Part 12

So stands the magnetic rock of worldliness, enchantments, and fascinations. Its attraction is slow, silent, and yet powerfully it draws the soul that comes within its range. Under its spell, bolt after bolt of good resolutions, clamp after clamp of Christian duty are drawn out, until at length the whole structure of Christian profession falls together, a pitiable wreck. Attracted by the things of time and sense, the affections become chilled, the mind step by step full of the world.

O for the poor victims, thousands of them, equally as promising, that have foundered like this unfortunate Demas! We can see them floating everywhere on the surface of society, like spiritual driftwood, alas! see them in the church keeping up a little outward appearance and forms of religion, but generally found absent from their pew and taking little or no interest in matters of the Church.

And in what way, coming to the second consideration, may we overcome this dangerous evil, worldliness? The Bible does not leave us without answer. As worldliness is a disposition of heart, it first aims at that. We are not to spend our time in saying this is worldly and that in formulating absolute and universal rules and binding church-members to them. It is not so much a matter of correct outward conduct as of correct inward principles. If the blood is in good condition, the complexion will be. If the heart is right, the conduct will be, and so the Apostle, getting at the root of the cause, says: "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed," by the renewing of your minds. Christianity is a spiritual power. When the soul opens to it, the Holy Spirit resets and new-creates the spirit of the man, so that he looks away from earth to heaven, and from the things of this world to the things of God and eternity. Another bent is given to his feelings and his aims. He walks in the light of a new sun. He feels the presence of a new law drawing him in a different direction. He sees with other eyes, estimates things by another rule, and is moved by other principles. And as he yields to this new graft upon his nature, he instinctively realizes what is contrary to it. He does not need outward rules, it is plainly told him from within. The written Word is at hand to direct in many cases, and in questions of doubt the honest consultation of his own moral sense, the life of faith in the soul, will tell him where the line is to be drawn between him and the world.

And to mention one other way. If you would overcome worldliness, look after your associations. The Bible is full of admonitions and illustrations to that effect, but one perhaps stands out in boldest type, the story of Lot. He moved out of his simple patriarchal life into Sodom, the world center of his age, and the result you know. His family became hopelessly worldly, he himself without influence and power among men, and the end was destruction of his estate and judgment upon his unfortunate wife.

If not quite as disastrous, the result is always the same in character. Keep godly associations and connections, attend to the house of God. We need the fellowship of God's people to respiritualize and recharge our depressed Christian lives. It should be a place of strengthening to you. Make its people your special companions and confidants; have some from among its membership with whom you are on terms of intimacy and friendship. It is wonderful how much we are influenced by our environment and fellowship; let us, then, be careful to live with God and with God's people.

To conclude,--God help us by His grace and Holy Spirit so to live in this world as to live above it and look beyond it, diligently use the means He has given us for strength and fidelity, and preserve us from the deadly snare of that great enemy of our soul, the godless, Christless world. Nor, let us ever remember, can we successfully meet this enemy without looking for strength to that divine source upon which our eyes are centered at this season, the cross of our adorable Savior. He that kneels in devotion at the foot of the cross, that has the love of Him that suffered and died for us upon that cross spread abroad in his heart, cannot divide that heart with his rival, and enemy, and obtain force and power to combat against his assaults. Without Him we can do nothing. With Him we can prevail.

Grant that I Thy passion view With repentant grieving, Nor Thee crucify anew By unholy living. How could I refuse to shun Every sinful pleasure, Since for me God's only Son Suffered without measure?

Amen.

THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.

Now when the Pharisee which had bidden Him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if He were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth Him; for she is a sinner.--_Luke 7, 39._

Our Lord was reclining at a social meal in the house of Simon the Pharisee, when, unbidden, a woman enters the room, and, standing at the feet of Jesus, bursts into tears. She had not come for that purpose, but stationed aside of the Lord, she was so overcome that she could not restrain her emotion, and as the tears fall thick and fast upon the feet of her Lord, she wipes them with her hair, and kissing them, anoints them with costly ointment. The whole transaction is so simple and touching that we feel at once interested in the stranger. It is a question much discussed by Bible students who this woman was. It has been said it was Mary Magdalene, but that is a mistake; nor was it Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus of Bethany. Her name, for wise and kind reasons, is withheld from the Church. But we are not left entirely in suspense about her history.

