The Progress., 1893-05-13
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON VII, SECOND QUARTER, IN
TERNATlONAL SERIES, MAY 21.


NJ. Stearns.
% Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow:
Who hath contentious: Who hath bab
bling? Who hath wounds without cause.
Who hath redness OF eyes?" The Colder
Text tells us that wine is a mocker
strong drink is raging, and whosoever i!
deceived thereby is not wise" Yet ther
are fools without number vino seem 70 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. "Wot
10 them that rise up early in the morning
that they may follow strong drink; tha
continue until night till wine infam,
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 neighbor drink, that puttest tn,
bottle to him and maketh him drunkeI
also" Qsa. V, II, %; Hab. ii. l5). Then it i.
plainly written that drunkards shall no
inherit the kingdom OF God Il Cor. Vi, l0)
so for this life and the life to come il Is
naught but woe for those who are slaves o
strong drink. But thank God for deliver
ance, even for those who are bound with
such chains, for the drunkards and vii,
people of COrinth had, many of them, ex
perienced the power of the grace of Goo
and become washed. sanctified and justi
fed in the name of the Lord Jesus and b,
the Spirit OF our God II Cor. Vi, H.
80. They that tarry long at the wine
they that 90 to seek mixed wine" This
the answer TO the previous verse. Drunk
enness is invariably associated with trouble
In verse p it is said that the drInkarC
shall come to poverty" The story
drunken Nabal and OF Elah, who was sian
while he was drunken, are among the sac
records of the Bible Il Sam. XIV, So, IS
/ Kings xvi, $40. But perhaps more sal
is the story of righteous Noah, who forgo
himself and his high calling and becam
drunken, thus bringing great humiliation
10 himself and one of his sons and giving
great occasion to the enemy to blasphem
(Gen. tx, 20-25) Worse still is the story
David making Uriah drunk Oh Sam. xi, 49,
Surely every man at his best estate is alto
gether vanity, but what can be said of
drunken man except that he has descended
lower than the brutes?
81. Look not thou upon the wine wheI
il is red, when it giveth his color in th
cup, when it moveth itself Alright" Tn
r. V. has for the last clause when it 10
eth down smoothly" Wine has its attrac
tions and its pleasures, but they are who'll,
on the side of self and sensuality when car
ried to excess. There is no manner of US.
in making joke OF Paul's advice to Tim
othy to use little wine for his stomach
sake Il Tim. " 23). nor in saying that tn,
wine of the New Testament was wholly un
fermented, for how could unfermentet
wine burst wineskins? But there is us,
in letting the word of God stand, and in al
humility and teachableness take it to meal
what it says in its plain, literal sense, un
less it is clearly figure or symbol Hap
py are those whose stomachs need no wine
happy those who prefer to let even mea
alone, if need be, rather than be a STUN
bling block: happy the church that prefer
to use an unfermented wine at the com
munion rather than put temptation befor
any weak one. Happiest of all those VIII,
can truly say, Not l, but Christ, who liv
eth in me-"
80. AT the last it biteth like serpen
and stingeth like an adder" 1t is on tn,
principle of "he that soweth to the fesl
shall of the flesh reap corruption" (Gal
vi, S. For the mind of the flesh is death
(Rom viii, 6, r W. The flesh will manifes
itself in greater or less degree in some or al
of the works named in Gal V, 1921, anC
the record is that they which do sucl
things shall not inherit the kingdom o
God" If man is simplya natural man, 1
man after the flesh, never born from above
he cannot see the kingdom of God, bul
must in due time experience the second
death, which is the lake of fire (Rev Xxx
Is, l4). Then shall he indeed know TO his
Il . L.
der's sting. Foretastes Of hell are in mercy
given even in this life Qet any drunkart
testify If perchance nlen may repent anc
so escape the lake of fire.
33 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 |
The church is spoken of as a chaste virgin |
espoused to Christ, and as bride adorne,
for her husband Oh Cor. vi, .; Rev. xxi, y |
while all that is vile and false is described |
as a woman seated upon IA scarlet coloreC |
beast, full of names or blasphemy (Rev |
xvii, g. The strange woman is described |
in verses %. 2s, of this chapter, and more
fully in chapters v, 3-5; VI. 24-26 The way
to be saved from such destruction is tt |
give heed TO verse %, MY son, give me
thine heart and let thine heart observe my |
ways" Not only do we need to be kept from |
uttering perverse things. but we need TO bt |
kept from foolish thoughts for the thought
of foolishness is sin (chapter xiv, 81
And since we are not sufficient to think
anything as of ourselves, how utterly help
less is our condition, but our sufficiency is
of God II Cor. iii, 81.
"a. Yea. thou shalt be as he that lieth
down in the midst of the sea or as be that
lieth upon the top of a mast" Dangerous
positions surely. Such one might say, in
deed, what David thought was true of him
self, There is but step between me and
death" Il Sam. Xxx, 81. When we know
that death shall usher us into the presence
OF the King, that to die is gain and to de
part is to be with Christ, then indeed one
has no cause to fear that enemy. But il
ones sorrows have already begun through
wine and women, on the edge of what
fearful precipice does such one stand
But the figure is that of one asleep in dan
fror ic t= 60 T.. /