Sharp County record., 1888-08-09
TALMAGES SEB
The Use Of Strategy in the
Walks of LiIe.
The victory or JnsHma 0v"r fiV
Al Illustrative Of Modern No
of Clrcumventing and Do
feating the Devil.

following sermon to the Thirteen
ment of which he is Chaplain
kill, N. Y. at the annual encam
tie regiment. His text was:
Then ve shall rise I'D from tile ali
8ize upon the city.-Joshua viii, l.
Men Of the Thirteenth Regim
their friends here gathered, OF p
Dations and professions, men OF
and men Of the fields, here Is &
for all Of MS.
Oae Sabbath evening, with my
around me- we We're talking
scene of the text In the wide-ol
and the quick interrogatioug,,tt
bIanched cheeks, realized VI
inc drama it was. There is
shorter by name than anil
the ages, spelled with twne. ioi
All. Joshua and his ME .a
it. How to do it is the question: On "a
former occasion, in a straightforward,
face to face fight they had been deteateai
but now they are going to take Itoy am
buscade. General Joshua has two dlEl-
qiong in his grmv-the one division the
battle-worn commander will leaT HIM
self. the other division he 'sends
off to encamp in an ambush
on the west side of the city Of Al No
torches, no lanterns, no sound Of heavy
battalions. but thirty thousand swarthy
warriors moving i'll silence, speaking
only in a whisper; no clicking OF swords
against shields, lest he watchmeE of Al
discover it and the stratagem be b. Ialt-
IRE. IF a roisteriug soldier in the Israeli
itish army forgets himself, all along the
line the word is "HushW Joshua takes
the other division, the one with witch he
is to march, and puts it on the north side
Of the city Of Al, aud then spends the
night in accommodating in the valley
There he u.s. thinking over the fortunes OF
the coming day, with something OF the
feeling Of Wellington the night before
Waterloo. or Of Meade and Lee the night
before Gettysburg. There he stands IN
the night. and says to himself:
''YOnder is the division in ambush on
the west side Of All Here is the division
have under my especial command on the
north side Of All There IS the Old city
slumbering in its sin. Tomorrow will be
the battle. Look! the morning already
begins to tip the hills"
The military officers Of Al look out in
the morning very early, and, while they
do not see the division in ambush, they
behold the other division Of Joshua and
the cry, 'ETo arms To armsW rings
through all the streets Of the old town,
and every sword, whether hacked and
bent or newly welded, is brought out and
all the inhabitants of the city Of Al pour
through the gates, an infuriated torrent
and their cry is: "COme-we'l make
quick work with Joshua and his troops"
No sooner had these people Of Al come
out against the troops Of Joshua than
Joshua gave such command as he sell
dom gave Fall back~ Why, they
could not believe their own ears. Is
Joshua's courage failing him?
The retreat is beaten and the Isr9etites
arehying, throwing blankets and cauteens
on every side under this worse than Bull
Run defeat And you ought to hear the
soldiers Of All cheer, and cheer and
cheer. But they huzza too soon. The
men lying in ambush are straining their
vision to get some signal from Joshua
that they may know what time to drop
upon the city. Joshua takes his burni> b ID
spear, giittering in the sun like n shaft Of
doom, and points it toward the city, and
when the men up yOnder in the ambush
see it, with hawk-like swoop they drop
upon Al, and without stroke Of sword or
stab Of spear take the city and put it to
the torch. SO much for the division that
was IN ambush. How about the division
under Joshua'5 command? No osoOner does
Joshua stop in the flight than all his
men stop with him, and as he wheels they
wheel for in o voice Of thunder he cried:
"Haltl" One strong arm driving back a
torrent Of flying troops. And then, as he
points his spear through the golden light
toward that fatal city, his troops know
that they are to start for it. What n
scene it was when the division in ambush
which had taken the city, marched down
against the men Of Al on the one side,
and the troops under Joshua doubled up
their enemies from the other side, and
the men Of Al were caught between these
two hurricanes OF Israelitish courage,
thrust before and behind, stabbed in
breast and back, ground between the up
per and neither millstOGes Of Gods indig-
nation. Woe to the city Of Al! Cheer
for the triumphs of Israel.
Lesson the first: There Is such a thing
as victorious retreat Joshua's falling
back was the first chapter in his success
full besiegement And there are times in
your life when the best thing You can do
is to run. You we're once the victim Of
strong drink. The demiiohn and the de-
canter were your fierce foes. They came
down upon you with greater fury than the
men of Al upon the men Of Joshua. Your
only safety is to get away from them.
Your dissipaung companions will come
around for your overthrow. Run for your
/ life Fall back Fall back from the
drinking saloon. Fall back from the
wine party. Your fight is your advance I!
Your retreat is your victory. There is q
saloon down on the next street that has
almost been the ruin Of your soul, Then,
why do you go along that street? Why
do you not pass through some
other street rather ,hau by the place
Of your calamity: 4 spoonful of brandy
taken for medicinal purposes by a man
who twenty years before had been re-
formed from drunkenness, hurled into in
ebTiety and the grave one of the best
friends l ever had. Your retraat is your
victory. Here is a converted intdeI He
is so strong now in his faith in the Gospel
he SAWS he can read any thing. What are