The Truth In Print Vol. 17 Issue 12, Jan. 2012
A Publication of the
Valley church of Christ,
2375 W. 8th Street,
Yuma, AZ 85364 (928-782-5058)
Website Address ~ http://yumavalleychurchofchrist.com
Be Sure to Keep Christ at New Years!
The following article ran in our local
newspaper, The Yuma Sun, on Dec. 31, 2011. And for obvious reasons!
“Be Sure to Keep Christ at New Years!
This is what they do. They claim fond
remembrance of the “baby” Jesus with alcohol on their breath. All their love of
Christ is a spiritual fake. Along with Christmas greetings and blessings they
pour forth wisdom: “Remember, if you drink don’t drive and if you drive don’t
drink.” Their true philosophy of life is: “Come ye, say they, I will fetch
wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as
this day, and much more abundant” (Isa. 56:12).
This is what they do. They hire to
themselves ministers that say, “Drink!” They aren’t grieved over the distress
of others, and while cheating the poor they say to their peers, “Drink!”
They love pleasure and wine that
consumes their wages as they drink! They seek the clubs ---- they find a
prostitute and say, “Drink!” Both the adulterer and adulteress say,
“Drink!”
They talk nonsense and drink! They see themselves as big strong men who can
drink! They are in distress and bawl and cry as they drink! They are overcome
by sorrow and drink! They get wounds needlessly by falling or fighting while
they drink!
They cause grief, intimidate, are
contentious and drink! They drink all day and being inflamed commit violent
acts and drink! They commit shameful acts with strangers and lie and cheat as
they drink! They kill while being drunken and saying, “Drink!”
Alcohol takes over and destroys
both mind and body, and they drink! They
justify the wicked for personal gain, condemn the righteous, and drink! They
traffic drugs and their own people -- girls, women, boys and men and drink to
the good life!”
Well, it is a fact that is often observed —
right after they claim to keep Christ in Christmas they strive to keep
drunkenness in New Years! Also, people
quite often get drunk at Christmas time because they are not expecting to be as
likely “caught” as at New Years.
What A
Mother Taught Her Son
(A lesson for high officials)
Pro 31:1 The words of
king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.
Pro 31:2 What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and
what, the son of my vows?
Pro 31:3 Give not thy
strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth
kings.
Pro 31:4 It is not for
kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine;
nor for princes strong drink:
Pro 31:5 Lest they drink,
and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
For rulers of nations the love of strong drink and contempt for divine things go hand
in hand. As Belshazzar, he and his queen, concubines and lords drank from the
vessels taken from the house of the Lord, and they praised the false gods, the
Lord had something to say with the fingers of a man’s hand that appeared and
wrote on the plaister of the wall in his palace. Then
the great king’s countenance changed and knees knocked together — that night he
was slain and his kingdom taken by Darius the Mede (Dn. 5).
Isaiah Tells Why Israel Went Into
Captivity
(Where alcohol
flows they pay no attention to the deeds of God because they see themselves as
valiant and mighty whether rich or poor!)
Isa 5:11 Woe unto them
that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that
continue until night, till wine inflame them!
Isa 5:12 And the harp,
and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in
their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the
operation of his hands.
Isa 5:13 Therefore my
people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up
with thirst. ...
Isa 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good
evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for
sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isa 5:21 Woe unto them
that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Isa 5:22 Woe unto them
that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
Isa 5:23 Which justify
the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from
him!
Isa 5:24 Therefore as the fire devoureth
the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their
root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because
they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the
Holy One of Israel.
Isa 5:25 Therefore is the
anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his
hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all
this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Wine Mocks Those Given To It
(Solomon the
wisest of his time found out the hard way and said this! “Whoever means whoever
— rich, poor or otherwise.)
Pro 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is
raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
NOTE: The word “deceived”
in the KJV is the word for intoxicated!
Evil Pursues the Drunkard
(This account
from Solomon (971B.C.) is just as accurate as any observation that might be
made today. Reading it carefully what do you see?)
Pro 23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath
contentions? who hath babbling? who
hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Pro 23:30 They that tarry
long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Pro 23:31 Look not thou
upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth
itself aright.
Pro 23:32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth
like an adder.
Pro 23:33 Thine
eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart
shall utter perverse things.
Pro 23:34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in
the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the
top of a mast.
Pro 23:35 They have
stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they
have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet
again.
Will Not Inherit the Kingdom of God
Gal 5:19 Now the works of
the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of
the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they
which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of
God.
Note: For other lessons
on Drinking check our website under the Article Index, Alphabetical guide “D”
at http://www.yumavalleychurchofchrist.com/toc/d.htm .
By
Bob Lovelace
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To
learn more call, visit or visit our website at:
http://yumavalleychurchofchrist.com