The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1901-04-05

| we would have cried: Bread it shall
bel" and been almost impatient at the
time taken for mastication, but Christ
i with one hand beat back the hunger
and with the other hand beat back the
monarch of darkness. o We tempted
ones! Christ was tempted. We are
told that Napoleon ordered a coat-of-
mail made, but he was not quite GER
tain that it was impenetrable, so he
said TO the manufacturer of the coat
| of-mail: "Put it on now yourself and
let us try it," And with shot after
shot fired from his own pistol the en-
peror found that it was just what 1T
pretended to be, a good coat-of-mail.
Then the man received large reward.
l bless God that the same coat-of-
mail that struck back the weapons of
| temptation from the head of Christ
we may now all wear, for Jesus comes
and says: 81 have been tempted, and L
know what it is to be tempted. Take
this robe that defended me and wear
it for yourselves. 1 shall see you
through all trials, and 1 shall see you
through all temptation"
But" says Satan still further to
Jesus, "come, and I will show you
something worth looking at" And
after a half days journey they came to
Jerusalem and to the top of the tenn
pie. Just as one might go up in the
tower of Antwerp and look off upon
Belgium, so Satan brought Christ to
the top of the temple. Some people at
a great height feel dizzy and a strange
disposition to jump. So Satan comes
to Christ in that very crisis. Stand
ing there at the top of the temple, they
looked off. A magnificent reach Of
country. Grain fields, vineyards, olive
groves, forests and streams, cattle in
the valley, fiocks on the hills and viii
ages and cities and realms. "Now,"
says Satan, "I'll make bargain. Just
jump off. 1 know it is great way
from the top of the temple to the val
ley, but if you are Divine you can fly.
Jump off. 1t won't hurt you. Angels
will catch you. Your Father will hold
you. Besides, I'll make you a large
present if you will. I'll give you Asia
Minor, I'll give you China, I'll give you
Ethiopia, I'll give you Italy, I'll give
you Spain, I'll give you Germany, FL
give you Britain, I'll give you all the
world" What a temptation it must
have been!
The third installment paid for our
redemption was the agonizing prayer
in Gethsemane AS 1 sat in that gar
den at the foot of an old gnarled and
twisted olive tree the historic scene
came upon me Overwhelmingly. These
old olive trees are the lineal descend
ants of those under which Christ stood
and wept and knelt. Have the leaves
of whole botanical generations told
the the story of our Lords agony to
their successors? Next to Calvary the
solemnest place in Palestine is Geth
semane. While sitting there it seemed
as if 1 could hear our Lords prayer,
laden with Sobs and groans. Can this
be the Jesus who gathered fragrance
from the frankincense brought to His
cradle and from the lilies that flung
their sweetness into His sermons and
| from the box of alabaSter that broke
at his feet? Is this Jesus the COM
| forter of Bethany, the reSurrector at
Main, the oculist at Bethsaida? Is
this the Christ whose frown is the
storm, whose smile is the sunlight, the
spring morning His breath, the thun
der His voice, the ocean drop on the
tip of His finger, Heaven a sparkle on
! the bosom of His love, the universe the
dust of His chariot wheel? Is this the
Christ who is able to heal a heart
break or hush tempest or drown
world or flood immensity with His
glory? Behold Him in prayer, the
globules of blood by sorrow pressed
through the skin of His forehead!
What an installment in part payment
! = r1T.ian fhot
paid!
The fourth installment paid for our
| redemption was the Saviour'S sham
| trial. I call it a sham trial-there has
never been anything so indecent or
unfair in any criminal court as was
witnessed at the trial of Christ. Why,
they hustled him into the courtroom
at two o'clock in the morning. They
gave Him no time for counsel. They
gave him no opportunity for subpoe-
naing witnesses. The ruffians who
were wandering around through the
midnight, of course they saw the ar
rest and went into the courtroom. But
| Jesus friends were sober men, were
respectable men, and at that hour, two
o'clock in the morning, of course they
were at home asleep. Consequently
| Christ entered the courtroom with the
ruffians.
Oh, look at Him! No one to speak
word for Him. 1 lift the lantern un-
| til l can look into His face, and as my
heart beats in sympathy for this, the
| best friend the world ever had, Him
self now utterly friendless, an officer
of the courtroom comes up and smites
Him in the mouth, and l see the blood
stealing from gum and lip. Oh, it was
a farce of trial, lasting only perhaps
an hour, and then the judge rises for
sentence! Stopi 1t is against the
law to give sentence unless there has
been an adjournment of the court be-
tween condemnation and sentence, but
what cares the judge for the law? ''The
man has no friends. Let Him die"
SAYS the judge. And the ruffians out
side the rail cry: "Aha, aha, that's
what we want, Pass Him out here to
us! Away with Him! Away with
Him.
Oh, bless God that amid all the in
Justice that may have been inflicted
upon us in this world we have a divine
sympathizer. The world cannot lie
about you nor abuse you as much as
they did Christ, and Jesus stands to-
day in every courtroom, in every
house, in every store, and says: "Cour-
age, By all my hours of maltreatment
or,. n In,,ca T will mr. Ot oct 4boca xrbo ORC