The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-03-31

no mean ensign I lift this hour. It Is
time-honored flag. It has been In terrific
battle. Draggled In the dust OF Saviour!
humiliation from Bethlehem to Calvary
Rent by hell's onslaught, the spears Of {
maddened soldiery and the hands OF mel
ensign In His bleeding hand the Saviour
scaled the heights Of our sin. With this HI
mounted the walls of perdi,ton, and amid 1t:
very smoke and flame and blasphemy he
waved His triumph, while demons hoWled
with defeat and heaven
Thron9ed His chariot wheels
And bore Himto His throne,
Then swept their golden harps md sung.
The glorious work Is done.
Again, when grand victory has been won
1t Is customary to announce 1t by flags float.
Ing from public buildings and from trees and
from the uasts OF ships. They are the sig
nal for eulogy and rejoicing and festivIty.
SO the ensign which the church hoists Is a
banner Of victory. There was time when
the religion Of Christ was not considered re-
spectacle. Men OF learning and position
frowned upon 1t. Governments anathnma-
tized its supporters. To be Christian was
to be an underling. But mark the differ
ence. Religion has compelled the worlds
respect Inadelity, III the tremendous
effort 1t has made to crush it, has compli-
mented its power. And there Is not now O
single civilized nation bur III its constitution
or laws or proclamations pays homage to
the religion Of the cross. In the war in In
dia. when Sir Archibald Campbell found, In
an hour Of danger, that the men he ordered
to the field were intoxicated, and asked for
the pious men whom the Christian Havelock
hal under his management, he said: "Call
out HaveIook's saints. They are never drunk,
and Havelock Is always ready" That Chris
tianiiy which gathered its first trophies from
the fshermen's huts on the shore of Galilee
now has Samsonian strength thrown upon its
shoulders and has carried off the gates Of
science and worldly power. We point MOTTO the
fortresses and standing armies and navies as
the evidence OF the church's progress. We
point to the men whom Christ has redeemed
by His blood.
What II arsenals and navy yards do not be-
long to the church, We do not want them.
The weapons Of our warfare are not carnal,
but spiritual and mighty through God to the
and satan have no idea OF the strength and
heroism which God will yet let OUT against
the forces Of darkness. AS vet they have
had only one round from the first regiment.
The Lord OF Hosts will soon appear IN the
field at the head Of his troops. Depend
upon 1t that when God inspires the &C ul with
new life he puts In 1t the principle Of
"Dcver give up" In all ages OF the church
there have been those who have had faith
that was almost equal to sight, looking
through persecution and reverses with as
much expectation as through pafpable
achievements. There have been men for
Christ who have acted as did the favorite
troops Of Brien, attacked bv Fitzpatrick of
Ossory. The wounded soldiers begged that
they might enter the fight with the others.
They said, "Let stakes be stuck In the
ground and suffer each Of US. tied to and
supported by one Of these stakes, to battle
in the ranks by the side Of sound man."
1t Is said that 700 or 800 men, pale and
emaciated from former wounds and thus
supported by the stakes, struggled through
the combat. Thus has It been that multi
tudes of the children Of God, though feel
ing themselves weak and wounded-per-
haps in body, perhaps in estate, perhaps In
soul-supported by the staff OF Gods prom
ise, have warred it up to the hilt in the sub
jugation of a world OF wickedness.
We are mighty in this cause, for we have
the help OF the pious dead. Messengers OF
salvation from high heaven, they visit the
field. They stand behind US to keep US from
iguominious retreat. They 60 before US to
encourage US in the strife. The McCheynes,
md the Paysons, and the Martyrs, and the
Brainerds, an uncounted multitude of the
glorifed, are our eoadjutors. Have you
heard the Swiss tradition? The herdsmen
say that three great leaders OF the Helvetic
nation, though seemingly dead, are only
lying down under the ground in their old
time dress, refreshing themselves with sleep,
and that II at any time the liberties OF their
country are In danger they will immediate
ly spring to their feet and drive back the
I huun
that IL ever the church OF the blessed
Christ shall be threatened with destruction
by the foes which seem too great for her
strength the Lord himself will not only come
to the deliverance, but those great ancients
who have seemed to be sleeping among the
dead shall Immediately hear the trumpet
b,ast OF the church militant, and full armed,
spring back to their old positions In the
ranks Of God, with the battlecrY, "More
than conquerors through Him that loved
us?" Although we have already much to
encourage US In the work Of the worlds
evangelization, yet we must confess that
much OF our time has been consumed In
planting our batteries and getting ready for
the conflict. We have not yet begun to
preach. We have not yet begun to pray. We
have not yet begun to work. On the coast
o. heathendom are missionary stations.
They have scarcely yet begun to accom-
plish what they propose. Ittakes some time
to dig the trenches and elevate the standard
and direct the great guns. From what I
hpar Think they are about ready now. Let
but the great Captain wave the signal, and
the ringing Of celestial Wesponry shall quake
every dungeon Of hell and sound up among
the thrones OF heaven. Pagodas and temples
shall tumble under the shock and besotted
nations shall fly from their idols and super
stitions, shouting like the confounded
worshipers OF Baal: "The Lord, He is the
God! The Lord. He ia the God!'
We 20 not alone to the field. We have in
vincible allies in the dumb elements Of ma
ture. As Job said. we are in league with the
very stones Of the field. The sun by day and
the moon by night, directly or indirectly,
shall favor Christianity. The stars in their
courses are marshaled for us, as they fought
against Sisera- The winds of heaven are now
as certainly acting In favor Of Christ as in
reformation times the invincible armada IN
its pride approached the coast q England:
As that proud navy directed its guns against
the friends of Christ and religious liberty.
God said unto his winds, "Seize hold OF
them" and to the sea. "Swallow them.
The Lord. with his tempests, dashed their
hulls together and splintered them on the
rocks until the flower OF Spanish pride and
yalor lay crushed among the waves OF the
seabeach. All are ours. Aye. God the
Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost
are our allies!
The Mohammedans, in their struggle to
subjueHe the world, had passages from the
Koran inscribed on the blades Of their scimi-
ters, and we have nothing to fear If, ap.
proachng the inidelity and malice that op-
pose the kingdom OF Christ. we shall have
glittering on our swords the words OF David
TO the giant, Il come to thee in the name OF
the Lord Of Hosts, the God of the armies OF
Israel, whom thou hast def1ed."
Now the church goes forth bearing pre-
cious seed. but after awhile it will be the
sheaf binding, and reaper angels shall shout
tho harvest home. Nowit IS tents and march,