1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTLTRE. 



838 



8atan who wliispeied to liim that it was a 

 piece of folly, and quite uiiiit'cessary, when 

 he prayed in" the garden that the cup might 

 pass from hira ; but when the prayer was 

 not granted, Jesus w;is able to say, " Never- 

 theless, not my will, l)ut thine, be done/' 

 After this struggle with temptation, I can 

 imagine that S:ilan left liim; but I am 

 inclined to think, liowever, that he came 

 back during these last agonies. Perhaps 

 tlie liery hend was near with his taunting 

 suggestions when Jesus breatlied tliose last 

 words, "'My (iod. my (tOd, why hast thou 

 forsaken me V " 



Now. I have reason to think, dear friends, 

 that it is (piite likely Satan will try to tempt 

 and torment us, evtin up to our very last 

 moments. If tiie Savior was called upon to 

 battle with him, wliy sliouldii't we V This 

 is true, however, and may (iod have the 

 praise for it, that the same grace that car- 

 ried Jesus through will carry ui^ through. 

 For a long time it has seemed beyond my 

 comprehension wliy (Jod's plan must in- 

 clude this terrible" and agonizing torture. 

 Why should God plan for his only son a 

 death by human hands that strikes us with 

 horror V Again I feel my weakness, and 

 again 1 feel how utterly unfit I am to try to 

 grapple with this irreat subject; and yet, as 

 I study these closing words of our Savior, a 

 grandeur and glory begin to unfold them- 

 selves to my comprehension, sucli as I have 

 never seen' before. (Jod wants us to be 

 strong and brave ; therefore, in giving us 

 a model life to pattern ours by, it must 

 necessarily include a life of courage and 

 bravery and self-sacrifice amid awful suffer- 

 ing. We are called upon to endure hard- 

 ship in suffering here in this world. Yes, 

 for some reason that we can not understand 

 or comprehend, it seems to be necessary for 

 us to learn to endure suffering; and the 

 question that confronts us is. Shall we shirk 

 it and evade responsibilities and trials, or 

 shall we face tlif^ni and learn to take them 

 with Christian-like fortitude and courage V 



We are tinally getting close to our text. 

 dear friends. IVter was going to deliver the 

 Master by fighting. He was acting out just 

 what he said sometime before, that these 

 things should not be ; and even if all the rest 

 of the disciples had lied, frightened by the 

 mob and soldiers, he was going to give them 

 to understand tliat Jic was ready to fight, 

 even if he had to tight alone. lie could not 

 get the idea out of his head but that the 

 Master needed fighters. Jesus seemed In- 

 clined to let them go on, without any effort 

 whatever to escape the impending violence 

 — ''As a sheep l)efore lier shearers is dumb."" 

 Peter deemed it a good deal easier to fight 

 than to be trodden upon. He was one of 

 those people who vehemently declare they 

 are not going to be run over and trampled 

 in the mvid by any man. After all Christ's 

 teachings, after all his examples, Peter had 

 no glimpse of a Cluist-like spirit. Jesus 

 said, ''The cup which my Father hath giv- 

 en me. shall I not di-iiik it ?' Peter said, by 

 his actions, "' No, we are not going to submit 

 to any thing of that sort." Poor Peter ! 

 what a breaking-down and humbling of that 

 iiau.'^lity spirit tlie;-3 came a few hours later ! 



Peter"s fault, however, was more of the 

 head than of the heart. He had no deliber- 

 ate purpose of doing wrong. There was no 

 cup tor I til) I, to drink which he was rejecting. 

 He seemed unconscious of the fact that 

 there was a good deal of wicked pride in his 

 heart, and that he lu^eded some great lessons 

 in humility. The cup was a hard one for 

 the Savior to drink, just as many of our 

 cups are hard for us. For a time he felt as 

 if lie could not go through with it. Hut the 

 better spirit at length ti-iumplied ; and aft- 

 er the triumph he speaks of it as his glory. 

 '"Now is the Son of man glorified.'' Arid 

 the glory that lie alludes to is the ignomini- 

 ous (leath on the cross. 



I presume, dear friends, that you and 1 

 will be called upon to pass tlirough terrible 

 trials — trials that will make our tlesli creep. 

 and perhaps our beating hearts stand still. 

 Then comes the awful (luestion before us, 

 "The cup which my Father hath given me, 

 shall I not drink it V " Some of us will per- 

 haps say, " I can not, I can not." And per- 

 haps we shall turn away and give it up. 

 AVliat then? Why, if we liave let inclina- 

 tion rule instead of a sense of duty, we have 

 started in tlie Devil's service, and the end 

 will be the bottomless pit. I do not know 

 what these trials will be, nor in what shape 

 they may come ; but I believe they come to 

 all of us. May be the ajipetite for strong 

 drink comes over you as it never came over 

 you before. Perhaps you lie awake, tossing 

 in torture because of Satan's promptings 

 and suggestions. It may be teri-ibly hard to 

 bear; but, my fi'iend, "you will simply be 

 tried as the Master was tried. "The cui> 

 which my Father hath given m;*. shall I not 

 drink it V " 



My recent visit to the jail, mentioned in 

 Our Neighliors, suggests anotJier form of 

 temptation. Suppose you know it to be 

 your duty, before (iod and before man, to 

 take one of the opposite sex to be your com- 

 panion for life ; but over and against this 

 duty, suppose circumstances are such that 

 you love another, and that the way is open 

 before you to do as you choose. I know it is a 

 terrible thing to be united for life to some 

 one you do not love. Satan whispers to you. 

 that you had better die first than make such 

 a sacrifice. The recording angel suggests 

 that (lutu is the path of peace, even tliough 

 it should include death in reality. The one 

 course may seem to you to be a- whole life of 

 self-sacrifice; but through this life of self- 

 sacrifice, Christ the Savior may be by your 

 side. The other course seems to offer you 

 tlie greatest hajipiness you can conceive of. 

 for personal inclination can appeal tremen- 

 dously hard, as I liapi)en to know. liut 

 there" can be no Christ with it— no IJibie, no 

 religion, no (iod. Well, it is a, sad fact, my 

 friend, that there are thousands who do 

 choose to follow inclination, even tliough it 

 cutoff (iod and heaven, and the peace that 

 the Savior can give. Now, when you com(^ 

 to such a crisis as this, just read over this 

 text — " Tlie cuj) wliich my Father hath giv- 

 en me, shall 1 not drink itV Go down on 

 your knees, ask (iod to help you do your 

 iluty, and go forward. Take u'p the cross, 

 ilin] follow him ; and let me wdusi)ev to you, 



