The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-02
McOUEEN'S SERMON
RECTOR OF HOLY COMFORTER
 SPEAKS ON HOPE.
Text Was Taken From First Cor1nth. fans and Preacher Urged Necessity of Continusl and Unvaried Hop
 ing for Salvation.

h0m9 110 EIt0CmGE OERe0 NeGe80AsH
 of Continua1 and Unvaried Hop ing for Salvation.
 
 There hath no tempation taken you
 but such as is common to man: but God
 is faithful who will not suffer you to
 be tempted above that ye are able. but
 will with the temptation make a way
 of escape that you may be able to bear
 it. q Cor. x:30) Sermon preached in
 the Church of the Holy Comforter by the Rector. Stewart Mcqueen.
 How full of comfort are these words of St. Paul. Nevertheless. you see TOT yourselves. they clearly set forth temp tation as a universal fact of life Tn the text 1t is taken for granted. Indeeo, God permits us to be tempted. Yes. py His Holy Spirit He even leads us into wilderness of temptation. There is our battle field. There, must we fight boldly as brave soldiers for the captain of our salvation. There, many precious lessons are to be learned and many priceless blessings to be gained 1T we but prove firm and faithful unto the end
 God tempts us? Yes. tempts us only in the sense, however. of putting us to the test not. of course, in the sense of solicitation to evil. And how we dread this testing in the wilderness of temptation. It is very natural. for we know many are overthrown in the wilderness" We timidly hesitate to enter upon the conflict. We greatly ! fear the issue. We feel our own weak ness and we know the enemy's etrength.
 But, if we could only be sure we say, there is safety in temptation then could we more cheerfully gird our Christian armor on. and go forward with confidence into the battle. Now, | this is a most natural anxiety on our part. It is also most helpful, provide. 1t nerves us with hope and not despair, with courage and not cowardice. Let us therefore, however. anxious we may 1 be, meet temptation in the spirit of hope. It shall inspire us with forti- | tude of soul, with perseverance of will.
 which shall issue in victory and not in defeat.
 Remember we should expect tempta- ! tion as the disciples of the Master. My son, if thou come to serve the Lord. prepare thy soul for temptation" Hence, it follows that the quality of hope should be present supremely in | our hearts as we enter upon the service of God, for hope ever looks to the future, looks to that which lies before us. Moreover, hope shall help us make ready for the conflict, because it invig- crates and sustains us through antici- pating the joys of victory. 1t keeps us, also alert and watchful. It arms us | for the struggle. It infuses into the soul courage and determination to vanquish the tempter.~ Observe just the ! fact that amid our temptations. we are | in constant danger of falling into one of two conditions;-presum or despair. Either of these is alike fatal. although in quite different ways. Pre- | sumption causes neglect on our part of the means of grace God has provid- ed fer strengthening us. Hence we are unprepared and in time of temptation | fall away. Despair robs us entirely of | courage We do not fight at all, or with little or no spirit, and so become easy victims to the tempter.
 Now hope protects us against these | two dangers. so insidious and so com mon. It saves us from both. And so | we go to battle sustained by hope ir a double sense. In the first place, even ] as we work out our salvation with fear | and trembling, it reminds us we should | look to God for help, ever. and at all | times. Thus are we saved from pre- | sumption or over-confidence in our ! selves. In the second place. it stimu- | lates, it inspires us to light, and fight.
 and keep on fighting, assured of ulti- mate victory. for God will with the ! temptation, also make a way of escape So are we saved from despair. Thus
 strong in hope. invincible in hope knowing we are the redeemed of God
 through the blood of Christ. Gods chill dren indeed. even now-led by the l Spirit-journeying through this wilder
 ness of temptation to our Fathers
 home. we shall expect victory and not l defeat, expect to overcome the tempter | and not be overcome by him.
 d H-fy, .JSelF. .s tot dual- I ity of the soul in and by itself alone. | It is not abstract, or self-creaQve, in- | dependent of everything else. On the 1 contrary, there must be basis for hope to rest upon. In other words. there
 must be grounds for hope of victory in 1 temptation. And so there are. One is | to remember we are fighting Gods bat ties and no our own merely. And can God know defeat? We are fighting be- meath the blood-red banner of the cross of Christ. As we wage this contest against evil without and within, we are l fighting for holiness and righteousness 1 as well as for ourselves. And we are | fighting as Gods soldiers for His glory. l Therefore. can we doubt the issue? No, we are sure we shall triumph if we but persevere. For we are guided by the wisdom of our Heavenly Leader. We | are strengthened by His might. We are shielded by His love. Keeping our wills united to His will, we become in- Vlhclpie- we Hgnt on ana ever, upheld 1 by the power of hope, ever bearing in mind Joshua's injunction to the Israe-
 Iites. Be strong and of a good cour- age"
 Another ground of hope is, the con- viction on our part that we shall safely l ress thrau@h th sa ..v4
 assail us from day to day. We are upheld in this conviction by realizing g | there hath no temptation taken us ' l., f~ tn n6 further, that all who have gained para disc passed safely through temptations
 the same as ours. They battled with the same perplexities. And doubtless they endured the same defeats. They | contended with every foe that bars our progress to the Heavenly Land.