The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1904-03-31
4 SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE BY THE
REV. A. 8. KlNSOLV!NC, 0. D.

AN ESO6U6N1 UiS(OUHSS 81 lHE
REV. A. 8. KlNsoLV!Nc. 0. D.
Subject: Presamp:uous Sins-The Com
menest Sin Among Men is Sacrificing
the Interests Of the Spiritual and Eter-
nal to the Carnal and Temporal.
BROOKLYN, n. Y.-Dr. Arthur 5. Kin
solving, rector OF Christ Church, preached
an excellent sermon Sunday morning, on
'ePresumptuous Sins" The two texts
were from Matthew iv: 5 and 6: "Then
the devil taketh him into the holy city
and he set Him on the pinnacle of the
temple, and saith unto Him, If Thou art
the Son of God cast Thyself down, for it
concerning Thee: and on their hands they
shall bear Thee up, lest hapiy Thou dash
Thy foot against stone. Jesus said unto
him, again it is written. thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy God;" and Psalms
xix: l3: keep back Thy servant also
from presuInptuous sins; let them not
have dominion over me; then shall be
upright and innocent from the great trans
gression." DR.. Kinsolving said:
In pursuing our purpose of trying to in
terpret the unfolding life of the Lord Je-
sus and to read its lessons for ourselves,
we preached last Sunday the tempted Je-
sus. We found in the narrative of the
temptation record Of just 4 mental ano
spiritual struggle as we should have ex-
pecte6 Him to 20 through at this stage Of
His career. It is impossible to suppose
that He could lave decided instantaneous
" and without long meditation and con-
Hict upon the plan of His life as the sent
of God" Clearly He had plan and ad-
hered to it throughout life.
We remarked upon the deep interest
that each one Of us has in the moral strug-
gle and victory Of Jesus. aud how just in
proportion as we are led by the Holy
Spirit to lofty and noble ideals of life, we
are conscious of these subtle earthly lures
which would defect us from our truest
paths.
We spoke of the fatalistic' non-resistance
to temptation 50 much in vogue nowadays
az something not worth while, because in
world where the frailty of man ls en-
posed to such overwhelming alurements
Of world, flesh and devil, it is certain be-
forehand that vast percentage of men
{ and women viii fall. The Maker of men
and not the victims of sin is the most re-
such doctrines the person assailed is IN
duced to yield without struggle. Jesus
conflict and victory teach us that this is
a libel upon God. Through g putting
forth of such strength as we have,
Through q prayerful desire to be and do
what is right, our vision is cleared and our
wills grow strong, and while God can
never entirely shelter us from temptation
He can and does defend US in temptation.
and with every solicitation to wrongdoing
show US the way OF escape.
Then we tried to learn the lesson OF
&rist's first temptation. The question
which first confronted Him as our repre-
sentative was the old and ever-pressing
question Of daily bread. The tempter pro
ceeds upon the assumption that all man
needs for his sustenance is food for the
physical life. You have right to this,
he says, On ana terms. and there Is nothing
else to be conNderes3 by comparison with
this. So make eS>Sssion for yourself and
the body's bread FIRST. "You are to feed
the hungry; feed first yourself" 'Tf Thou
art the son of God, command that these
stones be made loaves-and then You may
lire to execute Your Fathers business"
The answer of Jesus came from a Man
gaunt and weary by long fasting and days
of conflict. .'The physical life is not mans
only life, and will not act as # it we're.
He says, .'by exempting Myself from prii-
Nv brethren. If I am hungry. that lies
within the will of God for Me, and I
choose hunger in that will, rather than
satisfaction outside OF and against that
viii. will not hurt OF kill Ny moral or
spiritual life as the flial. dependent and
obedient Child of God by providing on
guilty terms for the feeding of My bodily
life. For If. through privation, the bodily
wrapping of life should perish there would
stin be left My essential manhood and
Ny eternal relationship with the Father
Therefore I choose the obedieES and de.
pendent life and will trust the care and
wisdom Of My Father unto the end.
Jesus there enunciated a philosophy OF
1iie which is as sane as it is lofty and splr-
itual Perhaps the ccmmonest sin among
men is sacrificing the interests OF the splr-
itual and eternal to the carnal and tenn
poral. AL about US they are prone to live
as if man did live by bread alone. and
where this is true they viii have bread or
any terms, aud getting it becomes the con-
srmine passion of life. BY choosing. in
stead. the hunger that resulted from dwell
inc in the will of God. rather than the
passing qualification gotten at the price OF
disobe2ience. our Master Won for US the
great initial victory over temptatio!l,. ana
by His spirit and example has been lead
sag millions to victory along the same
path ever since.
In the second temptation-l take the
order given in st. Matthew as the natural
order-the point Of attack has changed
The tempter had sought to overthrow the
obedience of Christ by an assault upon
His physical appetites and faith in His
Fathers care He had overcome the Temp
tation through the strength Of His trust
in God. So now the attack Is made upon
Him through that very trust. An un.
swerying loyalty and confidence in the will
of God has been discovered: That loving
trust it was which made Him choose: to
suffer the pangs OF hunger. rather than
arbitrarily terminate them BY a miracle
wrought for Himself. An. then, here is
His strength, so near by there must lurk
His weakness! Then We read, the
devil taketh Him into the holy city and
setteth Him upon that corner OF the wing
of the temple which overloohs from, its
dizzy height the priests court below:
where the thousands OF Jewish pilgrims
have gathered from all ove- the world:
IF Thou be the Son Of God. cast Tnyself
down That will be IN ideal and perfect
test of your h.ial relation and your
Fathers care for You. Descend, heaven
borne. into the midst of priests and people,
win instantly the exclamation and popu-
lar welcome which You will else have to
..,,,or nv lono years of suffering and fall