The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1892-03-04

loathsomeness and abomination.
Arousing from his debauch, he cries
out: 80 God. have mercy on me. Thou
who didst pardon the penitent thief,
hear me cry for mercy" And the Lord
listens and pardons, and no sooner is
the poor wretch pardoned than three Of
the great towers of Heaven strike up a
silvery chime.
But here is q wait of the street. She
passes under the gaslight, and your
soul shudders with a great horror. No
pity for her. No commisseration for
her. As she passes down the street,
she hears n song in a midnight mis-
sion, and as she listens to that song she
hears:
| All may come. whoever win,
This Man receives poor sinners stiIl.
She puts into that harbor, she kneels
by the rough bench near the door, she
says; 20, Lordi Thou who didst have
mercy on Mary Blagdalen, take my
blistered feet off the red hot pavement
OF hell" God says: MY daughter.
thy sins are forgiven thee; go in peace. {"
Now, all the four towers of Heaven
strike a silvery chime, and they who
pass through the celestial streets say:
whats that2 Why, the worst sinner
must have been saved. Hear all the
four towers ring, and ring, and ring"
"And there is JOY in Heaven among the
angels of God over one sinner that re-
penteth."
My subject impresses you, I think,
with the thought that IL is possible for
us to augment the happiness of Heaven.
People think that souls before the
throne are as happy as they can be.
deny it Look at that mother before
the throne of God. When she died she
left her son in this world vagabond.
That son repented his iniquities and
came to God. The report of that sal
walton has reached Heaven. Do you
| tell me that mother before the throne
of God has not her Joy richly aug
mented? There is many a man in this
house to-day VINO could go out with a
torch and kindle new bonfire of
victory on the hills of Heaven, If you
would this day repent and come to
God the news of your salvation would
reach Heaven, and then, bark! to the
shout of the ransomed.
Your little child went away from you
into the good land While she was
here, you brought her all kinds of
beautiful presents. Sometimes you
came home at nightfall with your pock-
cts full of gifts for her, and no sooner
did you put your nightkey into the
latch than she began at you, saying:
Father what have you brought me?n
She is now before the throne of God.
Can You bring her n gift to-day? You
may. Coming to Christ, and repenting
of sin, the tidings will 60 up TO the
throne of God, and your child will hear
of 1t. o, what gift for her soul to-
day! She will skip with new g1adness
on the everlasting hills when she hears
of It. rsezrregf :
was at Sharpsburg during the war.
and one day / saw a sergeant dash
past on a lathered horse, the blood
dripping from the spurs. ] said: "That
sergeant must be going on avery inn
portant message; he must be carrying
very important message Tor he
wouldn't ride like that Here are two
angels of God fitting through the
house, fitting toward the throne on
quick dispatch. What is the news?
Carrying up the story OF souls repent
ant and forgiven, carrying the news to
your kindred who are forever saved
o, 'there is Joy i'm Heaven among the
angels of God over one sinner that re-
penteth."
And suppose this whole audience
should turn to the Lord? Heaven would
be filed with doxologles. o, Heaven,
beat with all thy hammers, that the
rock may break. o, Heaven, strikewith
all thy cleaning swords, that our souls
| may be free.
l was reading of a great king who,
after gaining great victory, said to
his army: "No, no shouting; let every
thing be in quiet; no shouting" But
if this hour your soul should come to
God, nothing could stop the shouting of
the armies of God before the throne;
for ''there is Joy in Heaven among the
angels of God over one sinner that re-
penteth."
In some families they keep vacant
chair and a vacant plate for the depart
ed; but if in some of your households
You kept a vacant chair and a vacant
plate for those who have gone away
from you into the next world, the va
cant chairs and the vacant plates would
outnumber those which are occupied.
once said to you there are no vacant
chairs in Heaven; but i recall that.
Right beside your loved one in that
good land there is a vacant chair, not
made vacant by death, for death never
enters there; it is a chair vacant for
you. Will you take it?
My subject also impresses me with
the idea that Heaven and earth are in
close sympathy. People talk of Heaven
as though it were great way off.
They say it is hundreds of thousands of
miles before you reach the first star,
and then you go hundreds of thousands
of miles before you go to the second
star, and then it is millions of miles
before you reach Heaven. They say
| Heaven is the center of the universe,
| and we are on the rim of the univere.
That is not the idea of my text.
think the heart of Heaven beats very
close to our world.
We measure distances by the time
taken to traverse those distances. 1t
used to be long distance to San Fran
cisco. Many weeks and months were
passed before you could reach that city.
Now it is six or seven days. 1t used to
be six weeks before you could voyage
to Liverpool Nowyou can go that dis
lance in six or seven days. And 50
4 and Heaven, and find it is only flash.
1t is one instant here and another in
\ slant there 1t is very near to-day.