Milford chronicle., 1895-10-04

the battle the 300 men went down AM
took the wealth Of the Midianitcs, and on
of the cups and platters of their enemie
they Toasted. And the time will come m,
dear brethren when the hosts Of darkness
will be routed and Christ will say to hi
troops: ''Well done, my brave men. Il,
up and take the spoils. BE more than con
querors forever" And In that day all de
serteFs win be shot.
Again, 1 learn from this subject thai
/ Gods way is different from mans, but Il
always the best way. II we had the plan
ming Of that battle, we would have taker
those 80, 600 men that originally belonged
to the army, ami we would have drilled
them and marched thom up and down by
/ the day and week and month, and we
would have had them equipped with
/ swords or spears according TO the way OF
arming in those times 0nd then we would
/ have marched them down In solid column
4 upon the foe But that is not the way.
God depletes the army, and takes away all
their weapons, and gives them a lamp, and
pitcher and a trumpet, and tells them
to go down and drive out the Midianites.
l suppose some wiscacres wero there who
said: "That is not military tactics The
idea Of 300 men, unarmed, conquering
such a great hots of Midianitos" It was
the best way. Wiz sv Drd, spear or can
non ever accomplished such "a victory as
the lamp, pitcher and trumpet?
Gods Way the Best.
Gods way is different from mans way,
but it is always best Take, for instance.
the composition of the Bible II we had
had the writing of the Bible, we would
have said; Let one man write it. If you
have 20 or 30 men TO write a poem, or
make statute, or write history, or make
an argument, there will be flaws and CON
tradictions. But God says, Let not one
man do it, hut 40 men shall do it" And
they did, differing enough to show there
had been no collision between them, but
not contradioting each other on any inn
portant point, while they all wrote from
their own standpoint and temperament.
So that the matter Of fact man has his
Moses; the romantic nature his Ezekiel;
the epigrammatic his solomon; the war
rior his Joshua; the sailor his Jonah; the
loving his John; the lOgician his Paul.
Instead of this Bible, which now l can
lift in my hand-instead Of the Bible the
child can carry to Sunday school, instead
of the little Bible the sailor can put in his
jacket when he goes to sea-if it had been
left to men TO write, it would have been
thousand volumes, judging from the
of ecclesiastical controversy which !
has arisen. Gods way is different from
mans. but it is best, infinitely best.
So it is in regard to the Christians life. |
If we had had the planning of a Chris |
tians life, we would have said: "Iet him /
have so years Of sunshine, fine house to /
live in. Let his surroundings all be agree /
I la, / Ia
chill shiver through his limbs no pain
ache his brow or trouble shadow his
soul. 1 enjoy the prosperity of others so
much I would let every man have as
much money as be wants and roses for
his childrens checks and fountains of
gladness glancing in their large round
eyes But that is not Gods way
It seems as if man must be cut and hit
and pounded just in proportion as he is
Useful. His child falls from a third story
window and has its life dashed out. His
most confident investment tumbles him
nto bankruptcy His friends, on whom he
depended, aid the natural force of gravita-
ion in taking him down. His life is a Bull
Run defeat. Instead Of 80, 600 advantages,
10 has only 1000. Aye, only 30O-aye,
lone at all. How many good people there
re at their wits end about their livei-
lood, about their reputation. But they
will find out it is the best way after
while. God will show them that he de-
letes their advantages just for the same
oason he depleted the army Of Gideon
hat they may be induced to throw them
elves on his mercy.
The Grapevine and the Gardener.
A grapevine says in the early spring:
nv rrIu I 70 mot lar D
3rl 1 shall have no more trouble nowl
ummer weather viii come, and the gar
EN- will be very beautiful But the gar !
ener comes and cuts the vine here and
mere with his knife. The twigs begin to !
III, and the grapevine cries out; "AIur-
or What are you cutting me forf' "Ah, " ,
lys the gardener, II don't mean to kill ,
gu. If 1 did not do this, you would be t,
ne laughing stock of all the other vines
ofore the season is over" Months go on,
nd one day the gardener comes under the
ellis, where great clusers of grapes hang,
nd the grapevine says; Thank you, sir. I
GU could not have done anything so kind
to have cut me with that knife " s
Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" I
o pruning, no grapes; no grinding mill, 9
} flour; no battle, no victory no cross, :
} crownl o
So Gods way, in the redemption of the I
orld, is different from ours. If we had I
II way, we would have had Jesus stand v
the door Of heaven and beokon the ma '
Dns up to light or we would have had o
lgels flying around the earth proclaim a
e the unsearchable riches of Christ Why O.
it that the cause goes on so slowly Why ?
it that the chains stay on when God L
uld knock them Off Why do thrones of d
spotism stand when God could so easily u
molish them? It is his way in order that s
generations may cooperate, and that Il
men may know they cannot do the
lrk themselves. just in proportion as II
ase pyramids of sin go up in height will e'
ey come down in ghastliness Of ruin. P
o thou father Of all iniquity If thou y
nst hear my voice above the cracking Of s.
@ flames, drive on thy projects, dispatch q
= emissaries, build thy temples and forge II
y chains but know that thy fall from o.
aven was not greater than thy final over W
row shall be when thou shalt be driven as
ARMED into thy fiery den, and for every y,
thou hast framed upon earth thou shalt IL
We an additional hell of fury poured into Sc
ne anguish by tho vengeance Of our u
d, and all heaven shall shout at the over ~
'ow as from the ransomcd earth the song u
iahH through Nut 5klIos AAAlltlNltAlAl
the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth
lleluiahl for the Kingdoms Of this world h,
70 become the kingdoms Of our Lord 81
us Christi Gods way in the compo- y
on Of the Bible, Gods way in the "
ristian's life, Gods way in the redemp- 10
d Of the world, God S way in everything 81
ifforent from mans way, but the best. If
God the Greet Ally. ju
learn from this subject that the over 70
ow Of Gods enemies will be sudden and pI
-iflc. There is the army OF the INDIAN Vi
down In the valley of Jczreel / sup W
@ their mighty men are dreaming Of de
tory. Mount Gilboa never stood sem ST
j for so large a host. The spears and VI
shields Of the Midianites CLEAN in the 81.
0nlight and glance on the eye Of the be
lelites, who hover like a battle Of bl
les, ready 70 swoop from 10 cliff. Sleep tn
o army Of the Midianitosi With the tri
hit to hide them and tie mountain to In
I'D them, and strong arms 20 defend to
10, let no slumbering focman dream Of III
lcfori pencQ IA the fanf3tfns md tho =