Middletown transcript., 1899-11-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON TX, FOURTH QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, NOV. 26.


pared by the Rev. D. NJ. stenrns.
copyright. 1899. by D. NJ Stearns.1
%. "Who hath woe? The world Is
full of sorrow because Of sin, but the sor-
rows are greatly increased by strong
drink and opium. have often wondered
why the last great promise In the Old
Testament, that the earth shall be filed
with the knowledge of the glory of the
Lord, should be Immediately followed by
the words, "Woe unto him that giveth
his neighbor drink, that puttest the
bottle to him (Hab. ii, 14,l5), unless it be
that this is one of the greatest hindrances
to the coming of the kingdom. Among
the six woes of Isa. two refer to those
who are given to wine or strong drink
(verses IL, 22), and it Is added, ''They
regard not the work Of the Lord, neither
consider the operation of His hands;
they have despised the word of the Holy
One of Israel" The only deliverance is
found in Him who allowed the sins Of
the world to be laid upon Him, who be-
came sin for us, wounded for our trans
gressions and bruised for our iniquities
q John Ii, 2; II Cor. v, 21; lisa. lii, 5, 81.
His wounds were indeed without cause,
that our wounds with cause might be
healed. Let the drunkard and the opium
,fiend and euezg sinner see Him suffering
for their sins, and His love will break
the hard heart.
80. "They that tarry long at the wine"
Every form and phase Of self indulgence,
whether in eating or drinking or business
or pleasure, whatever makes self and self
interest the center rather than Christ
and His interests, are on the same line as
those who tarry long at the wine. When
those who are given to any form of in
temperance Qack of self controD seek to
rescue others from their phase of intem-
perance, the work might be more success
full if Math. vii, 1-5, were we'll considered
and acted upon. The beam in ones own
eye is a great hindrance to getting the
mote out of neighbours eye. Christ ct
the center is the only remedy for a self
centered life. His love is better than
wine (Song /, q. He has saved some cf
the worst, and He is ale to save to TIE
uttermost and evermore al who ccnc
unto God by Him (urb. vii. ~. See in
l Cor. vi, 10, IL, some samples of tho.e
who have been saved and who therefore
can be saved. Let those who can truly
say, "The Son of God loved me AID gave
Himself for me" (Gal. Ii. 20) tell others
Of Him.
81. "Look not thou upon the wine
when it is red" II the woman had re-
fused to look upon the tree concerning
the fruit of which the Lord had said
"Thou shalt not eat Of it." she would not
have received such perverted vision as to
make her think that the fruit Of the tree
was good for food, pleasant to the eyes
and q tree to be desired to make one
wise lGen. ii, II; iii, 81.
80. "At the last it biteth like SER
pent." There are ways the end Of which
is heaviness and death, and there is a
way the end of which is peace and glory
Prov. xiv, Il, 13; Ps. xxxvii, 81, 39;
Math. vii, 13, I'D. The reaping shall be
life everlasting or corruption, peace or
the whirlwind (Gal. vi 8; Hos. viii, ..
Since it is certain that God shall bring
every work into Judgment, with every Sc
cret thing. whether it lie good or evil
(Eccl. xii, 14), how blinded by our great
enemy must all those be who. ike Esau,
regard not the future because of some
present qualification. What contrast is
seen in Moses, who for the sake Of the
future renounced all the pleasures of sin
(Heb. Ii, 24-26).
33. "Thine eyes shall behold strange
women, and thine heart shall utter per-
verse things" See Samson and Delilah
(Judg. xvi, 4, 19) and consider Samson's
strength when he was Nazarite, wholly
for God, and his helplessness and suffer
ing when he allowed this love to come be-
tween him and God. The Church, the
Body and Bride of Christ. is spoken of as
a chaste virgin I'll Cor. xi. p and as
woman arrayed in fine linen, clean and
white (Rev xix, s., but the apostate
church is compared to woman on a
scarlet colored beast, arrayed in purple /
and scarlet. decked with gold and pre-
cious stones and pearls, having golden
cup In her hand full of denominations and
flthincss. Believers who are asleep, as
Samson or jonah or Simon Peter, are
liable to see and to say strange things.
"a. "Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth
down in the midst Of the sea or as he |
that lieth upon the top Of mast" Eli
ther of these situations a4e suggestive of
the words Of David to Jonathan when
Saul sought his life. ",rruly as the Lord |
liveth. and as thy soul liveth. there is |
but step between me aud death" One
Is apt to think Of this when out at sea.
I often thought Of it in passing over the
10000 miles of ocean last year and the
1900 Of the year before. US well as on |
former ocean voyages, but 1t is equally /
true In travelling by rail or in the quiet
everyday life at home. We know not /
what shall be on the morrow, therefore |
it becomes us to say, if the Lord will, we /
shall live and do this or that JAS. iv, IA, |
l5). A saved person may well go on in
perfect peace, for with the assurance Of |
sins forgiven, that to die is gain, and to /
be with Christ is very far better, the step /
that would usher him into the presence
Of the Lord Is not to be dreaded lisa |
xliii, %; Phil. i. q, %; II Cor. v, 81. But
how an unsaved person, knowing that |
the next step may be out Of this world, I
and that means torment and cut off from |
God forever, can go on at all in an un-
saved state is not easily understood ex-
cept we remember that the god Of this
world hath blinded the minds Of them
which believe not QI Cor. ", A.
S5. "When shall / awake? will seek |
It yet again" The Unsuitable flesh that
can never get enough says, eve viii ill
ourselves with strong drink, and tomor-
row shall be as this day and much more
abundant" Qsa. lvi. III. 12) They neither
feel nor see the hand Of the Lord stretch
I'd out In mercy to them: they regard not
His chastenings nor heed His entreaties.
II they do well little while, they soon
turn. like the dog to his yomit and the
cow that was washed to her waIloWing
n the mire I'll Pet. Il. 22l. This makes
Us think OF another, Il, p, IN Isaiah,
where the vanity Of man, his utter moth
ngness apart from God, Is strikingly
stated. So fun Is the natural man Of sin
hat. Though thou shouldest bray fool
y mortar among wheat with a pestie
ret will not his foolishness depart from