Spiritual Drunkenness

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Spiritual Drunkenness

I have always been intrigued by the churches of Christianity and their various traditions in regards to drinking alcohol and/ or becoming drunk. Recently, our local bible study had an interesting but short discussion about drinking alcohol, and whether or not it was biblically acceptable.

I had planned to personally do a bible study on this topic and present it in an upcoming bible study, but I thought it would make a nice talk for this mini bible conference. So, without further delay let’s get drunk on the new wine that the Lord has hopefully prepared for us.

Overseers and Ministers

I am confident we are all very much personally aware of someone who is or who has been an alcoholic. If not, then I know we are all at least familiar with the affects of alcohol. However, even if we have read various but brief descriptions of being drunk spiritually on IWWB, if you are or were like me, you had never really done a more in- depth study of the topic.

Of course, many churches hold strong stances and doctrines on the topic which inevitably figure into our personal mindsets on the topic. Some of the most widely used verses to formulate a doctrine one way or another lie in Titus chapter one and 1Ti chapter three. I want to read this through because they set the stage for the rest of the study. Those few verses read as:

Tit 1:5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:
Tit 1:6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
Tit 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;
Tit 1:8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
Tit 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

And:

1Ti 3:1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
1Ti 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
1Ti 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
1Ti 3:4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
1Ti 3:5(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
1Ti 3:6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
1Ti 3:7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
1Ti 3:8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
1Ti 3:9 Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
1Ti 3:10 And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
1Ti 3:11 Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
1Ti 3:12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
1Ti 3:13 For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Now, having read all that, is that all there is to drinking alcohol or wine? Well, of course it isn’t. However, scripture has surprisingly very little to say on physically becoming drunk and it being sinful and even less on simply drinking wine or alcohol, but scripture paints a huge canvas on what it is to spiritually drink and/or to become drunk.

1Ti 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.

As with all scripture, we need to keep in mind what the physical example is pointing to us to understanding in the spiritual and as is also true with every word of scripture there is a positive and negative aspect to each.

Before we start to dive into the physical versus spiritual aspects of drunkenness we need to first compare physical to physical and I am specifically referring to the words written in your bible.

What I am referring to can be found in the example found in Jer 51:7:

Jer 51:7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

Jer 51:7 BabylonH894 hath been a goldenH2091 cupH3563 in the LORD’SH3068 hand,H3027 that made allH3605 the earthH776 drunken:H7937 the nationsH1471 have drunkenH8354 of her wine;H4480 H3196 thereforeH5921 H3651 the nationsH1471 are mad.H1984

As I have listed out in the notes, you can read and see that the first English word “drunken” in this verse is not the same Hebrew word found secondly in the verse. The first word refers to becoming drunk and the second time refers to having drunk something in this case wine.

So, if it is not obvious we just need to firstly be careful that we are actually reading it as it is written and secondly that when reading it as written we are taking care to read it in the light of the verses surrounding it. This becomes more and more important when we are trying to discern what the spiritual message is that we are being told.

Now that we have touched briefly on the physical with more to come, let’s also now begin to set the stage for comparing spiritual to spiritual, and what better place to start than to compare wine to strong drink because there is a difference both physically and spiritually as well.

Wine versus Strong Drink

To show there is a contrast of the two we can read:

Lev 10:9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:

Deu 14:26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,

Luk 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.

So obviously we can see a contrast with the word nor distinguishing the two, but what is the spiritually significant difference between wine and strong drink and why does it matter. Being given eyes that see and ears that hear the difference dramatically reveal what these words mean to us spiritually and hopefully opens up to us to always see these words and phrases in a whole new light.

The first occurrence of wine and being drunk from it that I could find scripturally can be seen with Noah. If anyone sees this differently, please let me know after the talk or latter when you happen upon your findings.

Here is what we find in Gen:

Gen 9:15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
Gen 9:16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
Gen 9:17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
Gen 9:18 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
Gen 9:19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
Gen 9:20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
Gen 9:21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
Gen 9:22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
Gen 9:23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.
Gen 9:24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
Gen 9:25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
Gen 9:26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

The first important thing to note in this short story is that God has made a covenant with Noah and not with Noah only but with all living flesh, and this very important covenant is that the water will not become a flood and destroy all flesh. We just read that Paul told Timothy not to drink water anymore, but to drink a little wine. What can we spiritually discern from that? Let’s continue and find out. Which wine is Paul referring to?

