Morning journal and courier., 1884-01-28
First Methodist Church.

Rev. Gr. Buck DiscOurses on TemPta-
 tIOns-They are Tests of Character and
 Serve a Great Moral P0rpOse.
 At the First Methodist church yesterday morning Rev. MT. Buck preached to large congregation. His subject was temptation, and he took for his text the thirteenth verse of the tenth chapter of first Corinthians: s'There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man, but God is faith ful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it"
 Foundations, said MT. Buck, are the universal and necessary experience of human ity. They are tests of character. They prove the genuineness of mans profession, the integrity of his purpose. They are es- sential to virtue. There could be innocence without temptation, but innocence is not virtue until it is tried. In the history and development of human character temptation serves great moral purpose. It is not an accident, it is "a means selected from the in- finite resource to make the most of me-" But while temptation is necessary it is also at times fearful power and fills the heart with Encouragement and doubt. To cheer tempted souls and give them courage and hope the magnificent utterance of the text was given. It intimates the universality of temptations They are an invariable feature of every Christian experience. Men may hide themselves in dark cloisters or desert caves, but they will not be beyond the reach of temptation. The young convert in his first joy and the old veteran just at the gate of heaven are assailed. No superior attain ments of Christian character can bring relief Frequently the holiest men have been most erievously troubled. As an old writer has oroi, ship that is richly laden" The most angelic Christian is he whom Satan hates most Those who are troubled by Satan the least are those who give the least trouble to Satan. Temptations then do not intimate the divine displeasure, nor even the fact of sin. Our first parents, while clad in the spot less garb of their original purity, were tempted; and of the sinless Jesus it is said, "He was tempted in all points as we are tempted.'' There is also 8 similarity in temptations. We frequently feel, 'tno temp tation is like to my temptation" This is not true, neither in kind or degree are they peculiar. It is said that an ancient monarch once offered great reward to the man who would invent 8 new pleasure. Whether such a thing were possible I know not, but certain ly new temptation could not be found In all possible ways in which man could be tempted, he has been. With our differing natures and circumstances, the form of the t6mDt6t1Ou may Uo ulu0Eonbl DuE HI It's GS sepce it is like that which has again and again tried the the human heart. A few years ago we were riding in stage in Cali. iforniR. It was driven at furious speed down steep hills, around sharp corners and by the side of fearful precipices. At the most perllous point 1t was immensely reas- surfing to hear the driver say, Don't be afraid no danger. [ have driven over this road in this way for years and carried hundreds of passengers; never had an accident" So Christ says to trembling. tempted souls: Don't be afraid; no danger!" Your exper- fence is not peculiar. Thousands have passed safely over the same roadway of temptation that you now tread. Another assurance of our text is that temptations shall always be proportionate to your strength. God will not tssuffer you to be tempted above that you are able" He will allow you to be tried and assailed but he will temper the wind to the shorn lamb" He will also make way of escape. On Mount Moriah Abraham strug- eled with trial that Well=nigh crushed his life, but the Lord opened up before him 8 way of escape The Israelites in fleeing from Egypt were hotly pursued by the hosts of Pharaoh. Before them was the Red Sea, on either hand were painless mountains, while behind them runlbled the chariots of their relentless foe. There seemed no possi- ble way of escape. But he who holds the seas in the hollow of his hand found for his bewildered people way out of their trouble. Payson's life was a strangely troublOus one. It was an almost uninter- rupted conflict with harassing doubts and sensations, bnt just before his death he found a way out of these difficulties, and dnring the last few weeks of his life, he walked in Beulah land, breathing the atnos- phere of heaven and exulting in the gIories and delights of celestial peace And thus always the Lord s'knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation" The deliyer- ence may not always be immediate, but it will be sure, and until it does come. grace will be given that you may be able to bear it.