Back in the radio days before the invention of TV, a prominent preacher brought a message called, "Rats in the Beer Vats." It seems this preacher toured some breweries in our country and found out a problem that was being concealed from the American public, so he decided to reveal it. Rats were going crazy over the malt and were diving into the vats. They drowned and eventually sunk to the bottom. The plants had to shut down from time to time to empty the vats and clean out the dead rats. This sermon caused an awful stir and made a large dent in the beer industry. Rats still love malt and can be found in prevalence around graineries and breweries.
Even if the producers of beer have curbed the number of rats getting into the vats, nobody can get these rats out of the liquor industry:
1. The Rat of Death
Alcohol and alcohol-related incidents are America's #1 killer! On April 14, 1865, a man went into a saloon in Washington, D.C. for a glass of liquor. Then he went to Ford's Theater, where President Lincoln was watching a play, and shot him to death. The guard who was supposed to be on duty slipped down the street for a glass of booze.
On July 2, 1881, a man went into a saloon and drank 1 glass of liquor, then sneaked up behind President James A. Garfield and shot him in the back.
On September 6, 1901, a man took a drink of liquor and went immediately to where President William McKinley was shaking hands with people and shot him.
Three drinks, three presidents murdered, three men became murderers!
Alcohol and incidents resulting from alcohol abuse and alcohol related diseases are America's #1 killer surpassing war, cancer, sexually transmitted diseases and abortion, yet hardly anybody is concerned about it!
"Alcoholism is a disease" we're told. Is that so? Then it is the only disease that is sanctioned by the U.S. Government and allowed to be sold in grocery stores and liquor stores. It is the only disease permitted by law. It is the only disease taxed by our government.
ALCOHOL IS A DRUG! It is a drug made legal by our government and served in the White House in our capital. All the while this rat spews its poison of death everywhere!
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that drunk driving crashes are the nation's single greatest killer of people under 34 years of age!
William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, said: "Drink has drained more blood, hung more crepe, sold more homes, plunged more people into bankruptcy, armed more villains, slain more children, snapped more wedding rings, defiled more innocence, blinded more eyes, twisted more limbs, dethroned more reason, wrecked more manhood, dishonored more womanhood, broken more hearts, blasted more lives, driven more to suicide, and dug more graves than any other poison scourge that ever swept its death-dealing waves across the world!" AMEN!
The Bible says, "Woe to him that giveth his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him and maketh him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness." Habakkuk 2:15.
2. The Rat of Poison
Death by poisoning! My drinking friend, you are slowly taking your life. There are thousands of men and women who are alcoholics who have never been drunk once! YOU HAVE A LOT TO WORRY ABOUT if you drink as little as a glass of wine or cocktail at lunch or a few with the boys on Saturday night!
Alcohol is a poison and acts upon the brain as an anesthetic. The very word "INTOXICATED" means "being poisoned."
Dr. William F. Boos, toxicologist states: "Alcohol is a poison classed among the narcotic drugs along with chlorol, ethyl, chloride, chloroform, ether, tutuol and benzol. It acts as poison acts." He adds, "Brain and nervous system cells are the first to be affected by alcohol. After destruction by alcohol, they are lost forever. Unlike most other body cells, THEY CANNOT BE REGENERATED."
Dr. Melvin Knisely, Medical University of South Carolina, stated, "Every time a person takes a few drinks of an alcoholic beverage, even a few beers or cocktails at a social function, he permanently damages his brain ... his heart and liver are also affected."
A Reader's Digest article entitled, "Alcohol and Your Brain" states that Cardiologists no longer prescribe drinking as a means of improving circulation.
The Bible states, "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." I Corinthians 3:17.
The rats of poison are still in the beer vats.
3. The Rat of Religious Hypocrisy
Isaiah the Prophet, reflecting on the sad state of religion in his day wrote, "But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgement. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean." Isaiah 28:7-8.
If Isaiah were alive today, he would see history repeat itself. How sad that some clergymen have the reputation of being "boozers"!
The Bible says, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." Proverbs 20:1
Jesus drank the "fruit of the vine" at the Lord's Supper, not "wine"; all 4 of the historical accounts in the Bible reveal this. When offered vinegar to drink mingled with gall (a stupefying drink) in Matthew 27:34, while he was on the cross, as he tasted it with his tongue it says, "He would not drink."
The Bible forbids those who hold the office of prophet, priest or king to drink alcohol. Jesus holds all three positions.
Wine in the Bible has 9 different definitions as to what that word means, including "grape juice" and "grapes".
Personally, I wouldn't give a dime to a "ministry" that allows the consumption of alcohol on its property or sanctions its use by its members as a permissible practice in the name of "Christianity."
The Rat of Religious Hypocrisy is the rodent that has turned more people away from Christianity than any other rat.
4. The Rat of Damnation
Simply said, "... thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God." I Corinthians 6:10.
Being a drunkard is good evidence that a person is not truly saved. Jesus Christ has delivered more alcoholics than AA, education, detoxification, alcohol abuse clinics, etc. combined. His power to transform lives is evident today to those that will come to Him. "He that hath the Son hath life, He that hath not the Son of God hath not life, BUT THE WRATH OF GOD ABIDES ON HIM." John 3:36.
The rat of damnation is found in the bottom of every drink! There is no life there, only heartbreak, disease, death and damnation!
The solution to the problems brought on individuals and society by the beer vats is REPENTANCE. "God is angry with the wicked every day..." Psalms 7:11. However, God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. Jesus bore in His body on the cross the sins of the world, including drunkenness and alcohol abuse. He paid the price for sins, DEATH and the shedding of His blood. He was buried, and 3 days later rose from the grave, and to all who believe and call on Him, he will pardon all our sins, forgive us and save our soul from hell and destruction.
