WHO hath woe? “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until till wine enflame them!” “Woe unto them that are might be to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink; which justified the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!” Isaiah 5:11, 22, 23. “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!” Habakkuk 2:15. We see therefore that the woe of those who tarry long at the wine, is not confined to the trouble and sorrow that come in this life as the direct result of drunkenness, but that it reaches to the fearful punishment that destroys men for their and iniquity. Woe, woe, terrible, dreadful, and irremediable. Now, God has opened a way of escape from it. Those who, through Christ, overcome, will be saved, but “No drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God.”SITI November 20, 1884, page 694.1

“LOOK not thou upon the wine.” Here Solomon gives the true and only safeguard, Look not upon the wine. This is the true principle of temperance, and although it is expressed here in regard to wine, and although the lesson to-day is touching strong drink, yet true temperance, Bible temperance, Christian temperance, does not consist in abstinence from strong drink alone. Therefore we shall treat the subject on the broad basis of Christian temperance.SITI November 20, 1884, page 694.2

TEMPERANCE is self control. Whenever in any of his appetites or passions a man loses control of himself, he is intemperate. Says Paul, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection.” 1 Corinthians 9:27. In other words, I, myself, am determined to be master of myself. The truly Christian temperance man is master of himself, and the servant of Christ. And it is only as a faithful servant of Christ that a man can be master of himself. Thus he becomes his own free man, and Christ’s servant; a real manly man; then he “dare do all that becomes a man; he dares do more is none.”SITI November 20, 1884, page 695.1

IN view of the actual meaning of the word, how few temperance people there are! How few who really and decidedly have control of themselves! Very few indeed there are who are not subject to some habit which must and will be satisfied at whatever cost. Thousands are the slaves of strong drink. All that they have, all that they can get, goes to satisfy that which is in satiable. Every effort to appease it only increases its demands, and its power to exact them.SITI November 20, 1884, page 695.2

BUT where there are thousands thus the slaves of strong drink, there are hundreds of thousands who are the slaves of tobacco. Their children may be clothed in rags, and go barefoot in the cold, they may even lack bread, but they never lacked tobacco. If they have no money with which to buy it, they will go into debt for it, and if they cannot get credit, then they will even beg. Men who would think it a shame to beg for bread, are not ashamed to beg for tobacco. Such abject slaves are they. Have such persons control of themselves? No; tobacco control; this is master and will be served.SITI November 20, 1884, page 695.3

THEN there are thousands who are slaves to opium; thousands slaves to arsenic; thousand slaves to morphine; thousand slaves to absinthe; thousand slaves to hasheesh; and though not so great in degree, yet the same in kind, thousands are the slaves to be beer, or the servants of tea, or of coffee. “What!” some may exclaim, “is the use of tea or coffee intemperance?” It is. In the “Encyclopedia Britannica,” article on “Drunkenness,” what did you suppose we find? The following: “In short, from tea to hasheesh, we have through hops, alcohol, tobacco, and opium, a sort of a graduated scale of intoxicants, which stimulate in small doses, and narcotize in larger. The physiological action of all these agents gradually shades into each other, all producing, or being capable of producing, consecutive paralysis of the various parts of the nervous system. Even tea cannot be regarded as altogether free from the last named effects. Tea-sots are well known to be affected by palpitation, and irregularities of the heart, as well as with more or less sleeplessness, and mental irritability, and muscular tremors, which in some culminate in paralysis, while positive intoxication has been known to be the result of the excessive use of strong tea.” And of coffee the same authority says: “It produces a feeling of buoyancy and exhilaration, comparable to a certain stage of alcoholic intoxication.” So the only difference between tea or coffee and alcohol drinks, is the degree of its effects, and not at all in the nature of the effects. All have the intoxicating quality, and as quoted, from tea to hasheesh, it is only a graduated scale of intoxicants, through hops, alcohol, tobacco, and opium, each one shading into the other. All are relatives in the family of drunkenness, and the use of any one of them is intemperance.SITI November 20, 1884, page 695.4

SIR ISAAC NEWTON, when asked why he did not learn to use tobacco, replied, “I will create to myself no necessities.” In this sentence there is much of that philosophical insight which could see in the falling of an apple a lot of the universe. In the economy of the human system there is no provision for either stimulants or narcotics. If ever there is a demand for these things, it has to be created. And more, such things as stimulants and narcotics (poisons) are the only ones for which the necessity can be created. It is impossible to form the habit of using any one particular kind of food. Through the agency of the digestive process, each organ will take up its portion of that which is food, and by assimilation will renew itself, and thus vitality is maintained; in fact this is vitality. If a person be hungry, any kind of food will satisfy, whether it be fruit or vegetables, meat or bread. It is not so with narcotics and stimulants. The appetite for these has to be created. And when it is created for any one of them, it is for that particular one, and nothing but that will satisfy the demand. If the appetite be for tea, and nothing but tea will satisfy. If it be for alcohol, nothing else will do, and so on through the list. Then look not upon the wine, touch not tobacco, taste not any of all the list of intoxicants; create to yourself no necessity; be temperate (self-controlling) in all things; keep under your body, and bring it into subjection; the master of yourself, and thus your own free man. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.” “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Revelation 3:21.SITI November 20, 1884, page 695.5

A. T. JONES.

November 13, 1884

November 27, 1884