The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-10-05
WHICH s'sE AsE YOU ON?
rA1s1AGE on GIDEoS's BATTLE.
q. Srrrender--Chrlst With His Hand
on Eia Pierced Side Asks You EeE

the t-anpats. enl brake the Tiicners, AMI
! held the lamps il the;5 left hands and the
| trumpets IN their right hands to blow withal
And they stood every man il his plat
round about IT, camp, aud ~ the host ran
and cricc3a and fcd: Judges vii, %, 81.
| nat j. 81 strangesr battle ever fought.
God :iai told Gideon to 80 down and thrash
! the MdiaDitcs, but his array is too large: 10!
/ the glory must be given to Cod and not td
man. An1 So proclamation is made that al!
tBose o. :ks troops who ara cowarily and
want 1o 20 home may so. and 22,n0o Of
! then s"aTnpered away, leaving only 10000
T:!cii But God SAYS the army is too
large yet. AMI 50 lie Or! !er5 these 10000
! remaining 70 march down through q
stream ard coa!r:au! Gideon 10 notice in
! what manner those men Grina oI the water
rs tacv nas5 through Il. Ii they set down
on all tcnrs and drink. then they are 70 be
pronounced lazy ami incompetent for the
caa:Daign. but if. IN passing through the
strea'n. they scoop up the water in tho palm
! Of III II r&nl and drink an i pass on they yare
10 he t'ie 'l.*a selected for the battle.
/: Well, the lI.&r0 r,oI marched down in the
stream. and hr mos. CT them come down on
all fours aGd plunge their mouths like horse
or 1T OK Into the water and i,ink, but there
are 800 men who. instead CT stopping. Just
; dip the calm 0: their hands In the water and
bring !! to their lins, "!appino i as dog
! lappn.h." These 300 hrisk. rapid, en-
F! thUs:asti, Mnr are chosen FOR the
| caura:gN. They are .eacii: to take g trumpet
! II the -icll; han J. ana {" pitrhec in the LETT
! hand, ant :, i.i!p inside the pitcher. an
thec e 4 given signal they are to blow the
! tr,lmps:s. and .!rcw down the pitchers. an
| hold up TO-. lamps. SO i was done.
L is night se> & S:cat h"ei Ct Ni!ianita4
sound asleep in ti'c i:aiicr Of Jezreel. Gid
! CO.: comes i!o with his 800 picked men. anh
: when everything is ready the signal is given
and they blow the trumpets, and thcc THROW
| down The ri; ;c;,nrS an,! ii6!d iip the lamps
! and :he graz; i.G:t u M;dianites. waking ont
; rt Z sound :ieen. take the crash Of lhc
! crocxerv AMI the glare Of the lamps fer the
! coming OF 0? ~ ov"rvGcinili2 Toe. ana they
! run aaH "a: :i:s!i:e;Ves 70 pieces AMI norr:-
! hlr j:crisl.
! The lessons II this S,lhiect are very sn;r
| tie! all impressive. This seemingly valuA-
it.ss LAM ',t quartz has the pure gold in ii:
The smallest jiewdrop or thc rn6aIc"; At
night has & star sleeping il it bosom. an
! the mont ;n>;snif!2ant passage q Scripture
: mas il il shining truth. Gods mint coin:
! nc small change.
learn in the FIRST place from this snhia,!
| tc4 !lw;ulness 9; Christian stratesenl. NDl
| know very vel: that thH greatest v:cto-;a'
! ever caina1 by Washington OF Napoleon
| ware gained through lte i.ct hat they canc
i when aid Ill 2 way they were not expected
! sometimes falling back 10 draw ous the foe;
| sometimes breaking out frc2 aTn5usl Ii. some
times crossing . -ifet On unheard o! rats,
all tho time keeping the opnosing forcHS il
! whnderneHt as 20 what would be done next.
You ali know wiia: strategy is III military
affairs. Now tE:hE it is high time We hal
4t,:r ,E;S p.>l ,-,S, irAI Tn Ia
chur,h. when we are about to make CHRIS
tian assault. we send word 10 the opposin:
force when we expect to come. how many
troops W. have, ard how many rounds ot
shot. and wh"ther we will come with arti!-
ierv, infactri OF cavalry, and Of cOucsa
We are defeated. There are thousands 0;
men who might he surprised into tha king
dom Of Goa We n@e3 r,crc tact and ingaG-
uity in Caristiau worl.. II is in sotritual
affairs as in military. that success depends
il attacking that part Of the castle which IS
not arme,l and intrenehed.
