Basic HTML Version
272
Temperance
they did not have their smoke, they would be irritable and unable to
control their thoughts.
He Had Not Had His Tobacco
—As an illustration of the in-
ability of tobacco users to command their senses when without the
stimulant, I will relate an occurrence that came to my notice. An
aged man who was at one time my next-door neighbor was a great
user of tobacco; but one morning he had not taken his usual smoke
when I went in to get a book I had lent him. Instead of getting the
book I had asked for, he handed me a bridle. In vain I strove to
make him understand what I wanted; I had to go away without the
book. Next day I went again the made the same request, and he
immediately handed me the book. Then I asked him why he had not
given it to me the day before. He said: “Why, were you in yesterday?
I do not remember it. Oh, I know what was the trouble, I had not
had my tobacco!” This was the effect upon his mind when he was
without the stimulant. His physician told him that he must cease its
use or he could not live. He did give it up, but all his life after he
suffered from the constant longing for the accustomed stimulant; he
had to fight a continual battle.
When ninety years old, he was one day seen searching for some-
thing. When asked what he wanted, he replied, “I was looking for
my tobacco.” He suffered without it, and yet it would have been
death to him to continue its use.
A Way of Deliverance
—God requires that His children shall
keep themselves free from such unnatural and disastrous habits. But
when men are bound in these chains, is there no way of deliverance?
[280]
Yes, the Lord Jesus has died that through the merits of His life and
death men may be overcomers. He is able also to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by Him. He came to earth that He
might combine divine power with human effort, and by co-operation
with Christ, by placing the will on the side of God, the slave may
become free, an heir of God and joint heir with Christ.
Moral Sensibilities Benumbed With Wine
—In the days of Is-
rael, when the sanctuary service was instituted, the Lord directed that
only sacred fire should be used in the burning of incense. The holy
fire was of God’s own kindling, and the fragrant smoke represented
the prayers of the people as they ascended before God. Nadab and
Abihu were priests of the sanctuary, and although it was not lawful