The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1894-03-10

the world. With spears glittcring in
the sun, they charged up the hill. The
horses prance and rear amid the eX'
element Of the populace-the heels OF
the riders plunged in the TANKS, urging
them on. The weapons begin to tell
on Christ See how faint he looks
There the blood starts, and there and
there, and there. If he is to have rein
forcements let him call them up now
/ No. he must do this work alone-alonc
He is dying, Feel for yourself of the
wrist; the pulse is feebler. Feel un,
der the arm; the warmth is less. He is
dying. Ay, they pronounce him dead.
And just at that moment that they
pronounced him dead he rallied, and
from his wounds he unshcathcd a
weapon which staggered the Roman
legions down the hill, and hurled the
Satanic battalions into the pit. 1t was
a weapon of lOve-infinite love, all
conquering love. Mightier than javelin
or spear, it triumphed over all Put
back, We armies of earth and hell, The
tide of battle turns. Jesus hath over
come. Let the people stand apart and
make line, that he may pass down
from Calvary to Jerusalem, and thence
on and out all around the world The
battle is fought. The victory is
achieved The triumphal march is be-
gun. Hank to the hOofs of the warriors
steed, and the tramping of great
multitude! for he has many friends
now, The hero of earth and heaven
advances, Cheer. cheer. "Who is this
that cometh from Edom with dyed
garments from Bozrah, travelling in
the greatness of his strength"
We behold here a new revelation of
a blessed and startling fact. People
talk of Christ as though he were 60
ing to do something grand for us after
a while. He has done it. People talk
as though, ten or twenty years from
now, in the closing hours of our life
or in some terrible pass of life, Jesus
will help us. He has done the work
already. He did it eighteen hundred
and sixty-one years ago. You might
as well talk of Washington as though
he were going to achieve our national
independence in 1850, as to speak of
Christ as though he were going to
achieve our salvation in the future.
He did it in the year of our Lord 33,
eighteen hundred and sixty-one years
ago, on the field of Bozrah, the
Captain of our salvation fighting unto
death for your and my emancipation
All we have to do is to accept that
fact in our heart of hearts, and we are
free for this world, and we are free
for the world to come But lest we
might not accept, Christ comes through
here to-day, travelling in the great,
ness OF his strength, not to tell you
that he is going to fight for you some
battle in the future, but to tell you
that the battle is already fought, and
the victory already won
You have noticed that, when soldiers
come home from the wars they carry
on their flags the names of the battle
fields where they were distinguished.
The Englishman coming back has on
his banner lnkermann and Balaklava;
the Frenchman, Jena and Eylau; the
German, Versailles and Sedan. And
Christ has on the banner he carries as
conqueror the names of ten thousand
battlefields he won for you and fo1
me! He rides past all our homes OF
bereavement-by the door bell swathed
in sorrow, by the wardrobe black with
woe, by the dismantled fortress of our
strength. Come out and greet him, O
ye people, See the names of all the
battle-passes On his flag Ye who are
poor, read on this ensign the story of
Christs hard crusts and plllowless
head. Ye who are prosecuted, read
here of the rufffanS who chased him
from his first breath to his last.
Mighty to soothe your troubles, mighty
to balk your calamities mighty to
tread down your foes, travelling in
the greatness of his strength"
Though his horse be brown with the
dust of the march, and the fetlocks be
wet with the carnage, and the bit oe
red with the blood of your spiritual
foes, he comes up now, not exhausted
from the battle, but fresh as when he
went into it-coming up from Bozrah,
travelling in the greatness of his
strength"
You know that when Augustus and
Constantine and Trajan and Titus
came back from the wars, what time
there was You know they came on
horseback or in chariots, and there
were trophies before and there were
captives behind, and there were peo-
pie shouting on all sides, and there
were garlands flung from the window,
and over the highway triumphal
arch was sprung The solid masonry
to-day at Beneventum, Rimini and
Rome still tell their admiration for
those heroes. And shall we let our
Conqueror go without lifting any &C
claim? Have we not flowers red enough
to depict the carnage, white enough to
celebrate the victory, fragrant enough
to breathe the joy? Those men of
whom | just spoke dragged their vic
Tins at the chariot wheels; but Christ