The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1900-11-28
J0SHUA'S BATTLES,
Ta|mags Draws from thar Les
sons in Christian W2''ara.
ENCOURAGING WORDS
For Those Ecgsged In the Bat
ties OF Life. ood's Sol
djsrs Never Turn Back
ward.

ward.
In this discourse Dr.. Talnage fol
lows Joshua on his triunphal march
and speaks encouraging words to all
who are engaged in the battles 0, this
life; text, Joshuai, 5, There shall not
any man be able to stand before thee
all the days Of thy life. > .,,;
Moses was dead a beau:itut rTsei-
ton says the Lord kissed HIN ana ID
that act drew forth the soul of the dy-
ing isvsi7er. He had been 5u:lea,
onIv ore person a the funeral, the
same one who kissed him. But God
never takes nsn away from any place
Of usefulDess until he has some one
ready to replace him, Tie Lord does
not 60 looking around amid great Va
riety of candidates to fod some one
especially fitted for the vacated posi-
tion. BE makes man for that place
Moses has passed off the stage, aud
Joshua, the hero, puts bis foot on the
platform of history 50 solidly tha: al
the ages echo with the tread. He WAS
8 magnificent fighter, but ne always
fouxht on the right side, aud he never
fought unless God told him to fight.
he got his military equipment from
God, who gave him the promise st the
start, There shall notsoy msn be ahie
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 Tl,h store
wall. the next leading on q regiment OF
whipped towards ard the mex: ostiiing
against darkness, wheeling the sun aaG
the moon into his battalion, and the
last against the king Of ser:ors, death
Ave great victories.
AS a rule when the general OF an
army starts out in war he wou.c like
to hs7e small battle in o-d5r that he
may get his own COURAGE up ard rally
his troops and get them drilled for grea:
er conflicts, but the first undertaking
Of Joshua was greater THAI the iev2ilng
Of Fort Pulaski, or the assault OF G,b
raltar, or the overthrow Of the Bastl.le.
It was the crossing Of the Jordan a.
the time Of the spring fresbet. The
SHOWS Of Mount Lebanon had just been
melting, and they poured down into
the valley, aud the whole valley wa5 a
raging torrent. So the Canaaritcs
stand on one bank, and they look across
and see Joshua and the Israelites, and
thew lsueh and say: "Aha, they oaN-
not disturb US until the freshets fall: 1t
isimpossible for them toresch US. But
after awhile they look across the water,
and they see a movement in the army
Of Joshua. They say: What IS the
matter now? Why, there must be a
panic among those troops, and they are
going to fly, or perhaps they are going
to try to march across the river Jordan
Joshua is . luoatic." B1tJ Joshua, the
ehieftain, looks at his army and cries,
Forward, march" and they s,aEt for
the bank of the Jordan. Oae mile
ahead go two priests carrying glitter
ing box four feet long two feet wide.
It is the ark of the covenant. And
they come down, and no sooner DO they
Just touch the rim of the water with
their feet than, BY az Almighty fiat.
Jordan parts. The army of joshua
marches right on withou: getting their
feet wet, over the bottom Of the river,
path of chalk and broken shells and
pebbles, until they get to the other
bank. Then they lay hold Of the clean
ders and tanarisks and willows and
pull themselves up bank 80 or ~ feet
high, and having gained the other
bank they clap their shields au6 their
cymbals and sing the praises of the GHd
Of Joshua. But no sooner have they
reached the bank than the waters be
gin to dash and rear, and with terrific
rush they break loose from their strange
anchorage.
As the hand of the Lord God is
taken sway from the thus upl,fted wat
ers-waters perhaps uplifted half a
mile-they rush doHn, and some OF the
unbelieving Israeiites say: Alas,
alas, what a misfortune! Why could not
those waters have staid parted? Because
perhaps we may want to 50 back. D
Lord, We are engaged in risky bust
ness. Those Canaanites may eat Us
up. How if We wanttog go back? Would
it not have been more complete mira
Gle if the Lord had parted the warsEs
to let US come through 81! kept them
parted to let US 90 back il we are de-
feated?" My friends, God makes no
provision for Christian retreat. He
clears the path all the way to Canaan.
To 60 back is to die. The same gale
keepers that swung back tbs amethys-
tine AMI crystalline gste Of the Jordan
to let Israel pass through now swing
shut the ameshystine and crystalline
gate Of the Jordan to keep the Israelites
from going back. Victory ahead, bat
water 80 feet deep behind, surging to
death and darkness and woe. Bat you
say, ''Why did not these Csnsanites,
when they had such a spleadid chance,
standing on the top Of the bank 80 or
40 feet high, completely demolisb ose
poor Israeiites down in thc |
will tell you why. 9 a
promise, aud he
There sh,
stand oef9-e saees- ~ y
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