Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-12-26


All will take you. Look at the Church of
God on the retreat The Bornesian canni-
balls ate up Munson the missionary. Fall
back!" said a great many Christian people;
Fall back . Church of God! Borneo will
never be taken. Don't you see the Borne
sian cannibals have eaten up Munson, the
missionary" Tyndall delivers his lecture
at the University of Glasgow, and great
many good people say, "F'all back, o Church
of Godl Don't you see that Christian phil
osophy is going to be overcome by worldly
philosophy? Fall back" Geology plunges
its crowbar into mountains. and there are
great many people who say, Scientific
investigation is going to overthrow the
Mosaic account Of Creation. Fall backw
Friends of the Church have never had any
right to fall back.
Joshua falls on his face in chagrin. II Is
the only time you ever see the back of his
head. He falls on his face and begins to
whine, and he says, "Oh, Lord God,
wherefore hast thou at all brought this
people over Jordan TO deliver us into the
hand Of the Amortos, to destroy us?
Would to God we had been content and
dwclt on the other side of Jordan! For
the Canaanites and all the inhabitants Of
the land shall hear of it, and shall environ
us round and cut of our name from the
earth"
God comes and rouses him. How does
no rouse him2 BY complimentary apos-
trophe? No. He says: Get thee up.
Wherefore lest thou upon thy face?'
Joshua rises, and l warrant you with a
mortified look. But his old courage comes
back. The fact was, that was not his bat
tie If he had been in it he would have
gone on to victory. He gathers his troops
around him ana says: ''Now let us so up
and capture the city of Al; let US so up
right away"
They march on. He puts the majority
of the troops behind a ledge Of rocks in the
night, and then he sends comparatively
small regiments up in front OF the city.
The men Of Al come out with shout. The
small regiments of Israclites in stratagem
| fall back and tall back, and when all the
men of All have left the city and are in
pursuit of the scattered or seemingly scat
tered, regiments. Joshua stands on a rock
i see his locks flying in the wind as he
| points his spear towards the doomed city,
and that is the signal. The men rush out
| from behind the rocks and take the city,
and it is put TO the torch, and then these
Israelites in the city march down and the
| flying regiments of Israelites return, and
between these two waves of Israelitish
prowess the men of Al are destroyed, and
the Israelities gain the victory; and while
| see the curling smoke of that destroyed
| city on the sky, and while l hear the huzza
of the Israelites and the groan of the
| Canaanitcs, Joshua hears something louder
than it all, ringing and echoing through his
soul, There shall not any man be able to
stand before thee all the days of thy life. "
But this is no place for the host Of
Joshua to stop. Forward, marchp'
cries Joshua to the troops. There is the
city of Gideon. 1t has put itself under the
protection of Joshua. They send the
word, There are five kings after US; they
are going 10 destroy us; send troops quick;
send us help right away" Joshua has a
three days march more than double quick.
On the morning of the third day he is be-
fore the enemy. There are two long lines
of battle. The battle opens with great
slaughter, but the Canaanites soon dis
cover something. They say, THAT is
joshua that is the man who conquered the
spring freshet and knocked down the stone
| wall and destroyed the city of Al. There
is no use fighting" And they sound q
retreat, and as they begin to retreat
Joshua and his host spring upon them like
q panther. pursuing them over the rocks,
and as these Canaanites with, spraines
ankles and gashed foreheads retreat the
catapults Of the sky pour volley of hal
stones into the valley, and all the artillery
Of the heavens with bullets of iron, pound
the Canaanites against the lodges Of Beth
boron.
''Ohp says Joshua, ''this is surely
victory. But do you not see the sun /:
going down? Those Amorites arc going
10 get away after all, and then they vii
come up some other time and bother US
and perhaps destroy u.s." See, the sun i!
going down. oh, for a longer day thar
has ever been seen in this climate! VIVA
is the matter with Joshua? Has he faller
in an apoplectic fit? No. He is in prayer
Look out when good man makes the Lore
his ally. Joshua raises his face, radiant
with prayer, and looks at the DESCENDING
sun over Gideon and at the faint crescent
of the moon. In the name of that God whit
shaped the worlds and moves the worlds
he cries: ''Sun, stand thou still upoI
Gibeon; and thou moon, in the valley o
Ajalon." They halted. Whether it wa
by refraction Of the suns rays, or by tn
stopping of the whole planetary system,
| uO nOJ huOW, duu 10 uOJ CART. ACdNO A
TO the Christian scientists and the infde
scientists to settle that question, while
tell you / have seen the same thing
"Whatw say you, mot the sun standing
still?' Yes. The same miracle is per
formed nowadays. The wicked do not liv
out half their day, and the sun sets a
noon. But let man start out in battl,
for God and the truth, and against sin, AM
tho day of his usefulness Is prolonged anC
prolonged and prolonged.
Joshua at last is brought to the close o
his career. He gathers his friends arounC
him and gives his valedictory and It is full
Renaissance. Young men tell what they o
are going TO do; old men tell what theJ
have done And as you have heard
grandfather or great-grandfather, seatet
by the fire, tell of Monmouth or York
town, and then lift the crutch or staff a.
though it were musket, TO fight, ant
show how the OLD battles were won--s'
Joshua gathers his friends around his dy
ing couch, and he tells them the story o
what he has been through, and as he lie'
there, his white locks showing down OF
his wrinkled forehead, / wonder If Coo
has kept his promise all the way through