Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1902-08-23


lway my Lord
Firth Lost Saviour. Matthew 81: 3-5,
Then Judas which had BETRAYED Him,
xhen he saw that He was condemned. re-
rented himself. and brought again the
,hirty pieces OF silver to the Chief priests
md elders. SAYING, II have slnned IN that
have BETRAYED the innocent blood. And
hey said. What is that TO us? See thou
q that. And he cast down the pieces OF
'i.yer in the temple, and departed, and
vent and hanged himself You have
seen storm held back by the force OF the
KIND. VIXEN suddenly the wind ceaSed-and
he storm would breai, with all It's fury.
This was like Judas. l doubt not in all
MS following after Jesus that again and
again he was filled with the desire to be
true 70 Christ. but the time passes and he
IS false to the appeal of his conscience. and
suddenly the Master withdraws from him
and all the storm of his awful spirit Of be-
trayal breaks upon him, and Judas hangs
himself There are some OF lis who have
been resisting Christ for this spirit has in
tluenced US We are persuaded of His di-
vine character. Some day His divine hold
lpon us may be broken. 1t would be an
awful thing for US to have TO say, They
have taken away my Lord
III.
The text again. Let Us now think to-
yether especially of Christs care There
to- example. Take not Thy holy spirit
from me-" Restore unto me the JOY of
Thy salvation" Without God, without
hope N the world" for only those can APP
preciate Marys position who have been in
the same place with her. and the most of
Us have been there, and there have been
times without number when we felt that
Ill was lost. that our position was hope
less. Notice first OF all the weakness OF
Mary's faith. II she had but stopped to
consider she would have remembered His
word that He must rise again. Ii in the
lark hour OF trial we would pause for mo-
neut to think OF His messages we shall be
delivered from this awful fear. Oh. that
sod would strengthen our faith in the
hour of trial. Notice also the strength of
ner love. Nothing could keep her away
rom Christ; the Jewish soldiers had no
error for her; she would see His body. Tor
she loved that There are certain things
hat cause as to lose conscious fellowship
Eith Christ.
First. physical weakness. Whenever the
body Is weak be snre to watch and pray,
for the devil will easily overthrow us at
this time.
Second, weakness OF faith. but since fs;th
is the gift of God it becomes weak only
because of lack of exercise, and it is not
necessary that any OF us should fail be-
cause of this.
Third. sin. blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God" Il is not
gwen TO great minds alone to see Him, nor
great hearts to feel His presence, but to
pure hearts. and this blessing is within the
reach of us ALL
Oh. to have no hope What il we should
lose Christ, what dreary world this would
be. Let us imagine Him as taken out OF
art, and with this would 90 Hoffman's
hrssr -h.. I.a,,f I, l..e.
late" and every other painting that has
gone to enrich the galleries of the world
Suppose we have Him taken out of music,
the music of the Old Testament would go
for they sang of the Saviour to come; the
music OF the New Testament would be ban
ished, for He is the theme of the Psalms
All the music that is worth singing in the
worlds history would depart from us. for
He Is the subject OF our praising sup
pose He We're taken out OF literature: the
best books in the world are either written
directly concerning Him, or have been in
spired indirectly by His matchless love. If
lie were taken out OF preaching there is no
man in all the world that could hold con-
gregation for any length OF time, for men
delighted TO hear concerning Christ. and
without Christ the message would be as
sounding brass and tinlling symbol
What II He were taken out Of our living
Men who do not call themselves religious
yet believe in Christ and flee 10 Him again
and again in the hour OF temptation and
trial. and without Christ they would be
like a boat upon the sea. rudderess and
helpless. What ii He were taken out of
our homes; how could we live when the
baby goes away and the mothers heart is
breaking.
oh. TO have no hope, no Saviour,
How dark this world would be-
There Is a story written by DIR. Henry
Van Dyke entitled The Lost Word" 1t
gives an account OF one Hermas. the son OF
Demetrius. who became a Christian Be-
cause of this his father, a man OF large
wealth, disinherited him. He becomes a
disciple OF John, and at last wearies OF
this discip.eship. and utterly discouraged
he wanders back in the vicinity OF his old
home. There he meets a magician. who
reads his fortune in leaf and finally
promises ii he will give him but one word
out or his vocabulary that he will restore
him to the old JOY that once was his. The
promise is at last made. and suddenly Her
mas Is in his home again without the one
word, and the one word is the name OF his
Lord. He finds his father diving and the
Did man welcomes his return and cries out.
My son. when You left me YOU found
something that made your life beautiful.
Mine has been failure; wilyou not tell me
what must do now. for | am TO die" and
lnconsciously the boy began. Father, You
must believe in" and behold, the word
lad gone from him. He had parted with
1. and he stands shamcfaced in the pres
ance OF his dying father. He marres
beautiful girl. and God gives him lovely
child. They are seated one day in the
garden with their hearts overlooking with
gratitude, when the wife suggests that they
kneel down and express their thanks for
all their treasures, and again he hegins,
We thank thee, oh" and speech fails
him, for he has sold his Lord and he can
not even recall His name. He is compet-
tor IN the chariot races and wins the prize
but cares nothing for it. because his heart
Is heavy. He takes his little son in the
chariot with him and whirls about the
course. The horses become unmanageable
and the child is thrown from the chariot
and seriously injured. Nearer dead than
alive he is carried back to the palace. and
the father knees down by his bedside
There Is TO hope now except in prayer.
lie cries out, spare him, oh. spare him,
OH and there Is no word to fill the
place, for he has sold his Lord Then sud
denly his old master. John. appears. and
alter tears of repentance he is restored
agaln to his priceless position. Is this not
an illustration for many of us who have in
an unguarded moment because OF our love
FOR the world and our desire for power
parted with Him who alone can satisfy
the soul. 1t Is IN awful thing to be with
out Christ God save us from the cry of
Mary, They have taken away my Lord"