The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1901-11-08
A Great Sermon.

!
calling attention to the fact that
the word "templp, as used in the
Bible,had two Specifications: First,
to prove or test ones character; as
God tried Abraham. Second, a So
licitatlon TO evil, as James uses 1t
III the phrase "Eyery man is tempt
ed when he is drawn away OF his
own desire and entlced", the doc
tor proceeded TO discuss In his own
mastery way Temptation as a So
licitation TO evil, using the tempta-
ton In the Garden TO illustrate st.
James definition.
|. AS the VIII is the great umpire
OF the mind every solicitation 10
evil must come to this tribunal be-
fore !. can be temptation. Now,
We can ouly reach the will through
perception, emotions and desires.
For Instance, a man perceives q
forbidden object which is pleasing
TO his natural sensibiltles. This
stirs his emotions and enkindles
his desires, and the desires press
against the Will for its concur
renee; then, and not till then, does
the solicitation become tempta-
ton. The mental process in temp
tation, therefore, is from percep-
tion TO emotions, from emotions to
desires and from desires to the Will.
Let us, said the preacher, compare
this analysis with the word Of God.
"And when the woman saw that
the tree was good for food and 1t
was pleasant to the eyes, and a
tree 10 be desired TO make one wise,
she took OF the fruit and did cat"
Here we have the whole process
from perception TO volltion, and
ii agrees With our analysis in ev-
cry particular. st. James defines
the exact point where temptation
ends and sin begins: avery man
is drawn away OF his own desire
and enticedn so far 1t is tempta-
ton; "then when desire hath con-
oeived--galned the consent OF the
will -''it brlngeth forth SIM The
solicitation must be addressed TO
the will or II Is no temptation, and
the will is reached through per-
ccp,ion, emotions and desires. 1t
follows, then, that the STRINGS OF
the emotions aud tho enKindling
OF the desires, apart from the con-
currence Of the will have no more
moral quality than the pulsations
Of the heart. One is the natural
| process for circulating the blood ;
the other is the natural process OF
q temptation, And yet class OF
good men so confouud the en-.
BINDINGS. OF desire with the acts
OF the will that every time they
are severely tempted they imagine
! that they have sinned. Hence
they are seeking a state of grace
1 Ia which their emotions and de-
sircs will never be stirred by Il for.
hidden object; but they might a.
| well seek a state OF animal lie In
which the heart will cease to thrOt
aud the machinery OF life continue
to move. No desire can be evil
| without the sympathy and concur
renee OF the will. Up to the point
when man Is "draWn away OF his
own desire and enticed" the sole
itation is temptation, but temp
tatiou resisted is neither an cyl
nor sin To say that the emo
tons and desires may be dead Il
all evil bat alive to all good viii
not remove the difficulty, for they
being natural and not moral facul
ties they make no moral dlstInc
llon-thcy are simply pleased a
whatever is pleasing and desir,
whatever is desirable to thl physl
cal man, while the moral facultle
must detect the evil and tho will
reject the wrong. We can no
; conceive how any being can sin OK
cept a moral agent, and we can no
see how moral agent can sill
aside from volition.
III. There is another class o
, emotions to the mlnd-the mora
; emotions and these are followed
by feelings OF moral obligation
: SO that the will, in its final decl
sion, takes notice OF the desires Of
. the one hand aud OF the interdlC
lions Of the obligatory feeling
on the other, and in every tempto
ton these two classes OF mutua
states stand before the will in d
rect opposition to each othe
Thus in the craving Of natural de
= sire and the lnterdlctions OF morf
y obligations we have the basis Of II
: Internal conflict destined to be r,
newed In every temptation. Thes
y two opposite principles belong |
" our two-fold nature as 1t came froi
the hand OF the Creator, and to tr
to escape from 1t is to try to PIT
ourselves beyond the sphere {
temptation and close up our sta
Of probation.
We learn, first: that not n few
the mental states, which have bee
called "Sln in Believers, or, "tl
remains OF the carnal mind, al
y nothing more than the conscou
A ~