Page:Sermons on the Lord's Prayer.djvu/97

 offered to the bodily lusts and appetites; there are temptations that call up the angry passions; there are temptations to deceive and defraud in business; there are temptations to prefer one's self to others, to advance ourselves at the expense of others; there are temptations to love the world more than the Lord and heaven. Such temptations press upon us from every side: no one can entirely escape them: what we have to do, is to fortify ourselves against them. And it is one of the chief duties of parents, by careful and pious instructions, to arm their children against these temptations of the world. Some parents have endeavored, by watchfulness and seclusion, to protect their children from all temptation: but it is in vain: rather arm them well, and let them go out to the fight. They must "fight the good fight of faith;" every one must do so, who becomes regenerate; the kingdom of heaven is taken by violence. It is necessary that man's hereditary evils be in some degree and measure called up by temptation, in order that he may see and resist them, and thus be purified from them. Not, indeed, that any one is to throw himself needlessly into temptation, and thus put himself in harm's way: this is wrong and dangerous: by such a course he may be tempted beyond his strength. It is our duty to guard ourselves from temptation, as far as we can without leaving the path of duty: there are temptations enough that come up in the usual and orderly course of life; and Divine Providence will, if we yield ourselves to his guidance, bring us into such courses and