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

and are In pursuit Oh these scattered,
or seemingly scattered, regiments.
Joshua stands OF a rock-I see his
locks flying in the wind as he points
his spear toward the doomed city, and
that is the signal. The men rush out
and il Is put to b torch and then
these Israelites in city march down,
and the flying Israeiites return. and
between these two waves of Israelftish
prowess the men of Al are destroyed,
and h Israehtes gain b victory;
and while 1 see h curling smoke Of
that destroyed city On the sky, and
while / heal the huzZa of the Israeiites
and the groan Of the Canaanftes,
Joshua hears something louder than il
all, ringing and echoing through his
soul, There shall not any a be able
to stand before thee all the days Of thy
life"
NO PLACE TO STOP.
But this is no place for the host Of
Joshua TO stop. Forward, marchi"
cries Joshua to the troops. There is the
city of Gideon. IL has put itself under
the protection of joshua They send
word: There are five kings after us.
troops quick. Send us help right
away" Joshua has a three days
march, more than CUB quick. On the
morning of the third day he is before
the enemy. There ere two long lines
of battle. The battle opens with great
slaughter, but the Canaanites soon dis
cover something. They say: That is
Joshua. That is the man who conquer
ed the spring freshCt and knocked
own the stone walls Of Jericho and de-
Stroyed h city of Al. There is no use
fighting" They sound a retreat, and
as they begin to retreat Joshua n his
host spring upon them like a panther,
pursuing them over the rocks, while
the catapults of the sky pour a volley
of hailstoneS into the valley, and all
the artillery of h heavens, with bull
let's of iron, pound the Canaanites
against the lodges of Bethoron. oh"
says Joshua, this is surely a victory"
But do you not see the sun is going
down? Those Amorites are going to
get away after all, and then they will
come up some other time and bother
sun is going down. Oh, for a longer
day han "a yer been seen in this
climate!" What is the matter with
joshua? Has he fallen in an apoplec-
tic fit? No. He is in prayer.
Look out when a good man makes
the Lord his ally. Joshua raises his
face, radiant with prayer, and looks at
the descending sun over Gideon and at
the faint crescent OF the moon, for you
hlIOW llS quScI VI Tie light SollIellIllCo
will lineer around the palaces of the
day. Pointing one hand at the de-
scending sun n the other hand at the
faint crescent of the moon, in the name
of that God who shaped the worlds
n owe the worlds he cries: Sun,
stand thou still upon Gideon, and thou,
moon, in the valley of Ajalon!" They
halted. Whether it was by refraction
of the suns rays or by the stopping Of
the whole planetry system 1 do not
know and do not care. / leave it to the
Christian Scientists and the infidel
scientists to settle that question, while
/ tell you L have seen the same thing.
"What?" say you. Not the sun stand
ing still?" Yes. The same miracle is
performed nowadays. The wicked do
not live out half their day, and their
sun sets at noon. Bat let a man start
III in battle for God and the truth and
against sin, and the day of his useful
ness is prolonged and prolonged and
prolonged.
JOHN SUMMERFIELD'S INFLU-
ENCE.
John Summerfield was a
tive Methodist. He looked fearfully
white, l am told. as he stood in the old
Sands Street church in Brooklyn
preaching Christ and again on the an
niversary platform in New York plead
iiS III Liz DlpiC uhlh iuobo ciNt
unknown glories rolled forth from that
book. When he was dying, his pillow
was brushed with the wings of an an
gle from the skies. the messenger that
God sent down. Did job INN
fields sun set? Did John Summer
feds day end? Oh, no., He lives on
in his burning utterances in behalf OF
the Christian church. He said: Il can
not die now, 1 am only q years of age
Sun of my Christian influence, stand
thou still above America!" And il
stood still.
Robert McCheyne was a conSumptive
Presbyterian. 1t was said W. he
preached he coughed so it seemed as
if he would never preach again. His
name is fragrant in all ChriStendom.
name is mightier today than was
ever his living presence. He lived to
preach the gospel in Aberdeen, Endin-
burgh and Dundee, but he went away
very early. He preached himself into
the grave. Has Robert M~cCheyne's
sun set? Is Robert McCheye's day
ended? Oh, no! His dying delirum
was filled with prayer, and when he
lifted his hand to pronounce the bene-
diction upon his family n h
diction upon his country he seemed to
say: II cannot die now. l want to
live on and on. I want to start an in