The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1894-06-01

1AcE journey. 10 you ever 1SAAcHADC1
seeing your old mother sitting on some
rainy day, looking out of the window,
her elbow on the window sill, her hand
to her brow-looking out, not seeing
the falling shower at all (you well
knew she was looking into the distant
past), until the apron came up to her
eyes, because the memory was too much
for her?
Oft the big. unbidden tear,
Stealing down the furrowed cheek,
Told in eloquence sincere,
Tales Of woe they could not speak.
But this scene Of weeping Ger,
Past this scene Of toll and pain,
They shall feel distress no more,
Never. never weep again.
"Who are these under the altar?" tho
question was asked; and the respone
came: '"These' are they which came
out of great tribulation, and have
washed their robes, and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb" Our
friends went by a path of tears into
glory. Be not surprised if we have to
travel the same pathway.
1 remark, again, if we want to win
the society of our friends in Heaven we
will not only have to travel path Of
faith and path of tribulation, but we
viii also have to positively battle for
their companionship. David and his
men never wanted sharp swords and
invulnerable shields and thick breast
plates so much as they wanted them on
the day when they came down upon the
Amalekites. If they had lost that
battle they never would have got their
families back. l suppose that one
glance at their loved ones in
captivity hurled them into the battle
with tenfold courage and energy.
They said: 'sWe must win it. Every
thing depends upon it. Let each one
take a man on point of spear or sword.
We must win it." And / have to tell
you that between us and coming into
the companionship of our loved ones
who are departed there is an Austerlitz,
there is a Gettysburg, there is Water
loo. War with the world, war with the
either to conquer our troubles or our
troubles will conquer us. David will
either slay the Amalekites or the
Amalekites will slay David. And
yet is not the fort to be taken worth
all the pain, all the peril, all the be-
siegement? Look! Who are they on
the bright hills of Heaven yonder?
There they are, those who sat at your
own table, the chair now vacant
There they are, those whom you
rocked in infancy in the cradle or
hushed to sleep in your arms. There
they are, their brow more radiant than
ever before you saw it, their lips wait
ing for the kiss of heavenly greeting,
their cheek roseate with the
health of eternal summer, their
hands reckoning you up the steep,
the feet bounding with the mirth
of Heaven. The pallor of their last
sickness gone out of their face, never
more to be sick, never more to cough,
never more to limp, never more to be
old, never more to weep. They are
watching from those heights to see if
through Christ you can take the fort,
and whether you will rush in upon
them-victors. They know that upon
this battle depends whether you viii
ever join their society. Up! strike
harder! Charge more bravely! Re-
member that every inch you gain puts
you so much farther on toward that
heavenly reunion.
If this morning while l speak you
could hear the cannonade of foreign
enemy which was to despoil your city,
and if they really should succeed in car
rying your families away from you,
how long would we take before we re-
solved to go after them? Every weapon,
whether fresh from the armory or old
andrusty in the garnet, would be brought
out; and we would urge on, and coming
in front of the foe, we would look
at them, and then look at our families,
and the cry would be, Victory or
death ~ and when the ammunition was
gone, we would take the captors on the
point of the bayonet or under the
breech of the gun. If you would make
such a struggle for the getting back of
your early friends, will you notmake as
much struggle for the gaining of the
eternal companionshipo of your heavenly
friends? Oh, yesl we must join them. We
must sit in their holy society. We
must sing with them the song. We
must celebrate with them the triumph.
Let it never be told on earth or in
Heaven that David and his men pushed
out with drawer hearts for the getting
back of their earthly friends for few
years ON earth than we to get our de-
parted.
You say that all this implies that our
departed Christian friends are alive
Why, had you any idea they were dead?
They have only moved. If you should
go on the second of May to a house
e. j.
find him gone, you would not think that
he was dead. You would inquire next
door where he had moved to. Our de-
parted Christian friends have only taken
another house. The secret is that
they are richer now than they once
were, and can afford better residence.
They once drank out of earthenware;
they now drink from the Kings chalice.
Joseph is yet alive, and Jacob will GO
up and see him. Living? are they
Why, if a man can live in this damp,
dark dungeon of earthly captivity, can
he not live where he breathes the brac-
ing atmosphere of the mountains OF
Heaven? oh, yes, they are living!
Do you think that Paul is so near
dead now as he was when he was living
in the Roman dungeon? Do you think
that Frederick Robertson, of Brighton,
is as near dead now as he was when,
year after year, he slept seated on the
floor, his head on the bottom of a chair,
because he could find ease in no other
position? Do you think that Rob
ert Hall is as near dead now az
when, on his couch, he tossed in phys.
ical fortunes? No. Death gave them
the few black drops that cured them. |