction against alcohol. No, it was because God was keeping me and protecting me for just a time as this to where I could take a stand against alcohol, to where I could be a youth pastor and preach to our teens every single week and tell them, hey, this is a sin. We should not do this, we should not partake in this stuff. And so I live in the world, obviously, y'all live in the world, and so when we drive around in our towns or our cities or wherever we, wherever we are, there's these alcohol stores. And so often I look at the signs and I try to pull things off of those signs that I can use in a top in a conversation just like this, and I can talk to people about. And one of the things that's one of those ABC stores where it says wine and spirits, or a lot of the a lot of the alcohol stores, even most publics is publics has them nowadays, where it says wine and spirits. I'm very intrigued in that word spirits, and I've looked up why that is called spirits. And the reason alcohol is called spirits, it's because early alchemists believe the distillation process captured the pure essence or spirit of the original fermented liquid. It separated its vital life force. The alcohol is a vapor that was then condensed into a potent, concentrated form, often called aqua vita, which translates to the water of life. This term reflects the mystical idea of extracting a substance's soul or animating principle, eventually eventually becoming the standard term for strong distilled liquor liquors like whiskey and vodka. I find it funny that that that refers back to the water of life. We know that the water of life and the true drink of life is from the Lord, and so I find it funny that these spirits, lowercase s, are referred to as the water of life. I also find it funny that whenever we see that lowercase spirits in the Bible, that that's referring to things that are demonic and things that we should stay away from, right? And so when we're looking at the capital S spirit versus the lowercase spirits, we're looking at this and it says, when we are saved, we aren't to be filled with any other spirit than the Holy Spirit. And be not drunk with wine, we're in his excess, but be filled with the capital S spirit. That's not an option, that's not up for debate, that's not up for negotiation. No, it says, but be filled with the spirit. And so when we look at Proverbs chapter number 23, verse number 31 through verse number 32, I'm just gonna flip over there really fast. Chapter number 23, verse number 31, and verse number 32, the Bible says, Look not thou upon uh I'm actually gonna back up to verse number 29. Who hath woe and who hath sorrow and who hath contentions, who hath babbling, who hath wounds without cause, who hath redness of eyes, they that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine, look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself upright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as that lieth upon the top of the mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I am not sick, they have beaten me, and I felt it not. When shall I wake? I will seek it yet again. Verse number thirty one and verse number thirty two are really where I want to draw our text. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth into his clo when it giveth his color, and the cup when it moveth itself upright, at the last it bite like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. The Bible doesn't tell us, hey, you can just have a few drinks every once in a while, or hey, you can social drink, and you can have a drink once a month or once a week, or the Bible doesn't say, hey, only drink with your Christian friends. The Bible doesn't say, hey, only drink when you're at your house behind closed doors. No, the Bible says, look not thou upon the wine when it is read. And then skip down to verse number 32. It says, And at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. Friend, today, let me tell you, if you think drinking alcohol is okay, I'm not condemning you this morning. I'm not saying that you're a sinner. I've got I I sin, I sin just as much as anybody. I'm a youth pastor at a church, and I sin too. We're not, there's nobody perfect. And if you say you're perfect, the Bible says that makes you a liar, and the truth is not in you. And so this morning, let's make sure we understand that we're all sinners. And so this morning I'm trying to help people understand why I believe alcohol is a sin, number one, but number two, that I can give Christians strength and and preparation in a conversation, because if this conversation has not come up to you yet, I promise you one day it will. And so the Bible does not tell us, hey, just have a drink every once in a while, or hey, no, just don't get drunk. No, it says don't even look upon the cup. When it is read then it says in verse number 32, at the last, it biteth like a serpent, it stingeth like an adder. Let me ask you this question. How do you know when you're gonna get drunk if you've never been drunk before? I've been around alcoholics and been around drinking enough to know that you one drink normally doesn't make you drunk. One drink normally doesn't get you