Wine Against Wisdom

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 9, 1902

Wine Against Wisdom

The Two Spirits

SPEAKING of the judgment to come upon “the drunkards of Ephraim,” and of “them that are overcome with wine,” the prophet says: “In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, and for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.”

What a contrast between the Spirit of the Lord and the spirit of wine! The Spirit of the Lord is the Spirit of judgment, “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding;” but wine causes even the wisest men to “stumble in judgment.” The statement that “when the wine is in, the wit is out,” is perfectly in harmony with the Scriptures; and the experience

of mankind fully corroborates it.

This agrees with the exhortation given by the apostle Paul: “Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” Eph. 5: 17, 18. Men fancy that wine contributes to the flow of wit and wisdom; but that is where they are deceived. “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” Wine loosens the tongue; and if but little be taken, a wise man, being stimulated to talk, will naturally speak some wisdom; but a very little more will make him talk foolishness; and in any case the wine adds nothing to what one has.

The Spirit of the Lord, on the other hand, imparts true wisdom, and with this we are to be filled; but to be really filled with anything means that all else is excluded. So, just to the extent that one has wine or the spirit of wine, alcohol, in one’s system, to that extent, at least, the Spirit of God must be absent.

In wine there is “excess.” Mark the words well. It is not said that wine leads to excess, or that there is danger that, if wine be taken, it will be taken to excess, but the excess is in the wine itself. It is as true of a teaspoonful as of a gallon, the difference being only one of degree. Wherever there is wine at all, there is excess. Of course it is understood that this refers to the wine that is fermented and intoxicating,—the wine which by fermentation, decay, has become the bearer of death.

It is a striking illustration of how Satan seeks to substitute death for life, and how to make people believe that there is no death, but that death is life, that he has caused brandy to be known as eau de vie—water of life—when it is in reality the water of death. “Fire water” it is appropriately named by the Red Indians.

Temperance is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Gal. 5: 22, 23. By this we see that temperance does not consist, as some suppose, in a “moderate” use of everything, whether it is good or bad; for “the Spirit is life,” and death and life cannot exist together. Whoever is led by the Spirit, and filled with the Spirit, is necessarily separated from every form of death, or everything tending to death. It is absolutely impossible for one to be completely filled with the Spirit, and at the same time to have death working in him. Therefore the Spirit-filled man has no alcoholic poison in his body.

This opens up a still wider range of temperance. Many who will allow that temperance pertains to the gospel, and that alcohol is opposed to the Spirit of God, will not admit that what one eats has anything to do with religion. Let us see whether or not this is so. In what does the evil of alcoholic liquor drinking consist? Is it in the mere act of drinking? or in the taking of a liquid?—Evidently not; since water, the purest and strongest drink, is liquid, and the act of drinking water is just the same as that of drinking intoxicating liquor. Wherein, then, lies the evil?—Just in this, that it is intoxicating, poisonous, destructive of life.

Now then, suppose one takes food which produces alcohol in the body, a very common occurrence; where is the difference, except in degree, between that and alcohol which one drinks?—There is none. Alcohol formed from food within the body is just as poisonous, just as intoxicating, as that formed in a still, outside the body.

The next question is, What are the signs of intoxication from alcohol found within the body?—They are just the same as those for intoxication from alcohol which one drinks. They cannot all be enumerated. But few people do not know the sensation of almost irresistible drowsiness after meals. All are familiar with the dull, glassy expression of the eye, which is so often seen in one who is making vain attempts to keep awake after a too hearty meal, or even a smaller meal which is not digesting properly. This is identical with the drunkard’s eye.

Again; everybody is familiar with the expression “a bilious attack.” Too many know by experience what it is; and whether by experience or observation, all know that the result is often the same as with a man who has taken more liquor than the stomach can endure. Now, how much better is the man who eats in such a way that alcohol and other poisons are produced in the stomach until the organ is compelled to eject its contents, than the man who produces the same result by drinking? Can you not see that the Christian grace of temperance has to do with eating as surely as with drinking?—Present Truth.