The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1902-08-08

chicago. 1902
Text: But seek ye first the Kingdom Of
God and His righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you.-Matt.
6:33
The Secret-The Lord Jesus came
all the way from Heaven to earth to
give to the world the secret of true sue
cess. He not only gave to the world
the secret, but like the true Leader He
was and is, He wrought it out in His
own life. l know the world will read
with an incredulous smile the words of
our text and glibly deny that they give
the secret of true success. know that
many, many Christians fail to see in
them inspiration to the realization of
the most successful career. But not
withstanding such unbelief we are
going to stand squarely upon Gods
Word and try to throw such light
on the true meaning of this wonderful
text as will enable you, by the enight-
eminent of the Holy Spirit, to under
stand and to make a new adjustment
of your life, and yet find that true sue
cess which God alone can give you.
Up in the Heavens, where God has
His dwelling place, the angels know the
secret of success, and understand that
it cannot be found apart from God.
Satan, before his fall from Heaven, was
in line of success with the other an
gels, but when he undertook to set up
an independent esta blishment con-
trary to the will of God, God cast him
out. and he has been in the earth ever
since deIuding men into the belief that
apart from God they can win success.
he 90 i L
Heaven. In obedience to the will and
righteousness of God. the stars main
tain their positions and send forth
their flashing light; the sun and
moon hold their faithful attendance
upon the earth, giving light and heat,
and the earth continues to revOlve,
bringing day and night, and moves in
its orbit, bringing the change of sea-
sons. The universe is a success and
full of harmony because it obeys the
supreme will of God. The angels
know what success is because they seek
God first and His righteousness. Ga
briel is a success because in perfect
obedience to the will of God he has
repeatedly come to earth with mes
sageS from Heaven. Think of being the
bearer of such message as brought
to the world the knowledge that it was
to have the Son of God as it's Saviour.
The angels are a success because they
are call ministering spirits, sent forth
to minister for them who shall be heirs
of salvation " and are faithful in obey
ing the God-given commission.
The redeemed in Heaven know what
true success is. Perhaps some of them
did not know until they entered the
pearly gates and saw their build
ings of wood, hay, stubble burned
up outside the gate and they es-
capped into Heaven $50 as by fire"
but they understood then that he
who builds apart from God builds i'll
vain. Success, then, was not meas
ured by the amount of worldly wis
dom, or culture, or riches, or power
possessed, but by the fact that
Heaven was gained and the soul
saved for eternity. Lazarus. the
miserable, sOre-cOvered pauper. lying
at the gate of the rich man, APP
peared to the world as failure, while
the gorgeously-robed man within
the palace, sitting before his sumptuOus
table, was talked about as that sue
cessful business man. The gaze of the
world sees only the beggar at the gate
and the rich man in his luXuriant
home, but, thanks be to God! Jesus
lifts the veil and gives us a glimpse
into the eternal realities. where the
final measuring a to failure or success
is determined. There we see Lazarus
in the bosom of Abraham with the
peace of Heaven upon his brow, while
below in hell, with great impossible
gulf between the two, we behold Dives
in torment. pleading for the least de-
gree of succOr which he had denied the !
beggar while they were in the world |
together, Lazarus as a failure and he |
a success.
The Great EXemplar.-The absolute |
truth and reliability of this secret is |
proven by the life Christ lived here on
earth, by His death and His resurrec-
tiOn. 1t would have been strange in
deed, would it not? if Jesus had not |
lived out to the utmost the command |
contained in our text. Scripture gives |
us a glimpse of Him at the age of
twelve in the temple seeking God as He |
sits an eager learner at the feet of the |
rabbis there. The veil is again drawn
around Him and Scripture is silent I'M
til Jesus comes to john to be baptized |
and is led of the Spirit into the wilder
ness to engage in the most magnifi- !
cent battle of the ages with Satan. The |
Kingdoms of the world, with all their
glory and ma gnificence, are showed to
Jesus. and He sees wealth and honor
and power within His grasp if He
would but fall down and worship Sa-
tan. He came into the world to be a
king. Here was the opportunity at
one master move to become possessed
of kingdoms and power. Oh, how
much hung in the balance before that
awful temptation! If the eye of faith
of Jesus had not reached into the
eternities, and he had not understood
that the success which Satan could give
was but temporary, He might have
yielded.
Satan to-day is offering the same
kind of bride to those who will fall
down and worship and serve him. To
the Son of God he offered everything
he had temporary power over, but to
the sons of meu he needs not to offer
so much to win their allegiance and
their service. Men are yielding every
dav before the power and attraction of
Mammon. Present gain held up be-
fore the eyes obscures the larger re-
ward to be found in serving God. a
copper cent held before the eye is
large enough to shut out the most
beautiful landscape, and the world to-