LESSON VI. THE TEMPERANCE LESSON.
English as " s o r r o w ," " p a i n , " or dis- tress of mind because of the loss of any good, the subjection to any evil, or misfortune; the commission of any sin or error, . . grief, sadness, t r o u b l e !" There are the words! You might inject into your veins typhoid and get fever, or tuberculine and get consumption; what other toxin is there, but wine, to induce such a horrible com- plication of miseries as are contained in those verbal analyses? 3. Wlio hath contentions? The Hebrew here includes the idea of judicial process. The question is not only who has verbal wrangiings, and pugilistic squabbles, and family jarrings, but who keeps the police busy, the court in session, and the jail full? 4. Who hath babbling? This word includes the maudlin drivel; the muttering of the befuddled sot. We've seen his lips moving, and have heard his discourse with himself. Eli (1 Sam. 1:13-16) thought Hannah was drunk with wine when he" saw her lips moving in prayer, but she was filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). And be- sides it means to complain, to find fault, and is associated with a heavy heart in Job 9:27. 5. Who hath wounds without cause? That is, by the dictionary, " g r a t i s ," " t o no purpose," v a i n l y ," " u n d e s e r v e d l y ." The Mes- siah was "wounded without c a u s e" and salvation is free, i. e. (Greek " d o r e a n " ), " f o r n o t h i n g ." Even the policeman sometimes keeps his hand in by clubbing the poor sot without cause, who in his turn endures it to no purpose. The man who stands for a bout with the bottle has less profit of his bruises than a Jeffries or Jalmsun, who brutally batter each other for no cause. But the bottle wins the battle. 6. Who hath redness of eyes? And our dictionary helps here. "Redness of e y e s" may mean eyes that flash with fierce anger; that glow with flaming lust; that burn with polluted and fevered blood. Bloodshot eyes; aye, and even black eyes, discolored "by those gratuitous blows, and calling for leeches and raw beef, to allay the fiery inflammation. II—THE TWOFOLD ANSWER. 1. They that tarry long at the wine. From a word meaning to be behind, to delay, to linger. When sober men are at home, and honest folk are abed, the wine bibber lingers for his holiday, and he is like to be behind at his work, if he has any, in the morning. 2. They that seek mixt wine. It is a fearful
For Sunday, April 31. Text: Prov. 23:29-35. By J. H. Sammis.
If the authorship of these verses and Ecclesiastes are identical they record the findings of a scientific investigator, and have all the force of careful scien- tific observation. The author says, Ecc. 2:3: " I sought in my heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly that I might see what was that good for the sons of men which they should do (or not do) under the heavens all the days of their l i f e ." He was the first recorded experimentor who exposed himself to the ills the flesh is heir to that he might be able to diagnose and treat them. Among his successors are physicians who have ' ' slept in the beds in which yellow- fever patients had died, and in their very clothes, night after night—clothes soiled with their black vomit, urine and faeces. At other times doctors have swallowed the black vomit, tried to inoculate themselves by putting some of it into their eyes, by hypoder- mic injections," etc. The man who took the chances with wine for the sake of humanity took the greater risk and touched filthier abominations. Let us take his prescriptions and be inocu- lated with the serum of his wisdom. OUTLINE. Our verses afford: I—A Sixford Riddle, v. 29. II—A Twofold Answer, v. 30. III—A Threefold Exhortation, v. 31. IV—A Twofold Warning, v. 32. V—A Twofold Moral Misery, v. 33. VI—A Twofold Mental Misery, v. 33. VII—A Threefold Physical Misery, v. 35. I—THE SIXFOLD RIDDLE. 1. Who hath woe? The Hebrew., rendered " w o e " is defined as " w o e , " "wail- i n g , " " l ame n t a t i o n ." The English " w o e , " by the Standard Dictionary, is "Overwhelming sorrow; dire pov» erty; grief; also, heavy affliction or calamity. Wo is often used in pro- nouncing a curse proclaiming disaster, or invoking censure; also, interjection- ally, as expressing bitter sorrow, as, Wo to the d r u n k a r d !" God help us! Let us be content with the definition of the dictionaries and not learn by ex- perience. 2. Who hath sorrow? This the Hebrew defines as " w a n t , " "w r e t c h e d n e s s ," " p o v e r t y ." The
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