Year: 1870

lie was IN excellent voice. and mentally and physi.
cay may be sand to have been In admirable condition.
The house was crowded, and the audience, many OF
whom were strangers were fortunate in listening TO
OF Mr. Becchers characteristic disconrses inter-
spersed with a few word.pictures, set In glowing
imagery and more than few well told stories OF
the preachers early life. SO bestrewed with good
Jokes that the laughter was meritaby loud ana
frequent.


The best way OF overcoming temptation was the
subject OF the DISCOURSE so skilfully treated was
this world Old theme that 1t seemed quite in order
that the


COMIC SIDE OF LOVE,


the stingness OF deacon. bad wine at the Com
mlniOn, q sly hit at the tnievlng propcnsities OF
railroad directors should be the woo and web OF the
illustrations OF The sermon.


The text selected was the sixteenth verse OF the
sixth chapter or st. Paul's Epistle to the Ephe'
sans"Above all, taking the shield OF faith where
with ye shall be able to guench all the fiery darts OF
the Wicked" +


The Introductory part OF the discourse was made
up ofa sketch OF the gurative language OF the text.
"the shield OF faith" the reasons for the use OF
these metaphors, and an endeavor to account
Tor the uniformity with which the Apostle
always seemed to prefer Illustrations that were in
dicative OF action rather than plastic lay figures
"The fiery darts OF the wicked" were the tempta-
tions that set mems souls on ire ana II was this
Kind Of temptations that the Apostle said we were
more closely Ia be upon our guard against.


tons was faith; but Then then Very few people seemed
TO knoW what faith was, or II they did
know they had very confused IDEAS abont
It.. when they tolo you you must nave more
iaith that genorally, really meant you must
LET THE rEMrTaTr5Ns TAKE CARE or THEMSELVES.
There was no better definition OF faith than that
which was given IN the eleventh chapter OF the He
brews-"frue laith q the substance OF Things hoped
for the evidence OF things not SEEM" What were
these thingss IL was nothing papable. In the whole
range OF science was there anything that would
enable us to see what honor was, Tor example; and
yet all men knew what honor was. AS we gel higher
and higher In life that raised us from sayagejon TO
civilization, these higher faculties were more priced
by us, and we passed to q lie tina was divine.
We graduated through the basiIar faculties to
the perceptiye and the reflective faculties.
Il rnis IS was the generic denniton OF Iaith,
aroused 30 belief in the invisible from the sense OF
lear There wac another phase OF 1aith-that worked
temptations OF tneir passions Is 10 live q higher
moral sentiment. TO live in higher range Is TO be
nearly PROOF against the assaults OF temptation.
Men who live low have


THE DEVIL LIVING HIGH


them only, but he is very active shooting barbs
against them. aea 80 out INTO the battle OF life and
tney let their imasi atoms go out praying. Now
the less man knew about wicked things, the
less he had ms curiosity gratited, the better
1t would be for him. Was 1t the glorious
nowers the rich ripe Juicy landscape or grapes that
hung over the vlneands-no, It was the carrion,
the dead sheep not the living laDlbthat the vulture
was hovering above for and about TO wing It's way
TO dart down upon. so men hover about these
dcan-breeding, fevef-infesting temptations until
they lose all perception OF life that Is set things
above. No man could ahord to think dishonesty;
no man could af.ord 10 think OF murder; no man
could look upon woman Jesus said, aad lust after
her without committing adultery.


TO resist these temptations, when they came with
all their gttering force, the whole armor or Goa
must be put on but to be an enectua resistance II
must be the result OF Well disciplined lie. by
daily wachlulness must we get our life INTO an atl
tude by which temptation shall pass llarmessly by.
There were certain constitutional tendencies to
tempt alton that should be considered, aud espe-
cialy should they bc considered by parents in train
upon him OF beng prohibited when young from
drinking wine: with an active Imagination ne had
thought that If


he should see visions and dream dreams. He re-
membered the first time he tasted wine; his iather
glass was handed round among eight OF them.
Wnen II came 10 mis- turn ana he drank little or 1t
he thought his mouth was on fre for his young
mouth mad not gOt tanned then. He had never
tasted anything Ike It before and lie was not
satisfied. SO George Woodruff. another boy, and
himself got some Of this Wine and went into field
ana tired TO arink 1t. Well,. he had his
imagination about wine dlspelled by this
experiment, and for forty years he had never
tasted it. Now the active Imagination in that
was likely to lead, unless cared for considered,
into irreparabe evil. But in his he mad 10 Op-
portuDity given him for tasting wine except COM
munion wine, and that IN those days was not likely
TO give you taste Tor 1t; for he remembered think.



gall that they gave them to drink and not the
wine OF the Kingdom. There was the danger IN
our treatment OF the sentiment of love; there
nothing beautiful IN this world as the manifesta-
lions or tins sentiment and yet we all laugh at 1t
when II naness Itself. IL could not be TOO
tic, absorbing, too devoted, too noble, TOO senti.
mental, aud yet, when IL peeps out anu oDtrudes
itself before eye, how we smile ourselves.
The only time when we don't smile Is when we have
got this feeling OF love ourselves, and then there is
no smiling. ,Laugh!er.) II Is serious enough then.
Now II required care in parents to so control young
people that they should not wnen they get the
opportunity break through an unwise restraint


So men, TOO, should learn 10 know where tempta-
ton assailed them the most To some forms OF SIN
they were impreguable. For example he iMr.
Beecher) would never be under any temptation to
steal, not having been railroad director. laugh.
teri IL Deacon A. were In absence OF mind TO
bring him some money TO give away in charty-Or
he might put 1t another way--if Deacon A. were
to bring him some money for charity and by absence
OF mind leave his pocketbook behind him .the
rection Of this caused roar OF aughter) he (Mr.
BeecheD would have no disposition to steal the
p0cketbOok.


Against all temptation and its power over men
there was the great resistless force OF living
under boundIcss starry hemisphere Of hopes and
JOY aud peace in Him who had been tempted ike as
we were