The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-01-09
DESERVING Christ Jesus.
BY REV. THEODORE l.. CuYLER, D. ID

BY REV. THEODORE l.. CuYLER, d. d.
From Il Roman prison Paul writes OF
Demas as his "fellow-prisoner in Christ
Jesus" From the same place he sadly
writes to Timothy some time after
ward: "Demns hath forsaken me-
having loved this present world
There is the secret Of this lamentable
.desertion by man who had won q
good name as Il soldier of Jesus Christ
What was true of Demas il true o
every one who has backslidden anC
brought reproach on his Christian pro
fession. There is always a secret rea
son. If we could get ut the inside his
tory Of every backslidder, or OF every
open apostate, we might find such In
dictments as these written beside theil
names deserted from inordinate
greed for money" or Deserted from
love of the wine cup, or some othel
sensual lust :" or deserted through
neglect of his Bible and his closet >
or deserted through the enticemenls
of goddess associates :" or Deserted
from tampering with skeptical books
or kindred poisons Of faith."A We are
not left to Mcclure rs 10 The reason
of poor Demas's desertiOn he fOrsooR
his post of duty from Glove Of this pre-
sent world"
Was Demas a genuine Christian al
the start? Did he sink into utter apos
tasy? The Bible narrative does moi
give point blank answer to either o1
| these Questions. There is, indeed, q
tradition that he fell away utterly from
the faith and became priest in 9
heathen temple. But without attach
ing any weight to this tradition, 1t Is
enough to know that his loyalty to his
Master gave way under strong temp
tation. 1t ought to be known also
that every Christian is liable to strong
temptations, and that our Master
never promises to keep any man who
ventures out of the path of duty and
over into the. enemy's territory. NC
Christian is safe when he voluntarily
yields to any seductive influence, and
lets a sinful affection grow until II
roots Jesus Christ out of the heart
We are not mere passive machines
we are responsible free agents; and
there is 4 deeply true sense in which
it depends upon every professed Chris,
tian whether he IL saved or not. 81
say unto you all, Watch :" 'Be ye
not conformed to the world :" "Lel
him that thinset lie standeth take
heed lest be fall :" "He that endurelIl
to the end shall be saved" What dc
all these solemn admonitions mean ex.
cept to keep us from presumption, and
to teach US that no Christian is abso.
lutely safe unless he holds fast to his
Lord and Saviour?
Demas fell. So may you or to
Demas began to love the world.
When that love began to work into
his heart it ate out his spirituality and
his loyalty to his Master. Let the
same false, sinful love begin to eat into
our hearts, and it will produce the
same result. 1t is subtle, silent pro-
cess, this pushing Christ off of the
heart-throne, and sometimes it is a
slow process. Very few Christians 60
to pieces suddenly.
Everything depends upon the heart.
Christian brother, the vital question
with us is, do we keep up close
eart-fellowship with our Saviour ?
Do we maintain this by prayer, by
watchfulness, by Bible study, and by
aggressive Christian activities for the
good of others Does the love Of Christ
con,train us, as the master-purpose OF
our lives ? 1t is the people of low vi
tality that-as Dr., Maclaren says
"catch all the fevers that are going"
Let us be on our guard. He who be-
comes worldiy-minded is soon drawn
away from loyalty to Christ. When
we begin to love the world, the love OF
Christ coOls off. When we begin /.
worship gold, we soon cease to wor-
ship God. When We begin to relish
haunts of sinful pleasure, we lose our
relish for the place of prayer. When
we take to irreligious books we drop
the Bible. When the greedy lusts of
the flesh or the lusts of the world are
allowed TO eat into the heart. they
weaken conscience, and deaden the
spiritual affections, and grieve away
the Holy Spirit, and then we are ready
10 desert. ''Demus hath forsaken me-"
cries the grand old Gagged hero in
Nero's prison. And Jesus Christ says
| of every backslidding Christian,
'sThou hast forsaken Me, and art low
| ing this present world ~
Desertions of Christ begin with oc-
casional neglects Of duty, and OCCASION
al yielding to what we may regard as
SMALL sins. "rhis once only" is what
we whisper to ourselves. "This once
only" has made all the tipplers, and
all the gamblers, and all the adulter-
ers, and all the Sabbath bereakers-
ves, and all the backslllers froma pure,
clean, honest, and godly life. When a
Christian deserts Christ, he soon finds
that Christ has deserted him. Peace
is gone. purity is gone, power is gone,
and he soon learns that it is an evil
and bitter thing 20 depart from the
living God. If any reader of this ar
ticle is in such state of backsliding
| entreat him to. "repent and do his
first works." 1t will be awful to die
in such a condition. Hasten back to
Christ Hasten to thy deserted post
of duty! Seek recOnverting grace, and
then, like the deserting Peter, thou
mayest be restored, and saved as a
'sbrand from the burning !-The Lon
don Freeman.