The New South., 1893-08-19
TEMPTATIONS.
The Christian should Consider Them ~
stepping-stones Rather Than as stnm-
bling Blocks.

The Christian should Consider Them ~
stepping-stones Rather Than as Stun
bling Blocks.
We may find in temptation stiinu-
lus, an well as touchstone For II
places an obstacle in our path, il raises
difficulty. IL causes check. And OBJ.
stacles, difficulties, checks are just the
means Of calling out our very besti for
every venture is the more absorbing
according 70 the effort IL demands.
This Is true all along the line.
We all know the pleasure Of tingiing
muscles, set agiow by sustained tndur.
ance. Half the charm Of athletics, 81
sport. Of Alpine climbing, consists in
the sense Of challenge, thrown down
by risk and difficulty. IL is not per-
versitY, IL Ii not impatience, but Il is a
healthy fund Of energy, which causes
ne 10 find such new strength in opposi-
tion and obstacle. And is il mot the
same with mental etfort2 Docs il not
give the keener joy as IL makes the
Do we not find in the very entangle-
ment Of the problem, in the very hard
ness Of the riddle, the keenest in
centiye to its solution.
And so, on the level Of the spiritual
activity, the greater the strength Of
the temptation, the sterner will be the
resistance IL calls forth What to us
appear as stumbling blocks are real
ly 'stepping-stones.n Our Father in
tends us to rise by using them to rise
into higher resolves and more concen-
trated endeavors toplay the man. Are
we fretting at the obstacles which in
tercept our path.
Let us remember that there can be
no perseverance where nothing
thwarts. and that courage Is impossi-
Bile where there is no danger Let us
not, then. be daunted and depressed
az the strength Of our temptations, but
let MS rather get TO the point Of view Of
St. James, and count it all joy when
we meet them, because we see in them
the beckonings Of q nail-scarred hand.
Temptations are calls to sympathy. We
read ~ our divine Master that Sin that
He Himself hath suffered being tempt
ed lie is able TO succor them that are
tempted And in proportion as we al
low His spirit to enter into ms, we may
do the same; our temptations will
make ns filter to help others to be
strong.
But the capacity for sympathy witt
the tempted Is not enriched but parls
spoiled If we have succumbed in sim
liar straits For the power of suef
sympathy depends not on the expert
ence Of fall but on the sense of tn,
strength of the indueement to fall
And to know this we must resist t,
the bitter end; we have not felt th,
/ full force Of the situation, we have no
| fhced all its difficulties unless we sur
yive its attacks.
And this is why our Lord can hell
MS so much. His sympathy is not i'm
paired, as we sometimes fear, by Hi.
sinlessness; no, the truth is that, were
it not for His sinlessness, it could not
be so profound Let us noe then
allow ourselves TO add to the weakness
OF our nature the further enticement
that the experiences of falls win helI
us to raise others; no, if we want to dc
this most effectively we must persevel
to the end.
Such are some Of the reasons why st
James calls on MS to welcome tempta
ton. We must remember, of course
that he is holding in his mind th,
power which is our for self-eonquest
that is TO say, that he is looking al
temptation from the Christian point oi
view -Waldeprave Bell in the Culver