We turn into the book of Proverbs this afternoon. Hasn't the preaching just been great so far? Mount Carmel, it's good to be back at Mount Carmel again, praise God. While you're turning to Proverbs chapter 23, I just want to say that I am still just so glad that Jesus saved my soul and I just have not got over yet the joy and the blessing of being saved by the grace of God and I can remember years ago always hearing about Mount Carmel and then getting to come to Mount Carmel and now preaching at Mount Carmel. And I'm not anything, but I tell you, I just look back to the years of my life and I do realize that what little I'll ever be for God is all Him. And I just said all that to say sacrifices were made and a lot of money was given to pay for it all. Meetings just like this where God really spoke to my heart, really did a work in my life. And I just want you to know, if you'll go with God, just like that song that we sang over and over, I'm telling you, you'll look back and you'll see where you were and where God's brought you through. It'll just absolutely amaze you, all that God has done in your life and all He will do in your life. And got my family here, married a good woman and got good children and just pastoring a good church. And I tell you, it's just amazing. None of us are where we deserve to be. Amen. And we may not all be where we want to be, but none of us are certainly where we deserve to be. Amen. We ought to be in hell. And God's been so good. And I just want to thank Brother John for letting me preach, for giving me the opportunity. I appreciate all you being here. I appreciate Brother Chris and that good message. Wasn't that a blessing? And I tell you, you ought to take that to your heart. Because that's going to, just like he said, if that hadn't rose up in you yet, it's going to one of these days. One of these days. And how you respond to your flesh in that is going to make all the difference in where you go with God down the road. and so I appreciate that good preaching. I appreciate his ministry and I followed him in the church and pastor and I thank God. We're all standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us and I appreciate the ministry of Brother Chris Simpson and I appreciate the Lord and all he's done. We're looking at Proverbs chapter 23. The cats out of the bag you already know what the message is But this is a topic what I'm going to preach to you about This afternoon is a topic that I came up here in pretty regular pretty much I mean you could come to a camp meeting or we went to youth camp it seemed like just about every year somebody was going to preach gonna deal with this topic and But, you know, it seems like in several years now, it's been a long time since I've heard a preacher just take a message and just preach on the topic and the sins and the dangers of alcohol. And I want you to know, in a way that's kind of strange, and I know we've got other problems, we've got a lot going on, but the problem is not going away, it's getting worse. And the devil in this world has not stopped trying to get their hands into this crowd, get their hands into this young people and pull the heart of some young man, some young lady away with the sin of alcohol. And so we're in a day that's grown very soft on this topic. We're in a day where even the pulpits of our nation and our churches have grown soft on this topic. And they always come in. I remember several years ago, as a matter of fact, when the Lord gave me this message, they were voting on alcohol in the city that I was pastoring at the time. It was the city I grew up in. And they always approach it and they say, you know, it's going to bring in so much revenue, and it's going to help our school system, and it's going to fix our roads, and it's going to do this. It's going to be such a good thing. But really, and you probably evidently not going to hear this from many pulpits now, but I want to remind you and I want you to know that this afternoon there are some things that you need to know about alcohol. And we're going to look at the Word of God and I'm going to show you some things that maybe you already know, but with the Lord's help I pray that it will maybe rescue some family, rescue some young person, maybe rescue some older person from ruin in their life with the dangers of strong drink. Proverbs chapter 23 and verse number 19, the Bible says, Hear thou my son and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh, for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Now verse number 29, the Bible says, who hath woe, who hath sorrow, who hath contentions, who hath babbling, who hath wounds without cause, who hath redness of eyes, they that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine, look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 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. They have stricken me, thou shalt 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." Turn back a few pages to chapter number 20, and look with me in verse number 1. Probably what we'd consider maybe one of the premier texts of the Word of God regarding strong drink and alcohol. Verse 1 of chapter 20 says, "'Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.'" And so I want to preach to you for a few minutes with the Lord's help on what you need to know about alcohol. