T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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What about the war effort? Tank cars that should be carrying gasoline and fuel oil are used to convey wine from California to all parts of the na tion. Freight cars that should be trans porting war supplies are shipping alco holic beverages. B e e r t r u c k s that should be hauling weapons of war are rumbling up and down our highways. War plant employees who should be working are staggering around with "hangovers,” and are tying up produc tion. If the threatened strikes “com forted” our enemies, and they did, then this mollycoddled, petted, and pam pered drink industry m a k e s them dance with glee, Likewise, alcoholic beverage is one of the greatest single menaces to the efficient functioning of the American army. Glen Cunningham of Cornell Univer sity says: “As an athlete and teacher of physical education, my advice to young people is to seek alcohol-free relaxation regardless of what others may say or do.” Andrew Carnegie advises: “You are more likely to fail in your career from acquiring the habit of drinking liquor than from any of the other tempta tions which assail you.” I. GOD’S “ NO.” When we consider the deadly toll that alcohol has exacted of millions of lives, we can understand God’s “No” in Proverbs 23:20. Stay far away from those who drink. Familiarity with evil causes one to lose the dread of it, and the debauched one always desires to corrupt others. Reason should rule us, not the physical senses. An old prov erb reads, “Take heed of the bait for fear of the hook.” II. DRINK’S WOE. Those who drink willfully make woe and sorrow for themselves. Wine is like the subtle poison of a serpent that a f f e c t s the whole body. Its conse quences are fatal. Health, family, busi ness, all go to wreck and ruin. To com- hat the temptation there is in sin’s pleasure, look ahead to the punishment of it! III. GOD’S HOUSE BELOW. “Do you not know that you are God’s sanctuary and that the Spirit of God is dwelling within you? If anyone tear down God’s sanctuary, God will tear him down; for the sanctuary of God is holy, and that is what you are” (1 Cor. 3:16, 17, Montgomery Trans.). Every Christian is a living temple of the living God. This temple is set aside from common use to a holy use, the service of God. For this reason,, above all others, we should abstain from everything that will harm our bodies. [ Continued on.Page 315]. For Those Who Have Topics
That is why He gave Himself for us. He also wants to cleanse us—cleanse us "from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” (2 Cor. 7:1). Is it Christ’s desire that we be clean and separated for service? Is it also His command? In 2 Corinthians 6:17 [ is the ansWer to this question for every believer, whether he is in a place of great power or in a place of menial service. God’s command for His church is to “come ou t...and be ye separate . . . and touch not the unclean.” From whom are we to be separate, or set apart? From unbelievers (2 Cor. 6:14) ! We should not be linked—in business, in marriage, in our church affiliations, or in any other way—with those who .do not believe in the Head of our body, the Lord Jesus Christ. If we obey this command to be sepa rate, or set apart, God promises great blessings (2 Cor. 6:17, 18). Because of these promises we should cleanse our selves (2 Cor. 7:1). What will our response be? If this is what Christ, the Hèad, wants of us in order to improve' our church, how can . we be sanctified and cleansed? The Word of God gives the answer: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word which I have spoken unto you” 119:9). “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3). Prayerful, daily reading of His precious Word and the hiding of it in our hearts will cleanse and sanctify us unto Him. It will keep us from sin. Nothing else will. When He speaks we must obey. (Suggestion: Why not start a Bible memory contest in your society? It will be beneficial to any age group.) OCTOBER 22, 1944 THE DEADLY TOLL OF BEVERAGE ALCOHOL P roverbs 23:20, 21, 29-32 By Dorothy Thompson King Last year we spent $46 per capita in this country for liquor, twice as much as we spent for all our churches. F.B.I. records show that since Prohibition, for every 100,000 people in the United States the number of drunken drivers is nearly twice as large as before Pro hibition; and that, between 1932 and 1942 arrests for drunkenness have in creased two and one-half times per 100,000 over the number reported ear lier. An old-time political editor said: “Ninety per cent of all the crime, cor ruption, delinquency, degeneracy, and decay in our country can be blamed on the rotten saloon business.” There are, according to a conservative estimate, 365,000 drinking places in the United States. God can neverbless any land that is making drunkards of its future mothers, that is debauching its youth, breaking up its homes, and damning its own soul* with, alcohol.
of the oil of the Holy Spirit, trouble begins. Our light ceases to shine, the operation of our church and life be comes ineffective, and we begin to drift backward instead of going for ward. If we, as members of the church, are to be used of God, we must be vessels unto honor (cleansed) and “meet for the master’s use” (2 Tim. 2:21; cf. Rom. 12:1, 2). A going church will be a growing church, and a growing church will be a glowing church, so let us keep going, growing, and glowing for the glory of Christ. OCTOBER 15, 1944 HOW CAN WE IMPROVE OUR CHURCH? E phesians 5:25-27 By Dorothy Goodner Kennedy The church is* .the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22, 23), and. Christ is the Head. The head of the physical body tells the body what to do. If the body fails to respond to the commands of the head, the pitiable result can be seen by all. Our spiritual Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, tells His body, the church, what to do also. He speaks explicitly in His Word. Too often the body of Christ fails to respond to the commands of its Head—a cause for shame and dis grace. How can we i m p r o v e our church? By a response to Christ, the Head, in our hearts and lives! For Those Who Have Topics BY LIVING FOR CHRIST. " Christ "loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Eph. 5:25). “He died for all” (2 Cor. 5:15). His sacrifice for us has been perfect. He loved and gave. Someone has aptly said, “ You can give without loving, but you can not love without giving.” Our response to His great sacrifice should be spontaneous. Certainly His love constrains or compels us to live no longer for ourselves but for Him (2’ Cor. 5:14, 15). Paul tells us in Romans 12:1 that because of these “mercies of God”—His love for us and His death for us—we should present to Him our bodies as "living sacrifices.” He died for all that we might not henceforth live for anyone but Him. Should we expect less than tftis from one if we had died for him? II. BY OBEYING GOD’S WORD. "That he might sanctify and cleanse it” (Eph. 5:26). What does sanctify mean? Sanctimonious? Far from it! To be sanctimonious is to look like .something. To be sanctified is to be something, and that is to be “set apart.” A guesb room that is set apart for a special guest is sanctified. If we are set apart for Christ, we are sanctified. He wants to sanctify us.
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