The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-07-24

"
sake" If q little child should kneel
behind Gods throne and should say,
For Christ's sake" the great Je-
hovah would turn around on His
throne to look at her and listen.
No prayer ever gets to Heaven
but for Christ's sake No soul Is
ever comforted but for Christ's sake.
The world viii never be redeemed but
for Christ's sake. O6> name, however,
illustrious 1t may be among men, be-
fore Goa stands only for inconsistency
and sin; but there is a name, potent
name. blessed name, a glorious name,
an everlasting name, that we may put
1 upon our lips as sacrament and upon
our forehead as a crown, and that is
the name of Jesus, our divine Jona-
than, who stripped Himself of His
robe and put on our rags, and gave us
his sword and took our broken reed,
SO that now, whether we are well or
sick, whether we are living or dying,
If we speak that name it moves Heaven
to the center, and God says: Let the
poor soul come in. Garry him up into
the throne room of the palace. Though
he may have been in exile, though sin
may have crippled him on this side,
and sorrow may have crippled him on
the other side, and he is lame in both
his feet, bring him up into the palace,
for want to show him everlasting
kindness for Jonathan's sake"
Again: Mephibosheth in my text
stands for the disabled human soul
lifted to the Kings table. 1t was more
difficult in those times even than it is
now for common men to get into
royal dining room. The subjects might
have come around the rail of the pal
ace and might have seen the lights
kindled, and might have heard the clash
OF the knives and the rattle of the gold
en- goblets, but not get in. Stout men
with stout feet could not get in all
their lives to one banquet, yet poor
Mephibosheth goes in, lives there, and
is every day at the table Oh, what a
getting up In the world 1t was for poor
Mephibosheth! Well, though you and
may be woefully famed with sin, for
our divine Jonathan's sake, hope we
will all get in to dine with the King.
Before dining we must be intro
duced. If you are invited to a com"
pany of persons where there are dis
tinguished people present, you are i'm
troduced: This is the senator" This
is the governor" "This is the presi.
dent" Before we sit down at the
Kings table in Heaven / think we will
want to be introduced oh, what a
time that will be, when you and /, by
grace of God, get into Heaven,
and are introduced to the mighty
spirits there, and some one will say:I
This is Joshua" ''This is Paul" This
is Moses" 'This is John Knox" This
is John Milton" This is Martin Lu.
Their" This is George Whitefeld"
Oh, shall we have any strength left
after such round of celestial intro.
duction? Veal We shall be potentates
ourselves. Then we shall sit down at
the Kings table with the sons
and daughters of God, and one
will whisper across the table to |
us and say: "Behold what man.
ner of love the Father hath be- |
slowed upon us that we should be |
called the sons of Godp' and someone |
at the table will say: How long will |
it last? All other banquets at which / |
sat ended. How long will this 1ast?"
and Paul will answer ''ForeverP' and |
Joshua will say "ForeverI" and John
Knox will say "Foreverr' and George
Whitefeld will say "Forever!'
And the wine at that banquet will be
old wine; it will be very old wine; 1t
will be the oldest wine of Heaven; it
will be the wine that was trodden out
from the red clusters on the day when
Jesus trod the wine press alone. Wine
q " irh k,1Y |
old. And no one will deride us as to
what we were in this world No one
will bring up our imperfections
here, our sins here. All our earth
Iy imperfections completely covered up
and hidden. Mephibosbeth's feet un-
der the table. Kingly fare. Kingly
vesture. Kingly companionship. We
shall reign forever and ever think
that banquet will mean more to those
who had it hard in this world than to
those who had it easy. That ban4
luet in David's palace meant more
TO Mephibosheth than to anyone
else, because he had been poor
aud crippled, and despised, and re-
lected. And that man who in this
world is blind will better appreciated
he light of Heaven than we who in
his world had good eyesight. And
hat man who in this world was deaf
will better appreciate0the music of
Heaven than we who in this world had
rood hearing. And those will have a
higher appreciation of the easy locomo-
ion of that land who in this world
we're 'Mephibosheths.
o my soul, what magnificent Cos.
oell 1t takes man so low down and
'aises him SO high. What a Gospel!
Jome now, who wants to be banqueted
md empalaced? As when Wilberforce
vas trying to get the emancipation
,ill" through the British parliament,
md all the British isles were
.nxious to hear of the passage of the
bill, when a vessel was
oming into port and the captain of
he vessel knew that the people wero
o anxious to get the tidings, he step,
,ed out on the prov of the ship and
houted to the people, long before he
lot up to the dock: "Freer' and they
ried it, and they shouted it, and they
ang it all through the land, Freel
reel' So to-day l woulk like to sound
he news of your present and your
ternal emancipation until the angels
f God lowering in the air, and watch
1en on the battlements, and bell men
n the town cry it, shout it, sing it,
ing it: Free! free!" 1 come out now
s the messenger of the palace to in-
tie Mephibosheth to come up. I am .