The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1900-04-11

their days in lunatic asylum. Where
are William Tweed and his associates!
Where are Ketcham and Swartwout, alb
sconding swindlers? Where are James
Fisk, the libertine, and all the other mis-
demeanants? The wicked do not I'VE
out half their days. Disembogue, y
world of darkness! ONE up, Hildebrand
and Henry Ii. and Robespierre and, with
blistering and disappearing and ashen
lips, hiss out, 1.-The triumph Of the wicked
is short"
Awaiting Opportunities
Lesson the third: How much may be
accomplished by lying in ambush for OPP
portunities. Are you hypercritical or
Joshua's vancouver? Do you say that 1t
was cheating for him to take that city by
ambuscade? Was it wrong for Washing
ton to kindle campfres on Jersey heights
giving the impression to the opposing
force that great army was encampeu
there when there was none at all!
answer, if the war was right, then josh
ua was right in his strategem. He vlo-
lated no flag of truce. He broke no
treaty, but by a lawful ambuscadeN cap
tured the city Of All. Oh, that we all
knew how to lie in ambush for opportunl-
ties to serve God. The best of our OPP
portunities do not lie on the surface, but
are secreted. By tact, by strategem, by
Christian ambuscade, you may take al
most any castle of sin for Christ. come
up toward men with a regular beslege-
ment of argument and you will be de-
feated but just wait until the door OF
their hearts is set ajar, or they are OH
their guard, or their severe caution is
away from home, and then drop III on
them from Christian ambuscade. There
has been many a man up to his chin III
scientific portfolios which proved there
was no Christ and no divine revelation,
his pen a scimeter flung into the heart or
theological opponents, who nevertheless
has been discounted and captured for
God by some little 3-year-old child who
has got up and put her snowy arms
around his sinewy neck and asked some
simple question about God.
Oh, make flank movement! Steal g
march on the devil! Cheat that man into
heaven! A So treatise that will stand
all the laws of homiletics may fail to do
that which q penny tract of Christian
entreaty may accomplish. Oh, for more
Christians in ambuscade-not lying IN
idleness, but waiting for a quick spring,
waiting until just the right time comes.
Do not talk to a man about the vanity or
this world on the day when he has bought
something at 10" and is going TO sell it
at 10" But talk to him about the van
ity of the world on the day when he has
bought something at 10 and is COM
PEELED to sell it at 10" Do not rub
mans disposition the wrong way; do not
take the imperative mood when the sub
junctive mood will do just as well; do
not talk in perfervid style 10 a phlegmat-
ic nor try to tickle torrid temperament
with an cicle. You can take any man
for Christ if you know how to get at him.
Do not send word to him that tomorrow
at 10 o'clock you propose to open your
batteries upon him, but come on him by
skillful, persevering, God directed am
buscade.
Importance of Good Aim.
Lesson the fourth: The Importance Of
taking good aim. There is Joshua, but
how are those people in ambush up yon-
der to know when they are TO drop on the
city. and how are these men around
Joshua to know when they are to stop
their flight and advance? There must
Dt SOlUc SISIdl-d W sup tHc oAC
division and to start the other Joshua,
with spear on which were ordinarily
hung the colors of battle, points toward
the city. He stands in such conspicu-
Gus position, and there is so much of the
morning light dripping from that spear
tip, that all around the horizon they see
it. 1t was as much as to say: There IS
the city. Take it
God knows and we know that q great
deal of Christian attack amounts to moth
ing simply because we do not take good
AIM Nobody knows and we do not
| know ourselves which point we want to
take when we ought to make up our
minds what God will have us to do and
point our spear in that direction and
| then hurl our body, mind, soul, time, eter-
nifty at that one target. In our pulpits
| and pews and Sunday schools and prayer
| meetings we want to get reputation for
saying pretty things, and so we point
our spear toward the flowers, or we want
reputation for saying sublime things,
and we point our spear toward the stars,
or we want to get reputation for ms
| torical knowledge, and we point. our
! spear toward the past, or We want to get
reputation for great liberality, SO we
swing our spear all around, while there
is the old world. proud, rebellious and
armed against all righteousness, and in
stead of running any farther away from
| it's pursuit we ought to turn around, plant
our foot in the strength Of the eternal
| God, lift the old cross and point it in the
direction Of the worlds conquest till, the
redeemed of earth, marching up from one
side and the glorified of heaven marching
down from the other side, the last battle
ment OF sin is compelled to swing out
| the streamers OF Emanuel. 0 church OF
| God, take aim and conquer!
A Year OF Mercies.
7 believe that the next year will be the
most stupendous year that heaven ever
| saw. The nations are quaking now with
| the coming Of God. 1t will be a year of
| successes for the men of Joshua, but Of
| doom for the men of All. You put your
ear to the rail track, and you can hear
the train coming miles away. So l put
| my ear to the ground, and l hear the
laundering on of the lightning train of
Gods mercies and judgments. The mer-
| cy of God is first to be tried upon this ma