The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-06-19

affairs We have helm and compass
and chart and quadrant Give as
plenty Of sea room and we sail on and
call ons but after awhile there comes a
Caribbean whirlwind up the coast, and
we are helpless in the gale, and we cry
out for harbor. All our calculations
upset, we say with the poet:
Change and decay on al around I sec;
. Thou who changest not. abide with mel
The south wind of mild providence
makes us throw of the cloak of Chris.
tan character and we catch cold; but
the sharp east wind of trouble makes
Us wrap around us the warm promises.
The best thing that ever happens to as
is trouble. That Is hard thing, per.
haps, to say. but repeat it; for God
announces it again and again, the best
thing that happens to us Is trouble:
When the French army went down
into Egypt Under Napoleon, an engi-
neer, in digging for fortress, cams
across tablet which has been called
/ the Rosetta stone. There were inscrip-
lions in three or four languages on
that Rosetta stone Scholars study
ing out the alphabet of hero
glyphics from that stone were
enabled to read ancient inscrip-
tions on monuments and on tomb
stones. Well, hiany of the handwrit-
ings of God in our life are indecipher-
able hieroglyphies; we can not under
stand them until we take up the Roset-
ia stone of divine Inspiration, and the
explanation ali comes out, and the
mysteries all vanish, and what was
before beyond our understanding
now is plain in its meaning, as wa
read: 'All things work together fon
good to those who love God" So wa
decipher the hieroglyphies. Obi my
frierdsi have you ever calculated
what trouble did for David? II
made him the sacred minstrel
for all ages. What did trouble do for
Joseph? Made him the keeper of the
corn-cribs of Egypt. What did it do
for PaulP Made him the great apostle
to the Gentiles. What did it do for
Samuel Rutherford Made his invalid
ism more illustrious than robust
health. What did it do for Richard
Baxter? Gave him capacity to write
of the 'iSaint's Everlasting REST
What did it do for John Bunyan?
Showed him the Singing gates of
the city. What has it done for you?
Since the loss of that child your spir-
it has been purer. Since the loss of
that property, yop have found out
that earthly investme nts are insecure.
Since you lost your health, you feel as
never before a rapt anticipation OF
eternal release. Trouble has huns
bled you, has enlarged you, has multi
piled your resources; has equipped
you; has l6osened your grasp from this
world and frightened ydir gfip on the
next. Oh! bless God for the east wind:
1t has driven you into the harbor of
Gods sympathy.
Nothing like trouble TO show us that !
this world is an insufficient portion.
Hogarth was about done with life, and
he wanted to paint the end of all |
all things. He put on canvas shat |
tered bottle, a cracked bell, an uns
strung harp; sign board of tavern |
called 1.-THE Worlds End" falling down, |
shipwreck; the hofses Of Phoebus |
lying dead in the clouds, the moon |
ii her last quarter, and the
world on fire. Zone thing more" |
said Hogarth, aud my picture is done"
Then he added the broken palette |
VI d nSu uS OICO. DuI
bic, with hand mightief and more |
sIii1lfdll than Hogarths, pictures the
falling, failing, moldering, dying |
world. And we want something per-
manent to lay hold of, and we grasp |
with both hands after God, and say:
"Thc Lord is my light, the Lord is my
love; the lord is my fortress, the Lord
Is my sacrifice, the Lord, tile Lord IS
my God"
Bless God for your trials. oh, my
Christian friend! keep your spirits up
the power of Christ's Gospel. Do not
surrender. Do you not know that
when you give UP; others will give upt
You have courage, aid others will
have courage The Romans went into
the battle, and by some accident there
was an inclination of the standard:
The standard upright meant fori
ward march; the inclination of the
standard meant surrender Through
the negligence of the man who car
ried the standard, and the inclination
of it, the army surrendered. Obi let
Us Eeep the standard up, whether 1t bel
blown down by the east wind, or the
north wind, or the south wind. No in1
clination to surrender. Forward into
the conflict.
There Is near BON bay tree that
they call the i'sorfowing tree," the pei
culiarity of which is it never puts forth
any bloom in the daytime, but in the
night puts out all its bloom and all its
redel6nee: And have to tell you that
though Christian character puts fofth
its sweetest blossoms in the darkness of
sickness, the darkness of financial dis
tress, the darkness of bereavement, the
dizziness Of death; weeping may en-
dure for night, but joy c6heth IN the
morning." Across the harsh discords
of this world rolls the music of the
slxies-music that breaks from the lips,
music that breaks from the hafps and
rustles from the palms, music like
falling water over rocks, music like
wandering Winds among leaves,
music like carrolling birds among
forests, music like ocean pillows
storming the Atlantic beach: They
shall hunger no more, neither thirst
any more, neither shall the sun light
on them nor any heat; for the Lamb
which is in the midst of the throne
shall lead them to living fountains Of
water; and God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes" I
see a great Christian feet ap!
preaching that harbor. Some or