For instance. here is q maa ali arme' Oh
the doctrine OF election. All his troops OI
argument AMI preiu!ics are 1T that particu-
lar gate. You may batter away at that side
0: the castle for h'ty yaa-s. ana YOU will not
take it. bat just wheel Your troops 10 the side
gate OF tho hearts affections. and III five
minutes YOU capture him. l never knew
man to he savel through brilliant ~
gumet. You caunot hook men into ;hs
kingdom cf God By the horns Of a dilemma.
There is no grace in syllogsns. Here is a
man arnl@l on the subject q perseverance
OF the saints. He doas not believe in il.
Attack hin az that point. AM he will per5s-
we're to the very last in not BE-
on the subject Of baptism. He believes
;- tpl- i,,1->
cussion OF ecclesiastical hrlcopathy will no.
change him. remember when was a boy
thar with other BOYS went into the rive- on
a summer day to hathc, and we use 20 dash
water on each other. bat never got any re-
suit eNcept that our eyes We're b!iD..el. anil
all this sp!ashng Of water between Ba1tiSts
and Pedobartists never results in anything
but the blurring OF the spiritual eresiSht. "a
other words. you can never capture q man
soul at the point at which ho IS especially
intrenched. But there is in every mans
heart bolt that can be easily showed.
little child four years Old may touch tha.
bolt. and it will spT;Gc back. AMI the door
will swing open. anl Chris will come If.
think that tbs finest o. I'LL the fine arss i
the art OF doing good and yet this az: is taa
least cultured. We h1v2 in the kiHg.!o n 81
God to-day enough troops 70 con1uar ~"
whole earth for Christ il w2 only had siii:'f!
naneuverinc. Iwould ra.hcr have tn" 22O
lamps AMI pitchers OF Christian str2:--.0
Inn lJl.r3O drawn swords oilte-acy aai
aac! ASi;.sticaI combat.
learn rom this sni,ie;:t also that q small
nart Of the Amy o. G u Will have 70 do aI
the hard fighting. Gideon army WAS orlSia-
ally compose! Of g.. GEO i!en. but they went
of anil thnre We're only 10. .0t0 left, and that
was su3siracta,i from until there were only
T.. I, +b in n,lll
tan church. \ few men have to do the hard
fyht.u-. Take 4 membership OF 1000, and
yo.: generally find that fifty people do the
work. TAX = membership Of SEQ, and YOU
generally find that ten people do the work.
There are scores OF churches where two OF
;l7ee people 90 the work.
We mourn that there Is SO much useless
amber in The mountains OF lebanon. L
:!ink OF thc 1900, 900 membership OF the
Christian church to-day il 5000. .OOO 0! the
names were of the books the church would
% stronger Y9u know that the more
.owa-Gs aud tironas there are in any army
:he weaker il is. would rather have the
800 picked men OF Gideon than the 32.Oo0
ln$ifted host The many Christians there are
:;an,iin:, in tue Way Of all progress: think
t is the duty o. th3 church OF God to ride
over them and jhp quicker it does 1t the
quicker it does its duty.
Do not worry O Christian, il you have to
30 more than your saare Of the work. You
had better thank God that he has called you
70 be one Of the picked men rather than 10
bc,oDc TO the host of strscslers. Would not
you rather be one Of the 800 that fight than
The %, 900 that run? l suppose those cow
ardly Gideonites who went oil congratu,
lated themselves. They said: I'VE got rid
Of all that fighting. did not We? How
lucky we have been That battle costs
us nothing at all" Bn: they GOT mona
81 the scoiiS Of thr victory After the battle
the 80 men went down and took the wealth
Of the MiGian;,es. and on; Of the cups an:l
,la.tars o: their enemies they fe:1sted. And
toe time will come. NY deac brethren.
when the hosts OF darkness will d" route:
and Christ will say 70 His troois: Welt
done. nv brave men. G" ip and take tna
spoils Be more than coAqnerors forever