The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1898-06-10


1T strikes like bolt against its adver-
sary. This was dove or a sparrow;
we do not know just which. Take
the dove or pigeon in your hand,
and the pecl1ing of its beak on YOUR
feebleness of it's assault. The
reindeer, after it is down, may fell
you with its antlerS. The OK, after you
think it is dead, may break your leg in
its death struggle. The harpooned
whale, in its last agony, may crush
| You in the coil of the unwinding rope.
But this was dove or a sparrow-per-
fectly harmless, perfectly defenseless
type of Him who said: II have trod
/ the wine press alone, and there
was none to help" None to help!
I The murderers have it all their
/ own way, Where was the SOL
/ dier in the Roman regiment who
swung his sword in the defense of the
/ Divine Martyr? Did they put one drop
of oil on His gashed feet? Was tl-re
one in all that crowd manly and gener-
GUS enough to stand up for him? Were
/ the miscreants at the cross any more
! nterfered with in their work of spik.
] ing Him fast than the carpenter in his
shop driving a nail through pine
/ board. The women cried, but there
was no balm in their Gears. None to
\ helpi None to helpi o, my Lord
/ Jesus, none to helpl The wave of
/ anguish came up to the arch
/ of His feet-came mp to His
knee-hoated to His waist-rose to His
/ chin-swept to his temples-yet none
\ to help! Ten thousand times ten thou
sand angels in the sky, ready at COM
mand 10 plunge into the bloody af-
| fray, and strike back the hosts of dark
ness, yet none to help, none to help!
Oh, this dove of the text, in this last
moment, clutched not with angry tai
ons. 1t plunged not a savage beal1. 1t
was Gove-helpless, defenseless.
None to help! none to help!
As, after a severe storm in the morn
ing YOU go cut and find birds dead on
the ground, so this dead bird of the
tex makes me think of that awful
storm that swept the earth on cruel
fxion day, when the wrath of God.
and the malice of man, and the fury of
devils wrestled beneath the three
crosses. As we sang just now
well might the sun in d dlrkuess hide
And shut his giories in,
When Christ. the mighty Maker, died
For II IN, the Gre -ture's sin"
But come now to speak of this sec
ond bird of the text. We must not let
that fly away until we have examined
it. The priest took the second bird,
tied it to the hyssop branch,
and then plunged it in the blood
of the first bird. All! that is my
soul. plunged for cleansing in the
Savior blood. There is not enough wa
ter in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
TO wash away our smallest sin. Sin is
such an outrage on Gods universe
that nothing but blood can atone for
it. You know that life is in the blood,
and as the life had been forfeited,
nothing could buy it back but blood.
What was il that was sprinkled on the
dOorpostS when the destroying angel
went through the land? Blood. What
was it that went streaming from the
altar of ancient sacrifice? Blood. What
was it that the priest carried into the
holy of holies, making intercession for
the people? Blood. What was it that
Jesus sweat in the Garden of Geth-
semane? Great drops of blood. What
does the wine in the sacramental cup
signify? Blood. What makes the
robes of the righteous in Heaven so
fair? They are washed in the blood
of the Lamb. What is it that cleanses
all our pollution? The blood of Jesus
Christ, that cleanseth from all sin.
1 hear somebody saying: Il do not
like such n sanguinary religion as
that" Do YOU think it is very wise
= II IL. 81
do not like the medicine you have
given me!7 If he wants to be cured he
had better take the medicine. Ny
Lord God has offered us a balm, and
it is very foolish for us to say. Il
don't like that balm" We had bet
ter take it, and be saved. But you do
not oppose the shedding of blood
in other directions and for other
ends. If u hundred thousand men go
out TO battle for their country, and
have to lay down their lives for free
institutions. is there anything ignoble
about that? No, YOU say; glorious
sacrifice. rather" And is there any
thing ignoble in the idea that the Lord
Jesus Christ, by the shedding of His
blood, delivered not only one land, but
all lands and all ages, from bondages,
men by millions and mil
lions into the liberty of the sons of
God? Is there anything ignoble about
that?
As this second bird of the text was
plunged in the blood of the first bird.
so we must be washed in the blood of I
Christ, or go polluted forever.
Let the water and the blood,
From thy side a healing food.
Be of sin the double cure.
Save from wrath, and make me pure"
notice now that as soon as this sec
ond bird was dipped in the blood of |
the first bird the priest unloosened it |
and il was free-free of wing and free |
of foot. 1t could whet its beak on any |
tree branch il chose. 1t could peck /
the grapes of any vineyard it chose. 1t /
was free; a type of our souls after we /
have washed in the blood Of the Lamb. /
We can go where we will and do what !
we will. You say: Had you not bet |
ter qualify that?" No; for l remem-
Der that in conversation the will is |
and the man will not will /
that which is wrong. There is no 4
strait jacket in our religion. A state \
of sin is state Of slavery. y state of /
pardon is a state OF emancipation. /
The hammer of Gods grace knocks the /
hopples from the wrist, opens the door F.
into a landscape all ashimmer with /
fountains and ablOom with gardens. /
1t is freedom.
If a man has become a Christian he 4
is no more afraid of Sinai. The thun- /
ders of Sinai do not frighten him. /