From several incidents in this chapter we infer that she lived in the City of Nain where our Lord raised up the widow's son. Furthermore, we are told that she was a sinner; that means here, she had abandoned herself to a life of sin and impurity, and finally, it seems quite probable, judging from the precious quality of the ointment used, that she was a person of some wealth and fortune. What fixes our attention most is that she was a sinner, and a penitent sinner at that. What was the precise character of her transgression we are not told; but whether she had been an adulteress, or, being unmarried, had yielded to her depraved dispositions, and was leading a life of criminal voluptuousness, one thing is certain, she had reason to weep and lament. If she was guilty of the former,--adultery, unfaithfulness to her own spouse,--what opinion must a woman form of herself that has committed this offense? And if she was guilty of the last-named transgression, prostitution, no tears could have been too bitter. Human words fail to describe the condition of a woman who has arrived at such a depth of dissoluteness as to eradicate every degree of modesty, hand herself over to infamy that overthrows the whole social life, and converts mankind into a state of putrefaction and decay. If there is one offense that is calculated to become a perpetual source of sorrow, piercing the heart with thousand arrows of sad reflection and remorse, fixing daggers in the souls of loving parents, and covering one's family with public disgrace, it is the offense which defiles the most sacred and inviolable relation of human life. And however it may be done, we ought never to speak of such crime in the way of extenuation. Holy Scripture characterizes such not as pitiable, but as criminal, not as imposed upon, but as deceiving, not as corrupt, but as corrupters, the only course for whom is to do as this penitent, prostrate themselves in tears at the feet of Him who will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.

These introductory remarks point to us the topic which shall employ our further contemplation this morning. We have considered the first great enemy of our souls, the devil, that wicked spirit who walketh about seeking whom he may devour, and the second, the world, and now we come to the third, the flesh, in contemplating which _we shall note a few of the most prevalent forms in which it manifests itself_, and secondly, _how we may overcome it_. May God grant His divine blessing!

There are topics, my beloved, which if a minister treats of them, he will be regarded indelicate and forward, and which if he does not treat of them, he will be charged with timidity and neglect of duty. His course, however, is clear. As a faithful steward of divine truth, he must declare the whole counsel of God, irrespective of criticism and fear, lest any man's soul be required at his hands. No diligent attendant of God's house will have failed to have marked the reigning note in the Epistle readings of the last Sundays. That note is a call to purity and sanctity of life. "Abstain from fornication,"--"But fornication and all uncleanness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints, for ye know that no whoremonger nor unclean person hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God,"--solemn words, and not superfluous words either, as little now as then, or since the beginning of man's sinful career. We turn to the pages of Holy Writ,--what is it that brought on that most terrible calamity, all except eight persons going down in the waters of a universal flood? The sacred volume answers: "When man began to multiply on the face of the earth, the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and took them wives of all which they chose. Then it repented the Lord that He had made man," and the judgment was let loose for destruction. What was it that caused Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities of the plain, to go down in fire and brimstone? The still gurgling sea of salt and death gives back the answer of its brutality and uncleanness. What caused the twenty and three thousand to perish in one day, their white carcasses to strew the wilderness sand? Moses tells us: fornication, sensuality, and impurity. And who is not bent with grief as he reads of David and of Solomon? And the hearts of mankind are as full of impurity now as then, in thoughts, words, deeds, and dress. There are spectacles to be seen in places of amusement, there are reports to be read in our public prints, which indicate little or no improvement, though decking themselves with the name of Christian and moral. What St. Paul wrote: "It is a shame even to speak of these things which are done of them in secret," is still true and too true, alas! of some professed Christians.

Fire, my beloved, is a most valuable, an indispensable agent of the human race. What would we do without it? But fire must remain within bounds. Woe if it overleaps them! Then it becomes a terrible and destructive power! Man's body, likewise, is a great and noble instrument, a fine handiwork of God, with powers for good; but it must remain within its bounds, it must always be kept as a servant in subjection. Woe to man's happiness and the welfare of others when it overleaps its legitimate bounds, and the servant becomes the master, a tyrant, and a destroyer! "I keep under my body and bring it into subjection," says Paul. Our great business as Christians is to learn to control our body, its lusts and desires; to subdue and master it, to bring it into a pure and honorable service, above and beyond its own miserable gratification. "Dearly beloved," writes St. Peter, "I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." Yes, back in the days of Mount Sinai, God voiced His will in words of fire and thunder on stony tablets: "Thou shalt not commit adultery," which means we are to lead a chaste and decent life in word and deed, and each curb, guard, and control the sinful desires of the flesh.

