Not Only For Necessity, But Also For Delight and Good Cheer

John Calvin, Institutes 3.10.2:

Let this be our principle, that the use of God's gifts is not wrongly directed when it is referred to that end to which the Author himself created and destined them for us, since he created them for our good, and not for our ruin. Accordingly, no one will hold to a straighter path than he who diligently looks to this end. Now if we ponder to what end God created food, we shall find that he meant not only to provide for necessity but also for delight and good cheer. Thus the purpose of clothing, apart from necessity, was comeliness and decency. In grasses, trees, and fruits, apart from their various uses, there is beauty of appearance and pleasantness of odor [cf. Gen. 2:9]. For if this were not true, the prophet would not have reckoned among among the benefits of God “that wine gladdens the heart of man, that oil makes his face shine,” (Ps. 104:15 p.). Scriptures would not have reminded us repeatedly, in commending his kindness, that he gave all such things to men. And the natural qualities themselves of things demonstrate sufficiently to what end and extent we may enjoy them. Has the Lord clothed the flowers with the great beauty that greets our eyes, the sweetness of smell that is wafted upon our nostrils, and yet will it be unlawful for our eyes to be affected by that beauty, or our sense of smell by the sweetness of that odor? Did he not so distinguish colors as to make some more lovely than others? What? Did he not endow gold and silver, ivory and marble, with a loveliness that renders them more precious than other metals and stones? Did he not, in short, render many things attractive to us, apart from their necessary use? 

The Wine of God

George Herbert, (an extract from) "The Bunch of Grapes," in The Temple:

But can he want the grape, who hath the wine?
I have their fruit and more.
Blessed be God, who prosper’d Noahs vine,
And made it bring forth grapes good store.
But much more him I must adore,
Who of the Laws sowre juice sweet wine did make,
Ev’n God himself being pressed for my sake.

David Dickson and the Robbers

Thomas M'Crie the Younger, The Story of the Scottish Church, pp. 251-252:

[David Dickson] was a man of strong nerve and undaunted resolution in the discharge of his duty, of which the following anecdote may serve as an illustration: On one occasion, when riding between Edinburgh and Glasgow, he was attacked by robbers. Instead of giving way to his fears, Dickson boldly admonished them of their clanger in regard to their souls, and concluded by earnestly exhorting them to try some other profession more safe and creditable than that in which they were engaged. Some years after this, when quietly seated in the College of Edinburgh, he was surprised by receiving the present of a pipe of wine accompanied with a message that the gentleman who sent it requested the pleasure of drinking a glass of the wine with him next evening in his study. The request was granted; and, in the course of conversation, the gentleman, after finding that the minister retained no recollection of having seen him before, informed him that he was one of the robbers who had attacked him—that he had been seriously impressed by his admonition—and that, having adopted his advice, he had prospered in foreign trade, and now came to thank his benefactor.

Friday Funny

Jim West, Drinking With Calvin and Luther, p. 209:

...a California restaurant contains this approximate wording on one of its walls: "In heaven the English are the police, the French are the lovers, the Germans are the mechanics, the Italians are the cooks and vintners, and the Swiss run everything. In hell, the English are the cooks and vintners, the French are the mechanics, the Germans are the police, the Swiss are the lovers, and the Italians run everything."

Dissension in a Monastery

Jim West, Drinking With Calvin and Luther, p. 136:

There were some medieval monks who vowed a vow of silence. They were allowed to speak but once a year and that only for a short moment. One monk said, "I think the wine in our monastery is too sweet."

One year later a second monk quietly responded, "I like the sweet wine."

Another year passed and a third monk arbitrated, "This incessant bickering must stop."

350 Years of South African Viniculture

Earlier this year, the South African wine industry celebrated its 350th anniversary. It owes much to the contributions of the French Huguenots skilled in winemaking who arrived on the Cape of Good Hope in 1688, but it began with vines first planted by Jan Van Riebeeck, who came to the Cape in 1652 to establish a trading station to support the Dutch East India Company, and is credited with founding the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk, or Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, that same year. In 1655, vines were shipped to the Cape from France, the Rhineland and Spain. Van Riebeeck planted 1,000 vines on his own farm in 1658 and, the following year, he recorded a famous entry in his journal, which, it is said, "placed South Africa as the 11th country to cultivate the vine, following just behind California’s initial grape crops in 1600."

