The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1903-10-19
Subject: Conscious Power and
How To Use It, or Religious Sanity.
Text: ''Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God"-Matthew At.

HOW TO Use 1t, or hel1glouS Sanity
Text: "Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy Matthew, At.
J The second temptation that came to
Jesus In the wilderness was. in its pri-
mary aspect, the opposite of the hrs';
! the first suggestion was to doubt the
voice of God that spoke in the heart
and to refuse to trust for support the
God that called. the second was to
presume upon God, to throw Himself
reckessly upon His Father. The pen
dulum OF temptation swung from doubt
to presumption
Who that has ever gone through an
agony of soul over his life plan does not
remember how his Imagination ran from
extreme to extreme and the refusal OF one
course of conduct called up for con-
temptation its diametrical opposite?
The mental picture which Jesus drew
for His disciples OF His experience was
like this Having determined that He
would risk starvation for the sake OF
His Idea and die rather than prove raise
to Gods voice In His soul. the sugges-
ton came. "Well. you have made up your
mind TO do Gods work. you are gong
TO risk that idea you think you got
from Him You justify your proposed
course OF conduct by quotation from
the scriptures. written by men "hom
God inspired. Now, why not carry the
matter of confidence TO a logical emu
If you are going to trust. trust IN
fervent fashion. show spirit OF me
abandon. If you are going to quote scfip-
ture In justification OF your course Oh
conduct, why not take that fine passage
Prom the Psalms that tells OF how GOD
Jj< larlinP2 1t saws Won
know. that He will give His angels
sDecIai commission to look after one that
has In hand the Messianic work, that
thev shall surround Him with sucn
miraculous atmosphere that He VIII not
he ahla to dash His foot against
stone. Gods Messiah shall live charm
Cd ufe He shall put Himself SO III
touch with God. so in tune with the
Inn1Ite. so in harmony with the oihhipo-
tent. that He shall be superior 10 my
common laws of life ana the u@iibi'
that threaten the rabble- mat pa991 -
~ scripture may sound unreasonable 10
YOU. but if you are going TO trust 80,
reason shall not play any part
~ reason and your common sense OUT
80 s,ght and give it your unreasohihs
trust" -.ardnoint OF
-. ,roesiani, success, ii will DE d WISE
Ming for you to show your o1vnle con"
-, ~, a spectacular eXhlpiuon ol
- -,o1yer Your cOuntrymeh, Mioih
-.o,, hone To save, are looking lor d -,
siah that is a great miracle "oiAei'
arc expecting one who can sno"
,vonder-provoking signs from i'e''9 gu
viii compel universal recognluoh anu "
following of all the Jews. GU N"t' ~
90 succred without their confidence anu
&c in
ar conception of trust and with tHe
Tvs. idea of the Messiah that you
mould i,augl.rate your heavenly klngooih
with a great sign. Men love the NIL
raculous Most or them believe that God IS
pledged to the strange, the weird, tiie
incornprebensible Pander to their lde@
of Cod and show yourself Gods son py
,,roducinp signs from heaven. Now 'e-
,rIsalem is the holy city and the tempe
&c the most sacred spot in IL, II the
Cod whom you trust will keep his prom
Use anywhere it will be there. 1t Offers
100 The finest opportunity for an inausu-
al miracle Its courts are thronged with
Dlous worshippers. Their prayers are
constantly going up for the appearance
Of the Messiah and they expect HlIn u
show the open heaven from this bultd1hg
that is sacred to God. suppose YOU go
there. climb 10 the teUiHleHt o. Lie lA-i~
storied hall erected by Herod on the
edge OF the precipice overlooking
the valley Of Hinnom, and, hav-
ing given a signal to attract
the attention of the multitude
below. leap over the balustrade and float
gently down ike a feather from the dizzy
height. Trust! Don't be afraid to try
the God to whom you have committed
your life BY this plan you Will have
thousands Of followers in a moment"
In its highest reaches, this temptation
seems not 10 have such direct applica-
ton to many of us as the first temptation
had. We are SO materialistc. 50 sordid.
50 phlegmatic, that we are disposed to
say My trouble lies in the dificulty ]
have OF ever arousing myself to spiritual
contemplation at all. There is far graver
danger that l viii leave God out Of the
count entirely in my lille than that l
shall trust 50 recklessly." And il is true
that highly developed spiritual natures
are in greater danger from the presump-
ton and fanaGcism with which Jesus
was tempted than those Of US with torpid
circulation and sluggish minds. This
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