Evening star., 1922-10-28
BY REV. HUGH T. STEVENSON.
WORLDWIDE PROHIBITION
(world Temperance Sunday.
Isaiah 61:1-9.

WORLDWIDE PROHIBITION
(world Temperance Sunday.
Isaiah 61:-9.
| Golden text.-Righteousnes ex-
exaltsth q nation. but sin Is a
reproach to any people,
Proverbs 14:34.
Jesus commenced His ministry in
Galilee by preaching in the synagogue
at Nazareth, where He had been brought
up. from the opening verses Of the les
son assigned for the World Temper
ance Sunday. He selected His text from
the words Of Isaiah because they con-
tanned the program Of Christianity. He
moved the congregation. composed of
His old playmates, fellow workingmen,
relatives. neighbors and friends by His
exposition Of the prophets message.
VIDE p,ohiS,tson nesn 1sssen we We cannot
as students Of the Bible, forget that an
exposition of this passage demands that
we realize that 1t refers primarily to
the Messiah and His mission. This
was the position ,whieh our .as Lord took
fulfilled by His preaching to the Na1a-
reth congregation that day. Looking
into the faces of the people. who knew
the Master from the time, that Joseph
and Mary had returned from Egypt
ture to be baptized by John. He claimed
that He had been set apart and filled
with the spirit Of God, which we saw
come upon Him at His baptism. to
inaugurate the program Of Christianity.
Humanity's need determined the
Lords mission and message. His
work as a preacher called Him to
minister to the poor, the broken
hearted. and the captives with His
joy-bringing message of love. light
and liberty. Followers OF the Master
have heard a call for service among
the poor. the broken-hearted and the
captlves held in the chains of appe-
tite and habit, SO they have carried TO
them the Masters message OF Joy and
hope. They have seen lives renewed.
reformed and results that have proven
that tho good tidings OF the Christ
had power to save the souls and the
lives Of men. When they have tried
to ascertain the cause OF humanity
woes, they have traced 1t to sin that
was destroying the souls, who had
Their Investigations brought them
face to face with the fact that the
saloon was an enemy OF the church.
and that strong drink was responsipie
for much Of the poverty. tears ana en-
shaving of men through their craving
1OE 2lCOnOllC SNS ".
started the movement to crush the
liquor traffic and make men free.
No expositor of the Scriptures
would dare to risk his scholarship by
claiming that any prophet or apostie
taught in the Scriptures that the
beverages should be forbidden by the
laws Of a state or nation. The Old
Testament and New have taught
fundamental principles that prove be.
yond question that the roots OF all
efforts to control and eradicate every
evil and vice that breed immortality
and are injurious to ones BODY or
others have scriptural foundation in
the ethical teachings Of the Bible,
which includes those upon which the
regulation and restriction OF the man
ufacture and use of alcoholic liquors
rests. While no one can quote scrip
tural authority for prohibition in the
lesson assigned US. yet no one would
question that the Scriptures include
in their ethical teachings the right
OF the community to control the prac-
tices of its citizens when the practice
the interests of the community. and
the essential harmfulness OF the un-
restricted use Of alcoholic liquors as
6 beverage.
The program Of Christianity calls
also for message of warning con-
tHc coming Oh tuc ulcSSldH
again, when the Lord will return and
Judge men and nations. Jesus
stopped in the sermon He delivered
at the close Of the preceding part Of
the third verse. Reformers, who had
traced the evils of the world, which
flled 1t with its tears and broken
hearts. to the saloon as the source of
poverty. licentiousness. stealing and
other crimes. sounded the note of
alarm concerning the drink problem
and promised for those who mourned,
because OF the traffic in strong drink,
surance that with the burial of John
Barleycorn there would come the
Transformation of their sorrow into
joy. When men proposed to bring
an end to the alcoholic traffic 1t
seemed impossible. Men, who knew
liquor traffic came an endless stream
of wrecked homes and blasted lives,
Of unspeakable personal filth and
public degradation. Of economic inef-
fciency and unproductiveness." final
ly became filled with the spirit Of
part Of the nations Constitution.
Prohibition has been counted as one
OF the contributions Of the great war
to American life. It has passed from
being a national question into an in
ternational and worldwide question.
otSIHWout OIHClAlS OF tne WOflO are
studying the results Of the nations
stand upon the question of prohibi-
ton. They have discovered the facts
that there has been q marked reduc-
tion Of crime, which would have been
more marked than it has been If
there had not been a reaction from
the war that increased enormously
crime throughout the world. The
commissioner Of charities of New
York city is quoted as having been
an opponent Of prohibition as mex
pedient legislation. but the results OF
prohibition that he saw daily in the
reports of his department have made
him an out-and-out champion of pro-
hibition. The facts that changed him
are said to be the following: His
ambulances are only employed half
the time: great wards of his hospitals
are empty: the municipal lodging
house, which formerly cared for nine
hundred persons nightly, now cares
for some thirty-hve. Not only are
there fewer victims Of their own per-
sonal habits, but also fewer injuries
from brawls and fewer relief cases
Of dependents"