The Tupelo journal., 1909-06-25
TEMPERANCE
Sunday School Lsssoa for Juas y, 1909
Specially arranged for This Paper

LESSON TExT.-Romans 1854. Mem
ory verses, s, 10.
GOLDEN TExT.-"Put We on the Lord
Jesus Christ."-Romans 1874.
TIME.-Probably written early In the
year OF A. d. IS.
PLACE.-The epistle was written al
Corinth, during Paui's second visit there
Suggestion and Practical Thought
Subject: Temperance Involved in
the Law of Love-"
Introduction.-Who wrote the Epis
tie to the Romans? It is n Of the
%undoubted letters of Paul, "the most
Pauline of all the writings which bear
Paul's name, fundamental among our
materials for a Pauline theology
Hastings Bible Dictionary.
The All-Inclusive Debt of Love.-Vs
$40. How does Paul rank the duty Of
loving? He places 1t before all Other
duties. He has been urging from
13: y the scrupulous payment of all
debts, and repeats the command:
lowe no man any thing" OF course
this does not forbid borrowing, but re
quires the payment of all debts when
they are due. There is, however, one
debt so vast that it never can be paid
in full: ito love one another" Lows
sums up the whole law and perfect
love would make a perfect man. 1t is
obvious hat If we love our neighbor
we shall not kill him, OF steal from
him, or bear false witness against
him, or covet his good things, or work
i'll to our neighbor In any other way.
The Temperance Application.-1t
would be hard to nam an "ill to
neighbor" that is not fostered by in
temperance. I'VE suffer more year by
year from intemperance than from
war, pestilence and famine combined
those three great scourges of the hn
man family."-Gladstone.
A Warning from Approaching Death
VS.. IL, IL. With what argument die
Paul urge the law of love? That the
end of the world was at hand, the close
of the present order of things. "And
that" there is good reason for you tc
do, namely. keep the law of love, be
cause you know the critical time" In
which you live. This is a reference tc
the Parousia, or second coming oil
ties seem to have believed to be close
at hand.
What conclusion did Paul draw from
the nearness of Christ's coming? That
it was thigh time to awake out Of
sleep: for their salvation was nearer
than when they believe (aorist tense
came to believe, became Christians.)
"The words are as an alarm, OF
morning watchbell, awakening a
Christian to his days work."-Arch
bishop Leighton.
What are the temperance applica
tons of this thought? Intemperance
dulls the physical sense, blears the
eyes, renders the touch less sensitive
the hearing less acute, the brain less
active. 1t dulls the moral nature
Drinking men soon lose the nice sense
Of right and wrong. Conscience be
comes sluggish. The will becomes
fabby. Wake up! Wake up!" lei
every Christian cry to the intemper
ate.
A Pure Life and How to Live It.
VS.. IS, IA. How does Paul sum uT
these rules of life? Let us walk
(that is, live) honestly as in the day
when men can see us. The reference
is to the exteriors of life, but Pau
was the last man to forget that tout OF
the heart are the issues of life" He
is still speaking in parable, and to the
end of the chapter he uses outer raj
ment as a symbol of inner character
In order to live becomingly what
must we avoid? "Rioting (R. v. rev
elling'') and drunkenness, chamberine
unlawful ~intercourse) and wanton
ness, strife and envying Or. v. zeal
ousy").
That is negative; positively, in or
der to live becomingly, what must we
do? Put on Gas a garment, continu'
ing the metaphor) the Lord Jesus
Christ, and make not provision for the
flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" "Flesh
in the moral ense: the depraved ma,
ture."-Prof. M. R. Vincent. We are
to plan for physical needs, but not for
sensual qualifications.
What are the modern temperance
applications of this rule of life? There
would be no saloons If men put on
the Lord Jesus Christ" Who can
can imagine him as entering those
dens of iniquity, unless to rescue his
brothers from the snare? Every
saloon is a provision for the f1esh,'
melting to all abominable passions
quarreling, profanity, brutality, muir
ders, indecent speech, plots, licentious.
ness.
Gov. Hanly of Indiana, writing in
The Christian Endeavor World of De
cember &c, 1907, says: THAT alcohol
ism shortens life, and that abstainers
have a distinctly greater longevity
than non-abstainers is convincingly
demonstrated by actuarial experience
The testimony Of certain English life
insurance companies, based upon
many years of experience, establishes
the fact that the longevity of abstain.
ers is at least 25 per cent. greater
than that of non-abstainers..
six per cent of all accidents, 25
per cent. of all suicides, 20 per cent
of all crimes involving physical VIC
Ience, and SO per cent. of all those in
rXh{ab 1,,rf ic tho d0ujnanf Factor oon