Nor is this unchastity, the overstepping of the proper relation between the sexes, the sinful indulgence of man's lower nature, the only temptation that comes from the flesh. From the long list enumerated by the Apostle in his letters we shall select one other.

That is _intemperance_, the too free indulgence in stimulating drinks. Nor can it be questioned that a word in this respect is occasionally in place. The history of strong drink is the history of ruin, of tears, and of blood. It is perhaps the greatest curse that ever scourged the earth. Other evils have slain their thousands, but this has slain its tens of thousands. It is simply impossible to picture the crime of which it is the cause. It is the Mississippi among the rivers of wretchedness. It is an evil which is limited to no age, no nation, no sex, no period and call of life. It has taken the poor man at his toil and the rich man in his palace, the statesman in the halls of legislature, and the workingman on the street, the preacher in the pulpit, and the layman in the pew, and plunged them into a common ruin.

Since the time that Noah came out of the ark and planted vineyards and drank of their wines, nearly five thousand years ago, we see the foul and murderous track, destroying some of the mightiest intellects, some of the happiest homes, some of the noblest specimens of man. It has supplied every jail, penitentiary, almshouse, and charity hospital with inmates, and flooded every city with bestiality and crime. It empties the pockets, disgraces the character, brutalizes the affections, brings disease to the body and poison to the intellect. It does infinitely worse,--it bars the soul out of heaven; for thus it is written: "No drunkard shall enter the kingdom of heaven."

Such is the result of appetites indulged, what it means when the flesh gains the supremacy, when a person turns himself over to become a slave of his lusts and excesses. Nor let any one say as he looks upon such a miserable victim of this vice: "I shall never be like him." God grant that we may not, but "let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." The drunkard once thought the same. No one can be certain that he will not yet fill a drunkard's grave, unless he learn and employ the lessons which God has given us to overcome this enemy, the flesh.

And which are these lessons, and how may this enemy be overcome? We shall mention two. The first is this: "Keep thy heart with all diligence." Our enemies are not only without, they are within. It is our Savior who remarks: "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adultery, fornication," and other shameful sins. And the enemies within are the more dangerous, just as a traitor in our city is worse than the enemy without the walls. So, then, our first attention must be given to that. Keep, _i. e._, watch, garrison the heart.

How? Keep from thoughts and purposes of sin. As long as we live in this sinful body, in the midst of a perverse generation and unchastisement, our eyes will behold scenes, our ears hear language, our imagination suggest pictures that are impure and lewd, but it's for the Christian to watch that such gazes of the eye do not become purposeful, not to permit the imagination loose reins and range, that unvirtuous thoughts are not indulged in, but repressed; as Dr. Luther expresses it: "You cannot prevent the devil from shooting arrows of evil thoughts into your heart, but take care that you do not let such arrows stick and grow there."

The young Christian, who buys a ticket to the average theater, with its abounding sensualities, has no right to complain if his imagination is impure. Can any one take coals of fire into his bosom and not be burned, handle pitch and not be soiled? The man and woman who delight in reading lewd books, sensational, spicy newspaper reports, who gaze upon indecent pictures, suggestive sights as they are euphemistically termed, who listen to smutty stories, evil communications, foolish jestings, as St. Paul calls them; the woman who mixes in loose company, dresses indecently, and allows the thoughts to dwell upon any subjects which connect with such sin, need not wonder if the heart is invaded and influenced with unholy sentiments, and fleshly appetites run riot. Guard your heart, what transpires therein, and what enters in, with all diligence.

It was a wise man, in fact, the wisest of all men, one who, speaking from own sad experience, gave this advice. Heed it, my dear hearer, heed it!

And, again, the second lesson furnished by the holy Apostle is this: "Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." There is a mine of wisdom in that. Our religion not only tells us what not to do, it also tells us what to do; it is not only negative, it is positive. There are two ways of dealing with temptation. The one way is negative, the other is positive. "Thou shalt not commit adultery," that is negative. We are to eradicate vice, that is positive.

The effectual safeguard against drink is not prohibition. Neither the most cunningly devised laws, nor the most unrelenting persecution of liquor dealers, nor any other device of man can arrest this terrible evil. To successfully combat it, to make the poor victim a worthy and honored member of society, requires some stronger and firmer basis, some more controlling motive than mere earthly considerations. "Put on the Lord Jesus," is St. Paul's plain direction, "and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof." The eye that has gazed upon the cross of Calvary with penitence and faith, the heart that has been regenerated by the washing of the Holy Ghost, and in whose soul is diffused the Spirit of God, and who strives to walk in the Spirit, he, and only he, can escape the temptations of the dreaded serpent of intemperance. And so, whatever the habit, you cannot wrestle successfully with a vicious habit, unless you cultivate a higher and different taste, a love for the things of God's Spirit. Life, to be safe, must stand for something, not simply against something, must express itself in the spirit, not simply suppress itself in the lust of the flesh.

