The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1897-01-15

He LETT behind when He started fol
earthly expedition. Come, let us bar.
gain to meet each other at the door Of
the Fathers mansion, or on the bank
of the river just where it rolls from
under the throne, or at the outside
gate. Jesus got the contrast by ex-
changing that world for this; we will
get it by exchanging this world for
that. There and then you will under.
stand more of the wonders of the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who.
though He was ricb, yet for your
sakes became poor"
Yes, grace, free grace, sovereign
grace omnipotent grace! Among the
thousands of words in the language
there is no more queenly word. 1t
means free and unmerited Kindness.
My text has no monopoly of the word.
One hundred and twenty-nine times
does the Bible eulogize grace. 1t is a
door swung wide open to let into the
pardon of God all the millions who
chose to enter ia
John Newton sang of it wheh he
wrote;
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved the wretch like me-
Phi lip Doddridge put it into all hymns
ology when he wrote:
Grace, tits charming sound,
Harmonious to the ear;
Heaven with the echo shall resound,
And all the earth shall hear.
One of John Bunyan's great books
is entitled "Grace Abounding." 1T is
all of grace that am saved" has been
on the lips of hundreds of dying Chris
tians. The boy Sammy was right
when being examined for admission
into church membership he waa
asked, Whose work was your saliva
tion?" and he answered, part
mine and part Gods" Then the
examiner asked, ''What part did you
do, Sammy" and the answer was, II
opposed God all / could, and He did
the rest!" Oh, the height of it, the
breath of it, the Grace of Godi Mr..
Fletcher having written a pamphlet
that pleased the king, the king offered
to compensate him, and Fletcher
answered: There is only one thing I
want, and that is more grace"
Yes, my blood-bought hearers, grace
to live by and grace to die by. Grace
that saved the publican, that saved
Lydia, that saved the dying thief, that
saved the jailer, that saved me. But
the riches of that grace will not be
fully understood until Heaven breaks
in upon the soul. An old Scotchman,
who had been a soldier in one of the
European wars, was sick and dying in
one of our American hospitals. His
one desire was to see Scotland and
his old home, and once again walk
the heather of the highlands, and
hear the bagpipes of the Scotch regi-
ments. The night that the old Scotch
soldier died, young man, somewhat
reckless but kind-hearted, got com"
pany of musicianG to come and play
under the old soldiers window, and
among the instruments there was a
bagpipe. The instant that the mu-
sicians began the dying ole man in de-
lirium said: whats that? What's
that? Why, it's regiments coming
home. That's the tune, yes, that's
the tune. Thail God, have got home
once more!" Bonnie Scotland
and Bonnie DOOM were the last
words he uttered as he passed up to
the highlands of the better country.
And there are here hundreds home
sick for Heaven, some because you
have SO many bereavements, some bs.
cause you have SO many temptations,
some because you have so many all
ments-homesick, very homesick, for
the fatherland of Heaven, and the
music that you want to hear now is
the song of free gsace, and the music
you want to hear befor you die is free
Il / q
God you will sing of the ''grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He
was rich, for your sakes became poorl"
Yes, yes; for your sakesl 1t was not
on a pleasure excursion that He came,
for it was all pain. 1t was not an as.
Economical exploration, for He knew
this world as we'll before He alighted
as afterward. 1t was not becuse He
was compelled to come, for He volun-
teered. 1t was not because it was
easy, for He knew that it would be
thorn, and spike, and hunger,
and thirst, and vociferation of
angry mobs. For your sakesi"
To wipe away your tears, to for
give your wrongdoing, to companion
ship your loneliness, to soothe your
sorrows. to sit with you by the new
made grave, to bind your wounds in
the ugly battle with the world, and
bring you home at last, kindling up
the mists that fall on your
diving vision with the sunlight
of a glorious morn. For your
sakes!" No; L will change that.
Paul will not care and Christ will not
care if l change it, for l must get into
the blessedness of the text myself, and
so say: For our sakesP' For we all
have our temptations and bereave-
p1ents and conflicts. For our sakesl
We who deserve for our sins to be ex-
patr lated into a world IS much poorer
than this as this earth is poorer than
Heaven. For our sakes! But what
frightful coming down to take us
gloriously up!
When Artaxerxes was hunting, Tire
bazus, who was attending him, showed
the king q rent in his garments, the
king said: How shall mend it?" by
giving it to me-" said Tirebazus. Then
the king gave him the robe, but COM
handed him never to wear it, as it
would be inappropriate. But see tho
startling and comforting fact, while our
Prince throws off the robe, He no:
only allows us to wear it, but COM
mands us to wear it, and it will be-
come US well, and for the poverties OK
our spiritual state we may put on the
splendors of Heavenly regalement.
For our sakesl Oh, the personality of
this religionl Not an abstraction, not
an arch under which we walk to be-
hold elaborate masonry, not an
oh,