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word and for the portion of it. We've already heard this preached this afternoon. Thank you for all the preaching that's been done. Lord, thank you. Lord, for all these preachers and all these people here, Lord, so many of my heroes and so many, Lord, great preachers under this tabernacle and this meeting, Lord, men that are such better preachers than me, and I thank you so much for them. Thank you for the blessing they've been in my life and, Lord, how you've used them and, Lord, used them in all of our lives. Lord, I thank you most of all for Jesus and all that's been wrought in him. Lord, I thank you for saving our souls. Thank you, Lord, that on a A Thursday afternoon, Lord, we're in the house of God. Lord, a lot of places I'd have been when I was lost, but Lord, you've saved me and put a desire in my heart, Lord, to be at camp meeting, and I thank you for that. Lord, I pray for that one that's nearest hell this afternoon, Lord, that you would put them under great conviction. Lord, show them their lost condition. The hell they're going to, the judgment they're under, the condemnation they're under, they might be saved before it's too late. Lord, I pray for your people that you draw us closer to thee. Lord, I pray for every family, every individual represented here. Lord, that you would protect them and hedge us about from the dangers of alcoholic beverages and strong drink. Lord, I pray. Lord, that you'd help me to preach with a burden. Lord, I pray that you'd bathe this message in compassion. And Lord, I pray it's you to rescue some soul, rescue some sinner, rescue, Lord, some young person from a life wasted to alcohol. Lord, I just pray you will it be done. We'll thank you for what you do in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Thank you. You may be seated. America consumes 41.1 million gallons of alcohol every solitary day. Drunk driving costs the United States more than $199 billion every year. Teen alcohol use kills more each year than all illegal drugs combined. Did you hear what I just said? Let me back up and say it one more time. Teen alcohol use kills more each year than all illegal drugs combined. Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for more than 30% of all driving fatalities every year. That's one in three. You could save one in three in every accident if you just remove alcohol from the equation. More than 88,000 people die from alcohol-related deaths each year in the United States. Due to alcohol, more people die every year in America than we lost in the American Revolutionary War. in the War of 1812, in the Mexican-American War, all combat deaths of World War I, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and every war and conflict of U.S. involvement from 2001 to present. Combined. Combined. Due to alcohol, more people die every year in America than we lost in the American Revolution. I'm sorry, I just told you all that. America wars and conflicts ranked by total number of US military deaths, excluding the top three. That would be the war between the states, World War II and World War I. Alcohol kills more every year than all of them. Alcohol plays a role in 55%. That's over half. 55% of all domestic violence cases. One report said this, alcohol truly is the bottled killer. The World Health Organization estimates that alcohol kills 3 million people throughout the world every year. In other words, alcohol is the cause of 5.3% of all human deaths annually. Not just in America, all human deaths annually. About 1 in every 20 deaths worldwide is the result of an alcohol-related disease, injury, accident, murder, or suicide. The rate of alcohol-related death is greater than that of HIV. which causes less than 2% of deaths worldwide, and alcohol-unrelated violence which causes less than 1%. Every day, In the United States, about 30 people lose their lives in a car accident involving alcohol, and about six people die from alcohol poisoning. Moreover, the extreme consequences of alcohol abuse are not diminishing. From 2007 to 2017, the number of alcohol-related deaths in the United States increased by 35%. That is unbelievable. There are over 7 billion people. It's actually approaching 9 billion now on earth. And about 2.3 billion of them may be classified as alcohol consumers. On a worldwide scale, more people are drinking alcohol than ever before. And alcohol is more pervasive and widely abused harmful substance than any illegal drug. Alcohol is a factor in 70% of all murder. 41% of all assault, 50% of all rape, 60% of all sex crimes against children, 56% of assaults within the home, 73% of all suicides, 55% of all arrests. All the rest. Taxpayers spend $11 to offset each $1 paid in liquor revenue. Now they always talk about all the money it's going to bring in, but it's never brought money, it's never brought wealth, it's never brought blessing. Friend, it brings a curse. The Bible has a lot to say about alcohol. But, you know, it has even more to say about being sober. And you know, instead of asking, how much can I drink and not be drunk, which is the question most people ask when they're trying to justify it, how much can I drink and not be drunk? We ought to be asking the question, how much can I drink before I am no longer completely sober? serious-minded, thinking seriously about serious things. You know, alcohol is only mentioned, only two times mentioned in the Bible in a positive or at least neutral light. One time is in 1 Timothy 5.23 when Timothy was told to take a little wine for thy stomach's sake and it was there mentioned as a medicine and not as a beverage, and it can even be argued that it was not even talking about fermented wine in that text, amen? But then in Deuteronomy 14, verse 26, there's a prophecy of the Jews going into the millennial, and then the drink will not have the curse that it has now. Every other mention in the Bible, it is mentioned and talked about in a