Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-19
Christian Endeavor Hour

For Sunday, May 90 1908.
Topic: Lessons From the Lives of Elijah and John
"a 6aptisI; "a Temperance Topc) Luke
Luke. i:14. And thou shalt have ioy and
gladness: and many shall rejoice at His
birth.
10. For He shall be great in the sight of
the Lord. and shall drink neither wine nor
strong drink: and He shall be filed with
the Holy Ghost. even from his mothers
womb.
10. And many of the children of Israel
shall He turn to the Lord their God
IL. And He shall go before Him in the
spirit and power of Elias to turn the hearts
OF the fathers to the children, and the DISC
beolent to the wisdom of the just; to make
ready people prepared for the Lord.
l Kings. xviii 80. And Elijah said unto all
the people. Come near unto me- And all the
people came near unto him And he re-
paired the altar of the Lord that was broken
down.
81. And Elijah took twelve stones, accord
ing TO the number of the tribes Of the sons
OF JACOB unto whom the words of the Lord
came saying, Israel shall be thy name
u And with the stones he built an altar
IN the name Of the Lord: and he made
trench about the altar, as great as would
contain two measures Of seed.
3d. And he put the wood in order and cut
the bullock in pieces. and laid him on the
wood, and said. Fill four barrels with water.
the wood. va
"a. And he said. Do it the second time.
And they did 1t the second time And he
said, Do 1t the third time. And they did 1t
tha third time.
80. And the water ran round about the
altar, and he filled the trench also with
water.
86. And it came to pass at the time of the
oHerlng or the evening sacrifice that Elijah
the prophet came near and said Lord God
or Abraham, Isaac and of Israel let 1t be
known this day that Thou art God in Israel
and that l am Thy servant, and that have
done all these things at Thy word
81 Hear me, 0 Lord, hear me- that this
people may know that thou art the Lord
God, and that thou hast turned their heart
back again.
IS Then the fire of the Lord fell, and con-
suned the burnt sacrifice, and the wood
and the stones, and the dust, and licked up
the water that was in the trench
80 And when all the people saw it they
fell on their faces, and they said, The
Lord. He is the God; the Lord He Is the
God
The Lesson.
Elijah and John were both strong men,
great in the sight of the Lord" reformers,
Gods messengers, Gods helpers.
There are many who aspire to be great,
and in a sense to help God rule in this
world They are not always Christian men.
Sometimes they are politicians. They wish
to rule, they wish to have things go the
way they plan, to be great They would
Ike to be great in the sight of the Lord
too, II they knew how. They go about it
In exactly the opposite way from what John
anu Elijah did. They seek to be great and
popular. One of the first things they do to
become popular is to take glass of intoxi-
eating liquor, Just for good fellowship"
just to be all things to all men and gain
Influence 1t is not the way to be great in
the sight of the Lord, and If any one OF
these people were to answer honestly they
would admit that It was not. But they
must be great In the eyes of their fellow
men whether or no. they take the glass,
and the two glasses and the three. Even
tually, perhaps they think God will see how
great they are when all men bow to them.
1t Is not politicians only who do this
Sometimes people In society think they must
yield this point of temperance. "One mustn't
be a fanatic. you know" they sometimes
say. They take glass of wine or glass
of champagne or ice strongly favored
with sherry, or accept the brandy sauce
with smile and half sheer for the cIanks
who object to such harmless thingE They
wish it to be understood that they are
liberal.
And it isn't always grown-up people either.
for the very young people are under con-
slant temptation Statistics state within the
last five years the imports of champagne
Is just champagne. What of all the
other intoxicants? What of the boys who
are almost young men who are starting
the beginning of drunkards for the next
decade? What of the girls who, If not TAX
ing it themselves, are not using their infu-
ence to save their brothers and friends from
1t? Why Is there not a stronger feeling
against the use of intoXfcants among intel
lgent Christian young people? The drunk
ards are here; constant object lesson. The
strong men are here, who, like Elijah, have
power with heaven. These strong men, ali
can see. are not the ones who spend their
time drinking for good fellowship's cake"
but the ones who drink neither wine nor
strong drink and are great in the sight
of the Lord
oh. IL more boys and girls could be
brought to live In the way that John and
Elijah did. so that Gods power might rest
upon them and they do as great a work in
the world as did those two grand men of
God who turned many Of the children OF
Israel to the Lord, their God"
Professor Horton says:
1.-The liquor habit leads to the destruction
of every faculty which God has mercifully
given to protect US from danger and guide
US through life The ready perception OF
things is marred. the quick rallying of the
attention Is delayed. the exercise Of the
understanding Il prevented, the will Is para
lyzed the conscience dies"
And again: 1T is the desire OF pleasure
which is at the root Of mischief.
The appetities which are natural to us
hold undisputed sway. they are freshly; the
great spiritual appetites. which are super
natural, are quite feeble and imperative.
But what men need is that the de-
sire for God, for His own sake should be 30
infiamed In them as to burn up all other
desires And this desire can only be created
by His Holy Spirit. The competing and
manifold desires of pleasure can only be
mastered and expelled when that great. alb
sorbng and embracing desire of God has
been securely settled in the human heart
by the Holy Spirit. True temperance is
really one OF the ninefold fruits of the spirit,
and Is of little value, mere spurious product,
unless 1t Is accompanied by love. Joy, peace,
long suffering, kindness. goodness. faith
fulness and meetness."
Applied Truth.
A little girl says: "A drunkard Is a
man who is crazy On purpose
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