The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-06-24
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN INTERESTING DISCOURSE BY
DR.. HOWARD DUFFlELD.
Subject: Heart Failure - The Autobioc-
raphy of Our Souls Ia Often Stained
With the Very Faithlessness Which
Blots the Memo uirs of the Apostles.

New YORK C1rY.-Dr. Howard Dufie'd,
pastor of the Old First Presbyterian
Church, Fifth avenue and Twelfth street,
preached Sunday morning on Heart FAIL
ure." He took his text from Mark xiv;
so: "And they all forsook Him and fled"
DR.. Dutheld said:
What towards! Comrades of Jesus,
shall a three years friendship With the
Master come to such an end: Shall the
like leaves in the wind before puff Of
panic fear? Apostles of Jesus, why will
We be pilloried for poltroonery? When
defeat brooded over the hills of Gilboa
and the remnants of the armies Of Israel
Law strewn through the Judean valleys,
Saul and Jonathan died together. When
Socrates kept tryst with death the prison
yard in which he sat became like hall OF
bauquesing and the Jail stones echoed with
the converse of devoted friends wisttu OF
sharing with him the cup of hemlock;
When the sun of ,Austeritz that had
eclipsed in blood behind the plain Of Wat
erloo, the flies of the imperial guard drew
up as on parade and died beneath the flag.
But in the hour of His EXTREMIST need the
comrades of Christ 'forsook Him and
fed" Those that had seen Him walk the
storm swept lake; conquer disease with a
fnger-touch and dethrone death with a
syllable, when a squad of hirelings with
swords, and the riffraff of the city with
slaves, came out to take Him, they forsook
Him and fed.
Jesus walked the pathway of tears, and
has sounded for chivalry, and His friends
Exhibited es poltroonery. The call was for
heroes, and those He loved showed their
backs to Christ, instead of their faces. to
the foe. Occasion beat the long roll, but
the battle line became a rout; Imagine
that scene reversed. Imagine that Gordon
of apostles buttressing Christ against as.
sauit as with citadel of rock. We can
almost see them roofing themsel YES like
etorm-dcfying oaks, and opposing the
metal corsets of Chrjst's foes with the
breastplate of their invulnerable affection.
We can almost see them converting Geth;;
shattering the onset of embittered perse-
cution upon the impregnable front of q
devotion that was stronger than death.
We are we'll nigh envious of their oppor.
tunity of renown.
The possibility of such loyalty has not
yet passed away, it has not yet become i'm
possible for one to show a stalwart ale
glance to Jesus Christ in the face of con.
tempt and antagonism. "They are not yet
dead that seek the young child's life. =.
Christ does not recede with the ebb OF
passing years. The men Of His age are
sleeping in their sepulchers.
You and ] are pushing our lives along
the line of some cherished endeavor and
we face the problem, "Does the trend Of
our daily life carry us toward Jesus or
does it bear us out into the night? Do we
take the bearings of our course from the
meridian of Calvary! Will we stand by
Christ or stink away from Christ? Will
we strike our colors or keep them flying
under fire? Will we cleave to Jesus as
closely when men crown Him with thorns
as when they hail Him with. hosannas?'
Too often the words of the text are tran.
seribed upon the pages of our experience.
The autobiography of our. souls is often
stained with this very faithlessness which
blots the memoirs of the apostles. What
does it mean?
The first element of heart failure is dig.
appointment. The apostles had very well
defined theory az to what Christ had come
to do FOR them, but they had thought very
little Of what they were to do for Him.
They had a clear conception of the prere-
quisite OF discpleship. They were deeply
concerned as to the pattern of their crowns.
They knew to nicely the comparative
altitude of their thrones, and they were
anxiously parcellihg out the cities over
which they were to rule. With their feet
treading the. very ascent to Calvary. they
were badgering each other as to which OK
them should be greatest. Jesus had come
to give them life of ease and self.satis-
faction. No more stormy nights out upon
Gennesaret; no more tugging at the nets
and pulling the wet cordage of their boats !;
no more weary days brawling in the Caper.
naum market place to get salt for their
meat and butter for their bread. Christ
Lad a whole cornucopia Of splendors to
empty into their lap-kingships, and dig
mites, and thrones, and scepters. When
dreams went whistling down the wind,
and their cloud palaces vanquished like
mist at sunrise, disappointment thrust it's
iron into the soul, and away they went,
spurred by an impulse which for the mo-.
ment was irresistible. Their thought had
been centered on the. good they were to
get. not upon the good they were to do. .
1t is not impossible that you and |
should just as mistakenly interpret the
purpose of Christ's mission. In some plv.
otal moment the consciousness OF sin un.
eXpectedly leaps up and chills US with its
shadow. We are lashed by the scorpion
thought Of death. The awe. Of eternity
overshadows lis. With timid fingers we
open tie Book OF God. With eager eye
we scan the page of Scripture. A wondrous
gospel salutes us. Glad tidings ring like
music through our hearts concerning One
who has a welcome for the outcast, who
can whiten the most soiled soul, who will
uplift the fallen and recall the wandering:
and who has planted His mighty heel upon
the head of death. We kneel rejoicingiy
at the foot OF the cross. We surrender our
life into the keeping of Jesus. We yield
Him the ready homage of our hearts. Then
peril of thinking how much Christ has to
give, and too little of what He is training
US to give. Then We are prone to, dwell in
imagination with the spirits of just men
made perfect, and the companies of the
shining ones who walk with Christ in glory
until we lose touch with the men and
women who throng about US warped and
stained with the sin and sorrow of the
world. We forget that forgiveness is
not the last word but the first
word of the Gospel. We forget that
pardon is not the last utterance brt
the first utterance that Jesus has spoken.
We overlook the fact that there is a culture
of character which demands the energy Of
hero and the patience of devotee, that
there is service Of others that calls for
the cruc;fxion of self.
Another element of heart failure is
doubt. How. was it nossible for the apos
ties to recognize a Messiah under arrest?
Was this the upshot of centuries of proph-
ecyy Was this the story that the messen-
gers of God had been telling of majesty
and glory and of victory? Was the Prince
of the house Of David to be dragged away
in chains and the Lion Of Judah to be
thrust into cage? Clouded in their per-
ceptions, confused in their thought, con-
founded by the thrush of doubt. Jesus
disciples hurried away beneath the shad-
ows of night that but family suggest
the dark questionngs that must have shad-
owed their devoted hearts.
This ic ann q: .:c..:.L Tiannnn ,rhic.