very, very negative light. Now, there are two kinds of wine in the Bible. And let me just say this, there is nowhere in your Bible that says Jesus drank wine, drank fermented wine. He was accused of drinking it, but it never says he drank fermented wine. Amen. There is old wine in the Bible, and that's what we would consider alcohol, fermented wine. Then there's new wine in the Bible, and that would be like grape juice, just what we drink from the grape. In Isaiah chapter 65 in verse number 8, the Bible talks about new wine that is found in the cluster. In other words, those are grapes that haven't even been squeezed yet. And so it's new wine. How in the world could it be fermented? It's not even out of the grape yet. And so new wine found in the cluster. But then in Proverbs chapter 23 where we just read He talks about old wine or strong drink or fermented wine, alcohol. And the Bible says regarding that stuff, don't even look at it, don't touch it, treat it like a rattlesnake, stay as far away from it as you can because it will wreck your life, friend. Even old wine in the Bible doesn't have the potency that the drinks and the liquor and alcohol has that like what we drink today. And let me just say that someone that does not know that, someone that does not realize that, does not even have enough knowledge to even have an intellectual conversation about it. And they'll be the first one to tell you it's okay to drink a little wine here and there. It's alright to have a little drink to celebrate a special occasion or have a little sip of champagne. But I want you to know, if they haven't studied to that extent, they have no idea what they're talking about and do not listen to them, amen? I don't care if they are your favorite preacher, amen? You stay away from them, amen? They'll mess you up, amen? I want to mention a few things regarding what alcohol will do, what you need to know about alcohol. We're living in a day where deacons and even Baptist preachers are saying it's okay to have a little social drink every now and then, but I want you to know that there are some things that you need to know about alcohol, amen? When you leave this tabernacle today, I want you to know that Brother Jacob told you the things that you needed to know regarding alcohol. Number one, I want you to know what alcohol will do your home. What alcohol will do and has done to our homes. Nearly every home here probably to some degree has been affected or possibly even destroyed by the dangerous sin of alcohol. Over 100,000 young men will have to start drinking this year to have to fill the shoes of those that have been ruined and killed by it in the year before. Now, they never talk about the dark side of the billboards. They never talk about the dark side of the commercials. Miller Lite's slogan for a long time has been the high life, right? You drink our beer, you'll live the high life. But they'll never tell you that it'll make you a low life. Isn't that right? Say man over 80% of America can be classified as drinkers and they talk about how bad drugs are That's all we ever hear about is the drug war and how bad drugs are and I think drugs are bad Amen, and they will steal your heart and wreck your life and get you so full of demons Amen that you can't even hear the gospel anymore. Hey, man, it'll mess you up praise God and and so you stay away from that stuff too but listen I'm just simply saying they talk about how bad drugs are all the time but for every drug addict there's at least 10 drunks in our society amen and I'll tell you why you say well that is why is that brother Jacob it's because the government gets the money for the alcohol and the pusher gets the money for off the drugs, amen? And if they ever start taxing drugs, they'll be selling it on grocery store shelves too, amen? You follow the dollar and you'll find out where the sin's coming from, amen? And so alcohol, I believe, is worse though. And you say, why is that? Because one hit and cocaine's got you. And everybody knows that. One hit of meth, and it's got you, and everybody knows that. But little by little, you think alcohol isn't bothering you, you think it's not affecting you, you think it's not troubling you, you think you've got control of it, you think you can handle it, and it's just a little here, a little there, and most of the times, if a man of the house drinks, the children will drink, and before long, it's taken the whole family, and it's destroyed the whole house, amen? You know, children always do in excess. what their parents do in moderation. And if a man says, I can take it or leave it, he'll take it every time. Amen? He'll take it every chance he gets. I remember hearing a story many years ago about a distinguished colonel that turned down a drink and he said this, he did it hoping that his boy would do the same thing when he was offered a drink one day. I remember reading a story years ago about Babe Ruth And Babe Ruth was not a godly man by any means, amen He had his own problems, praise God But I remember reading a story or hearing a story about this company that came to Babe Ruth Wanting him to make a commercial for beer and promoting their beer And he turned them down and he said this He said thousands of little boys that are out there that want to grow up and be just like me, He said, I don't want their blood to be on my hands. Amen. He may not have been a saved man, but he had enough sense to know that alcohol We'll wreck a whole generation if we let it, amen? And these sorry athletes today know what it's doing. They know what that stuff does, but they promote it anyways. And they try to pour it down the throats of your