The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1910-01-08

E8A were spoken Z.
49, Treachery had bro
ken out in the dis
ciple band. Judas had gone out bent
upon the malign purpose Of selling
the Lord. A mob was even now as
sembling to drag him to judgment.
and Calvary, and death. And 1t was
In conditions like these that the Mas
ter proclaimed his triumph!
And who was the conqueror? A
poor Galilean peasant, speaking a
provincial accent, obscure and unin-
fluential, having no place to lay his
head! Let me say 1t again. he Is
about to be betrayed, to be deserted,
to be put to the most contemptuous
apd humiliating death! And yet this
man claims to be wearing the purple
Of sovereignty. to be trailing mystic
clouds of glory even while he was
marching to the tomb! He had not
gone down before the world. he had
not shared its tone. he had not been
infected by its contagion, he had not
bowed to its compromises, he had not
been ensnared by its seductions. he
had not sunk to its degradations. He
had overcome the world" Let us
contemplate the prominent features
of the victory.
He had overcome the smiles Of the
world. And that is ever the subtlest
and most paralyzing Of all entice-
ments. II we can make comparisons
between the different moments in
Christ's life. one would say that the
peril was greater when they took
him by force to make him a king"
than when "all men forsook him and
fed" Many man can keep his moral
health in defeat who Is overcome with
success. An illustration can be found
on the public platform. Every pub
lie man knows that there is nothing
so insidious as the snare of applause.
A man can walk the narrow way
when he is confronted by a hostile
audience, but he is in great Jeopardy
when he is met by nothing but cheers.
1t is then he is liable to be carried
away" by the enthusiasm into grave
imprudences. Ben Jonson used to say
that "of all wild beasts, preserve me
from the tyrant; and OF all tame
beasts, flatterer." suppose that
the eliminating point of tempta-
ton in the life Of the apostle Paul
was not when he encountered the VIC
lence of the mob at Lystra, but when
the people magnified his Importance
and declared that "the gods are come
down" in the guise of men. Now, the
Lord met this seductive smile of the
world, and did not succumb to It. He
was not deluded into a shining servi-
tude.
Superior to Worlds Suspicious.
And Jesus had overcome the sus-
picions Of the world. There is some
thing very affrighting in the contem-
plation Of an untrue eye. Men are
frequently overcome by the malicious
eyes of their fellows. And this was
the kind of Took" which was cease
lessly fixed upon the Lord. And they
watched him!" 1t Is the kind of sight
which misinterprets all 1t sees. 1t i'm
putes Ill motives and turns everything
awry. Before that kind of onslaught
many men succumb. They are driven
from the post of duty by malicious
tongues: they retire from the fight
A man said In my hearing some little
while ago that public life has become
intolerable," and that he was deter
mined to retire into privacy. And this
man allowed the world to drive him
from the field of service. But that
was not the way of the Master. He
would not turn back because men
men fixed upon him an evil eye. He
would not turn aside from the APP
pointed way because OF the unfriendly
gaze of his enemies. He stood up,
and strobe on. unaffrighted and unde-
TERED by malice and frown.
And he overcame the contempt Of
the world. Many man can bear q
wrong who cannot bear an insult. Our
Lord was "despised." HE hath a
devil and is mad" He was denied
common courtesy. He was refused
the ordinary amenities Of hospitality.
There was no water for him when he
came in from the dusty way. There
was no kiss Of recognition and well
come. HE was despised and rejected
OF men," And yet he was not I'M
manned by the contempt It did not
make him hard, unforgiving, resentful,
and revengeful. It did not turn him
sour. He was not overcome by the
treatment. He went through It in
and unimpaired health and
holiness. All these antagonisms. arts
ing from smiles. and frowns. and con-
tempts. and neglects. he faced and
And in what disposition
was the triumph WONT He overcame
the world by refusal to stoop to use
the powers Of the world. He would
never use the worlds sword. He would
never use the fires Of persecution. He
never put HIS hand to mere coercives
and computations. He sought spiritual
ends by spiritual means, and he never
sought to elicit the AID of unworldly
kings. Herod sought his friendship.
HE was DESTROYS to see him Of long
but the Lord refused the in
Eercourse. and HE answered him
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