Transcript SPARKLING RED WINE! - Hacked by Fallaga team
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SPARKLING RED WINE!
A study on Spirit-filled living by KEN CHANT
INTRODUCTION Text : Proverbs 23:31, “Don’t stare longingly at the wine when it is red and sparkling in the wineglass, when it goes down, oh! so smoothly!”
The context (vs. 29-34) presents an amusing but tragic picture of someone who is habitually drunk: red of eye, black and blue from stumbling and falling, quarrelsome, suffering from nightmare hallucinations, . . .
. . . babbling and drooling, rolling around like a sailor standing on a mast-top during a storm, unable to feel blows, and, when morning brings a terrible hangover, petulantly demanding another drink.
The problem? This person "stays up late drinking wine, and is always trying out some new liquor" (vs. 30).
Yet even that is a symptom rather than the problem –
the drunk's real fault is that to him (or her) the wine "looks so red; how it sparkles in the glass; how it goes down oh! so smoothly!"
For the drunk, wine has a fatal fascination, it hypnotises like a serpent's eye, and it will therefore also "bite like a viper and sting like an adder" (vs. 32). Keep away from it, says Solomon, don't even look at it!
Now that is not a general prohibition against any use of wine, for there are many other scriptures that speak directly or indirectly about its benefits (e.g. De 32:14; 33:28; Ps 4:7; 104:14 15; Pr 9:2,5; Sir 31:27-28; Is 25:6; 55:1; Ho 2:8,22; Jl 2:24; Zc 9:17; 10:7; 1 Ti 5:23; etc).
Rather it is a warning to the person for whom the wine seems so wondrously whose addicted eye it truly does glass" , "red" cannot control it.
, for "sparkle in the for whom the enticing wine has become sin because he or she
To be a slave of liquor is a scandal for any servant of God, especially those who hope to give leadership and example to others (1 Ti 3:2; Tit 1:7; and cp. Le 10:9; Ez 44:21).
But do Solomon and Paul speak only of wine? Is there not for each of us something that is like the red, sparkling wine is to a drunk?
So our text actually describes, not just the snare of wine, but the mesmerising power temptation has as it works on each person's peculiar weakness.
How it rivets the mind! Inflaming the imagination, snaring the soul, overwhelming the will, until the only thing you can hear is its siren song, and can feel only its growing pressure to yield! yield! yield!
That viper's bite is felt not only by an alcoholic who walks past a bar, but by the glutton who sees a bakery, the lustful who glimpse a lewd magazine, the violent who find reason for wild anger, . . .
. . . the greedy who crave more money, the arrogant who ache for power, the lazy who seek an excuse for their sloth, and the like.
Each of us has something that is like the red wine sparkling in a glass, a snare that given the least opportunity will begin to entangle us, drawing us down like a stumbling drunkard into the morass of sin.
We need to learn not to look at that wine when it seems so red, when it appears to sparkle so brightly, nor to yearn for its smooth taste, for it is waiting to poison us with the Serpent's venom.
Here are some keys to ongoing victory in the life of the Holy Spirit . . .
STOP!
In 1912, an engineer, Ralph R Upton, noticed an alarming number of collisions between trains and vehicles in the USA.
He devised the level crossing warning sign, “STOP, LOOK, LISTEN” which has since become a worldwide motto applied to many situations.
Upton’s motto, with its familiar trilogy, came to be called Principle – Upton’s Implacable
That rule – stop, look, listen to a driver carelessly crossing!
– is just as applicable to a drunk tempted to drink, a sinner tempted to yield, as approaching a level
See 1 Co 10:13 – “No temptations have beset you except those that are common to everyone. God is faithful in this. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. When you are being tested he will give you the ability to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.”
That is at once the most and the most entire Bible!
encouraging , discouraging text in the
Encouraging –
because it promises a God guaranteed limit to temptation and a sure escape from it.
Discouraging –
because it removes any excuse we ever offered for yielding to temptation!
How can he say that your temptation is "common" ?
Because in the end, all temptation (aside from persecution) and all sin can be reduced to just five categories –
the lust of the eye the lust of the flesh the pride of life the fears of the spirit the doubts of the mind
See 1 Jn 2:15-16, and the temptations Jesus faced in the Wilderness.
When temptation presents itself, act on Paul's advice: 1.
affirm the promise of the limit , reminding yourself that no matter how strong it may seem to be, this temptation is within your power in Christ to repulse it.
2.
search for the way of escape , knowing that God will never allow you to be confined against your will behind any imprisoning wall of sin.
LOOK!
There is nothing more vital to a Christian than to know what and who God has made us to become in Christ –
royal priests
enthroned with Christ
joint heirs with Christ royal children
We should recognise our royal lineage in Christ, resolutely affirm it, and resolve to live and speak as the heirs of the King of kings.
Don't heed the whispered lies of Satan or of the flesh, but rise up in royal authority, rebuke the Enemy, and possess all the riches of righteousness that belong to you in Christ.
LISTEN!
A voice came from the throne. It said, "Praise our God, all who serve and fear him, no matter who you are.“ I heard what sounded like the noise from a large crowd, like the crash of raging waters, like the roar of loud thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! The Lord our God, the Almighty, has become king. Let us rejoice, be happy, and give him glory because it's time for the marriage of the lamb. . . .
. . . His bride has made herself ready. She has been given the privilege of wearing dazzling, pure linen." This fine linen represents the things that God's holy people do that have his approval. Then the angel said to me, "Write this: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the lamb's wedding banquet.'" He also told me, "These are the true words of God." (Re 19:5-9)
It is probably impossible for any Christian who lacks a clear vision of the future and of the coming City of God to live in victory (cp. He 11:9-10, 13-16).
The prosperity and happiness most of us enjoy is a gift from God, but it can also be a snare to the soul if we allow ourselves to become so engrossed with this world that we lose sight of the heavenly kingdom (Cl 3:1-4; 2 Co 4:16)
One of the special tasks of those who would show others the way, is to help the people to keep their eyes fixed upon the heavenlies while not neglecting a life of joyful and fruitful service on earth.
CONCLUSION
We all need to recognise honestly those things in our lives that are as sparkling red wine is to an alcoholic.
Those are the things that will be the most likely to cause us to stumble and so decay our right to possess the kingdom of God.
So use these three keys to overcome the mesmerising glimmer of the “wine” when it beckons you enticingly! ….
1.
2.
Do not allow the enemy so to magnify your fault that it seems undefeatable, for all temptation is held in check by the Spirit of God Hold firmly to your true royal and heavenly identity in Christ, so that any behaviour contrary to that identity becomes impossible
3.
Never permit a mist of worldliness to dim your vision of the splendours God has prepared for those who overcome in this life.