The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-03
ELEMENT OF POWER
pow TEMPTATIONS ENTER INTO - OUR LIFE.

OUR LIFE.
 lRev. stewart Mcqueen Breaches On
 ssTemptatfon" at the Church of
 The Holy Comforter.
 | -e
 ..r.untatiou." was the subject of a powerSuI sermon preached at the lCburch of the Holy Comforter.
 MT. Mcqueen said;
 Experience teaches us that tempta- | tion is the most powerful element which enters into our lives here on earth. It Is likewise the most uni- yersal. True, there is a great deal of | sorrow and sickness. trouble and trial, pleasure and pain. Yet, remember, these are themselves very of- | ten, occasions for temptation. or testing, for that is what tempta- ton really means. It may we'll be add ed, why should temptation. with its l terrible dangers. exist at all7 Surely, one reason is, because there is in us the freedom of choice between good and evil, in the exercise of which, we become, (under God), what we are. Without temptation. you observe, there could be no opportunity for the choice. ! We cannot be forced to do good, or | to be good. It is something which we must decide for ourselves; for SO only are our characters made. God req sons. pleads. persuades, presses mo- lives upon us. urges inducements, but | He does not force us in this matter. Why? Simply because we are moral agents and not machines. Moreover He does not desire. nor will He have from us, machine service. Only a ser- vice of free choice is acceptable to Him, for such service alone carries l with it the heart, and Gods everlast- ing cry to humanity throughout all the ages, ia: My son, give Me thine | heart" This free choice is made only in the presence of temptation or test ing, in its numberless forms. So you see temptation is not an arbitrary | thing. It Is not a force imposed upon us by cruel fate and utterly meaning less. Nay, it Is essential to us as mo- ral, free, spiritual beings. In a word 1t Is based upon, has it's origin in, the profound and complex necessities of l our own nature.
 Our Lord taught us to pray, Lead us not into temptation" This seems a strange sort of petition. Instfnctive- ly, we feel sure God will not lead us l Into temptation, for He knows so well | how weak we are to resist it. Yet, unless He is likely to lead us into temptation, why should we entreat Him not to do so? Let us realize our nature. and our condition here on earth. Then. shall we see the explan- aticn. In the first place, remember how strongly we are swayed by subtle allurements and depraved inclinations within. and by evil of all sorts with | out. We are continually beset by | temptation and in danger of falling Therefore, the petition--"Lead us not | into temptatifn, must mean we be- seech our Heavenly Father that we may be guided through life in such ways that temptation shall not lay hold upon us with overwhelming force and sweep us to destruction. Again. this petition teaches humility and self. dfstrust, reminding us how weak we are to resist the strength of the evil one when he puts forth the full power | of his devices.
 Study our Lords temptation fin the wilderness. How full of instruction and encouragement 1t is for us! He Himself, you remember, taught us to pray: Lead us not into temptation |" | Yet, in the face of that fact, He aI- lowed Himself to be led into tempta- ton. What is the explanation? Note. at the outset, the fact He did not TO recklessly. He made faithful prepnr- l atton to encounter the wiles of the evil one, by the use of certain means of grace and strength which God had pro- Vtded, viz.. fasting and prayer. He
 mot the devil with the same helps to victory which are at our service. We | can prepare orselves for our struggles with temptation just as He did. Real ize also how He did not trust to tho strength of mere personal rectitude, as
 we are so apt to fancy we can do. On l the contrary, He was careful to. make I Of a Qn 1t be with us. Then can we come off victors in the fight with Satan as did He.
 | How significant 1t Is that He went into tho wilderness, into a waste desert | country, far from the habitations of man. Surely. this was in order that lie might thereby enter the more thor oughly into our conditions here, sym
 pathize with and understand more fully our difficulties here, in a word, partake of our experience. For we ourselves are in the wilderness of life. which com stitutes as we well know, the very oc- | casion for temptation. Here we are
 assaIled by the lusts of the flesh. Here
 we are harrassed by the hardships and | cares of all sorts. Here we are beset
 with covetousness which so easily de-
 veIops into avarice, covetousness | which is idolatry. Here we are con- | bLanLly pressed 10 tHo WaH Llo
 struggle of life. and tempted to dull
 leaden despair on account of our falls
 and failures. This wilderness of life
 Is fearfully hard and barren at times. a
 desert indeed, through which roam wild
 beasts of temptation, as in the wilder
 ness of our Savior there roamed wild
 beasts of nature.
 Further, how impressive the fact { that our Lord seems to disregard the petition in His own prayer: Lead us not into temptation" for He ITims sli
 went into a place of temptation. True
 we are told. He was led up of the
 Spirit into the wilderness" Neverthe- less His own will gave assent to this
 otherwise there would be no meaning
 in His temptation. Let us take care
 moreover, lest we fail to appreciate
 how He went. the spirit in which He
 went. He did not go in vain and
 boastful self-reliance. He did not go
 without earnest preparation for the
 contest. On the contrary, He made
 faithful use of divinely given means to
 resist and overcome the temptation
 which He was to encounter. How viv-
 Idly this brings before us the great
 truth that everything depends
 upon the temper in which
 we meet temptation. the spirit in whcih we meet It. Suppose, for in- stance, we deliberately go where we l know .allurements to sin will assail
 us from all sides. Suppose we seek