Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1939-02-16

LESSON TEXT-Amos 6:1-o; Peter z:11'
GOLDEN TEXT-It is good neither to eat
flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything where.
by thy brother stumbleth.-Romans l4:2l.
Hazards in the use of alcohol in
a machine age"-this is the topic
assigned for our lesson today. It is
a good one and worthy of the care
full thought of every intelligent citi-
zen. With automobiles alone kill
ing over a hundred persons day,
and the obvious connection between
alcohol and death on the highway,
we might say much about the folly
of trying to cut down traffic acct
dents while we are licensing more
and more "taverns" along the road
to fill the drivers with the destruc-
tive stuff.
There is much that might be said
about the social havoc that is being
wrought by alcohol. It is bad enough
that man pays Is cents for
drink, but even worse, that he gives
Is minutes of his life for each in
diligence. But the liquor industry
covers that up under a mask of fes-
tivity, making booze look like de-
sirable adjunct to congenial and sue
cessful living. It does not picture
the bleary eye and the babbling
tongue of the drinker, nor does it
present the broken-hearted moth
er, the devastated home, the ragged
children, and the empty cupboard.
Liquor is one of Americas major
problems. Let us face it.
The Scripture portions assigned
for our lesson rightly emphasize
fundamentals, the first being a call
to awake from a false sense of Sc
curity, the second emphasizing that
this is spiritual battle, and the
third pointing the way of victory as
being in holy living.
1. Foolish Security When Sur
rounded by Danger (Amos 6:1-6).
Surprise attack is always effec-
tive. Satan would lull us all to sleep
In the assurance that Goods in his
heaven-alPs well with the world"
God is in heaven and it is certain
that ultimately He will reign over
all, but just now the world is in
the hands of the Wicked One Il.
John 5:19).
The people of Amos day, to whom
the message was addressed, had
come to the point where prosperity
had made them at ease when they
should have been active, foolishly
secure when they should have been
Specifically serving their fellow
men who were in need. The pic
ture is astonishingly up-to-date. To-
day in our own land the Gold Coast
and the slurns rub elbows, but few
OF those who have plenty are con-
cerned about those who have not. In
the eyes of most people the pur-
pose OF gaining possessions is to re-
heve one from the necessity of work
and to enable one to evade LIES
responsibilities.
America needs to awaken to its
dangers, and we repeat that not the
least Of these is the liquor question.
We>must either win a victory over
it, or it will destroy our people.
ii. Spiritual Warfare-While at
Peace with God Il. Pet. 2:1l, 12).
"Fleshly lusts, which war against
the soul' ". I'D are the object of
serious concern on the part of every
sincere Christian. There is a battle
on, and the enemy of our soul
knows how to make the abuse of
the normal impulses and appetites
OF man his strong ally. The rush of
modern life, the increasing use of
stlmulants, both natural and arti-
fetal, the very luxury in which many
live, these things tend to give the
flesh and its desires undue promi-
nence, and not infrequently cause
even Gods children to fall into sin.
We are called to a holy warfare.
but that does not mean that we
live in constant turmoil. We are.
after all, pilgrims and strangers in
this world. Our citizenship is in
heaven (Phil. 3:20) though we live
on earth. In the heart we have
peace, and that enables us to fight a
good fight against the world. the
flesh, and the devil.
III. Doing the Will Of God in a
Sef-willed World Il. Pet. 4:1,5).
Essentially there are two opposing
principles operative in the lives of
men-we either are controlled bv
Gods will, or by self-will. The flesh
Is really mans personality con-
trolled by his own self-will. II re-
suits in the kind of life described in
verses and 8. When a man he
comes Christian he should move
over into the will of God.
Such a man may be regarded as
strange, but as a matter of fact
men will recognize his godliness
(see !. Pet. 2:12). DR.. viii IT
Houghton tells of "a soldier who
ultimately was made Christian he
Lever through seeing his compan-
ions make fun of another soldier
who was believer in Christ. The
thing that impressed him was the
tact that though they made fun of
thus man, they left their money in
MS possession for safekeepingI" Do
we have that kind of testimonv9
--
When Ha noos.,k NJ