The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-13

nONSNIlUlu
house is chrissened a Bethel because ages
aga a Hebrew wanderer laid his weary head
upon a stone and dreamed dreams of
heaven. Egypt is the type Of bondage; Jor-
dan stands for the river of death: the New
Jerusalem is the home of the blessed. and
Pisgah still typifes the mount Of vision
whence is seen by the eye of faith the prom
ised land
In fact, this whole narrative has been
taken as type of the history of the soul
OF man, with all it's hopes and fears, its
trials and its victories. Nations are but
vast aggregates of individual men and wom-
en-. Whatsoever Of good or evil, of pros
perity or adversely, Of sin and suffering or
virtue and achievement, is displayed in a
nation is but a colossal type of that which
befals the individual, with this great adj
vantage added: that nations live long
enough TO show us the final result of a
given course Of action, while not always in
the brief span of single life has the orbit
time 20 come round full circle.
1t IS for this reason that we have to re-
mand to eternity the answer to the riddle
of many life, of the prosperous oppressor
and the crushed slave, the injurer and the
wronged, the slarderer and the slandered,
the vulgar success and the seeming failure.
But wise student Of history can prophesy
beforehand the retribution that will surely
come; for his studies teach him the amaz-
ing exactitude of that law which acts upon
both nations and individuals, and which.
in the case of nations. stands clear as sun
light.
'Tis equally true of the law which re-
wards the right. The final vindication of
many a brave souls integrity must be wait
ed for till the great award elsewhere. Many
a sweet life shall one day shine as a star
which in all this mortal life was hidden in
darkness. But history is full of these grand
awards to nations. God crowns His victo-
rious nations with diadems so bright that
they gieam upon our eyes through the
darkness Of centuries. In history. as in the
book of fate, we read our own destiny.
1t is a grand series of symbols which be-
gins with Egypt and, ends with the prom
ised land, but, that once gained, a new Sc
ries begins The various steps of subduing
that promised land open up a new aspect
OF the souls struggle in time, the struggle
against foes within. Many a hard-fought
battle has been won, many long march
has been made, many a city has fallen,
many people conquered; yet the task so
well begun is not yet ended. There re-
maineth yet very much land to be pos
sessed," and Joshua has to map out to
each tribe its appropriate place and work,
that the final conquest may be at last COM
pieted.
have chosen this passage as our text be-
cause 1 think that this moment in the his
TRY of Israel typifies quite accurately the
present stage in our own history. The
Christian Church, too, has had her Egypt,
her Red sea of persecution, her weary wan
al rfp III.
ages; but she is now, in some sort, in pos
session of the land. Let us see whether the
comparison will hold good
l. The Israelites still had heather among
them. The reason it took so long to subdue
these internal foes was because the bond of
national unity was weak, while the tribal
bond was strong. Ephraim envied Judah
and Judah vexed Ephraim. Benjamin looked
ont for himself. Reuben tarried by his
sheepfolds and was soon lost among the
tribes Ct the desert. Instead of together
lighting the common enemy, they often
stood by and saw their brothers stricken
down. No wonder, then, that the enemies
of Israel abode yet in the land.
How true a picture this is of our own day.
How strong is the tribal bond compared to
the great universal bond. 1t is good to
love ones tribe. ones special church, to
defend its territory against all foes without
and Within but it is also good to have d
grand, absorbing love of the great church
universal. throughout all the world. While
distracted and divided there is small hope
of driving the heather out of the land
Could we but see ali cordially cooperating
I'm those great reforms and charities which
should be common to all, united as one man
in spreading education, founding libraries,
encouraging art and science, setting togeth-
er the example of plain living and high
thinking banding together to form one
united Christian public opinion, how heath
endom would quail before it! How intern
perance, gambling, lust, knavery, political
and general scoundrefism, would quake in
their dens! Could Christendom thus band
together tomorrow it would bring the mil
lennium nearer by a thousand years. But
O how much of land~there remaineth to be
possessed!
II. Not only has Christianity not yet full
possession of society; it has not yet
a full grasp of its own ideas. 1t took Is
rael hundreds of years to fully understand
herself
/. There remaineth yet very much Of the
idea of God to be possessed. All Chris
tendon has in its creed a God in
flnitely powerful, wise, just and tender.
But how few, even among Christians,
realize at all adequately this presence,
whose subtle thought pervades the very
air that surrounds our minds, whose in
finite heart enwraps the race as the earth
is enwrapped on all sides by the soft at
mosphere? Who lives from God as natur-
ally and as surely as he breathes?
,. There remaineth yet very much of the
idea OF Gods purpose toward the human
race to be possessed Far away in heaven
this dark-seeming earth is seen to shine,
d sweet, bright, heavenly star. The an
gels behold it stepped in heavenly light.
They see, what too often we do not. that |
the splendor of God is the light that shines |
on our world. They see that, IL once all |
the jewellers on earth could together open
their eyes to the light, all men &c gether
would know that we We're living in the |
midst of God.
But this blindness is not to last forever.
II is in the everlasting purpose of God that |
at last His kingdom shall come and His |
viii be done on earth as it is in heaven |
ct the vision is for many days. 1t is a |
hope 10 be passed on from generation to
generation. Joseph dies in Egypt; but. |
dying, he says. Behold die yet God viii