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Alcohol a Deceiver

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Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Sep 28, 1915

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 38.

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Alcohol a Deceiver

By Albert E. Place

By ALBERT E. PLACE
“WINE is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” No man can use alcohol, whether in spirituous liquors, or in wine, beer, or cider, even in “moderation,” and not be deceived thereby.
Aside from the devil himself, one of the greatest deceivers of mankind is King Alcohol.
I know of no sense wherein alcohol is not a deceiver. From that day when Noah took of the fermented products of his vineyard, to the year 1915, alcohol has branded itself, “Deceiver,” and has marked its victims, “Deceived.”
Alcohol deceives physically until stomach is ruined, liver, kidneys, and heart are atrophied, “hobnailed,” or enlarged by fatty degeneration, hands are palsied, nerves are lacerated, and the heart gives up the struggle.
Alcohol deceives financially, until the farm, the house and lot, the store, the furniture, the clothing, the food, in fact everything worth the price of a drink, has gone into the saloon till.
Alcohol deceives mentally until mind is dethroned, and spiders, snakes, and devils take the throne, and hurl anathemas at the ruined remains of a man created in the image of God.
Alcohol deceives morally until not one commandment of either God or man has any more effect upon life or action.

WHY?

Alcohol deceives because it makes people believe that which is absolutely false.
Alcohol deceives because it makes a man think he is well when he is sick, and it hinders his recovery, often making it well-nigh impossible.
Alcohol deceives because it makes a man believe he is warm when he is cold, and it hinders his getting warm, and he often freezes to death because he is “warmed” by alcohol.
Alcohol deceives because it makes a man believe he is rich when he is poor, and it makes it improbable that he will ever be rich by his own wisdom or exertions.
Alcohol deceives because it makes a man believe he is a gentleman when he is trampling underfoot the rights of others, in fact every principle that goes to make a gentleman, and it prevents his ever being a gentleman.
Alcohol deceives spiritually, until spirituality is dead, and it keeps its victims from entering into the kingdom of heaven.
When alcohol has done all this, and you find yourself without a home, without a friend, without a penny, and the gates of heaven closed to you by the hand that poured the deceptive beverage, then will alcohol tell you the truth as it mockingly cries: “Old man, young man, you are a miserable failure. You are lost—lost to humanity, lost to God, and lost to heaven.”
Therefore I would kindly yet earnestly say to every one who looks upon the blighting cup. Young man, old man, be not deceived thereby.