Morning journal and courier., 1890-07-14
LOOK NOT UPON THE WINE.

LOOK NOT UPON THE WINE. An Interesting Discourse by Rev. pr.
 mcChesney of Trinity M. E. Church
 Upon MIsc0nstfuctioA of she Bible,
 Particularly Upon Wine-Water as a
 Substitute in Communion.
 Rev. Dr. McChesney of Trinity M. E. church. was to have preached sermon upon ''The Test of American Civilizations yester- day morning, but he changed his mind on Saturday night and the result was a strong discourse upon the use of wine as recom- mended by the Bible. His remarks were pointed to three ends: The importance of correct interpretation of the scripture, the importance of respect for church authority and the relation of the church to the temper ence reform. He chose his text from Proverbs xiii, 31, 32: "Look not thou upon the wine that is red, when it giveth it's color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like serpent and stingeth like an adder"
 I Not many years ago, said he, some men of our country declared that the Bible sanc- tioned human slavery and e great deal of fault was found with New England because she would not read the Bible fin that way. This demonstrates the opposite constructions which men can place upon the words of the book.
 assume, in my discussion, that we all admit the Bible divine work. Then, there are three serious charges against the book which we must oonfute as it's friends.
 First, Alcoholic spirits contradict nature in effect. If the Bible sanctions it's use, how can we deny that the Bible recommends yphat 6ostrova vokhor &hau mha& fosfara human life2
 Second, If the Bible is the divine work as- suued, the civilization of the world should go hand in hand with the spread of the Bible. It is an acknowledged fact that alcohol retards civilization in ef- passages in the Bible, which recommend wine as beverage. It is spoken of as cheering to the human race. Another class of passages state that wine is a mocker and 6 deceiver. What shall we do with a book so full of contradictions If the word sswine" in the two classes of passages means the same thing, how can we save our Bibles But they do not. One class means new wine, the juice of the. grape. Another class means strong drink. This view is sustained by re- searches among classic writers of that age. Moses Stewart says the ancients pre- served their wine unfermented and consider ed it higher favored and sweeter. Numerous OGu6E 6uGuOIlbl6s C6u Uo StdbSu. 4dk0 u little wine for the stomach's sake" becomes but B medical prescription.
 Let me turn to the first miracle, the turn- ing of water into wine. How absurd to think that Christ, who came to save men, should have encouraged drunkenness by turning 130 gallons of water into wine that those who were already drunk might become more sol Christ does not deny that he drank wine, but that he drank alcoholic or fomented wine ;o raoA hot ho fooIr the cup upon the same night that he was betrayed. He gave 1t to his disci- ples and said: "Drink ye all; this is my blood" But it was the wine of the pass- over, and there was nothing intoxicating in it. This false idea of wine drinking has tion from which the Reformation alone was powerful enough to raise it. A drunken priesthood resulted from igno- rance of the fact that none but non. acoholio wine should be used at the holy passover. It is sin which the church will require centuries to outgrow. Many churches at the present day use alcoholic difference. At our general conference it has been ordained that non-alcoholic wine shall be used wherever practical. am sure that the words "wherever practical" will be erased at the next conference. It was the unfermented wine which Christ likened to his precious blood. It is the fruit of the vine brushed, and no other represents the blood of Jesus. The Christian is living un- der the covenant of salvation, and the only seal of this covenant Is the blood Of Christ. I have unfeigned pity for the Roman Catholic layman who has never tasted the symbol of the blood of Christ. The daily papers few days ago stated that St. Paul's church of Lewell, Msss., had abolished the wine cup for pure water. Dr. McChesney wrote to the pastor to ascertain the facts, and the reply, | received on the last mail Saturday night, | stated that the change had been made and | that it mad been done because of the bad ef- l feet which had been experienced by the use l of non-alcoholic wine. A young man who I had inherited strong passion for drink had been led wrong twice from It's use at con- upon wine when he heard of this. He says, however, that the general conference will never sanction the substitution of water for the cup of blessed- ness. This would be coming to the Roman Catholic system through a back way He says the church had better drop it's name of St. Paul, or be more careful how it throws away the sacred doctrines of the New Testa- ment. This shows how important it is to
 carefully study the holy scriptures in order that we may not be led astray by erroneous constructions. The Methodist church is and always has been a total abstinence society. Every one who joins it agrees to obey the rules, and neither to buy, sell or use alco-
 holic liquors, except in cases of extreme ne- cessity.
 POLICEMAN WALTERS SON. | symtons of Loekjaw Appear In she Case-His Condition Critical. The condition of the young son of polioe-
 man James W. Walter of 510 Howard avenue
 is very critical. The boys leg was badly mangled by a cannon on the Fourth of July. l Yesterday afternoon he was taken with the preliminary spasms of lockjaw. Dr. Paul l Skih, who Is attending him, spent a large case is a most delicate one to handle and il ! now seems probable that confirmed lockjaw | will result.
 National Division, Sons of Temperancs