Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging and stirs disorder, and whoever is deceived by intoxicating drink is not wise. Intoxicating drink deceives and agitates those who yield to it, making indulgence itself the proof of folly. The deception works by dulling the senses and clouding reason, mind and judgment, so that calm judgment and a clear sense of right and wrong are lost. It likewise weakens spiritual perception and understanding and harms spiritual judgment, beclouding the powers God has given.
Drink can enslave and degrade its victim, leading a person to disregard obligations and pursue appetite despite the harm it brings. Even when the misery is recognized, the victim may lack power to escape and seek the drink again. By removing clear judgment it opens the way for wrongdoing against innocent people, and those who exercise authority over others' lives are accountable for injustices committed under its influence. Even drinks regarded as mild or harmless, such as cider and wine, can ferment and intoxicate, cloud reason, and lead on to stronger drink and ruin.
The warning is shown in the terrible harm when reason is surrendered to alcohol, as when men who had been drinking lost their senses and gave liquor to a recovering young man against instruction, and the drink ended his life. Christ gave this warning and taught self-control, abstinence, and restraint of appetite. Christ provided no intoxicating beverage, and the wine He made for the marriage feast was pure, sweet, unfermented grape juice, not fermented liquor.
Fermented wine and strong drink are forbidden by God because they deceive, lead to drunkenness and great harm, and gratifying this perverted appetite does its work of death. Intemperance must be met by making the evils of this beclouding known with united, intelligent effort. Publications on health reform carrying this truth will reach many who will not see or read important Bible subjects, and this truth is essential to arrest their attention for Bible truth.
Wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging and stirs disorder, and whoever is deceived by intoxicating drink is not wise. Intoxicating drink deceives and agitates those who yield to it, making indulgence itself the proof of folly. The deception works by dulling the senses and clouding reason, mind and judgment, so that calm judgment and a clear sense of right and wrong are lost. It likewise weakens spiritual perception and understanding and harms spiritual judgment, beclouding the powers God has given.
Drink can enslave and degrade its victim, leading a person to disregard obligations and pursue appetite despite the harm it brings. Even when the misery is recognized, the victim may lack power to escape and seek the drink again. By removing clear judgment it opens the way for wrongdoing against innocent people, and those who exercise authority over others' lives are accountable for injustices committed under its influence. Even drinks regarded as mild or harmless, such as cider and wine, can ferment and intoxicate, cloud reason, and lead on to stronger drink and ruin.
The warning is shown in the terrible harm when reason is surrendered to alcohol, as when men who had been drinking lost their senses and gave liquor to a recovering young man against instruction, and the drink ended his life. Christ gave this warning and taught self-control, abstinence, and restraint of appetite. Christ provided no intoxicating beverage, and the wine He made for the marriage feast was pure, sweet, unfermented grape juice, not fermented liquor.
Fermented wine and strong drink are forbidden by God because they deceive, lead to drunkenness and great harm, and gratifying this perverted appetite does its work of death. Intemperance must be met by making the evils of this beclouding known with united, intelligent effort. Publications on health reform carrying this truth will reach many who will not see or read important Bible subjects, and this truth is essential to arrest their attention for Bible truth.