Abbeville progress., 1914-03-07

intle lr always q
sure cure In the
Word OF God Ia
th.. c... F. .. evident that the cause
Of ,he mal's fear Is tLis. lie is think.
ue Of saving himself, instead of COM
mitting the case to Christ. He means
to try a little harder than ever before
TO do good. but he has failed so often
in the past that he has little CON
fdeuce that he will succeed any bet
ter in the future And the man is
right. He certainty will fail If he re-
lies upon his own efforts to lead a
Christian life.
The remedy in this case is 10 take
the mans attention away from him
self. and fix it upon the Lord Jesus,
who alone can save him. Say to him,
My dear friend. the question is not
whether you can hold out. but whether
or not God is able to save you. Let US
see what he says about it," Opening
your Bible ask him TO read aloud He
brews 7:25. Wherefore he is able
also to save them to the uttermost
that come unto God by him, seeing he
ever liveth to make intercession for
them" After he has read It. say to
him. IF God is able to save to the
uttermOst, there IS certainly some
hope for you. With an 'uttermost
salvation such as Christ offers, there
are no hopeless cases, do you see?"
Yes, 1t does look a little more hope
full. must confess, but | am afraid
should fail, If | started in the Chris
tian life My bump of persistence is
not very prominent. and am easily
discouraged"
That may be true, but do you know
this uttermost' Savior has made pro-
vision also to keep you from falling?
Read what he says In Jude "a" Now
unto him that is able to keep you from
falling, and TO present you fauItless
before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy"
Isn't that splendid? Able to keep
you from falling, and to present you
faultless.' Blameiess would mean a
great deal. but without fault means
much more. And that is the condition
in which Christ promises that you
shall be when he presents you before
the Father. (And the JOY referred
to in that verse is not the Joy of the
sinner. though that will be unspeak-
able, but the joy of the Savior as he
looks with actual pride upon his finish
ed work. 1t doesn't seem possible,
does It, that you can be saved so com
pletely, and made so perfect and beau
tiful. that the Lord Jesus will put you
on exhibition as sample of his handi-
work. with actual pride and joy? And
yet that is precisely what be says he
can do. and he certainly ought to
know Now does not your case seem
hopeful, looking at It from Gods stand
point?"
Yes, | must admit that II does. but
you see my case is peculiar. had a
grandfather who was a drunkard, and
| have inherited from him an appetite
for liquor. Occasionally an awful crav-
ing for strong drink comes upon me
with irresistible power, and down go
my apprehension. II 1t were not for
that | think | could be saved. but you
see my case Is peculiar"
Yes, | see your case is peculiar, but
DO you know we have peculiar
Savior? In the first place, he was ac-
Cuainted with that grandfather Of
yours. and he knows all about that ap-
petite. In the second place. he has
made ample provision for It in the
Book. Indeed, he has provided a spe-
cial promise for just such cases. Read
II you will Corinthians 1913. God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to
be tempted above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also
make way to escape, that ye may be
able to bear It.
Now, let us sum it all up. Jesus
says that If you will commit the keep
Ing of your soul to him, he is able to
save you TO the uttermost, and able
to keep you from falling. Further
more, knowing just how weak you are,
he guarantees that no temptation shall
Ub dlIOHtu Ib COult IllSu you hulCu
you are not able to bear, and that
when temptation does comes, as come
1t must to all, he will provide some
door of escape. But this is not all.
He promises that he will present you
before God so faultless and perfect
that he himself will be proud of you.
Now what will you do? VIII you keep
on trying to save yourself, and fail as
you always have, or will you commit
your soul to this uttermost' Savior
who is able to save, and keep, and pro
tect you from every foe?"
II these verses do not lead a per-
son to a decision | have sometimes
tried this method: You are lost now,
anyway. are you not?" Yes. | am
lost now" Well, if you should try
the Christian life and fail, you could
not be any worse off than you are now
could you?" No" But If you should
succeed you would be great deal bet
ter of. would you not?" Certainly"
Then it looks to me as If you had
everything to win and nothing TO lose
by starting. Is that not so?' Yes.
but | never thought Of that before
will you then kneel right down here
and commit the keeping OF your soul
to Christi" Il will"
have seldom found a person VINO
could not be convinced by such simple