The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1900-12-14

| Blessed be God, there is a boat COM
ing from the other side! TranspOrta-
tion at last for our souls from the
other shore; everything about this
Gospel from the other shore; pardon
from the other shore; mercy from the
other shore; pity from the other
shore; ministry of angels from the
other shore; power to work miracles
from the other shore; Jesus Christ
from the other shore. This is faith
full saying and worthy of all accepta-
ton that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners" and from a
| foreign shore I see the ferryboat COM
| ing, and it rolls with the surges of a
| Saviour's suffering; but as it strikes
| the earth the mountains rock, and the
dead adjust their apparel so that
! they may be fit to come out. That
| boat touches the earth, and glorious
Thomas Walsh gets into it in his ex-
piring moment, saying: He has
come! He has come! Ny Beloved is
mine, and l am His" Good Sarah
| Wesley got into that boat, and as she
| showed off from the shore she cried:
open the gates! Open the gates!"
I bless God that as the boat came
from the other shore to take David
and his men across, so, when we are
about to die, the boat will come from
| the same direction. God forbid that
should ever trust to anything that
starts from this side.
Again, my subject suggests that
when we cross over at the last the
King will be on board the boat. Ship
carpentry in Bible times was in its
| infancy. The boats were not skill
fully made, and l can very easily i'm
| agine that the women and the chill
dren of the Kings household might
have been nervous about going on
that boat, afraid that the oarsman or
the helmsman might give out and
| that the boat might be dashed on the
rocks, as sometimes boats were dashed
| in the Jordan. and then l could have
imagined the boat starting and rock
ing, and they crying out: "Oh, we are
| going to be lost. We are going down."
Not so. The King was on board the
boat, and those women and children
and all the household of the king
knew that every care was taken to
have the king-the head Of the en-
| pire-pass in safety.
Now, want to break up a delusion
in your mind, and that is this: When
our friends go out of this world, we
feel sorry for them, because they have
to go alone; and parents hold on to
the hands of their children who are
| dying, and hold on to something of
! IL / l.
let go the little one will be in the
! darkness and in the boat all alone.
"Oh," the parent says, ''if l could only
go with my child, l would be willing
to die half a dozen times. I am afraid
| she will be lost in the woods or in the
! darkness; / am afraid she will be
very much frightened in the boat all
alone" I break up the delusion.
| When soul goes to Heaven, it does
not go alone; the King is on board
the boat. Was Paul alone in the last
extremity? Hear the shout of the
sacred missionary as he cries out: II
am now ready to be offered, and the
time of my departure is at hand"
| Was John Wesley alone in the last
extremity? No. Hear him say:
"Best of all, God is with u.s." Was Sir
William Forbes alone in the last eX-
| tremity? No. Hear him say to his
| friends: Tell all the people who are
coming down, to the bed of death from
my experience it has no terrors."
"Oh," say great many people, that
| does very well for distinguished Chris
| tians, but for me, a common man, for
me, a common woman, we can't eX-
| pect that guidance and help" If l
should give you passage of Scripture
that would promise to you positively
| when you are crossing the river to
the next world the King would be in
the boat, would you believe the prom
Use? "Oh, yes" you say, 81 would"
Here is the promise: when thou
passest through the waters, l will be
with thee, and through the rivers,
they shall not overflow thee" Christ
at the sick pillow to take the soul out
of the body; Christ 20 help the soul
down the bank into the boat; Christ
midstream; Christ on the other side
to help the soul up the beach. Be
comforted about your departed
friends Be comforted about your
own demise when the time shall come.
Tell it to all the people under the sun
that no Christian ever dies alone; the
King is in the boat.
Again, my text suggests that leav-
ing this world for Heaven is only
crossing ferry. DR.. Shaw estimates
the average width of the Jordan to
be about 30 yards. What, so narrow?
Yes. There went over a ferryboat to
carry the kings household" Yes, GO
ing to Heaven is only a short trip
only ferry. 1t may be so miles
that is, so years-before we get to the
wet bank on the other side, but the
crossing is short. | will tell you the
whole secret. 1t is not five minutes
across, nor three, nor two, nor one
minute. 1t is instantaneous trans
portation. People talk as though
leaving this life, the Christian went
plunging and foundering and swim
ming, to crawl up exhausted on the
other shore, and to be pulled out of
the pelting surf as by Ramsgate
ifeboat. No such thing. 1t is only
ferry. It is so narrow that we can
hail each other from bank to bank.
1t is only four arms lengths across.
The arm Of earthly farewell put out
from this side, the arm of Heavenly
welcome put out from the other side,
while the dying Christian, standing
midstream, stretches out MS arms,
the one to take the farewell of earth,
and the other to take the greeting of
Heaven That makes four arms
lengths across the river.
Blessed be God, that when we leave