The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1895-10-02
A STRANGE BATTLE.
God Does Not Want Cowards in
His Army.
His Ways are Not Our Ways-GIdeon's
Battle With the Midianites Teaches
Us to Use Strategy With
Gods Foes.

Us to Use Strategy With
Gods Foes.
DIR. Talmage, in his most recent SER
mon, draws useful lessons from the
ancient battle that was won without
the use of arms. The text chosen was
Judges vii. 20, 21: "And the three COM
panies blew the trumpets, and brake
the pitchers, and held the lamps in
their left hands, and the trumpets in
their right hands to blow withal. And
they stood every man in his place
round about the camp, and all the host
ran, and cried and fled"
That is the strangest battle ever
fought God had told Gideon to 90
down and thrash the Midianites, but
his army is too large; for the glory
must be given to God, and 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 scam
pered away, leaving only ten thousand
men. But God says the army is too
large yet; and SO he orders these ten
thousand remaining to march down
through stream, and commands Gid
con to notice in what manner these
men drink of the water as they pass
through it. If they get down on all
fours and drink, then they are to be
pronounced lazy and incompetent for
the campaign; but if, in passing
/ through the stream, they scoop up the
water in the palm of their hand 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 of them
come down on all fours, and plunge
their mouths, like a horse OF an OK, in
to the water and drink; but there are
three hundred men who, instead OF
STOPPING, just dip the palm of their
hands in the water and bring it to their
lips, "lapping it as dog lappeth." "
Those three hundred brisk, rapid, en-
thusiastic men are chosen for the cam
paign. They are each to take trum-
pet in the right hand and pitcher in
the left hand, and lamp inside the
pitcher and then at given signal they
are to blow the trumpcts, and throw
down the pitchers, and hold up the
lamps. So it was done.
1t is night. 1 see a great host Of
Midianites sound asleep in the valley
of Jezreel. Gideon comes up with his
three hundred picked men, and when
everything is ready, the signal is given
and they blow the trumpets, and they
throw down the pitchers, and hold ur
the lamps, and the great host of Mid
ianites, waking out of a sound sleep
take the crash of the croclsery and the
glare of the lamps for the coming on o.
an overwhelming foe; and they run
and cut themselves to pieces, and hor
ribly perish.
The lessons of this subject are very
spirited and impressive. This seem
ingly vagueless lump of quartz has thu
pure gold in it. The smallest dewdroI
on the meadow at night has u sta
sleeping in its bosom, and the mos
insignificant passage of scripture ha
in it shining truth. Gods min coin,
no small change.
LEARN in the first place, from thi
subject, the lawfullness of Christian
stratagem. You know very well tina
the greatest victories ever gained b,
Washington or Napoleon We're gaiuet
through the fact that they came whel
and III way they were not expected
sometimes falling back to draw ou
the foe, sometimes breaking out from
ambush, sometimes crossing river OF
unheard-of RATS; all the time lieepin!
the opposing forces in wonderment a
to what would be done next.
You all know what strategy is il
military affairs. Now think it is higl
time we had this art sanctifed ant
= spiritualized. In the church, when w
are about to make Christian assault
we send word to the opposing fore
when we expect to come, how man,
troops we have, and how many round
OF shot, and whether we will conc witt
artillery, infantry, or cavalry, and O
course we are defeated There ar
thousands of men who might be SUI
prised into the kingdom Of God. w
need more tact and ingenuity in Chris
tian work. 1t is in spiritual affairs a
in military that success depends in at
tacking that part of the castle whicl
is not armed and intrenched. For in
stance, here is man ali armed on tn
doctrine of election; all his troops O
argument and prejudice are at tina
particular gate. You may batter ava.
at the side of the castle for fifty year
and you will not take it; but just whee
your troops to the side gate of tn
hearts affection, and in five minute
you capture him. never knew ma
to be saved through brilliant argu
ment. You cannot hook men into tn
kingdom of God by the horns of
dilemma. There is no grace in syl
logsm. Here is man armed on tn
subject of perseverance of the saints
he does not believe in it, Attack hir
at that point, and he will persevere a
the very last in not believing it. Her
is man armed on the subject of bap
tism; he believes in sprinkling or i'm
mersion. All your discussion of ecsles
iastical hydropathy will not chang
him. remember, when was boy
that with other boys l went into tn
river on summer day to bathe, an
we used to dash water on each other
but never got any result except tina
our eyes were blinded; and all thi
splashing of water between Baptist
and Pedo-Baptists never results in any
: thing but the blurring of the spiritua
eyesight. In other words, you ca