The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1897-09-10

saw in England and Robert McCheyne
saw in Dundee! OH for such DAYS as
Jonathan Edwards saw in Northamp-
ton! l have often heard my father tell
of the fact that in the early part of the
| century a revival broke out in Somer-
vile, n. j., and some people were very
much agitated about it. They said:
"Oh, you are going to bring too many
people into the church at once;" and
they sent down to New Brunswick to
get John Livingston to stop the re-
vival. Well, there was no better soul
in all the world than John Livingston.
He went up; he looked at the revival;
they wanted him to stop it. He stood
in the pulpit on the Sabbath, and
looking over the solemn auditory, he
said: This, brethren, is in reality the
work of God; beware how you try to
stop it." And he was an old man, lean
ing heavily on his staff-a very old man.
And he lifted that staff, aud took hold
of the small end of the staff, and began
to let it fall very slowly through, be-
tween the finger and the thumb,
and he said: "Oh, thou impeni-
tent, thou art falling Dow-falling
away from life, falling away from
peace and Heaven, falling as certainly as
that cane is falling through my hand
falling certainly, though perhaps fall
ing very slowly" And the cane kept on
falling through John Livingston's
band. The religious emotion in the
audience was overpowering, and men
saw type of their doom as the cane
kept falling and falling until the knob
of the cane struck Mr.. Livingston's
hand, and he clasped it stoutly and
said, But the grace of God can stop
you as l stopped that cane;" and then
there was gladnesS all through the
house at the fact of pardon and peace
and salvation. ''Well," said the people
after the service, II guess you had
better send Livingston home; he is
making the revival worse" Oh, for
the gales from Heaven and Christ on
board the ship. The danger of the
church of God is not in revivals.
Again, my subject impresses me with
the fact that Jesus was God and man
in the same being. Here He is in the
back part of the boat. Oh, how tired
He looks; what sad dreams He must
have! Look at His countenance; He
must be thinking of the cross to come.
Look at Him; He is a man-bone of our
bone, flesh of our flesh. Tired, He falls
asleep; He is a man. But then l find
Christ at the prov of the boat. L hear
Him say: peace, be still;" and [ see
the storm kneeling at His feet, and
the tempests folding their wings
in His presence; He is a God.
8 I IL
want sympathy, go and kneel down
at the back part of the boat, and say:
"Oh, Christ! weary one of Gennesaret,
sympathize with all my sorrows; man
of Nazareth, man of the cross" A
man, man. But if l want to conquer
my spiritual foe; if 1 want to get the
victory over sin, death and hell, L come
to the front of the boat. and l kneel
down, and L say: oh Lord, Jesus
Christ, thou who dust hush the temp
est, hush all my grief; hush all my
temptation, hush all my SIM" A man,
q man; a God, a God.
l learn once more from this subject
that Christ can hush tempest. 1t did
seem as if everything must go to ruin.
The disciples had given up the idea of
the ship; the crew were en-
tirely demOralized; yet Christ rises,
and He puts His foot on the storm, and
it crouches at His feet. Oh, yes! Christ
can hush the tempest.
You have had trouble. Perhaps it
was the little child taken away from
yOu-the sweetest child of the house
hold; the one who asked the most
curious questions, and stood around
yoa with the greatest fondness, and
the spade cut down through your bleed
ing heart. Perhaps it was an only son,
and your heart has ever since been like
a desolated castle, the owls of the
night hooting among the falling rafters
and the crumbling stairway.
Perhaps it was an aged mother. You
always went to her with your troubles.
She was in your home to welcome your
children into life, and when they died
she was there to pity you; that old
hand will do you no more kindness;
that white lock of hair you put away
in the caShet, or in the locket, did not
look as well as it usually did when she
brushed it away from her wrinl1led
brow in the home circle or in the coun-
try church. Or your property gone,
you said: Il have so much bank stock, |
[ have so many government securities,
[ have so many houses, L have SO many |
gone, all gone.
Why, all the storms that ever tram
pied with their thunders, all the ship |
wrecks, have not been worse than this |
to you. Yet you have not been com
oletely overthrewn. Why? Christ |
nushed the tempest. Your little one |
was taken away. Christ says: Il have
that little one; l can take care of him |
rs well as you can, better than you |
,an, o bereaved motherp flushing the |
tempest. When your property went |
away, God said: There are treasures |
n Heaven, in banks that never break"
There is one storm into which we |
will all have to run the moment when
we let go of this life and try to take |
lold of the next, when we will want |
al the grace we can have-we will
want it all. Yonder l see Christian
soul rocking on the surges of
leath; all the powers of dark
less seem let out against that
'oul-the swirling wave, the than
Ter of the sky, the screaming wiud,
LII seem to unite together; but that
'oul is not troubled; there is no sigh
ny, there are no tears; plenty of tears
n the room at the departure, but he
veeps no tears, calm, satisfied, peace
uI; all is we'll. Jesus hushed the
empest. By the flash of the storm
,ou see the harbor just ahead, and you
ire making for that harbor. Strike
light bells. All is we'll.
Into the harbor of Heaven now we glide;
Were home at last, home at last.
Softly we drift on its bright, silv'ry tide,
We're home at last homo at last.
Glory to God, all our dangers are Ger,
We stand secure the glorihed shore;