^ One dark night I had to cross the Irish Sea. As the steamer drove along over the waves I walked the deck talking to the seamen and looking out across the dark water. One of the men told me of the great care taken to prevent accident, and he said, " At the present moment there are nine men on the look out on this vessel." Nine men were — watching ! ^
3. To watch is to resist. Obviously, when temptation is felt and recognised, we should resist. But how many fall who meant to resist simply because they are not prompt in resisting. They dally with temptation when deliberation is both treason against
^ S. Gregory.
446 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
God and their own souls and an invitation to defeat. He is already half conquered who begins to consider and argue. Safety lies in instant action. Never attempt to argue down a temptation. Take it by the throat, as you would a venomous serpent. Have no parleys with the tempter. Instant decision saves many a man, who, if he think the matter over, yields and is undone. It is in vain that you watch, unless you fight when the enemy comes. It is but mockery for you to post sentinels to guard the approaches to the citadel if, when the foe approaches, you pause with wide open gates to talk, for while you are debating he seizes your weapons and binds you hand and foot.
^ Dangers are no more light, if they once seem light; and more dangers have deceived men than forced them : nay, it were better to meet some dangers half-way, though they come nothing near, than to keep too long a watch upon their approaches ; for if a man watch too long, it is odds he will fall asleep.^
U. The Conditions of Success in Watching^.
1. Live hahitually in the Presence of God. — There is an Oriental story of a contest between two spirits, one of the upper and the other of the lower world. So long as the conflict was maintained in the air, the evil genius lost his strength, and was easily mastered ; but as soon as, in the various fortunes of the fight, he touched the earth, his strength returned, he rose to a gigantic size, and the heavens grew dark with his power. It is so with us in our conflict with evil. We do not long resist temptation when we carry on the conflict on its own ground ; our spasmodic efforts then soon yield to its persistent pressure. It is by rising to a higher level that we gain strength, while the temptation is weakened. It is by living on this higher plane of thought, and moral purpose, that we are prepared to encounter temptation. In the season when you are led astray, had you been watching with Christ, had your mind been occupied by better thoughts and purposes, the temptation would hardly have risen up to that higher region to assail you. While the vivid apprehension of God's presence is in the mind, we are not likely bo yield to the sin. Who is there that can consciously and
' Francis Bacon.
ST. MARK 447
deliberately step over that one thought into a sin ? Before we commit the wrong, that thought is put aside, and we descend to the lower level, where the temptation has its home, its associations, and its strength.
2. Occupy yourself with His Service. — It is said that whenever any one consecrates himself to the worship of a certain Hindu deity, the priest does a very cruel thing. He severs the nerve that enables the worshipper to shut his eyes, so that his eyes ever after remain open. It is a cruel thing to do, for God intended that the eye should have rest and that the eyeUd should cover and shield it in the hour of weariness ; but there is, nevertheless, a meaning in the action of the priest. It is that those who are consecrated to the service of that particular god should always be watchful and on the alert in his service. We might well learn that lesson in the service of Christ without submitting to any such treatment.
And everywhere, here and always,
If we would but open our eyes, We should find through these beaten footpaths
Our way into Paradise. Dull earth would be dull no longer.
The clod would sparkle — a gem; And our hands, at their commonest labour,
Would be building Jerusalem.
III.
Pkayer.
Jesus conquered His temptation in the garden by meeting it with prayer. The disciples succumbed to their temptation because they met it without prayer. In a temptation to rebellion against the Father's will, the Lord's resource was prayer. In a temptation to cowardice, that ought to have been theirs. Prayer would have made them conquerors, as it made Him ; and there- fore when temptation of any kind, from any quarter, in any form, at any time, comes to me, I will listen to my Master's voice, " Why sleepest thou ? Else and pray." ^
1 G. H. Knight.
448 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
1. Prayer o£Fers many advantages. Relating to temptation, two are prominent.
(1) The first advantage is not a direct answer to prayer, but is found in the fact that during the prayer-moment one has time to mobilise his moral forces for battle. In the heat of temptation the fate of a character hangs on seconds. The prayer-moment offers an opportunity in which all our moral reinforcements may rush to our aid and save the day. The youth who prays before he touches his lips to the wine finds that the prayer-moment has given him a great advantage, for all the spiritual reserves within him rush forth to defend his honour. The value of the time element in the critical moment of tempta- tion cannot be computed.