The Coolidge examiner., 1938-10-27

! LESSON IEAI-ECCleSldStSo G.A-o' AV'
II: Romans 6:17-23; 14:21.
GOLDEN TEXT-What shall we say
then? Shall we continue in sin, that
grace may abound?-Romans 6:l5.
personal liberty"-what endless
misuse was made Of that expression
in the days when men seeking the
right to again flood this country with
intoxicating liquors were attacking
prohibition. One would think that
some of our political leaders and
our newspaper editors would blush
for shame when they see what has
now been accomplished in the name
of personal liberty.
My liberty ends, as someone has
well said, where yours begins. l
have the personal liberty to swing
nv arms as far as the tip Of your
nose, but there my liberty ends. All
Of life is, and necessarily must be
built on that principle. For the
Christian there is an even higher
measure Of responsibility-his rela-
tionship to God and his consequent
heart interest in the welfare Of his
fellow men.
Our Scripture portions for today
present a sharp contrast Man
without God, but with every earthly
advantage is pictured in Ecclesias-
tes in his fruitless search for real
joy. Then man as the glad bond
slave Of Jesus Christ is spoken Of
in Romans as truly free and joyful.
/. The Way of Emptiness and Dis
appointment (Eccles. 2:1-3, 10, ID.
l. Physical pleasures do not sat-
isfy (Eccles. 2:1-3). Men who have
tasted the distress and disappoint-
ment of life are prone to think that
if they only had all the money they
wanted, and an opportunity to par
take of life's thrills" they would
be happy. Solomon had everything.
He deliberately set himself to prove
the pleasures of this world. He
planned to "enjoy" intoxicants-do-
ing it with wisdom"-that is, not
- a drunken debauch that would
bring remorse. Note it, you who
advocate the moderate use of alco-
hol whatever that may be- Solo
mon found it to be only vain empti-
ness. (See Prov. 1881, 32)
What is true of wine is also true
of the attempt to satisfy oneself by
the qualification of any physical ap-
petite. Those who live for the pleas
ures of the flesh can reap only cor
ruption (Gal $50. The hectic
search for such satisfaction by
countless men and women today re-
veals that they. like Solomon, can
not find it. If they did, they would
cease their wild searching. 1t just
is not there.
2. Pleasures of the mind do not
satisfy (Eccles. 2:1O. ID. Solomon
sought real JOY in labor, in accom-
plishing worthy ends. There is a
satisfaction in work well done, but
chat joy is only lasting when the
doing of the work is for the glory Of
God. Work for its own sake-yes,
even wisdom for its own sake Gee
cles. 1:12-18)-is not enough to sat
isfy the soul of man. The great
poet Goethe, who set himself to en-
joy the higher pleasures of life-art,
science, and literature-came to his
seventy-fifth year to testify that he
had never had four weeks of gen.
uine pleasure. Satisfaction is not
in the pleasures Of the aesthetic ma
ture
ii. The Way of Victory, Peace,
and True Joy (Rom. 6:17-23; 14:2D.
We say with Paul God be
thanked" that there is a way for
men to find freedom from the sin
and disappointment of life. 1t comes
by
l. Personal allegiance to God
NIlOIIl. U. 1 1907. S1Cdl Oll
spiritual matters recognizes that
the man who boasts of his personal
liberty, his freedom from Gods con-
troll over his life is in reality the
slave of sin (vv. 17-19; Titus 3:0.
On the other hand, the one who is a
willing bondslave of Jesus Christ is
free. The way of victory and peace
is to yield to God, even as the way
of defeat and disappointment is to
yield to sin. The first way leads to
Joy in this life and eternal fellow
ship with God. The other way re-
suits in ultimate CHASTITY disillusion-
ment in this life and eternal spiritu-
al death and separation from God.
2. Recognized responsibility for
others (Rom. 14:2D. 1t should not
take two minutes of intelligent con-
sideration for any man to understand
Of 1;1y1%Lo I. 4