Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth in the cup, When it goeth down smoothly:
3 sermons cite this verse
… okay here it is let me read Proverbs 23 31 do not gaze at wine when it is red when it sparkles in the cup when it goes down smoothly do not verse 20 Do not join those, I skipped up, who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat. For drunkards and gluttons become poor and drowsiness clothes them in rags. Now jump to Proverbs 23 verse 30. Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. The author is talking about that. Then Proverbs 23, 32 through 34, in the end, it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things. Your mind will imagine confusing things. You'll be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. And Proverbs 23, 35, they hit me. You'll say, but I'm not hurt. They beat me, but I don't feel it. When will I wake up so I can find another drink? I just gave you five principles of dealing with alcohol. …
… You fall into drunkenness, you end up in sexual debauchery. So verse 31 warns you, don't even look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. And you see the guys on television with the big wine glass swirling it around, birds are chirping in beautiful scenery and mountains and snow, and the guy is a macho man that every woman dreamed of, and He's swirling this, and the sunlight is bouncing off of it. That's exactly what the Bible says not to do. Yeah, verse 32 says, at the last, in the end, it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper, and you wind up on Wilshire Boulevard in a tent. And your eyes, verse 33, will see strange things, and your mind will utter perverse things. And you'll be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea. It'll drown you. It will drown you. Or like one who lies down at the top of the mast. …
David says that his enemies laid snares for him, sought his hurt, spoke mischievous things and devised and imagined deceits all day long. "Well," says one, "how was it that David had so many enemies? How could he make so many? Must he not have been imprudent and rash, or, perhaps, morose?" It does not appear so in his life. He rather made enemies by his being scrupulously holy. His enemies attacked him not because he was wicked, but, as he says in this very Psalm, they were his enemies because he loved the thing which is good. Now, you must not suppose that because you seek to live in all peaceableness and righteousness, that, therefore, everybody will be peaceable towards you. Far from it! Our Lord put us upon the right tack when He said, "I came not to send peace upon earth, but a sword." The ultimate result of the religion of Christ is to make peace everywhere—but the first result is to cause strife. When the Light of God comes, it must contend with the darkness. When the Truth of God comes, it must first combat error. And when the Gospel comes, it must meet with enemies—and the man who receives the Gospel will find that his foes shall be they of his own household. You shall not be helped by an ungodly father, nor be cheered onward by an un-Christian mother. One would think that even nature, itself, might lead parents to admire that which should make their children virtuous, preserve them in this life and bless them in the life to come. But such is the enmity of the human heart against Christ and His Gospel, that hundreds of parents have been monsters to their children when those children have been obedient subjects to Christ! Why those stakes, those dungeons and those racks? Why the snows of Piedmont dyed scarlet with human gore? Why the glens of Scotland marked with the lurking places of the saints? Because this world hates the people of God! "You are not of the world," says Christ, "even as I am not of the world, and therefore the world hates you." It is good to be reminded of this, that we may not be astonished at the fiery trial as though some strange thing had happened to us! It is the part and lot of the follower of the true to have to contend with deadly odds. …