tainly does not deserve to win this world, for it has bluntly and even boastfully turned its back on God. And He will eventually punish any nation that does that. But meanwhile, He might conceivably use it to punish other nations which have had all the great privileges and benefits of the Christian faith, including liberty, but now pursue the ways of wine and wickedness instead of the ways of God. People who go to saloons instead of churches, who prefer the cocktail hour to the hour of worship, who are slaves of liquor instead of servants of God, who love revelry rather than righteousness, who want the pleasure of sin but refuse the power of salvation — such people are heading for destruction. They are bringing the judg ment of God down upon themselves. Temperance cru sades are not going to save them. Legislation is not going to stop them. And pious talk about moderation is not go ing to change them. They need repentance. They need Christ. They must forsake their evil ways and go back to the God whose judgment is hanging over their heads. Nothing could be more tragic for a nation of 50,000,000 drinkers and 5,000,000 alcoholics than a church that no longer has the spiritual power and purity to show men the way out of their sin. These are days when the na tion needs the church more than ever before, but it must be a church that deserves a hearing, that is not guilty itself of the evils which it condemns. If it takes on the ways of the world, its voice will soon be silenced. And this -must not happen today. Christ has the word of hope for all troubled souls who are trying to find their way out of their alcoholic misery. We may not be able to change the minds of people who think drinking is all right and who know how to ration alize their way around everything the Bible has to say on this subject. But to the soul seeking deliverance, Christ who Himself conquered sin, will give His victory to those who trust Him.
“ W oe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! . . . 'But they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of His hands. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge. . . . Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure” (Isa. 5:11-14). T h a t is a f e a r f u l picture, isn’t it? And, mind you, not all the people were alcoholics. But they were drinking too much. And so they brought the judgment of God upon their nation. He sent them into captivity to a foreign power — not only because of their drink ing, but because of what it revealed about their inner spiritual and moral condition. Their drinking was only a symptom of what was really wrong with them. They had forsaken their God and had pursued the pleasure of sin. The heart of the nation was sick, and that’s why they gave themselves to drinking and dissipation and debauch ery. This is what makes the picture so frightfully modern. It gives a nation of 50,000,000 drinkers something to think about, especially in these days when a foreign power is pounding on our gates and openly 'boasts that it will bring the whole world into captivity. A nation that drinks too much is only betraying what’s wrong inside. It is ob viously compensating for its spiritual weakness. Eventual ly it will not have the moral strength to resist, nor the capacity for self-government, nor the will to be free. In short, it has forsaken its God, it no longer has regard for the deeds of the Lord and the work of His hands. Its excessive drinking is only a sign of its basic spiritual in security. No, there is no way for us to get around this very pointed lesson from history, especially because it comes to us straight from the Word of God. Communism cer
MARCH, 1963
9
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker