The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1897-07-23

the venom of their assault correspond
ing to the heavenly flavor of the pre-
Jude. Standing there, you would think
they were ready to go right up into
glory, and that nothing kept them
down but the weight of their boots and
oTercoat, when suddenly the sheep
bleat and the oxen below.
Oh, my dear friends, let US cultivate
simplicity of Christian character Jesus
Christ said; UNLESS you become as
this little child, you can not enter the
kingdom of God" We may play hypo-
critic successfully now, but the Lord
God will after awhile expose our true
character. You must know the incl
dent mentioned In the history of OF
tacas, who was asked to lkneel in the
presence of Randolphus L.; and when
before him he refused to do it, but
after awhile he agreed to come in
private when there was nobody in the
kings tent, and then he would kneel
down before him and worship; but the
servants of the king had arranged it so
that by drawing a cord the tent would
suddenly drop. Ottacas after awhile
came in, and supposing he was in en-
tire privacy, knelt before Randolphus.
The servants pulled the cord, the tent
dropped, and two armies surrounding
looked down on Ottacas kneeling be-
fore Randolphus. If we are really
kneeling to the world while we profess
to be lowly subjects of Jesus Christ,
the-tent has already dropped, and all
the hosts of Heaven are gazing upon
our hypocrisy. Gods universe is
very public place, and you can not hide
hypocrisy in it.
Going out into a world of delusion
and sham, pretend to be no more than
you really are. If you have the grace
of God, profess it; profess no more than
you have. But L want the world to
know that where there is one hypo-
critic in the church there are 500 out
side of it, for the reason that the field
is larger. There are men in all cir
cles who will bow before you,
and who are obsequious in your pres
ence and talk hatteringly, but who
all the while in your conversation
are digging for bait and angling for
In your presence they
imply that they are everything friend
ly, but after awhile you find they have
the fierceness of a catamout, the sly
ness of a snake, and the spite of a
devil. God will expose such. The gun
they load will burst in their own teeth;
the lies they tell will break their own
teeth; and at the very moment they
think they have been successful in de-
ceiving you and the world, the sheep
will bleat and the oxen will below.
learn further from this subject how
it is to try to put off our sins on
other people. Saul was charged with
God. The man says it was
not he; he did not save the sheep; the
army did it-trying to throw it off on
the shoulders of other people. Human
nature is the same in all ages. Adam,
with his sin, said: THE
woman tempted me, and [ did eat.'
And the woman charged it upon the
serpent; and if the serpent could have
spoken, it would have charged it upon
the devil. | suppose that the real state
of the case was that Eve was eating
the apple and that Adam saw it, and
begged and coaxed until he got piece
of it. | suppose that Adam was just
as much to blame as Eve was. You
can not throw off the responsibility of
any sin upon the shoulders of other
people.
Here is young man who says: Il
know l am doing wrong, but | have
not had any chance. / had father
who despised God, and mother who
was a disciple of Goddess fashion.
am not to blame for my sins-it is my
bringing up" All no! that young man
has been out in the world long enough
to see what is right and to see what is
wrong, and in the great day of eterni-
ty he can not throw his sins upon his
father or mother, but will have to
stand for himself and answer before
God. You have had a conscience, you
have had a Bible, and the influence of
the Holy Spirit. Stand for yourself or
fall for yourself.
Here is a business man. He says:
II know / don't do exactly right in
trade, but all the dry goods men do it,
and all the hardware men do this, and
am not responsible" You can not !
throw off your sin upon the shoulders
Of other merchants. God will hold |
you responsible for what you do, and
Them responsible for what they do. l
want to quote one passage from Scrip |
lure for you'll think in the Proverbs: !
If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise
llone shalt bear it"
L learn further from this subject |
what God meant by determination. |
saul was told to Stay all the Amale |
1ites, and the beasts in their posses
ion. He saves Agag, the Amalekite
ring, and some of the sheep and oxen. |
Tod chastises him for it. God likes |
nothing done by halves. God will not |
tay in the soul that is half his and |
lalf the DEVILS. There may be more |
ins in our soul than there were |
Amalekites. We must kill them. Woe !
INTO us if we spare Agag. Here is a
christian. He says: Il will drive out
Ill the Amalekites of sin from |
ny heart. Here is jealousy-down
roes that Amalekite. Here is back
biting = down goes that Amale-
1ite;" and what slaughter he makes
.mong his sins, striking right and left! |
What is that out yonder. lifting up his
read? 1t is Agag-it is worldliness.
t is an old sin he can not bear to
trike down. 1t is a darling trans
.ression he can not afford to sacrifice.
IN, my brethren, 1 appeal for entire
Some of the Presby-
erians call it the higher life" The
believe, call it ''perfec-
ion." do not care what you call it;
without holiness no man shall see the
ord" l know men who are living
With their souls in perpetual com
nunion with Christ, and day by
ay are walking within sight
f Heaven. How do know?
hey tell me SO. l believe them. They
would not lie about it. Why can not
We all have this conservation? Why