The Tupelo journal., 1903-11-20
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the International Series
for November ~, 19O3-Curse
of Strong Drink.
THE LESSON TEXT.

uOL wise.
20. Be not among winebibbers; among
riotous eaters of flesh;
a For the drunkard and the glutton
shall come TO poverty! and drowsiness
shall clothe a man with rags
~. Who hath woe? who hath sorrow?
who hath contentious? who hath babbling?
who hath wounds without cause? who hath
reGness of eyes?
az. Ihey that tarry long at the wine;
they that go to seek mixed wine.
u. Look not thou upon the wine when
1t Is red, when it giveth his color in the
cup, when it moveth itself Alright.
~. AT the last it biteth like a serpent, and
stingeth like an adder.
u. Thine eyes shall behold strange wom-
en-. and thine heart shall utter perverse
things.
"a. YEA, thou shalt be as he that lieth
down in the midst OF the sea, or as he that
lleth upon the top of a mast.
90. Ihey have stricken me, shalt thou
say, and | was not sick; they have beaten
me, and l felt it not; when shal awake?
l Will seek 1t yet again.
GOLDEN TEXT.-Wine is n mocker.-
Prov. 20;1.
(frov. 20:1.) Of course these selec-
tons from the ancient Hebrew wis
dom-literature" do not bring us new
light on the temperance question. They
simply show us that to the worlds
keenest minds there has always been
light, and that from time immemorial
liquor has been the curse of the hu-
man race. But the facts stated by this
writer with such dramatic power are
l~ndisputable. and could not picture the
situation more perfectly if they had
been written in America in 1903.
The first Ornot nnint - 4La Jo,ao~
for to-day is not that wine is a
mocker," though it is-it mocks all
high ideals and makes dupes of those
who trust it, for 1t is voluble with
promises which 1t never pays-nor Is
the point for IS that strong drink is
a brawler, though that is true, as any
n who is familiar with the sights
and sounds about the doors of a sa-
DON knows. The first great point
for us is in the words: "Whosoever
erreth thereby is not wise" AS the
race advances and men are controlled
more by reason and less by inclination
n momentary desire, the foolish
things will be seer to be wicked. Just
as the wicked things are always fool
lsh. Drinking is wicked, because it
is foolish. 1t is the high privilege
and duty of every man to make the
most of himself physically, mentally
and morally. This he cannot do I'm.
less he rules out the doing of foolish
things. There are a great many kinds
OF physical foolishness that are in
temperance, just as truly as drinking
is, and these should be included in
the discussion of this lesson. The
worst crime which a boy can commit
laga1nst society and against God is
that which makes him less of a man.
less useful as a citizen, less true as a
Christian. The reasons why the use
of liquor is, to say the least, not wise.
are brought out as the lesson pro-
crosses.
tCh. %: 20. 21.) BE not mons
winebibbers:" Self-indulgence or the
se~lf-indulgent disposition is conta.
gious. No mar who has any regard
for his manhood can afford to run un-
necessary risks with this contagion.
The wise man will keep out of tempta-
ton just as much as possible. Shall
come to poverty" With the wreck of
ones manhood goes the wreck of his
fortune, so that he who sacrifices his
ideals and the highest things of life
for low sensual pleasures finds him.
self in the end without either. In
choosing the lower he loses all.
(Vs. 81, 32.) Look not thou upon
the wine when it is red" In other
words, do not be insane enough to
drink anything just because it looks
good and tastes good, and for awhile
makes you feel good, when you know
that it is really a poison. "At the
last 1t biteth like a serpent" 1t is
deadly. The man does not live who
can begin taking liquor or a drug
lin moderation" with safety, because
the system does not exist that can re-
sist the d%eteriorating effects of those
things. One can never tell what the di-
rect effect will be. But it will not be pure
ly physical. They benumb the con-
science, destroy will power and kill
self-respect. The moderation theory
is unsound. The only safe course is
w lollC CHILL ely.
tVs. 1850 These closing verses
picture the reeling mind and stupefed
body of the drunken man. One read
ing of them is enough without discus
sion. The question is, how we can
best check the evils of intemperarce.
The principle must be to overcome
evil with good, and one of the practi-
cal methods is limited at in this utter.
ance OF Henry van Dyke in the bacca-
laureate sermon to the graduating
class at Princeton last June: "Intem-
perance," he said, "is the type of all
evils, because so many others grow
out of it. The way to attack it is to
make sober life beautiful and full of
interest. Teach your boys how to work.
how to read and study, you, fathers,
before you send them to college, il
you want to guard them against the
temptations of strong drink and the
many shames and sorrows that 90
with it. You reformers, provide men
with recreations that will not harm
them. if you want to take away tho
power of the gilded saloons"
YD