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Temperance
There are but two powers that control the minds of men—the
power of God and the power of Satan. Christ is man’s Creator
and Redeemer; Satan is man’s enemy and destroyer. He who has
given himself to God will build himself up for the glory of God,
in body, soul, and spirit. He who has given himself to the control
of Satan tears himself down. Many a man sells reason for a glass
of liquor, and becomes a menace to his family, his neighborhood,
and his country. His children hide when he comes home, and his
discouraged wife fears to meet him, for he greets her with cruel
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blows. He spends his money for strong drink, while his wife and
children suffer for the necessities of life.
Satan leads the victims of appetite to deeds of violence. The
liquor drinker is a man of fierce and easily excited passions, and
any trivial excuse is made a cause for quarrel; and when under the
influence of passion, the drunkard will not spare his best friend. How
often do we hear of murder and deeds of violence, and find that their
chief source is the liquor habit.
Moderate Drinking
—There are those who call themselves ad-
vocates of temperance who will yet indulge in the use of wine and
cider, claiming that these stimulants are harmless, and even healthful.
It is thus that many take the first step in the downward path. Intox-
ication is just as really produced by wine and cider as by stronger
drinks, and it is the worst kind of inebriation. The passions are
more perverse; the transformation of character is greater, more de-
termined and obstinate. A few quarts of cider or wine may awaken a
taste for stronger drinks, and in many cases those who have become
confirmed drunkards have thus laid the foundation of the drinking
habit.
For persons who have inherited an appetite for stimulants, it is by
no means safe to have wine and cider in the house; for Satan is con-
tinually soliciting them to indulge. If they yield to his temptations,
they do not know where to stop; appetite clamors for indulgence,
and is gratified to their ruin. The brain is clouded; reason no longer
holds the reins, but lays them on the neck of lust. Licentiousness
abounds, and vices of almost every type are practiced as the result
of indulging the appetite for wine and cider. It is impossible for one
who loves these stimulants and accustoms himself to their use, to