The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1894-11-30

pd4u1ully COiASS 10 INC DTlAh u tho
river and steps in until the water
comes to the ankle, and goes
on deeper until the water comes to the
| girdle, and now standing SO far down
in the stream, just little inclination
of the head will thoroughly immense
him. He bows once into the flood, and
comes up and shakes the water out OF
nOstril and eye; and his attendants
| look at him and say: "Why, general,
how much better you do look" And
he bows q second time into the food
/ and comes up, and the wild stare is
gone out of his eye. He bows the third
| time into the flood and comes up, and
the shriveled flesh has got smooth
again. He bows the fourth time in the
food and comes up, and the hair that
had fallen out is restored in thick locks
again all oyer his brow. He bows
| the fifth time into the flood and comes
up, and the hoarseness has gone out of
his throat. He bows the sixth time
| and comes up, and all the soreness and
! anguish have gone out of his limbs
why" he says, 81 am almost well,
but will make a complete cure" and
he bows the seventh time into the
flood and he comes up, and not so
much as tester, or a scale, or an
eruption as big as the head of a pin
| is to be seen on him. He steps out on
the bank and says: us it possib1e?'
And the attendants look and say: lis
it possible?" And as, with the health
of an athlete, he bounds back into the
chariot and drives on, there goes up
from all his attendants a wild "huzZa!
| huzza!" OF course, they go back to
pay and thank the man of God for his
| counsel so fraught with wisdom. When
they left the prophets house 'they
went off mad; they have come back
glad. People always think better Of a
minister after they are converted than
they do before conversion. Now, we are
| to them an intolerable nuisance, be-
cause we tell them to do things that go
against the grain; but some of us have
| a great many letters from those who
tell US that once they were angry at
what we preached, but afterward glad
ly received the Gospel at our hands.
They once called us fanatics, or terror
lists, or enemies; now they call us friends.
Yonder is a man who said he would
never come into the church again. He
said that two years ago. He said: my
family shall never come here again if
such doctrines as that are preached"
But he came again, and his family
came again. He is a Christian, his
wife Christian, all his children Chris
tians, the whole household Christians,
and you shall dwell with them in the
house of the Lord fore yer. Our I'M
dying conductors are those who once
heard the Gospel, and event away in
rage"
Now, my hearers, you know that thia
Gen. Naaman did two things in order
to get well. The first was-he got out
out of his chariot. He might have
stayed there with his swollen feet on
the stuffed ottoman, seated on that
embroidered cushion. until his last
gasp, he would never have got any re-
lief. He had to get down out
of his chariot. And you have
got to get down out of the
chariot of your pride if you ever
become a Christian. You can not
drive up to the cross with a cOach-and-
four and be saved among all the
spangles. You seem to think that the
Lord is going to be complimented by
your coming. Oh, no, you poor, miser-
able, scaly, leprous sinner, get down
out of that. We all come in the same
naughty way. We expect to ride
into the Kingdom of God. Never,
until we get down on our knees will
we find mercy The Lord has I'M
horsed us, uncharioted us. Get down
out of you pride. Get down out of
your self-righteousness and your hyp-
Ocriticism. That is the journey we
have to make on our knees. 1t is our
Internal pride that keeps us from get
ting rid of the leprosy of sin. Dear
Lord, what have we to be proud of?
Proud of our scales? Proud of our own
uncleanness? Proud of this killing in
lection? Bring us down at Thy feet,
weeping, praying, penitent, believing
suppliantS.
For sinners, Lord, thou cam'st to bleed,
And I'm sinner vile indeed;
Lord. I believe Thy grace is free,
o, magnify that grace in me.
But he had not only to get down out
of his chariot. He had to wash. co."
you say, 81 am very careful with my
ADDITIONS. Every day I plunge into a
bright and beautiful bath" All, my
nearer, there is a flood brighter than
any that pours from these hills. 1t
is the flood that breaks from the
granite of the eternal hills. 1t is the
flood of pardon, and peace, and life,
and Heaven. The flood started IN the
tears of Christ and the sweat of
Gethsemane, and rolled on, accumu-
lating flood, until all earth and Heaven
could battle in it. Zechariah called it
the fountains open for sin and I'M
cleanliness" William Cowper called
it the fountain filled with
blood" Your fathers and mothers
washed all their sins and sor-
rows away in that fountain. O, my
hearers, do you not feel like wadiag
into it? Wade down now into this
glorious flood, deeper, deeper, deeper.
Plunge once, twice, three, four times,
five times, six times, seven times. It
will take as much as that to cure your
soul. o, wash, wash, wash, and be
clean.
/ suppose that was a great time at
Damascus when Gen. Naaman got
back. The characters did not have to
drive slowly any longer, lest they jolt
the invalid: but as the horses dashed
through the streets of Damascus I
think the people rushed out to hail |
back their chieftain. Naaman's wife |
hardly recognized her husband; |
he was so wonderfully changed !
she had to look at him two or
three times before she made out |