Woe to the intellectually proud. I. To the self-conceited +sceptic,+ who sits in judgment upon the Word of God, and condemns it.[1] II. To the self-conceited +enthusiast,+ who substitutes his own fancies for Divine truth. III. To the self-conceited +Pharisee,+ who trusts in his own works. IV. To the self-conceited +sinner,+ who despises instruction. V. Woe! for they shall all perish.--_J. Lyth, D.D._ FOOTNOTES: [1] The denial of anything does not falsify it. If a man has swallowed poison, his adopting an opinion that it cannot kill him, contributes nothing to his safety; and it is awful to stand and see his conviction and his death arriving together. Your denying a resurrection, will not hide you for ever in the grave. Your disbelieving a day of retribution, will not keep you from appearing before God. "Their judgment," says the apostle, "now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not:" while they reason, it rolls on; every argument brings it one distance nearer.--_Jay._ THE WOE OF THE DRUNKARD. v. 22. _Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink._ There are certain vices which the customs of certain countries seem to place only in the number of human infirmities; and yet, if we look at their effects, we shall see that really they are as black as those sins which God and man visits with the severest punishments. +I. The drunkard's excuses,+ by which he endeavours to defend or palliate his crime. 1. _Good fellowship._ But can friendship be founded on vice? especially on a vice which notoriously impairs the memory and the sense of obligation, leads to the betrayal of secrets, and stirs up strife and contention? Instead of promoting conversation it destroys it by destroying the very capability of communicating rational and agreeable thoughts. The drunkard may make his company merry, but they laugh at, not with, him, and merely because they are delighted with the sight of one even sillier than themselves. 2. _"It drowns care."_ But the drunkard's care must arise either from his ill state of health, the unfortunate posture of his worldly affairs, or the stings of his guilty conscience; and, in either case, his temporary oblivion is purchased at the cost of an aggravation of the evils which cause him to desire it. To drink to drown remorse is especially absurd, for all that the drunkard can expect from this course is the benefit of travelling some part of the road to eternal misery with his eyes covered. 3. The drunkard has other excuses: he says that he is so exposed to company and business, that he cannot avoid drinking to excess, or that he is of so easy and flexible a temper, that he cannot resist the importunities of his friends, as he calls them. Thus he is for softening his vice into a sort of virtue, and calling that good nature, which his creditor calls villany, and his family cruelty. +II.