JULY 15, 1914 



563 



our baser natures and inflame our lower 

 passions. If we walk alone we are sure to 

 blunder and stumble into some of these. 

 We are like children that know not the pit- 

 falls and the snares. We must be led. 

 Lord, take us by the hand, and lead us, lead 

 us away from temptation." 



James says that God tempteth no man, 

 and he is right. George Eliot says, " The 

 devil tempts us not ; it is we who tempt 

 him, beckoning his skill with opportunity," 

 and she is right. Nothing from outside ever 

 tempts man. Temptation always comes from 

 within. But there are certain objects and 

 persons that act like a lighted candle to the 

 powder-magazine within. Now, there is 

 little use in praying God to remove the 

 powder-magazine from within us. God put 

 the powder-magazine there for a purpose. 

 Neither is it incumbent upon us to pray 

 God to blow out all the candles in the world. 

 If all the candles that tempt humanity were 

 to be snuffed out, this would be a monoto- 

 nous and melancholy world indeed. Virtue 

 in connection with temptation consists 

 neither in the removal of the powder-mag- 

 azine, which is the internal capacity to do 

 evil, nor in the extinction of the candle, 

 which is the external stimulus to evil. It 

 consists in walking so carefully and circum- 

 spectly that the flame never gets near enough 

 to set fire to the powder. 



But there are two facts which make sucli 

 moral chalk-line walking extremely difficult 

 — our ignorance and our curiosity. We 

 blunder into temptation because we are 

 ignorant of the location of the pits and the 

 snares. We coquette with temptation be- 

 cause we are curious. Although we have no 

 disposition to be caught, we love to "nibble" 

 at the devil's bait. Although we have no 

 intention to invest, we like to paw over the 

 sales on the devil's bargain counter. Al- 

 though we have no desire to get burned, we 

 delight to play with fire. Although we have 

 no desire for a ducking, we like to see just 

 how far we can skate on thin ice. Because 

 of our ignorance and our curiosity we need 

 a strong arm to lead us — the arm of one 

 who knows the snares and steers us away 

 from the pits — the arm of one who will 

 firmly drag us away when, like little chil- 

 dren, we hang back to pat the pretty redhot 

 stove or to play with the beautiful rattle- 

 snake. Lead us — so that we do not stumble 

 or wander into temptation. Lead us — not 

 into temptation. 



Savior, lead me lest I stray ; 



Gently lead me all the way ; 



I am safe when by thy side, 



I would in thy hand confide. 



The next petition is closely linked to the 

 preceding one. " And lead us, not into 



temptation, hut deliver us from evil." We 

 can not always fiee from temptation. Duty 

 and necessity often demand that v^e go 

 where temptation is thickest. Then we need 

 to pray for deliverance — " Deliver us from 

 evil." " Lord, lead us, so that we may not 

 ignorantly stumble or wantonly wander into 

 temptation. But if duty demands that we 

 lake the path where ten thousand tempta- 

 tions lurk in ambush; if, to develop the 

 moral fiber of our character, it becomes nec- 

 essary for us to resist temptation even as 

 the resistance of the tossing storm puts the 

 iron into the majestic oak, then, Lord, 

 give us the strength to overcome, that we 

 may be delivered from evil, even as the 

 soldier is delivered from the enemy that lies 

 vanquished under his heel." 



To pass by on the other side when there 

 is no occasion to go near temptation is both 

 wisdom and virtue; but to walk away from 

 duty because the path of duty leads through 

 temptation is both selfish and cowardly. The 

 medieval monks who locked themselves be- 

 hind stone walls away from the allurements 

 and temptations of the world believed them- 

 selves most self-sacrificing and brave. But 

 were they not rather most cowardly and 

 selfish ? "I pray not that thou shouldest 

 take them out of the world," petitioned 

 Jesus, " but that thou shouldest keep them 

 from evil." Duty never runs from tempta- 

 tion. Duty meets danger bravely, fights 

 heroically ; and, fighting, prays, " Deliver 

 us from the evil." 



The noblest character, too, is not grown 

 in glass houses, shielded from every blast 

 and chill of temptation. It is developed on 

 the bleak hilltop where the wild storm 

 breaks most furiously. There is no snap in 

 the character of the one who always has a 

 soft snap. A wealthy mother was lamenting 

 the puny, sickly condition of her child. 

 Another mother, a wholesome, practical 

 woman, spoke thus : " You are killing the 

 child with mistaken care. The little thing 

 hardly knows what it is to put her foot on 

 the ground. She is wheeled in a cab all day 

 long. The little dear hardly knows what her 

 feet and legs are made for, and she is not 

 allowed to use them in a normal way. Put 

 her on the ground and let her walk and run 

 and fall down. Suppose she does get some 

 blue bruises. She needs more color. Turn 

 her barefoot with a simple, sensible dress 

 on. Suppose she does stub her big toe. 

 Blue forehead and blue toes are better than 

 ' blue pills.' I wish / had her for a while. 

 I'd have her rosy, and fat as a little pig." 



It was for the sake of Timothy's character 

 that Paul advised him to endure hardship. 

 The ancients believed that the strength of a 



