The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-03-30
"PRESUMPTUOUS SINS"
A Brilliant Sunday Sermon By Rev. A..
B. Kinsolving, D. D.
Sacrificing the interests Of the Spiritual and
Eternal to the Carnal and Temporal

an excellent sermon Sunday morning, on
"Presumptuous Sins The two texts
were from Matthew iv: ) and o. "Then
The devil taketh hm into the holy city
and he set. Him on the pinnacle OF the
temple, and saith unto Him, IL Thou art
the Son of God cast Thyself down. for it
ia written, He shall give His angels charge
concerning Thee; and on their hands they
shall bear Thee up lest happy Thou dash
Thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto
him. Again it is written. thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy Cod" and Psalms
from presumptuous sins; let them not
have dominion over me; then shall I be
upriehs and innocent from the great trans.
gressct DR.. Kinsolving said:
In pui .ning our purpose of trying to in
terpret the unfolding life of the Lord Je.
we preached last Sunday the tempted Je.
sus We found in the narrative of the
temptation n record OF just a mental and
spiritual struggle as we should have ex-
pected Him to go through at this stage of
His career. 1t is impossible to suppose
that He could have decided instantaneous
ly and without long. meditation and con.
fict 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. and 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 so much in vogue nowadays
as something not worth while, because in
world where the frailty of man is ex'
posed to such overwhelming allurements
IS .a,l1 aaah nd 1at.n ,1 ha,
forehand that a vast percentage of men
and women will fall. The Maker of men
and not the victims Of sin is the most re-
sponsible, so this school teaches, and by
such doctrines the person assailed is in.
,duced to yield without struggle. Jesus
libel upon God Through a putting
forth of such strength as we have,
through 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
Christs 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
physical life. You have a right to this
he says, on any terms. and there is nothing
else to be considered by comparison with
this So make provision for yourself and
the body's bread first. "You are to feed
the hungry; feed first yourself" IF Thou
art the son of God, command that these
stones be made loaves-and then You may
live 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 i it were.
vations which l have come to share with
My brethren. If | am hungry. that lie,
choose hunger in that will, rather thar
satisfaction outside OF and against thai
will. I will not hurt or kill My moral ol
obedient Child of God by providing OF
guilty terms for the feeding of My bodily
life. For if, through .privation, the bodily
wrapping of life should perish there would
still be left My essential manhood anC
Ny eternal relationship with the Father
Therefore / choose the obedent and de
pendent life. and will trust the care anC
wisdom of My Father unto the end"
Jesus there enunciated philosophy o
life which is as sane as it is lofty and spr
itual. Perhaps the commonest sin amon
men is sacrificing the interests OF the spir
itual and eternal to the carnal and tenn
poral. All about us they are prone to liv
as If man did live by bread alone, AM
where this is true they will have bread ol
any terms, and getting it becomes the con
suming passion of life. BY choosing. in
stead, the hunger that resulted from dwell
ing in the will OF God, rather than tn
passing qualification gotten at the price o
dsobedience, our Master won for us tn
great initial victory over temptation. an.
by His sDirit and example has been lead
ing millions to victory along the sam
path ever since.
In the second temptation-I take tn
order given in st. Matthew as the natura
order--the point of attack has changed
The tempter had sought to overthrow th
obedience of Christ by an assault upo
His physical appetites and faith in Hi
Fathers care. He had overcome the temp
taton through the strength of His trus
in God. So now the attack is made upo
Him through that very trust. An Ut
swerving loyalty and confidence in the wi
of God has been discovered; That lovin
trust it was which made Him choose. t
suffer the pangs of hunger, rather tina
arbitrarily terminate them by a miracl
wrought for Himself. All, then, here
His strength, so near b.. there must lur
His weakness! "Then," we read, 18th
devil taketh Him into the holy city an
eetteth Him upon that corner of the win
of the tempe which overlooks from it
dizzy height the priests court below
where the thousands of Jewish pilgrim
have gathered from all over the world
III Thou he the Son of God, cast Thysel
down That will be an ideal and perfec
test of your f,ial relation and you
Fathers care for You. Descend. HEAVIER
borne, into the midst OF priests and people
win instantly the acclamation and popu
lar welcome which You will else have t
CONQUER by long years OF suffering and fai
ure What worship and honor and homag
will be Yours How quickly You will stan
at >he head of believing Israel! Surely
there is nothing to fear, for it is written
@He shall give His angels charge concern
ing Thee; and on their hands they sha
bear Thee up, lest, haply, Thou dash Th
foot against a stone.
The very choice OF the location OF tn
termination attests the subtlety of tn
temuter. He is taken to the Holy Cit
and to a pinnacle, or wing, OF the temple
Think what must have been Jesus sacre
love for Jerusalem and how naturally an
deeply His mind would have been Unfit
enced by the surroundings. All the pas
sonate religious patriotism OF His nature
all His deepest springs of feeling would b
touched by the sacred associations of tn
Holy City. Beautiful for elevation. tn
ioy of the whole earth, the city of tn
great king, whittier the tribes OF the Lor
90 up year by year for worship" Ho,
precious were its sights: "As the noun
iains lie around about Jerusalem. so en-
campeth the Lord about them that Low
Him" "If / forget thee, o, Jeruso
lem. let my right hand forget its cunning.
Ief Iauy n