little boys and your little girls. And I tell you, they're wicked as the devil. And I tell you, you ought to tear their poster off the wall, amen? You ought to get you some real heroes, amen? Because they're wicked as the devil promoting that stuff. This music and entertainment, stole some beer and we was drinking and so and so was back in the backseat drunk and puked in the backseat and oh it was so hilarious it was just the funniest thing. And your peers, some of them probably around here tell you stories about that and make glamour the wonderful life of sin and being out in the world. But what about whenever you hear the screech of car tires and the bang of a car hood and a little girl's been hit by a car? A drunk staggers out of the car onto the street. Now that little girl's paralyzed for life. Isn't that funny? Isn't that just hilarious for a little girl to get hit by a drunk driver and spend the rest of her life in a vegetative state? Isn't that hilarious? Why isn't anybody laughing? That is so funny. What about that man that gets his paycheck, and his wife's down at the house, and his children are down at the house hungry, and he's blowing his paycheck one more time down at the beer joint with wine, women, and song? Isn't that hilarious? Isn't that the funniest thing you've ever heard in your life? Now somebody here will say, that'll never happen to me. That'll never happen to me. That's a real extreme story. And these preachers, they always tell these extreme stories, you know. That'll never be me. And let me tell you something, that's what they all said. That's what every one of them said. First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man. After one beer, you lose 5% of your memory capability. With one ounce of alcohol, you lose 10% of your ability to react. This, my friend, is what it has done to our homes and what it will do to your home. Anyone that sells it, it's so crooked they gotta screw their socks on in the morning, amen? Habakkuk 2, verse 15 says, Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor strong drink that putteth thy bottle to him. Old-time preachers used to preach that Christians don't even work at a place that sells and peddles alcohol. And by the way, they were right, amen? If you work at a place that sells alcohol, you get away from there and God will bless you for it. Amen. Could you imagine walking to a restaurant somewhere and seeing your preacher walking across there with a plate full of beer to take it to some table? Could you imagine that? Amen. I tell you, old time preachers were right. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor strong drink. You know, you think of all that have been ruined by alcohol. all of those that have lost all self-respect, all the young beautiful girls, sad and pitiful, eyes not bright and beautiful anymore but their reds sunk in, no longer is their hair beautiful anymore but it's stringy and dirty and out of place, their beautiful lips don't produce smiles but instead produce blasphemy and cursing and threats, all the fine young men who where the alcohols turned him in to a spewing, spitting, stammering, stuttering, empty-headed, blurred-eyed, red-faced, raving, craving, maniac, drunk, and I tell you, it's wrecked a lot of them, and it'll wreck you if you let it. It's filled up the divorce courts. Amen. There's a lot of men that have lost all they've got. They've lost their home, they've lost their car, they've lost all their clothes, they've lost their family, lost their marriage, lost their kids. They've lost it all! And that is what it will do to your home. Number two, what it will do to your heart. Hosea chapter 4 verse 11 says, and wine take away the heart. Young girls, you want to know why any boy would ever want you to drink? You want to know why? I'll tell you why. If you listen to this preacher, this preacher will tell you why. Because they know that if she'll drink, she'll do anything else he wants sooner or later. Same reason they want to get girls to smoke pot. Same reason they want you to do all these other things. It's the same reason they said if you can get a girl to drink, you can get her to do other things, too. Amen. There's been many times where many young ladies have lost their virginity, lost their purity, and not even been able to make a rational decision when they did it. Amen? May as well say amen. That's right. Habakkuk 2 verse 15 talks about giving alcohol to your neighbor that you may look upon their nakedness. You know, there's three things that always seem to be tied together in the Bible. It's demons, drink, and nakedness. They're always tied together somehow or another. And Habakkuk talked about giving your neighbor a drink. That you may look upon their nakedness. And that's what God said, not what this preacher said. That's what God said. That's why it's so big at Spring Break and every other hell hole in the world. Amen. That's the biggest bunch of hell this world's ever seen. Amen. And do you think you'd never... Do things think... How do I want to say this? You start taking a drink and you'll start doing things that you'd never do sober. And it don't take much, you'll say things you'd never say sober. You'll react in ways you'd never react sober. Amen. The book of Proverbs says it will cause you to behold strange women, men. Preachers already said it. You got David, Samson, and Solomon. That's spirituality, wisdom, strength, and spirituality, every one of them filled to a woman. And one thing that will help that along is strong drink. Amen, strange women, that's a woman that's not yours, amen? And whenever you're drunk, no one can stand to be around you, only another