The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1900-04-14

termination rather than make an I'M
christian surrender, when on st. Bar
tholomew's day mounted assassins
rode through the streets of Paris, cry
ing XIII! Bloodletting is good in Au-
gust! Kill! Death to the Huguenotsl
Kill" when Lady Jane Greys head
rolled from the executioner's block,
when Calvin was imprisoned in the
castle, when John Knox died for the
truth, when John Bunyan lay rotting
IN Bedford Jail, saying: "If God will
help me and my physical life continues,
will stay here until the moss grows
ON my eyebrows rather than give up
my faith" the days of retreat for the
church were days of victory.
The pilgrim fathers fell back from
the other side of the sea to Plymouth
Rock, but now are marshalng a con-
tinent for the Christianization of the
world. The church of Christ falling
back from Piedmont, falling back from
Rue st. Jacques, falling back from St.
Denis, falling back from Wurttemberg
castles, falling back from the Brussels
market place, yet all the time triumph
ing. Notwithstanding all the shocking
reverses which the Church of Christ
suffers, what do we see to-day? Twelve
thousand missionaries of the cross on
heather grounds; $4,000 ministers of
Jesus Christ in this land; at least 40O,-
100000 of Christians on the earth. Fall
ing back, yet advancing until the old
Wesleyan hymn will prove true:
The Lion of Judah shall break the chain
And give us the victory again and again!
But there is more marked illustra-
ton of victorious retreat in the life of
our Joshua, the Jesus of the ages.
First falling back from an appalling
height to an appalling depth, falling
from celestial hills to terrestrial val
legs, from throne to manager; yet that
did not seem to suffice him as re-
treat. Falling back still farther from
Bethlehem to Nazareth, from Nazareth
to Jerusalem, back from Jerusalem to
Golgotha, back from Golgotha to the
mausoleum in the rock, back down
over the precipices of perdition until
he walked amid the caverns of eternal
captives and drank of the wine of the
wrath of Almighty God, amid the
Ahabs, and the Jezekels, and the Bel
shazzars. Oh, men of the pulpit and
men of the pew, Christ's descent from
Heaven to earth does not measure half
the distance! 1t was from glory to per-
dition. He descended into hell. All the
records of earthly retreat are as moth
ing compared with this falling back.
Santa Anna, with the fragments of his
army flying over the plateaus of Mex
leo and Napoleon and his army retreat
ing from Moscow into the awful SHOWS
of Russia are not worthy to be men
toned with this retreat, when all the
powers of darkness seem to be pursu-
ing Christ as he fell back, until the
body of Him who came to do such
wonderful things lay pulseless and
stripped. Methinks that the city of
All was not so emptied of its inhabit-
ants when they went to pursue Joshua
as perdition was emptied of devils
when they started for the pursuit of
Christ, and he fell back and back,
down lower, down lower, chasm below
chasm, pit below pit, until he seemed
to strike the bottom of objurgation
and scorn and torture. Oh, the long,
loud, jubilant shout of hell at the de-
feat of the Lord God Almighty!
But let not the powers of darkness
rejoice quite so soon. Do you hear
that disturbance in the tomb of
Arimathea? l hear the sheet rending!
What means that stone hurled down
the side of the hill? Who is this com
ing out? Push him back! The dead
must not stalk in this open sunlight.
oh, it is our Joshua. Let him come out.
He comes forth and starts for the city.
He takes the spear of the Roman guard
and points that way. Church militant
marches up on one side, and the church
triumphant marches down on the
other side. And the powers of dark
ness being caught between these ranks
of celestial and terrestrial valor moth
ing is left of them save just enough to
illustrate the direful overthrow of hell
and our Joshua's eternal victory. On
his head be all the crowns. In his
hands be all the scepters. At his feet
be all the human hearts; and here,
Lord, is one of them.
Lesson the second: The triumph OF
the wicked is short. Did you ever see
an army in panic? There is nothing
so uncomfortable. If you had stood at
Long bridge, Washington, during the
opening of our civil war, you would
know what it is to see an army run.
And when those men of All looked out
and saw those men of Joshua in SIAM
pede they expected easy work. They
would scatter them as the equinox the
leaves. Oh, the gleeful and jubilant de-
scent of the men of Al upon the men OF
Joshua! But their eXhilaration was
brief, for the tide of battle turneC, ano
these quondam conquerors left their
miserable carcasses in the wilderness
of Bethaven. So it always is. The trl-
umph of the wicked is short. You
make $40 900 at the gaming table. DO |
you expect to keep it? You will die In |
the poorhouse. You made fortune
by iniquitous traffic. Do you expect to |
keep it? Your money will scatter, or
It will stay long enough to curse your
children after you are dead. Call over
the roll of bad men who prospered and
see how short was their prosperity.
For awhile, like the men of Al, they
went from conquest to conquest, but
after awhile disaster rolled back upon
hem, and they were divided into three
parts. Misfortune took their property
he grave took their body and the lost
world took their soul.
Lesson the third: How much may be
hY lying in ambush for