Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-05-19
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,.
LESSON VIII, SECOND QUARTER, IN
TERNATloNAL SERIES, MAY 81

Prov. Xxx, I--COmmentary by the Rev. ID.
NJ. stearns.
90. who hath woeP Who hath sorrowi
Who hath contentionsY Who hath bah
bling? Who hath wounds without causef
Who hath redness Of eyesS" The Golden
Text tells us that "wine is a mocker
strong drink is raging, and whosoever is
deceived thereby is not wise" Yet there
are fools without number who seem to pre-
fer the woe and sorrow and contention
At least they prefer the wine and strong
drink, even though it bring these things
The woes Of Scripture against those who
have to do with wine are not few. "Woe
to them that rise up early in the morning
that they may follow strong drink; that
continue until night till wine inhame
them" "WOe unto them that are mighty
to drink wine, and men of strength TO min
gle strong drink.' Woe unto him that Civ
eth his ueighbor drink, that puttest thy
bottle to him and maketh him drunken
also" lisa. V, II, %; Hab. ii, 15). Then it is
plainly written that drunkards shall not
inherit the kingdom of God Il Cor vi, l0)
so for this life and the life to come it is
naught l.,lt woe for those who are slaves of
strong drink But thank God for deliver
ance, even for those who are bound with
such chains, for the drunkards and vile
people OF Corlnth had, many of them, eX
perienced the power of the grace Of God
and become washed, sanctiied and iusti
hed IN the name OF the Lord Jesus and by
the spirit OF our God Il Cor. vi, ~
W. lhey That tarry long ut the wine
they that go TO seek mixed wine. ~ This il
the answer to the previous verse. Drunk
enneSs Is invariably associated with trouble
In verse u 1t Is SAID that the druukard
snail come TO poverty" The story oi
drunken Napal' ana OF Elah, who was SLAIN
Whlle he was drunken, are among the sad
records OF the Blble Il sam XIV ~, ~.
Kings XVII S-lO) But perhaps more sad
Is the story OF righteous Noah, who forgot
nlmseit ana his nigh calling and became
drunken, mus bringing great humiliation
TO himself ana one OF his sons and giving
great occasion to the enemy to blaspheme
zen H. 2o-@3) Worse still is the story of
David making Criah drunk Oil Sum XII, l3)
surely every man ut his best estate is alto
gether vanity, but what can he said Of Il
drunken man except that he has descended
lower imam the brutesf
81. Look not thou upon the wine when
II Is red when 1t glveth his color in the
cup When 1t moVeth itself Alright" The
X. '. has Tor the last clause, when it 20
eth down smoothly Wine has its attrac
lions ana ITS pleasures, but they are wholly
on the SIDE 81 sell and sensuality when car
RED to excess. There is no manner of use
III making IA joke of Pauls advice to Tim
othy to use little wine for his stomach s
sake q Tim. V, 23), nor in saying that the
wine of the New Testament was wholly un
fermented, for how could unfermenled
wine burst winesiinsS But there is use
III letting the word of God stand, and in all
humility and teachableness take it to mean
what 1t says in its plain, literal sense, I'm
less 1t is clearlya figure or symbol. Hap
Ply are those whose stomachs need no wine;
happy those who prefer to let even meat
alone, II need be- rather than be a STUN
bling block; happy the church that prefers
TO use an unfe11nented wine at the com
munion rather than put temptation before
any weak one. Happiest or all those who
can truly say, Not |. but Christ, who liv
eth IN me-"
". AT the last it biteth like serpent
ana stlngeth like an adder" 1t is on the
principle OF he that soweth to the flesh
shall OF the flesh reap corruption" Gal
VI, o. For the mind of the flesh is death"
Rom. vlll, b, X. W. The flesh will manifest
itseli IN greater or less degree in some or all
OF the works named in Gal. v, 1921, and
1he record Is that they which do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of
Uod. ii man is slmplya natural man, a
man a1ter the mesh, never born from above,
he cannot see the kingdom of God, but
must in due time experience the second
death, which is the lake of fire (Rev. Xxx,
10, l4 Then shall he indeed know to his
eternal sorrow the serpent's bite and ad
ders sung. Foretastes of hell are in mercy
given even in this life Qet any drunknrd
testlIy) II perchance men may repent and
so escape the lake OF fire.
80. Thine eyes shall behold strange
women, and thine heart shall utter per
verse things" Woman in Scripture is the
type OF the very best and the very worst.
Inc church is spoken of as chaste virgin,
espoused to Christ, and as bride adorned
Tor her husband ~ Cor. Xi, 2; Rev. xxi, q,
whlle all that Is vile and false is described
as woman seated upon a scarlet colored
BEAST, full OF names of blasphemy REV.
XVII, ~ The strange woman is described
In verses q, 2S, of this chapter, and more
" &. H..