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wnsldor the sorrow and suffering that follow in
E wake of sin and yet' continue to. sin. It is
not until lie repents turns back that there is
anv hope for him. The sense of sin precedes
salvation "God" be morciful to me to sinner"
L the prayer that reaches the throne. It un
locks the door to God's forgiveness.
Fortunately, repentance can be as instantane
ous as the decision that leads one into wrong
A man may contemplate stealing for a long
time; he may count the mony and calculate the
possibility c,f escape, but it only requires an in
stant to become a thiof--tho instant in which he
"resolves to take that .which is not his own.
So one may ponder oyer a "wrorig, real or
fancied, and cherish "revenge, but it only takes
an instant to resolve to be a murderer. .
So the prodigal sen doubtless reviewed his
downward course and recalled the pleasure of
his home, but it required only the instant to say,
'I will arise and. go to my father."
"DO VIOLENCE TO NO MAN" ' :
John the Baptist was a mighty preacher. He
poured his whole soul into his work,; his words
shook his hearers loose from indifference and
brought them face1 to face with their own ini
quity. His words penetrated their hearts and
stirred new resolves.
He was not only a preacher, but he had the
wisdom to advise those who came unto him'.
The inquirers ar0 divided by Luke intoHhree
tlasses. Reversing theorder"given- in Gospel,
let us consider first John's answer to the soldiers
who asked, "And what shall we do?"
Ho said unto them: "Do violence to no man.
neither accuse any- fa'lsely; and ho coutent with
your wages." He dealt with-,he special tempta
tions that they were subject to.
"Do violence to no man" it is difficult for
one to have power without abusing" it.
A soldier has not only the physical-advantage
that comes with, a strong body, hut he has- the
greater advantage that comes with the use of
weapons. ' -' "
The dlfferonce-.hetween tlieTarmed andthe, un
armed is much greater today than it was1 in the
day of John the Baptist. We" have the revolver
end the repeating rifle, the machine gun and
jnells. During the recent war X fcet a manu
facturer who had a contract for three million
shells; each was guaranteed to burst into, one
Hundred and twelve pieces think of the butch
ery! v
Today a few are a match for a multitude, but
won nineteen hundred years ago the soldier
was able to extort from the civilian, and John
warned them against yielding to this temptation.
ACCUSE NO ONE FALSELY "
. ''Ne,tJer accuse any falsely." Whon injustice
irhn i ls usually excused by false accusation,
loo sm of false sweating. is so common that the
ninth j commandment is directed against it:
fhv ., alt not bear false witness against
my neighbor."
J!thi?5 sin anst which ho warned, "Be
E,? tU your wages," might he construed
Phi0m,l?.g re3Pet for government.
ine soldier is the agent of the government, its
aiJrL ,,, exerciso of authority. Mutiny
facnu. B? ers is a uiSh crime and desire for
an uprisin WagGS iS sometimes the causo of such
"WhnfV11,? nubUcans came to John and said,
BinZof ll WQ d0?" hls answer dealt with the
than 7i;Lomi.non among them "Exact no more
Tho rniiWoh Is a'PPinted you."
one ln?i ction ot taes does not tend to make
ainlX .' but tho tax gatherer arouses the
about hH ?oseatme.nt whon' there is no doubt
Ihorlzprf mtBrity. If fo that which he is au
becomrS o co,lloct ae adds graft for himself, ho
John w? ,,bject of ntempt.
asy a? IJmako the way of public.offlcials as
W duty. e by keePinS them within the lino
'Buffi8 ADVIGE FOR- EVERY MAN
tatendo? f BaPtlst's answer to the multitude was
shall Z , " To the people's query, "What
ttw ih8xn?" h0 Tolled:
torn thai !ih two coats' lot him lmPart t0
hm do iiv i nono' and he that hath meat, let
This i vQwlBQ'
man chord StrGSS n symPath7, the deepest hu-
Wsqu, sympathy that causes most of tho
The i ti 8 worW. -
H buf iComniaillinents forbid the doing of
Pathv 5? enco t0 them Htiot built upon
traiu frnm . ? muat as a matter of justice, re
R cold wm?iHirliurinB others, but this would be
han iustico thero were nothing warmer in it
8 bly justice would approaoh more nearly
waySymPathy i U -terpreted in a larger
Social injustice l nff .u
among the poor. When LrT i 0t want
poorest suffer first n i J""? "mes co,ne o
escape suffering L L nost 4D"wo some
PoorfopnotmnZnr 1!nc ,to condemn the
they are nof fP "l
Potoenl P3SKt irtaliihiU
sympathy which all should fee?- L sv nn- hv
that is invoked when one who has bocome. ?c
quainted with one who needs uoconi ac-
menUmfTl1118 in ho sccond command
mont, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy-
That does not mean that one is not to love
oMfm' he.did n0t love llimself " would be
himself Va another t0 be loved as he loves
The love that one has for himself is based
upon necessity for self preservation; this is the
love to which sympathy appeals. If we feel
about others' needs as we do about our own we
will share with them to the extent of our ability
and their need.
Organized charity has to some extent relieved
the needy, but to the extent that it has done so
it has denied to the individual the real pleasure
that comes from a personal knowledge of aid
personally given to those who deserve help.
COURIERS OF CHRIST
' No wonder some among the many hearing
John asked in their hearts whether he wore the
Christ. The wisdom that he manifested set him
apart from those to whom they were accustomed.
John promptly answered them all in the samu
mT
way:
"I indeed baptize you with water; but one
mightier than I cometh, the latchot of whose
shoes I am not worthy to unloose; he shall bap
tize you with the Holy Ghost ar.d with fire."
