Covenanter Witness Vol. 86 - Rparchives.org

Keeping Alive And Pressing The Issue(Address given at the annual meeting of the NationalTemperance and Prohibition Council, in Washington,D.C, February 2-4, 1971, by the Council President, theRev. Alvin W. Smith, Sr., D.D.)A warm welcome is extended to each one of yougathered here tonight, and to those who we hope willcome later. Your presence indicates your understandingof the issue confronting us, a battle between the forces ofrighteousness, headed by the Church of our Lord JesusChrist and the forces of Satan.We meet as a Council. As expressly stated in ourConstitution adopted in 1957: Article I. The name of thisorganization shall be THE NATIONAL TEMPERANCEAND PROHIBITION COUNCIL. Article II. The OB­JECT of this organization shall be to afford a mediumthrough which citizens and organized agencies interestedin the promotion of Temperance and Prohibition maytake council and formulate policies to encourageeducation on all phases of the drink problem, promotelegislative measures and governmental policies in theinterests of Temperance and Prohibition; and to secureunity of effort in behalf of the Movement against BeverageAlcohol.This is a clear statement and our Council hasadhered toit year after year and we face the present andthe future with the same object in mind.As a Christian believer, and as a minister of thegospel, I wish to say that the attainment of our object willdepend first, last and always upon the power of God andour dependence by faith upon it.The Movement which we represent is notHUMANISTIC. It came about from convictions drawnfrom the Word of God that sobriety is the Lord's way forman and that indulgence in alcoholic beverages and thepromotion of their manufacture and sale are sins againstGod.Early in the 19th century various organizations wereformed to imolement these convictions, and thoseorganizations achieved remarkable results in promotingsobriety and the curtailing of the drink business. In thesecond decade of the 20th century the fruit of these earlylabors came in the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment.Those of us who remember the old saloon daysbefore Prohibition, and the years 1919-1933, know of thepositive benefits brought about by Prohibition during itsfourteen years duration, even with imperfect enforcement.We also know why and how Prohibition wasrepealed, not because it was a bad law or that it wasunenforceable, but for the reason that the highly financedwet propaganda machine sold a bill of goods to the8American people especially during the Depression whichstruck in 1929, three years in advance of repeal. Seductivepromises were made, taxes reduced, property restored.At the present time after those years under Repealwe realize that the issue is with us still and is compoundedwith problems worse than those attending the years underProhibition. 1. We suffer from general and decisivedecline in morals. 2. This is called a Permissive Age;inhibitions have been removed. 3. There is a general spiritof public apathy. Evidence of this is seen: a. in ordinarycitizens b. in Congress c. in the Church which apparentlyhas decided to co-exist with evil.The liquor people have taken full advantage of allthis, and have increased their trade to the debauchery ofmen, women and children, victims numbered in themillions.Can this be counteracted effectively? YES it can be,but only as we fight back and seek direction from God anddepend on His working, and as we take encouragementfrom scriptural history. For example, the account of thevictory of Israel over the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-16;Deuteronomy 25:17-19). What took place is clearlywritten. Joshua took a selected army into the field andfought...in a battle that lasted all day. Moses took the rodof God up on the mountain and raised it in faith. He wasgiven assistance in holding aloft that rod until the goingdown of the sun. Israel prevailed and gained a greatvictory. God gave instructions and made a prediction—verse 14: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for amemorial in a book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua;for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek fromunder heaven." This decree was carried out later by Saul,David, and Hezekiah.The Amalekites may well serve as a representativeof those organized and powerful enemies who prey uponthe weak and helpless...and they fear not God. They canbe overcome, but only as we go r orth against them underthe banner of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the churchshould be in the forefront of His army.In an earlier day the Church did lead. Ministers ofGod's Word spoke out from the pulpits over the landagainst the evils of drink and the encroachments of theliquor dealers in their communities. Discipline to someextent at least was enforced on violators of their churchvows.Today the situation is sadly different. The pulpit islargely silent on this issue. Repeal propaganda has had itsblighting effect. Doctors of Divinity who refuse to preachCOVENANTERWITNESS