ΤΗ

No. X

LEAD US NOT INTO

TEMPTATION

HE mirage of the desert is the most beautiful cheat in the world. It is the masterpiece, the Arabs say, of the evil spirit who revels in the ruin of man. Making himself invisible, he calls the traveller by name, lures him from the path, and leads him on by a vision of shady trees and sparkling fountains. At last the charming scene fades into mist, and in the lonely wilderness the poor dupe dies of fatigue and thirst.

The fables of Christian lands hold the same ideas, blended with the hope of rescue.

My last holiday was in the Black Forest, in the south-west of Germany. On the way we climbed the "castled crag of Drachenfels" —that is, the Dragon Rock-on the Rhine. It has a big cave, which, as the legend tells, was the haunt of a terrible dragon. In the olden times this monster, folks said, devoured many Christians whom the Pagans gave to it

for a prey. One day it was about to destroy a Christian maiden. But she drew a cross from her breast, and held it up before the horrid beast. As if struck by a thunderbolt, the monster fell back, plunged into the Rhine, and was seen no more.

This maiden's name was Siegfried, or Victory of Peace. That beautiful name became her well; for she shows how Christ's grace and truth conquer the powers of evil.

Further up the river, we came to another rocky hill, called the Lurlei, where the Loreley used to sit and sing. She was a cunning, misleading enchantress, who, like the sirens of the old Greeks, lured the poor mariners to their ruin. But at last she was subdued by love, and then her evil-doing was at an end.

Strassburg also lay on our road.

We went

to the cathedral, to hear and see the clock strike twelve. That clock was called the eighth wonder of the world. At noon the Twelve Apostles come out, glide before the statue of Christ, and bow to Him. This act of homage is repeated thrice. When Peter appears, a big cock in the corner lifts its head, swells its neck, flaps its wings, and crows in the most life-like way. You might easily think that it was really alive, threefold cock-growing always draws a crowd,

This

and draws from them a queer, half-mocking laugh. The cock crows over Peter, and the people laugh at him. One feels that it is not fair thus to keep up against Peter this one sin which Christ pardoned. One is disposed to knock the impudent bird from its perch and chase it out of the church.

That cock has crowed there for over six hundred years. It is perhaps the most popular preacher in the world; for it has a large and interested audience every day in the year. And it teaches us that even a truehearted disciple of Christ may easily fall before temptation.

In the Black Forest we came upon a wild, weird tarn in a moor. It was the fabled home of the Nixie, a sweet-singing, cruel water-witch. Her charming voice and looks drew to her young huntsmen, who were slain by the fiend and serpent in her service.

In the same forest we passed through several romantic glens with a jutting rock on each side. The one rock was called the Angel's Pulpit, and the other the Devil's Pulpit. At the Baths of Baden-Baden we saw a beautiful picture of these rival preachers. A crowd of country folk were listening to the angel, while a horseman and his servant were lending their ears to the devil.

These old-world legends teach a truth which can never grow old. They remind us that in the desert and the field, by road and river, in town and country, on the mountain and in the glen, even among Christ's followers, and in every age, temptation is ever near the sons and daughters of men. The goblin of the desert, the horrid dragon, the enchanting Loreley and Nixie, and the Devil's Pulpit are never far from any one of us. Ah me, how strangely easy it is to turn into the wrong road to our undoing! Very strange that the poor soul should have so many foes! Every day we

need to pray, "Lead us not into temptation." This petition invites us to study

I. Our Temptations.

II. Our Prayer.

III. Our Pledges.

I. OUR TEMPTATIONS.

But

To lead one into temptation, usually means to try to get him to do what is wrong. because God is God, He can never do that. Temptations are of two kinds. God tempted Abraham; that is, He tried and tested him. From such temptations men gain strength. The aim of them is, not to do evil, but to do good. Christ was tempted of the devil in the wilderness. The tempter's aim was to do

evil. The word temptation now-a-days has usually a bad sense, but, of course, it cannot have that sense here. Trial sometimes passes into temptation, and temptation often becomes merely trial. Satan never tries, and God never tempts (in the evil sense) any man. God tries us as the refiner tries and purifies his gold.

Even in the path of duty, in the sanctuary, and in prayer, even in home-sheltered childhood, temptations come to us. Christ teaches

all to say, "Lead us not into temptation."

Some places in Egypt are honey-combed with cells. Thousands of monks fled thither to escape from temptation. But each monk took with him the man-himself-and the evil world from which he wished to escape. The most frightful temptations came to them in their caves. One of them, St Antony, found that he had a constant companion, who was the great tempter himself. Evil thoughts swarmed into the monk's mind like the plagues of Egypt. Even Eden had its serpent, its forbidden tree, its alluring apple, its story of sin, and its sin-begotten sorrows, Darker mystery still: temptation entered heaven itself, and triumphed there, for many of the angels fell before it. The greatest danger may be near us when no danger appears. Not to be tempted may become a