Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-11-23
THE FAITH OF RAHAB
OR. rALMAes SAYS THERE IS MERCY
FOR ALL SINNERS.

arc LDSnged In Lffe's Battles.
Meaning OF the sums standirg stiii
Upon GIDEON.
WASHINGTON. Nov. 19-ln this dis
course DR.. Talmage follows Joshua on
his triumphal march ard speaks en-
couraginS words TO all who are engag-
ed in the battles OF this life: text Josh
VA ], 5. There she'll not any man be
able TO stand before thee aH the days
Of thy life"
Moses was dead. A beautiful tradi-
ton says the Lord kissed him and i'm
that act drew forth the soul of the dy-
ing lawgiver. He had been buried:
only one person at the funeral-the
same One who kissed him. But God
never takes man away from any
place Of usefulness until he has some
one ready to replace him. The Lord
does not so looking around amid a
great variety of candidates to find some
one especially fitted for the vacated DO
sition. He makes man for that place.
Moses has passed Off the stage. and
Joshua, the hero. puts his foot on the
platform of history so solidly that all
the ages echo with the tread He was
magnificent fighter. but he always
fought on the right side. and he never
fought unless God told him to fight.
He got his military equipment from
God, who gave him the promise at the
start, There shall not any man be able
TO stand before thee all the days of thy
life" God fulfilled this promise, al
though Joshua's first battle was with
the spring freshet the. next with a
stone wall, the next leading on a regi-
snent of whipped towards and the next
battling against darkness. wheeling the
sun and the moon into his battalion
and the last against the king of ter
rors, death-6ve great victories.
Parting the Jordan.
As rule, when the general of an. ar
my starts out In a war he would like
to have n small battle in order that he
may get his own courage up and rally
his troops and get them drilled for
greater conflicts, but the first under
taking Of Joshua was greater than the
dwelling of Fort Pulaski or the assault
OF Gibraltar or the overthrow OF the
Bastille. 1t was the crossing OF the
Jordan at the time of the spring fresh.
ct. The SHOWS of Mount Lebanon had
just been melting, and they poured
down the valley, and the whole valley
was raging torrent. So the Canaan
ties stand on one bank. and they look
across and see Joshua and the Israel
ties, ond they laugh and say: "Ahal
They cannot disturb us until the fresh
cts fall. 1t is impossible for them to
reach us" But after awhile they look
across the water, and they see n
movement in the army of Joshua. They
say: What is the matter now? Why.
there must be n panic among those
troops, and they are going to ny. or
perhaps they are going 10 try to march
across tho river Jordan. Joshua is q
lunatic." But Joshua, the chieftain.
looks at his army and cries, Forward,
marchP' and they start for the bank of
the Jordan. One mile ahead go two
priests carrying a glittering box four
feet long and two feet wide. IL Is the
nrk or the covenant. And they come
down, and no sooner do they Just touch
the rim OF the water with their feet
than, by an Almighty fiat, Jordan parts.
The army of Joshua marches right on
without getting their feet wet over the
bottom OF the river, n path or chalk
ana broken shells and pebbles. until
they get to the other bank. Then they
lay hold OF the oleanders and tama-
risks and willows and pull themselves
Up bank 30 or 40 feet high, and, hay
ing gained the other bank, they clap
their shields and their cymbals and
sing the praises of the God OF Joshua.
But no sooner have they reached the
bank than the waters begin 60 dash
and roar, and with a terrific rush they
break loose from their strange anchor
age. As the hand OF the Lord God is
taken away from the thus uplifted wa
ters-waters perhaps uplIfted half n
mile-they rush down, and some of the
unbeiieving lsraelites say: "Alas. alas.
what a misfortunel Why could not
those waters have staid parted. be-
cause. perhaps, we may want 10 GO
backf o Lord, we are engaged in a
risky businessl Those Canaanites NAV
eat us up. How II we want 10 go back?
Would Ii not have been a more COM
plete miracle II the Lord had parted
the waters TO let us come through and
Kept them parted TO let us 20 back If
we are defeatedr
Gods Promise.
My friends, God makes no provision
for Christians retreat. He clears the
path all the way to Canaan. To 90
pack Is 10 die. The same gatekeepers
that swung back the amethystine and
crystalline gate OF the Jordan to let
israel pass through now swing shut
the amethystine and crystalline gate
or the Jordan TO keep the Israeltes
from going back.
Victory ahead hut u-ofa~ on e. n -.
behind. surging to death and darkness
aud woe. But you say. why did not
These Canaanites, when they had such
splendid chance, standing on the top
or the bank 80 or 40 feet high, COM
pieteiy demolish those poor Israelltes
down In the rlverY' | will tell YOU
why God had made a promise. and he |
was going to keep it. There shall not
any man be able to stand before thee |
all the days OF thy life"
But this is no place for the host to |
stop. Joshua gives the command, .'For. |
ward. march" In the distance there |
Is long grove Of trees, and at the end |
or the grove is a city. 1t is n city with |
arbors. city with walls seeming TO |
reach 10 the heavens, to buttress the
very sky Ii is the great METROPOLIS |
that commands the mountain pass. II |
is Jericho. That city was afterward /
captured by Pompey and once by Her
% the Great and once again by the Mo-
nanl,nndncs. but this campaign the
Loru pans There shall be 40 swords. /
no shields, 10 battering ram; there
snaii De only one weapon OF war, and
mat a rams horn. The horn of the
siam ram was sometimes taken, and
poles were punctured In 1t, and then
the musician would put the instrument
TO his lips, and he would run his fin
gers over this rude musical instrument
ana make great deal of sweet harmo-
ny Tor the people. That was the only
KIND or weapon. Seven priests were to
take these rude, rustic musical instru-
mentS, and they were to 90 around tho