The Tupelo journal., 1908-09-25
TEMPERANCE
Sunday School Lesson for Sept. n, 1908
Specially Arranged for This Paper

LESSON ~TEXT.-Isaiah 5:11-23. Mem
DRY verses %, %.
GOLDEN TEXT.-"wine is a mocker,
strong drink is raging."-Prov. 20:1.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
This chapter has two parts. Part
1.-The Garden of the Lord-Judah,
Our Country, Ourselves.
Part 2-The Things That Brought
1t 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 a glorious record, glori-
Gus opportunities, but at that time
threatened with ruin. 1t is represent.
ed to us under the figure of a vine
yard.
Let us look at the scene. I'm a pic.
ture of great beauty Isaiah describes
a vineyard upon one of the sunny prom,
ontories visible from Jerusalem"
Who planted this vineyard of "the
well b%eloved?"
Watch and note what he had done
for It. See in their origin and his
tory as it passes before you as in a
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 an everlasting
love. | once asked a man in charge
of a great greenhouse which cult.
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 han sun
shine and spring rains to help us to
bear good fruit.
What more did God do out Of hts
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
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
placed there h wine press, which
represents the various advantages
conferred on the people to help them
to bring forth good fruit and present
1t to the Lord. Every influence. every
institution, the teachings of the proph-
els, 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?
H 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. 5:5-7, and compare it
with the disasters that came upon Is
rael through its capture in B. c. 721.
What was the cause of this ruiz?
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" 1T
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
sttnct 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 Race.-The con.
testants in the Marathon race. which
is run on April 10 from Ashland to
Boston, 25 miles, were notified this
year in the following terms: alcohol
in any form is positively forbidden
before, during, and Immediately after
the race. 1t never does good, and
usually does harm. Disregard OF the
foregoing shall be considered sufi-
cient grounds for disqualification by
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 a 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.
hence seems to me desirable because
1t is the most positive and definite
way in 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
In the following extract from James
Psychology: The great thing, then.
in all education, is to make our nerv.
GUS system our ally instead of our
enemy. 1t is to fund and capitalize
our acquisitions, and live at ease upon
the interest of the fund. For this we
must make automatic and habitual, as