Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1890-12-27
REV. DR. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divine's Sun
day Sermon.
subject. 4rhs water. Of sI.r..."

Subject. aThe Waters of slersm."
TEXT. And ,chen all these kings Tere
met together they came and pitched together
at the wateJs Of MeTom to fight against Is
| fdei."-Josh. H., 5.
We are encamped tonight Ia Palestine
! by the waters of Merom. After a long
| our fires kindled, and, though far away
| from civilization, a variety of food that
would not compromise first class american
| hotel, for the most of our caravan starts an
| hour and a half earlier in the morning
We detain only two mules. carrying
| SO much of our haggage as we might acct
| deutally neei and tent for the MONDAY
| luncheon. The malarias around this Lake
| Merom are so poisonous that at any other
season Of the wear encampment here is peril
| GUS but this winter night the air is tonic and
heaith,u In this neighbornood Joshua
! fought his last great battle. The nations
had b nded themselves together to crush this
| Joshua. hut along the banks of these waters
Joshua lett their carcass. Indeed it is time
that we more infinitely examine this Joshua
OF whom We have n these discourses caught
only momentary glimpse, although he
| orossei and recro-sed Palestine, and next to
Jesus is the most stirring and mi ghty charac-
| Ter whose loot ever touched the Holy Land
| Moses was dead. A beautiful tradition
saws the Lord kissed him, and in that act
drew forth the soul OF the dying lawgiver.
| He had bean buried only one Person at the
| burla' tne same One who ksse1 him. But
/ God never takes man away from any place
/ Of usefulness cut he has some one ready.
! The Lord does dot go looking around amid
! great variety of candidates TO find some one
especially fitted for the vacant position. He
| makes a man for that place. Moses has
| passe off the stage, and Joshua, the hero,
| puts mis- foot on the platform Of history SO
/ soiidly that the ages echo with its tread.
| He was magnificent fighter, but he
always fought on the right side, and
! he never fought unless God told
him to fignt, He got his military equipment
from Cos, who gave him the promise at tie
| start; There shall not any man be able to
stand before thee all the days of thy life"
| God fulfilled this promise, although Joshua's
first battle was with the spring freshet, and
the next with a stone wall, and the next
leading on regiment of whipped towards.
| and the next battle against darSness, wheel
ing the sun and the moon into his battalion,
4 and the last against the king OF terrorS
| death-five great victories.
/ This first Undertaking of Joshua was
/ greater than the leveling of Fort Pulaski, or
| the laundering Gown of Gibraltar, or the
! overthrow of the Bastile. 1t was tine cross
freshet. The SHOWS of Mount Lebanon had
! just been melting, and they poured down in
TO the valley. and the wnole valley was a
/ raging torrent. 50 the Canaanites stand on
/ one Tank. and they look across and see
/ Joshua and the lsraelites, and they laugh
and say, Aha. aha they cannot disturb us
| in time-untIl tue freshets fall; it is impossi-
be for them to reach u.s." But after a
I while they look across the water and they
] see movement in the army of Joshua.
/ They say: WHAT'S the matter nows Why,
/ there must be panic among these troops,
and they are going to fly, or perhaps they
/ are going to try to march across the River
/ JorGan. Joshua is q lunatic" But Joshua,
! the chietain looks at his army and cries,
Forward, march!' and they start for the
| LAM. of the Jordan.
| Oae mile ahead go two priests carrying a
| glittering box four feet long and two feet
wide. Ii is the ark of the convenant. And
| they come down. and no sooner do they just
| touch the rim of the water with their feet
| than by an Almighty fiat Jordan parts. The
| army of Joshua marches right on with 1ut
/ getting their feet wet over the bottom of the
( river, path OF chalk and broken shells and
/ pebbles, until they get to the other bank
! Then they Law hold OF the oleanders and tam
/ arisss and willows and pull themselves up
/ q bank thirty or forty feet high, and having
I galned the other bank, they clap their shields
and their cymbals and sing the praises of the
! God of JOSHUA. But no sooner have they
I reached the bank than the waters begin to
| dash and roar, and with a terrific rush they
break loose from their strange anchorage
/ Out yoader they have stopped, thirty miles
! of distance they halted. On this side the
waters roll off tow I'd the salt sea.
