The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1897-01-15
ASTOUNDING GRACE.
ReE. DR.. Talmage Dresses an Old
Theme in New Garb.
The Great Sacrifices Made by Our Lord
~ for Mans Redemption-We Can
Never Appreciate Their
Great Magnitude.

new garb. 1t is predicated on the
text:
Ne know the grace Of our Lord Jesus Christ
that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor.--IL Corinthians, viii.,9
That all the worlds which on a cold
| winters night make the Heavens one
great glitter are without inha bitants
is an absurdity. Scientists tell us that
lnany of these worlds are too hot or
| cold or too rarefied of atmosphere for
residence. But, if not fit for human
abode, they may be fit for beings diff
ferent from and superior to ourselves.
| We are told that the world Of Jupiter
Is changing and becoming fit for crea-
| lures like the human race, and that
Mars would do for the human family
with little change in the structure OF
our respiratory organs. But that there
is a great world swung somewhere,
vast beyond imagination, and that it
is the headquarters of the universe,
and the metropolis of immensely, and
has population in numbers vast be-
yond all statistics, and appointments
of splendOr beyond the capacity OF
canvas or poem or angel to describe, is
ii-as certain as the Bible is authentic.
Perhaps some of the astronomers with
their big telescopes have already
caught a glimpse of it, not knowing
what it is. We spell it with six let
tiers and pronounce it Heaven.
That is where Pr; ce Jesus lived
nineteen centuries ago. He was the
King son. 1t was the old homestead
of eternity, and all its castles were as
old as God. No frost has ever chilled
the air. Not a tear had ever rolled
down the cheek of one of its inhabIt-
ants. There had never been a head
ache, or a suicide, or a eartache.
There had not been a funeral in the
memory of the oldest inhabitant.
There had never in all the land woven
a black veil, for there had never been
anything to mourn over. The passage
of millions of years had not wrinkled
or crippled or bedimmed any of its cit
liens. All Che people there were in a
state of eternal adolescence. What
floral and pomonic richness! Gardens
of perpetual bloom and orchards in
intending fruitage. Had some spirit
from another world entered and asked:
"What is sin? What is bereavement?
What is sorrow? What is death?" the
brightest of the intelligences would
have failed to give definition, though
to study the question there was silence
in Heaven for half an hour.
The Prince of whom 1 speak had
honors, emoluTnents, acclamatIons,
such as no other prince, celestial or
terrestrial, ever enjoyed. As He
passed the street, the inha bitants took
off from their brows garlands of white
lilies and threw them in the way. He
never entered any of the temples
without all the worshipers rising up
and bowling in obeisance. In all the
professions of the high days He was
the one who evoked the loudest well
come. Sometimes on foot, walking in
loving talk with the humbleSt in the
land, at other times He took chariot,
and among the 20, 900 that the Psalmist
spoke of He was the swiftest and most
flaming; or, as when st. John described
Him, He took white palfrey with what
prance of foot. and arch of neck, and
roll of name, and CLEAN of eye, is
only dimly suggested in the Apo
calypso. He was not like other princes,
waiting for the father to die and then
take the throne. When years ago an
artist in Germany made picture for
the royal gallery representing the
Emperor William on the throne, and
the crown prince as having one foot
on the step of the throne, the Emperor
William ordered the picture changed,
aud said: Let the prince keep his
foot of the throne till leave it,
Already enthroned was the Heaven
ly Prince side by side with the Father.
What a circle of dominionl What null
titudes of admirers! What amending
round CT glories! All the towers chimed
the Princes praises. Of all the inhab-
itants, from the center of the city on
over the hills and clear down to the
beach against which the ocean of i'm
mensesity rolls it's pillows, the Prince
was the acknowledged favorite. No
wonder my text says that He was
rich" Set all the diamonds of the
earth in one scepter, build all the pal
aces of the earth in one Alhamb bra,
gather all the pearls of the sea in one
diadem, put all the values of the earth
in one diadem, put all the values of the
earth in one coin, the aggregate could
not express His affiuence. Yes, st. Paul
was right. Solomon had in gold $780,
200, coo, 5Id iii silver eI,O29, 377, 900.
Bat n greater than Solomon is here.
Not the millionaire, but the owner
of all things To describe His ce-
lestial surroundings. the Bible uses all
colors, gathering them in rainbow
over the throne and setting them as
agate in the temple window, and hoist
ing - of them into the wall, from
striped jasper at the base to transpar-
emit amethyst in the capstone, while
between are green of emerald, and
snow of pearl, and blue of sapphire,
and yellow of topaz, gray of chryso-
praise, and flame of jacinth. All the
lovliness of landscape in foliage, and
river, and rill, and all enchantment
Rquamarine, the sea of glass mingled
with fire as when the sun sinks in the
Mediterranean. All the thrill of mu-
sic, instrumental and vocal, harps,
trumpets, doxologies. There stood
the Prince, surrounded by those who
had under their wings the velocity of
millions of miles in a second, Himself
rich in love, rich in alteration, rich il
power, rich in worship, rich in holt
ness. rich in worship, rich in ''all the
fullnoss of the Godhead bodily"
But one day there was big disaster
in a department of Gods universe. A
race fallenl A world in ruins! Our
planet the scene of catastrophel A
globe swinging out into darkness,
with mountains, and seas, and islands,
an awful centrifugal of sin seeming to
overpower the beautiful centripetal of
Righteousness, and from it a groan
reached Heaven. Such a sound had
never been heard there. Plenty of
sweet sounds, but never an outcry of
distress or an echo of agony. At
that one groan the Prince rose from