The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1889-09-06

support NY AaAnlAgs h4OuSnb lAAdI ~
one false entry, by one deception, by one
embezzlement I might spring out free
from all my trouble; and the temptation
came upon me so fiercely / conld not de-
liberate. did wrong, and having done
wrong once, 1 could not stop"
o, it is the first step that costs; the
second is easier; and the third; and on to
the last. Once having broken loose from
the anchor, it is not so easy to tie the
parted strands. How often it is that men
are ruined for the reason that the tempta-
ton comes from some unexpected quar-
ter. As vessels lie in Margate roads,
safe from southwest winds; but the wind
changing to the northeast they are driven
helpless and go down. o, that God would
have mercy upon those upon whom there
comes the sudden swOop of temptation,
lest they perish, becoming castaways!
castaways!
By talking with sea captains I have
found out also that some vessels come to
this calamity through sheer reoklessness.
There are three million men who follow
the sea for a living. 1t is a simple fact
that the average of human life on the sea
is less than twelve years. This comes
from the fact that mon by familiarity
with danger sometimes become reckless
the captain, the helmsman. the stOker,
the man on the lookout become reckless,
and in nine out of ten shipwrecks it is
found out that some one was awfully to
blame. So have to tell you that men
are morally shipwrecked through sheer
recklessness. There are thousands who
do not care where they are in spiritual
things. They do not know which way
they are sailing, and the is black
with piratical hulks that would grappIe
them with hooks of steel and blindfOld
them, and make them "walk the plank"
They do not know what the next moment
may bring forth.
Drifting IN their theology. Drifting in
their habits. Drifting in regard to all OF
their future. No God, no Christ, set
| tied anticipatiOns of eternal felicity ; but
all the time coming nearer and nearer to
a dangerous coast. Some of them are on
| fire with evil habits, and they shall burn
| on the sea, the charred hulk tossed up on
| barren beach. Many of them with great
! troubles, financial troubles, domestic
troubles, social troubles; but they never
pray for comfort. With an aggravation
of sin they pray for no pardon. They do
not steer for the ightship that dances in
| gladness at the mouth of Heavens har-
| Dor; reckless as to where they come out,
drifting further from God, further from
| early religious influences, further from
| happiness, and what is the worst thing
! about it is they are taking their families
/ along with them, and the way one goes,
| the prOba bility is they will all go. Yet
| no anxisty. AS unconscious of danger as
| the passengers aboard the Arctic one
/ moment before the Vesta crashed into
/ her.
| Wrapped up in the business of the
store, not remembering that soon they
must quit all their earthly possessions.
/ Absorbed in their social position, not
! knowing that very soon they will have
| attended the last levee and whirled in the
/ 4, lila t.,gr-
choose to he ruined; neither did the
/ French frigate Medusa aim for the Ar
| gum banks, but there it went to pieces.
| 1 wish I could wake you up. The perils
are so augmented, you will die just as
! certain as you sit there unless you bestir
yourself. Are you willing to become
| cas- taway? You throw out no oar. You
| take no surroundings. You watch no
compass. You are not calculating your
| bearings while the wind is abaft, and
/ yonder is long limo of foam bounding
| the horizon, and you will be pushed on
toward it, and thousands have persisted
there, aud you are driving in the same
direction. Ready about! Down helm!
Hard down? Man the Iife-boatl Pull my
lads, pull
He that being often reproved hard
eneth his neck, shall be suddenly de-
| stroyed, and that without remedy"
But some of you saying within your
selv es: What shall 1 dO?" Do? Do?
Why, brother, do what any ship does
| when it is in trouble. Lift a distress sig
nal. On the sea there is a flash and a
| boom. You listen aud You look. A vessel
is in trouble. The distress gun is sound
ed, or a rocket is sent up, or blanket is
lifted, or a bundle of rags-any thing to
catch the eye of the passing craft. So, if
you want to be taken off the wreck of your
sin YOU must lift distress signal The
publican lifted the distress signal when
he cried:
'God, be merciful to me sinnerp
Peter lifted the distress signal when he
said: Lord, save me, perishH
The blind man lifted the distress signal
when he said: Lord, that my eyes may
be opened"
The jailer lifted the distress sigma.
when he said:
"What must I do to be saved?"
And help will not come to your soul
until you lift some signal. You must
make some demonstration, give some
sign, make some Heaven piercing out
cry for help, lifting the distress signal
for the church's prayer, lifting the dis
tress signal for Heavens pardon. Pray
PrayI The voice of the Lord now sounds
in your ears:
In me is thy help"
Too proud to raise such signal, too
proud to be saved.
There was an old sailor humping
about in a small boat in tempest The
larger vessel had gone down. He felt he
must die. The surf was breaking over
the boat, and he said:
81 took off my life belt that it might
soon be over, and 1 thought somewhat
indistinctly about my friends on shore
and then l bid them goodbye like, and
was about sinking back and giving it up,
when 1 saw bright star. The clouds
were breaking away, and there the
blessed star shOne down on me. and it
seemed TO take right hold of me; and
somehow, l can not tell how it was, but
someh ow, while 1 was trying to watch
that star, it seemed to lift me.
o, sinking soul see you not the glim-
mer between the riffs of the storm cloud?
That is the star of hope.
Deathstruck, ceased the tide TO stem,
When suddenly star arose,
It was the star OF Bethlehem!
| If there are any here who consider
themselves castaways, let me say God is
doing every thing to save You. Did you
ever hear OF Lionel Luken? He was the
inventor of the insubmergible life boat
All honor is due TO his memory by sea-
faring men, as we'll as by landsmeD. How
many lives he saved by his invention. In
after DAYS that invention was improved,
and one day there was perfect boat,