The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1900-07-06

Heaven for all Not merely cupful
of Gospel supply, but 13O gallons. Aye,
the tears of Cody repentance are gath
cred up into Gods bottle, and some day,
standing before the throne, we will lift
our cup of delight and ask that it be
filed with the wine of Heaven, and
Jesus, from that bottle of tears, will
begin to pour in the cup, and we will
cry: "Stop, Jesus! We do not want
to drink our own tears!" And Jesus
will say: know ye not that the tears
of earth are the wine of Heaven?" Sor-
row may endure for a night, but Joy
cometh in the morning.
I remark, further, Jesus does not
shadow the joys of others with His
own griefs. He might have sat down in
that wedding and said: II have SO
much trouble, so much poverty, so
much prosecution, and the cross is com
ing. 1 shall not rejoice, and the gloom
of my face and of my sorrows shall be
cast over all this group" So said NOT
Jesus. He said to Himself: Here are
two persons starting out in married
life. Let it be a joyful occasion. [ will
hide my own griefs. [ will kindle their
joy" There are many not so wise as
that. l knew household where there
are many little children, where for two
years the musical instrument has been
kept shut because there has been trou-
Parents saying: 1--WE will have no
Christmas tree this coming holiday be-
cause there has been trouble in the
house. Hush that laughing upstairs!
How can there be any joy when there
has been so much trouble?" And so
they make everything consistently
doleful and send their sons and daugh-
ters to ruin with the gloom they throw
around them.
Oh, my dear friends, do you not
know those children will have trouble
enough of their own after awhile?
Be glad they cannot appreciate all
yours. Keep back the cup of bitter
ness from your daughters lips. When
your head is down in the grass of the
tomb, poverty may come to her, be-
trayal to her, bereavement to her.
Keep back the sorrows as long as you
can. Do you not know that that son
d1ICI awhlC nave Ills INci1 VI in
en-? Sta a between him and all harm.
You may rec fight his battles long.
Fight them while you may. Throw
not the chill of your own dependency
over his soul. Rather, be like Jesus,
who came to the wedding hiding His
own grief and kindling the joys of
others. So l have seen the sun on a
dark day, struggling amidst clouds.
black, ragged and portentous, but
after awhile the sun, with golden pry,
heaved back the blacknesS. And the
sun laughed to the lake, and the lake
laughed to the sun, and from horizon
to horizon, under the saffron sky, the
water was all turned into wine.
I learn from the miracle that Christ
is not impatient with the luXuries of
life. 1t was not necessary that they
should have that wine. Hundreds of
people have been married without any
wine. We do not read that any of the
other provisions fell short. When
Christ made the wine, it was not ne
cessity, but a positive luxury. ! do
not believe that He wants us to eat
bread and sleep on hard mattresses
unless we like them the best. l think,
if circumstances will allow, we have a
right to the luXuries of dress, the lux
uries of diet and the luXuries of resi-
dence. There is no more religion in
an old coat than in a new one. We can
serve God drawn by golden plated har-
ness as certainly as when we go
afoot. Jesus Christ will dwell with us
under a fine ceiling as well as under a
thatcned roof.
What is the difference between a
Chinese mud hovel and an American
home? What is the difference be
tween the rough bear skins of the Rus
sian boor and the outfit of an Ameri-
can gentleman? No difference, ex-
cept that which the Gospel of Christ
or indirectly, has caused.
When Christ shall have vanquished all
the world, 1 suppose every house will
be a mansion and every garment a
robe and every horse an arch necked
courser and every carriage glittering
vehicle and every man a king and
every woman a queen and the whole
earth a Paradise, the glOries of the
natural world harmonizing with the
glories of the material world until the
very bells of the horses shall jingle the
praises of the Lord.
Ilearn, further, from this miracle that
Christ has no impatience with festaI
ioy; otherwise he would not have ac-
cepted the invitation to that wedding.
He certainly would not have done
that which increased the hilarity.
There may have been many in that
room who were happy, but there was
not one Of them that did so much for
the Joy of the wedding party as Christ
himself. He was the chief of the ban
uueters. When the wine gave out, He
supplied it, and so, l take it, He will
not deny us the joys that are positive
ly festal.
I think the children of God have
more right to laugh than any other
people, and to clap their hands as
loudly. There is not a single joy de-
MED them that is given to any other
people. Christianity does not clip the
wings of the soul. Religion does not
frost the flowers. What is Christian
ity? / take it to be simply procla-
nation from the throne of God of eman-
,ipation for all the-enslaved, and if a
nan accepts the terms of that procla-
nation and becomes free has he not
right to be merry? Suppose a father
has an elegant mansion and large
To whom will he give the
first privilege of these grounds? VIII
le say: my children, you must not
walk through these paths or sit down
under these trees or pluck this fruit.
These are for outsiders. They may
walk in them" No father would say
lnything like that. He would say: |
The first privileges in all the grounds |
md all of my house shall be for my