Temperance

1.    With what does the apostle class temperance?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law,” Galatians 5:22, 23.

2.    What does he say are the habits of one who is successful in competing with others?

“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things,” I Corinthians 9:25.

3.    In running the Christian race, what did Paul say he did in order to be successful?

“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway,” verse 27.

4.    What effect does intemperance have upon one?

“Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine,” Proverbs 23:29, 30.

5.    Why were kings prohibited the use of strong drink?

“It is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted,” Proverbs 31:4, 5.

6.    Why were priests of the old dispensation not allowed to use intoxicating drink?

“And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation . . . that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean,” Leviticus 10:8-10.

7.    Why did Daniel and his companions refuse to drink of the wine of the king of Babylon?

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank,” Daniel 1:8.

8.    After protesting against the use of the stimulants offered them, what did they request?

“Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink,” verse 12.

9.    At the end of the ten days’ test, how did these Hebrews appear?

“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,” verse 15.

10.    At the end of three years (the time appointed for them to learn the Chaldean tongue, verses 4, 5) how many in the realm were found equal in learning to these abstainers.

“Now at the end of the days . . . the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah . . . And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm,” verses 18-20.

11.    Did not Paul recommend the use of wine on a special occasion?

“Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities,” I Timothy 5:23.

NOTE: There are two kinds of wine spoken of in the Bible. One of these was the fresh juice of the grape, and was pressed from the fruit into the cup as it was needed to drink, Genesis 40:11. It is this kind that is said to cheer God and man (Judges 9:13), and is dried up when the vine is destroyed, Joel 1:10-12. The other kind was that which had stood until it fermented, and alcohol had formed from the decaying substance.

12.    How is the first kind spoken of?

“Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat: and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape,” Deuteronomy. 32:14.

13.    How is the second kind represented?

“Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder,” Proverbs 23:31,

When it moves upright, as in the process of fermentation, it may be seen moving from the bottom upward. The original word here used “aright” means something “upright.”

14.    With what other low debaucheries is drunkenness more or less associated?

“Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings and such like, Galatians 5:19-21.

15.    Can a drunkard enter the kingdom of God unless he reforms?

“Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God,” I Corinthians 6:10.

16.    How, then, should a Christian regard one who persists in drunkenness?

“But 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, or a railer, or a drunkard,” I Corinthians 5:11.