Jan Van Riebeeck, Diary, 2 February 1659:

Today -- glory be to God -- wine was pressed for the first time from the Cape grapes...it consisted mostly of the Muscadel and other white round grapes, of fine flavour and taste. The Spanish grapes are still green; many stocks are quite full with them, and it is expected that they will yield abundantly....The return fleet will arrive just in time for the young wine and old beer, when all the kinds of fruit will be ripe...

The Wisdom of Solomon

Jim West, Drinking With Calvin and Luther, pp. 49-50:

A Lutheran and a Calvinist were wrangling about the ownership of a barrel of wine in a public warehouse, which contained some of the sweetest vintages in all Germany.

Both claimed that the priceless commodity was theirs, that the grapes had been grown in their vineyard and that the wood for the barrel was also taken from the trees on their respective properties.

They took their dispute before a local magistrate who was adamantly opposed to alcoholic beverages and had no appreciation for a priceless old wine. When the magistrate first heard the case, he mentally related the litigants and their claims to the two women who wanted Solomon to adjudicate their squabble over who was the biological mother of the living child. This story of Solomon gave him his grand plan: "If I threaten to take an axe to the wine barrel, and promise to give one half to the Calvinist and the other half to the Lutheran, the true owner will cry out, 'No! Give the barrel to him; it's his!' And the other will say, 'Divide the barrel with the axe; that's only fair.' Also, I will kill two birds with one stone -- ruining the devilish wine with one swing of the axe."

So, imagining that he was the reincarnation of Solomon and that his name would become famous in prohibitionist circles forever, the teetotaling judge pronounced his verdict.

"I command that the wine barrel be halved with an axe, and be divided between the Calvinist and the Lutheran."

So, he sat back smugly and waited for the rightful owner to humble himself before the bench, anticipating that the rightful owner would urge him to give the whole vintage to his antagonist.

To the utter surprise of the judge, both the Calvinist and the Lutheran rushed forward, and implored, "No, no, give the barrel to him; the wine is his!"

Cellar of Affliction

It is commonly reported that Samuel Rutherford said: "The secret formula of the saints: When in the cellar of affliction, I look for the Lord's choicest wines." Another variation of this oft-repeated quote is: "When cast in the cellars of affliction, remember the great King keeps his wine there." It is a noble quote and the sentiment is certainly in accord with the mind of Rutherford from what I know of him. However, to me, the language does not quite sound like his and, having spent some time researching this, I wonder if these are his words or perhaps a revised version of something else he said.

I have investigated the source of this quote only to ascertain if it is really his not to take anything away from the quote. It may be that he said it after all, but so far I have not been able to find it sourced anywhere in his writings. It is only very rarely that any source is ascribed to the quote at all beyond Rutherford's name. Joel Beeke quoted the line, along with others, in The Quest for Full Assurance: The Legacy of Calvin and His Successors, p. 162, and provided a footnote to p. 52ff of the 1881 edition of his Letters; although the other quotes referenced on p. 162 are found there, this particular quote is not. However, there are some other lines in his Letters that seem to echo the thought, if not the exact language.

Letter 35 (First Part, June 15, 1637) [Letter 177 of Andrew Bonar's 1891 ed.] (p. 105 of Thomas Smith's 1881 ed.):

O, that my Master would take up house again, and lend me the keys of His wine-cellar again, and God send me borrowed drink till then.

Letter 50 (First Part, 1637) [Letter 249 of Andrew Bonar's 1891 ed.] (p. 129 of Thomas Smith's 1881 ed.):

But for you hing on, your feast is not far off; ye shall be filled ere ye go, there is as much in our Lord's pantry, as will satisfy all His bairns, and as much wine in His cellar as will quench all their thirst.

