Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1861-05-24
From IRE Pksladsipdia Press.
SEED IN WAR;"
SERMON BY REV. ,. ". HugFEa.

<Lutheran} Church, New street, below Fourth.
en- Sunday evening week, in tho presence of a large
congregation. The text selected for the occasion
was from First Chronicles, '. 22-"THE WAR WAS
or Gco.''
The speaker opened by saying that there was no
research more instruct or edifyRg than that
which related 10 Gods various dispensatious 10
meDkind. In all its bearings this was, he knew, au
sEClGiry too stupeadoHs for finite intelligence to
.somprehendi he would, therefore address him
self TO the subject propo sed, with ambition OF
''tracing out the ways OF the Almighty unto par
fection," hnt rather with view to directing the
mind CT his hearers TO the great fact that there is
On OreTraiag Precedence. On this subject, he said,
there were two opposite which should DE
avoided Some had a desire to know to- much
about ito ssbe wise above what is written''-
whilst others manifested utter indifference to the
subject altogether. The true course Tor the Chris
tian to pursue he sal was avoid both these
tremes aud it was in this temper that he pow pro
posed to trace the mysterious and yet ai-epcIrcng
and overrusing Providence OF God in some of the
which, at various periods, have desoilted the
earth.
Beginning with the narrative from which his text
selected, he said il declared that the
there referred to, il which Israel engaged,
sFwas of God" So, toe. in Numbers XXI, We
bad an account OF Gods having given on express
command to Moses to ayengs the children of
Israel of the Midantes, > the whole passage being
read in order to show that not only had this ayeng
ing war been by the command OF God, but that
Moses was especially 1aiSed up of Heaven, to be
their captoin and leader The interesting account
given in the 9th and 9TH chapters OF Judges, Of
Gideon and his valiant three hundred was also
read In this instance, God lad not only by his
angel urged Gideon to 90 forth ag lnst the Midian
ties and Amelekites 10 battle, but assured Gideon
that tbs Lord would be with him in the con est, by
two wonderful tests. And so God went With him
and gave him victory ovey his enemies. These
and similar passages we're Introduced TO show, from
the Divine record, s'the hand of God in war; In
fact, he took it for granted that ref actng mind
would question: that in of the great events
OF this Borld'S history had the overrulipg PrOv-
dence of the Almighty been more strikinglv dis
played than in the wars which, ut successive peri
DDS, nat desolateG the airesi p0rtion of the globe
TO sever the Providence Of Heaven from these
things vas, in fact, to deny the existence Of Su-
preme Ruler altogether, and 10 affirra, with the
Atheist, that the affairs of werd have head, but
that they are left to capficious chance alone
But was important for Us 70 obtain intelligent
and Serptural views respecting Gods Providence,
otherwise we might be guilty of charging upon the
sovereignty of Jehovah, whlt is more properly at
tributable 10 apostats, fallen N m 1t must be
borne in mind thlt the Word OF Col taught that
there ro kinds Of Proriiences prevailing in the
Divine administration of the ahlirs OF men, viz
those that absolute and those that are simply
perHissire. That the line Of dem ltioa between
The two difficult, aud impossible to trace
perfectly, he wonid admit yet so far as it was
For his part, the speaker held this to be in
controvertibly true that Yur, in any all ct its
relations, never comes from God through those
that instigsteit, except pernIissirelg-Dever cbso
!uteky, but always part AMI parcel Of the great
chain Of his proyidentii dealings with the children
Of men. God a God of order, not of colfit
sion, and SO could not be the author of war War,
on the contrary from the Devil, even from the
s'Father of Lies, who was a murderer from the
beginning" aad it was he that stirred up the base
passions of men, and melted them 70 deadly hos
dHties, imposing upon the good aad the patriotic
the necessity of repelling by force. The sacred
writer's, he sad frequently aseribed directly to
God thiHgs which be simply permitted, for the full
trial and discipline of man.
That God never could be the author of war ex-
cept permissively, he SAIL resulted not oaiy from
His own perfection, Ept also rc>a ths chiraeteriS-
ties of war itself the immediate fruits Of which
the SPEAKER here proceeded, with thrilling power
and graphic accuracy, 10 depict. Ia delineatng
this horrible portraitaFe, the methods Of destruction
employed, the horrors attending their use, the
desolation and ruin whicA they wrought, the de-
VaStation of towns, villages, aud agricultural re-
gions: impoverished communities, increased taxes,
arrested commerce, deslairing and suffering fami-
lies, religion languishing, thousands of young men
demoFaliEed, bridges DESTROYED, railways torn up,
travel suspended, and endless tcaIn Of Attendant
evils, sufficient to chill ones blood and make ones
hair stand end, like the quilts of frettei por
cupine, were referred to- And all these things
were incident 70 the mere preparation for war
conflict The Imagination could look forward aud
see the now smiling valley transfoFmed iuto Il
spectacle of death, with the fruits OF the earth
rodden under foot heaps of slain eterng In their
own blood, With tba memory OF home rushing on
their minds, but NOT voice Of friendship or COM
fort reaching their ears. And who could tell the
= horFors OF besiegcd city, with its mHltiHdes Of
men, women, and children fleeing from their homes
into tae caves and mountains to escape destruction;
palaces demolished, churches in ruins, banks plum
nd LODI IN fhn dngs 2
And such scenes these the Bible told US. IN the
text, were efof God of Him who is the source
Of al goodness and the centre of all exceilency.-
aow could this ho He would again reply, they
RScT eln1adtet2frosn God directly. No, they were
missries resulting from sman's nhnman:ty to man.
But had then God nothing to do with war; Yes,
much; if not in its instigation, at least in its
consequences and results. for by them some of
fs greatest benefits to mankind bad been achiey.
Cd, both fer the welfare Of man and the deciara-
tive glory of God. OF course, if all men were
sc:usted by tbs benign spirit of the Gospel, the
dread ar6itrsment Of war need never be resorted
%.
Finally, coming TO the great question now mp.
permost In the minds of our people, the speaker
said DO recognized In this disastrous civil in |
which our countrymen are now engaged, the hand |
Of God. God. II was t.ue, did not iaqugurate it.
u has been begun by bad. Designing men, In the |
seizure Of the Government forss and other proper
ty, and the attempt TO overthrow by rebellion the
pnFest, aud wieest, and best Government this I
Tord had ever beheld. Aol this was not Gods |
work, bat the DEVILS. The Devil was at the bot |
tom of 1t, sad he was the head and front Of is, !
~ith his emissarieS, whom he need not naDo - |
And yet. assuridly Go9 tpzs in IL, and He would |
turn and oyerturn nntn his purposes were accom- /
pished, and those purposes would be for good, and
no dopht, also, for the chastisement of those |
wicked men, who would ultimately have TO go to |
The wall. Their boasted new republic, With its I
hattlesnake ensign, begun in violence AMI carried /
on 6y viliainy and fraud, would prove an abortion
whilst the old Union, the old flag, and the old |
constitution would como out Of the ordeal not |
only unscathed, but like gold seven times tried In
Tue furnace the pnrer and better for the trial and
iHis aooaId BE- the wori Of God, and This what
" eS sext meant when he said This war Is of Gnd.'