tipsy, as people say. One drink doesn't normally get you in that state of mind. But eventually you'll get to a point to where I've heard people say this and I've heard my own parents say this. Man, I've gone too far. But if you've never gone too far, you never know the point at which you've gone too far. For me, I don't know if it would take one drink or 50 drinks. I'm not sure how many drinks it would take. And so obviously, I completely abstain from drinking alcohol. I've never had it in my life, and I never planned to drink it. And so when we're thinking about this, when it says it biteth like a serpent and it stingeth like an adder, that meant a serpent, you know what it does? A serpent, it coils up and it hides in the bushes. I was riding a four-wheeler one time through my papa's forest in Tennessee. He's got 300 acres in Tennessee, and I was riding a four-wheeler one time, me and my friend growing up, and we backed our four-wheeler in and I got it stuck, and we jumped off the four-wheeler and we're trying to push it out of this area. Well, we look down to the left, and there's this coiled up snake. It's a serpent right there, and he's just slithered up and he's rattling his tail. I don't think it was a rattlesnake, but you know, sometimes they like to mimic, and maybe it was. I'm not sure. This was probably 15 years ago. And we're looking at this, we're looking at this serpent, and as they're coiled up, then they're in the bushes, and they're what they're what they're doing is they're waiting on you to get vulnerable, and then the serpent jumps and strikes at you. And so when the Bible refers to this as biting like a serpent and stinging like a like an adder, it's not saying alcohol is gonna come out and dance in front of you and tell you, hey, you can drink me three times, and then you're gonna get drunk. No, it's gonna make you get four and five. The devil is gonna push you, and those, those little spirits, those little spirits are gonna push you to drink more and more and more until you realize and you say, hey, what have I done? I've gone a little bit too far this time. Let me offer you this question. Most people would say, Oh, well, I don't have an issue with it. I can drink one drink and I can put it down. Well, did you know that you could drink one drink before you took the first drink? Because I'll tell you this morning, every alcoholic took a first drink at some point. Alcoholics didn't weren't just born alcoholics. People weren't just born that way. No, they they took a drink and then they found out, oh man, I really like this, and then they became alcoholics. And so this morning, if you'd offer up the question and say, Well, I can drink one drink, what if today you're pushing people into addiction? You're saying, well, one drink is okay, one drink is okay, one drink is okay, with I believe one drink is not okay, but say you believe that this morning, you say one drink is okay, but don't get drunk, don't get drunk. Maybe you can hold yourself back. Maybe you have control over yourself in order to do that. But what if the next person in line doesn't? What if the person that you're talking to does not? You've just created an alcoholic, you've just created somebody who might go and murder somebody's family, who might go and drink and drive, who might go and kill an entire family. We I live in the state of Florida. We have beaches here. This is a very big party state. There's lots of parties that go on, there's lots of drinking and driving that happens here. And so unfortunately, we have a lot of times where there's wrecks and people, innocent people, die for other people's stupidity. And guess what? I find it crazy in the fact that most every single time, not every single time, but a lot of times you see the drunk person is perfectly fine and they go to jail and they get to live. But then the family or the person that they hit ends up being dead. And so when we're looking at this and you say, well, one drink is okay, let me offer you this question. What if one drink for that one person's not okay? And then they go and they get drunk and they go and get in a drinking and driving accident and they kill somebody, friend, that blood is on your hands. You're the one that told them preacher, pastor, teacher, friend, saved person, saint, whatever the case you want to, whatever title you want to give yourself this morning. You say, Oh, well, drinking, I I really don't see an issue with drinking one drink here and there. Let me tell you, the the lowercase spirit wants to take over, and the demonic spirits and the demonic forces of this world, they want to take over at your weakest point, and the devil, he wants to attack you at your weakest point. He wants to bite like a serpent and sting like an adder. He's not gonna do it up front, he's gonna do it once he's taken you back just for a little bit and taken your guard away. And so this morning, when we're looking at the differences of now and then, we're also looking at the difference in the capital S spirit and the lowercase spirits. But thirdly, this morning, I want to look at the difference between salvation and sanctification. Romans chapter number 14, verse number 21 