The Hayti herald. (Hayti, Mo.) 1908-1922, 1919-01-30

person; but his
messengers are legion. which makes It
practically true Of him that he ts
ubiquitous, attaching Us both by sug-
gestiOns of evil within and sOlicta-
tiOns to evil without. His agents are
nos only demons. but bad men and
worBen, bad literature, bad amuse-
ments, bad habits, bad examples, and
when we are resisting these we are re-
sisting him.
(1) The best tine to resist him is at
tl1e bcgi!aning Of the temptation, when
we\are af our strongest and the temp
cation at its weakest point. For exam
ole, have we ever kEown u drunkard
@hON, became one all az once? Did not
the dgceitfui bubit creep over his fac
ulries by slow degrees Entii at last Is
controlled himT How many latent pas
si0as are there in the Tsuman BREAST
whieR never would see tie light we're
it nUt for the apparently accidental cir
cumstanee that first made hem known
to usG This suggests the rarefulness'
with which we should select the books
which ws n1Enge
(2) TIie temptations of Satan will be-
felt most powerfully Mt our weakest
point. ard each one of us has that
point which is a prediction tbwards'
some special SIN or erso1-
Gambling is an example Of what is'
nueant, sinCs theze is sn almost every
S.n~+ =, Sool On, I'm, anScaSa rfrbac ursd ",
requires only slight bend in thEscurr
rent to turn the JOuthfSs mind away
6rom honest tabor and heatthful occu-
pation Some wise man has said, The
way the tide Of mans constitution
ruas, that way the wind Of temptstion.
blows"
~ The devil; often tempts us where
we geast expect It., and where we thfnk
ourselves least liable to fail. A5ra-
hams name is n synonym for faith and
yet he fell through unbelief. W1en-
ever We speak OF patience we thin4z. OF
Job, and yet job "cursed his cay"
! Moses was meek above all the men
which were on the earth, and yet his
| lack 9f meekncsS, as exhibited in stTik-
I: ing the rock at kadesh, prevented him
from entering the promised land.
~ The devil caa successfully bere-
sisted only in the strength of God. That
was the way David coped with Goliath
when he said to Saul, The Lord who
delivered me out of the paw of the lion
and oat of the paw of the bear, haswil
also deliver me 1ut of the hand OF
this uacircumcisedtP Philistine." He was
not Trusting in his physical streagth,
nor his personal courage, nor his great
skill in, the use OF the sling. All these
were brought intG.active exercise it is
true, but yet he Dad learned ia lean
upon a power greater than his Own and
greatery than which he opposed
This, gives significance to the lattec
half of, the text, Resist the devil ana
he will flee from; you We must CO
the resisting, busI OUR victory aver him
is brought aboct by God. In other
words, the reason the devil will fee
from d man If ha. reSists him Is beca lse
he has been overcome once for all by
the Son of God for all mankind.
Q, what hope and encouragement is
in those Words 'ie Will flee from
you." ''Beholi 1 give you power over
all the power Of the enemy, and moth"
ing shall by any means h'4rt you." said
Jesus to his disciples in Luke 1919
What compass there is in this decla'
ration! The tempted Christian is In
the wilderness Of despair and hears che
roaring of the satanic Aon. He is trav
cling on u lonely road and remembers
that he has an adversary with murdel
in his heart. He Is in the fires of
fierce coafiict and the angel of the bot
tomless pit is stirring UP the flames
SO, thou God OF life and light" h
cries, us there no escape? Can
not free myself of this? Shall N,
spiritual life be threatened every mo
ment with spiritual deathT' NO."
! the answer of our Almighty God an
G eternal savior. "Resist the devil an
he will flee from you"
Here Is a clear command and
IS precious promise! May he who in hl
q own person overcame our enemy CIV
IS us diligently to obey the one beeaus
r we faithfully believe the other.