And the third day there was a
marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and
his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the
mother of Jesus said unto them, They have no wine. Jesus saith
unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not
yet come. His mother said unto the servants,
whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there
three or six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying
of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith
unto them, Fill the waterpots with water, and they fill them
up to the brim. And he said unto them, Draw out
now, and bear unto the governor of the feast, and they bear it. When the ruler of the feast had
tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it
was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor
of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man
at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have
well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the
good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did
Jesus in Cain of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory, and
His disciples believed on Him." Now, rather than take up the
matter of the element of the Lord's Supper first, I think
it is wise to come at it in this way. That is what the Bible has
to say about wine. The Bible and wine will be our
study for today. Now before we start our study,
let us agree upon one matter in the beginning. I want all
of us to agree on this one matter here in the very beginning, and
that is this, that we will, in our study, be ruled and guided
only by the Scripture in every matter that is to come before
us now. If the Scripture give us a clear
guide, if it speak to us on the matter and instruct us about
the matter, if it teach us how a thing is to be done, then we
will do it. On the other hand, if the Scripture
gives us no counsel, if it is silent, then we must keep silent
and not enforce it. So let us make that bargain in
the beginning, that the Scripture will guide us regardless of our
personal or prejudicial views or opinion. Now, perhaps we ought
to go even further and admit that most of us Almost every
one of us today must admit that we have some hang-up, that we
have some prejudice, that we have some personal opinion, that
we have some pet practice, on which we are unwilling to bow
to the authority of the Holy Scripture, and even to wrest
and twist the Scripture about some matter in our own life.
Now, everyone has them, something we cling to, something that we
believe, something that we are against, and yet we could never
in a hundred years prove it from the Scripture. Now, the best
example of this is that we have taught some tradition or some
prejudice, some teaching, some way that we were raised has put
this in us. Now, one of the best examples
that I could give of this is that of infant baptism. Infant
baptism is practiced by a large segment of professing Christendom
in our day. Now, however, there's not a single
incident or example in the Scripture of the baptism of an infant. But a very large section of Christendom
practices infant sprinkling or baptism even though there is
not a single example of it, not a clear command of it to be found
anywhere in the Scripture. And yet there are those that
hold tenaciously to infant sprinkling and invent new meaning for words
and go to their creeds in order that they might prove this to
be true, and rest their case on tradition and on the opinions
of the Father rather than on the Holy Scripture, at the same
time admitting that the word baptize in the scripture literally
means to immerse, it means to dip, it means to put under the
water. And yet, even after making that
admission, they still bring their little infants to the front and
sprinkle water upon their brow. And even though there's not a
single example in all the scripture of the baptism of an unbeliever
that is of a little infant, yet it is part and practice of the
belief and Christendom of many in our generation. Now I said
that, that it might serve as an example, because I want to
say now that many of us have such a hatred of drink and of
liquor, that we are willing to change the Scripture rather than
admit that wine is a biblical element of the Lord's Supper.
