The Yale expositor., 1908-09-25
TEMPERANCE
LESSON
Sunday School Lesson for Sept. n, 1908
Specially Arranged for This Paper

strong drink is raging. prov. 20:l.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
This chapter has two parts. Part
THE Garden of the Lord-Judan.
Our Country, Ourselves.
Part 2-The Things That Brought
II to Ruin-Drunkenness and It's AL
lies.
Israel, the Lords Vineyard.-It is a
picture of judah, between 26 and q
centuries ago. 1t was a small coun-
try, but with glorious record, glori-
GUS opportunities, but at that time
threatened with ruin. 1t is represent
ed to us under the figure of vine
yard.
Let us look at the scene. ''In pic
ture of great beauty Isaiah describes
vineyard upon one of the sunny prom
ontories visible from Jerusalem"
Who planted this vineyard of "the
well beloved?"
Watch and note what he had done
for It. See in their origin and his
tory as it passes before you as in
panorama, what God has done.
All that goodness, greatness, wis
dom, knowledge and love could do for
a vineyard or a people
He loved them with ar everlasting
love. l once asked a man i charge
of a great greenhouse when Guilt
waited roses so beautiful that they
were worth their weight in gold, how
he was able to produce roses so much
more beautiful than those in other
greenhouses.
His reply was IL love them So"
Gods love to us is more than sun
shine and spring rains to help us to
bear good fruit.
What more did God do out of his
love?
He placed them in the best country
In the world for the purpose. He
hedged them round with laws and di-
vine institutions, and with his own
loving care defended them from all
enemies. He planted in this vineyard
the vines of his promise, his word, his
commandments, institutions of reli-
gion, instruction in holy things. He
laced there the wine press, which
presents the various advantages
TO bring forth good fruit and present
it to the Lord. Every influence, every
institution, the teachings of the proph-
cts, the hymns of David, the worship
at the sanctuary, all aided the people
to produce and develop.
What did he expect as the result of
this care?
He expected good fruit, the best
fruits, all the virtues, devotion, conse-
Grafton, courage, brotherly kindness,
obedience, sincere worship, righteous
living, the beauty of holiness, love,
joy, peace, and all the fruits of the
Spirit, intelligence, noble character,
and missionary work among the ma
tions.
What did he obtain?
"He looked that it should bring
forth grapes, and it brought forth wild
grapes" grapes in appearance, but
filled with gall and poison.
What was the effect upon the ma
tons?
Read lisa. $50, and compare it
with the disasters that came upon Is
rael through its capture in B. c. 721,
What was the cause of this ruin?
The answer is given in the verses OF
the lesson. Read them.
The causes are "catalogued in a Sc
ries OF woes, fruits all of them OF
love of money and love of wine" ut
is with remarkable persistence that
in every civilization the two main
passions of the human heart, love
of wealth and love of pleasure, the in
stinct to gather and the instinct to
squander, have sought precisely these
two forms denounced by Isaiah in
which to work their social havoc
appropriation of the soil and indul-
gence in strong drink. =.
Alcohol Out Of the Raee.-The con.
testants in the Marathon race, which
is run on April 10 from Ashland to
Boston, % miles. were notified this
year in the following terms: alcohol
In any form is positively forbidden
before, during, and Immediately after
the race. II never does good, and
usually does harm. Disregard of the
foregoing shall be considered sufi-
NiChb biOuhuS iOI DISQUALIFICATION Dy
the physician in charge" In previous
Marathon races some men who had
become tagged had resorted to alcohol
and other stimulants, and some OF
them fell unconscious soon after TAX
ing the stimulants.
Why We Should Sign the Pledge.
at is for thy own highest good"
Another reason for a pledged total
abstinence is because pledge-sign-
ing movement is the most natural, and
perhaps the only way to make def
mite and decisive the much needed
movement Of personal temperance.
Once more, a pledged total absti-
nence seems to me desirable because
It is the most positive and definite
way I'm which ones influence can be-
made effective for others"
"Such a pledged attitude. moreover.
seems to me to be most in line with
the safe and sane rational life urged