1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



681 



even at this very crisis, an angel came to him 

 in the night, saying. " Be not afraid, but speak, 

 and hold not thy peace; for I am with thee, 

 and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee." 



One day this man of whom I have been tell- 

 ing you had occasion to visit his home in the 

 middle of the day. He wanted some book or 

 paper, that all at once became important. He 

 felt sure that his wife would be able to find it. 

 In fact, she always found every thing as soon 

 as she knew it was much needed by him. A wife 

 might say, " Well. I can not tell you where it is 

 now, I am sure. I do not see but you will have 

 to get along without it." His wife never said 

 such a thing to him. Her love and sympathy 

 and kindly good will toward him all through 

 the years they liad lived together were such 

 that she would drop every thing in an instant 

 when she found she could be helpful to him. 

 As he needed her help a good deal, she knew 

 all about his things, his clothing, his books, 

 his papers. Even when he threw things into 

 the waste-basket, thinking he should never 

 need them again, when something that had 

 been deemed useless came to be of great im- 

 portance, she would bring just that thing to 

 light. Sometimes he found she had worked 

 hours in accomplishing some little thing that 

 he had at some time expressed a slight wish to 

 have. Such was her fidelity and devotion to 

 every thing that concerned his whole life, that 

 he almost began to be afraid to suggest to her 

 his wants and wishes. Some of yon may be 

 tempte I to say she had no individuality of her 

 own. Not so. by any means. Was she not the 

 mother of his children? and was not that fact 

 alone sufficient to make her feel that, what- 

 ever was his interest, was her interest also ? 



Let us now go back to the point where he 

 came into his home. The weather was vvarm, 

 and the doors were all open. As his feet touch- 

 ed the carpet it gave back no sound. She was 

 intent on her work, and did not hear him. It 

 was his purpose to ask her whether she could 

 possibly find such and such a book or paper. 

 He stopped, however, without saying any thing. 

 She was intent on her work — something, doubt- 

 less, for their home. The setting sun threw a 

 ray across her head as it was bent over her 

 work, and revealed here and there a thread of 

 silver. Every hair in that dear head was loyal 

 and true to him and his, and the gray hairs 

 had come thus through "unwearied toil, that he 

 and the children might be a blessing to the 

 world, and that they might honor Christ Jesus. 

 As he stood there he remembered a temptation 

 he had just pas.«ed through. Please do not 

 misunderstand me. dear reader. This man had 

 learned, long before then, not to betray by any 

 outward act the confiict that was going on 

 within. The battles that he fought then were, 

 as a rule, seen only by the God above and him- 

 self. As he stood on the carpet and looked 

 toward his comrade and helper through life, he 

 said to himself, " No, no, NO I If Satan should 

 tear me limb from limb, while there is a sin- 

 gle drop of the blood of life in me, I will not. 

 even in thought, be unfaithful to her who has 

 been sucli a companion and helper thus far 

 through life."* He went away and did not ask 



* T tjelieve that God does at time.s see fit to lift 

 men at once clear from tlielr temptations. I think 

 that those who are far down with strong- drink are 

 often so lifted and freed from bondage; but I do 

 not 1)elieve that It is true, and I do not believe that 

 it is wisest or best for any iiuiit to l)e so emancipated, 

 that he nevermore has any more struggles with 

 temptation. In the case I have cited, after this 

 man became well rooted and grounded, and able to 

 withstand temptation, God in his mercy seemed to 

 think best to try him. Even our Savioi- said on the 

 cross, "My God ! my God ! why hast flimi forsaken 

 me V" And I believe that, thnmgh the ages since 



for the thing he wanted; and, in fact, he soon 

 forgot pretty much all about the whole affair; 

 but before he knew it, a strange heavenly 

 peace was hovering over him. A voice seemed 

 to say, "Well done, thou good and faithful 

 servant;" and for hours afterward it seemed to 

 him that angels were near. After the Savior 

 was tempted, we are told that " angels minis- 

 tered unto him." Do yon not see, friends, that 

 this man had simply followed the injunction of 

 the stirring text at the head of what I have 

 written—" Quit you liUe men, be strong "'? Do 

 you not think he was a better teacher to his 

 class of boys in Sunday-school than if this thing 

 had never happened? Was he not better able 

 to judge and decide, as cases of sin and crime 

 came up before him. than if he had never had 

 any such experience? I may be mistaken, 

 dear friends; but it seems to me as if some of 

 you who have written me think it is wrong for 

 a man to be tempted— or, at least, if he did his 

 duty as a Christian he would never have any 

 glimpse of what Satan has to offer. 



Think gently of the eiring; 

 You may not know the power 



With which the dark temptation came 

 In some unguarded hour. 

 And now. fiieiid Bemis, have you not more 

 respect for a man who acts contrary to the way 

 he is " built," or, in other words, who. through 

 the grace of God, builds himself over, than for 

 the one who yields to evil impulses, and then 

 excuses himself afterward by saying that that 

 is the way he was built, and he can't help it? 

 And, friend Pierce, I am sure that you too 

 agree with me that it did not hurt this man a 

 bit to be sorely tempted and tried. Yielding to 

 temptation is what hurts us, and we need not 

 be ashamed to acknowledge that we do have 

 lierce battles now and then. Why, we have 

 the Bible for it—" Count it all joy when ye fall 

 into divers temptations." And. lastly, let me 

 suggest to these other friends who have chal- 

 lenged me to say how God could consistently 

 permit sin and evil to tempt us or lead us 

 astray. Why. see here. A man could not be 

 manly unless he were human enough to know 

 what it is to be tempted. If God should raise 

 us to such a spiritual height as would entirely 

 free us from temptation, we should be men no 

 more; and our text, where it says, " Quit you 

 like men, be strong," would not apply to us. 

 Shall I define temptation a little more? Why, 

 it is simply having a keen love and zeal for the 

 things that this world furnishes. Mostof these 

 evils are all right if taken right; and the sin 

 and crime are often in the excessive, selfish, or 

 perverted use of God's gifts. A good strong 

 well man has strong and powerful impulses 

 from his physical unreasoning nature; and the 

 God part that is in him — the mind and soul that 

 God has given— are to rule and govern this un- 

 reasoning physical nature; and a man. to be 

 manly, must go out into and through the 

 world. He must be exposed to temptation and 

 sin; he must feel these sinful longings coursing 

 through his veins, or else he would not be man- 

 ly or worth any thing. It does him good to 

 hold back on these lower impulses. Tnless 



then, God has many times seen fit to let us pray 

 this same prayer in great distress. For the time 

 being he see ns to think best to let us battle alone, 

 as the father lets the child, when he is a little older, 

 make his way uiuiided. This world is to be redeem- 

 ed from sin, not by God alone, nor yet by man alone. 

 Eithei' way would be bad. Man and God are to 

 work together. He who expects that God is g()lng 

 todoitallwi^ go to ruin; and he who expects to 

 reclaim himself without God will also speedilj- tind 

 himself in the dust o1 humiliation. Yet t lieic is a 

 crisis often reached, when God seems to be pleased 

 to see his beloved children "quit themselves like 

 men, and be strong," as in the case I have cited. 



