The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1901-07-05

thing. All, here comes your opportu-
nifty for gentleness, kindness and
sympathy. The proba bility is that if
you had been piled with the same in
fuences as this unbeiever there
would not be a Bible in. all your
house from cellar to attic. Perhaps
he was in some important transaction
swindled by member of the church
whose taking of the sacrament was a
sacrilege. Perhaps he read agnostic
books and heard agnostic lectures
and mingled in agnostic circles until
he has been befogged and needs your
Christian help more than anyone
that you know of. Do not get into
any labored argument about the
truth of Christianity. He may beat
YOU at that. He has a whole artil-
lery of weapons ready to open fire.
Remember that no one was ever re-
formed for this life or saved for the
life to come by an argument, but in
humblest and gentlest way, your
voice subdued, ask him a few ques-
tions. Ask him if he had a Christian
parentage, and if he says yes ask
him whether the old folks died happy.
Ask him if he has ever heard of any
one going out of this life in raptures
of infidelity and agnosticism. Ask
him if it is not a somewhat remark
able fact that the Bible, after so
many years, sticks together and that
there are more copies of it in exist
ence than ever before. Ask him it
he knows of any better civilization
than Christian civilization and
whether he thinks the teachings of
Confucius or Christ are preferable.
Ask him if he thinks it would be a
fair thing in the Creator of all things
to put in this world the human race
and give them no direct communities
ton for their guidance and, if they
did wrong, tell them of no way of
recovery. L think if famous infidel
of our time, instead of being taken
away instantaneously, had died in
his bed after weeks and months of
illness he would have revoked his
teachings and left for his beloved
family consultations which they could
not find in obsequies at which not
one word of Holy Scripture was read,
or at Fresh Pond crematOry, where
no Christian benediction was pro-
nounced. 1 do not positively say that
in a prolonged illness, there would
have been a retractiOn, but 1 think
there would.
But let me confess at this crisis of
my sermon that there is not an in
junction in the Bible more difficult to
obey than the words of the text.
While it applauds a wholesome indig-
nation, it warns against sinful an
ger. And there is in all the realm
of passion nothing more destructive
than indiScriminate hate. First of
all, it frenzies the nervous ganglia.
Those people who easily flare up on
little provocation go into high dud-
geon, take umbrage without reason,
snap you up quick, have ruined their
nerves, and there is only one thing
worse to ruin, and that is the brain,
and we say of one that is given to
frequent ebullitions of temper that
he is an unbalanced man. A business
man of our acquaintance said: Il
cannot afford to get mad. 1t hurts
me So"
A man thoroughly mad can say
enough in two minutes to damage
him for 20 years. 1t only took five
minutes for the earthquake to de-
stroy Caracas. One unfortunate sem
tence uttered in affront in a speech
in the United States senate shut for
ever the door of the white house
against one of the most brilliant men
of the last century.
eSurpas sing all other characters in
the worlds biography stands Jesus
Christ, wrathful against sin, merciful
to the sinner. Witness His behavior
toward the robed ruffians who de-
manded capital punishment for an
woman denunciation for
their sinful hypocrisy, pardon for
her sweet penitence. He did not
speak of Herod as his majesty" or
This royal highness," but dared to
compare him to a cunning fox, say
ing: go we and tell that fox But,
alert to the cry of suffering, He finds
ten lepers and to how many of the
ten awful invalids did He give con-
and health? Ten. Rebull-
ing Pharisaism in the most COM
pressed sentence in all the vocab-
ulary of anathema-"Ye serpents, We
generation of vipers, how can we es-
cape the damnation of hell?"-yet
looking upon Peter with such tender
ness that no word was spoken-and
not a word was needed, for the look
spoke louder than words. ''And the
Lord looked upon Peter, and Peter
went out and wept bitterly" Oh, what
a look it must have been to break
down the Swarthv Fl sherman aOOSt1ef
1t was such a hurt look, such a be-
seeching look, such a loving look,
such a forgiving look! Was there
any other being since time began,
such a combination of wrath against
wrong and compassion for the
Lion of Judah's tribe!"
Hear that! Lamb of God who TAX
eth away the sins of the world"
Hear that!
Like Him, let us hate iniquity with
complete hatred; but, like Him, may
and be willing to suffer for their
restoration. Then, although at the
opening of this discourse our text
may have seemed to command us to
do an impossible thing, we will at
the close of this sermon, with a
prayer to God for help, be more rig
id and determined than ever before
against that which is wrong, while
at the same time we shall feel so
kindly toward all the erring and
work so hard for their rescue that
we will realize that we have scaled
the Alpine, the Himalayan, height of
49, +av+ which aniOiDS. NRa va opnru