We have assumed the position by training, prejudice, tradition,
whatever, we have assumed the position of total abstinence,
which then in a turn affects our view of the element that
is to be used in the Lord's Supper. We could never take the Scripture
and in a hundred years prove total abstainence is according
to the Word of God. It could not be done if we studied
it a hundred years. Now the question for today to
answer, to make ready for our second study, is this. Does the
Bible teach total abstainence? Does the Bible require that all
drinking of any strong drink is to be considered as a sin. Does the Bible enforce total
and complete abstinence upon those that name the name of Christ? Could we take the Scripture and
prove the case for prohibition? Could we, out of this Bible right
here that we say is our guide, that we say is our creed, could
we take it and prove that prohibition and complete abstinence is the
doctrine of the Scripture. Now, we can take the Bible and
condemn drunkenness and condemn excess and condemn the intemperance
and the sins that go along with it, but we cannot take the Scripture
and condemn the moderate temperate use of wine because many Scriptures
in the Bible prove and even recommend the moderate, temperate use of
wine. Many of them do. In at least
three areas in the Bible, you're going to find that the Scripture
approves of and even recommends the drinking temperately of wine. Now let me name those three areas
and give you some proof. First of all, socially. Socially,
the Scriptures approve of the moderate, temperate drinking
of wine, and such is our text today that I read in the 2nd
chapter of the Gospel of John. Try as we might, deny it as we
might, squirm as we might, we must admit that our Lord turned
water into wine for the enjoyment of the wedding guests in the
2nd chapter of the Gospel of John. and made this the first
public miracle that he performed, and it said that he glorified
himself and his disciples believed upon it. Now, our Lord did not
make grape juice, our Lord did not make Kool-Aid, our Lord turned
water into wine. The first public miracle of our
Lord was the turning of water into wine. Now, wine was common
at all feasts and all festivals and weddings and such like, and
they ran out. Evidently, this was a poor family,
and it was an embarrassment to the host that he did not have
enough beverage to supply the need of his guests. supplied
that need and turned water into wine. Not grape juice, because
wine here is the common New Testament word for wine. So that there
will be no doubt, the word is oinos. And is that word so commonly
used in the New Testament? O-I-N-O-S is the word that is
here and in other places used. Now, it's the same word that
appears in relation to the wine skins and putting wine, new wine,
in new bottles and such like in Matthew 9, Mark chapter 2,
Luke chapter 2, and Mark chapter 5. It is the same word that appears
in conjunction with that. Now let's take the objection
of not a few, and I want to confess that once it was my objection
as well. I once held the same sentiment.
Someone says to me, you're never going to make me believe that
my Lord made wine that would intoxicate people. Someone is
going to say, you'll never make me believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ that I love and serve made or drank real wine. Now, I want to ask you a question.
If I can prove it, will you turn on Christ? Will you go away?
Will you have no more to do with Him? if I can prove to you from
the Scripture that Christ both made and moderately drank wine
during His earthly ministry. Will you go away? Well, here
He made it in John chapter 2, verses 1 through 11. And according
to His own words in Matthew 11, 19, And Luke 7 and verse 34,
Christ came drinking wine, which John the Baptist did not do. And when John the Baptist came
not doing it, they said he has a devil. And when Christ came
doing it, they said that he is a drunkard and a gluttoner. Now Christ did drink wine, and
they called him a wine-bibber in the Scripture. Now why did
they call Christ a wine-bibber if he drank grape juice? Now,
if you believe that it was grape juice and no more, why did they
call Christ a winebibber? Well, you say, because they were
liars and brought false charges. Well, let me ask you another
question. Why did they call Christ a friend of sinners? Will you
answer, well, he never went around sinners. He had nothing to do
with sinners. He had everything to do with
sinners. Let me ask you another question.
Why did they call Christ a glutton? Why did they do that? Because
he ate food. Because he went around sinners.
And because he moderately drank wine during his earthly ministry. Now, all through the Old Testament,
wine was used socially, and all you have to do is read your Bible
to find out. that as a spirit it was drank,
to lift the spirits and gladden the heart. Judges 9 and verse
13, where it is said to cheer God and man. Ecclesiastes 10
and verse 19. Judges 19, 19. Psalms 104 and
verse 15. Genesis 14, verses 18 through
19, where Melchizedek brought wine and bread and served it
to Abraham as a return from the slaughter of the king. So, first
of all, wine is used in the Scripture in a social setting. Secondly,
I can prove to you in the Scripture that wine is used for religious
services in the Scripture. There were drink offerings, wine
drink offerings, in the Old Testament. And it was not grape juice. It
was wine drink offerings that were offered up in the Old Testament. Leviticus 23.13, Exodus 29.40,
Numbers 15 and 5. Not only that were there offerings
poured out of wine unto the Lord, but Israel was commanded to bring
tithes of the firstfruits of the wine to the Lord. Nehemiah
10.37, Deuteronomy 14.23, 2 Chronicles 31 and verse 5. Not only that, but the wine was
