The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1895-10-04

| ASAS given 10 OOus anu
/ not to man. And
SO proclamation Is
made that all those OF the troops who
! are cowardly and want to go home may
go, and twenty-five thousand OF them
scampered away, leaving only ten thou
sand men. But God says the army Is too
large yet; and 30 he orders these ten
| thousand remaining to march through
stream. and commands Gideon 10 no
| tice in what manner these men drink
Of the water as they pass through 1t. II
| they get down on all fours and drink
then they arc to be pronounced lazy and
incompetent for the campaign; but II, IN
passing through the stream, they scoop
up the water in the palm Of their hand
I and drink and pass on they are TO be
the men selected for the battle. Well,
the ten thousand men marched down
| in the stream and the most or them
come down on all fours and plunge their
mouths. like a horse or an OK. Into the
water and drink; but there are three
hundred men who. instead of STOPPING
| just dip the palm OF their hands in t.<'
water and bring it to their lips, lap
ping it as a dog lappeth." Those three
hundred brisk. rapid, enthusiastic men
| are chosen for the campaign. they are
each to take a trumpet in the right
hand and pitcher in the left hand and
lamp inside the pitcher, and then at
a given signal they are to blow the
trumpets and throw down the pitchers
and hold up the lamps. So 1t was done.
1t is night. see great host of Mid
ianites, sound asleep In the valley OF
JeZreel. Gideon comes up with his three
hundred picked men and when every
thing is ready the signal is given and
they blow the trumpets and they throw
down the pitchers and hold up the
lamps and the great host of Midianites,
waking out of a sound sleep, take the
crash Of the crockery and the glare OF
the lamps for the coming on of an over
whelning foe; and they run, and cut
themselves to pieces, and horribly
perish.
The lessons Of this subject are very
spirited and impressive. This seeming
ly valueless lump OF quartz has the
pure gold in 1t. The smallest dew-drop
on the meadow at night has star sleep
ing in its bosom. and the most insig-
nificant passage of Scripture has In it a
shining truth. Gods mint coins no
small change.
learn In the first place. from this
subject, the lawfulness Of Christian
stratagem. You know very well that the
greatest victories ever gained by Wash
ington or Napoleon were gained through
the fact that they came when and in q
way they were not expecte1-some-
times falling back ID draw out the foe.
sometimes crossing a river on unheard-
of RATS; all the time keeping the oppos
ing forces in wonderment as TO what
would be done next.
You all know what strategy is in mill
itary affairs. Now / think il is high
time we had this art sanctifled and
spiritualized. In the church. when We
are about TO make Christian assault,
we send word TO the opposing force
wheN we expect to come, how many
troops we have. and how many rounds
af shot, and whether we will come with
artillery. infantry. or cavalry, and Of
course we are defeated. There are thou
sands of men who might be surprised
into the kingdom of God. We need more
tact and ingenuity in Christian work
Ii is in spiritual affairs as in military
that success depends in attacking that
trvhf oh t.
and intrenched.
For instance. here is a man all armed
on the doctrine of election; all his
troops OF argument and prejudice are
at that particular gate. You may bat
ter away at that side of the castle for
fifty years and you will not take it: bu.
lust wheel your troops to the side gate
of the hearts affections and In FIVE min
utes you can. capture him. / never knew
a man to be saved through a brilliant
argument. You cannot hook men into
the kingdom of God by the horns OF a
dilemma. There Is no grace in syllo-
gisms Here is man armed on the sub
feet of perseverance OF the saints; he
does not believe In IL. Attack him at
that point and he will persevere TO the
very last in not believing it. Hero Is a
man armed on the subject Of baptism;
he believes In sprinkling or immersion.
All your discussion of ecclesiastical,
hydropathy will not change him. re-
member when l was boy that with
other boys | went into the river on 9
summer day to battle and we used tc
dash water on each other, but never got
any result except that our eyes were
blinded; and all this splashlng OF water
between Daptists and Pe1o-baptists
never results in anything but the blur
ring Of the spiritual eye-sight. In other
words you can never capture a mans
soul at the point at which he is es-
pecially intrenched. But there Is In
every mans heart a bolt that can be
easily showed. A little child four years
old nay touch that bolt and 1t will
sprIns bash and the door Will swing
open and Christ will come In.
think that the finest OF all the fine
arts Is the art of doing good. and yet
this art is the least cultured. We have
In the kingdom OF God today enough