drunk, amen? You're so sick and disgusting, no one wants to be around a drunk except for another drunk, amen? Misery always loves company, amen? That's why everybody wants drinking buddies. They don't want to do it by themselves because misery always loves company, isn't that right? One evening when October when I was far from sober I was carrying home a load with manly pride My feet began to stutter so I laid down in the gutter And a pig came up and laid right down by my side I said it's fair weather when feathers get together Until a lady passing by was heard to say You can tell a man who boozes by the company that he chooses And the pig got up and slowly walked away Amen Alcohol causes rape, causes incest. In fact, the first case in the Bible is Genesis 19, and it was brought on by alcohol. The first drunk in the Bible is in Genesis chapter 9. Many believe that's the first act of homosexuality, the first act of sodomy. was connected to strong drink and alcohol. It's connected with nakedness, connected with dancing, connected with incest, connected with sodomy. It'll rob you of all reason. You can read about Nabal in 1 Samuel 25, verse 36. I'm telling you, alcohol will destroy your heart. I want to mention this, what alcohol will do and has done on our highways. What alcohol will do to your home? What alcohol will do to your heart? What alcohol is doing on our highways? DWI. That means driving while impaired. And all these entertainers today make you think it's cool. Hardly any of them have not at some point been arrested for DWI. It's a way of life for that whole wicked Hollywood outfit. It's a way of life for all these wicked hoodlum athletes. Amen? It is a way of life. And they make you think it's cool and make you think it's funny and make you think it's normal. But if anything else killed as many as alcohol has killed on our highways, they'd outlaw it. But because a half of that crowd, or more than most of that crowd in Congress, and in the Senate, and most of the sitting judges, and all the attorneys, because all of them are socked drunks voting on it, it ain't gonna be outlawed. One man talked about taking the Ten Commandments out of the courtroom. They said, well, you can't have thou shalt not commit adultery and thou shalt not steal in the courtroom. It makes for a difficult work environment when you've got attorneys and judges around. You could add alcohol to that too. And if anything else had killed more people as alcohol has on our highways, they'd outlaw it. But the government gets the money, and so instead it's pushed. That's why there's all these commercials, and I don't even watch TV, but back when I did a little bit here and there, there was all these commercials all the time, all these public service announcements, you know, talking to your kids about smoking, you know. Now it's talk to your kids about vaping. By the way, Christians don't do either one of them. Amen. Amen. Every time I see some grown man with a man bun walking around sucking on a vape, I think of a giant overgrown baby sucking on a pacifier. Talk to your kids about smoking. Talk to your kids about vaping. Talk about the dangers of all that. But where's the ones about talk to them about the dangers of alcohol? Where's all that at? When are they going to talk about all that alcohol has killed and all the lives that that's messed up? You know, you have a 100% chance of never becoming an alcoholic if you never take the first drink. Amen? Our nation spends $8 billion on alcohol annually and only $5 billion on education. And it is not profitable, it is not helpful, it does not make us successful, it is a scourge to our nation. And it is a scourge to every family that it gets into. Listen, you are looking at a man before you that has never tasted one drop of alcohol, and I praise God for it, but I grew up in a family where nearly every man in my family is an alcoholic tonight. Every man in my family, my daddy, we buried him a couple years ago, my real biological daddy. I never remember living one day in the same house as him. He left my family when I was about six months old, left my mom and our family for another woman, and he was a drunk and a womanizer all the days of his life. My granddaddy's dead now, and he was a drunk. All my uncles are alcoholics and drunks. I'm telling you, I have lived it. I know what it is, I know what it does, I have seen it And I say by the good grace of God I've never had it come across my lips And I don't think it's funny, and I don't think it's cute, and I don't think it's hilarious And you better stay far away from it, friend Alcohol has drained more blood, dug more graves, sold more homes, plunged more people into bankruptcy, slain more children, snapped more wedding bands, defiled more innocence, dethroned more reason, blinded more eyes, wrecked more mankind, dishonored more womanhood, broken more hearts, ruined more lives, sold more women, drove more to suicide, more to hell than any other death-dealing scourge that's ever come across this country. And they say just a little bit won't hurt you. Let me ask you something, would you want a pilot flying your airplane that had just a little bit before he got in the cockpit? Would you want a surgeon operating on you that had only had a little bit that morning? I mean, just a little bit, you know. You know good and well you're just making excuses. You know good and well these wicked preachers that are defending are just making excuses, amen? They're wicked as the devil if they defend that stuff, amen? You stay away from that crowd. That's what it's done to our highways. I want to say last of all, very quickly, what it does and what