8.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• The eight mark of a mature Christian is that he is free from addiction. 
• A mature Christian is not a drunkard.
  - A drunkard is someone who puts himself under the control of wine (or another kind of drink).
• A mature Christian is also not addicted to other things,
  - such as food, sleep, work, social media, or any other good gift from God.
• The danger of addiction is that we waste God’s gifts and worship a false god.
• Instead of being drunk or addicted, we should be filled with the Spirit.
• The way to be filled with the Spirit is to fill our lives with God’s Word (especially with the gospel).

8.2 Proverbs 23:29-35←⤒🔗

^29. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints ? Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness of the eyes?

^30. Those who linger over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine.

^31. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.

^32. Afterward it bites like a snake, and stings like a viper.

^33. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will speak perverse things.

^34. And you will be like one who lies down in the midst  of the sea, and like one who lies down on the top of the rigging.

^35. You will say, 'They have struck  me, but I am not harmed ! They beat me, but I did not know it! When will I awake? I will look for another drink.'

© NET Bible

8.3 – 1 Timothy 3:1-3←⤒🔗

^1. This saying is trustworthy: “If someone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a good work.”

^2. The overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher,

^3. not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not contentious, free from the love of money.

© NET Bible

8.4 Four things we should not be←⤒🔗

From 1 Timothy 3:2 we have learned about seven things that we should be. As God’s people, we should be above reproach, sexually pure, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, and learners and sharers of God’s Word.

In this lesson we will begin looking at the next verse, 1 Timothy 3:3. This verse speaks about four things we should not be. We should not be

• drunkards;
• violent;
• contentious; or
• lovers of money.

Drunkenness, violence, contention, and the love of money are four dangerous sins. A Christian who continues in these sins, will never become mature. In fact, these sins will destroy his faith and he will not enter God’s kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:10).

In this lesson we will think about the sin of drunkenness, and about addiction in general.

8.5 What is “a drunkard”?←⤒🔗

Is anyone who drinks wine or beer a “drunkard”? No. The Bible tells us that wine is a gift from God, to make people’s hearts glad (Psalm 104:15). People could buy wine and beer to feast and rejoice at God’s temple (Deuteronomy 14:26). Jesus once turned water into wine, and he enjoyed drinking wine with his friends (John 2:1-11; Matthew 11:19).

But there is a right way to enjoy wine and beer, and there is a wrong way to enjoy it. To enjoy it in the right way, you must enjoy it with thanksgiving and to God’s glory (1 Timothy 4:4). You must enjoy it in such a way that you remain in control of your thoughts, words, and actions.

A drunkard enjoys wine and beer in the wrong way. He feels that he needs it. He drinks too much of it. He puts himself under the control of wine (or another kind of drink).

8.6 Other addictions←⤒🔗

We have just seen that wine is a gift from God. God also gives us thousands of other good gifts. Food, work, sports, books, money, sleep, medication, and social media are only a few examples. God gives us these good gifts so that we may use them with thanksgiving and to his glory.

But if a good thing starts to control your life, then it has become an addiction. Then your choices are not being controlled by God and his Word. Instead of living for God, you are living for something else.

A mature Christian is not a drunkard. A mature Christian is also not addicted to work, sleep, social media, shopping, food, or other things. He has a balanced, self-controlled lifestyle. He enjoys God’s gifts with thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

8.7 The danger of drunkenness←⤒🔗

In Ephesians 5:18 we find this command: “Do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.”

Drunkenness is a kind of “debauchery.” The word “debauchery” means “wasteful living.” When we get drunk, we waste the good gifts that God has given us. This is clear from Proverbs 23:29-35. In these verses we find the sad story of a drunkard’s life.

The drunkard wastes his relationships. Instead of loving others, he fights with them (verse 29). He wastes his health. He has “wounds” and “dullness of the eyes” (verse 29). He wastes his time and energy. God gave him work to do in this world. But he uses his time and energy to think about wine and to find wine (verses 30-31 and 35).

A drunken person does not care about the things that are happening around him. He does not care about the people around him, or about the glory of God. A drunken person cares only about himself and his drink. When you look carefully at the man of Proverbs 23:29-35, you realize that this man worships wine. He has put his hope and trust in it. He lives for it.

This is the worst danger of drunkenness and other addictions. When you are addicted to something, you are busy worshipping a false god. It can seem like a good god–something that can bring you comfort in this life. But in the end it will destroy you. As verse 32 warns us, “afterward it bites like a snake, and stings like a viper.”

8.8 Be filled with the Spirit←⤒🔗

The first part of Ephesians 5:18 says, “do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery.” But the verse also has a second part. The second part says, “But be filled with the Spirit.”

What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? It means to live your whole life under the control of the Spirit. Just as a drunk person is under the control of wine, so a Spirit-filled person is under the control of the Spirit!

Why do people get drunk? And why do people get addicted to other things? Most of the time it is because these people feel lonely, sad, or worried. They are looking for some love, happiness, or peace.

But true love, joy, and peace come from God, through his Spirit (Galatians 5:22). God wants to give these things to everyone who believes in his Son. That is why he commands us, “Be filled with the Spirit.”

The Spirit works through the Word of God. If you want to be filled with the Spirit, then fill your life with God’s Word. Especially, fill your mind with the gospel. Remember how Jesus Christ lived a perfect life in your place, how he died to save you from your sins, and how he promises to help you in every situation. Put all your trust in him. Learn from him, obey him, and pray in his name.

As you prayerfully do these things, the Spirit will work in you and fill your life. There will be no place in your life for drunkenness, or for any kind of wasteful living.