Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-06-01
THE HEROIC JOSHUA.
HOW HE COMMANDED THE SUN TO
STAND STILL.

HOW HE COMMANDED THE SUN TO
STAND STILL.
Rev. Dr. TRimagc breaches Another Ser
mon of Surprising Interest and Power.
The Greatest Soldier of All Timc-The
Gallant Thirteenth.
BROOKLYN, May 26.-Iu the Embury
Memorial church large audience as
scmbled this evening to listen 10 the an
nual sermon Of Chaplain T. De Witt Tai
mage Of the Thirteenth regiment, n. q.
: y Y. The members of the regiment
occupied the body Of the church DIR.
Talmage chose for his subject The
Greatest Soldier of All Time, the text
being Joshua i, 3, There shall not any
man be able to stand before thee all the
days Of thy life -
The gallant Thirteenth, as this reg.
in,cnt is generally and appropriately
called, has gathered tonight for the wor-
ship of God and to hear the annual
sermon And first l look with hearty
salutation into the faces of the veterans,
who, though now not in active service,
have the same patriotic and military en-
thusiasm which characterized them
when, i'll 1868, they bade farewell To home
and loved ones and started for the field
and riskcd all they held dear on earth for
the establishment Of the falling Unit
cd States government. "All that man
hath will he give for his life " and You
showed yourselves willing to give your
lives. We hail youl We thank You We
bless You, the veterans of the Thirteenth
Nothing can ever rob yOu of the honor
of having been soldiers i'll one of the
most tremendous wars Of all history, a
war with Grant and Sherman and Ham
cock and Sheridan and Farragut on one
side. and Lee and Stonewall jackson
and Longstreet and Johnston on the
other
As in Greek assemblages. when speak
ers would rouse the audience, they shout
ed Marathon - so if | wanted to stir
You to acclamation l would only need
to speak the words, Lookout Noun
tain, Charlottesville, y "Gettvs-
burg And though through the passage
Of years you are forever free from duty
of enlistment, if European nations should
too easily and too quickly forget the
Monroe doctrine and set aggressive foot
upon this continent think your ankles
would be supple again, and Your arms
would grew StrCIg again. and your eyes
would be- keen enough 10 follow the stars
of the old flag wherever they might lead.
Great Fighter.
And next | greet the colonel and his
staff, and all the officers and men Of this
regiment Ii has been an cvcntful year
III your history. If never before. Brook
lyn appreciates something of tho value
of its armorics. and the Importance of
the men who there drill for the defense
and safety Of the city. The blessing Of
God he upon all Of You. my comrades Of
the Thirteenth regiment And looking
about for subject that might be most
helpful and inspiring for You, and our
veterans here assembled, and the citizens
gathered tonight with their good wishes,
have concluded to hold mp before you
the greatest soldier of all ii le-.1oshua,
the hero of my text.
He was magnificent fighter, hut he
always fought ON the right side. and he
never tonight unless God told him to
fight. In my text hc gets his military
equipment and one would think it must
have been plumed helmet for the brow.
grcaycs of brass for the feet, habergeon
for the breast There shall not any
man bc able to stand before thee all tho
days cf thy life. .'Oh, you say, "any-
body could have courage with such
backing up rs that. " Why, my friends,
have to tell you that the God Of the
universe and the Chieftain Of eternity
promises To do just rs much for us as for
him All the resources of eternity are
pledged III our behalf, if we 90 ont in
the service of God. and no moro than
that was offered To Joshua God fulfill
ed this promise of my text, although
Joshua s first battle was with the spring
freshet, and the next with stone wall,
and the next leading on regiment Of
whipped towards, and the next battle
against darkness, wheeling the sun and
the moon into his battalion, and the last
against the king of tcrrors, dcath-five
great victories.
For the most part, when the general
of an army starts out i'll a conflict he
would like To have small battle i'll
order that he may get his courage up
and he may rally his troops and get
them drill for greater conflicts, hut this
first undertaking of Joshua was greater
than the leveling of Fort Pulaski, or
the laundering down of Gibraltar. or
the overthrow of the Bastille. 1t was
the crossing of the Jordan ut the time
of the spring frcShet. The SHOWS of
Mount Lebanon had just been melting,
and they poured down into the valley,
and the whole valley was raging tor
rent So the Canaanites stand on one
bank, and they look across and see
Joshua and the Israelites. and they
laugh and say: Aha! aha They can
not disturb us until the frcshets fall IL
is impossible for them to reach us.
But after awhile they look across the
water, and they see movement in the
army of Joshua. They say: What's
the matter now: Why, there must be II
panic among these troops. and they are
going to fly. or perhaps they are going
10 try to march across the river Jordan.
Joshua is lunatic - But Joshua the
rhieftain Of the text. looks at his army
and cries. Forward, march!' = and they
start for the bank of the Jordan
Sure of the Promise.
One mile ahead 90 two priests, carry
ing gltiering box ! feet long and .
feet wide II is the ark of the covenant.
And they come down, and no sooner do
they just touch the rim of the water
with their feet than by an almighty
fiat Jordan parts. The army Of Joshua
marches right on without getting their
feet wet. over the bottom Of the river.
path of chalk and broken shells and
pebbles. until they get to the other
bank Then they lay hold Of the olcan-
derS and tarlarisks and willows and
pull themselves up bank 80 or 40 feet