From away back in the past comes to us a voice, the voice of a young man who, when tempted by the dark-eyed adulteress in Egypt, said: "How, then, can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" Oh, that the young and the old would let these words of Joseph incessantly ring in their ears! A positive attachment, devotion to God will prompt us to be and to do what He wants you to be and to do, and as it inspires you to do what is right, it keeps you from doing that which is wrong.

And here again, to conclude, in our combat against this enemy of our soul we cannot stand upright unless we have some mightier power to sustain us. We know as Lenten Christians whence this power flows. How can any one who has looked up to that divine Sufferer in faith crucify Him anew by unholy living? The thought of what He has done for us, the love that prompted Him to shed His holy, precious blood for our sins, will restrain us from falling a victim to this insidious and wicked enemy. The Lord grant us repentance over past falls, gracious forgiveness, and strength!

Plenteous grace with Thee is found, Grace to cover all my sin; Let the healing streams abound, Make and keep me pure within.

Amen.

FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT.

Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!--_Matt. 18, 7._

It has grown a custom with us to regard on this particular Sunday some particular phase of sin. Now there is a sin which very many people think little about; that is the sin of making others sin. They feel that they are accountable for their own sins, the sins of their hands, tongues, and thoughts, but as to responsibility for what others have done, they feel no guilt that belongs exclusively to them. And yet, when one reflects on the matter; when we consider how we are all bound up with one another, what influence we exert, what our words and deeds cause others to do, how, without our knowing it, others have taken our example to encourage themselves in what is wrong, thinking they could not go wrong if following in our steps; when we reflect that the first sin committed in the world was the sin of making others sin, that of the devil tempting Eve to disobey God, and that the first evil consequence of man's fall was that Eve, when she had sinned herself, was to make her husband sin also,--we begin to realize that it is a real sin, and a common sin, the sin of making others do wrong; nor can there be any doubt or mistake as to our Lord's judgment concerning it.

Our blessed Savior, in the course of His ministry, denounced woes upon other sins. He said: "Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Woe unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!" But when He said: "Woe unto the world because of offenses!" He qualifies it; He bitterly adds: "For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." It could have been no ordinary occasion, it can be no common sin that could have drawn from the merciful lips of our Redeemer, that could have wrung from His loving heart, so tremendous a condemnation.

Let us regard, then, _I. In what way we may cause others to sin. II. How we may prevent it._ May God's Spirit make the words spoken profitable and instructive to every one of you!

Causing others to sin may be done in two ways: by direct temptation and by evil example. Sin loves companionship; having done wrong themselves, men look for others to do wrong with them. There are but few sins that men can do alone. They require some one to sin with them.

There is nothing an infidel loves so much as when he can gain the ear of some unsophisticated person to fill his mind with ungodliness and infamy. The vile libertine never gloats more in fiendish glee than when he can, by flattery or love of dress and amusement, make some innocent girl the tool of his debauched sensuality. It seems the delight of some to teach others the habit of taking God's name in vain. What shall we say of those foul brothels that, like poisonous mushrooms, pollute our cities, leading men's steps down to the house of the strange woman; what of the conventional drinking-houses and pool-rooms and gambling dens, the haunts of profanity, intemperance, and profligacy; what of the playhouses with their usual performances, beautifying vice and placing a low estimate on marriage and morals? What are those but just so many places and occasions of direct temptation to sin? And those who conduct and foster them are under the condemnation of this text. What are they but vultures that feed on the carrion of sin, making men's lusts and depraved animal passions a source of ungodly gain? No words would be a more truthful sign to place over the entrance of such places than these of Matt. 18, 7: "Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!"

But this is not the only way in which men may transgress this text. There are, be it said to the credit of our race, men who have not much scruple about doing wrong themselves, but who have not so far lost nobleness and generosity of mind as not to shrink from directly tempting others who are as yet free from guilt. They think little of the sin themselves, still they would not have others share their bad experience. However, though they would not like to bring on their souls the sin of directly tempting others, they forget what judgment they are heaping on themselves by their evil example. And here it is that we are all more or less concerned.