Letter 122 (First Part, June 15, 1637) [Letter 179 of Andrew Bonar's 1891 ed.] (p. 224 of Thomas Smith's 1881 ed.):

I wish, for my part, I could send you, and that gentleman who wrote his commendations to me, into the King's innermost cellar and house of wine to be filled with love. A drink of this love is worth the having indeed.

Letter 32 (Second Part, February 13, 1640) [Letter 295 of Andrew Bonar's 1891 ed.] (p. 431 of Thomas Smith's 1881 ed.):

Come, come, dear friend, and be pained, that the King's wine-cellar of free love, and His banqueting-house (O so wide, so stately! O so Godlike, so glory-like!) should be so abundant, so overflowing, and your shallow vessel so little, to take in some part of that love.

Letter 3 (Third Part, July 21, 1630) [Letter 12 of Andrew Bonar's 1891 ed.] (p. 488 of Thomas Smith's 1881 ed.):

You have been of late in the King's wine-cellar, where you were welcomed by the Lord of the inn, upon condition that ye would walk in love; put on love, and brotherly kindness, and long-suffering; wait as long upon the favour and turned hearts of your enemies, as your Christ waited upon you, and as dear Jesus stood at your soul's door with dewy and rainy locks, the long cold night; be angry but sin not.

I hope that if my research is incomplete and this quote is properly ascribed to Rutherford after all, that someone will kindly provide the citation. Regardless, may each child of God who finds himself or herself in the cellar of affliction drink deeply of the King's choice wine and be filled with his love.

Abstinence in Moderation

Jim West, Drinking With Calvin and Luther, pp. 214-215:

A Reformed minister was asked to lunch with three other ministers with whom he was not familiar. He arrived at the restaurant early, and while waiting, unthinkingly ordered a bottle of cabernet sauvignon.

When the other three ministers arrived he had already imbibed half a glass and heartily asked if they would like to partake of the Lord's "tender mercies." The three of them respectfully declined, but the Reformed minister could tell by their countenances that they were more than a little dismayed.

"Do the three of you have a problem with wine?" he asked.

One minister said that he believed that all alcoholic beverages were sinful and that Rome would have to melt into the Tiber before a drop ever touched his lips. The second indicated that because of the widespread abuse of alcohol that he had made a decision never to drink. He indicated that he was also concerned about the world's perception of him -- it was unconscionable that a minister of the Gospel should ever be associated with wine. The third minister said that the sole reason for his abstinence was that he did not want to offend the other two.

"Well, then," said the Calvinist, "I guess I am in an embarrassing spot. I wouldn't even want to offend the man who is afraid that he might offend. What would you have me do?"

"Why don't we all drink to abstinence?" said the teetotaler. "I'll order some water and we'll drink to abstinence."

They all heartily agreed, even the Calvinist. When the water arrived, and the glasses were filled, each took his turn.

"Here's to abstinence," said the first minister.

"To abstinence," seconded the second.

"To abstinence," toasted the third.

Then the Calvinist refilled his glass with the cabernet, lifted it to his lips, and declared: "Yes, indeed, to abstinence -- may it always be practiced with moderation!"

Unfermented Wine

Rev. A.M. Wilson, Preface, The Wines of the Bible (1877):

Having been a teetotaller for more than thirty years, his [the author's] personal habits, associations, and sympathies have all been in favour of the unfermented theory; but the facts encountered in the present investigation have constrained him reluctantly to conclude that so far as the wines of the ancients are concerned, unfermented wine is a myth.

