Pre-Easter Series
The Last Hours of Christ
Mark 15:16 – 41
Message 2
Just Say No!
· An estimated 10 million adults and 3 million teenagers are alcoholics
· Alcohol is involved in:
o Nearly
a third of all drownings
o Half
of all deaths caused by fire
o Half
of all homicides
o A
third of all suicides
o Two
thirds of all assaults
·
More than 675,000 children are seriously abused every
year by an alcoholic or drug abusing caretaker
·
The estimated annual cost of alcohol addiction in
America is 118 BILLION dollars
·
36 million Americans are harmed directly or indirectly
every year because of alcoholism or problem drinking
·
11,000 death certificates annually list alcoholism or
alcohol psychosis as the cause of death
·
Approximately 2,000,000 arrests each year for public
drunkenness – 40% of all non-traffic arrests
·
Americans spend 121,700,000,000 annually on alcohol
·
It is impossible to estimate the human suffering
related to alcohol. Broken homes,
deserted families, lost time, lost employment, problems of children of
alcoholic parents and the physical and emotional toll of alcohol on a
alcoholic/problem drinker and those around them.
(sources – Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
publication Number R719, “the Speakers Quote Book” by Roy B. Zuck and Dr.
Vernon E. Wilson’s Testimony before a Senate Sub-Committee)
Alcohol is a major problem in today’s society!
Scripture has much to say about alcohol, drunkenness and their effects. There are no less than SEVENTY FIVE (75) scriptures AGAINST alcohol in the Word of God.
America has become
an anesthetized society.
We try to hide from our pains, our failures and our stress through the mind numbing effects of a drug called alcohol.
Alcohol is a
DEPRESSANT DRUG!
The problem is that its effects are only temporary and the resulting problems only add to our pain – making us want to drink more.
We often ask the question “WWJD?” (What Would Jesus Do?)
This is the wrong question
Let us instead ask “WDJD?” (What DID Jesus Do?”)
Mark 15:22-24a “And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means Skull Hill). They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it. Then they nailed him to the cross.” (NLT)
· When Jesus Christ was experiencing the worst pain and suffering of His life….
· When Jesus was faced with impending death and knew there was no way out….
· When His followers had deserted Him, denied Him and turned their backs to Him in fear…
· When Jesus was offers alcohol mixed with Myrrh so He would feel no pain….
JESUS SAID NO!!!
He was offered the chance to reduce His pain; to drug him self so He would not have to suffer so much.
He was being tempted to yield to the desires of the flesh over the desires of God. SIN
· Temptation to yield to the things of this world
· Opportunity to mask the pain with wine and Myrrh
Would He “take the easy way out?”
JESUS SAID NO!!!
Jesus faced many temptations from the world during His time here – but never yielded to any of them
Jesus turned down the wine – not because He is Baptist
He will not take any escape from the suffering the God’s Cup holds for Him
In the Garden “Father please take this cup from me, yet
your will be done”
Jesus has now rejected all three of the worldly gifts the wise men brought Him
· He rejected the Gold – It belongs to Cesar. Matthew 22:19-21 “Here, show me the Roman coin used for the tax." When they handed him the coin, He asked, "Whose picture and title are stamped on it?" "Caesar's," they replied. "Well, then," He said, "give to Caesar what belongs to him. But everything that belongs to God must be given to God..” (NLT)
· He rejected the frankincense – the worldly religion/temple John 4:23-24 “But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (NLT)
· Now He rejects the Myrrh – the earthly Kingdom – He will not be an earth bound king – He will not yield to their call for Him to bring Elijah on his chariot and ride into war against Rome.
Jesus was willing to take the pain – He wanted to face it head on
WHY?
Pain and sacrifice leads to freedom
Personally, as an ex-addict I do not want to hear that Jesus Christ sunk to the level of man and did something to lesson His pain – that would lessen His sacrifice – it would cheapen my salvation – if not remove it altogether.
They all had to “Drink of the cup” God put before them
As a former alcoholic/very heavy drinker – one who has first hand knowledge of what alcohol does to your system and your perceptions, I am overjoyed that Jesus refused the wine with Myrrh.
I can gain strength from knowing that my difficult times are much easier than His were and He stood strong, faithful and clean. So can I if I am living in Him.
I do not need drugs or alcohol to help me survive the tough times!
I need Jesus Christ to carry me through these
days. Because He is my strength and my
shield and He did not yield to this temptation in all He was suffering
through neither will I.
Choose YOUR cup today:
1. Fathers Cup – Suffering and Pain – will lead to our freedom for eternity.
2. Cup of the world – wine and myrrh – will lead to your freedom from temporary pain
The world and our common enemy are always willing to offer you something to ease the pain you are feeling. The only problem is that it is only a temporary relief that usually causes greater problems.
If Jesus had chosen this relief then He could not have paid the price for our sins and we would be without salvation.
Jesus loved us
so much that He chose the pain.