The southern sentinel., 1886-01-22

~ know the power Of temptation, Il IL
because you are bound hand and foot Of
sin, and havs never made the attempt TO
be emancipated.
Why, It ID easy enough to 60 down
stream In boat. You can lie upon your
oars. You 60 just q the tide goes. But
suppose yov turn around and head up
stream, then It il not 30 easy making
progress. AZ long as you go down with
the tide of sin and iniquity, it is easy
enough to 60 that way; but when You
turn around AMI head toward God and
heaven, then 1t is q struggle, an awful
struggle.
Can it be that you have never tested
the power OF temptation! You have one
kind Of temptation; you, another; you,
another. There is not q person in the
house but has been tempted, whether you
realize it or not / never like to hear
man say: "Oh, I couldn't be tempted the
way that man is" He could not be tempted
| the way you are. A lion can not under
stand why a fish should be caught with
hook, and the fish can not understand why
the lion should be caught with trap.
You may be free from certain kinds Of
| temptation, but there are other kinds after
you.
You see some men with q phlegmatic
temperament. "Why," you say, that
man hasn't any temptations at ALL" You
mistake him. He has temptations to in
dolence, to consciousness, to sink down
into mere latitude and longitude Of fatti-
ness; to lie down on the road of life,
to stop great enterprises. He has just
as many temptations in one direction as
you, being Of a nervous and excitable tenn
permanent have temptations in another di-
rection.
You viii see some aged man arise in
prayer meeting, and at eighty years of age
he talks 50 sweetly Of Christ and Heaven,
you say: "That man has lived without
temptation" Ask him. He bias as many
temptations at eighty years of age as he
had at twenty. They are only different
styles Of temptations. Ask that aged man
whether he has lived beyond the reach Of
the powers Of darkness in this world, and
he will say it has been conflict all the way
through.
Sixtus was "a cardinal, and he wanted
the pontifical chair, and history says he
pretended to be sick and crippled. He
said: SNOW, il you elect me to that chairI
shall occupy it, and shall not live long
anyhow, and then you win put some one
else in the chair" He was elected to that
position. He moved to IL on crutches.
Getting to the chair, he threw aside the
crutches. He said: ssWhile I was hunting
for the keys of st. Peter, it was appro-
pirate, / stopped; but, having found the
keys Of st. Peter, there is no reason why
should stoop any longer" So hi crutches
were gone and he was well. q, how sug-
gestive of temptation! It seems at one
time to be wan and weak and crippled, but
give it throne and it becomes tyrant to
grind your soul into ruin.
Well, now you say: "AA persons being
tempted, what are we to do when we are
assailed Of temptationi When the wave
dashes against rs is there nothing to hold
on TOT II ! man to go into this war with
the world, the flesh and the
devil, with no help:" viii tell
you, my friends: The wisest thing
for you to do in the day Of temptation b,
like these disciples Of my text, to 90 and
tell Jesus. In the eyes that wept with the
BethASy sisters SEQ shining hopss In 49,.
voice that broke the silence Of the tomb
until the widow Of Main got back her son
and stupendous sorrow made up In the
arms Of rapture-ayc in that voice-I hear
tho command and the promise: "Cast thy
burden on the Lord, and he win sustain
thee" He knows al about temptation.
Tempted in al points like ~ We ere. Go
and tall Jaaua