The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1900-09-28

| t1Se MIN and then let hlm go. so We
postpone the entleness of Christ. Die
you ever know any difficulty to bt
healed by acerbity and hypercriticism;
About As years ago the Presbyterian
church was split into the new schoo
and the old school. The chasm got
wider and wider. The most outrageous
personalities were INDUCED in. GOOD
men on one side mathematical good
men on the other side. Wider and
some good people tried another tack
and they began to explain away the diff
fculties, and soon all the difference.
were healed, and at Pittsburgh they
shook hands and are one now to be
one forever.
Did you ever know a drunkard re
claimed by mimicry of his staggering
steps, his thick tongue or his hic-
cough? No. You only madden his
brain. But you go to him and let him
know you appreciate what an awful
struggle he has with the evil habit, and
you let him know that you have been
acquainted with people who were
down in the same depths who by the
grace of God have been rescued. He
hears your voice, he responds to that
sympathy and he is saved. You cannot
scold the world into anything better.
You may attract it into something bet
| ter. The stormiest wind comes out
from its hiding place and says: 81 will
arouse this sea-" And it blows upon
the sea. Half of the sea is aroused, or
fourth of the sea is aroused, yet not
the entire Atlantic. But after awhile
the moon comes out, calm and placid.
It shines upon the sea, and the ocean
begins to lift. It embraces all the
highlands; the beach is all covered.
The heart throb of one world beating
against the heart throb of another
world. The storm would not rouse the
whole Atlantic; the moon lifted it.
"And l." said Christ, "if I be lifted up
will draw all men unto me-"
Christ's disposition was also one of
self-sacrifice. No young man ever
started out with SO bright prospect
as Christ started out with if he had
been willing to follow a worldly ambi-
tion. In the time that He gave to the
sick He might have gathered the vast
est fortune of His time. With His
power to popularize Himself and mag
netize the people He could have gained
official position. No orator ever won
such plaudits as He might have won
from sanhedrin and synagogue and
vast audiences by the seaside. No
physician ever got such a reputation
for healing power as He might have at
tanned if He had performed His won
derful cures before the Roman aristoc-
racy. I say these things to let you
know what Paul meant when he said:
"He pleased not Himself" aud to show
something of the wonders of His self
sacrifice. All human power together
could not have thrown Christ into the
manger if he had not chosen to go
there. All Satanic strength could not
have lifted Christ upon the cross if He
had not elected himself to the torture.
To save our race from sin and death
and hell he faced all the SORROWS of
this world and the sorrows of eternity.
How much of that self-sacrifice have
we?
What is self-sacrifce? 1t is my walk
ing long journey to save you from
fatigue. It is my lifting a great num-
Der of pounds to save you from the
awful strain. 1t is a subtraction from
my comfort and prosperity so that
there may be an addition to your COM
fort and prosperity. How much of
that have we? Might not rather say:
"How little have We" Two children
brother and sister-were passing down
the road. They were both very desti-
tute. The lad had hardly any gar
ments at all. His sister had coat that
she had outgrown. 1t was a very cold
day. She said: Johnny, come under
this coat" "Oh, no." he said; "the
coat isn't large enough" "Oh," she
said, cit will stretch!" He comes under
the coat, but the coat would not
stretch. So she took off the coat and
put it on him. Self-sacrifice pure and
simple. Christ taking off his robe to
clothe our nakedness. Self-sacrjfce.
I have not any of it, nor have you com
pared with that. The sacrifice of the
Son of God
Christ walked to Emmaus, Christ
walked from Capernaum to Bethany,
Christ walked from Jerusalem to Col
gotha. How far have you and walked
for Christ? His head ached, His heart
ached, His back ached. How much
have we ached for Christ?
The disposition of Jesus was also
disposition of humility. The Lord
of earth and Heaven in the garb of
a rustic. He who poured all the
waters of the earth out of his right
hand-the Amazon and the Euphrates
and the Oregon and the Ohio and the
Mississippi-bending over a well to
ask Samaritan woman for a drink.
He who spread the canopy of the
heavens and set the earth for a foot
stool, admitting that He had not
where to lay his head. He whose
chariots the clouds are, walked with
sore feet. flushing the tempest on
Gennesaret and wiping the spray of
the storm from His beard, then sit
ting down in the cabin beside His
disciples, as though he had done no
more than wipe the sweat from His
brow in Joseph's carpenter shop. TAX
ing the foot of death off the heart
of Lazarus and breaking the chain
of the grave against the mar
BILE of the tomb and then walk
ing out with Mary and Martha with
out any more pretension than a plain
citizen going out in the suburban vii
Iage to spend the evening. Jostled as
though He Were a nobody. Pur-
sued as though He were an outlaw.
Seated with publicans
and with sinners. King of Heaven |
and Earth trailing His robes in the |
dust.
How much of that humility have