Mexico weekly ledger., 1878-01-31

tOIy OLlpIcl IIOIu uic uOuT III
which he left Christ to the present
time no II known to the history has
seen him or had a word from him,
and, beyond the fertile imaginat1ons
of poets and dreamers, he has been as
silent as the grave.
Having said thus much we come to
the main question, viz: Is the devil
in any n responsible for the
crimes 10 being committed in the
earth, and If SO, in what sense and to
what extent?
We will assume, without attempt
ing an argument, that temptation in
some form or other lies at the bottom
of all sin, and as a corollary to this,
that where there is no temptation
there is and Il be no sin.
Now if we can show that tempta-
ton comes to us in or through some
other channel than that of the devil,
then the idea that the devil is the
temper will be excluded, and when
we exclude the idea that he tempts,
then we ~eXonerate or exclude him as
the cause of sin. James, the apostle,
says, first chapter and, 18th verse:
Let no man say when he is tempted,
| am tempted of God, for God cannot
be tempted of evil, neither tempteth
He any man but every man is tempt
ed when he is drawn away of, his own
lust and enticed. Then when lust
hath conceived it bringeth forth sin /;
and sin when it is finished bringeth
forth death. 3
The apostle here afiirms that We
are tempted by our lust. Not only
so, but the manner OF the temptation
is clearly pointed out when We are
drawn away by it and enticed.
Nov we affirm that lust, which
simply means desire, is an original,
essential element in mans nature. 1t
is, so to speak, the centrifugal force
constantly driving him forward, and
but for his judgement would impel
him to fly OFF AT Il tangent. TO illus
trate: Man desires money. His
judgement tells him to get it by
honest toll. This he says is too slow
Il process or the labor is too great.
The shortest route is to steal or rob.
He must have it, and his desire for
it triumps over his judgement and he
steals. When did he steal? Not
until his lust got the better of his
judgement. Just so with every other
sin that ina commits. You call it
conscience instead OF judgement, if
YOU prefer to do So. OF course in
what we have here said We refer to
intelligent, accountable moral agents.
Having now, rs we think, shown that
the lust of man is the cause of his
sin, and that ii is an element in his
nature-something within him-we
are now prepared to examine and I'M
derstand another very important state
Ment uttered by Christ himself upon
the very point in controversy, as 10
what detiles a MAI Mark, vii; chap
ter, 10Th ~verse
There is nothing from without a
mar that entering into him a defile
him but the things which colne out
of him, these are they that defile
man.'
Now, this parable he explains in the
18th verse "Do y0n not perceive,
that whatsoever thing from without
eHtereth into the man it cannot dcile
him because it cntereth not into his
heart but into the stomach, and gOeth
out into the draft purging all meats?
That which cometh out Of the maj
that detileth the man.
For from within ont Of the heart
ofmcn proceed evil thoughts, adulter-
les, foundations, murders, thefts,
covetousncss, wickedness, deceit, las
ciyiousness. an evil eye, blasphemy,
pride, foolishness. All these evil
things come from within, and defle
the man.
fall these crimes proceed out of
the heart as indicated by ,tile Christ,
what other crimes are there known in
the catalogue that are left for the
devil TO instigate?
1t seems TO us from the foregoing
that man has in himself all the neces-
sary machinery for the accomplish
ment OF all the wickedness that bis
fertile Imagination al suggest. In
deed, we should not be at all surpris-
ed if he has not, on more occasions
than one, shown the devil a trick or
two altogether new and startling to
him.
\ venerable prophet of God said:
THE heart Of man is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked"
The religion of Christ comes to
take possession of this heart, saying
son give me thy heart and by its glp-
rious precepts aid promises evil is
driven out and the heart becomes the
habitation Of the spirit Of the living
God. 1.-The entrance OF thy word
gireth light" Study that word, and
as your mind and heart become filled
with its light, error, superstition and
wickedncss VIII flee away as darkness
before the brilliant rays Of the king
OF day. Therefore, we conclude that
il the clergy, the public press and all
moral ~reformatory bodies will Greet
their attention to the correction of
this base passion of the human heart,
they will have quite enough to do,
ard will find bnt little need of making
heavy drafts on their imaginations
and the wild fancies of the poets for
the Whereabouts of his satanic majes-
ty, the devil. In this we have abbre-
waited much and many things. had,
necessarily to be omitted and some
points are not so fully presented aud
argued as we could have desired; but
little study and reflection VIII enable
the reader to make all things clear.
go re 70 VERITAs.
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