02/06/2025
ROYALTY AND THE CUP: A DANGEROUS MIX
Anchor Scripture: Proverbs 23:31- 35 (KJV)
"Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not:
when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again."
Allegory: The Crown and the Chalice
Picture a royal banquet. A young prince sits before a golden table. On one side lies a crown, symbolizing honor, purpose, and destiny. On the other lies a chalice of sparkling red wine, beautiful to the eye, fragrant and smooth. A whisper says, “Just one sip.” But with each taste, the prince becomes slower, less alert, more careless. Soon, his crown slides off, and he doesn’t even notice.
This is the seduction of the cup: it doesn’t take everything all at once, it takes it one sip at a time.
1. The Deception of the Cup (v.31)
"Look not thou upon the wine when it is red..."
Wine often looks good, attractive, luxurious, sophisticated. But its color, movement, and appeal are all bait in a deadly trap.
The Scripture doesn’t just say, “Don’t drink.” It says, don’t even look, because temptation starts with the eyes.
The beauty of the cup hides the bitterness of the consequences.
2. The Bite of the Cup (v.32)
"At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder."
No one expects a snakebite when they raise a glass. But the Word says that what starts as refreshment ends as poison.
It bites your morality.
It stings your judgment.
It poisons your destiny.
A little drink can open a great door to destruction.
3. Side Effects of Strong Drink (vv.33-35)
a) Lust After Strange Women
"Thine eyes shall behold strange women…"
Drinking leads to sexual looseness and moral collapse. Alcohol lowers inhibitions, blurs moral clarity, and stirs up ungodly desires.
What would normally be resisted becomes welcomed under the influence.
That which is "strange" - forbidden, dangerous, immoral, begins to look appealing.
Strong drink opens the eye of lust but shuts the eye of wisdom.
That is why many adulteries, fornications, and sexual assaults are tied to alcohol.
The same cup that toasts weddings often tears homes apart.
b) Perverse and Corrupt Speech
"Thine heart shall utter perverse things."
Drunkenness doesn’t just affect actions, it infects speech.
Under the influence, the mouth becomes a fountain of profanity, lies, filth, and blasphemy.
The drink looses the tongue of hell.
Words once unthinkable become the evening’s entertainment.
c) Loss of Control and Judgment
"Thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea..."
Imagine lying on the ocean waves, tossed, unstable, disoriented.
Or like someone sleeping on a ship’s mast, high, dangerous, unguarded.
This is what alcohol does, it places a person in dangerous spiritual, emotional, and physical territory without even realizing it.
d) Numbness to Consequences
"They have stricken me, and I was not sick..."
The drunkard becomes numb. Pain doesn’t teach. Wounds don’t warn.
Even beatings don’t wake him up, because the soul has been dulled.
Worst of all, he wants more.
"When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again."
That’s the cry of addiction. Even after sorrow, loss, shame, or near-death experiences, the thirst returns.
Drunkenness turns pain into pursuit.
4. Responding to Common Objections
Didn’t Jesus Turn Water into Wine? (John 2:1-11)
Yes, but the word “oinos” used in Greek can refer to either fermented or unfermented wine.
Nothing in the text says Jesus made intoxicating liquor.
The miracle was about transformation and divine glory, not alcohol consumption.
Would Jesus, who commands sobriety (Luke 21:34) and warns against drunkenness, create something that leads to sin? No.
His joy is not found in drunkenness but in the Holy Spirit, the true new wine.
What About “Take a Little Wine for the Stomach’s Sake”? (1 Timothy 5:23)
This was a medical instruction, not a moral license.
In Paul’s time, wine was sometimes used for digestive issues due to impure water sources.
Timothy was sickly and needed help, not a buzz.
It’s not an endorsement of social drinking, drunkenness, or alcohol as recreation.
Taking medicine is not the same as taking poison.
5. God's Call to His Royal Ones
"Be not drunk with wine… but be filled with the Spirit." - Ephesians 5:18
God is calling you higher, not into drunkenness, but into divine power.
The Holy Spirit gives what the cup can never offer:
Joy without regret
Peace without poison
Strength without shame
Boldness without bo***ge
You are royalty! You don’t need a drink to escape, you need the Spirit to conquer.
You don’t need a bottle to forget, you need the blood to redeem.
Conclusion: The Cup or the Crown?
There are two vessels before you today.
One holds fleeting pleasure, the other eternal purpose.
One holds numbness, the other clarity.
One leads to ruin, the other to a royal destiny.
What will you choose: the cup or the crown?
Proverbs 23 doesn’t say the danger is immediate. It says: “At the last…”
But by the time “the last” arrives, many don’t realize they’ve lost everything.
Don’t trade your destiny for a drink. Don’t trade royalty for ruin.
Maybe you’ve already drunk too long from the wrong cup. You’ve felt the sting, the shame, the loss. You’ve tried to stop, but you keep going back.
Jesus is offering you a better drink today:
"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst…" - John 4:14
Lay the bottle down.
Pick up the cross.
Drink from the well of life, and thirst no more.
Prayer of Salvation
“Lord Jesus, I have gone after things that could never satisfy. I have sinned, and I ask for Your forgiveness. Today, I turn to You. Wash me with Your blood. Fill me with Your Spirit. I receive You as my Lord and Savior. Help me to live a life that honors You. Make me new. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
. Williams Iniabasi Valentine