Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-08-03

~ .''iAe 1ieS mead rolled from
was imprisoned in the castle. when .tohn
hnoX died for the truth: when John
nunyan lay rotting in Bedford iail, saw
my II God will help me and nv phys- |
ia ttal me continues l will stay here until
=. .,ie moss grows on my eyebrows rather
| than give upmy faith" the DAYS of re-
| treat for the church We're DAYS of vic
tory.
| Inc Pilgrim fathers fell back from the
other side of the sea to Plymouth Rock,
put now are installing continent for
me ohrlstlanization of the world. The
church OF Christ falling back from Pied
mont, falling back from Rue st. jacques.
railing back from st. Denis, falling
PACK from Wurtemburg castles, fall
yet all the time triumphing. Netwith.
standing all the shocking reverses which
the church of Christ suffers, what do we
see to-day? Three thousandm missionaries
or the cross on heathcrn grounds; sixty
thousand ministers of Jesus Christ in
this land: at least two hundred million
OF Christians on the earth. All nations
to-day kindling in blaze of revival.
Falling back. yet advancing until the
old Wesleyan hymn will prove true:
The Lion of Judah shall break the chain,
\ And give us the victory again and agrin!
| But there is more marked illustration
| of victorious retreat in the life of our
Joshua, the Jesus of the ages. First
falling back from an appalling height
to an appalling depth, falling from
| celestial hills to terrestrial valleys, from
throne to manager; yet that did not seem
to suffice Him as retreat. Falling
back still further from Bethlehem to
| Nazareth, from Nazareth to Jerusalem,
back from Jerusalem to Golgotha, back
from Golgotha to the mausoleum in the
rock, back down over the precipices of
perdition until He walked amid the
caverns Of the eternal captives, and
drank Of the wine of the wrath of AL
mighty God amid the Ahabs and the
Jezebels and Belshazzars. o, men of
the pulpit and men Of the pew, Christ's
descent from Heaven to earth does not
measure half the distance. 1t was from
glory to perdition. He descended into
hell. All the records of earthly retreat
are as nothing compared with this fall
ments of his army flying over the
plateaux of Mexico, and Napoleon and
his army retreating from Moscow into
the awful SHOWS of Russia, are not
worthy to be mentioned with this re-
treat. when all the powers of darkness
seem to be pursuing Christ as He fell
back, until the body Him who came to
do such wonderful things lay pulseless
and stripped. Methinks that the city of
Al was not so emptied of its inhabitants
when they went to pursue Joshua, as
perdition was emptied of devils when
they started for the pursuit of Christ
and He fell back and back, down lower,
down lower, chasm below chasm, pit be-
low pit, until He seemed to strike the
bottom of objurgation and scorn and
torture. Oh, the long, loud, lubilantt
shout of hell at the defeat of the Lord
God Almighty!
But let not the power of darkness re-
joice quite so soon. Do you hear that
disturbance in the tomb Of Arimathea?
: I hear the sheet rending? What means
!, that stone hurled down the side of the
hill? Who is this coming out? Push
Him back! the dead must not stalk in
this open sunlight. o, it is our Joshua.
Let Him come out. He comes forth and
starts for the city. He takes the spear
of the Roman guard and points that way.
Church militant marches up on one side
and the church triumphant marches
down on the other side. And the powers
of darkness being caught between these
ranks of celestial and terrestrial valor,
to illustrate the direful overthrow OF
} hell and our Joshuas eternal victory.
On His head be all the crowns. In His
hand be all the scepters. At his feet be
!, all the human hearts; and here, Lord, is
, one of them.
Lesson the second: The triumphs OF
|. the wicked is short. Did you ever see
an army in a panic? There is nothing sc
uncomfortable. If you had stood at
; Long Bridge, Washington, during the
, opening of our civil war, you would
! know what it is to see an army run. AND
when those men Of Al looked out and
, saw those men of Joshua III stampede
they expected easy work. They would
+. scatter them as the equinox the leaves
Oh. the gleeful and jubilant descent OF
the men of Al upon the men OF Joshua
But their exhilaration was brief, for the
, tide of battle turned and these quondan
L conuuerers left their miserable carcasse:
in tile wilderness of Bethaven. SO il
/ ALWAYS is. The triumph of the wicked
is short You make 100000 at the gam,
ing table. Do you expect to keep it
You will die in the poor-house. lor
} made fortune by iniquitous traffic
5 Do you expect to keep it! Your money
will scatter. or it will stay long enough
1 to curse your children afteryou are dead
S Call over Luc FOIL VI DiiA AACA WIZ p1o
S pered and see how short was their pros
e perity. For awhile. like the men OF Al
!, they went from conquest to conquest
e but after awhile disaster rolled bacl
upon them, and they were divided int
e three parts: misfortune took thei
4 property, the grave took their body, ant
q the lost world took their soul. l an
S always interested in the building of the
: aters and the building OF dlsslpatlnt
Il saloons. 1 like to have them built o
(! the best granite and have the rooms
j. made large and to have the pillars made
L very firm. God is going to conque
S them, and they will be turned into say
u lums and art galleries and churches
n The stores in which fraudulent men az
o business, the splendid banking institu
Il tons where the president and cashier
t nut all their property in their wives
r hands and then fail for two hundred
n thousand dollars-all these institution
o are to become the places where homes
d Christian men do business.
: How long will it take your boys to &c
It through your ill-gotten gains? Ih'
r wicked do not live out half their days
/. For a while they swaggel and strut ant
e make great splash in the newspapers
h,,+ ofter awhile it all dwindles doW1