The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1891-07-03

OLnCs
There is a man who had the typhoid
fever He said: s'Oh, if / could get
over this terrible distressl If this
fever should depart, If / could be re-
stored to health, / would all the rest of
my life serve God" The fever depart
ed He got well enough to walk around
the block. He got well enough to go
over to New York and attend TO bust
ness. He is well to-day-as well as he
ever was. Where is the broken VOW?
There Is a man who said long
ago: eff l could live to year 1891, by
that time I will nave by business mat
tiers arranged, and / will have time to
attend to religion, and / will be a good.
thorough consecrated Christian" The
/ year 1891 has come. January, Febru-
airy, March, April, May, June-almost
half the year gone. Where is your bro
ken vow?" 90" says some man, "In
attend to that when / a get my char
acter. fixed up; when / can get over my
evil habits; / am now given to strong
drink" or, says the man, II am given
to uncleanness;'' or, saws the man, 81
am given to dishonesty. When 1 get
over my present habits, then I'll be a
thorough Christian" My brother, you
will get worse and worse until Christ
takes you in hand. mot the righteous;
sinners, Jesus came to call"
o! but you say 81 agree with you on
all that, but | must put it off a little
longer" Do you know there were
many who came just Is ear as you
are to the kingdom of God and never
entered it? l was at East Hampton
and went into the cemetery to look
around, and in that cemetery there are
twelve graves side by side the graves
of sailors The crew., some years ago,
in a ship went into the breakers at
Amagansett, about three miles away.
My brother, then preaching at East
Hampton, had been at the burial.
These men of the crew came very near
being saved. The people from ANA
gansett saw the vessel, and they shot
rockets, and they sent ropes from the
shore, and these poor fellows got into
the boat, and they pulled nightly for
shore, but just before they got to the
shore the rope snapped, and the boat
capsized, and they were lost, their
bodies afterward washed up on the
beach. Oh what a solemn day it
was-I have been told of it by my
brother-when these twelve men lay at
the foot of the pulpit and he read over
them the funeral service. They came
very near the shore-within shouting
distance of the shore, yet did not arrive
on solid land. There are some men
who come almost to the shore of Gods
mercy, but not quite, not quite. To be
only almost saved is not to be saved at
all.
L will tell you of two prodigals, the
one that got back and the other that
did not get back. In Virginia there is
o. very prosperous and beautiful home
in many respects. A young man wan
dered off from that home. He wandered
very far into sin. They heard of him
often, but he was always on the wrong
track. lie would not go home.
At the door of that beautiful home
one night there was a great out
cry. The young man of the house
raj down and opened the door to see
what was the matter. It was midnight.
The rest of the family were asleep,
There were the wife and the children
of this prodigal young man. The fact
was he had come home and driven them
out. He said: 'Out of this house. Away
with these children. l will dash their |
brains out. Out into the STORM"
The mother gathered them up and
fled. The next morning the broth
er, the young man had stayed
at home, went out to find the
prodigal brother and son., and he came
where he was, and saw the young man
wandering up ard down in front of the
place where he had been staying, and
the young man who had kept his in
tegrity said to the older brother: Here,
what does all this mean? What is the
matter with you? Why do you act in
this way?" The %prodigal looked at
him and said: "Who am /? Who
do you take me to be?". He said:
you are my brother" mo, /
not. / am a brute. Have you
seen anything of my wife and chill
dren? Are they dead? l drove them
last night in the storm. I am a
brute. John, do you think there is any
help for me-? Do you think / will ever
get over this life of disSipation?" He
said: "John, there is just one thing that
will stop this" The prodiga1 ran his
across his throat and said: "That
will stop it, and Ill stop it before night.
o! my brain; / can stand it no longer"
That prodigal never got home. But ]
will tell you of a prodigal that did get
To-day ! offer you the pardon of the
Gospei-fnll pardon, free pardon. / dc
not care whatyour sin has been. Though
you say you have committed a crime
God, against your own soul,
your fellow man, against your
against the day of Judgment,
the cross of Christ-what-
ever your crime has been, here is
pardon, full pardon, and the very mo
ment that you take that pardon your
heavenly father throws His arms around
about you and says: MY son, l for
give you. 1t is all right. You are as
much in my favor now as if you had
never sinned." o! there is joy on earth
and Joy in Heaven. Who will take the
Fathers embrace.
There was a gentleman in a rail car
who saw in that same car three passen~
gers of very different circumstances.
The first was u maniac. He was care
fully guarded by his attendants; his
mind, like a ship dismasted, was
against a dark, desolate
coast, from which no help could
come The train stopped, and
he man was taken out into the
to waste away, pershaps,
through years of gloom. The second