There is a source of deception that produces much unnecessary pain and heartache in the Body of Christ: the deception of alcohol. Sadly, there is much confusion in the Body of Christ today over whether or not it is acceptable for a believer to drink alcoholic beverages.
You see, knowing what the Bible says about the kind of deception that the love of the world – in this case, drinking – brings, it grieves me to know there are ministers out there teaching Christians that drinking is, at worst, a morally neutral activity. I am not going to beat around the bush or be “politically correct” on this issue. If you think you can drink socially without hurting your effectiveness for God, you are deceived and you have left a door wide open for Satan.
Alcohol is a mind-altering substance. Does it not affect one’s judgment? Doesn’t alcohol change an individual into a different person intellectually and emotionally? Are not people who are “under the influence” dangerous to themselves and others? Do you think that it is okay to do a little crack or marijuana or heroin? Are they not, like alcohol, also mind-altering substances?
What makes you think God will tell His children it is okay to partake of something that has destroyed countless millions of lives, families and yes, even ministries? Alcohol is nothing less than Satan’s counterfeit of the new wine of the Holy Ghost that was poured out at Pentecost. On that day, Peter announced, “These are not drunken as ye suppose” (Acts 2:15).
If you have experienced being intoxicated both in the Holy Spirit and with alcohol, then you understand that Satan’s version is a very poor copy of the real thing. One brings refreshment, joy and life; the other slowly poisons your body while deceiving you into thinking that you are having a good time.
Just what does God have to say about alcohol? Let’s look at Proverbs 23:29-33:
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 colour 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.
(Prov. 23:29-33)
Was it not a strange woman that was the instrument of Samson’s destruction? Verses 34 and 35 continue:
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, 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.
(Prov. 23:34-35)
Verse 31 makes it clear that these Scriptures are clearly talking about alcohol. Wine changes color and bubbles up when it is fermented. Here God is not just telling us not to drink it, but also not to even look at it. He gives us that command because it damages your life and causes you to go back to it again and again.
A New Testament passage, Luke 1, speaks quite plainly about this issue. There we find the angel Gabriel speaking to Zacharias about his coming son, John the Baptist:”But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.”
It is no small thing that the Bible tells us John would not touch wine or strong drink and then immediately reveals that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb. You, as a born-again child of God, are also filled with the same Holy Spirit and power of God. So similarly, you need not touch wine or strong drink.
Do you think God will allow His power – the power that created this universe and raised Jesus from the dead – to flow through a vessel that is impaired by alcohol or any other drug, even a little bit? God is saying here that His anointing and alcohol will not mix in the same vessel.
Do you see how we must interpret the Word of God in the context of God’s big picture and plan for us? God is not about to suggest it is all right for His children to partake of even a bit of anything that has the capacity to deceive and eventually destroy them.
I encourage you to do a word study on the word wine. As you study all of the Scriptures that talk about wine, ask the Lord to reveal the truth of His Word to you concerning alcohol. And slam this door to deception in the face of the devil for you and your family forever!
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Mac and Lynne Hammond are senior pastors of Living Word in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, which they started in 1980. Many outreaches and ministries have launched from Living Word since that time, including Maranatha Christian Academy, a Pre-K through grade 12 school with nearly 900 in attendance, and Living Free Recovery Services, a licensed outpatient treatment program.
Most recently, Mac and Lynne have launched a vision to plant fifty churches across the globe in the next five years. As of August 2024, nine churches have been planted in the Dominican Republic, Ireland, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, and Guatemala with construction underway for seven more churches in El Salvador, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Prior to becoming a pastor, Mac was a pilot. He served in the Air Force, served two tours of duty in Southeast Asia, and was honorably discharged in 1970 with the rank of Captain. Between 1970 and 1980, Mac was involved in varying capacities in the general aviation industry, including ownership of a successful air cargo business serving the Midwestern United States. A business acquisition brought the Hammonds to Minneapolis, where they ultimately founded Living Word. Currently, Mac is the host of The Winner’s Way and The Winner’s Minute broadcasts and the author of several internationally distributed books. Mac is broadly acclaimed for his ability to apply the principles of the Bible to practical situations and the challenges of daily living.