The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-01-31
There are men to whom life Is :

opposition to be met and CONQUERED
and they never so much as had a rose
pinned to their coat lapel in admira
tion. They never had a song dedi
Gated to their name. They never
had a book presented to then
with a complimentary word or
the fy-leaf. All they have to show
for their lifetime battles scars. But
in the last day the story will come out
and that life will be put In holy and
transcendent rhythm, and their cour.
age and persistence and faith and VIC.
tory will not only be announced, but
rewarded. "These are they that came
out of great tribulation and had their
robes washed and made white in the
blood of the Lamb" God will say sol
We miss one of the chief ideas of a
last Judgment. We put into the picture
the fire, and the smoke, and the earth
quake, and the descending angels, and
the uprising dead, but we omit to put
into the picture that which makes the
last judgment magnificent opportu-
nifty. We omit the fact that it is to be
a day of glorious explanation and COM
mendation. The first justice that
millions of unrewarded, and un-
recognized, and unappreciated men and
women get will be on that day, when
services that never called forth so much
as a newspaper line of finest pearl or
diamond type, as the printers term it,
shall be called up for coronation. That
will be the day of enthronement for
those whom the world called mo
bodies" Joshua, who commanded the
sun and moon to stand still,
needs no last judgment to get justice
done him, but those men do need a
last judgment who at times, in all
armies, under the most violent as
sault, in obedience to command, them
selves stood still. Deborah, who en-
couraged Barak to bravery in battle
against the oppressors of Israel, needs
no last judgment to get justice
done her, for thousands of years
have clapped her applause. But
the wives who in all ages
have encouraged their husbands
in the battles of life, women whose
names were hardly known beyond the
next street or the next farmhouse,
must have God say to them: "You did
well! You did gloriouslyl saw you
down in that dairy. / watched you in
the old farmhouse, mending those chill
dren's clothes. heard what you said
in the way of cheer when the bread
winner of the household was in despair.
l remember all the sick cradles you
have sung to. / remember the back
achs, the headachs, the heartaches. I
know the story of your knitting-needle
Irr, or ga s5
scepter. Your castle on the heavenly
hill is all ready for you. Go up and
take it," And turning to the surprised
multitudes of Heaven, He will say,
"She did what she could" God will
say SO.
And now / close with giving my
own personal testimony, for 1 must
not enjoin upon others that which /
decline myself to do. Born at Bound
brook, N. j., of parentage as pious
as the world ever saw, / attest before
earth and Heaven that have always
felt the elevating and restraining in
fiuence of having had a good father
and a good mother, and If am
able to do half as well for my
children as the old folks did
The years of my life passed on until,
at about eighteen years of age, felt
the pressure of eternal realities, and
after prayer and religious counsel I
passed into what took to be a saved
state, and joined the church, and I
attest before earth and Heaven that /
have found it a most helpful and
inspiring association. / like the
companionship so we'll that I can
not be satisfied if I have a day less
of it than all eternity. After gradu-
ating at college and theological I'M
stitutions I had the hands 'of ten on
twelve good men put upon my head in
solemn ordination, at Belleville, N. j.,
and / attest before earth and Heaven
that the work of the Gospel ministry
has been delightful, and / expect to
preach until my last hour. Many
times Ihave passed through deep water
of bereavement, and but for the divine
promise of heavenly reunion would
have gone under, but / attest
before earth and Heaven that the COM
fort of the Gospel is high, deep, glor'
ious, eternal. Many times have been
maligned and my work been misrepre-
sented, but all such falsehood and per-
secution have turned out for my adj
vantage and enlarged my work, and
attest before earth and Heaven that
God has fulfilled to me the promises:
"Lol / am with you always" and
1.-The gates of hell shall not prevail
against you"
For the cheer of younger men in all
let me say you will come
out all right if you mind your own
business and are patient. The assault
of the world is only being rubbed
down by a rough Turkish towel, and
it improves the circulation and
makes one more vigorous. While
the future holds for me many myste-
ries which / do not pretend to solve,
am living in expectation that when my
poor work is done l shall go through
the gates and meet my Lord and all
my kindred who have preceded me, a
precious group whom miss more and
more as the years go by, and at
test before earth and Heaven that
the glories of the heavenly world IL
lumine my pathway. In courts of law
the witness may kiss the Bible or lift |
his right hand in oaths, but as have |
often kissed the dear old book, / now |
lift my right hand to take oath by Him |
that liveth forever and ever that God |
is good, and that the Gospel is a |
mighty consolation in days of trou-
bic, and that the best friend a man |
ever had is Jesus, and that Heaven is |
absolutely sure to those who trust and |
serve the blessed Redeemer; to whom |
be glory and dominion and victory and |