The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1904-04-01


elegance, and religious forms and cere-
monies. And by this method the Devil
keeps his dupes sitting in the darkness
and the region and shadow of death.
God calls it darkness, the Devil calls
it light; God calls it death, the Devil
says life, life, life in abundancei Let
us enjoy it, But it is darkness, black
darkness, no matter what the Devil
says. No matter how people choose to
delude themselves with the thought
that this indulgence, that desire or am
bitiOn, is not darkness, it is darkness
unless Christ the Light is the center
and purpose of it all. God calls it dark
ness now because that which is not of
the Light is to be darkness throughout
eternity
DARKNESS means separation from
- God. You cannot mix light and
darkness. Where the light is there is
no darkness. In the presence of God
and His Christ the darkness disap-
pears. But like the great piling rocks
which shut out the light from the dark
cavern beneath, so the worlds unbe-
lief and sin shut out the Light of the
Sun of Righteousness. Separation from
Godi That may not mean very much
to you in this life. 1t did not mean
very much to the rich man. He Jared
sumptuOusly every day. He had friends
and good time. Seemingly there was
nothing which his heart could wish.
But he was in the darkness and would
not realize it. He was separated from
God, and he did not seem to care. The
Light shined near him, at his very
gate, but he would not leave the dark
ness that he might come into the Light
And as we have said he did not seem
to be conscious of separation from God,
but when the few fieeting years of his
life had fed away and time was swal-
lowed up of eternity, then he realized
what separation from God meant. He
knew the awful pressure and torment
of the outer darkness. The man with
out the wedding garments on of Jesus
parable is the picture of the man who
had abided in the darkness through
this life and then thought he could
somehow slip into the light and joy of
Heaven, but he was quickly detected,
and the judgment upon him-"bind
him hand and foot and cast him out
lhlO Iuc OultI udIhu6SS, lIcIS Shall DS
weeping and gnashing of teeth"-shall
be the final judgment upon every soul
that continues to abide in the darkness
rather than come to the blessed Light.
The outer darkness is where they be-
long. Separation from God here means
separation from God throughout eter-
nifty. What an awful price to pay for
the few miserable, paltry pleasures
which this life can give! And yet it
is the price which thousands of pre-
cious souls are paying.
IN EPHESIANS Paul speaks of the
| rulers of the darkness of this
world" The Devil and his minions
hold despOtic sway over the regions of
darkness. Think you, oh, man! oh,
woman! that if you refuse the dominion
of the Ruler of the Light, Christ Jesus,
you escape all rule and power? I want
to tell you that you are under the do
minion of a power that is seeking to
crush your soul to hell. He will give
you all the latitude you want in indulg-
ing every whim and desire and passion
and lust, but you are under his power
while you think you are rejoicing in
your so-called freedom, and at last the
ruler of the darkness where you have
been abiding will have your chains
forged so strong and fast that the end
less years of eternity will not be suf-
ficient to break their power. You are
a prisoner of the darkness, and do not
know it. You are intoxicated with the
wine of the pleasures and purposes and
desires of life, and do not realize that the
ruler of the darkness is in control of
your life and destiny, and that while
you abide in the darkness you cannot
escape his power. So many, many peo-
pie who are abiding in the darkness
fight heroically against the baser rule
of the Devil. They seek what they call
the highest and best in life. They
overcome the sinful indu1gences of the
flesh and then fiatter themselves they
have emerged from the land of dark
ness into the land of glorious light,
but theirs is a more perilous bondage
The Devil is still in control through
the heart of unbelief, and what cares
he what delusion keeps them within
the borders of his darkness. While they
are there they belong to him, they are
under his dominion. They never can
escape until they get into the land Of
Light where Jesus holds sway.
NOTICE the attitude of the people
N who are abiding in the darkness
''The people that sat in darkness" in
the position of ease and rest, as though
that was the safe and proper place for
them to be. There are those who are
in the darkness, who are i'll az ease:
who have an ill-defned sense of their
danger; who know in their inmost
hearts that the Light which they see
before them is the place for them to
be- And then there are others who are
sitting" in darkness. There is every
thing in the attitude and bearing. Do
you recall the scene at the river where
Gideon led his army? There were those
who scooped the water up to their
mouths as they ran, and then there
were the larger number who came and
getting down on all fours as though
there was no other important business