Instability reproved-Deceitful and injurious.

INSTABILITY.

364. Instability reproved-Unstable persons to be avoided.

Gen. 49: 4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel.

Pr. 24: 21 Meddle not with them that are given to change. Ep. 4: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.

Heb. 13: 9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines: for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace. [See 712.]

INTEMPERANCE.

365. Intemperance a prevalent, deceitful, loathsome and destructive vice.

Gen. 9: 20 Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

Pr. 20: 1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.-23: 21 The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. 29 Who hath wo? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. 35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

Is. 28: 7 They also have.erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. 8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. 56:12 Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink.

Jer. 25: 27 Thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.

Forbidden and discouraged.

Dan. 5:1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver.

Hos. 4: 11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

1 Cor. 11: 21 In eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

366. Intemperance forbidden — penalty of ―cautions.

Dt. 21: 20 They shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. 21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

Pr. 23: 20 Be not among wine-bibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh. 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

Is. 5: 11 Wo unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! 12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: 22 Wo unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink. - 28: 1 Wo 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 valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

Mat. 24: 48 If that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49 And shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Rom. 13: 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

1 Cor. 6: 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Gal. 5: 19 The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have

The liquor seller condemned - Wisdom of abstinence.

also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Ep. 5: 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be ye filled with the Spirit. [See 199, 721.]

367. The liquor seller virtually and explicitly condemned.

Gen. 4: 9 The LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand.

Ex. 21. 28 If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit. 29 But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death. 30 If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.

Dt. 32: 33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. 34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? 35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

2 K. 21: 9 Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel. 10 The LORD spake by his servants, the prophets, saying, 11 Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin. 12 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.

Hab. 2: 15 Wo 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!

Jn. 3: 19 And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world. [See 685.]

368. The wisdom of total abstinence and watchfulness.

Dan. 1: 8 Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the

Founded on the promises of the Gospel.

wine which he drank. 12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. 15 And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.

Lk. 1: 15 He [John] shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.

Rom. 14: 21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

1 Cor. 5: 11 Now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous, or an idolater, ora railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner: with such a one no not to eat. [See 199.]

369. Priests, Nazarites, and civil rulers specially forbidden the use of strong drink.

Lev. 10: 8 The LORD spake unto Aaron, saying, 9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: 10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; 11 And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.

Num. 6: 1 The LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: 3 He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. 4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine-tree, from the kernels even to the husk.

Pr. 31: 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: 5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. [See 457.]

INVITATIONS.

370. Invitations, founded upon the provisions of the Gospel. Is. 45: 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,

the ends of

55:1 Ho, and he that

Expostulations.

hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

Mat. 11: 28 Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.-22: 2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, and they would not come. 4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

Lk. 14: 17 And sent his servant at supper-time, to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready.

Jn. 7: 37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

Rev. 3: 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 22:17 The spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. [See 233, 580.]

371. Expostulatory Invitations.

Pr. 1: 20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets; 21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, 22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? 23 Turn' you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Is. 1: 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Jer. 22: 29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. Ezk. 33: 11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God,