The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1894-03-15
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
International Lesson for March 18, 1894
wine . Mocker--Prov. 2O:i-T.

Especially Arranged from Peloubet's Notes
GOLDEN TEXT Wine is q mocker strong
drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived
thereby is not wise 2J:1.
NoTE.-The first verse alone refers directly
to intemperance, but that vice leads TO and in
tensifes all other sins including those de
nounced in the following verses
NoTE-Of all the vices intemperance is the
best example and type of all sin. 1t shows In
common, concrete, visible form the temptation
to sin the course Of sin, the barriers to sin. ths
self-multiplication Of sin the hardening of tie
heart the confirmation Of character, the phys
ical, mental, moral and social evils of sin, anc
its awful punishment
LESSON NOTES.
Its Deceptive Nature.-V. 1. "Wine
is mocker:" Wine is here personified
as a sort of evil demon who excites to
frivolous wantonness, or to wild and
boisterous action. 1t is represented as
doing what persons do under its inhu.
ence. Thus inebriated persons scott at
what is holy, reject reproof, ridicule
all that is serious Wine leads people
into trouble, and then moclSs at their
calamity, and gives them no relief.
'Whosoever is deceived thereby:" For
the whole course of strong drink is
deception. promising pleasure and
giving pain, promising paradise and be-
slowing hell. appearing as an angel, but
revealing itself a demon AT the first
it is the wine of pleasant fellowship;
at the last it is the wine of the wrath
of Almighty God, poured out without
mixture At the first it is the agreea-
BILE excitement of an evening; at the
last it is the long-,lrawn agony of an
endless perdition. At the first it is the
grateful stimulus of an hour, at the
last it is the worm that never dies, and
the fire that never shall be quenched. :"
Its Terrible Power.-V. l. Strong
drink is raging;" r. V. "a brawler' y
Renders men noisy and boisterous, no
longer masters o? themselves or re-
strained by the lays of morality or de-
cency. Septuagint: Drunkenness is
insolent."
1t is an Enemy to Prosperity and
Success.-V. 4. Cine way in which
strong drink prevents success is shown
in this verse. It leads to idlcress,
neglect of duty, iraperfection in work.
4, The sluggard will not plow by
reason of the cold" when the plowing
is more difficult than in warmer
weather. He makes the most of the
least excuses. Anything will do for
an excuse from that we do not wish to
do. ''He shall beg in harvest and have
nothing" Not shall beg of others" +"
but he shall seek Tor food in his fields,
and will find no harvest.
Note that the most failures in life
are the fault of sin. Some fail of out
n,>1 .,rf 4
sickness, but they can always be sue
cesses as men and women. But look at
so many young men that do not take
any fair place in life, and you will
find that idleness, carelessness, self
ishness, bad company, strong drink,
neglect of duty are the chief causes.
Illustration-The Alcoholic Serpent.
Some time ago party of sailors visited
the geological gardens One of them,
excited by the liquor he had taken,
and as an act of bravado to his compan-
ions, took hold of a deadly serpent. He
held it up by the nape of the neck in
such way that it could not sting him.
As he held it, the snake (unobserved)
coiled itself around his arm, and at
length it got firm grasp, and wound
tighter and tighter, SO that he was un-
able to detach it. AS the pressure of
the snake increased, the danger grew,
the sailor was unable to maintain his
hold on the ne,,l1 of the venomous rep
tile, and was compelled to loose it,
What did the snake then do? 1t turned
around and bit him and he died. So it
is with the appetite of strong drink. 80
Preachers Analyst. Sin is the most
terrible thing ih the universe. 1t has
filed the earth with pain.
Illustration-In the Boston Herald Of
January 80, 1898, are given the follow
ing statistics by Edward Atkinson, the
famous statistician:
STANDARD OF COMPARISON
The Production and Consumption of Liquors
Spirits withdrawn, including fruit
brandy-2allons. ns................... So 554 ,9l0
Less IL per cent used In the arts. IO746,5s9
Consumed as beverage. ......... 7SSO8. $50