a very vital part of the Jewish Passover. On the Passover night,
each Jew drank at least four different cups of wine on the
night of the Passover. Now this will prove significant
when we come later to consider the element that is in the Lord's
Supper, that a Jew drank wine at the Passover is proof, I believe,
of the proper element of the Lord's Supper, because you know
what? Our Lord took the elements of the Jewish Passover and used
them to institute the Supper of the Lord. And He took the
wine of the Passover, and He took the unleavened bread of
the Passover, gave them to His disciples, and instituted, for
the first time, the Lord's Supper. So that the very elements which
the Jews normally used in observing the Passover were used by Christ
to celebrate with His disciples the memorial of His death and
the great redemption and salvation about it. Now, as I said, we'll
have more about that in our second study. Now, so first of all,
socially, the Bible approves of wine. Religiously, it was
used and commanded of God for services and sacrifices. And
then thirdly, the Scriptures commend wine for its medicinal
value and the cure of depression or a sunken spirit. I recommend
to you again, Psalms 104 and verse 15. First of all, listen
to Proverbs 31, verses 6 and 7. Give strong drink unto him
that is ready to perish, and wine unto them that be of a heavy
heart, and let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember
his misery no more." Now, that cannot be grape juice. It would
not have the effect that is required here. The first thing recommended
here is not getting stinking drunk. It's not getting staggering,
slobbering, falling down drunk. That's not what Solomon is recommending
at all, nor is it the numbing of the mind by the excessive
use of drink. But in using these elements as
the providence of God which provided them, guided them, intended them,
they of a heavy heart and fallen spirits are by this scripture
allowed to use the means that God has provided for their relief. For abuse of a thing does not
negate its rightful use. Now, I want you to think about
that, for we're going to make a strong point out of that this
morning, that the abuse of anything that God has legally given does
not cause us to abuse it. And it is not negated, because
someone might abuse that which God has given unto His people. For example, if I may use this
to correlate it, the abuse of drugs does not negate the legitimate
treatment of people with medicine. Think about that for a moment.
The abuse of drugs does not exclude the legitimate use of it in the
New Testament. Are we to ban medicine because
there are some that have abused it? Shall we prohibit drugs because
some kill themselves by the wrong use and by becoming addicted
unto them? That which is meant for the health
and for the restoration of health are drugs and medicine sinful
because there are those, many, that have abused them? Now I
call your attention to 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 23. And here's
one you can't get out of. Paul says to Timothy, drink no
longer water. That is, no longer exclusively
drink water. No longer be an exclusive drinker
of water. But use a little wine for thy
stomach's sake, and for thine often infirmity." 1 Timothy 5,
verse 23. Someone's going to say, well,
I believe that was grape juice. I believe all that was was unfermented
grape juice. Well, we'll see in a minute.
Now, for some reason, Timothy had become a teetotaler. Timothy had become a total abstainer. That is, he drank no wine at
all, only water exclusively. And yet, he had recurring ailments
evidently. stomach problem. And here, notice
this, the Spirit of God, in inspiring Paul to write, who was an apostle
and who therefore spoke under the Spirit of God, counseled
Timothy to use the little wine for his stomach's sake and for
his often infirmity. Gil said, to aid digestion and
remove disorders, unquote. Many say that both the water
and the milk in the days of our Lord and Paul, were contaminated
and corrupted. And the wine with its alcohol
content would be an aid to Timothy's stomach and to the infirmities
that had come up on him. Now, let me ask you a question.
Can any imagine Paul saying to Timothy, use a little grape juice
along for your stomach's sake and for your infirmity? It is
oinos. It is wine. is no benefit in
Paul using the word little. Use a little wine for the stomach's
sake. If it is grape juice, he can
have a gallon a day if he desires, if it is no harm unto him. The
very use of the word little tells us that Paul is using the word
oinos, that is wine, elsewhere in the Scripture. Furthermore,
it is that common word that we meet with almost everywhere that
we see it. Now finally, for another example,
the Bible and wine as a medicine, let's take the case of the good
Samaritan and the man that fell among thieves who beat him, stripped
him, and the Scripture said left him half dead. Luke chapter 10
and verse 34, and he bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and
grape juice, and set him upon his own beast, and brought him
unto the inn. He bound up his wounds, pouring
in oil and wine, and set him upon his own beast, and brought
him unto the inn. Now, can any imagine that this
is unfermented grape juice? Can you see this fool pouring
a quart of Welsh's grape juice in the wound of this man that
has been beaten? The wine was intended to be medicinal,
and was medicinal, to cleanse and disinfect the wound, which
grape juice could never do. to kill germs and infection because,
you see, wine generally is about 13 to 14 percent alcohol and
is both a disinfectant and a germicide. And it was for this reason that
the good Samaritan used wine because he found the man wounded,
cut open, and bleeding. He had it in his possession.
