The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-09-23
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INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM.
MENTs FOR SEPTEMBER 81.

Subject: Temperance, Is. 5:11-23-
Golden Text, Prov. 20:1-Com-
NIT Verses %, 2S-Comments
on the Lesson.
'TNIE.-76O B. C. and 1908 A. D.
PLACE.-Jerusalem and all lands.
EXPOSITION.-I. The Woe OF
Those Who Live Unexpectedly, H.
~. God pronounces six woes upon
His people because of their sins. The
first voc Is pronounced upon the
greedy monopolist. Verse 8 gives q
very graphic picture of a large class
among us to-day who count them
selves happy, but Jehovah pronounces
woe upon them. More and more will
this be true as time passes, even as 1t
came to pass in Jerusalem. The sec
ond woe Is pronounced upon those
who live for the qualification of ap-
petite. The description Of the drunk
ard in verse II exactly fits our own
day. The rising sun sees the wretch
ed victim of alcohol up searching for
an open saloon; he hasn't slept much
and now wants a drink to steady his
nerves. But he is not only up early
but tarries late into night till wine
infames him. He is burning the
candle at both ends and will soon
burn it out. Co p%ronounces woe
upon every such al one. And the
woe never fails to come. 1t is a sig
nifcant fact that after speaking In
general terms Of the ruin Of Judah
Tvs. 1-7) such frequent references
are made to drunkenness. tits clear
that the prophet Isaiah Gas we'll as
other prophets) considered Judah's
fall (and Israels) Is due largely to
intemperance (see also Oh. 1881, 7,8;
Hos. 7:5, 6. The effect Of wine Is to
"infame them" It infames the
stomach, the blood, the eyes, the
brain, the vilest and fercest passions
Of the soul and kindles the fires OF
hell. The man that FOOLS with wine
is fooling with a fire that has caused
the costliest CONGREGATIONS that the
world has ever known. In verse IL
we have pictured the %veneering of art
and refinement with which drunkards
seek to cover their beastliness. Music
Is constantly prostituted to become
the ~servitor of beastliness. While
these ancient sinners gave themselves
over to aesthetic and sensual indul-
gence they forgot "tne work Of the
Lord" (cf. Job %21:11-14; Am. 6:4-6).
One of the most serious evils of the
use of wine Is that it leads men to
forget God. A fearful doom awaits
all those who forget God (Job 34:24-
81; Ps. 1855; SID. The conse-
'quence of their intemperance and for
getting God was that Gods people
had gone into captivity" ". 13).
The world to-day is full Of people
who have gone into the most degrad-
ing and painful captivity through the
same two causes-intempefancs and
forgetfulness of God. The Immediate
cause of captivity was lack of knowl-
edge" knowledge Of the truth is u
erty, ignorance of the truth is bond
age (Jno. 1892; CT. Hos. AS; Rom.
1928; 2 Thess. 1:S). The next result
of Judah's intemperance was that
Hell Cor Sheol, the UNDERWORLD
enlarged her desire, and opened her
mouth without measure" He'll yawns
wide because Of intemperance and the
glory of the multitude and the pomp,
and he that rejoices among us Is de-
scending into it. All classes are
brought down by this sin ". 15).
Not only the insignificant and con-
temptible, but the great and lofty are
humbled. But in the midst of all this
humbling Jehovah of hosts Is ex-
alted." He is exalted by the judg-t
ment- He brings upon the offenders
(cf. Ez. 1922; Rev. 1873, ~. AS He
Is "the Holy One" (R. W., His Holt
ness shall be manifested in the right
eous judgment He brings upon Offend
ers. AS the final result Of Israel's In
temperance and forgetfulness of God
all the splendid estates and palaces OF
Judah should become waste and the
feeding place of wandering bands.
This is now literally fulfilled and
there is a real danger that all the
present splendor Of our own land
shall some day become a feeding
place of focks and tramps from SINH
lar causes
II. The Woe of Those Who Give
Themselves Over to Sin, 1928. The
third woe is pronounced upon those
who are so thoroughly given over to
sin that they tug away at 1t to sec
how much they can draw ". 1S).
The use of wine leads to this devotion
to sin. In their enthusiasm for sin
they mock at God and His Word and
say: Let God hurry up with His
judgments and let Him hasten His
works that we may actually see 1t and
not merely hear about it. Let the
purposes of the Holy One of Israel
of which we have heard so much ac-
tually come to pass" ". 10; CT. Jer.
1915; 2 Pet. $3.50. Such mockery
of Gods word and Gods judgments
is common among drunkards. The
fourth woe is upon those who "call
evil good, and good evil, that put
darkness for light and light for dark
ness" This displays a determination
in sin that is wellnigh hopeless Matt.
1924, 81. This complete perversion
of the moral judgment often results
from the persistent use of liquor. The
fifth warning is n greatly needed in
our day ". 81; CT. Prov. 26:12; Ro.
1929. No mar is more likely to be
wise in his own eyes than the drink
ing man. He laughs at all warnings
against the dangers of strong drink.
The final woe is pronounced upon
those who pride themselves upon the
amount of wine they car drink and
the strong drink they can mix and
walk off with" The inspired prophet
says that this is not a. accomplish
to be proud Of.
Britons Want to Race Again.
Unable to recover from the shock