The Opelousas courier., 1900-06-16
TALMAGE SERMON,
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE AsLe 81.
VINE

Subject: Victory in ReIreat-The Fri;
eEnph of the Wicked IL Short-Eie,
From Temptation Calamity May II,
Averfed BY Running Away From Evil
tcopsrighs leoel
WAsH1SeToS, p. C,@FroTa an old tim,
latSie scena Dr.. Tasmage id this discours,
nakes some startling Suggestions as to tb,
3est styles OF Christian work and points gu
Joshua will, z, s'Then shall We rise nm from
ne ambush and seize upon the city"
One Sabbath evening, with nv famfI,
aroenu me, we were talking over the seen,
u the text. In tho wide open ewes and lii,
quick INTERPRETATIONS and the blapchei
,neeSs 1 realized what n thrilling dram,
. was. There is the old city, shorter b,
am nan any other city In the ages
speised with two letters, A, I, AL, Joshus
and his men want te take 1t. How to d.
It Is the question, On a former occasion
IA 2 straightforward, face to face FIGHT. the,
lad been defeated, but now thew are poinS
20 take 1t by ambuscade. General Joshua
gas TWO divisions In his army. The enc
aisision the battle-worn Commander vii
.ead himself, the othef division he sends
on TO encainp III an ambush on the west
side Of the city OF Al. Nc torches: IL
lanterns, ne sound ct heavy Battalions,
but 10000 swarthy Warriors rnoyine N
silence, speaking only ia a whianer; nr
clicking OF swords against shields. lest the
watchmeh OF All discover It, and the strata.
gem pc q fallufe. II the roistering soldier
u the israelitish army forgets himself, all
siong the line the word Is "Hush!"
Joshua takes the ether division, the one
Ritn which no is te march, ani puts 1t on
the north side 81 tie city OF Al and then
spsad the night in accommodating In the
valley. There he Is, thinking over the for.
n OF the coming day with something OF
the feelings OF wellington the night before
Waterloo or OF Meade and Lee the night
before Gettysburg. There he stands In the
night and says to himself: 'Yonder is the
1ivlslen ID ambush on the west side of AL.
Hefe is the division | have under my espec.
tal command on the north side of Al. There
Is the old city slumbering In it's sin. To-
morrow will be the battIe:h Lookl The
morning already begins to tip the hills. The
military officers OF AL look out in the morn
ing very early, and, while they do not see
the division in ambush, they behold the
other divisions OF Joshua, and the cry ITO
armsl To armsl". rings through all the
streets OF the old town, and every sword.
whether hacked and bent or newly welded,
ts brought out, and all the Inhabitants Of
the city OF AL pour through the gates, an
lnfuriated torrent, and their cry is, "Oome,
Wen make quick work With Joshua and
his troopsis
No sooner had these people OF All come
cut against the troops OF Joshua than
Joshua gave sach q command as he seldom
gaye-"Fall backl' Why, they could not
believe their own earsl Is joshua;s cour-
age failing him? The retreat is beaten,
and the Israelites are flying, throwing
blankets II canteens on every side under
this worse than Bull Run defeat. And you
ought TO hear the soldiers OF Al cheer and
cheer and cheer. But they huzsa too soon.
The men lying In ambush are STAINING
their vision to get senne signal from Joshua
that they may know what time to drop
upon the city. Joshua takes his FURNISHED
speaf, glittering la the sun like q shaft OF
doom, and points 1t toward the city, and
when the mel up yonder In the ambush see
1t with hawklike swoop they drop upon Al
and without stroke OF sword or stab of
spear take the city ana put 1t to the torch.
So much for the division that was In
ambush. How about the division Under
Ioshua's commando Nc sooner does
Joshua stop In the flight than all his men
stop with him, and as he wheels they
wheel, for In q voice OF thunder he cried
"HahE' n strong arm driving back q
torrent of flying troops. And then, as he
points his spear through the golden light
toward that fated city, his troops know
that they are TO start for 1t. What a scene
1t was when thed division In ambush which
had taken the city marched down against
the men OF AL on the one side, and the
troops under Joshua doubled up their
enemies from the other side, and the men
OF All were caught between thesetwo hurri-
canes of Israeliiish courage, thrust before
and behind, stabbed Id breast n back,
ground between the upper and the neither
miiistones OF Gods i~ndignatioal Woe to
the city or All! Cheer for Israeli
Lesson the first. There Is such q thing as
victorious retreat. Joshua's falling back
was the llrst chapter In his successful be-
siegement. And there are times In your
life when the best thing you can do is to
run. You we're once the victim OF strong
drink. The demiiohn and the decanter
were your fierce foes. They came down
upon you with greater fury than the men OF
All upon the men OF Joshua. four only
safety Is to get way from them. Your
dissipating companions will come around
Won for your overthrow. Bun for your
lifei Fall back Fall back from the drink
Ing salooni Fall back from the wine
partyl Your flight is your advance; your
retreat is your victory. There Is a saloon
down On the next street that has almost
been the ruin Of your soul. Then why do
yen 60 along that street? Why do you not
pass through some other street rather than
by the place OF your calamity? A spoon
full Of brandy taken for medicinal pur-
poses by a man who twenty years before
had been reformed from drunkenness
hurled into ine5riety = the grave . Of
the best friends ] ever had. Retreat Is
vietoryt
Here Is q converted iniIdel. He is so
strong now In his faith In he Gospel he
says he cen read anything. What are you
reading? Boiingbroke2 Andrew Jackson
Davis's tracts2 Tyndall's Glasgow uni
versity address? Drop them and run. You
will be an infldel before you die unlAss you
quit that. These men OF Al will be too
much for you. Turn your back ON che rank
and file OF unbelief. Ely before they cut
You with their swords and fransix you
with their javelins.
So, also, there is victorious retreat In the
religious world. Thousands OF times the
Kingdom OF Christ has seemed to fall back.
When the blood Of the Scotch Covenanters
gave d deeper dye to the heather of the
highlands, when the Vaudois OK France
chose determination rather b make an
unchristian surrender, when on st. Bartho-
day mounted assassins rode
through the streets of Paris, crying kill
Bl0odfetting Ii good In Anguish Kill
d eath to the Hagnenotsi Kill" when
Lady Jane Grey's head rolled from the
executioner's block, when Calvin was Inn
prisoned In the castle, when John Knox
died for the truth, when John Bunyan lay
in Bedford jail, SAYING, stIf God
will help me and my physical life con-
tlnues, ! will stay here until the moss
grows on my eyebrows rather than give up
NV faith" the days OF retreat for the
church we're days OF victory.
The pilgrim fathers fell back from the
side of the sea to Plymouth Rock,
now are marshailng q continent for
Characterization of the world. The
Church OF Christ falling back from Pled-
1890 emllfnw hnck fran Rfsn AT. Jaeuu0g.