The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1909-04-08
THE PULPIT.
AN Ell ccUSNT SUNDAY SERMON BY
on. CURTIS LEE LAWS.
Theme: Backsliding.

Brooklyn, n. Yin thS Greene
! Avenue Baptist Church. Sunday, the
pastor, the Rev. DIR. Curtis Lee Laws,
preached strong sermon on Back.
| sliding" The text was from Proverbs
1914: The baekslider in heart
shall be filled with his own ways
Or. Laws said.
DO you recall your early expert.
snces In the service of the Lord? DO
you remember the day and hour
when the harden of sin rolled off
your heart and when you coud look
1p for the first time into the face OF
FOUR heavenly Father, rejoicing In
His presence and in His love? Do
'oI not recall how the whole world
suddenly became more beautiful and
how your heart yearned over your
friends and enemies as never before?
There was on old man converted to
Christ down in Wa5hingt IN some
lime ago He was a rugged old fell
!ow. his esthetic nature had not been
much cultivated, and he did not have
an artists eye. The NOR ing after
ais conversion. when his wife came
iown to breakfast, he was standing
1t the dining room window looking
out at the desolate winter scenery.
He turned and said: Wife, come
here and look, come here and look;
the very trees are clapping their
bands in praise to Cod" All, in the
lays gone by there has been many an
echo of those words In many heart
here.
To me after found God. the whole
world was more beautiful; the sky
was bluer, the grass was greener, the
breezes were softer, the sun was
warmer and all mankind were dearer
to me.
What is the meaning of ali this?
It means that | had found that which
was the complement of my whole be-
Ing. AS Augustine said: 20 Lord,
Thou hast made us for Thyself, and
we are restless till we rest in Thee"
It means that in God had .Jund the
satisfaction which this world had
never Afforded me, for as the ocean
only can fill the oceans bed, so God
alone can satisfy the mind of man.
Blessed is the man who has been rec
onciled to his heavenly Father. who
has returned like the projigal to his
Fathers love
turn now to the dark side of the
picture How few of us have kept
this early joy, and have continued in
this blessed peace? OF course you
know the story OF the lost chord? A
woman. in the shadows of the twi-
light, when her heart was sad, gently
touched the keys OF a glorious organ.
She did not know or care What she
was playing; her fingers fingered idly
but caressingiy upon the keys. Sud-
denly she struck chord, and its won
drous melody as 1t filled the room
nd
heavenly.
II flooded the crimson twilight
Like the close OF an angels psalm,
And IL lay on her fevered spirit
With the touch of infinite calm.
II auieted pain and sorrow.
Lake love overcoming strife,
1t seemed the harmonious echo
From our discortiant life.
It linked all perplcxed meanings
Into one perfect peace,
And trembled away in silence.
As il it were 10th 20 cease
Something disturbed this woman
and called her from the organ. AS
soon as possible she hurried back and
began to play, but this divine chord
was gone, and though she kept on
playing she could not bring 1t back
again,
How similar to our experience as
the children of God and yet how op-
posite! Many of us have lost our
peace, our Joy, our rapture, but bless
God, we can all have this heavenly
music in our souls again, If we are
willing, for God is willing to heal our
backsliding. Backsliding is so COM
mon among Christians as to be almost
universal. OF course. there are diff.
ferent degrees OF backsliding. Some
have gone only little way, while
others have gone so far that the re-
turn will be d,fiicult, but thank God,
not impossible
Fi=st of all, let us consider how
men become backsliders. The word
itself is significant. To go forward
requires effort, to go backward re-
quires no effort at all In the Chris.
tian life. II you cease TO go forward
you will inevitably go backward,
This backsliding always begins in the
heart. We may go on for time In
the outward performance of duty, In
the ceaseless round of Christian ac.
tivities. while in our hearts these
things are growing more and more
distasteful. The heart may therefore
be in wrong relation to given thing,
while our actions may be perfectly ex.
emplary. But God knows that that
man Is a backslider, and he knows II
himself. Whether others know II
matters very little. But after a time
all men will know 1t, for the back.
slider in heart generally becomes the
backsllder in life. 1t is very hard for
men to continue long in hypocrisy,
Ordinarily a mans outward life is the
expression Of his inner life. A mans
character may be better than his rep.
utation, or a mans reputation may be
better than his character, but ordi.
narily reputation and character agree.
We call the uncouth and uncivil "dia.
monds in the rough"
We constantly say of the man who
sins with his tongue. "Well, you
know, he is very hastyand impetuous
and often says things which he does
not mean" But God says these
things have their origin in the heart
and from the heart flow outward
When our conduct becomes bad, 1t is
because we have already been back.
sliders In our hearts. Then bad leads
to worse. Like Peter. we begin "tc
follow the Lord afar or" and this In.
evitably leads to the denial OF oui
Master. You remember that wher
the Master was taken captive He was
Immediately forsaken by His apostles
Then began the procession from Geth
semane to the Judgment hall. ThG