says, It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth or is offended or is made weak. And so, salvation, obviously, that's being saved from sins penalty. That's being saved from hell, that's going to heaven. We understand that this morning I'm thankful that I'm saved. I'm thankful for the day I got saved. I know I'm saved, and I'm thankful for that. Salvation, it's an instant thing. It's the second someone believes the gospel and trusts Jesus Christ to save them, they're saved, and that does not change. Drinking alcohol does not change your sins with God. I fully believe that again, Ephesians 2.8.9, for by grace are we saved through faith. Not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And so this morning when we're thinking about salvation, it's by grace through faith. We did nothing to get salvation. I don't believe this morning that we can do anything to lose it. And so let's set that barrier 100% across the board. Nothing we do can we can gain our salvation. So nothing we do can make us lose our salvation. And so when we're saved, we ought to want to be sanctified. 2 Corinthians 5.17 says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new, and all things are of God. That very next verse starts off with that. And so when we're thinking about when we get saved, we're supposed to be a completely new creature, completely set apart. The Bible says in the book of 1st or 2 Corinthians, don't quote me on which one it is, it says, Come out from among them and be ye separate. The Bible says, Be ye holy, for I am holy. The Bible talks multiple times about how we're supposed to be separate. We're supposed to be sanctified because we are saved, and we're supposed to try to live for the Lord as best as we possibly can. And so this morning you say you're saved, but are you sanctified? Sanctification is the process of becoming more like Christ and being set apart from sin and growing in holiness. When we're yielding to what the Holy Spirit says, the Capital S Spirit, yielding to his will for our life. We want nothing to do with this present world in those lowercase spirit. Before you go take a shower, well, sometimes I go hose off before I go take a shower because my wife doesn't like grass in the bottom of the shower, and that's okay. But I'm talking about if you're just dirty, if you're stinky and you need a shower and it's your daily shower, you don't go wash off in the sink before you take a shower, do you? No, it's the same thing with Christ. You don't go and try to clean yourself up before you come to Christ. No, you come to Christ, you get saved, and He'll do the cleaning up. He'll give you the shower after you get saved. Amen. He will sanctify you if you truly want to be sanctified. And so this morning, when we're talking about salvation and sanctification, they are two different things and they happen at two different times. And so you get saved and salvation ha sanctification happens after. This present world will drink till this place burns up. I've I have anybody been to a college, college sports game or NBA game or an NFL game? Me and my wife's grandfather had the awesome time of going to a gator versus Tennessee game here in Gainesville a few months ago, back in November. And I'll just tell you all you gator fans that are listening to this, I just want to bring back to recollection how uh we mopped the floor with you guys, and it was like 42 to zero at halftime. And uh, anyways, we'll speed past that. Go vols, baby, let's go, and uh go big orange. Uh that's what I'm talking about. But anyways, we're at this game, and I'm walking through downtown Gainesville, all these bars, all these bars. I mean, these kids, they are drunk, and they're they're no older than I am. Some of them are younger than I am, and I'm looking around at the destruction that's taking place, at the lives that are being wrecked. Yes, there's some that weren't drinking, but most of them, I'd be willing to say over half of the people that I came in contact with that night, which was thousands of people that I saw had drinks in their hand or were actively drunk. The amount of fights that try people tried to start with me just because I was wearing Tennessee orange in this place and they're all drunk. And I mean, it's so sad to see the state of this world. But these lost people, they're gonna drink until the world burns up. There's not gonna be a time where alcohol is gonna be banned in the United States of America. It makes the government too much money, it makes people too much money, it's not gonna be banned in. America. I wish it was. If somebody, if a president stood up today and said, I want to ban alcohol, I'd be the first in line to go vote for him. Amen. And so when we're thinking about this, we're thinking about lost people. They're going to drink until the world burns up. But today I'm really talking about saved people. Lost people don't know no better. And so when we're talking about lost people, they just need to get saved. So don't try to preach on alcohol's wrong, alcohol is wrong to a lost person because it ain't gonna matter to them until they get saved. So preach the gospel to them, let them get saved, and then