But as the land OF the Lord God is taken
away from the thuS upiifted waters
! waters perhaps uplifted half mile -as'the
Almighty hand is taken away those waters
4 rush down, AMI soms OF the uubelieving
| lsrae,ites say: Alas, alas, what a misfor4
! tunel Why coul not those waters haye
! staid partedf Because perhaps we may want
to go oac5. o Lord, we are engaged in a
risky business hose Canaanites may eat
us up. How if we want TO go back? Would
! it rot have been more complete miracle if
| the Lord had parted the waters to let us
come Through AMI kept them parted to let us
I go back if we are defeateaT NV friends.
! God makes no provision for a Christians re-
/ treat He clears the path all the way to
Canaan. To go back is to die. The same
/ gateieapers that swing back the amethystine
and crystalline gate OF the Jordan to let
Israel pass through now swing shut the anne
thystine and crystalline gate.
! - But this is no time for the host 10 stop.
! Joshua gives the command, Forward,
i march," In the distance there is d long
/ grove OF trees, and at the end of the grows
is city. 1t is city OF arbors, city with
walls seeming to reach to tie heaven, to
buttrass tae very ssy 1t is the great me-
tropolis that commands the mountain pass.
1t is Jericho The city was afterward cap
! tured by Pompey, and IL was att-rward
| captured by Herod the Great, and 1t was
| aftecward captured by the MohammeGans
| but this campaign the Lori plans. rhere
| shall be no swor,.s no shields, no battariug
| ram. There shall be en,y one weapon of
war, and tnat rams horn The horn OF
the slain RAM was sometimes taken. and
holes were punctured III it, and taen the
musician would put the iIfsUru nent to mis-
lips, and he would run his fingers over tn 9
rude musical instrument and MAKE great
deal of sweet harmony for ths people. Tlat
was the only kind of weapon. SeTen priests
| We're to take these rude rustic musical i1-
| struments, and they were TO go around the
city every day for six days-once day for
| six days and then on the seventh day they
| were to go around bio wing these rude must al
instruments seven times, and then at the
| c-ose OF the seventh blowing of the rams
Z horns on the seventh day the perorltiol of
the whole scene was to be shout at which
those great walls should tumble from cap
stone TO base
The ssveu priests VITA the ruie musical
instruments pass all srotfui the city walls on
the first day, and failure. Not so much
piece of plaster bro 5e looss from the waii;
not so much as a loosene rock, not so much
| as piece of mortar lost fro its plac9
There say the unbelievmg lsraelltes,
didn't tell you sos Why, those ministers
arefools. The idea of going around the city
with those musical instruments, and expsco-
ing in that way to destroy it! Josnul has
been spoile1; he thinks because he has ov sr-
thrown and destroyed the spring freshet
| he can overthrow the stone wall.
Why. it is not philosophic. Don't
| you see there is no relation
between the blowing of these musical instru-
ments and the knocking down of the wa.is
1t isn't philosophy" Aud l oppose there
were many wiseacres who stood vita their
brows knitted and with the foreinger OF the
right hand to the forefinger OF the left hand
arguing it all out and showing that it was
| not possible that such a cause could produce
such an effect. And suppose that night in
the encampment there was plenty OF p1iios-
| ophy and caricature and If Joshua had been
nominated for any high military position he
would not have got many votes.
.JoShuas stock was down. The second day
the priests blowing the musical instruments
| go around the city, and failure Third day,
and failure; fourth day. and failure: fifth
day, and failure; sixth day, and failure.
| The seventh day comes, the climact aric day.
Joshua is up early in the morning and ex-
| amines the troops, walks all around about.
looks at the city wall The priests start to
maze the circuit of the city. They go all
around on ,e, all around twice, three times,
| four times, five times, six times, seven times,
and failure.
There is only one more thing to do, and
that is to utter great shout. | see the
| Israelitish army Strengthening thems alves
up, filling their lungs for moderation suca