Drunk men are quick to go for their guns, but sober men are quicker at getting there.”
–Zachary McCrae (Frontier Fury)
“Wine produces mockers; liquor leads to brawls. Whoever is led astray by drink cannot be wise.”
–Proverbs 20:1 (NLT)
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The 6th Woe of Isaiah 5, Part 2:
“Woe to those who are mighty heroes at drinking wine and men of strength in mixing alcoholic drinks!— Who justify and acquit the guilty for a bribe, but take away the rights of the innocent and righteous from them!” —5:22-23 (Amplified)
“And you are great at drinking and mixing drinks. But you are in for trouble. You accept bribes to let the guilty go free, and you cheat the innocent out of a fair trial.” –(CEV)
“Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.” –(NIV)
Drinking and boasting and injustice, they seem to go together. How many times have you seen in recent years the inequity of justice? A small crime committed (against the agenda) and severe punishment, while a severe crime is merely reprimanded. The mockery of justice is very apparent, laws are sneered at and even held in contempt. The person of the world certainly would not dare boast of God, but delights in being a “man or woman of the world”, sophisticated (at least in their own mind), enjoying their liquor. The goodlife–partying over the weekend, cocktails after supper. Christians have even joined in with their ranks in thinking their freedom in Christ involves having margaritas or cocktails. A woe is pronounced on such activity.
Woe, when people have to resort to liquor to get a thrill, to be happy, to live the good life, and to be a person of the world. But, hold on, wait a minute, we are not to be of the world! D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, “Men and women do not have to sink so low that they cannot find pleasure unless they drug themselves and bombard their brains and insult themselves.” Mankind, it seems, is so easily deceived. “Instead of using his mind, his soul, and his strength properly, he was attacking it with over-stimulation and the result was exhaustion and worry.” (Lloyd-Jones) Alcohol use is responsible for 178,000 deaths in the United States each year, that is one of every eight deaths are due to alcohol. Along with that it costs $249 billion annually in expenses for the nation. Now add to that other drug abuse. Woe!
Wrong ideas lead to wrong practices. People think you can have righteousness with godliness, that “you can hold on to the ethics after you have abandoned the doctrine” (Lloyd-Jones). Pauls tells us in Romans, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (1:18, NIV) Man who persists in this vein will find their consciences affected, more deception will follow, more false belief. As Lloyd-Jones states, “Sin always corrodes the conscience, always dulls it.” Your moral values will weaking, your sense of right and wrong will become corrupt. Woe!
The light, the salt–what happens to the distinguishing features of a Christian if they live like the world? Believers should be the guardians of morality. (Hmmm, we shall see in the coming election.) People are more interested in their own desires, their pleasures and happiness. “We are in a state of change; goodness is despised, integrity laughed at, and chastity and purity regarded as outmoded and old-fashioned” (Lloyd-Jones). “Justify the wicked…take away the righteousness of the righteous” (NKJV) Do not deceive yourselves, do not become a slave to your ideas of freedom which could actually place you in bondage. Do not be partakers of the world and what it offers at the expense of your testimony and soul.
“Wine produces mockers; liquor leads to brawls. Whoever is led astray by drink cannot be wise.”
–Proverbs 20:1 (NLT)
——————————–
The 6th Woe of Isaiah 5, Part 2:
“Woe to those who are mighty heroes at drinking wine and men of strength in mixing alcoholic drinks!— Who justify and acquit the guilty for a bribe, but take away the rights of the innocent and righteous from them!” —5:22-23 (Amplified)
“And you are great at drinking and mixing drinks. But you are in for trouble. You accept bribes to let the guilty go free, and you cheat the innocent out of a fair trial.” –(CEV)
“Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.” –(NIV)
Drinking and boasting and injustice, they seem to go together. How many times have you seen in recent years the inequity of justice? A small crime committed (against the agenda) and severe punishment, while a severe crime is merely reprimanded. The mockery of justice is very apparent, laws are sneered at and even held in contempt. The person of the world certainly would not dare boast of God, but delights in being a “man or woman of the world”, sophisticated (at least in their own mind), enjoying their liquor. The goodlife–partying over the weekend, cocktails after supper. Christians have even joined in with their ranks in thinking their freedom in Christ involves having margaritas or cocktails. A woe is pronounced on such activity.
Woe, when people have to resort to liquor to get a thrill, to be happy, to live the good life, and to be a person of the world. But, hold on, wait a minute, we are not to be of the world! D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, “Men and women do not have to sink so low that they cannot find pleasure unless they drug themselves and bombard their brains and insult themselves.” Mankind, it seems, is so easily deceived. “Instead of using his mind, his soul, and his strength properly, he was attacking it with over-stimulation and the result was exhaustion and worry.” (Lloyd-Jones) Alcohol use is responsible for 178,000 deaths in the United States each year, that is one of every eight deaths are due to alcohol. Along with that it costs $249 billion annually in expenses for the nation. Now add to that other drug abuse. Woe!
Wrong ideas lead to wrong practices. People think you can have righteousness with godliness, that “you can hold on to the ethics after you have abandoned the doctrine” (Lloyd-Jones). Pauls tells us in Romans, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (1:18, NIV) Man who persists in this vein will find their consciences affected, more deception will follow, more false belief. As Lloyd-Jones states, “Sin always corrodes the conscience, always dulls it.” Your moral values will weaking, your sense of right and wrong will become corrupt. Woe!
The light, the salt–what happens to the distinguishing features of a Christian if they live like the world? Believers should be the guardians of morality. (Hmmm, we shall see in the coming election.) People are more interested in their own desires, their pleasures and happiness. “We are in a state of change; goodness is despised, integrity laughed at, and chastity and purity regarded as outmoded and old-fashioned” (Lloyd-Jones). “Justify the wicked…take away the righteousness of the righteous” (NKJV) Do not deceive yourselves, do not become a slave to your ideas of freedom which could actually place you in bondage. Do not be partakers of the world and what it offers at the expense of your testimony and soul.