The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1889-08-16

| circles3 For no one ever succeeds
in any kind of Christian work IN
less he works naturally. We want to
initiate the Lord Jesus Christ, who
| plucked a poem from the grass of the
| field. We all want to initiate Him who
/ talked with farmers about the man who
/ went forth to SOW, and talked with the
/ fishermen about the drawn net that
| brought in fish of all sorts, and talked
with the vine dresser about the idler in
| the vineyard, and talkel with those new
| ly af3anced about the marriage supper,
and talked with the man cramped in
| money matters about the two debtors.
and talked with the woman about the
! yeast that leayened the whole lump, and
talked with the shepherd about the lost
| sheep.
Oh, we might gather even the stars of
| the sky and twist them like forget-me-
nots in the garland of Jesus. We must
bring every thing to Him-the wealth of
! language, the tenderness of sentiment
the delicacy of morning dew, the saffron
| of floating cloud, the tangled surf of the
| tossing sea, the bursting thunder guns Of
| the storms lombard ment. Yes, every
star must point down to Him, every hello
| trope must breathe His praise. every drop
| in the summer shower must fash His
| glory, all the tree branches of the forest
must thrum their music in the grand
march which shall celebrate world re-
| deemed.
Now, all this being so, what is the COM
| nonsense thing for you and for me to
| do? What we do think will depend up
on three great facts. The first fact that
sin has ruined us. It has blasted body
| mind and soul. We want no Bible to
| prove that we are sinners. Any man who
is not willing to acknowledge himself an
| imperfect and a sinfnl being is simply a
fool and not to be argued with. We all
| feel that sin has disorganized our whole
nature. That is one fact. Another fact
is that Christ came to reconstruct, to re-
| store, to revise, to correct to redeem.
That is a second fact. The third fact is
that the only time we are sure Christ will
pardon US is the present. Now, what is
| the common sense thing for as to do in
| view of these three factsf You will all
! agree with me to quit sin, take Christ, and
| take Him now.
/ Suppose some business man in whose
| skill you had pc fect confidence should
tell you that to morrow (Monday) morn
ing, between eleven and twelve O'Clock,
you could by certain financial transact
ton mako five thousand dollars, but that
on Tuesday perhaps you might make it,
but there would not be any positiveness
about it, and on Wednesday, there would
not be so much, and on Thursday less,
Friday less, and so on less and less, when
would you attend to the matter? Why,
your common sense would dictate: ''Im-
mediately will attend to that matter be-
tween eleven and twelve O'Clock tO-mor-
row (MOnday) morning, for then 1 can
surely accomplish it, but on Tuesday
may not, and on Wednesday there is less
prospect. I will attend to it to- NOR
row."
Now let us bring our common sense in
this matter of religion. Here are the
! hnnRS Of the GngT1aI una
now. Tomorrow we may get them ana
we may not. Next day we may and we
may not, The prospect less and less and
less and less. The only sure time now
now. l would not talk to you in this way
if 1 did not know that Christ was able
to save all the people, and save
/ | thous ands as easily as save one.
would not go into hospital and tear off
the bandages if 1 had no balm to apply.
l would not have the face to tell a man he
is a sinner unless had at the same time
the authority of saying he may be saveG.
Suppose in Venice there is Raphael, a
, faded picture great in its time, bearing
some marks of its greatness. History
describes that picture. 1t is nearly faded
away. You say:
/ "Oh, what a pity that so wonderful q
, picture should be nearly defacedI"
After awhile man comes up, very IN
skillful in art and he proposes to retoucb
, it. You say:
"Stand off 1 would rather have it just
, as it is; you will only make it worse"
After awhile there comes an artist who
was the equal of Raphael. He says: II
will retouch t-Iat picture and bring ont
all its original power" You have full
confidence in his ability. He touches it
/ here and there. Feature after feature
comes forth, and when he is done with
, the picture it is complete in all its
II
His image on our race, but that image
I has been defaced FOR hundreds and for
! thousands of years. getting fainter and
J | fainter. Here comes up a Divine Raphael.
He says: II can restore that picture"
I He has all power in Heaven and on earth.
? He is the equal of the One who made the
q | picture, the image of the One who drew
' the image of God in our soul. He touches
] this sin and it is gone, that transgressiOn
and it disappears. and all the DETACHMENT
! ! vanishes, and where sin abOuRded grace
doth much more abound."I
? VIII you have the DETACHMENT or will
, | YOU have the restoration? 1 am well per-
! suaded that if 1 could by a touch of Heav-
D emily pathos in two minutes put before
! you what has been done to save your
| soul there would be an emotional tide
q | overwhelming.
Mamma" said little child to her
n mother, when she was put to bed
d | at night, mamma, what makes
. your hand so Scared and
t twisted and unlike other peoples
Y hands" "Well," said the mother, ''ny
' child, when you were younger than you
/ are now. years ago, one night after 1 had
t put you to bed heard a cry, a Shrek up
y stairs. 1 came up and found the bed was
t on fire, and you were on fire, and took
: hold Of you and l tore off the burn
t ing garments, and while 1 was
. tearing them off and trying Co ge
!. yOu away 1 burned my hand, and it has
n been burned and SCARED ever since, anC
o hardly looks any more like hand; but
got that, my child, in trying to save you.'
= D mani woman! 1 wish to- day cOulC
It show you the burned hand of Christ
burned in plucking you out of the fire
a burned in snatching you away from thu
v flame. Aye, also the burned foot, auC
4 the burned brow, and the burned heart
? burned for you. By His stripes ye ar
IA healed.