Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1880-05-25

age, and who are fathers and grand
fathers, what effect would it have upon
you that after having spent long life
in the service of God, you have tat the
lastu been betrayed into some sin.
which has been. at least, the occasion of
bringing Gods curse upon your own be-
loved offspring? Would not this sad
reflection 'bite like serpent and sting
like an adder % Well, the heart of
Noah must have been bitten and stung
by these sad reflections till "they
brought down his grey hairs with sor
gov to the grave" And all because he
Cooked upon the wine when it is red,
when it giveth his color in the cup,
when it moveth itself aright." And he
found in his own experience that lat
the last it biteth like a serpent and
stingeth like an ADDER" even in the life
that now is. And SO, brethren. as we
contemplate The life of Noah, let us each
one cry, "Lofd deliver me out Of the
snare of the devil" And now one
word on the example Of Lot, that right
eous man of Sodom, whose righteous
soul was vexed from day to day with
their filthy conversation. When pllsck-
ed as a brand from the burning, he es-
capped the destruction of Sod0m, under
tAC AnAuCdCC Ol WIAC w nAob4 40 q AAOChA
er, and strong drink which is raging"
he commits incest, and covers his old
age with infamy. He who was vexed
with the filthy conversation of the city,
is himself in cove, whilst under the
influence of wine, enticed into the same
abomioations which his soul abhorrea.
And thus his life sets under q cloud
He himself having, in his old age, COM
mitted crime of the darkest hue,
leaves his disgraeed offspring to become
the heads of two powerful heather Da-
tieF,a, the Moabites and tise Ammonites.
His descendants became the Gerce ene-
mics of tke God whom, he loved; and
all because he "looked upon the wine,"
which '.at the iast,1 in this life, when
he reflected upon taaess things, must
have "bitten him like serRent and
stung him like an adder" We p4en.
who drink moderately-ye, who take
the occasional glass, but are never going
to drink to excess are you stronger
than Noah? Have you better control
of your appsatites than he had of his ?
He was man G. faith, and Gods fear
less witness when tie whole world
Knocked him to scorn. Wet. "at the
kast,u, wine pierced him through ;with
maHy sorrows. Are you stronger than
Lot. wise alone stood faithful to God
in that wicked city? Yes, Noah fell,
and Lot fell, but will stand firm,
1 will continue to be moderate drinker.
My friend, how do you know taat yGu
will? May it not be that "thine heart
ssath deceived thee ?" He that trust
eta 10 his own heart is fool" Well,
it is possible that you may-I do not de-
nv that-Iut st is not at all probable.
But why run the risk, eince the result
is almost certain, and the consequences
so fearful? Let me, In all faithfulness,
tell you about what the end will be. 1t
is more than probable that one Of these
two results will follow: either your
appetite for intoxicating beverage will
geow on you, get the mastery over you,
lead yG1 into the commission of crime,
bring you TO ss1fg9e, and your family to
poverty and Disgrace ~ plse you Will
go on taking your occasional glagy, or
using this beverage with moderation, /,
without experiencing any evil effects.
until Old gge, ss in the case of both
! Noah and Lot. las weakened your pow
ers, and rendered yol1 more susceptible
to its influences, when, at al hour that
you ti;ipk not, it will be said OF yag,
behold, ias is drunk Therefore fear,
for in either case it will sat the last bite
like a serpent and siia- like an adder"
have noticed some OF the evils which
do in this life either accompany OR TOW
from the Use of ardent spirits, especially
as enforced by the record given of Noah
aud of Lot. And { Will now pass on
to consider:
2. The evils a0hich the use OF S,ajoG;-
eating beverage brings upon ones fam
My. I will not stop to enumerate the
almost endiesa catalogue by which the
drunkard brings upon his household
woe, sorrow. contentions. babbling and
wounds, till he has transformed the
family, which God instituted to ba 2
type of his redeemed and happy family
above, into St picture of hell; for my
more immediate aim now is. to show
the moderate drinkex that though he
NAV. as We have adj alOnE admitted,
possibly escape unscathed in his own
person, vet the evils he brings upon his
family will "at the last bite like. SER
pent and sting like an adder" And 1
here call to mind a young man, an only
son. who passed through his entire aca-
demie and professional course OF study
at one of our State Universities a per-
fectly sober man; but on his return
home to his father, WIG was man that
took his regular dram, buS psyer drank
to excess, he began, after the e1sH PIE
of his father, to take bis dram, ana "a
a short time became drunken sot ne
became early in life, quite distinguished.
in his profession, and gave promise o!
great usefulness, but is now total
wreck, his body nigh unto the grave
and his lonl upon the brink OF nell.
The father csl,d control himself, the
= of ocnonad -
hurt, but he caused his lan, his only
son, to offend. He has, feaf, peen'
not Intentionally, of course, the mnfI y. :,
derer of his scn's body and soul. ~
because he ''looked upon the wine Wnen
it is red.n AS I now look upon that
feeble old man whose drunken S0n 10
the only surviving member of his faHa-
iiy to support and comfort him in ms
last dave. I cannot but think that ne
experiences the truth of the text, az
the last it biteth like a serpent ano
stingeth like an addof.O Brethren, dlo
you ever know a simiia. case. Wnere,
though the father escaped, yet fle GILL
dren, through his example, were ce.
stroyed by the destroyer? 'lt must
needs be that offences come; but woe
unto that man by whom the ofience
cometh." Wherefore lis good neither
to drink wine nor anything WHEREBY
thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, OF
is made weak" My friend, you Fay
escape, though probabilities are againsI
you. but rather than cause your brotner
to offend, rather than bring q blighting
curse upon yanr own children, 6etteI !
ten thousand times ten thousand ana
thousands of thousands drink no wine
"whilelthe world standeth." Rretnren.
consider the evils the use of intoxlcaS-
ing beverage brings upon ones fanny:
1t brought the curse of God upon part
of Noah's family, SO that they were :, 70
be the servants of servants" or Tue
meanest of servants to their brethren.
1t brought the curse Of God upon the
family of Lot, which grew into Two
heather nations, who were afferwafds,
as the enemies of God, destroyed py
Jehovah's chosen people And at tne
present day we see men. given 10 strong
drink, bring all manner OF evll upon
their household, poverty, wretcheoness'