The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-02-02
The RElHABITEs.
for The Times.l

no wine. fess Jonadab, the son OF ttechao.
our father, commanded us, SAYING We
shall drink no wine neither ye nor your
sons forever."-Jeremiah xxxV., :. y.
We may well pause here for a moment
and quicken our vision to make ourselves
quite sure that we read the "oras
Alright. Did the Lord make a proposal
to total abstainers to drink wine? Dlo
He send for them to kind of wine
festival Will He try the nostrils OF
the Rechabites with the unused perfume
Of wine? Is this the meaning OF the
Lords prayer-"Lead us not into tempta-
tion?''
This is strange. We gain nothing
by slurring over the difficulty. Let US
face it. consider it well, and learn our
lesson from it.
Is not the Lord always thus leading
men into temptation?-not in the potent
and vulgar sense in which that term is
generally understood. but in the sense
which signifies a drill or application of
discipline, the testing of principles and
purpose and character? Is not all life
in that sense-temptation? Does not
every day dawn that we may be tried
once more?
Read the words once more-"Bring
them into the house of the Lord, into
one Of the chambers, and give them
wine to drink" Was not this hard?
But then all life is hard You can never
meet another human being without
chance to wrong him. There is nothing
easy in life. Society is a school, a drill
hall, a fiery furnace. 1t is a fearful
thing to live. If we have by some for
tune, come into easiness of relation, II
may be because we have auelled the
voice of strong convictions. We may
have escaped temptation because we have
run into the way of folly. The Lord
tries every man.
There need be no hesitation in offer
ing the prayer, Lead us not into tempta-
ton People have tried to soften the
words But there they remain in their
truth and emphasis. Every man must
be tested We are not men until we
have been thus moulded, tried, qualified
We can do little for one another in that
pit of temptation. We cannot be healed
by maxims. because the maXims them
selves are burned up in that furnace IN
which our life is being scorched.
Elaboration goes but a little way In
with God. There is but one Rehner
He sits over the furnace and when the
fire has done its work. He quenches the
cruel flame. Think it no strange thing
that temptation has befallen you. Yea,
think it not strange that God himself
has given you opportunities by which
you may be tested, tried. He never
gives such an opportunity without giving
at the same time sustaining grace.
The drinking of wine in this case was
to be done in '.the house of the Lord
Now, light begins to dawn. How thank
full we are for one little pale ray Of light
when the darkness has been a seven
fold midnight. If wine is to be drunk,
it is to be drunk in the house Of the
Lord. Mark the limitations of our temp
tations. The Lord is never absent from
His house or His own.
If we will choose the sphere of tempta-
ton, then let us not blame Providence if
we fall into a snare. If we will persist
in trying ourselves, be not amazed that
such self-temptation should end in sui
eide. If we say we will choose the open
field without religious sanctions, conso-
lations, or sustaining grace. then we
shall be brought home dead men.
.o5 no ter, a rd choose
the place Of it's application, and Himself
preside over the tremendous conflict. We
shall be more than conquerors.
Here is no encouragement to men who
put themselves in the way of the devil
and beckon to him with uplifted finger
to come and work his will. Prove care
fully the difference between the trials sent
by a kind and wise Providence and the
temptation which men run into when
they needlessly put their own fortitude
to test.
Let God tempt me, and He will also
love me- Let Him invite me to His own
house, that there under roof as beau
tiful as heaven, He may work His will
Upon me, and afterwards I shall stand
I'D higher IN stature, broader Ill 1ildllllOou,
truer in heart to His. likeness.
What did the sons of Rechab say? 1t
was critical moment in their history.
They did not speak in their own name,
but in the name of their dead father. The
trial took place in the chamber of the
sons of Hanan, the son of Igdalah a
man Of God. This chamber was above
that Of Maaseah. The father of Maaseiah
was Shallum, the husband OF Huldah. the
prophecies. There will be no evil thought
in that chamber.
Not only are Rechabites there, but their
fathers are with them in spirit. A man
is never left alone. Though our fathers,
physical and spiritual, should be dead.
yet they may and do live with us in the
spirit, and often sustain us in the trials
and difficulties Of life. Our fathers can
not die The sense in which men die is
the narrowest of all interpretations OF
human history. When the father is dead