T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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This is also tru e of the drugs which are now used as a sub stitu te for liquor, and we are confronted w ith a ta sk in our country so trebiendous th a t it stag gers our statesmen. The very vitals of our body— as a people— are being sapped of th eir streng th . Millions of money will be spent in an effort to stem the tid e; b u t sin is a disease and will find some way by which it will seek to slake its th irst through th e lusts of th e body; and slowly b u t surely the vital forces, once so strong in our own nation, are giving way to th e con sta n t drain, and th e generation com ing is weaker;— far weaker—-than the one preceding. Moral conditions are a t a lower ebb th an ever before in the whole world. The world is morally drunk. P riest and prophet reel w ith desire for lu st ful pleasure. God and righteousness are not in all th e ir thoughts. The prisons are pens filled to overflowing w ith men and women from th e highest walks of society, as well as from the lowest levels of degradation’s depths. We have never had so many in stitu tions for instruction, nor so many vic tim s of hideous vice, and it would be well to read again th e p rophet’s words in Isa: 17:12, 13: “W oe to the multitude of m an y people, w h ich m ake a noise like the noise o f the seas; and to the ru sh in g o f nations, that m ake a ru sh in g like the ru sh in g of m igh ty w a ters. The nations sh all rush like the ru sh in g of m any w a te rs; but God sh all rebuke them , and th ey sh all flee fa r oif, and sh all be chased as the chaff of the moun tain s before the wind, and like a ro llin g thing before the w h irlw ind.” ( 3 ) , P rie st and People. Look a t th e order of th e downfall: P rophet and p riest; prince, and people; overcome w.ith wine; intoxicated w ith pride. Visualize the picture: Degenera tion, disintegration, destruction! “They e rr in vision; they stumble in judg m ent.”
ing to his doom. The kingdom of Israel comprised ten tribes of which Eph raim was th e recognized chief. Samaria was the capital city,—the “ crown of pride," being bu ilt upon th e crown of a hill which sloped down to rich valleys, covered w ith beautiful flowers and fruit-bearing trees. The hill was fortified w ith a girdle of tpwers and suggested to Isaiah a crown of flowers on the head of a staggering drunkard. The prophet as speaking a t a time when th e city and th e kingdom were a t th e height of th e ir glory, yet he tells them th a t God has set them ap a rt for judgm ent, ju st as He did th e Valley of Beauty— th e “Garden of God"— which Lot chose for his home. The glorious beauty of Ephraim was to fade as a leaf. The crown of pride was to be trodden under foot. Its very beauty made it a source of temptation for the invader. Its sp irit of idolatry and iniquity had swept through Israel and had resu lted in th e ir overthrow by the Assyrian. The same sp irit was now filling Jud ah and Jerusalem , and the prophet uses S am aria as an illu stration to w arn Judah and Jerusalem . Twenty-one tim es in Isaiah ’s proph ecy we find the word “woe” is used. I t is an expression of sorrow, as it was w ith our Lord. It is a loving w arn ing. The decay of the nation had come through th eir unbelief and sinful lusts. The them e of the prophecy is— impend ing w rath, because of prosperity, idola try , intemperance, luxury, pleasure, ease and strong drink. (2 ) Sapping th e Strength. Abraham Lincoln was a prophet when he said, “The liquor traffic is a cancer in society, eating out th e vitals and th reaten ing destruction, and all a t tem pts to regu late it will not only prove abortive, b u t will agg rav ate th e evil. There m ust be no more attem p ts to regu late the cancer. I t must be eradi cated; not a root m ust be left behind.”
Read th e story in the fifteenth of Luke— the story of wine and swine. •Then read v. 8 of our lesson.
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