The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1897-12-17

ABOUT IL.
Why. my brother do you not do that
way in business matters? Why do you
not tomorrow go to your store and sill
down and fold your arms and say: III
these goods are to be sold. they will be
sold; and if they are not to be sold,
they will not be sold; there is nothing
for me to do about it?" No; you dis
patch your agents; you print your adj
vertisements; you adorn your show
windows, you push those goods; you
-use the instrumentality. Oh, that men
were as wise in the matter of the soul
as they are wise in the matter of dol
lars and cents!
This doctrine of Gods sovereignty,
how it is misquoted and spoken of as
though it were an iron chain which
bound US hand and foot for time and
Tor eternity, when, so far from that, in
every fiber of your body, in every
faculty of your mind. in every passion
of your soul, you are a free mana
free man-and it will no more to-mor-
row be matter of choice whether you
shall go to business through PennSyl-
| Vanla avenue or some other street; it
will be no more a matter of choice with
! you tomorrow whether you shall go
| to Philadelphia or New York, or stay
at home, than it is this hour a matter
of free choice whether you will accept
Christ or reject him.
! In all the army of banners there is
not one cOnscript. Men are not to be
! dragooned into heaven. Among all the
tens of thousands of the Lords sol
i hnt ii
tell you, Il chose Christ: | wanted
him; desire to be in his service; l am
not a conscript-I am a volunteer"
Oh, that men had the same common
sense in the matters of religion that
they have in the matters of the world
the same concentration, the same
push, the same enthusiasm! In the
one case, Il secular enthusiasm; in the
other. consecrated enthusiasm.
Again, L remark; We want more
common sense in the building up and
enlarging of our Christian character.
There are men who have for 40 years
been running the Christian race, and
they have not run quarter of mile!
No business man would be willing to
have his investments unaccumuIaJive.
If you invest a dollar you expect that
dollar to come home, bringing another
dollar on it's back. What would
you think of man who should
invest $4,000 in a monetary in
stitutiOn, then go off for Ave |
years, make DO inquiry in regard to |
the investment, then came back, step |
up to the cashier of the institution and |
say: Have you kept that $40, 900 safely |
that l left with you?" but asking no |
question about interest or dividend.
Why, you say: That is not common
sense" Neither is it; but that is the
way we act in matters of the
soul. We make far more important
investment than $40, 900. We invest
our soul Is it accumulative? Are we
growing in grace? Are we getting
better? Are we getting worse? God
declares many dividends, but we do not
collect them; we do not ask about
them; we do not want them. Oh, that
in this matter of accumulation we
were as wise in the matters of the
soul as we are in the matters of the
WorldI
How little common sense in the read
ing of the Scriptures! We get any
other book, and we open it, and we
say: "Now what does this book mean
TO teach me? 1t is a book on astron-
)my; it will teach me astronomy. 1t
S book on political economy; it will
leach me political economy" Taking
up this Bible, do we ask ourselves
what it means to teach? 1t means to
10 just one thing-get the world con-
yerted and get us all to Heaven.
That is what it proposes to do.
But instead of that we go into the BIZ
Die as botanists TO pick flowers, or we
70 as pugiIists to get something to
light other Christians with or we go
is logicians trying to sharpen our men
al faculties for better argument,
md we do not like this about the
Bible, and we do not like that. and we
10 not like the other thing. What
would you think of man lost on the
night has come down;
lie can not find his way
lome and he sees light
Il a noun tain cabin; he goes to it, he
nocks at the door; the mountaineer >
ONES out and finds the traveller, and
avs: well, here L have a lantern;
GU can take it, and it will guide you
n the way home;' and suppose that
raveler should SAY, L don't like that l
antern; don't like the handle of it;
here are 10 or Ii things about it L
ont like; if you can't give me better =
antern than that L won't have any,"
Now, God says this Bible is to be a =
amp to our feet and lantern to our
ath, to guide us through the midnight
this world to the gates of the celes- :
ial city. We stop and say we do not
Ike this about it, and we do not like
hat, and we do not like the other
hing. Oh, how much wiser we would
t if by its holy light we found
ur way to our everlasting home!
hen, we do not read the Bible as
re read other books. We read it
erhaps for four or five minutes just "
efore we retire at night We are
cary and sleepy-sO sOmnolent we =
ardly know which end of the book is
p. We drop our eye perhaps on the :
5ory of Samson and the foxes, or =
pom some genealogical table, impor- =
mt in its place, but stirring no :"
lore religious emotion than the an
ouncement that somebody begat =
,mebody else, and he begat somebody g
Sc, instead of opening the book and Il
lying: Now l must read for my i'm =
Iortal life; my eternity is involved in L
lis book"
How little we use common sense in h
rayer! We say, "Oh, Lord, give me :,
lat," and "Oh, Lord, give me some =
hing else" and we do not expect to -
at 1T, or, getting it, we do not =