The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-04-24

loose endS- Accidents are only God s
way of turning leaf, in the book ,of
Ills etefnai DEGREES. from our cradle
to our grave there is path all marked
out Each event in our life Is con-
nected with every other event in our
life. Our losses may be the most
direct read TO cur gain. Our de.
feat and 6uf Victory are twia
brothers. The whole of our life was
, ~.isnE7a by something which at
the time seemed to you trihing, while
some occurrence which seemed tree
EhcAdohs affected s6d bit little, Gods
plans are magnificent beyond all CONS
| preheAsiof. He fnolds tfs; and turns
and directs US, and we know il not.
Thousands Of years are to Him as the
flight of a shuttle. The most terrific
occurrence does not make God tremble.
The most tfiumphaht achievements
does ubt lift Him into rapture: That
one great Thought Of 6oa Gses ett
| through the. centuries; and nations
fise Sdd fall; aud eras pass, and the
world changes, but God sti1l Reaps the
undivided mastery, linking event to
event and century to century. To God
they are all one event, one history, one
plan, one development, one system.
Great and marvellous are Thy works,
lord cod 4lttiphtft J was, years
ago in New Orleans at the o3'
position rooms, when a telegram
United States at Washington, and we
waited s-ms IL O. % Iuin1tess and then
the presidents answer came back, and
then the presiding officer waived his
handkerchief aud the signal was sGnt
to Washington that we were ready to
have the machinery of the exposition
started, and the presidents put
his hhSer Oh the electric button;
and instantly the great Corliss
wheel began to move-rumbling
rumbling, rolling, rolling. 1t was
overwhelming, and $4,000 people
clappcd and shouted. Just one finger
at Washington started that vast MA
ehineFy, hundreds and hundreds Of
miles away; and Thought then, DIS
think now; that men sometimes touch
influences that respond in tile far dis
tance, 40 years from now, so years from
now, 1000 years from now-one touch
sounding through the ages.
We also learn from this story the
propriety of laying up for the future.
During the seven years of plenty, do-
seph prepared for the famine, and
when 1t came he had crowded stores
6o1ve. The life Of most rIeh in a world,
ly respect is divided into years of plenty
and famine. 1t is seldom that any
man can pnss through life without at
| least seven years of plenty. During
those seven years, your business bears
rich harvest. You scarcely know
where all the money comes from, it
comes so fast Every bargain you make
seems to turn into gold. You contract
few bad debts. You are astonished
with the dividends. You invest more
and more capital. You wonder how
men can be content with small bust
ness, gathering in only few hundred
dollars while you reap your thousands.
Those are the seven yeags of plenty.
Now Joseph has t me tA pxepare for
the threatened famine, for to almost
every man there do come seven years
of famine. You will be sick, you will
be unfortunate, you will be defraud-
ed, there will be hard times, you
will be disappointed, and if you have
no storehouse upon which to fall back,
you may be famine struck. We have
no admiration for this denying ones
self all personal comfort and luxury
for the mere pleasure OF boarding up,
this grasping, grasping for the mere
pleasure of seeing how largo a pile
you can get, this always being poor be-
cause as soon as a dollar comes in it is
sent out to see if it can find another
dollar, so that it can carry it home on
its back. We have contempt for all
those things, but there is an intelli-
gent and undetermined forecast which
we love to see in men who have fam
lilies and kindred depending upon
them for the blessings of educa-
ton and home. God sends us to the
insects for lesson, which,
while they do not stint them1
selves in the present, do not forget
their duty to forecast the future. go
to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her
ways and be wise; which having no
guide, overseer or ruler, provideth her
meat in the summer and gathereth her
food in the harvest"
Now, there are two ways of laying
up money One of these is to put it in
stock and deposit it in bank, and in-
vest it on bond and mortgage. The
other way to lay up money is giving
away. He is the safest who makeI
both of these investments. There arg
in this house men who if they losd
every dollar they have in the world
would be millionaires for eternity.
They made the spiritual investment;
but the man who devotes none of his
gains to the cause of Christ, and looks
only for his own comfort and luxury,
is not safe, / care not how the money
is invested. lie acts as the rose If IL
should say: II will hold my breath,
and none shall have a snatch OF
fragrance from me until next week;
then l will set all the garden afoat
with my aroma" OF course the rose,
refusing to breathe, died. But above
all, lay up treasures in Heaven. They
never depreciate in value. They are
never at discount. They are always
available. You may feel safe now
with your $1,000 or 50, 900 or $4,000 or
$50, 900 income, but what will such
an income be worth after you ara
dead? Others will get it. Perhaps
some of them will quarrel about it
before you are buried. They will be so
impatient to get hold of the will, they |
will think you should be buried one
day sooner than you are buried. They |
will be right glad when you are dead. |
They are only waiting for you to die. |
What then will all your earthly |
accumulations be worth? If You