The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1902-12-19
THE GLORY OF CRISES
It is Manifested in the Deliverances
Which God Sends.
Mans Part, Then, Is To Stand stilI,
While God Fights for Him-Ser-
mon by the ''HiShyvay and
Byvay'' Preacher.
Copyright, 1862, by the y. N. Kellogg
Newspaper Company


for you, and We shall hold your peace. =
Eek. H:13-14
Man breads crises. God delights in
them. Man likes 10 feel that he Is
master of the situation. God wisely
leads the way, sometimes between
the mountain and the deep sea, amt
permits the enemy to cut off retreat
in the rear, SO that His glory can be
manifested and His power realized
in the deliverance wrought. The
words of our text were spoken to the
children of Israel during one of the
most trying crises in their history. 1t
is the third day since they have
fled from the cruel bondage ~
Egypt. They are on the edge of the
desert, and a short distance moro
in their journey will carry them be
yond the pursuing chariOts of Pha-
raoh. And when confidence is grow
ing strong in their breasts that they
are safe, suddenly the cloudy pillar
veers to the southwark and leads
them between the mountains and the
sea. and as the afternoon wears away
and the sun sinks to rest the mOuh-
tains on the right hand cast their
deep shadow of gloom over the long,
irregular column of helpless mer,
women and children, and on the left
hand the roar and splash of the sea
are heard. Suddenly upon their ears
breaks the dull rumble of the on
rushing chariOts of the pursuing
Egyptians, and their straining eyes
penetrate the fading light of the
evening. and make out in the dis
lance the advancing enemy. Escape
seems impossible. They are panic
stricken, and in agony of fear they
turn upon Moses and begin to up
braid and abuse him.
Here was a trying crisis, indeed!
The vengefu1 enemy threatening
them in the rear, the walls of rock
and tine rolling sea on either hand.
and rebellion in the camp. In the
face Of such awful peril, but, with
eye fixed on that pillar of cloud,
which was even LOW beginning to
glow with light as. the darkness set
tied down around them, Moses
showed sublime confidence in God as
he calmly speaks: Fear not. stand
still, and see the salvation of the
Lord, which He will shew to you to-
day: for the Egyptians whom yc
have seen to-day. We shall see them
again no more forever. The Lord
shall fight for you, and we shall hOid
your peace And jhen follows the
mighty deliverance of the children of
Israel from their peril, and the ut
ter destruction of the enemy of God
and Gods people.
And this thrilling bit of history
from the pages of Gods Book has its
lessons for you and for me-Crises
and the glory which shines out of
them if Gods hand is leading, and
His power controlling. There are
crucial periods in the lives of every
individual and every nation which
mark the complete breaking away
from old conditions and the entrance
upon a larger liberty. The crisis
comes at the point where it is uncer-
tain whether the one who has been
led out will surrender to the pursu-
ing enemy and go back to the land
of bondage and to a worse slavery
than ever before, or whether in the
gathering gloom, with the relentless
foe pressing upon him, he will lift
his eyes to the glowing cloudy pillar
of the Divine presence and stand
still and watch for the salvation of
the Lord, which never fails to come.
Watching for the Crisis.-I under
stand that in cases of typhoid fever
the careful physician exercises the
greatest precautions in detecting the
crisis in the disease, for carelessness
foi 10
ton of the patient might bring about
a fatal issue. He watches for the APP
proach of the crisis, and so is prepared
for it when it comes. There is peril
in not discovering the crisis \
sleeping nurse and a careless doctor
would miss the critical period. There
is peril for you and for me in not
discovering the crisis as it comes to
us in life's experiences. The sleeping
conscience and the careless mind will
make us miss the critical period
The crisis came in the life of Saul
when at Gilgal he usurped the priest
ly office and offered burnt offerings
before the Lord. His sleeping CON
science was not sensitive towards
God and it permitted his careless
mind to plunge him heedIeSsly on to
holy ground. He was not watching.
The crisis came when he little
dreamed it was there. Hardly had
he completed his sacrifice of burnt
when Samuel. Gods prophet
and priest, came. Oh, what an
eternity of difference few moments
make in a life, sometimes, Saul. the
king, by the amounting of the Lord.
with the possibility of perpetuating
n line of kings through his posterity!
Saul, the rejected one, because he
was not watching for the crisis and
was not prepared to meet it, If he
had not allowed his conscience to fall
asleep after he had been called from
the humble occupation of herding his
fathers cattle to the possibility
of ruling a kingdom, he would have
realized that on the new and higher
road he was travelling the crisis
would surely come and make or mar
his name and destiny. But Saul let
conscience sleep and carelessness
crept into his life, and wien the
crisis came at Gilgal he failed to rec
ognize it. and was not prepared to
meet it.