OCR Text |
Show DEVIL BEARS TOO MUCH BLAME Rev. J. K Carver. In his sermon at the First Presbyterian church yes- terday evening, said: The belief in a devil is but one I phase of the realization of sin and j evil. Many who do not care to bear the burden of their own folly arc very ready to excuse their lack 01 righteousness right-eousness and make a show of reason for their failings, are ready to blame it upon the. or a, devil v ho tempted and overcame 'hem. Take it all in all, the devil has to bear tho blame for very much that should be laid at the door of ordinary men and worn-; worn-; en. He is a very handy means of ! covering up the shortcomings of in-1 in-1 difference Give the devil his clue has a good as well as a bad sense Don't blame him for your deliberate ( follies and sins. I wish you to nole that there is a j vast difference between a spiritual and a material reality We read that j Christ was in all points templed like I men are, and therefore we need not j presume that a material satan appeared appear-ed unto Christ in his temptation The I prevalent bodily presentation of satan 1 has done much to lead the unthink-j unthink-j ing mind to believe that some churches hold to a material personi-i personi-i fication of evli If we cannot all believe be-lieve in the devil we can and do all realize the existence of evil There Is a wonderful persistence and skill manifest in our temptations which I speaks of more than the work Of. chance. When we consider how one j j by one the bolts and bars of our in-: ner selves are rendered futile, how I the secret avenues of the soul are opened to testings and encounters, I how dark shadows of impurity and, I evil are outlined upon our chambers of imagery within, how the very foun- j tain of true spirit life the heart Itself It-self is poisoned with evil how foul 1 and base thoughts are suggested and 1 Intermingled with our own medlta- ' tions, how unholly desires w hich seem to arise from our verj selves urge on temptations power when all these are' pondered we realize that to live a I clean, spotless life is a struggle worthy wor-thy the strength, care and wisdom of the best powers of our life. We wish you to realise that life is a warfare war-fare continuous and keen if ou are to live at all for Cod Talk about real work, we surely have a lifetime'; of it IT we would make religion real. No wonder a 6ham veneered and mock spirituality is the only result of some, lives when the real work of overcoming over-coming evil is given 60 little thought ( I and prayer. Moreover, the reality of evil or the, I powers we designate as satan and the, devil have been wronged by most of us. Wo have piaced more of our j failings at their door than was their just due We have excused our fail- j ure often on the ground of the prov- oration and power of the temptation when In reality the truth was that we either sought the evil or resisted it not at all. Who of us have never provoked or tempted evil to temp' us0 Who of us have never aided or been very willing ro-workers with pin" Let 11s not blame evil for mor" than Its just due. The olden thinkers, when they noted the power of evil, were led to think that there was a positive duality of evil and good. Two mighty powers or gods ever striving for maht.-n There is a grain of truth In it. but not In j that evil is, or evr has been, part ruler of the universe Their vlev led them to give offerings to evil Our conception of evil leads us only to ' orabat It as having no place or right whatever. Evil is a squatter upon tho rights of man. It has no title ti-tle or Just claim. All its rights ar-those ar-those acquired by the right of usurpation usurpa-tion and rcolt. The Krai n of truth in 1 he old view of duality is simply this: wo should recognize evil to the extent ex-tent of being fnlly awake 10 its per-1 per-1 nicious presence and bductive pow- or. Better for to combat It as a positive pos-itive reality than by being blind to its presence and results seek to overcome over-come it b ignorin? it Sin and temptation temp-tation and evil are too vital factors and powers to ever be overcome by aught else than grace and unremitting warfare. There are two lessons for us to gather from this study. First, that evil is not a reality that can claim an integral part of our nature; therefore there-fore it is an unnecded and unlawful power to be struggled against and eradicated. The present day current opinion of the world has been to' coudoue much evil as a necessity The saloon, the brothel the so-called legitimate form of evil had almost become recognized as a real part of life until the social consciousness of a people was awakened. Neither in our individual life nor in the life of the body politic has evil one just right The world may excuse certain cer-tain sins, but as an immortal soul destined to render an account for your life you cannot. Let us have done then with weak BXCUSes for sin. Sin and evil are inexcusable . Secondly, as satan is not a second god and rival of Jehovah, he can be conquered by the power of God Milton Mil-ton closes his Paradise Regained with the Temptatton of Christ. His thought' is that now that one has demonstrate cu the power of a supreme God of good, paradise will follow. Vast as Is the outreaching power and great and shrewd as is the scheming of evil trends and powers" we must always al-ways remember that our powers of good are greater and more ready also to aid When God calls us He calls us not to defeat but to victory, ami He has made that victory possible if we will do our part With all the realization of the sinfulness sin-fulness of sin, there Is nevertheless a small amount of sorrow today over the reality of It. We profess to believe be-lieve In the reality of the soul and yet mcst parents grieve more over a deformed body of a child than over a deformed and maimed spiritual spirit-ual reality Many are angered and worry over a stained gown who have little concern over a sin-stained life. j The soiled hands of honest toll arci abhorred more by some than the soil-' ed life that has be&j defiled In sin. These are but n few of our inconsist-l encies in regard to satan and his work If there be a personal devil, how these bickerings o or on' ward defilement and these disregards about ; inward soul stains must be to his liking, lik-ing, j |