it will do to heaven and to hell. It has kept many from heaven and it has helped to populate hell. A man said, I'm an alcoholic, it's a disease, you know. Can I tell you, it's not a disease. People say, well, I can't help it. Oh, yes, you can. You put somebody in jail for three weeks and drive them out. Amen. They can live without it. They just don't want to. Not man enough. Not woman enough. Not got enough God. If it's a disease, it's one you can catch on purpose. It's the only one you can buy in a bottle. It's the only one with regular outlets that sell it. It's the only one that produces revenue for the government. It's the only one that causes crime, rape, and incest. It's the only one that is habit-forming. It is the only one that's spread by advertising. It's the only one caught without a germ or a virus and has no medicine to treat it. It's a disease that will keep you out of heaven. It is not a disease. It's a sin against God! what it'll do to heaven and hell. I don't know who originally called it a bar. That's where you go to drink. That's the beer joint. It's a bar, right? And I don't know who named it that. I don't know where that name came from. But I read something one time, and it helped me a lot on it. It said a bar, a bar to heaven, a door to hell. Whoever named it, named it well. A bar to manliness and to wealth. A door to want and broken health. A bar to honor, pride and fame. A door to sin and grief and shame. A bar to hope. A bar to prayer. A door to darkness and despair. A bar to an honored, useful life. A door to brawling, senseless strife. A bar to all that's true and brave. A door to every drunkard's grave. A bar to joy. that home imparts a door to tears and aching hearts, a bar to heaven, a door to hell, whoever named it, named it well. You know, I've heard it said, and you have too, that if we vote in alcohol, people's gonna drink less. That's what they always say. It was legalized, and people actually drink less. That's kind of like filling a table full of candy and telling a bunch of little kids, if we let them have all they want, they'll actually eat less candy. When has that ever happened? I want you to think for a second about all the young people that partied one night, Stole some liquor out of their mom and dad's liquor cabinet. Found some adult wicked enough to let them have some. And they went out for one night of partying, one night of fun to celebrate a graduation or whatever else. And I want you to think about all the car wrecks. I want you to think about all the immorality. I want you to think about all the stolen purity. I want you to think about all the lives that have been ruined in those one nights fueled by alcohol. Now again, I've never touched it in my life and I thank God for it. I thank God I had a mama who taught me against it and preachers, preachers. that would stand up and boldly warn me against the dangers of alcohol. You know, the greatest testimony of grace is a person that would grow up their whole life and be able to stand and testify that by the grace of God, I was raised in a good, godly home, We never had alcohol in my home. We never had drugs in my home. We never had anything like that in my home. And by the grace of God, I was saved at a young age. God raised me up in a church, and I've been able to serve the Lord all the days of my life. And I've never gotten out into the depths of sin like some of these others. Hey, praise God. He can reach way, way down in the depths of sin. Praise God he can save someone like John Morgan and he can pour the bottle out and pour it down. I've heard his testimony, you have many times. Praise God for it. Wonderful testimony. God will save somebody like that. He'll reach way down to where you're at when you're in that stuff. But I want you young people, I want you to know that have never touched the stuff and I want you to know that the ones that plan on never touching the stuff that you don't have to hang your head one of these days and feel like you don't have a testimony and you don't have a story to tell I tell you the greatest story to tell is that praise God I had a preacher that preached to me and warned me and God put something in my heart that caused me to fear that stuff and stay far away from it and it was never in my home and it's never been a part of my marriage and it's never been a part of my family thank God he saved my soul and I've served God all the days of my life That's the greatest testimony you could ever have. And so this afternoon, if you hadn't already, you ought to promise God, Lord, I'll stay as far away from alcohol as I possibly can. Girls, if you're dating a boy or even thinking about dating a boy that's soft, even soft on alcohol, you tell him to drop dead and stay away from it. Amen. Young boys, if you're dating a girl, even thinking about dating a girl that goes to a church that doesn't carry a King James Bible and has some, you know, bleeding heart liberal preacher that would depend alcohol and tell you that Jesus drank wine, listen, you stay away from her. You drop her like a hot potato, amen? If you get back in this crowd, amen, that stuff will ruin you if you're not careful. You ought to promise God, God, I'll never take the first drink. And if this sin, I want you to know this too, if this sin's got you bound, I want to remind you that where sin did abound, grace did much more abound. And there is more than efficient, more than enough grace to deliver you, to deliver you from the bondage of alcohol. Father, thank you for your Word, for helping us with it. I pray that you'll take it and use it, and we'll thank you for it. In Jesus' name, amen. Come on, preacher.