The second and very revealing thing to notice is that the next thing we do after God makes this covenant with is that we LEAVE God’s protection, in this case the ark, and set forth to build a vineyard that creates the wine that makes us drunk. How is this important? Well, I hope you have already started to pick up on it.

From the very first time we come to know God and we are shown his mercy via a covenant with Him, the ark typifying our first baptism and walk with Christ, we then set out and take this knowledge with us as we build upon what the Lord has blessed us with – fertile land – and we build upon this something that results in us becoming naked. Of course, I know you all know that the Lord is working all of this, but it is through Noah and his actions that it is being worked. Of note is that Noah does eventually “wake from his wine” and knows he was naked, but that is going to be covered a little later.

So, that is one example of wine that we have talked about but let’s talk about another. That can be found in the very next time we see wine mentioned and that is found in Gen 14.

Gen 14:14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
Gen 14:15 And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
Gen 14:16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
Gen 14:17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.
Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Gen 14:19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
Gen 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

Immediately when I read this story I think of Psa 110:

Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Psa 110:2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Psa 110:3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
Psa 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Psa 110:5 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
Psa 110:6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
Psa 110:7 He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

So what in the world am I getting at? Hopefully, I am not getting at anything of this world, but something far, far above it. The first time we see wine mentioned, we see the first covenant made with God, and the second time we see wine mentioned, we see that a tithe is made to the the High Priest as a result of bread and wine coming to us from the High Priest.

The first time we take of what the land produces, the wine, we become drunk from it resulting in nakedness, and the second time around we take of what the High Priest provides to us, the bread and wine, and we give Him something in return…a tithe. Spiritually, we know the High Priest to be Jesus Christ, and we know that the spiritual tithe is giving Him ourselves completely.

Can we see the difference? First we take and consume of what THE LAND brings forth, but the second time around is when the High Priest appears “bringing forth” bread and wine. There is a time period here that typifies our crying out to the Lord and Him delivering us from our nakedness.

Isa 19:20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.

The Stronger the Drink…

To continue on with comparing wine to strong meat, we can now start to see what strong meat is and what it does / produces spiritually. Wine brought forth of the land, the earth, turns into drunkenness which produces nakedness that needs to be covered. Strong drink, as is true in the physical realm, produces this result much quicker, but it also adds something else to the mix so to speak. Strong drink gets us drunk quicker with less, but it also gives an illusion that we are strong and invincible.

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

(NASB) Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

And then we see this:

Pro 31:6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
Pro 31:7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

But what does that mean? Someone ready to perish could use some strength. Someone who is of a heavy heart is lowly, and being a mocker translates into thinking you are above or better than what you are mocking; in other words the attitude that “I would never do that”. Why are we instructed to give strong drink and wine to anyone? Let’s see if we can determine this from the scripture.

Deu 29:3 The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:
Deu 29:4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
Deu 29:5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.
Deu 29:6 Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.

While being led in the wilderness, we have not eaten bread neither do we drink wine or strong drink, but wait! Didn’t Israel eat manna/ bread every morning as was provided to them? So, what are we being told? Let’s continue and see if the scripture comes together spiritually for us.

Lam 4:19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
Lam 4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.
Lam 4:21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
Lam 4:22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.

Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

In Deuteronomy we just read that while we are being led by the Lord in the wilderness we have not drunk wine, and in Lamentations we also read that the punishment of our iniquity as being children of our mother (O daughter of Zion), result in us no longer being carried away into captivity but results in our inquity being visited and our sins being discovered. What in the world do we make of all that? Isn’t there a positive and negative to wine and strong drink?

Gen 43:34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

The word merry here is poorly translated and should be translated as it was in all other instances as drunk or drunken.

(LITV) Gen 43:34 And one carried portions from before him to them, and Benjamin’s portion was greater than the portions of all of them, five hands. And they drank and were drunken with him.