It was carried as a staple by many that traveled in that day
of our Lord's ministry. So this is a medicinal use of
wine approved by the Bible. Give wine to him that's ready
at the point of death. Wine to him that is sunken in
spirit. Wine to him that has a stomach
ailment and an infirmity. Pour in oil and wine as a disinfectant. Now, I don't mean to be mean
by this. I just want to make a comparison. But I want to take
this opportunity to show how so many strainer than that and
swallow at a camel in the area of wine and medicine in the Lord's
Supper and such things as that. Now there are those who vehemently
upon their convictions refuse, oppose violently a thimble full
of wine in the Supper of the Lord, and yet often take more
in medicine than ever would be in the little thimble of wine
in the Lord's Supper. For example, as I said, wine
is about 13 or 14 percent alcohol. It runs in that area. Now, if
you have a bad cold, what will you take? I went to Wal-Mart,
and I did a little snooping and coffee-ing. Now, if you take
Mediflu cold medicine, you've got 19 percent that you've taken
in your little cup full. If you take Equate nighttime
cherry, you're up to 25 percent, and you might be a little giddy
by bedtime. If you take Tylenol night time,
10 percent. Dinataps, your best bet, 2.3.
Boy, take some of that NyQuil, 25 percent, and you'll be walking
on air by the time it's time to lay down. The alcohol in NyQuil
is more than that in the wine in the Lord's Supper. So I'm
afraid that sometime we strain it and that swallow camel. Let's
imagine you get up in the morning, boy, your mouth tastes like a
garbage can, smells awful. You head to the mirror and look
at yourself in the mirror, and you grab for the mouthwash to
get it going. Listerine, 26 percent. Sculp, 18 percent. Listermin,
6.5. Plaque, 7.5. Signal, 14.5. Colgate,
15 percent. And if you've got a sore throat, and you get the chloroseptic
and you spray yourself real good, there's 12% in chloroseptic spray. Well, now you've shaved and you're
ready to splash on a little aftershave to make you smell sweet that
morning. If you use Menin's Skin Bracer, 40% alcohol. Aqua Velva, 40%. Old Spice, 39%. Brewed, 39%. So to smell good,
you have to really get into the alcohol. And I just think that
this shows that sometimes we can strain at an act and swallow
a camel in our view of something. For the remaining time we have
today, I want to take a serious look at what the Bible has to
say about wine. And when we do, we learn that
neither the New Testament nor the Old Testament demand strict
or total abstinence of wine. None can base wine upon the Holy
Scripture. Are they abstinent from wine
upon the Holy Scripture? You may say, I don't like it.
You may say, it's bad for my testimony. You may say, I don't
want to partake of it. But you cannot do so based upon
the Holy Scripture. Furthermore, it is very evident
from a reading of the Bible that the Jews always raised grapes,
not for grapes, not even for the grape use, not to make raisins,
but for the wine, for this was the inn for which they planted
their vineyard, tended them, and gathered them." And you know
something? The Bible often speaks of a great
crop of grapes, of wine, as either being a blessing from God, or
a judgment, or a punishment from God, if it is not so good. So
that God spoke to them of blessing them with an abundant crop of
wine, it was a blessing unto them. Now, they raised it, they
drank it, they made it with God's approval. Christ drank wine moderately,
Luke 7 and verse 34, while alive, and went on the cross, took some
more, Matthew 27 and verse 48. used it by his own hand to commence
the Lord's Supper. Paul advised Timothy to take
a little bit for his stomach's sake and his ailment. Therefore,
here is enough evidence for us to rethink and to reopen the
case for wine in the Lord's Supper, but also to consider what so
many have called the evils of alcohol in our present day. Now, the moderate tempered use
of wine is endorsed in both Testaments. And without question, the element
of the Lord's cup for centuries and centuries was wine that was
used by the churches of the Lord. The only controversy in that
day was whether it was red wine or white wine. It was not the
controversy in Gil's day or Spurgeon's or Calvin's day about whether
wine or grape juice, the contention was about white or red wine. Some saying that red wine better
portrayed the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but that it was
real wine is beyond question, first from the Scripture and
then from the writings of our forefather, their commentaries
and the celebration of the supper of the Lord. So let us today
