The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1888-12-28

4 =
there has been a storm on the ocean, ana
YOU have seen the waves dash into white {
foam at your feet. They did not do you {
any harm. While there you thought OF | {
the chapter written by the Psalmist, and |
perhaps you recited it to yourself while
the storm was making commentary on the |
passage: "God is our refuge and strength, |
| a verv present help in the time of trouble.
Therefore will not fear though the earth
be removed and though the mountains be
ca rried into the midst of the sea; though
| the waters thereof roar and be troubled;
| though the mountains shake with the
swelling thereof Selah!" On, how in
! dependent the religion of Christ makes a
/ man of worldly success and worldly cir
| cumstances! Nelson, the night before his
| last battle, said: 'To-morrow shall win
| either a peerage or grave IN Westmln-
ster Abbey" And it does not make much
| difference to the Christrian whether he
| rises or falls in worldly matters; he has
/ everlasting renown anyway. Other plu-
| mage may be torn in the blast, but that
soul adorned with Christian grace Is fair
er than the dove, its wings covered with |
silver and its feathers with yellow gold.
You and 1 have found out that people |
who pretend to be happy are not always |
happy Look at that young man earica-
turing the Christian religion, scOfhng at
every thing good, going into registering
drunkenness, dashing the champagne
bottle to the floor, rolling the glasses from
the bar-rOom counter, laughing, shout
ing. stamping the floor, shrieking. Is ne
haDpv? | will go to his midnight pillow.
| I will see him turn the gas off. l Will ask
myself if the pillow on which he sleeps Is
1 as soft as the pillow on which that pure
young man sleeps. An! ~ no. n3en Maen
1 will the world be as bright to
Q him as to that young man who re-
4 tired at night saying his prayers,
invoking Gods blessing upon his own
. | soul and the souls of his comrades, and
father and mother and brothers ana SIS
: ters far away? No, no. His laughter VIII
d ring out from the saloon so that you hear
: it as you pass by, but it is hollow laugh
g ter; in it is the swapping of heart-strlngs
& and the the rattle of prison gates. Happy
o that young man happy! Let him MI hlgh
IS the bowl; he can not drown an upbrald-
IT ing conscience. Let the balls roll through
2 the bowling alley; the deep rumble
n and the sharp crack can not over
a power the voices of condemnation.
Is Let him whirl in the dance
l. of sin and temptation and death. All the
If brilliancy of the scene can not make him
= forget the last look Of his mother, as he
l. left home, when she said to him: "Now,
3e my son, you will do right, l am sure you
II will do right; you will, won't your ThaG
of young man happy? Why, across every
z; night there fit shadows of eternal dark
"a cuD: there are vultures of despair strlk-
W ing their iron beak into his heart; there
are skeleton fingers of grief pinching at
s. the throat. l come in amid the clnklng
g, of the glasses and under the flashing or
Ut the chandeliers, and cry: "Woe! woe
s; The way of the ungodly shall perish.
III | There is no peace, saith my God to the
O. wicked. The way of transgressorsi is hard"
ne Oh. my friends, there is more JOY in one
~ cup of Christian satisfaction than in the
ne whole river of sinful delight. Other wings
US may be drenched of the storm ano
Ie' splashed Of the tempest, but the dove
lVs that comes in through the window OF this
Heavenly ark has wings like the dove GOV
-eh cred with silver, and her feathers witt
IS, yellow gold.
Is Again I rem ark, religion is an adorn
ment in the style OF usefulness into whicl
re- it inducts q man. Here are two yc1nt
laC men. The one has fine culture, exquisite
ne wardrobe, plenty of friends, great world
M ly success, but he lives for himself. His
M chief care is for his own comfort. HI
old lives uselessly. He dies unregretted
I'm Here is another young man. His appare
leo may not be so good. his education ma!
al not be so thorough. He lives for others
7p- His happiness is to make others happy
aac He is as self-denying that dying sol
leu dier, falling in the ranks, when he said
am ''Colonel, there is no need of those bOy'
a firing themselves by carrying me to th'
ing hospital; let me die just where am" -
1en this young man OF whom / speak love-
use God, wants all the world to love Him, Il
IT. not ashamed to carry a bundle Of clothe
pie, up that dark alley to the poor. Which {
ing those young men do you admire? III
cal, one a sham, the other prince imperial.
s4S oh, do you know of any thing, my heal
" er, that is more beautiful than to see
. young man start out for Christi Hero
~ some one falling; he lifts him up. Her
'0L' is a vagabOnd boy; he introduces him to
mission school. Here is a family freezin
= o to death; he carries them scuttle OF Goa
)Lns There are eight hundred million perishtr
us!- in midnight heathen darkness; by all POI
- sible means he tries to send TO them u
pIIy Gospel. He may be laughed at and
.gnI NAV be caricatured, but he is not asham'
lleu leu to go everywhere, saying: Il am n
hi9 ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. 1t
II Is the power Of God and the wisdom of GC
% 10 unto salvation" Such a young man CT
ian Ian 90 through every thing. There is no for
"I0 on earth or in hell that can resist him.
an I show you three spec ctacles. Spectac
ms the first: Napoleon passes by with the no
lShC that went down with him to Egypt, and
u CAaC with him through Russia, and crossed
'ieo' continent on the bleeding heart of viii
op- he set his iron heel, and across the qui
% erinR flesh of which he went grinding t
rs Oh wheels Of his gun carriages his dyt
arc moment asking his attendants TO put
oALls his military boots for him.
anu anu SpectacIe the second: VOltaire, brig
- t,l and learned, and witty and eloquent, wi
A'0A tongue and voice and stratagem intern
-, | warning against God and poisoning wht
VIZ VIZ kingdoms with his infdelity, yet applau
.eo,a tlCm ed by the clapping hands Of thrones a
'Aoto enDires and cOntinents-his last words,
4 ~ a. delirium suppOsing Christ standing
~ the bedside-his last words: "Crush Il
9SAA' wretchW
from Spectacle the third: Paul-Paul, ins
y ohco @ ntfcant in person, thrust out from all
IL an fined association, scOurged, sPat
not hounded like q wild beast from city
5sseS city, vet trying to make the world 80
eIeu' and Heaven full; announcing resurr
hos ton to those who mOurned at the bar
sun gates Of the dead; speaking consolati'
Al 40 which light up the eyes Of widOwhood,
goes orphanage, and want with glow Of cert
'uDle and eternal release; undaunted beR
/ tne those who could take his life, his CHI
'u1 "a flushed with transport, and his eye
ioS ~ Heaven; with one hand shaking deha
H lenuS at all the foes Of earth and all the prtI
IN - palities Of hell, and with the other b
~oIno9 ~ beckoning messenger angels TO come
aAnoo bear him away, as he says: Il am ]
> Ino ready to be offered, and the time OF
per departure is at hand; have fought
u 1i9 good fight have finished my couTs
ms have kept the faith; henceforth ther
ls MS laid up for me crown Of righteousE
- which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
= ,,r1; give me-"
2 - Which Of the three spectacles do
q 40 - - most admfreg When the wind OF d'
= z,igI ing struck the cOnqueror and the infidel
= - were tossed like sea gulls ia a tenn
Il % Z aEsa aud