The Newtown bee., 1907-03-15
LITTLE SERMONS.
HE DRINKS, ,"-BY O. O. WRIGHT.

Woe unto them that rise up early in the that tarry late into the night, till wine in flame them!"-Isa. 5: Il.
 He drinks. That settles it. Settles what? It settles about everything for man good for who drinks? He is not really good for anything. He drinks. He makes a business of drinking. The prophet describes him as he is in all early in the morning to drink. That is the first thing of which he thinks. To follow strong drink is the one aim and object of his life. He has an ap- petite for drink. Habit has enslaved him. He must have drink. It has become his meat, and his medicine. He drinks in the morning; he drinks tarries late into the night, till wine, or beer, or whisky inf1ames him. And the bar-room is the first place to open in the morning and the last to close at night, if it closes at all.
 When we say of man that he drinks we mean that he has the desire for drink, and that he has formed the. habit of drinking, and that whether he can or can not control himself, one thing is sure, he does not. He drinks He may not wish to have it known in general, or he may be indifferent. He may still take pains to go unobserved, and slip in at the other door, or he may have already settled the matter in his own mind not to dodge the truth of the matter nor to consider the consequences. Little by little the man who drinks has found the lowest level of his moral nature. He deceives himself at first; and then he justifieS his conduct; and then he hardens his heart against God. So the prophet tC in text: "And the harp and the lute, the tabret and the pipe, and wine, are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, neither have they considered the operation of his hands,
 There never was time in the his tory of the world when the man who drinks was of so little value or cOnSe- Quence as now. The business of the world is both strenuous and exacting. Competition is sharp, and every factor in the production of wealth is care tions do not take the risks that go with the drink-habit. The man who drinks is at heavy discount. He who does not control himself cannot be trusted in places of responsibility; and men who drink, never have the best use of themselves in body, nina, nor heart. It has become motto that, IA drinking man cannot be depended on for safe business" Accordingly. railroads, steamship lines, manufact- orieS, banking institutions, and all the great business concerns have no use for the man who drinks. It does not pay.
 Look at the man who drinks, from the social point of view. The drink l abit destroys more homes and causes more misery than all the other evils man drops to the lowest social level | It is always a wonder that any respect able woman will consent to marry the man that drinks. Every association of the business and the habit is de- grading; and the sins of the fathers are often visited upon their children | even to the third and fourth genera | tiOns.
 l The man who drinks is sure to be-
 come degenerate, as TO his mora life. Bad men as rule are drinking direct results of intOxicatiOn. The
 man who hesitates to steal, murder
 or do some immoral deed drinks to nerve himself for the dreadful act
 But does one ever drink to inspire bi!
 heart and mind to do some good an6 noble thing?
 The man who drinks ruins hi health; wastes his time, money, anc strength; destroys his reputation; de
 grades himself socially; becomes bur
 den to his family, friends, and tn
 community; and at the last is pitt
 full wreck of humanity! There ar
 many such, who can have no reason
 able hope in God for this life, nor il
 the world to come! We have only t.
 open our eyes to behold them, and yet amazing as it is,' there are alway
 more to follow them! There is a ne,
 crop of boys and young men ever
 year, of whom it will be said, one b one, "He Drinks" And it will b
 true! And there is little hope of say