consider the Bible and wine, particularly from the Old Testament. Now, always the thing that's
important is the principle of first mention of a thing anywhere
in the Bible. And the first mention of wine
is in the days of Noah, chapter 9 and verse 20 of Genesis, which
principle of first mention shows us these things. Number one,
that it was real wine and not grape juice. Two, that it contained
intoxicating power, for Noah fell under them. And three, that
it was the common word for wine in the Old Testament. The most
common word for wine in the Old Testament, Y-A-Y-I-N, is the
word that is used here in the accounts of Noah. Now, according
to Kittel's Theological Dictionary, the vine is one of the oldest
of all cultivated plants that is known to man. The grape vine
dates back to prehistoric times, one of the oldest cultivated
vine in the history of men, and was used and blessed of God as
a means of a part of man's culture and for his enjoyment. Vineyards
and wines became a common staple of the Jews in the land of Palestine,
and it was often true that there was more wine than water, and
the wine was pure, and the water was not. It was very common to
see wine in the staple of the Jews. Numbers 6 and 20, Deuteronomy
14, 26, 2 Chronicles 2, 15, Nehemiah 5 and verse 18. And as Kittel
points out, in the Old Testament there were many sayings in praise
of wine, where fullness of wine is viewed as a blessing of God.
Volume 6, volume 5, page 162. For example, Scripturely, wine was a common
table staple of the Jews." 1 Samuel 16 and 20. Judges 19 and 19. It was always present at their
feasts and their parties and their weddings. Job chapter 1,
verses 13 through 18. John chapter 3 that I read you
this morning, and hear me now, was even given to the young.
Lamentations 2 and 12. Zechariah 9 and verse 17. As Cattell points out, fullness
of wine is a special blessing from God, such as Genesis 27,
28, quote, Therefore God give thee the dew of heaven, the fatness
of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Deuteronomy 33, 28,
The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine. Now, while vows and total abstainances
were rare, they were the exception rather than the rule. That is,
only a few were under vows to be teetotalers because of some
religious conviction in the land of Israel. But I was tempted
to take all of the objections first because I fear that here
you are running ahead of me and saying, but what about this?
But what about that? But what about the other? And
I promise that we will come to most of those objections during
our study. And I believe biblically and
scripturally give them an answer. But here's an objection that
you might raise. You might say to me, what about
all those texts in the Bible that warn of drunkenness and
the attendant misery? What about all of those scriptures
that we might read that warn us of the destructive power of
strong drink and the sins that often attach themselves thereto? Someone says to me, I've seen
what drink can do. Don't tell me about it, I've
seen what drink can do. Well, here's my answer. You say,
what about all those texts condemning drunkenness? I say, what about
all those texts that recommend it in moderation, that call wine
a blessing from God, where it is used in religious sacrifices
and the Lord's Supper, and Paul recommending it to Timothy, 1
Timothy 5. And verse 23, such as the good
Samaritan, doctoring wounds with it. Melchizedek giving wine and
bread to Abraham, Genesis 14, 18. Isaac receiving wine from
Jacob, Genesis 27, 25. Leviticus 23, the drink offering
of wine, Numbers 15, 5 and 7. Numbers 28 and 7, Thou shalt
cause the strong wine to be poured out unto the Lord for a drink
offering. Numbers 28 and 14, Deuteronomy
7.13, where God promises to bless the wine, and again in chapter
11 and verse 14. Now, again, to go back to the
question, what about all those texts that warn us against drunkenness? Does anyone here say that it
is drink that makes drunkards? Now, if that's our idea, then
we have to deal with it from that standpoint and aspect. What about all those texts that
warn against drunkenness? Well, let me answer. What about
all those texts that warn against covetousness, against greed,
against gluttony, and against adultery? What about all the
texts that warn against these things? Dare any argue that they're
unlawful because they can be used to excess and do harm and
hurt? Does any propose to ban money? possessions, food, and conjugal
sex, because they may be taken to excess. Let me ask you a question. If you say, well, wine, drink,
causes people to be drunkards. Let me ask you these questions.
