The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-09-03

the old life OF peace anu lov. you pity .he
man who is crying out in, in hn ~ heart heart to.aay a
il not with his lips. They have taken
away my Lord"
Fifth. \ Lost Saviour. Matthew q: 35,
Then Judas which had betrayed Him.
when he saw that He was condemned, re.
pented himself. and brought again the
thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests
and elders. saving. II have sinned in that
I have BETRAYED the innocent blood. And
they said, What is that to us! Zee thou
70 that. And he cast down the pieces OF
silver in the temple. and departed. and
went and hanged hS.self: You have
seen 4 storm held back by the force OF the
wind. when suddenly the wind ceased and
TIE storm would break with all its fury;
This was like Judas. I doubt not in all
his following after Jesus that again and
again he was filed with the desire to ne
true 70 Christ, but the time passes and he
il false to the appeal OF his conscience. and
suddenly the Master withdraws from him
and ali the storm OF his awful spirit Of be.
travail breaks upon him, and Judas hangs
himself. There are some OF US who have
been resisting Christ. for this spirit has in.
huenced US We are persuaded OF His di:
vine character. Some day His divine hold
upon US may be broken. It would be an
awful thing for US to have to say. They
have taken away NV ioru.
II.
The text again. Let Us now think to-
pether especially of Christ's care. There
are some texts very like it in the Bible, a.
for example. Take not Thy holy spirit
Thy salvation" without God, without
ppeeia,e pppS &c Mary's position who have been IN
the same place with her. and the most Of
rs have been there. and there have been
times without number when we felt that
all 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
dark hour OF trial we would pause for mo
ment to think OF His messages we shall be
delivered from this awful fear. oh. that
God would strengthen our faith in the
hour Of trial. Notice also the strength OF
her love. Nothing could keep her away
from Christ: the Jewish soldiers had no
terror for her: she would see His body. for
she loved that. There are certain things
that cause as to lose conscious fellowship
with Christ.
First. physical weakness. Whenever the
body is weak be sure to watch and pray,
for the devil will easily overthrow US as
this time.
Second, weakness OF faith, but since faith
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-
Third. sin. blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God" It is not
eiven to great minds alone to see Him. nor
great hearts to feel His presence, but I'd
pure hearts, and this blessing is within the
reach OF 1 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 go Hoffman,
Christ in the Garden" Christ before Pi.
gone to enrich the galleries Of the world.
Suppose we have Him taken out of music,
the music OF the Old Testament would 60,
| 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 were taken out OF literature; the
| best books in the world are either written
directly concerning Him, or have been IN.
spircd indirectly by His matchless love. IL
He 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 40
What il He were taken out Of our living.
Men who do not call themselves religious
vet believe in Christ and fee to Him again
and again in the hour Of temptation and
trial, and without Christ they would be
| like a boat upon the sea, rudderless and
| helpless. What If He were taken out OF
our homes; how could we live when the
baby goes away and the mothers heart ID
breaking.
"Oh, to have no hope, no Saviour.
How dark this world would be-"
There is a story written by DR.. Henry
Van Dyke entitled The Lost Word" 1t
gives an account of one Hermas, the son OF
Demetrius, who became . Christian. Be
cause OF this his father, man OF large
| wealth, disinherited him. He becomes q
disciple of John, and at last wearies OF
this discipleship. and utterly discouraged
he wanders back in the vicinity Of his old
home. There he meets a magician. who
reads his fortune in q leaf. and finally
promises II he will give him but one word
out of 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 dying and the
old man welcomes his return and cries out.
MY sou. when you left me you found
something that made your life beautiful.
Mine has been failure; willyo not tell me
what I must do now, for am to die" and
unconscously the boy began. "Father. YOU
must believe in" and behold. the word
it, and he stands shamefaced in the pres
ence OF his dying father. He marries !
beautiful girl, and God gives HIM lovely
child. They are seated one day in the
garden with their hearts overhowing with
gratitude. when the wife suggests tha: they
kncel down and express their thanks for
all their treasures. and again he begins.
I'VE thank thee, oh" and speech fails
him. for he has sold his Lord and he can.
not even recall His name. He is compe,-
itor 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 whir;s about the
course The horses become nnmanageable
and .h. child is thrown from the chariot
and seriously injured. Nearer dead than
alive h. is carried back to the palace; and
the father kneels down by his bedside
There Is no hope now except in prayer
He cries out, Spare him. oh. spare him.
OBJ and there is no word to fill the
place. for he has sold his Lord. Then sud.
denly his old master, John. appears. and
after tear. OF repentance he is restored
again u his priceless position. Is this not
an illustration for many OF US who have IN
an uuxiarded moment because OF our love
for the world and our desire for power
parted with Him who alone can satisfy
the soul. It is an awful thing to be with.
out Christ. God save Us from the cry OF
Mary. They have taken away my Lord"