understand why alcohol is wrong. But this morning I'm more talking about to saved people. The ones who need to be sanctified, the ones who need to be set apart. The Bible says in the book of Romans, chapter number 14, verse number 21. Again, I'll read this. It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. How about your Christian testimony? When you're out at uh we have a Chili's here or a Longhorn in Palatka, and most people around here know that I'm the youth pastor of Southside Baptist Church, because I go and I tell them a lot of people know us. We're a we're a bigger church in in terms of where we are in our geographical location here in this town. And so a lot of people know our church, they know our pastor, and I'm thankful that they know who we are. But how would that affect my testimony if I were to go into Longhorn? The same people that I witness to are the same people that I witness to at Chili's, we get the same server just about every time we go to Chili's, and she's awesome. And what if I went in there and we've witnessed to her and we've invited her to church? And I don't know if she's saved, I don't know if she's a Christian, I truly don't know. But what if I were to just say, hey, can I get a margarita tonight? What would that do for my Christian testimony? What would that do to the lost and dying world that I'm sitting there trying to witness to, that I'm trying to minister to in the Longhorn, in the Chili's, in the whatever the case, wherever you are, I don't know where you live, I don't know what restaurant you have, but put it in your terms, if you were to go and just order something and it's the same person that you tried to witness to over and over, how would that affect your testimony? This morning, what about if a church member saw you or somebody saw you out in public? Would that be a stumbling block to another brother of saying, Well, why are they doing that? The Bible says we're not to, whereby thy brother stumbleth or is offended or is made weak, we're not supposed to be a stumbling block for somebody. And so this morning we ought to want to uphold our Christian testimony and be as sold out and be as on fire for the Lord and as separated as we can possibly be. How about this? Alcohol that opposes the fruit of the spirit. Galatians chapter number five. I'll turn there quickly. We're running out of time, and so I'll turn there quickly. We're almost finished this morning. Galatians chapter number five, verse number 19. The Bible says, Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, and how about this? Drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of the which I tell you before, as I have told also to you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. And they are Christ have crucified, they are that Christ have crucified the flesh. Let us also walk in the spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another. We're supposed to desire to live in the spirit this morning. It says, Let us also walk in the spirit this morning. The fruit of the spirit this morning can only be given out of us if we have the Holy Spirit of God living inside of us. And so it says, Now the works of the flesh are manifest, and it lifts drunkenness. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, and temperance. Alcohol diminishes that temperance. That temperance, it means self-control. And so alcohol, it completely diminishes our self-control while the spirit produces it. And so we see two things that fight hand in hand, that capital S spirit and those lowercase spirits, they fight against each other and they go hand in hand. I tell you what, I'm saved, I'm sanctified, and I'm sold out. Life is the happiest you'll ever experience when you're sold out to the Lord. This morning, I don't understand why people can just go and they don't have to live for the Lord. They can just say they're saved, but yet they don't live for the Lord. Friend, I'm not saying this morning that you're not saved, but I would say examine your heart. Don't wait till you're older to live for the Lord. Don't wait, uh if you're young, listening to this, don't wait till you're older, live for the Lord. I tell my teens this all the time. Don't wait till you're my age to live for the Lord. And I know there's not a big difference between an 18-year-old and a 23-year-old, but five years is a long time. That 18 to 22 range when you're those first four years in college are the four years where most people begin to ruin their lives. So this morning I would encourage you to think about what we've talked about today. Think about this question: is alcohol or is drinking a sin for a Christian? Should Christians drink? Today, I tell you no. I don't know. I believe it's plain and clear in scripture that we are to be set apart, that we are to be sanctified, that we are to have nothing to do with the lowercase spirits in the Bible, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be sober, be vigilant. Because your adversary, the devil, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. I hope it encouraged you. I encourage you this morning to keep on the firing line. Until next time, I'll see you next week. Have a good one.