The Washington weekly post., 1900-04-10

New York, April S-Not by preaching q
inattentive ears nor by forcing doctrine on
men flushed with worldly success would
DR. Talmage have the seekers after souls
wage their campaign. Taking the story Of
Joshua, ne applies Il TO the work of the
ministry and shows how retreat may be
the only key to victory and ambuscahe
the only hope Of dominating a confident
and careless Zoe to religion. In MS ser
mon to-day on this subject of Christian
stTatagem, Dr. Talmage took for his text:
Joshua, viii.7: Then ye shall rise uD froal
the ambush and seize upon the city" and
said:
-OEe Sababth evening. with my family
around me, We were talking over the
scene OF the text. In the wide-open eyes
and the quick interrcgations and the
blanched cheeks | realized what d thrill
ing drama 1t was. There is the Old city,
shorter by name than any other city IA
the ages. spelled with two letters-A,i-
Al Joshua and his men want to take IT..
How to DO il is the question. On former
occasion. in a straightforward, face-to
face fight, they had been defeated; but
now they are going to take ii by ambus-
cade. Gen. Joshua 3as two divisions Ia
his army-the one division the battle-woTn
commander Will lead himself. the other d.
vision he sends Off to encamp in an am
bush on the west side of the city of Al.
No torches, no lanterns, no sound OF
heavy battalions, but 3eG00 swarthy war
riOrs moving in Silence, speaking only in
a whisper; no clicking Of swords against
shields. lest the watchmen of Al discover
II and the stratagem be a failure. If a
registering soldier in the Israelitish army
forgets himself, all along the line the
word is 'Hushr
Joshua takes the other division, the
one with which he is to march, and puts
II on the north side Of the city of Al.
and then spends the night in reconnoiter-
ing in the valley There he is. thinking
over the fortunes Of the coming day, wi h
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: 'Eonder is the division in
ambush on the west side of Al. He'e is
the division / have under my especial
command on the north side OF All There
is the old city slumbering in its sin. To-
morrow will be the battle LOoki the
morning already begins 10 tip the hills.
The military officers of All look out in
The morning very early, and while they
do not see the division In ambush, they
behold the other division of Joshua, and
the cry, To armsi to armsp rings through
all the streets of the old town. and every
sword, whether hacked and bent or newly
welded, Is brought out and all the in
habitants Of the city of All pour through
the gates. an infuriated torrent, and their
cry is: Come, We'll make quick work with
Joshua and his troops
Retreat Is Often Victory.
mo sooner had these people of Al come
out against the troops of Joshua than
Joshua gave such q command as he sell
dom gave, Fail back" Why, they could
not believe their own earsI Is Joshua 5
courage failing him? The retreat is beat
en-, and the Israelites are flying, throw
ing blankets and canteens OF every side
under this worse than Bull lsun defeat
And you ought to hear the soldiers of All
cheer and cheer and cheer. But they
hUzza too soon. The men lying in ambush
are straining their vision 10 get some sig
nal from Joshua that they may know
what time TO drop upon the city. Joshua
takes his FURNISHED spear, gltttering in
the sun like a shaft of doom, and points
II toward the city; and when the men up
yonder in the ambush see it, with hawk
like swOop they drop upon Al, and with
out stroke of sword or stab OF spear take
the city and put it to the torch. So much
for the division that was in ambush. How
about the division under JOshuas COM
mand? No sooner does Joshua stop in the
fight than all his men stop with him, and
as he wheels they wheel, for in voice of
thunder he cried, Halt! One strong arm
driving back a 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
il. What a scene it was when the division
in ambush which had taken the city
marched down against the men of All on
the one si3e. and the troops under Joshua
doubled uD their enemies from the other
side. and the men of Al were caught be-
tween these two hurricanes of Israelitish
courage thrust before and behind, stab
bed in breast and back, ground between
the upper and the neither millstOnes Of
Gods Indignation. Woe 10 the city OF Al!
Cheer for Israeli
titc AToui ituiPtdttoHs
81. .cssOn the first: There is such a thing
as victorious retreat Joshua's falling
hack was the first chapter in his success
ful besiegement 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 demijOhn and the de-
canter were your fierce foes. They came
down upon you with greater fury than
the men of Al upon the men of Joshua
Your only safety is to get away from
them Your dissipatiRg companions will
come around you for your overthrow.
Run for yoUr lifei Fall back. Fall back
from the drinking saloOni Fall back from
the wine party! Your flight is your ad-
vance. Your retreat is your victory.
There - a saloon down on the next street
that Is almost been the ruin of your
soul. Then why do YOU 60 along that
street Why do you not pass through
son. other street rather than By the
ylr.c Of YOUR calamity: A spoonful of
brandy taken for medicinal purposes by a
man who twenty years before had been
reformed from drunkenness. hurled into
iEebyiety and the grave one of the best
friends | ever had. Retreat Is victory.
Here is a converted inf4e!. He is so
strong now IN his faith IN the gospel, he
saws he can read anything What are
YOU reading BoliEgbroOk2 Andrew Jack
son Davis trIcts? TyndaIFs Glasgow
University address? Drop them and run.
You will he an infidel before you die. IN
less YOU Quit that. These men of Al will
be too much for You. Turn your back on
The rank and file OF unbelief Fly before
they cut you with their swords and trans
fix you with their javelins. There are
reople Wh2 have been weil-nigh ruined
because they risked a foOlhardy expeii-
ton ir the presence Of mighty and over
EhelmiaS temptations, and the men Of Al
made a morning meal Of them.
yjcior- Who Fell Back.
so. also. there Is victorious retreat In
The religious world. Thousa nds OF times
the kingdom OF Christ has seemed to fall
back. When The blood Of tte Scotch
Covenanters gave q deeper dye 10 the
heather Of the Highlands; when the Vau-
doIs OF France chose determination rather
than make an Un-ChTistian surrender;
when on 81. Bartholomew Day. mounted
sassins rode through the streets OF
Paris. crying: XIII, BloOd-letting Is good
Ia August, XIII, Death 10 the Hugue-
nOts, XIII when Lady Jane Grey's head