Does money cause greed or covetousness? Is money what causes greed and
causes covetousness? Is food evil? Does food cause
gluttony? Is food to blame for gluttony
or the intemperance of those that overuse it. Does the conjugal
union cause adultery? Do women cause whoredoms? Is
celibacy to be the remedy? Question number four, do drugs
and medicine cause addiction because some use them to access? Do not we all agree that in the
case of money, in the case of food, in the case of sex, and
in the case of medicine, that temperance, moderation, Self-control
is the teaching of the Holy Scripture. It is the teaching throughout
the Scripture. Is there not a lawful and an
unlawful use that might be made of all of these things that I
have mentioned? All of these are in themselves
lawful. They are ordained by God, given
for the good and the use of mankind. And here's something that I had
a hard time learning, brethren, and perhaps you will too, and
that is that sin does not dwell in material things or objects. Sin does not dwell in material
things or objects. For example, a hamburger, a pile
of French fries in a chocolate mall is not a mass of sin. It is not. And we must not look
upon it as that. And yet gluttony is, according
to the Scripture, a sin. A wallet full of money, stuffed
with money, is not a massive sin. But greed and covetousness
and thievery are. The conjugal union is not sin
in the sight of God. The bed is undefiled, saith the
Scripture. Yet adultery is. Now you see
my point? So with wine and the Scripture.
Not the use, but the abuse and the excess is what is condemned
and what is sin in the Scripture. Now, if sin dwells in the wine,
does it dwell in the grape? Does it dwell in the juice? Does
it dwell in the vine that grows it that is in the ground? For
the vine is the sword that produces it. Does it therefore become
the producer of sin? When does the great juice turn
into something that is sinful? Answer, when the sinful nature
drives to excess. In other words, the sin is not
in eating, drinking, wine, not in having money, but in the intent,
design, abuse and misuse of these things that God has ordained. Now, I know someone says to me,
oh, I'm again, I know so-and-so, he gets to drinking and he just
can't seem to stop. So they say that sin is in the
bottle, and so he can't stop. So we need to take that out of
his presence so he will no longer be a sinner. Well, I'm going
to say to you, what about those that get to eating and can't
stop? What about those who get on dope
and can't stop? What about those with eyes full
of adultery that cannot cease from sin that Peter talks about? You see, the sin is not in the
object. The sin is in the nature. of
the individual. All these things would be lawful
if used temperately and moderately as God has designed. So again,
the fluid is not sinful in the bottle. The sin is in the heart
and the nature of man that drives him to an excess, whatever area
it might be, whether it be adultery, whether it be gluttony, whether
it be dope, or whether it be wine. Can I attempt to prove
that sin is not immaterial things which men might use? to sin or
to promote sin in their life or in others. Let me give you
the example of a surgeon's knife. Here it is lying on the table. It's neither good nor evil. Now,
the surgeon may take it and heal with it, but someone else, a
deranged madman, may take it and slit the throat of another
so it can be used to help or to hurt. Is the camera or the
film engaged in pornography sinful in itself, when at the same time
it might be taken to regard a church service or a gospel sermon? Now, is the material that's in
a miniskirt or a bikini, is that material itself sinful? Is the gun full of sin that is
used in the hand of a criminal to commit such a crime, Is the
building sinful that houses a honky-tonk where there is all sorts of immodesty
that is practiced? Was the fruit of the tree sinful
that Adam ate in the garden? No, the sin is not in the material
thing. For once we take that notion,
we are certainly astray from proper views of God and of His
essence. But there is a widely use tactic
that we now want to deal with by those that seek a biblical
ground for total abstinence and who seek to verify from the Scripture
that grape juice is proper and is meant by wine and is meant
by the use in the Lord's Supper. From Scripture, they would take
this as a proof text that grape juice is the matter. That is,
here is their wily tactic. They claim that there are two
kinds of wine in the Scripture. What shall we do with it? They
come before us and say, oh no, that's not real wine, that's
grape juice wine. And that's how they get around
me, these things, saying that there are two kinds of wine that
are talked about in the Scripture. One that is unfermented grape
juice that is un-intoxicating, and another that is fermented
grape juice and that is indeed intoxicating. They say that the
expression, fruit of the vine, where our Lord instituted the
Lord's Supper, refers to grape juice, not fermented wine. And
even that the word wine sometimes means unfermented grape juice,
where it appears in the Scripture. New wine, they say, must, when
they see the word must in the Scripture, they say this is another
kind of wine. But it is the same word so often,
Y-A-Y-I-N in the Old Testament. O-I-N-O-S, Oinos in the New Testament. Now, the same yayin, Y-A-Y-I-N,
that Noah made, let's look at that for a moment. This yayin
that Noah made, how did Noah get soused on grape juice? It
is very clear that this was fermented wine that Noah took and that
he became intoxicated by. And by their rule, that is, two
kinds of wine, How would we ever know for sure which is which? The only way we can is for them
to tell us this doesn't mean that or this means the other.
