The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1886-12-10


He swept around, and went down, and was
brought out a corpse. My friendsi there
are thousands and ten of thousands of men
losing their souls IN that way. 1t is the
one round more.
have also to say that if a man warts TO
return from evil practices society repulses
him. Desiring to reform, he says: snow,
l will shake of my sld associates, and
will find Christian companfcf'ship. And
he appears at the church door SOME Sab.
bath day, and the usher greets him with
look, as much as to say: Why, you
here4 You are the last man 1 ever expect
ed to see at church, Come, take this seat
right down by the door}" instead OF say
ing: q Good morning 1 am glad you are
here Come, viii give you hrst-fate
seat, fight by the pulpit" Well, the prod.
igal, not yet discouraged, enters a prayer
meeting, and some Christian man, with
more zeal than common sense, Gays; "Glad
to see you. The dying thief was saved snd
[ suppose there is mercy for you" The
young man, disgusted chilled, throws him
self back on his dignity, solves he new er
will enter the house of God again. Per-
haps not quite fully disgusted about refor-
nation, he sides up by some highly respect
able man he used to know, going down the
street, and Immediately the respectable
man has an errand Gown some other street.
Well, the prodigal, wishing "a Feturn, takes
some mem Der of a Christian Association by
the hand, or tries to. The Christian young
man looks at him, looks at the faded apparel
andFthe marks of dissipation, and instead OF
giving him warm grip Of the hand offers
him the tip end of the long fingers Of the left
hand, which is equal to striking man in
the face.
Oh, how few Christian people under
stand how much force and gospel there is
in a good, honest hand-shaEipgi Some
times, when you have felt the need OF en-
couragement, and some Christian man has
taken you heartily by the hand, have you
not felt thrilling through every fiber
of your body; mind and soul an encourage
ment that was Just what you neededl You
do not know any thing at ali about this un-
less you know when a man tries to return
from evil courses of conduct he runs
against repulsions innumerable. We say
of some man, he lives block or two from
the church, or half mile from the church.
There are people in our crowded cities who
live one thousand miles from church. Vast
deserts of indifference between them and
the house Of God. The fact is, we must
keep our respectabilityj though thousands
and tens of thousands perish. Christ sat
with publcans and sinners. But II
there come to the house of God
man with marks of dissipation upon
him, people throw up their hands in horror,
as much as to say! "Isu't 1t stockings"
How these dainty, fastidious Christians in
all our churches are going to get to Heaven
| do not know, unless they have an especial
train of cars, cushioned and upholstered,
each one a car to himselfl They can not go
with the great herd of publicans and sin
ners. o We, Who curl your lip with scorn at
the fallen, tell you plainly. if you had
been surrounded by the same Influences,
instead of sitting to-day amid the cultured
4 Aha ,uf.y ~
have been q crouching wretch in stable or
ditch, covered with filth and abOminatiOn!
It is not because you arc naturally any
better but because the mercy Of God has
protected you. Who are you that, brought
up in Christian circles, and watched by
Christian parentage, you should be Sc hard
on the fallenl
think men also are often hindered from
return by the fact that churches are too
anxious about their membership and too
anxious about their denomination and
they rush out when they see a man about
to give up his sin and return to God and ask
hitn how he is going to be baptized whether
by sprinhling or by immersion, and what
kind of church he is going TO join. OF my
friends it is a poor time to talk about
Presbyterian catcchisms, and Episcopal
liturgies, aud Methodist love-feasts, and
Baptistries, to a man that is coming out Of
the darkness of sin into the glorious light
of the Gospel Why, it reminds me Of man
drowning in the sea, and a life-boat puts
out for him and the man in the boat says to
the man out of the boat Now, if l get
you ashore, are you going 60 live in my
street," First get him ashore, and thop
talk about the nOn-essentials OF religion.
Who cares what church he joins, IL he only
joins Christ and starts for Heavens ., you
ought to have, my brOtherI illumined
face and hearty grip for every one that
tries to turn from his e Ill way Take hold
of the same book with him, though his dis
sipations shake the book, remembering
that he that converteth a sinner from the
error of his way shall save soul from
| death and hide a multitude of sins.
Now, / have shown you these obstacles
because l want you to understand l know
all the difficulties in the way; but l am now
to tell you how Hannibal may scale the
Alps, and how the shacl1les may be unriV-
eted, and how the paths of virtue forsaken
may be regained.
First of all, my brother, throw yourself
on God. Go 70 Him frankly and earnestly,
and tell Him those habits you have, and ask
Him if there is any help in all the resources
Of Omnipotent love, to give it to you. Do
not go with a long rigmarole people call
prayer, made up of &" ohs'' and "ahs" and
"fOrever and forever ameus - Go to God
and cry for help! helpi help! and if you
can not cry for help. just look and live. 1
remember in the late war / was at Antie-
tam, and ! went into the hospitals after the
battle, and 1 said to man: q Where are
you hurtE' He made no answer, but held
up his arm, swollen and splintered. i saw
where he was hurt.
The simple fact is when a man has a
wounded SOUL all he has to do is to hold it
up before sympathetic Lord and get it
healed. OH ID is no small thing, when "A
fo IL tod
coming from his evil ways, TO feel that God
puts two Omnipotent arms around about
him, and says Young man, ] win stand
by you. The noun tains may depart and
the hills be removed. but i will never fail
you" And then, as the soul thinks tho
news is too good 10 be true, and can not be-
lieve il, and looks up in Gods face, God
lifts His right hand and takes an oath, an
affidavit, saying: Gas l live, saith the Lord
God, have no pleasure il the death Of him
that dieth."
Blessed be God for such Gospel as this
"Cut the slices Thin said the wife 70 tho
husband, ''fOr there will not be enough TO
20 all around for the children; cut the
slices thin" Blessed be God there is full
loaf for every one that wants thread
enough and to spare. No thin slices at the
Lords table I remember when the
Master Street hospital in Philadelphia was
opened during the war telegram came
saying: "There will be three hun
dred wounded men tonight, be ready
to take care Of them" and from
my church there went some twenty or
thirty men and women 70 look after these
poor wounded fellows As they came, some
from one part Of the land, some from an
other, no one asked whether this man was
from Oregon, or Massachusetts, or Mime
sofa, from New York. There was a
wounded soldier, and the only question was
how 20 take of the rags most gently, and
put on the bandage, and administer the cor
dial And when soul comes TO God, He
does not ask where you came from or what
your ancestry was. Healing for all your
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