The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-04-11
THE CHURCH militant.
Dr.. !. N. Waters, o. Bozsman,
breaches Before the Mon
taaa Prssbytery.
The Lords Good Cause Must 40
Advanced ii Military
Fashion.

w Ara liant I.to the World to Ds.tro,
the Works 81 the
Devil. ##
858 One Of the most interesting sermons de.
liyersd last wssk before the prsabytery helt
in the First Presbyterian Ghurch was by DR.
j. N. Waters, Of Bozsman, the retiring
moderator. Tbs Striking title Of his ser.
mon il .'Ths Lord II . Man Of War; Lacl
OF space prevents printing IL In full. n,
said In part:
Our Savior taught us when We pray tx
ask first that tbs name Of our Father ii
heaven be hallowsd.. and clearly II is Of frs1
importance that We think rightly about
God, for He has 10 made ~ hat our very
being IL shaped BY our conceptions Of Him.
What think 70 Of Christi This is the tes,
question, II We are to be like him, y.
must understand what manner Of maa al
is. The holy Scriptures are gives M thai
we may know the Lord. They principally
teach MS what man 10 to believe oonesrainf
God. and what duty God requires Of man,
Moreover they rot forth the divine char
notsr In q revelation which ID continually
unfolding. From this Greater who said,
LET thsrs be light" to ths son Of mar
who cried, II am the light Of the world;'
from tbs Spirit brooding upon tbs waters q
chaos. to the Spirit pleading with thirsty
souls, "Whoaosvsr will. let him take ths
water Of lifs freely" What ! far-climb-
ing series Of lessons is that! Y Y \ Whom
Pharaoh's Hebrew slaves wsrs 10 DO frsad
and educated for Jehoyah's work. He BE-
gar By making known to them His ways.
He bads Noses speak Of Him to the peo-
pls az tho unehanRinR one, the living God;
the same God Of the fathers; and He frat
proved His sympathy with them, and His
authority over the things concerning them.
BY those great judgments upon Pharaoh.
When At last the monarch,s stubborn
spirit was SO broken that he allowed them
to organize the whole nation, and SGT out
for Canaan. God led them a different way
from whatfMoses or any sensible man would
lave taken. And Pharaoh, repeating his
weakness in letting them no, md seeing
thsy wete marching into a trap, pluoksd up
spirit once more and soon got his forces in
hot pursuit.
LILO AhIAeAAtOhs AHuluR tucmh0lV0h A21l68S
the sea on one side, with nm infuriatsd army
drawing nigh on the other. gave way to
naturaTfear. They murmur against Moses
for Leading them int ruin, and judging by
the past, can only say, Stand still and see
the salvation OF the Lord.'' But God ia
about TO take an advance step in their
training. They are not now to stand still
Az heretofore. The command to Moses il,
Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak
unto the children Of Israel that they 70 for
ward;''-fotward into the night. into this
sea. And now the pillar Of cloud and IRE
moves backward and takes position between
the Egyptians and their fleeing slaves.
II ID still light to these but darkness to
their pursusrs. The signal TO advance ia
given. and By the Lords headlight OF fiery
cloud We see I motley host Of men, women
and children, bearing with them all their
herds across the barred sea bed, their bodies
swayi1g aud garments Tapping in the strong
wind that sweeps the wator from their path,
the toilsons march and drive all nightl long
hurried on by the. uproar of Pharaoh's
horsemen and ohariots, daskly pressing af-
ter them, strayinp. stumbling, oolliding
hunting their way, captains shouting orr
ders, inquiries, Observation-Disclosures max
ing up = night of such exoitement, suoh
%minRling Of anxiety and hope and strenu-
Gus sndeavor ~ = whole nation never ex-
perienced before or since then. At last
Ii AlO1uiA& A&W Nb--40Ed0 h6VoUs HI CfOk60u
ovor-Pharosh and his host destroyed, not
one of them left. And now the Hebrews
eannot rest and resume their march as if
nothing had happened. They must render
something to thsir God-at least n song Of
p aise, and rs they think over the things
which they havs lately seen they are IN
abled to look not at ths things seen so much
as at the increasing purpose which shines
through them. They zoe how God has
wrought most whore they thought He was
going wrong. He has not only wreatsd
them from the hand Of Egypt; He has done
enemies, and secure them in advance a tri-
umphal entrance to Canaan. He ia master
Of strategy; He looks ahead, He doss not
forget the past-that old promise to our
fnthers-Hs does not turn aside, nor relax
His purpose; the Lord w j. . man Of war.
thing il is; how it revels and battena in the
brutality snd infamy of human nature.
And vet how glorious is war! What mighty
fascination it has always thrown over the
noble.t women, too; for it has
ever been that when Jspthah has re
d ta1nsd from has very sa,s great 'on slaughter 81 his
him with timbrels and with dances. II
cannot be that the instinct is all wrong
which has made battles 10 prorninsnt in
song and story, and has noted in them the
and progress Of civilization; nor
V6u INC AuoA OIL military glory Dc under
stood as simply an expression of barbarism.
There is war that ia not war but pugilism
and robbery. Over against that there is q
for right, an opposition to
wrong, which enlists mans highest quail
ties, and puts them to their utmost exer-
tion. Decision, courage, far-reaohing in
telligence, patience, endurance. 'vaior,
fidelity even into daath-these
are the divine in man. We cannot bring
them into that intense action which war
demands without feeling lifted up into
something like the dignity Of our lost birth
right. And this IL the secret Of that ad-
which all true men feel for the
soldier. He who will not fight when there
Ia OCCASION, who has censod to contend
evil, has ceased to be a man. And
amidst swirlinR tides of passion and
eyll circumstance, man feels that he is his
truest self when he contends the most. he
infer from this tina He who made
him is one who will contend, a God who
will strike that which opposes His righteous
And SO it is.
When God had made this world, All yerv
good, and crowned it with man in His own
image. than Nntan brought sin into ii. Bnt
God did not let 20; He did not accept the
He is love, therefore He de-
,lared war.
Tho contest thus begun has been ceaseless-
y carried on, and God has sworn it shall
1sver end until the earth shall bo filled
With His glory as the waters cover the sen.
And it is a wonder of His plan of cam.
oRiRn that, although man was tutnad to be
His enemy. He carries OF the war by man