He recognized that he was not the looked-for
Messiah; he was content to be the forerunner;
he must prepare the way. He understood the
nature of the expected One and was proud to
precede Him. Ho was a courier; he ran ahead
and announced the coming of his Messiah..
And may not all of us be, in a smaller way,
couriers of Christ? Unworthy to unloose the
latchet of His shoes and yet each of us able to
turn the attention of some wanderer to the One
who is mighty to save by His blood, to inspire
by His example, and to guide by His wisdom.
JESUS TEMPTED OF THE DEVIL
By WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
BIBLE TEXT LESSON FOR OCTOBER 22.
(Luko 4:1-13)
And Jesus being: full of the Holy Ghost returned
from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the
WBSe40'days tempted of the devil.. And in those
days he did eat nothing: and when they were
eDift helevirslfdSf him, If thou bo the Son
of God. Command this stone that it be made
3,nr i., vs sr. w
W0ArI'di JLSTJoM 0untonhim, All this power will
"'if thou therefore wilt worship me, all hall he
"iSSi Jos,, answered and "''Sloul,',:!?
X"ffie'S5Siti"&i"."Ari only .halt
thou serve. . . Tornsalem. and set him
And he broue-h t him to rug aiem, Jf
K ootho Von 'J? gSo? cast thyself down from
hCFor;it is written, He shall give his angels charge
over tlice. to keep tlico. thce Iest
And In their "anas inej against a stone.
''" JSi." '53 SW. is". u
not nt the Lort t,,y Gmljcd aJ ti(j toroptatlon,
bfiUSffl frhlmjorjjsea.,
No chapter of 'he Bible ..olds greater oncour-
ffTSSA'lW s the dovil s bold
St'f.eaY'XXn- to be found in
son it brings to ory "' John and received
tUeArnestaWtLboafP "wne approvai, Christ was
led by tho Spirit Into tho wildornesa,. where Ho :
romainod for 40 days preparing Himself for tho
voric which Ho wan about to undortako, Horo
Ho was tempted of tho dovilan actual experi
ence which cannot be explained away aa poetry
or allegory.
The loBgon that thin fourth chapter of Luko,
and the same chapter in Matthew, hold for uu
naturally dividos itself into two parta, one deal-
ng with the tempter nnd the other with tho
temptations.
la there a personal devil?
Biblo passages loavo no doubt of it. Nothing
is more clearly atated .or more ropealedly em
phasized than that there la a-personal devil
invisible, but present and active.
CHRIST'S TESTIMONY OF THE DEVIL
Christ says: "I behold Satan fall as lightning
from heaven."
In Job wo read: "And tho Lord. said unto
Satan, Whence coraest thou? ThonSatnn an
swered the Lord, and said, Prom going to and
fro in. the earth, and from walking up and down
in it."
Moses tolls us that in the form of a sorpont
tho dovil tempted Evo.
Satan is represented as presumptuous, proud,
powerful, wicked, malignant, subtlo, deceitful,
iiorce and cruel. Ho Is described as "tho prlnco
of the power of the air," and "tho princo of
this world." ; ..
Luke tells us that Satan entered Into Ju)dis
this is the explanation of tho betrayal of Christ.
John also brings this indictment against tho
devil: "And supper being ended, tho devil Hay
ing now put into tho heart of Judas Iscariot,
Simon's son, to betray Him."
The wicked are described as "tho children ot
tho devil," us "turning aside after" him, na. do
ing the lusts of tho devil, and being, possessed
by, blindod by, deceived by, ensnarod:.4nd
troubled' by the devil.. These references. . ?aro
sufllcient to show that the devil is not 'an imag
inary person or a figure of speech or a oyrobol
of evil. aO .
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GOD TEMPTS NO MAN
But tho oxistencd of a devil is proven, by; In- -dividual
experiences as well as. by quotation! .
from Holy Writ. 3.,;
Who has not been made uwaro of his pres
ence? v Whisperings come to man from without; they
do not come from God "neither tompteth ho
any man" and they do not emanate from tho
ego the man himself. They come from tho
outside and are at war with God's plans and
with God's purposes. Tho straggle between the
better self and tho devil is titanic and continu
ing. Even so consecrated a life as Paul's could not
rid itself of Satan's hated presence. In his dis
tress he cried out, "When I. would do good, cyIX
is present with mo."
If one who suffered shipwreck, was beaten
with stripes and threatened with death must
continually be buffeted by this liar and father
of lies, what hope have those of lesser faith and
devotion of traveling beyond tho devil's power
to annoy and to harass?
Luke tells us that this brazen and impudent
enemy of all good 'dared to approach tho sinless
Saviour and to test Him with tho groatost of
temptations that can bo placed before man. It
is a consolation for us to know that Christ "wan
in all points tempted like as we are," and that
He has premised that His strength shall bo suf
ficient for us in the hours of trial.
THE FIRST TEMPTATION
There are many weak points in man's armor:
he has many easily besotting sins. The devil '
selected three points of attack on Christ arid
each time the Saviour answered in the language
of the Bible.
The first temptation was addressed to His .
physical needs after 40 days of fasting and it "
was strengthened by an appeal to Christ's cpn
scious power: "It thou be the Son of God,
command this stone that it be made bread."
Christ needed only to manifest His power to
rebuke Satan and satisfy His awn hunger; tho
power that could make the water gush forth
from the smitten rock could convert stones Into
bread. But Christ answered:
"It Is written, That man shall not live by.
bread alone, but by every word of God."
The answer silenced tho tempter; Christ lifted
the discussion to a higher plane, a plane to
which tho devil could not ascend.
This Is a strategy of which the Christian may
well avail himself. When we are tempted, to
allow ourselves to be absorbed in thought for
the body and indulgence in physical pleasure
.'!
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