THE KI NG’ S BUSINESS (2) THE DESPOTISM OF INTEMPER ANCE, vs. 29-32. “ At the last.” There comes a day of reckoning, a harvest time, an account ing. The subtle poison of the serpent will do its deadly work. There is a final yielding of the will, the surrender of the whole man to the habit, and he is given over to wounds, woe, sorrow of soul and body and there is no help, no cure for the disease but one— the cure of sin. The conditions are fully set forth in (Isa. 2 8 :3 ,7 ,8 ): "The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet. “But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. “ For all tables are full of vomit and filthi ness, so that there is no place clean.*' Here is a description of the curse of the cup and the swallowing up of pro phet, priest and people. “ At the last.” Solemn words. Read them in (Ezek. 7:5, 6 , 12): “Thus saith the Lord God; An evil, an only evil, behold is come. “An end is come, the end is come; it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come. “The time is come, the day draweth near; let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.** The time of reckoning must come,— must come to all, whether they drink of the wine from the bottle, or the wine of the world, or the dregs of gin. These words are solemn “ at last!” “ There is a way which seemeth right.” (3) THE DELIRIUM OF INTEMPER ANCE, vs. 33-35. The drunkard sees things— strange things. The most pitiable condition im aginable is a man or woman with de lirium tremens. They believe they see real things oft times. We have been with blessed believers when their eyes have seen the open door of heaven and the beckoning hands of loved ones; when a saintly halo came over their faces as they passed through the veil. And we have been with the drunkard when he saw the snakes and creeping things and all the horrors of an await ing hell were his. The contrasting pic-
875 tures are always with us, and they are true. There is a time and place when men are past feeling. “They have beaten me and I felt it not.** Vs. 35. This is true not only of the user of strong drink but of those who trifle with God’s Word and warnings. There is a time when the Holy Spirit ceases to reprove of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. (Eph. 4:18, 19): “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignor ance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; “Who being past feeling have given them selves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.** We should be sobered ourselves with the thought of the perils of men and women, and seek earnestly and dili gently to win them to Christ. PRACTICAL POINTS (1) Satan has many short shrifts with which to snare men. (2) Table temptations are a test to the temperate. (3) Don’t gloss over the guilt of glut tony. Over-eating is a sin. (4) There is oft a temptation to in temperance in lawful things. (5) Solomon paints a picture of the piti ful and painful consequences of sin. ( 6 ) If you would avoid the conse quences of sin, avoid the occasion. (7) “ At the last!” That is when sin has a sting like that of the adder. ( 8 ) Dissipation of all kinds spells dis satisfaction, disease and early death. (9) Keep your head clear, your hands on the reins, and don’t drive near the edge of the precipice. Subject Illustration: Evils of Intem perance. Intemperance causes divorce. From 1887 to 1906 there were 184,396 di vorces due to intemperance on the part of the husband or the wife, according
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