Stephen Bennett gives us Part 5 - The Serpents Bite

Stephen Bennett

Alan Cohol is the gregarious front man of a vast band of stimulants, plying their trade in the nations of the earth; playing a piper's song that woos with unfulfilling promises. Alan manifests in many forms, colors and tastes. He occupies shops on every high street, visits homes regularly, and abides in every eatery, bar, and club in the world. He is a liquid spirit you can see, taste, and smell the bouquet. He sings at you regularly to come and sup. Yet he works with another unseen, surreptitious, dark supernatural spirit. Alan is a doorway to a slippery demonic killer that has an evil bite. Alan is his puppet, his deceiver, and his counterfeit of the Master he hates - the Holy Spirit. God told his people Israel to choose blessing or cursing (Deuteronomy 27, 28). What would you rather - be filled with Him, or bitten with a serpents bite?

'Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper. (Under the influence of wine) Your eyes will behold strange things (and loose women - pornography), and your heart will utter perverse things' Proverbs 23:29-33. Al's fruit - woe, sorrow, conflicts, wounds and red eyes!

If you choose wrong and linger long, your heart will talk to you and sow perverse, untrue, corrupt seeds into your mind. If you act on them you will do things you don't normally do. The immorality of licentiousness and lasciviousness can creep into your life. You have sown to the flesh and not walked after the things of the Spirit. Instead the spirit of idolatry has bitten you deep and hard, that crafty serpent of old - the devil. His red poison has left his fangs and permeates your system - the Cabernet Killer has got ya! It happened to many priests and prophets in the Old Testament. Who wants this?

I have heard of a church that made a stand on this one issue of alcohol and left an entire Christian movement - why? Alan Cohol was far too resident in the movement's leadership and their people. The spirit of idolatry and worldliness had surreptitiously permeated the House of God, and dripped its way over the people; they had become blind to it in their pride, and the discerning and wise didn't want to be a part of it anymore.

The world has boundaries - don't drink and drive over 0.5% blood alcohol content. Although wise and serving a purpose of restraint for drink drivers, is this adequate for Christian's and leaders, because the lines of excess vary so much in different people? The Church needs to have its boundaries and motivation based on the truth and examples of scripture. The issues go way beyond just having a drink. It is about the bigger picture - the wide-scope of damage that happens to the Body of Christ in so many areas, from living one foot in the world, and one foot in the kingdom.

With excessive or regular use, Alan Cohol, over time, will burn away any boundaries from your heart, mind, and soul with the dark side of his influence. Today in the Body of Christ, these boundaries are either blurred, extreme, or not even understood. A good bottle of Bin 28 always has a bad side; its brothers are many, standing in an infinite row, quietly waiting to be consumed.