The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-03-16
sUBJECT:-"FORwARD MARCHP'

| 4hOoCo w dS utdu. n Dedulllul lTdulIlOn
says that God kissed him, and in that
act drew forth the soul of the dying law
| glyer. He has been buried; only One
person at his funeral-the same One
who kissed him. But God never removes
a man until He has some one ready to
take his place. God does not 90 around
seeking among great variety of candi-
dates some one to take vacated posi-
ton. He just makes man to fill that
particular place. Moses had just passed
off the stage. Joshua, the hero of the
| text, comes out to take his place, and
puts his foot so sOlidly on the platform
OF history that all ages hear the echo of
| his tread. lie was magnificent figure,
and he always fought on the right side
He never fought for personal aggran-
| dizement, and never fought unless the
| Lord told him to do so. In my text God
| gives him a military outfit, and one
would think it must have been like
| plumed helmet to the head and gTeaves
of brass to the feet and harbegiOr for
the breast: There shall not any man
be able to stand before thee all the days
of thy life" "Well," you say, lit does
| not require any great courage to go out
with backing like that" | reply, God
promised Joshua no more than He prom
ised you and me in our conflicts. The
framer of the universe, the chieftain Cf
all eternity, has pledged all his resources
to see us through, and He promised no
more than that to Joshua. God always
stands by His people; and my object is
to show you that He fulfilled this. He
fulfilled this entire promise to Joshua,
although his first battle was against a
spring freshet, and his second battle
against a stone wall, and his third bat
tie while leading on a regiment of
whipped towards, and his fourth battle
against the darkness as he maTshaled
the sun and moon into his battalion,
and his last battle against death, the
king of teTrOTS, the hero of the text get
ting the victory in all these battles.
A General would usually prefer to
start with a small conflict that he might
get his courage up and his men drilled;
but JOshua's undertaking was more of
job than the leveling of Fort Pulaski
or the laundering down of Gibraltar or
the taking of SebastOpOl. His first un-
dertaking was to cross the River Jordan
in spring fTeshet. At certain seasons
of the year and at certain points that
river could be easily fOrded and the
water could only come to the knee or to
the girdle; but at this season of which
am speaking the SHOWS of Mount Lebanon
had melted, and they were pouring
down into the valley, and the valley had
become one raging flood. 1t was easy
| enough in some seasons to cross the
| river, as when Lieutenant MOlineauX
was exploring that River Jordan some
times he had his boats in the water and
sometimes he had them carried on
camels' backs, so shallow was the stream
in certain places. But in spring, when
| Lieutenant Lynch attempted his eXplOra-
| tiOns, his boats were Knocked to pieces
amid the tWenty-seVen rapids of that
river, although the boats were lined
with copper and galvanized iron. You
might as well talk of wading across the
Hudson River at YOnkeTs as to think of
| wading the River Jordan at the season
of which L am speaking. The Canaanites
on the other side were perfectly sure.
They looked across the river and saw
the Israelites, and they said: aha;
you can't get at us. We are safe any
how until this spring freshet falls"
The voice of the gurgling freshet was
lullaby to the Canaanites as they looked
across the stream. But one day Joshua
orders out his troops and tells them to
fall into line. The Canaanites, looking
across, say: "Ah. What's the matter
now? L wonder if those ISraelites are
frightened. | think panic must have
struck them, and they are going to run
away, or they are going up near the
mouth of the Jordan, expecting to cross
there, and Joshua s army will be entirely
destroyed before he gets there. Joshua
is lunatic." Forward march, cries
Joshua to his troops. They pass on
toward the river, and it seems as if the
hght-armed troops and the spearmen
and the aTCheTs and all their leaders
must be swept down in the fearful flood.
Let them prepare, you say, for a wateTy
grave. One mile ahead of the main
army of Joshua go the priests, carrying
glittering box about four feet long by
two feet wide. That glittering box is
the ark of the cOnVenant; and no sooner
had the priests come down with that
ark, and with their feet touched the
margin of the river, than Jordan parts
by an Almighty fiat. Thirty miles above
the river stops on one side, while on the
other side the water flows down toward
the salt sea. Forward now, ye troops of
Israel! Come right on. 1t is dry path
all the way thrOugh-a path of chalk
and broken shells and pebbles. You will
not even get the sOles of your feet wet.
March on. Come to the other bank. They
reach the bank, and they pull themselves
up its steep, thirty or forty feet in
height. They pull themselves up the
bank by the oleanders and the lamar
ishes and the willows until they reach
the top. Now let them clap cymbals and
shields, and sing a song of praise to the
God of Joshua. No sooner have they
climbed up this high bank than, with
dash and terrific rush, the waters of the
Jordan break loose from their strange
anchorage. You know how fast the waters
roar when mill-dam breaks, and the
probability is that in the halt of that
great river, and in the filling up of the
accumulated waters there must have
been a dam lifted by Gods hand half a
mile high, and when that broke, Oh, the
furyl What predicament for Joshua
and his trOOpsl Why did not those
waters stay parted until Joshua and his
troops could find out whether they could
cope with their enemies or not? 1 hear
one of the unbelieying IsTaelites say:
Lord, why didst thou not keep those
billOws parted so that if we wanted to
retreat, we could go back dry-shOd, just
as when we advanced? We are engaged
in very risky experiment. How if
these CanaaniteS eat us all up?" All.
my heaTer, God never makes any prOyi-
sion for the Christians retreat. He
clears the path to Canaan if we go ahead.
If we go back we die. 1t is dry-shOd
on a path of broken shell and pebbles
in one direction. 1t is water forty feet
deep in the rear. The same gate-keeper
swung back the crystal and anne
thystine door of Jordan to keep you
from going back. L declare it to-day,