The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1916-11-10

flesh. nor to drink wine, nor to do any
| thing whereby thy brother stumbleth.-
! Rom. 14:21.
The early Christian church had two
outstanding problems, the question OF
the Sabbath days 1.-TWO of them) and
the question of eating meat offered to
idols. This lesson suggests the solu-
| ton of the latter. Our modern prob
lem of Intoxicating liquors is very
much the same as this ancient one Of
the early Gentle Christians.
I. "Let us not therefore Judge one
another" wv. 1850. There are GER
tain acts which are universally conced-
eC to be right and within the Christian
law of liberty. There are also other
acts which are as plainly prohibited.
There are large number Of acts which
lie in the region between these two,
and men ought to be careful how they
condemn one another for these latter
things. Where good and true men diff
fer, their acts, on the matter Of the
Sabbath (See Col. 2 :16), or on temper
ance, must be determined as being
ly. 1t is not for us to judge ". 13),
literally to pronounce judgment. They
have right to their opinion and to
their liberty of thought and action, but
wv. ID, %, 23) as for Paul or the
Christian, he must have a clear con-
science. He must have faith, and be
assured that ne is right; otherwise he
Is condemned by God and by his own
conscience, and Is not a sincere Chris
tian disciple. The word therefore" In
verse ID points back to verse 49, which |
ought to be carefully pondered. AS we
have each to render our accounts to |
God, we should stop judging one an
other Food is a very proper thing,
and laws are also proper, yet love is
the ruling principle of the Christian
life.
We ought to have our liberty cur
tailed rather than have our souls lost.
If we magnify our liberty to the sacri-
lice of our brothers soul we walk no
longer in love-" The demands Of
Christian love are more to the true
followers Of Christ than the permits
sions of Christian liberty. The privi-
lege of eating and drinking while it
injuries others, however harmless to
yourself, is not to be tolerated.
The word 'stumbleth" here used
". I'd implies movable trap or snare,
literally any impeachment placed in the
way so as to cause another to fall. We
must never forget that even a weak |
brother Is "a brother for whom Christ {
died"
II. Let not your good be evil spoken
OF" wv. 1929. The kingdom of God |
is not meat and drink but it is a life $
of righteousness, peace and joy in the
Holy Ghost. Our liberty is to be so I
used that it shall not be evil spoken
Of. The real proof that we are in the d
kingdom of God and that the kingdom
Df God is in us is not found in our
Scrupulousness or lack of it, in our eat
ng ana drinking but in the manifesto
Ions Of righteousness in our lives, and
If having peace in our hearts us :13).
This peace must be manifested toward :;
'ur fellow men ". 10; Oh. 10 :1S) and
icing filed with "joy in the Holy :,
fhost." The object of our pursuit is II
o be the things which make for peace, Il
he things whereby we may fill one O
mother up, not the exploitation of b
ONE pet hobby, for the kingdom of al
'od does not consist of riding hobbies.
In this matter of temperance reform f.
re all recognize that alcohol has many
SEES besides that for drinking pur- /,
oseS, and that there are various opin-
,ns about drinking certain forms Of
:, and various ways of advancing the
alnperance cause, all of which are &c
onestly held by many GOOD men, but
hrlstlan patriotism demands that ev- ar
~ true-hearted man or woman, every
ne who is loyal to his country, to hui
lanity and to his God, should take
aul's position, % That he will not ~
9 stumbling block in the way of the =
eak and of the young. (2) That he =
i'll not do anything to destroy his
other for whom Christ died (3) That
will deny himself anything for their
Ike. (D That his attitude will be
lat of love and not of selflshness,
his places temperance on high moral
ane, but the world is also beginning
recognize that the temperance ques-
IN is also an economic one.
1t is well to have faith, but it is
so well to have the love that does
It injure others by the exercise Of
at faith. The question is, "Are you
rfectly sure this thing is right?"
hen in doubt as to whether any ac-
N will please God, doubt your doubts,
d avoid that act
III. 1--WE then that are strong" (15:
y. This section is in reality a con-
uation of Chapter IA. Paul is con-
uing his thought that we are not
please ourselves, but rather to live
,h lives as will edify or build up our
ghbor. Our strength is not given
us that we may glory or lord it
or our weaker brethren, but rather
1t we may serve them. I
70 please my neighbor does not mean
It when In Rome do as the Romans
but rather to live such life that