Old versus New

Up until this point, we have concentrated on several aspects of being physically and spiritually drunk, strong drink versus wine, and that only briefly, but we also need to add in a third part to the equation and that is new versus old. Of course, I am confident that we are all familiar with the parable of the new wine versus the old wine, but we should read it quickly to present it fresh to our minds and a good example of this can be found in Mar.

Mar 2:18 And the disciples of Joh and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of Joh and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?
Mar 2:19 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
Mar 2:20 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
Mar 2:21 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.
Mar 2:22 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.
Mar 2:23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.
Mar 2:24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

One of the things Christ was alluding to here was there being of necessity a change of the Law which they were all very familiar with back then. He mentions the bridegroom, in essence a new life as a married person and also the reference to the new being completely new and needing to be put into new containers.

Heb 7:9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.
Heb 7:10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.
Heb 7:11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
Heb 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

Isn’t it amazing how we read earlier that Melchisedec came bringing wine, and Christ is here speaking about new wine, and He is the new High Priest? Is this new wine important, and just who gets this spiritual new wine? Well, we just read it doesn’t go in old bottles which must keep the law, the old wine, but it must go in new bottles which will keep the new wine. Another witness to this is:

Joe 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joe the son of Pethuel.
Joe 1:2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
Joe 1:3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
Joe 1:4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
Joe 1:5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.

And yet a third witness to who gives and possesses this new wine:

Joe 3:15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
Joe 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Joe 3:17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
Joe 3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
Joe 3:19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
Joe 3:20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
Joe 3:21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.

Spiritually speaking, it is of note that we should recognize that this new wine will age and become better over time just as old wine has to go through the time process to become good and desirable. We can see this to be true with what we just read about the sun and the moon being darkened. This darkening, which results in us receiving new wine, starts in us our spiritual walk with Christ and the receiving of the Holy Spirit.

Bringing the New Wine “In”

I mentioned before that we would touch on physical wine and how Noah awoke from his wine and knew that he had been naked and it was his seed, his son, which had seen his nakedness. If we only look at the surface of the letter, we are not given to know exactly how Noah knew what happened, but spiritually we have already come to a spiritual truth of what had happened.

With the wine that we abuse physically, we see the results in a physical way, but when we abuse the wine that is brought forth of the vineyard we plant, the result is hidden from us until we are given to see and hear that result. Again, we read:

Deu 29:3 The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:
Deu 29:4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
Deu 29:5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.
Deu 29:6 Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.

We simply cannot see past the strong delusion that is spiritually placed upon us. One of the greatest examples of this is in how most of us, along with most of Christendom look down so much on drinking wine or drinking a beer in general. We see this as spiritual weakness when in truth, the truth is that the issue isn’t with the person who is drinking the alcohol but with the person who takes issue with it. Here is what I mean, and here are the scriptures from which I glean this truth.

Mar 7:14 And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:
Mar 7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
Mar 7:16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

Nothing from without a man entering into him can defile him, but why is that?

1Sa 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jer 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Psa 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

We can see that the drunkard has a spirit that the Lord has sent that causes him to become physically drunk, but what we need to see, what we need to hear when we “be still and know that I am God”, and what we need to do is look on our OWN heart, our OWN MIND and see it as God sees it. It is we who have the spirit of drunkenness that tells us that what the Lord has given to us is somehow bad.

What is true is that we are those who see an alcoholic drink and somehow associate it with sin and if we take and drink of it we are taking and drinking that sin and thus committing sin. This is not truth but a lie. Now, am I advocating getting drunk? Absolutely not. A man or woman of God does not get drunk physically and more importantly spiritually. A man or woman of God is spiritually in a condition that the physical drunkenness never has a chance to happen.

Exo 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Is that any different than this commandment?

Mat 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Mat 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

I tell you that this is NOT different but it is refined. It is a change, a reform, a raising of the bar of what is already physically true.

Heb 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

This change is simply that the physical is STILL TRUE. Just as physical adultery results in sin and the penalty of death, equally true is that the spiritual act of adultery resulting in spiritual fornication is spiritual death. This is no different with physical and spiritual wine. However, we need to be very sure of what is being said. I hope the following sums this up.

