The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-02-20

az crime. Yet he Is q good
man. made such. he arows, only by
the religion Of the tempted Christ.
No Sham Fight.
In to such battles as this-the kind
which most upright men know as
more real experiences than any strug-
gle in busineSs-Jesus went. He
fought the fight that no good man can
escape; n he fought it with no
weapons that may not be ours.
1t was no sham battle that Jesus
Waged. He could have fallen even as
we may fall. 1t was possible for him
to sin: otherwise the experience OF
idle as a painted ship upon q painted
ocean,
Sturdy words need to be spoken on !
this point. to meet the misconception
OF those who would emasculate the
Temptation: and Rev. DR.. j. II. Jow-
EFT. OF New York. has spoken them:
Whatever else my Lord shall be to
me. he shall not be a counterfeit man.
exposed to counterfeit fire. p mere
stage fire. a man played upon by
harmless sheet lightning, and never
moving amid the dread bolts and
forked fame. His shall not be the
sham fight. and mine The actual strug-
gle or he can be no leader Of me.
He himself suffered being tempted.
49, A>AN AAAS ASoA AISAk va AK :. IAN
felt the fascination OF real seduc-
ton. Jesus Of Nazareth had the real
devil to meet and the real battle to
wage, and the garlands on his noble
brow were nobly won."
The Lure of New Religions.
Because. with a certain muddy
Drained class Of people. sin and the
devil have gone out Of fashion
Though not out Of husipess) there is
tfOHHU n prnCt nOJ of aSofnYi. "a
ligions. Despite the repeated exposure
Of these oriental cults, which hatten
on the credulity and foolishnessl OF
silly women and lilxe-minded men,
the popularity of these various little
groups does not diminish. The
easiest way known to me for any man
with a glib tongue, a knowledge Of
human nature, and a slight familiar
ity with the Orient, to make a fat
livelihood is to start a new religion,
with q grotesGuc name and rites.
All Of these fraudulent faiths are
alike in disdaining the doctrine of sin.
Some love to call 1t "experience."
And. if the reports OF the various
legal Investigations be true, the adj
herents OF these faiths get expert
encc." Frankly, this sublimated bal
derdasn is often only q cloak for what
the Bible knows as sin and the penal
code knows as crime. The immoral
Yezidis Of the Tigris Valley are not
far removed from the new cults Of
Boston and Chicago.
The Bible is amazingly true to life.
It squares With our knowledge OF hu-
man nature. 1t does not blink any of
the Ugly facts Of existence. Instead
Of attempting to ignore the hideous
reality Of sin, it provides a Savior
from sin, who was tempted in al
points like as we are" In the story
Of the Temptation Of Jesus we all may
5 read the struggle that awaits every
soul. Over It all is written large the
promise that no life is destined to de-
. feat. The power OF Christ is pledged
to the preservation Of Christ:s.
A Three-Battlc War.
To the mind Of the lonely, spent and
; hungry young g worn with his
long vigil Of forty foodless days, the
Tempter~ appeared. There is no need
to apparel him in horns and hoofs;
! the devil wears evening clothes ofteneT
} than tho rig of red. AS a suggestion,
; as a. whisper-it matters not how
Satan came. The point Is that what
ever is diabolical is Of the devil.
Three shrewd attacks upon the SOW
ereignty of the soul OF Jesus We're
made. For that was the real issue.
as it is in all temptations, to deter
e mine who should reign in the hous
Of Man-soul.
0 A well-fed man may not be tempt
: ed by food; but a starving man may
1t is amazing how the elementa
c wants. food. shelter. warmth. appea
p 40 even the highest reason. Ane
: Jesus was hungry. SO Satan bad
Q him urn the stones into bread. Now
e it surely was Gods will that his Sor
y should be fed-but not in Satan's way
Better hunger than dishonor. Al
%legiance to evil is too high a price
to pay for life. The first temptation
which Jesus promptly repulsed, is the
e one thai is every day confronting
e linen in business and politics. The
great word-a motto for the shield O
It every knightly soul-was spoken b!
d Jesus as he spurned the enticement
Mar shall not live by bread alone.
Il More subtle was the second on