The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-11-30

ease. / am only 90 years Of age. Sun
OF my Christian ministry, stand still
over Scotland" And 1T stood still.
THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL
A long time ago there was a Chris
tan woman very conaecrated, and she
has a drunken husband. and so on came
the night of domestic trouble. She lost
her children. and there came the night
of bereavement. She was very I'll. and
there came the night OF sickness. Her
soul departed, and there came the
night OF death. But all these nights
Of trouble and darkness and sorrow
and sickness were illumined by the
grace of the gospel. and people came
many miles to see how cheerful a Chris
tan could die. The noon h a illum-
n that night of trouble was a refiec-
ton from the Sun Of righteousness In
the last hour of that mght-that night
of darkness and ickness and misfor-
tune-as she lifted her hand toward
heaven those who stood nearest her pill
low could hear the whisper. for she
wanted to live on i'll the generations
that were to follow. consecrated 20
God. She wanted to have an influence
long after she had entered upon her
eternal reward, and while her hand
was lifted and her lips We're moving
those who stood nearest her pillow
could hear her say Il want TO live on
" $4,000 NS& va 6NON. nv AAAONA-
stand still in the valley Of A~jaloni"
But Joshua was not quite through
There was time for five funerals before
the sun of that prolonged day set. Who
Will preach their funeral sermon? Mas
sillon preached the funeral sermon over
Louis XVI. Who will preach the fu-
neral sermon of those five dead kings
king of Jerusalem. king of Hebron,
king of Jarmuth. king of Lachish. king
of Eglon? Let it be by Joshua. What
is his text? What shall be the epitaph
put on the door of the tomb? There
shall not any man be able to stand be-
fore thee all the days of thy life" Be-
fore you fasten up the door l want five
more kings beheaded and thrust in
King Alcohol. King Fraud. King Lust,
King Superstition, King Infdelity. Let
them be beheaded and hurl them in.
Then fasten up the door forever. What
shall the inscription and what shall
the epitaph be, for all Christian philan-
thropists of all ages are going to come
and look at it? What shall the inscrip-
ton be? There shall not any man be
able to stand before thee all the days
of thy life
GODS PROMISES UNFAILING.
But it is time for Joshua to go home.
He is 10 years old. Washington went
down the Potomac and at Mount Yer
non closed his days. Wellington died
peacefully at Apsley House. Now,
where shall Joshua rest? Why. he is
to have his greatest battle now. After
10 years he has to meet a king who
has more subjects than all the present
population of the earth, his throne a
pyramid of skulls, his parterre the
graveyardS and the cemeteries of the
world, his chariot the worlds hearse-
the king OF terrOrS. But if this is
oshua greatest battle, it is going to
no Inch11a'C OrnofoCf victory ~ GATH
ers his friends around him. and gives
his valedictory and it is full of remin-
iscence. Young men tell what they are
going to do. Old men tell what they
have done. And as you have heard
q grandfather or great-grandfather
seated by the evening fire tell of Mon
mouth or Yorktown and then lift the
crutch or staff as though it were a
musket to fight and show how the old
battles were won, SO Joshua gathers
his friends around his dying couch,
he tells them the story of What he
has been through, and as he lies there
his white locks showing down on his
wrinkled forehead, 1 ask if God has
kept his promise all the way through.
AS he lies there he tells the story one,
two or three timeS-you ave heard
old people tell a story two or three
times overland he Il go the
way of all the earth, and not one word
II liz Ills ll1S CllSu AZ ON& 'O@
thereof has failed. All has come to
pass; not one word thereof has failed"
And then he turns to his family, as a
dying parent will, and says: "ChooSe
nov whom you will serve, the God of
Israel or the God of the Amorites. AS
for me and my house, We will serve
the Lord" a dying parent cannot be
reckless or thoughtless of his children.
Consent to part with them forever at
the door of the tomb we cannot. By
the cradle in which their infancy was
rocked, by the bosom on which they
first lay, by the blood of h covenant,
by the God Joshua it shall not be.
We will not part, we cannot part. Je-
hovah-Jireh, we take thee at thy
promise. L will be a God to thee and
thy seed after thee"
Dead, the old chieftain must De laid
out. Handle him very gently. That
sacred body is over ITO years of age.
Lay him out, stretch out those feet
that walked dry shod the parted Jor-
dan. Close those lips which helped
blow the blast at which the walls of
Jericho fell. Fold the arm that lifted
the spear toward the doomed city OF
All. Fold it right e the heart that
exulted when the five kings fell. But
where shall we get the FURNISHED gran
lite for the headstone and the foOtstone?
I bethink myself now. I imagine that
for the head it shall be the sun that
stood still pom Gideon, and for the
foot the moon that stood still in the
valley Of Ajalon.
Copyright, 1900. Louis Klopsch, N. W