The question of temptations is a very interesting one, for the
Christian. There are many who find their greatest trouble in
temptations. They are not able to distinguish a temptation from a sin,
and confusing them, they look upon themselves as very great sinners,
because they have very great temptations. This is a false idea. A
temptation is a trial. All temptations are not evil. There are also
temptations that lead us to noble action. God is not tempted of evil,
neither does He tempt to evil, but He does tempt us to the good,
and indeed, He permits Satan to ply us with temptations, and we by
overcoming these temptations may grow strong and pure.
Christ, the sinless man, was in the world, full of temptations, but He
overcame them. His temptations were genuine, they were sinful, they
would have proven destructive, but He overcame them and He overcame
them without sin.
It matters not what the temptation may be, however dark and sinful, it
is with you as to the result of that temptation in your life.
“Yield not to temptation,
For yielding is sin.”
It is the yielding that is sin. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you. Make friends of him and he will live with you. He will become a
part of you, he will drag you down, he will work your destruction.
How often we realize that dark, sinful thoughts, pass through our
minds. They are sins like a black cloud, sweeping over the beautiful
landscape of the soul. Well, does this constitute sin? By no means. It
is only when these thoughts remain in the mind, when we harbor them,
when we become fond of them; this is what forms sin in the soul. It is
your work to expel them, to drive them out, to hate them.
Paul said, When I would do good evil is present with me. How true
this is with us today. Even in our holiest exercises, such as prayer,
praise, worship, sin is found lurking in our aspirations after God.
Selfishness enters our prayers, selfishness frequently inspires our
holiest hopes, selfishness poisons our love, doubt weakens our faith,
and so we find in our religion and its life, the element of sin. This
is the death in the pot.
So the whole Bible deals with the problem of sin. The plan of salvation
is simply the plan for removing sin from within and from without us.
The mission of Christ is to save the sinner from his sins. Frequently
Christians get the idea that salvation is to bring us at last to
Heaven; well, that is in a manner true, but remember that is the
last work of salvation, bringing us to Heaven. Salvation deals with
thousands of things in our lives here, before we are ready for Heaven.
And indeed we can never enter Heaven with sin in our natures. Sin must
be rooted out here in some manner. So we have our Elisha, he can and
does remove the death from the pot. He is the bread of life, the water
of life, in which there is no poison.
I beg you, therefore, to take this text with you. Ponder over its deep
meaning. Apply its truths to your own life, come to our Elisha that He
may remove the death from your pot. Try and understand the deep meaning
of your religion and that it is a rule of life for every-day living.
That it furnishes you with the wisdom and the power to overcome all the
sin within you and all the temptations without you. Therefore watch and
pray. Be diligent in season and out of season and put your trust in
your Elisha, and He will make all things work together for your good.
This is His promise.
The Reward of the Righteous.
“For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which
the Lord your God giveth you.”--Deut. 12:9.
A description of Paradise is always acceptable to the humble believer.
He is seeking the rest, the inheritance, which God has so abundantly
promised in His word. So our God has not omitted to give us glimpses of
this Heavenly rest. We have gathered together our own sweet bundle of
sentiments regarding it. They are ever a blooming garden of flowers by
our pathway. We are to so live that we may daily prepare for this Home
of the Soul. Hezekiah was ordered to set his house in order. He was
reminded that he would soon be called to enter into this rest prepared
for the people of God. He had something to do first, however--to set
his house in order.
We sadly realize that in the study of this deep question our knowledge
of that country which is our eternal home, can be but faint. Paul saw
something of its glory but would not undertake to describe it. And
the glowing descriptions which John gives us in his Revelation, are
most difficult to understand. They are figures, they are poorly drawn
pictures, outlines, photographs, of that Celestial Clime and its Holy
Inhabitants. But it confirms our hopes, invigorates our strength,
ennobles our efforts. Then let us study today something and somewhat of
this Happy Land.