Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1904-04-07
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY

AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE az THE
REV. A. 8. KINsoLvINC. D. D.
subject: Presumptuous Sins-The Conn
monest Sin Among Men is Sacrifc1ng
the Interests of the Spiritual and Eter-
nal to the Carnal and Temporal.
BROOKLYN, N. Y.--Dr Arthur B. Kin
an excellent sermon Sunday morning, on |
"Presumptuous Sins.'' The two texts |
were from Matthew ": 5 and g.: '"Then |
the devil taketh hlm into the holy city |
and he set Him on the pinnacle of the |
temple, and saith unto Him, if Thou art |
Is written, He shall give His angels charge |
concerning Thee; and on their hands they
shall bear Thee up, lest haply Thou dash
Thy foot against stone. Jesus said unto
bun, Again it is written. thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy God;' and Psalms
x1x: l3: keep back. Thy. servant also
1rom presumptuous 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 it's lessons for ourselves,
we preached last Sunday the tempted Je-
sus. We found in the narrative of the
temptation record of just mental and
spiritual struggle as we should have ex-
! peeted Him to go through at this stage of
His career. It is impossible to suppose
that He could have decided instantaneous
| ~ and without long meditation and con-
! flct upon the plan of His life as the "sent
! of God" Clearly He had plan and ad-
hered to it thro1rhout 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 fstalistic non-resistarce
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 allure1nents
OF world, flesh and devil. it is certain be-
forehand that a vast percentage 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 a struggle. Jesus
conflict and victory teach us that this is
a libel upon God. Through putting
forth of such strength as we have,
through a prayerful desire to be end do
what is right, our vision is cleared and our
wills grow strong. and while God can
never entirely shelter us from temptation
i 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
Christ'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.
ececds upon the assumption that all man
needs for his sustenance is food for the
physical life. You have right to this
be 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 Mar
gaunt and weary by long fasting and days
OF conflict. .'The physical life is not mans
only life, and I will not act as if it were,'
He says, "by exempting Myself from pri
vatlons which l have come to share witt
My brethren. If | am hungry. that lie.
within the will of God for Me, and
satisfaction outside of and against tina
will. / will not hurt or kill My moral o.
spiritual life as the filial. dependent ane
obedient Child Of God by providing o,
guilty terms for the feeding of My bodil.
life. For. if, through privation, the bodil.
wrapping OF life should perish there woul,
still be lett My essential manhood ant
My eternal relationship with the Father
Therefore I choose the obedient and de
J pendent life, and win trust the care ant
wisdom of Ny Father unto the end
, Jesus there enunciated a philosophy Q
: life which IS as sane as 1t is lofty and splI
/ itual. Perhaps the commonest sin anon
l men is sacrificing the interests of the spi1
a itual and eternal to the carnal and ten
:, poral. All about us they are prone to liv
l as If man did live by bread alone, an
S + where this is true they will have bread O.
= any terms, aud getting it becomes the cor
= Stunning passion Of life. BY choosing, il
: ing in the will Of God, rather than tn
: passing qualification gotten at the price {
6 disobedience, our Master won for us tn
:. great initial victory over temptation, an
by His spirit and example has been leae
l. ing millions to victory along the sam
!. path ever since.
O In the second temptation-I take th
n order given il st. Matthew as the natur;
:. order-the point OF attack has changes
It obedience Of Christ by an assault upo
6 His. physical appetites and faith in II
= Fathers care He had overcome the tenn
tation through the strength Of His tru:
$ in God. So now the attack is made upo
e Him through that very trust. An III
# swerving loyalty and confidence in the WI
!. of God has been discovered. That 1ovir
trust it was which made Him choose
E suffer the pangs Of hunger. rather tha
arbitrarily terminate them by mirac
= wrought for Himself. All. then, here
His strength, so near by there must lu1
His weakness! Then" we read, "tl
Ee devil taketh Him into the holy city ar
Is setteth Him upon that corner OF the VIII
- of the temple which overlooks from i
= dizzy height the priests court belo,
~ where the thousands of Jewish pilgrim
1t have gathered from all over the worl
n If Thou be the Son Of, God, cast Thyse
n. down. That will be an ideal and perfe
: test of your flial relation and yo1
u Fathers care for You. Descend, heave
a borne, into the midst of priests and peopl
m win Instantly the acclamation and pop
o. lar welcome which You, will else have
=. conquer by long years Of suffering and ia
is ure. What worship and honor and homa
o. will be Yours! How quickly You will sta,
~ at the head of believing Israel! Surel
- there is nothing to fear, for it is write
~ He shall give His angels charge. concer