Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-08-11
HOW TO MEET TEMPTATION.

2O ANAAAA A<A0 a
The experience of temptation is uni
yersa!. No one can pass through this
world and escape. We hear a great
deal in pulpits and elsewhere about the
solemn nature of death; we are exhort-
ed to make preparation for it as for the
most critical point in all human expert
ence. Yet, when we think seriously
of it, it is not half so solemn a thing to
die IS it is to live. To one who lives
Alright, death is but the passage from
surroundings of sin and sorrow to a
realm of purity and Joy. No Christian
was ever lost, or even harmed,in the ex-
p%erience of dying.
just how to live so az to be victorious
is the present question of practical in
terest. We may be sure, at the very
outset, that Christ does not help us by
keeping us out of the conflicts. Allthe
best things in life lie beyond the fields
OF struggle, and we a get them only
by overcoming. Temptation met and
VIGOROUSLY resisted puts new fiber into
our souls. 1t would be no kindness to
us were God to withdraw us into some
sheltered spot whenever there is danger,
or if He were so to fight our battles for
us that we should never ourselves have
to struggle. 81 pray not that thou
shouldest take them out of the world,''
was our Lords prayer for His loved
ones, tsbut that thou shouldest keep
them from the evil one"
"He who hath never q conflict hath never a
victor's palm,
And only the tOilers know the sweetness of
rest and calm"
We must meet temptations, and we
must make up our minds, also, that we
have something to do in getting the VIC
tory owe the temptations which we are
called to meet. Men and devils may
tempt us, but men and devils can not
make u yield to sin. We are sovereigns
in our choices while the right and the
wrong stand before us. Other wills
may seek to influence us, may plead,
entreat. persuade, but they can not COM
pei. We can not avoid being tempted,
but we ought to avoid yielding to temp
tation. An old divine said, in illustra-
! ton Of this truth, that "we can not
keep the birds from flying around our
heads, but we can prevent them build
ing their nests in our hair" We can
not hinder temptations from buzzing
about our ears, but it is II own fault
if they make their nests in our hearts.
doors, and hold His hand OH the lock all
the time, to keep us, byforce Of omnipo-
tence, from letting the tempter in. This
shutting and opening is our part of the
responsibility. Even God Himself will
never come into our heart unless we
voluntarily open it to Him. We are
never forced to do wrong. Our duty,
therefore, is unwavering resistance-an
unalterable 40 to every solicitation to
sin. If we settle this point, we have
learned one of the best lessons in spirit
ual strategy.
Often, however, avoidance of tempta-
ton is the true course of wisdom. Be-
u Christ does not keep us out of all
struggles, We are not, therefore, to rush
presumptuously into danger at every
opportunity. We pray daily: "Lead
us not into temptation" We must not.
tarily. Lord Macaulay tells us that at the
siege of Naumur, while the conflict was
raging, William, Prince of Orange, who
was giving his orders under a shower of
bullets, saw with surprise and anger,
among his staff officers, Michael God
frey, the deputy-G Governor of the Bank
Of England. He had come to the Kings
headquarters on business, and was
curious to see real war. "Mr. God
frey" said King William, ''you ought
not to run these hazards; you are not a
soldier; you a be of no use to us
here" "Sir," answered Godfrey, st
run no more hazard than your Males
ty.'' "Not so,' said William, 81 am
where it is my duty to be, and I may
without presumption commit my life to
Gods keeping; but you" Before the
sentence was finished a cannon-ball laid
Godfrey dead at the Kings feet.
The Kings words were true, and
the truth is Just as applicable
to temptations and spiritual dangers
as to the perils of war. When duty
calls us into any place we are safe; God
will protect us. But otherwise we
venture without any promise or claim
to protection. It is not courage, but
foolhardiness, that prompts one to rush
into temptations, uncalled, unled and
without necessity of duty; and it can
only lead to ruinous consequences. The
true rule is: Never seek a temptation;
meet one only as God leads you up to it
In the path of duty. Most people who
fall, fall in places where they ought
never to have gone at all.
When we are doing Gods will, we
may confidently count on protection,
however sore are the dangers. "He
shall give his angels charge over thee,
to keep thee in all thy ways" And,
even more than this; Christ Himself is
personally interested in each individual
soul in its earthly struggles, and watches
from Heaven, ready, when the enemy
seems ebout to gain the advantage, to