PULPIT MESSAGES

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 173, 19 April 1937, Page 6

PULPIT MESSAGES

Wellington Churches

TRIAL OF TEMPTATION

Virtue Needs Cultivation

Speaking in Kent Terrace Presbyterian Church last night, the Rev. W. Gilmour took as his subject, “The blessings of temptation.” “Men who are not much tempted,” he said, “are not very strong men. No man escapes temptation. One of the mistakes is to divide people into the tempted and untempted, and to suppose that while many are exposed to fire in the front line, so many are secluded from all danger in the rear. The difference between the best and the worst; the difference between Jesus and Judas, is not that one is tempted, and the other is not, but that one has pledges of victory in his character, and the other prophesies of defeat. “There was never yet one who pressed to the higher summits of the spiritual life who was not made the victim of temptations. In the Epistle of James chapter one and verse twelve, we read, ‘Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.’ Earth is the nursery in which God prepares His plants for heaven. It is in the furnace that virile character is formed, and men are brought to their height. Paul had his thoru in the flesh, and he asked God three times to remove the trouble, and God answered his prayer by saying, ‘My grace shall be sufficient for thee.’ Ours may not be the thorn in the flesh, but temptation is the same, a messenger of Satan to buffet us. “Temptation will vary with different men. One man may have a sensuous temperament like David. Augustine, Jlyron and Burns; another man may be tried by having a craving for intoxicants; another may be the victim of a revengeful, and a vain and conceited temper, and every day may have to fight for charity and humility. Temptation is sent in love, and is part of the discipline of a loving Father who has high aims for us. Men do not fall because sin is strong; they fall because they have made themselves weak.

“We all live in an atmosphere reeking with temptation, yet one is stricken, and another escapes. Why are bacilli in one man’s and not in another’s? Because they have fpund congenial soil. There are souls so mean bv habit and training that sin takes root in them like fungi in a bed of corruption; there are souls so pure and lofty that In them every evil thought is sterilised. In the hour of temptation, one stands upon his past and reaps his reward, either good or

evil. Let temptation be removed, and where is the discipline of life? Let us think of the benefits rather than the evil results of temptation. “Fretting and rebellion can only add to our suffering; submission and the cultivation of the power of self-control is the only way to meet the trial of temptation. Even Christ had to be made perfect through suffering, and much of this suffering was due to the discipline of temptation. If Tie truth were known, the most pure are men of like passions with the greatest profligates. A good example is found in Augustine. The love of God prevailed, and we find the man of strong deepseated passions bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Good always requires cultivation, just as the garden requires to be kept free from weeds.

“The only way to keep off evil is to cultivate the good. Habits of self-con-trol and virtue must be as carefully nurtured In the moral life, as fruit, vegetables, and flowers In the vegetable world. The antidote for sin Is found in Jesus Christ. He not only cleanses from sin, but He provides a power by which we can overcome, and be more than conquerors. “If there is one whose citadel has fallen before the onslaught of evil, let him rouse himself; if innocence be gone rejientance is possible. Let him break the bonds of sin before the day is closed; let him confess if he has to confess, and do it quickly, and with all his might. Above all, let him open the door of his heart to the Master, and the Master will be true to him through ail the temptations, and toilof life. If he refuse, he will make the greatest mistake possible to a man; and he will regret it only once, but that will be for ever.” CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCHES “Doctrine of Atonement” was the subject of the lesson-sermon in all Churches of Christ, Scientist, yesterday. The golden text was John i, 29, “John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Among the citations which comprised the lesson-sermon were the following from the Bible, “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee; I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.” (John xvii, 1,4). Also cited were the following passages from the Christian Science textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” by Mary Baker Eddy, “We acknowledge Jesus’s atonement as the evidence of divine, efficacious Love, unfolding man’s unity with God through Christ ,>esus the Way-shower; and we acknowledge that man is saved through Christ, through Truth, Life and Love as demonstrated by the Galilean Prophet in healing the sick and overcoming sin and death.” (p. -197.) --