The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-05-05
THE PUT4&
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. CURTIS LEE LAWS.
Theme: Backsliding.

kANSuuS DdpIlSI SAulSht Suhooy IoS
pastor, the Rev. Dr. Curtis Lee Laws,
preached a strong sermon on Back
sliding" The text was from Proverbs
14:14: THE bacbslider in heart
shall be filled with his own ways"
DR.. Laws said:
Do. you recall your early expert
ences in the service of the Lord? Do
you remember the day and hour
when the burden of sin rolled off
your heart, and when you could look
up for the first time into the face Of
your heavenly Father, rejoicing in
His presence and in His love? DO
you 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 Washington some
time ago. He was a rugged old fell
low, his esthetic nature had not been
much cultivated, and he did not have
an artists eye. The morning after
his conversion, when his wife came
down to breakfast, he was standing
at 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 clappirg their
hands in praise to God" All, in the
days gone by there has been many an
echo of those words in many a heart
here.
To me after I found God, the whole
world was more beautiful; the sky
was bluer, the grass was greener, the
breezes were softer, the sur was
warmer and all mankind were dearer
to me.
What is the meaning of all this?
1t means that I had found that which
was the complement Of my whole be-
ing. AS Augustine said: 20 Lord,
Thou hast made ii for Thyself, and
we are restless till We rest in Thee"
It means that in God I had found 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 prodigalI 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 are what she
was playing; her fingers fingered idly
but caressingly upon the keys. Sud-
ienly she struck a chord, and its won
drous melody as it filed the room
was uplifting and Transforming and
heavenly.
1t flooded the crimson twilight.
Like the close of an angels psalm,
And it lay on her fevered spirit
With the touch of infinite calm.
It quoted pain and sorrow, a..
Like love. overcoming strife;
1t seemed the harmonious echo D..
From our discordant life.
1t linked all perplexed meanings
Into one perfect peace,
And trembled away in silence,
As if it were 10th to 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 tooour experience as
the children of God and yet how OPP
2osite! 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 u
backsliding. Backsllding is so COM
mon among Christians as to be almost
universal. Of course, there are diff
terent degrees of backsliding. SINE
have gone only a little way, while
others have gone so far that the re-
turn will be difficult, but thank God,
not impossible.
First 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, if you cease to go forward
you will inevitably 60 backward.
LID UdShollulI6 dyo DC6luo al ShC
heart. We may go on for a time in
the outward performance Of duty, in
the ceaseless round Of Christian &C
tiyities, while in our hearts these
things are growing more and more
distasteful. The heart may therefore
be in wrong relation to a given thing,
while our actions may be perfectly ex-
emplary. But God knows that that
man is a backslider, and he knows it
himself. Whether others know it
matters very little. But after a,time
all men will know 1t, for the back
slider in heart generally becomes the
backslider 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,
u~tation, 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 hastya and 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, it is
because we have already been back
s1iders in our hearts. Then bad leads
to worse. Like Peter. we begin "to
follow the Lord afar Off" and this in
evitably leads to the denial of our
Master. You remember that when
the Master was taken captive He was
Immediately forsaken by His apostles.