Now, let me ask you a question. If you went into a club, I know
you won't do this, but if you went into a club or a beer joint
or a honky-tonk and you said to the waiter or waitress, give
me a glass of wine, how many do you think would bring you
a glass of grape juice? If you said to them, bring me
a wine, I want wine, well, how many would bring you grape juice?
Because wine is wine, and it is fermented, and it is that
wine in the scripture that the Bible tells us about that is
sometimes blessed of God. You know, the alcohol content
in the wine is determined by the sugar content that is in
the grapes, or upon the grapes, which is a lot of times determined
by the climate. and where they are grown, and
it ranges from 12 to 14 percent alcohol in almost all grape wine
that we might find. Now, fermentation occurs when
a catalytic action begins to set in, when the grapes are crushed,
when they're mashed out in the back. Immediately, if the weather's
warm, the temperature's right, it begins its fermentation process. And I want to tell you something
else. Except there's a special process developed for it, it
will ferment of itself. You can't keep it from it. There
must be a special process to keep it from it, and Welch's
did that. And that's why you can drink
Welch's grape juice, because he found a process to keep it
from fermenting. Because fermenting begins immediately,
and the same process is used in the grape fermenting. That
is when they're squeezed out. The sugar, the catalytic action
goes to work. The enzymes begin to work and
fermentation begins to set in. And the Jews never intended to
have a vat of grape juice. The Jews never intended to set
out to make a vat of grape Kool-Aid or grape juice. Their intention
from the very beginning was to make wine. It was their drink. It was a blessed of God. A good
harvest was called of the Lord. And thereby, it was never called
a great-juice press. It was never called a great-juice
vat. It was called a wine press and a wine vat. So I want to
conclude by saying that the two-wine theory is an invention, a prohibitionist
with no scriptural support at all, and they could never prove
it by the Scripture. Let me give you some Scriptures
in closing to show you that wine is a symbol of salvation in the
Scripture. Isaiah 55 and verse 1. Do you remember that text? Remember
it so well. Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye buy
and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without
price. We turn to the Song of Solomon,
chapter 5, verse 1. I'm coming to my garden, my sister,
my spouse. I've gathered my myrrh with my
spice. I've eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk my wine with my
milk. Oh, ye friends, drink ye, drink
abundantly, ye beloved." And we read in the book of Joel where
the Scriptures again do speak of this in a sense commensurate
with salvation. Joel chapter 3. And verse 18,
And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall
drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all
the rivers of Judah shall flow with water, and a fountain shall
come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall be a valley of
Shittim. And we do not take this position.
We do not take this position that I've taken this morning
in order that we might legally drink. That's not the position
at all. It is because it is the position
of the Scripture. In fact, you may believe in wine
in the Lord's Supper and never drink a drop apart from that
celebration of the Supper of the Lord, and many do. And if
you are that, you would be called an abstentionist. That is, you
abstain from it at all other times except in the celebration
of the Lord. Now, I don't drink it, don't
like it, haven't had a drop since we had the Lord's Supper several
months ago, but Scripture does not condemn the moderate use
of wine, and we might as well admit that because it is the
teaching of the Scripture, and this prepares us for our study
that is to come. Our next study showing that from
the Scripture, wine is the proper element in the supper of the
Lord, as we remember the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll show you
why the grape juice is not a good representative of the body of
Christ. It's full of leaven. It's full
of leaven, and leaven is to be left out of the celebration of
such things.