The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1895-05-30
FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT.
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Fight for the Right Always Vic.
torious.

In the Emburv Memorial Church. Brook
I lyn. large audience listened to the annual
sermon OF Chaplain +. De Witt TaImage. OF
the Thirteenth Regiment. n. q. s. N. 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: "There shall not any
man be able to stand before thes all the days
! OF thy life. Joshua H. g.
The gallant thirteenth" as this reg
iment Is generally and appropriately called,
has gathered tonight for the worship OF
God and TO hear the annual sermon. Aud
! ilrst look with hearty salutation into the
/ faces OF the veterans, who. though now not
IN active service, have the same patriotic aud
/ military enthusiasm which characterized
| them when, In 1868. they babe farewell 10
home and loved ones and started for the
field and risked all they held dear on earth
for the re.establishment OF the falling United
States Government. "All that n man hath
| will he give for his life." and you showed
| yourselves willing 90 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 In one Of the most tremendous wars
| ofnll history, war with Grant aud sherman
and Hancock and sheridan and Farragut on
onesi1e, and Lee and Stonewall Jackson and
| Longs.rcet and Johnston on the other.
As IN Greek assemUlages, when speakers
would arouse the audience, they shouted
'Marathon!' 80 II wanted 90 stir you to ac-
cInmation | would only need TO speak the
words, Lookout Mountain" "ChancelIors-
| Vile, Gettysburg And though through
| the passage of years you are forever free
| from duty OF enlistment. ifEurOpean 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 grow
AtfOnV pNsaa ,stlI Is. l......
enough TO follow the stars Of the old ilag
| wherever they might lead
And next greet the colonel and his staff
| and oil the officers and men Of this regiment
IL has been an eyentful year in your history
IL never before, Brooklyn appreciates some
| thing OF the value OF its armories aud the
Importance OF the men who there drill for
the defense and safety Of the city. The
| blessing OF God be upon all OF YOU. nv COM
rndes OF the Thirteenth Regiment! And
! looking about for q subject that might be
most helpful and inspiring for you, and our
veterans here assembled, and the citizens
! gathered tonight with their good wishes L
have concluded t. hold up before you the
greatest soldier. OF all time-Joshua the hero
| of my text.
He was u magnificent fighter. but he al
ways fought on the right side and he never
fought unless God told him to fight. In nv
text he gets his military equipment and one
met Tor the brow, greaves OF brass for the
ieet, habergeon for the breast. "There shall
not any man be able to stand before thee all
the days Of thy life" "Oh," YOU saw. sIany-
body could have courage with such a back
ing up aS that Why, my friends. have TO
tGli you that the God OF the universe and the
Chleltain OF eternity promises 10 do lust rs
much for us "a for him. All the resources OF
eternity are pledged in our behalf, 10 we 60
out IN the service OF God. and no more than
that was offered to Joshua. God fulfilled this
promise OF my text, although Joshua's first
battle was with the spring freshet and the
next with n stone wall aud the next Leading
on regiment of whipped towards, aud the
next battle against darkness, wheeling the
sun and the moon into his battalion, and the
last against the king OF terrors, DEATH We
great victories.
For the most part, when the general OF an
| army starts out in conflict he would Ike
| 20 have small battle in order that he may yet
! hs courage ur AMI he may rally his troops
and get them drilled for greater conflicts,
but this first undertaking Of Joshua was
! greater than the levaing OF Fort Pulaski, or
the laundering down of Gibraltar, or the
| overthrow Of the Bastile. Ii was the crossing
OF the Jordan at the time OF the spring
| freshet. The SHOWS OF Mount Lebanon had
Just been melting, and they poured down
into the valley, and the whole valley was a
raging torrent. SO the Canaanites stand on
| ono bank, and they look across and see
| Joshua and the Isrncltes, and they laugh
and say; "Aha. aha! They cannot disturb
! Us until the frcshets fall. II Is impossible
| Tor them To reach us But after awhile they
| look across the water. and they see n move
! mont in the army Of Joshua. They say:
"What's the matter now? Why, there must
| be panic among these troops, aud thoy are
going 10 fly, or perhaps they are going to
try to march across the river Jordan. Joshua
Is lunatic.' But Joshua, the chieftain OF
| the text, looks at mis- army and cries, "For-
ward, march,, and they start for the bank
| OF the Jordan.
One mile ahead go two priests, carving
| glitterng box four feet long and two 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 au almighty fiat Jordan parts.
The army OF Joshua marches right on with
| out getting their feet wet over the bottom Of
the river q path OF chalk and broken shells
and pebbles, until they get to the other bank
Then they lay hold of tho oleanders and
tamarisks and willows and pull themselves
| up bank thirty or forty feet high. and hav-
Ing gained the other bank they clap their
shields and their cymbals and sing the
| praises Of the God Of Joshua.
| But no sooner have they reached the bank
/ than the waters begin to dash and roar, and
| with terrific rush they break loose from
their strange anchorage. Out yonder they
have stoppedt thirty miles up yonder they
halted. On this side the waters roll on
toward the salt sea. But rs the hand OF the
| Lord God is taken away from the thus up
! lifted waters-waters perhaps uplifted half a
mile-as the Almighty hand IL taken away
! those waters rush down, and some of the un-
believing lsraelltes say: "Aas, alas, what IA
misfortune! Why could not those waters
have stayed parted| because, perhaps, we
may want TO go back. On, Lord, we are en-
gagged ina risky business. Those Canaanites
may eat us up. How II we want TO go back?
/ Would II not have been more complete
miracle If the Lord had parted the waters to
let us como through and kept them parted
to let US 90 back II we are defeated?h My
friends, God makes no provision for a
Christians retreat. He clears the path
all the way 10 Canaan. To go back Is to die.
The same gatekeepers that swing back the
amethystine and crystalline gate OF the
Jordan TO let Israel pass through now swing
shut the amcthystine and crystalline gate OF
the Jordan TO keep the Israelites from going
back. l declare 1t in your hearing to-day.
| victory uhpnl Watpr forty lpnn in t,u