The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1902-09-05

| NOpyrlSnt, ISJI, Dy "A. N. heuOSS NEWS
paper Coz
Chicago, 1902.
Text.-"Prepare to meet thy God
Amos 4:12.
A Message for To-Day.-These
words are addressed to Israel by the
prophet Amos, after the nation has
persistently refused to hear and
heed the message which God has
sent unto them. The days 3f grace
are past and judgment has fallen
No longer does God stand pleading
that Israel will repent and turn from
it's sin, but the thunder-tones of His
wrath send forth the message:
Prepare to meet thy God" In these
five short, simple words flashes the
keen, two-edged sword of Gods
| Spirit, and, falling, pierces ''even to
the dividing asunder of soul and
spirit" God has patiently borne
with His people. He has sought by
every circumstance of life to arouse
them to a sense of their obligation
to Him. He sent scarcity of food
and famine, yet have ye not re-
| turned unto Me-" saith the Lord. He
sent drought, and then let rain fall
on one city and not on another,
upon one piece of ground, and not
upon another section lying adjacent
thereto, so that two or three cities
to drink water, yet have We not re-
turned unto Me-" saith the Lord.
He sent the mildew and the blasting
upon the growing grain; and the
devOuring worms ruined the gar
dens and vineyards and fig and olive
trees, yet have We not returned
unto Me- saith the Lord. The
pestilence of disease had swept over
their land, and in conflict with the
nations about the young men had
been slain with the sword, and the
scandals and evils growing up out
of the military camps had shocked
the whole nation, yet have ye not
returned unto Me-" saith the Lord.
The iniquity of some in the nation
was so great that God had to de-
stroy them as He overthrow Sodom
and Gomorrah, and those who es-
capped the fire of Gods wrath were
as brands plucked out of the burn
ing, "yet have. We not returned unto
Me-" saith the Lord.
Therefore because all this is
true) thus will 1 do unto thee, o
Israel: and because 1 will do this
unto thee, prepare to meet thy God,
o, Israel"
For, 10, He that formeth the noun
tains, and createth the wind, and de-
clareth unto man what is His
thought, that maketh the morning
darkness, and treadeth upon the
high places of the earth, the Lord,
the God of Hosts. is His name"
This is the message which God
sent to His self-willed and self-seek-
ing children by the hand of His
prophet Amos. We read it. We
readily see the iniquity and sins of
the children of Israel. We marvel at
their indifference to the solemn
warning and pleading of God. We
see them rejecting the message of
Gods prophets and doubling the
truth of their words. While the ter
rible judgments of Gods wrath are
hanging over them they refuse to be-
lieve anything but that they will con-
tinue to eat, drink and be merry and
yield to every desire in the days to
come, as they have in the past. We
see the certain judgments of God fall
upon them after they have persist
emily and willfully refused to hear
Gods last call. We see the awful
scourge of war sweep over the land,
we see the wives and children, the
young men and maidens wearing the
yoke of their conquerors and going
into captivity, all coming to pass just
o. 4 J. L,
We know that when God speaks it
shall surely come to pass, notwith-
standing the ease and luxury of our
homes, and the influence of our friends, |
and the prominence of our position in
society, and our business and profess |
sional success, and the size of our bank |
account; Notwithstanding our vigor |
of health, and our fullness of ioy as |
we delight ourselves in the attractions |
and luXuries of the world, We know |
that nothing we have or are, that |
nothing which our friends have or are,
that not even the loved ones in Heaven |
who are awaiting our coming can |
change one jot or title of Gods word |
and prevent His judgment falling upon |
us if we refuse to hear and heed. And |
rush of life and reason together out |
of Gods Word, SO that we shall not be |
caught as thief In the night when our
Lord comes and exacts a final account
ing with US.
Face to Face with Eternity.-Do you
realize that you are face to face with
eternity, that but breath is between
you and death? Not day goes by but
some experience in our own lives, some
item of news, brings this fact to our
and God would drive it /
home to our hearts if we would only
ct Him. There is no period in the life
upon earth when the soul can say that
It is not face to face with eternity.
AS we'll might the tiny molecule,
which has to be searched out with the
to be seen, boast itself of
is size while the great earth supports
is teeming millions of people and the
stars and planets of the universe roll
n space, as for you, oh, man, to boast
yourself of life and what it holds for
you, for what is it in comparison to
eternity? In France two or three
weeks ago there went speeding over
he highway the $4,000 auto of the
'ich American and his fair wife. How
much life had for them. Rich and in
iuential, and full of plans. A new
tuto building, more powerful and mag
nifcent than the one in which they
we're riding. A palatial residence in
san Francisco, upon which alterations
md improvements were to be made
amounting to $5,o0O,OOO, and the con-