The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-05-05
Influence of the evil company

3fch proved his ruin. Is not this
'the proper diagnosis of many sin-sick
souls among us? Is not this the
exact history of your backsliding?
You began by sheer neglect. You did
not commit outward positive sins,
but you neglected the means of grace.
You were startled when you recog-
nized the growing Indifference in your
heart. Bible reading became irk-
some, and you 10 longer delighted in
private prayer. In the meantime
your devotion to business or pleasure
caused you\to, give up the prayer
meeting. Then you became irregular
on Sunday evenings. and gradually
you dropped out of all church attend
ance. In the meantime you were
not sustained and cheered by the
conscious presence Of your Lord nor
strengthened by the companionship Of
your fellow Christians. Then you
drifted out among unbelievers, and
perhaps they have tainted you into
denying your Master in ways which
ten years ago you would not have
dreamed Of! Of course you did not
start out to make shipwreck Of your
faith. You were hoodwinked by the
devil. Even a fool would shun the
first steps toward evil If he could
See the end from the beginning. In
odr city there are tens Of thousands
of men and women who have drifted
into sin and ,drifted out of the
church. My heart yearns over these
people, for they belong to God. They
have been redeemed by the blood of
Gods Sen. They ought to be eating
at their Fathers table, but instead of
this they are spending their all in
riotous living, or It may be that the
deYil has already put them to feeding
swine: /.
Now let us consider the result Of
this baUksliding. / do not mean the
influence of baeksliding upon Others
though this Is fa%r-reaching and bane-
full, but the curse Of backsliding to
the backslIier himself. My text says
that the "backslider in heart shall be
filled, with his own. ways" what
a man soweth that shall he
also reap" The law of the harvest
is a universal and unalterable law,
but a considerable time generally
elapses before a man eats the bread
of his own sowing. I do not envy the
backslider. By experience I know
something of the bitterness of the
agony which he now suffers or which
the future holds in store for him.
, Now let US consider Gods attitude
to the backslider. He yearns over
His hayward and wandering children,
and longs for their return. The pic
ture of the father in the parable of
the prodigal son is the best descrip-
ton of God in the whole Bible. And
is not the picture of the prodigal SOD
the best description of the backslider
that you know off, In the heart Of
God there Is an abundant welcome for
every returning backslider, and the
church Of God ought not to be less
than the heart OF God.
If again I may use the Apostle
Peter as an illustration, we may sure
learn from his restoration that
Christians may become
worthy Christians, that weak Chris
tians may become strong Christians,
and that our very failings may be-
come stepping stones to success.
After his experience, Peter was too
humble a man to praise himself; but
all of U know that the Master took
him back to His heart aid immedi-
ately intrlsted him with the interests
of His Kingdom. This weak and
hating and backsHding man was des-
tined to become the leader of tho
apostles in devotion and suffering aid
success. 1t thrills my heart to watch
the humble AID chastered and re-
stored backslider. / am glad it was
Peter who preached the wonderful
sermon at P%entecost, for it proves to
me that God can take the weakest Of
us and make us strong and powerful,
if we will only give ourselves to Him.
I close with these words Of invita-
ton from my Master. My FIRST word
Is to the Ch .isLians within tie
church who have grown cold and
.eglectful: Our Master is anxious to
forgive us and To. have US start afresh.
Let US be done with. Incidence and
Indifference, and serve the Lord with
Joy and and enthusiasm. My second
word is to the Christians who have
fallen into sir and drifted out Of the
Your Lord stands with open
arms and pleads with you to come
back to Him, and the church wants
you back. If you will forsake your
siLs, no one will remember them
against you. Come, and you shall
have the gold ring and the best robe,
and we will kin the fatted calf in our
rejoicing, and in most of. our churches
there will not be. a single. pharisaical
elder brother to begrudge you the
welcome you r receiving.
My last wcrd Is to the men and
women who have never yielded their
hearts to the love of God, nor sur
rendered their wills to the will Of
God: The Father has a royal well
come for you. 1t was for your sake
that God sent His Son into the world.
John 3:16 Is the Masters message
to you. If you do not remember
the beautiful words, hunt them up in
your long-neglected Bibles, and then
come, come, come.