A sermon on drunkenness.

Steve Brown:
A sermon on drunkenness on this edition of Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
If you’re sick of guilt and manipulation. And if you’re looking for an honest and thoughtful presentation of Biblical truth, you’ve come to the right place. This is Key Life with the founder of Key Life Network, Steve Brown, keep listening for teaching that will make you free.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. I began this program by saying a sermon on drunkenness. And I can hardly wait. I just want you to know, we’re looking at the list of the works of the flesh, and we’ve seen that Paul starts with sexual sin, and then he goes to religious sin, and then he goes to relational sin, and this is a long list of the works of the flesh, that’ll make you wince. And if you don’t find yourself there, someplace, you don’t understand. And we’re going to talk some about that in a little bit, but note that Paul then turns, after he finishes talking about relationship, to sins that have to do with booze, he talks about drunkenness and carousing, and you say, well why could you hardly wait to get here? Cause I’m a teetotaler, that’s why. Yeah, you know, there’s of hardly any sin that I can talk about that I haven’t thought about doing or done. I mean, I struggle with this. People say you’re so authentic. No, I’m not. I just don’t want you to find out that what I said is true and be shocked. So I can say, I told you, I struggle with it, and you do too. It’s just that I admit it, but not drunkenness. I really don’t, I mean, I’d love to preach. and never have, a whole sermon on drunkenness, because I could be insufferably self-righteous, because no adult beverage has ever passed these pure lips. And so, it’s the one area I know I could preach against, except that Jesus reminds me that it’s a supernatural act. It really is. I just can’t. I mean, I want to, I think I told you I was in Northern Ireland during a series on grace in Belfast, and had a wonderful time. And we went to Ireland during that time, and that’s where Guinness is made and they have Guinness jewelry and Guinness clothes and they make the Guinness booze, the ale there. And I mean, it’s everywhere you turn, well, you know, I’m here all at least try it. And so I got a bottle of it, and spit it out. I mean, I can’t get booze down anyway, but Guinness is like drinking axle grease. That’s the worst stuff I ever put in my mouth. And you say you’re so pure. No, I’m not. God did that to me. My father was an alcoholic. I’m from a family of alcoholics, and Jesus, because he likes me a lot fixed it. And I don’t know how he did it. So even before I was a Christian, I couldn’t get booze down, wine, even good wine tastes to me, like Kool-Aid gone bad. And I could go on and on and on. So when we get to the last of the list, of the works of the flesh, and Paul talks about drunkenness and carousing, I want to say, you go Paul, you let him have it. And then I realize, you can’t go there, because it was only by God’s grace. Now let me say something. I’m not going to go off on a tangent on booze. You can’t go further than the Bible goes. You can’t say more than the Bible says about something. And the Bible does in a number of cases, talk about wine as a legitimate drink. But I would suggest, because I’m old and I’m wise. And because I’ve sat through countless counseling sessions of people whose lives have been destroyed by booze. And because I know what it does, you be careful out there. It would not be a bad idea for you to say, look, I think I’m going to drink milk. Like my cowboy hero did in the bar, and then fight off anybody who makes fun of me. I think I’m going to stay away from something like that, when John Wesley first went to Oxford University, and by the way, he wasn’t a Christian at that time, that happened later in an incident where his heart was strangely warmed. But he was astounded by how much drinking went on in the bars, around Oxford university. He made some judgements on the issue, which were rational and wise, and he wrote to his mother Susanna and he asked her, let me tell you what she said, this was her advice, son, remember that anything which increases the authority of the body over the mind is an evil thing. Oh, that’s something to think about. As I said, I’m not going to go down that list, and go off on a tangent on booze, because I don’t think the Bible does that, but the Bible is clear on drunkenness, and the Bible is clear on the dangers. And Paul is talking about that right here. And we’ve got to be careful. As a matter of fact, I could say the same thing about drugs. I could say the same thing about a lot of things, that we like too much food, that’s called gluttony. I can just go on and on, but sometimes, sometimes it, we need to stop and say, now where am I going? And what am I going to do? And how am I going to honor God? I’m not telling you what you should do, I’m not your mother. Okay? But Paul is clear, that drunkenness and carousing and that’s all the stuff that comes from the bad stuff. That, that is a danger and it’ll kill you. And I’m pure. You think about that. Amen. Well it’s Wednesday, and sometimes when I have a little time at the end of the broadcast, I spend some time answering one or two questions, and Pete will be in on Friday as always, if the river don’t rise. And we’ll spend the entire broadcast answering questions. And we love to get your questions. And I really mean that. The only dumb ones, is the one you don’t ask. You can send your question to

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You can e-mail your question to [email protected]. And of course, 24 seven. If you’ve got a question, and it just occurs to you, before you forget, pick up the phone, call 1-800-KEY-LIFE, hit the button and record your question. And sometimes we put your actual voice on the air. And as I said, we love your questions. Oh, by the way, if you haven’t checked out the new Key Life app, you can get that at either one of those stores where you get apps. And if you want to give, you can text Key Life at 28950 and just follow the instructions. And you can use those touch points that I just mentioned to help us financially, if God leads you to do that. I promise we’ll be as faithful with your gift, as you are and giving it. And if you can’t, we understand, say a prayer for this ministry. Alright, this is an e-mail question, kind of long, says, I’ve heard you teach this working principle, you can stand any tough time, if you know that it’s only temporary. If you know that the suffering will end, you can get through it. God promises that though it may hurt now, there will come an end and you will not ultimately be destroyed. His love assures us that bottom line fact. I have a question about this since many people have been ultimately destroyed. What about Stephen in Acts 7? What about Job’s children? There is no deliverance or happy ending. I think this principle doesn’t compute. Any help? Of course it computes. I mean, I didn’t say that if you’re going through a tough time, you’ll never die. I mean, as I understand it, that statistic is one out of one. Some of the dumbest headlines that you read in the newspapers or hear on television are about how so many more die, if they do this, or don’t do this. And I want to say, are you crazy? Everybody dies. The statistic is 100%. There’s no way you get out of it. So Stephen went through suffering, but you know what happened immediately after they stoned him to death, he was dancing and singing before the throne. And if you don’t get that, you miss one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith. And it’s this, you’re not home yet. But with all of that being said, I still generally stick by the principle, in time and space, without talking about heaven. Man, I’ve gone places that hurt bad and done things that hurt bad. And I have walked in the dark. I’m writing a book right now, that will be out in about a year, called Laughter and Lament: The Touchstones of Christian Freedom. And one of the important things I’m writing about in that book is just here, that generally it does pass, generally it’s not as bad as you thought it was going to be. Generally God doesn’t delight in killing off his children. Generally God brings you through, it passes and the sun begins to shine again. And by the way, the accuracy of the quote, you got a little bit wrong. It was as follows.

You can stand hell, if you know you’re going to get out.

And you are. You’re going to either get out, because God in his wisdom and kindness decides to bless you. And that happens a whole lot. It really does. And even our questioner, and by the way, that’s a good question. And I appreciate your asking it, but even the questioner, you’ve been to places where God fixed. You’ve had bad relations that God made better. You’ve lost a job, but found a new one. And you really can stand hell, if you know you’re going to get out. Gotta go. Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.