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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
OCTOBER 30, 1921 STRONG DRINK IN A NATION’S LIFE—WORLD’S TEM PERANCE SUNDAY Golden Text. Woe unto him th a t giveth his neighbor drink. Hab. 2:15. LESSON TEXT
22, 23*; Amos 4:1, 2.) priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are sw aL lowed up of wine, they are out of the w ay through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. (8) For all tables are full of vom it and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. (9) Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to u n d erstand doctrin e? them th a t are w ean ed from th e m ilk , and drawn from th e b reasts. (10) F or p recep t m u st be upon p recept, p re cep t upon precept; lin e upon line, lin e »upon lin e; here a little, and th ere a little : (11) F or the stam m erin g lip s and an oth er to n g u e w ill he sp eak to th is people. _ (12) To w hom -he said, th is is the rest w h d rew ith w e m ay ca u se the w eary to rest; and th is is th e refresh ing: y et they would not hear. (13) B ut the word of the Lord w as unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line up on line; here a little and there a little; that they m ight go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. We suggest an outline under which th is portion of prophecy may be wisely tre a te d : (1) P roph et and Prophecy. Isaiah stands as the prince of the prophets. Read' th e opening words of his prophecy, (1 :1 -4 ). Here stands a man. Here speaks a prophet of God. There is no soft-pedaling, no apologiz ing, no smoothing over. He speaks for God. He must tell th e tru th . He must voice God’s message. He has ^ a h eart, beating w ith love and sor row, b u t a h ea rt stou t also w ith th e Strength of God. He speaks to his own people, bu t he spares them not. He “ tru th s at in love,” b u t he tru th s it. W arning words are seldom welcomed, but many of Isaiah ’s warnings have had th e ir fulfillment and some of them are yet to be fulfilled. Here th e prophet uses Ephraim as' an illu stration of a drunken man rush-
Isa. 28:1-13. (Read Isa. 5:11-13, (1) W oe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat of them th at are overcom e w ith wine. (2) Behold, the LORD hath a m ighty and, strong one, which as a tem pest of hail, and a destroying storm , as a flood of m ighty w aters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth w ith the hand. (3) The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trod den under feet: (4) And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fa t valley, shall be a fading flower, and a s the h asty fruit before the sum mer;which when he that looketh upon it seeth, w hile it is y et in h is hand he eateth i*t up.. (5) In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the •residue of his people, (6) And for a spirit of judgm ent to him th at sitteth in judgm ent, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. (7) B u t they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the (1) P rophet and Prophecy.' (2) Sapping th e S trength (3 ) P rie st and P rophet. (4) Instruction and Indifference. In trodu ction : This is a ‘Temperance Lesson, and one of th e few passages ever assigned by th e Sunday School Lesson Com m ittee on temperance as related to strong drink having a LESSON | virile message on th a t EXPOSITION subject. T.. C. H orton The history of n a tions-is strangely sdm- dlar. Nations never learn from the sins of nations. Pride, arrogance, sin ful indulgence, fo rfeitu re of faith, de clension and destruction,— tells the story from the days Of Noah down to- th e present day; and intemperance has been one of th e marked, outstanding causes of th e downfall of every people. O u tlin e :
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