Gen 9:20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:

Was Noah punished by God for planting a vineyard that produced the wine he drank? The last verse in Deu 13 says this:

Deu 13:18 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God.

And one of these commandments was to:

Deu 14:22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.
Deu 14:23 And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.
Deu 14:24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
Deu 14:25 Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:
Deu 14:26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,

Did the Lord really just command that they TITHE to him what was turned into money and then bought wine or strong drink or whatsoever thy soul desire? Yes, he did, and this was the law in the old testament. Is this spiritually done away with? Was adultery now allowed by Christ to physically happen or was the bar raised that didn’t only raise the requirement to meant the spiritually commandment but it almost discounts that the physical is even in question?

The point being made is that God allowed drinking of physical wine to happen without some rod of lightning killing everyone and calling it a sin. We all know and just read that Paul instructed Timothy to drink physical wine for his stomach’s sake and his OFTEN INFIRMITIES. Is it a stretch to think that those often infirmities were often met with often drinking of wine?
Wine was drunk at the last supper. Was it fermented? Is that REALLY all we can concentrate on? Shouldn’t we rather be concentrated on what we are spiritually being instructed when Christ says this from His own lips:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Joh 6:64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

Do you believe Christ when He proclaims that His words are spirit and life? Well, what about these words:

Mat 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
Mat 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Mat 26:29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

Is this some other fruit of a vine that doesn’t produce wine? Is this what is the subject here? Is this not a physical drinking of wine which points to and makes understood a spiritual truth to those that are able to see and hear it via the revelation of the Holy Spirit?

What we should all really be concerned about is what wine we are drinking, not IF it is wine or not, grape juice or not, alcoholic or non- alcoholic. This is NOT the point. A physical alcoholic will continue to be a physical drunkard until the Lord hedges them from that spirit just as a physical adulterer will commit adultery until the Lord says it is no longer going to be so.

Again, I hope you know and hear me when I say that I am NOT advocating any of us to physically get drunk, but I am completely advocating that we concentrate on the spiritual wine and not the physical. If you are concentrated on the physical wine, who is drinking it, what they do after, who they do it with, etc., then you are simply doing what the Lord says we all do but must get past. You’re looking on the outward appearance and not the inward as God sees us.

Also keep in mind, that if we see a brother or sister who we call a brother or sister in Christ committing a sin of becoming drunk and acting as such, then WE do need to bring this to light to the brother or sister and the church so that repentance can happen or that they can be turned over to Satan for the destruction of that fleshly pursuit.

1Ti 5:20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
1Ti 5:21 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.
1Ti 5:22 Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.
1Ti 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.

We should be trying the spirits in others and ourselves. We should be comparing spiritual with spiritual and not physical with spiritual when someone has a glass of wine or a beer at dinner time. It is the intent that is important.

Conclusion

Physical wine versus spiritual wine, spiritual old wine versus spiritual new wine, basic wine versus strong drink have all been various angles that have been talked about in this talk on spiritual drunkenness. During this time, we have compared one against another to try and glean what we are spiritually being told about wine and strong drink and what it produces.

Becoming drunk with physical wine is no different than any other sin that we commit. They all are the same to the Lord, and they all result in death. Spiritually becoming drunk with spiritual wine produces life or death depending on if it is old or new. The old wine comes of the earth and is earthy in nature. The old wine comes from the law which is for the lawless and disobedient; whereas, new wine as is brought to us from our High Priest produces life in us. It makes us rejoice with our King and Lord and with our brothers who sit and sup with us as we receive five times more than those who only receive one portion. Spiritually becoming drunk with old wine, the doctrines of our whore mother, can only result in us becoming naked and later trying to cover this nakedness as Adam and Eve saw they were naked and after Noah became naked and was covered by the “seed, the fruits of his loins”. Knowing the difference is knowing or not knowing “Him who He has sent” the new wine.

Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Not knowing the difference results in us groping for the wall like the blind:

Isa 59:8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
Isa 59:9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
Isa 59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

Let us all pray that we begin to know, understand and remember what the wine of the Lord is all about.

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