The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1889-06-07

beautiful port, and has all sail set, he
wants no Christ, he wants no help, he
wants no rescue: but If, under the fash Of
Gods eonvicting spirit he shall see that
by reason of sin he is dismasted and
waterIogged, and going down into the
trough of the sea where he can not live,
how soon he puts the sea glass TO his
eyes and sweeps the horizon, and at the
first sign of help cries out; II want to be
saved. want to be saved now. l want
to be saved forever" No sense of dan
ger, no application for rescue.
Oh, that Gods eternal spirit would fash
upon us a sense Of our sinfulness! The
Bible tells the story in letters of fire, but
we get used to it. We joke about sin. We
make merry over it. What is sinP Is it a
trihing thing? Sin is a vampire that is
sucking out the life-blood of your immor-
tai nature. Sin? 1t is a Basti1e that no
earthly key ever unlocked. Sin? 1t is
repatriation from God and Heaven.
Sin? It is grand larceny against the
Almighty, for the Bible asks the ques-
ton: ''Will a man rob God?" answer
ing it in the affirmative. This Gospel
is writ OF replevin to recover property
unlawfully detained from God. In the
Shetland Islands there is a man with lep-
rosy. The hollow of the foot has swollen
until it is fat on tho ground. The joints
begin to fall away. The ankle thickens
until it looks like the foot of a wild beast.
A stare unnatural comes to the eye. The
nostril is CONSTRUCTED. The voice drops to
an almost inaudible hoarseness. Tu-
bercles blotch the whole body, and from
them there comes an emulation that is
unbearable to the beholder. That is lep-
rosy, and we have all got it unless
cleansed by the grace of God. See
Leviticus. See II. Kings. See Mark.
See Luke. See fifty Bible illusions and
combinations.
The Bible is not complimentary II its
language. 1t does not speak mincingly
about our sins. 1t does not talk apollo
getically. There is no vermilion in its
style. 1t does not cover up our trans
gressions with blooming metaphor. 1t
does not sing about them in weak fall
settO; but il thunders out: t'The mag
nation of mans heart is evil from his
youth" Every one has gone back. He
has altogether become filthy. He is
abominable and filthy,and drinketh in in
EQUITY like water" And then the Lord
jesus Christ filings down at our feet this
humiliating catalogue: ''Out of the heart
of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
| fornication, murders, thefts, blasphe-
my" There is text for your rational.
| lists to preach from. Oh, the dignity OF
| human nature! There Is an element Of
! your science of man that the anthropolO-
| gist never has had the courage yet to
/ touch; and the Bible, in all the ms and
outs of the most forceful style, sets forth
our natural pollution, and represents in
/ iquity as frightful thing. as an exhaust
| ing thing, as a loathsome thing. 1t is not
/ a mere bemiring of the feet, it is not a
mere befouling of the hands; it is going
/ down, head and ears under, in ditch,
until our clothes abhOr US.
Ny brethren, shall we stay down where
! sin thrusts us? 1 shall not if you do. We
can not afford to. I have to-day to tell
| you that there is something purer than
| snow water, something more pungent
/ than alkali, and that is the blood of Jesus
! Christ that cleanseth from all sin. Aye
! the river of salvation, bright, crystalline
and Heaven born, rushes through this
audience with billowy tide strong
| enough to wash your sins completely and
! forever away. Oh, Jesus, let the dam
that holds it back now break, and the
| foods of salvation roll over US.
Let the water and the blood
From Thy side healing food,
| BE of sin the double cure,
| Save from wrath and make me pure.
Let US get down on both knees and battle
in that food of mercy. Ay, strike out
with both hands and try to swim to the
! other shore of this river of Gods grace.
To you is the word of this salvation sent.
Take this Iargess of the Divine bounty.
| Though you have gone down in the deep
est ditch of libidinous desire and corrupt
behavior; though you have sworn all
| blasphemies until there is not one single
word left for you to speak; though you
| have been submerged by the transgres-
sions of lifetime; though You are SO far
down in your sin that no earthly help can
touch your case, the Lord Jesus Christ
bends over you to-day and offers you
His right hand, proposing to lift
you up, first making you whittier
than snow, and then raising you to
glories that never die. Billy" said
! a Christian bootblack to another, "When
we come up to Heaven it won't make any
difference that we've been bootblaoks
here, for we shall get in, not somehow or
other, but, Billy, we shall get straight
through the gate.'' oh, if you only knew
how full and free and tender is the offer
e Christ this day you would all take Him
without one single exception; and if al
| the doors Of this house were locked save
one, and you were compelled to make
| egress by only one door, and I stood there
and questioned you, and the Gospel oil
Christ had made the right impression
upon your heart to-day, youwould answer
me as you went out, one ana allf Jesus
is mine, and l am His !" Oh, that this
might be the hour when you would receive
Him.
1t is not Gospel merely for foOtpads
and Migrants and buccaneers; it is for
the highly polished and the educated and
the refined as we'll Except man be
born again, he can not see the Kingdom
of God" Whatever may be your asso-
Citations, and whatever your worldly re
fnements, mnst tell you, as before God
l expect to answer in the last day, that il
you are not changed by the grace Of God
you are still down in the ditch of sin, in
the ditch of sorrow, in the ditch of con-
demnation; a ditch that empties into 9
deeper ditch, the ditch of the lost. Blu
blessed be God for the lifting, cleansing
Illustrating power of His Gospel.
The voice OF free grace cries; Escape 20 TIT
| mountain;
For all that believe. Christ has opened fount
/ ain
Halelujahl to the Lamb who has bought u
our pardon;
Wen praise Him again when we pass over Jo1
dan.
PRETTY SACHET CASES.