Charles Spurgeon, Charles Spurgeon's book review of The Wines of the Bible: an Examination and Refutation of the Unfermented Wine Theory by the Rev. A. M. Wilson. (reviewed 1877, The Sword and the Trowel, p. 437):

'UNFERMENTED wine' is a non-existent liquid. Mr. Wilson has so fully proved this that it will require considerable hardihood to attempt a reply. The best of it is that he is a teetotaler of more than thirty years' standing, and has reluctantly been driven 'to conclude that, so far as the wines of the ancients are concerned, unfermented wine is a myth.' While total abstainers are content to make no assault upon the cup used at the Lord's table, they work harmoniously with all who seek the welfare of their fellow men; but when they commence warfare upon that point they usually become more factious than useful: everything is then made subordinate to their one idea, and the peace of the church is disregarded. It is well, therefore, that one of themselves should protest against carrying a principle to extremes, and best of all that he should do so by showing that the theories which have been advanced are utterly untenable. We wish the utmost success to the abstinence cause, and, therefore, trust that there will be no pressing of the question of unfermented wine at the Communion, for it will not promote the cause, and will create much heartburning, and, worst of all, it will be contrary to the Divine precedent. The question is not necessary to the temperance movement, and we wish it had never been raised. Mr. Wilson has written the thick volume now before us to settle the matter, and we believe that he establishes beyond reasonable debate that the wines of the Bible were intoxicating, and that our Lord did not ordain jelly or syrup, or cherry juice to be the emblem of his sacrifice.

Good Wine Needs No Bush

When it comes to painting a picture with words, few Puritans can equal the skill of Thomas Watson. It is interesting to note the many ways he refers to wine in his word pictures. He speaks of the "wine of glory," the "wine of the gospel," and God's "promises dropped into the soul like wine."

I like this one from The Godly Man's Picture (as found inThe Sermons of Thomas Watson, p. 518):

A godly man doth not indulge himself in any sin. Though sin lives in him, yet he doth not live in sin. Every man that hath wine in him, is not in wine.

Jim West elaborates on one particular reference which is perhaps not so clear to 21st century readers in Drinking With Calvin and Luther, p. 71:

In a more obscure reference from The Godly Man's Picture, one of his most enduring works, Watson writes, "If there is wine in the house, the bush will be hung outside, and where there is a principle of godliness in the heart, it will vent itself at the lips; the bush will be hung up." The explanation for the figure is that in Watson's day, a bush was a branch of a tree that was hung out as a sign for a tavern. When the "bush custom" was eventually discontinued, Englishmen hung a coronated frame of wood as a tavern sign. The English thus coined a proverb: "Good wine needs no bush."

Christ Is That Excellent Wine

Ralph Robinson, Christ All in All, p. 171:

Christ hath, in a spiritual sense, all the good properties of the vine and of all the fruits of the vine.

He hath all the excellencies of wine. I name four.

(1.) Wine nourisheth. It helps digestion. Christ is a great nourisher; the soul would decay and dwindle to nothing if Christ did not continually nourish it and feed it.

(2.) Wine is a comforter, Psal. civ. 15. Jesus Christ is the great comforter of the soul. When the soul droops and languisheth, when it is cast down and dejected, the love and presence of Christ doth cheer it again, Psal. xxi. 6. David confesseth it in Psal. xxiii. 3, 'He restoreth my soul.' Jesus Christ is the soul's restorer.

(3.) Wine emboldeneth. Being a spiritual creature, it doth raise the spirits; and being moderately used, puts courage into the fearful. Jesus Christ doth embolden the soul. His presence and his grace fills the soul with holy courage; he that was fearful dares now speak for God and act for God; the very tidings of Christ's coming expels fear from the hearts of his people, Isa. xxxv. 3, 4. There is no true valour in the soul till Christ be there. All the soul's confidence is built on Christ, and on Christ alone. We have no boldness in prayer, no boldness in approaching to God in any ordinance, but is communicated by and from Jesus Christ, Heb. x. 19.

(4.) Wine is healing. Some kind of wines are prescribed for the healing of inward distempters, &c. The Samaritan poured oil and wine, Luke x. 34. Christ is a great healer, he heals broken hearts, and wounded spirits, and all inward distempers whatsoever. There is no health in the soul till Christ be there. 'Unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings,' Mal. iv. 2. Christ is the tree of life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations, Rev. xxii. 2. Christ is an excellent and precious person. Never look upon the vine, never see the fruit of the vine, but meditate on Jesus Christ.