The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-04-03
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON CON-
MENTS FOR MARCH Fl BY
THE REV. I. w HENDERSON.
Subject: Woes of Drunkenness,
Isaiah 2S:7-13-Golden Text,
Hos. 4.11-Memory Verse, /

~
Hos. 4.11-Memory Verse, I
Commentary.
1t is not at all necessary to go to
the Scripture to find matter applica-
BILE to a lesson on the woes of drunk
enness. All too sadly we have but
to look right around us in order to
find examples, illustrations and texts
for a lesson upon this theme.
Isaiah draws us a thrilling, awful
picture of the effects of drunkenness
upon the people of Jerusalem, and
especially upon their priests and
prophets. He predicts that If they
do not cease from wantonness and the
| following of drunken iniquity the
Lord will punish them in the persons
Of the Assyrian hosts, men with an
other' tongue" He clearly sets forth
what are the effects of drunkenness
on the minds of men, leading them
out fear, to lout His chosen prophetic
messengers.
The picture that Isaiah paints for
us, in words that blaze and burn, is
not more awful than the picture any
prophet of God might draw, If he sc
desired, of the conditions of modern
life. To be sure it would not be pos
sible to say that the ministry, rs a
class, are given to the vice Of intem-
perance. 1t would not be possible to
say that those who, in any departure
Of life, believe themselves blessed of
God with a prophetic message to men,
are, as a class, under the dominion of
that particular sin. The day long
since has passed when it was consid-
cred 1.-The thing" for ministers to
drink and no great disgrace for them,
now and then, to become over-indul-
gent. The priest Of God who drinks
Is not the rule but the exception in
this more enlightened age. But al
though the cup has come into dis
favor among the cloth, it is all too
sad a fact that, in the world at large,
it Is altogether too popular, both for
the welfare of individuals and Of So
ciety as a whole.
There seems to be an opinion
abroad, in some very estimable quar-
ters, that when these lessons on in
temperance are taught we should, as
far as possible, avoid telling the
youth Of our Sabbath schools the
plain, hard, appalling facts of the
woes of intemperance. The woes of
intemperance are only to be spoken
of in the title head. They are to be
forgotten as we proceed to the study
of the lesson. Frankly the writer is
not of that same mind. Nothing is to
be gained by lodging the enormity of
the sin of intemperance as, to-day,
it's lecherous hand stretches owe our
land with eager desire to grasp our
young men and maidens, u old men
and matrons. Everything Is to be
lost by refusing to look the evil in
the face and to paint it to the world
in its proper colors. 1t cannot be
passed by in silence if we are the fol-
lowers OF Christ that we should be;
it's baneful effect up on thousands d.
rectly and upon the whole nation in
directly cannot be gainsaid. It's grip
must be broken, its influence must be
nulliied, it must be annihilated.
The woes of drunkenness descend
upon women as well as men; upon
the innocent as we'll as upon the
guilty; upon society as upon the in
dividual. The amount of drinking
that is prevalent among women to-
day is almost past belief. And even
as men cannot escape the effects Of
strong drink, so women do not. And
awful as are the consequences of in
temperance upon the lives. of men,
they are u~nspeakably more so upon
the lives of women. For a moral and
sober motherhood is the base upon
which all society rests. And anything
that destroys the purity and the beau
ty of our womanhood strikes at the
very vitals of all human life. Its eff
feet upon men is so widely spread and
so generally recognized that we
should be arrayed solidly as a Chris
tian host against it. Wrecked bust
ness enterprises, ruined regulations,
forfeited positions of truth and re-
sponsibility and profit, blasted homes,
disgraced lives, are the frequent con
comitants Of drunkenness among
men. And the worst of it all is this,
that the men and women guilty of the
vice of intemperance do not always
reap the most distressing conse-
quences. Upon the innocent, the
fathers and moth the wives and
husbands and child a, all too often
the direful consequences of the indi-
vidual's sins are visited. Further,
the State suffers immeasurably
through the moral downfall of her
members through drink. Society has
an interest in every member of it's
ranks. The veal of n is the well
fare of all and conversely the woe
of one has an evil influence upon
the moral health Of re whole COM
munity.
The woes of drunkenness. Half a
century ago Harriet Beecher Stowe
portrayed the woes of slavery. and
! her name is famous and the slave is
free. Imperishable memory awaits
the man who, with provision, insight
and precision, can depict to the world
the horrors OF intenlperance unto the
emancipation of a host now enmeshed
in the tolls of this %iniquity.
VS.. 7, S. Picture Of the drunken
ness of the priests.
VS.. 9, 10. The drunkards mock
Isaiah. "Knowledge,' prophetic
teaching. "Tidings." Revelations"
"Weaned." They protest they are
not Children
VS.. II, IS. Isaiah retorts to them
with their W words. STAMINA
ings." A foreign tongue. "AnoaI-
Err" Assyrian.
The paint of pride is not the same
as the robe of righteousness.