The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-06-15
THE REVEREND ]. c. HORNING.
Pastor of Maple Avenue Reformed Church

thoughts. feelings, passions and desires
The foe turks within the human heart and
IN the SuiSe of rShtful activity lures the
soul from God. Temptation approaches us
from without. holdin. forth the promise of
ease and pleasure. position and power. 1t
flaunts before the daZzIed eye the bubble
that slittsrs like gold. 1t promises TO give
that which it does not possess. 1t makes
the wrong appear as right. the false as
true. the evil as good. 1t clothes the SER
.pent in gold dust to make it appear less
loathsome and less harmful.
But the serpent's bite is no less poison
Gus because it coils in gold dust. The wolf
is no less a wolf because in Sleeps cloth
ing. Evil is evil. no matter in what garb
it appears or what robe it wears to hide
its vileness. The devil in the garb of a
saint is devil still.
But what shall we do in the presence of
temptations so manifold? Take stand
against them. Have nothing to do with the
evil thing. Having on the armor which our
great Captain provides. we are TO stand.
and bearing the shield of faith with which
TO quench the fiery darts of the Evil One.
faith that gains strength from God. Resist
him as did the divine Master in the wilder-
ness. and he will depart.
We resist temptations by being absorbed
in doing coed: we shut out the wrong by
doing the right. Idle resistance holds with
in Itself the possibility of yielding. Busted
In the work of God; the Eyil One will have
the return from the Babylcnian exile. began
to rebuild the walls of old Jerusalem. the
envious rulers roundabout Knocked and
scoffed at his feeble efforts. but Nehemiah
prayed and worked on. When they saw the
walls rising about the city they. out Of evil
design. asked him TO meet them in the
Plain of ono. but he answered. L am do
ing a great work, so that | cannot come
down He was not to be overcome. because
he busted himself in the one work God had
given him to do.
Again we resist temptation by rising
above it. by living in regions to which evil
cannot rise. How is it that grown men do
not care for the sweetmeats of childhood?
They have outgrown them. Why is 1t that
the germs of malaria are not found in the
mountain tops? They cannot rise above
into the mountain top of God and the infec-
ton of evil will not reach you. 1t cannot
rise to that height. Keep near the heart of
vo Willy dwell i n moral 81 region eRe higb above
the lurking temptations that infect the
lower levels of life.
The poetic fancy of ancient Greece tells
us that on certain island there dwelt the
beautiful sirens whose songs were 81 charm
ing that the seamen sailing by were drawn
almost irresistibly to. the shores, where
their vessels were wrecked on the treacher-
Gus shoals Even the valorous Ulysses dared
not sail past these islands without binding
himself to the mast, although he could see
the shore lined with wrecks and the bleach
ing bones of those who had yielded to the
Turing songs Of the sirens. But We learn
how Orpheus took the wiser plan. With
muse than the sirens song, that saved 10Th
himself and the sailors from the deadly
charm of the treacherous isle.
THE safeguard against all temptation
is found in the great attraction of right
eousness and duty and God. which makes
divinest music ir the soul. The music of
heaven is grander than the. music of the
earth. And as we listen to the celestial
harmonies the earthly will have no charm
for US. As We live in the mountain top of
Gods presence: the Evil One will have 10
rover lis"