Christians and alcohol. Few topics are more common in our culture and more ignored in the pulpit. In this sermon, Pastor Harold Warner takes Ephesians 5 head on and asks a blunt question: Are you living under the influence of alcohol, or under the influence of the Holy Spirit?
Preached in a season of “holiday cheer,” this message exposes the cultural propaganda around drinking, walks through the Bible’s real portrait of alcohol, and presses into the thing that actually matters: your testimony, your calling, and being filled with the Spirit.
Scriptures Mentioned:
• Ephesians 5:15–21
• Galatians 5:16–21
• 1 Peter 4:1–5
• Proverbs 20:1, Proverbs 23:29–35
• Romans 13:13–14
• Romans 12:1–2
In this message you will hear about:
• “Sipping saints” and why the line is never as clean as people pretend
• The war between flesh and Spirit, and what alcohol is really feeding
• Why the Bible’s “ad” for drinking looks nothing like Madison Avenue
• Noah, Lot, Nabal, Belshazzar, and the wreckage that follows drunkenness
• How Christian liberty can become a stumbling block for weaker believers
• Why a Spirit filled life is not optional if you want to impact people
• The power of a clear cut, no nonsense testimony in a foggy world
If you are wrestling with the “gray areas,” or if you have quietly opened the door to “just a little” alcohol, this sermon will not stroke your conscience. It will confront it, and then point you to something far better: a life filled with the Holy Spirit.
Subscribe for more classic sermons that challenge easy Christianity and call men and women to radical discipleship, church planting, and world evangelism.
Chapters
00:00 Welcome, intro, and sermon setup
00:31 Text in Ephesians and direction of the message
00:49 Turning 60, family reunion, and midnight karaoke exit
02:08 “Sinners do what sinners do” and Christian witness
03:20 America’s drinking problem and “sipping saints”
05:03 Holiday Cheer: Living under the influence
07:23 “You’ve wasted enough of your past life”
09:12 Spirits vs the Holy Spirit: where your stimulus comes from
11:34 The war between flesh and Spirit
15:22 College culture, deception, and open doors to the enemy
19:47 The Bible’s beer commercial: Proverbs 23
23:53 Testimony, liberty, and not stumbling weaker believers
30:34 Last days warnings and the need for clarity
37:58 New life, renewed mind, and breaking from the old life
44:20 “Is this bud for you?” and the call to be filled with the Spirit
Show Notes
ALL PROCEEDS GO TO WORLD EVANGELISM
Locate a CFM Church near you: https://cfmmap.org
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