The sad record of many a religious professor

(Octavius Winslow, "The Lord's Prayer" 1866)

The believer has great temptation from the world.

We must pass through it, for there is no escape.

The world is the empire of the Evil One, and it is
the empire of evil. It is essentially and emphatically
an evil world, all its works evil, and nothing but evil.

The ungodliness of the world is appalling.

Whether we view it in its savage or its civilized state,
in its refined or its gross forms of society, "we know
that the whole world lies in wickedness." Thus from
every quarter is the world a snare and a temptation
to the God's children.

Awed by its frowns we may be dissuaded from
taking up Christ's cross. Seduced by its smiles we
may be persuaded to lay it down.

Our very circumstances in life may expose
us to peculiar temptation. Affluence may
ensnare us into wasteful extravagance and
worldly living. Poverty may tempt us to
depart from strict uprightness and integrity.

And then there is the worldliness of the
world. How powerful and ever present a
snare is this to the child of God!

"Demas has forsaken me, having loved this
present world," is the sad record of many
a religious professor once standing so high;
but now no more walking with Jesus, swept
away by the resistless current of . . .
  the world's gaieties,
  the world's enterprises,
  and even the world's religion.