The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1900-05-17

ANOs 4 -
of celestial and terrestrial valor moth.
ing is left of them save just enough to
illustrate the direful overthrow of hell
and our Joshua's eternal victory. On
his head be all the crowns. In his
hands be all the scepters. At his feet
be all the human hearts; and here,
Lord. is one of them.
Lesson the second: The triumph Of
the wicked is short. Did you ever see
an army in panic? There is nothing
SO uncomfortable. If you had stood at
Long bridge, Washington, during the
opening of our civil war, you would
know what it is to see an army run.
And when those men of All looked out
and saw those men of Joshua in stam-
pede they expected easy work. They
would scatter them as the equinox the
leaves. Oh, the gleeful and jubilant de-
scent of the men of All upon the men Of
Joshua! But their exhilaration was
brief, for the tide of battle turned, and
these quondam conquerors left their
miserable carcasses in the wilderness
| of Bethaven. So it always is. The tri-
umph of the wicked is short. You
| make $40, 600 at the gaming table. Do
you expect to keep it? You will die in
the poorhouse. You made fortune
by iniquitous traffic. Do you expect to
keep it? Your money will scatter, or
it will stay long enough to curse your
children after you are dead. Call over
the roll of bad men who prospered and
see how short was their prosperity.
For awhile, like the men of All, they
went from conquest to conquest, but
after awhile disaster rolled back upon
them, and they were divided into three
parts. Misfortune took their property,
the grave took their body and the lost
world took their soul.
Lesson the third: How much may be
accomplished by lying in ambush for
opportunities. Are you hypercritical
Of Joshua's maneuver? Do you say
that it was cheating for him to take
that city by ambuscade? Was it wrong
for Washington to kindle campfires on
Jersey heights, giving the impression
to the opposing force that . great
army was encamped there when there
was none at all? Ianswer, if the war
was right, then Joshua was right in his
stratagem. He violated no flag Of
/, truce. He broke no treaty. but by q
i. lawful ambuscade captured tho city
of Al. Oh, that we all knew how to lie
in ambush for opportunities to 4erve
God. The best of our opportunities do
not lie on the surface, but are secreted.
By tact, by stratagem, by Christian
ambuscade, you may take almost any
castle of sin for Christ. Come up to-
ward men with a regular besiegement
, of argument and you will be defeated,
but just wait until the door OF their
hearts is set ajar, or they are OF their
, guard, or their severe caution is away
! from home, and then drop in on them
: from a Christian ambuscade. There
has been many man up to his chin IN
: scientific portfolios which proved
there was no Christ and no divine
revelation, his pen q scimiter flung
! into the heart of theological op
ponents, who nevertheless has beer
discounted and captured for God by
some little three-year-Old child who
has got up and put her snowy arms
J: around his sinewy neck and asked
some simple question about God.
). / have heard it said: Look ont for 1
3 man who has only one idea; he is ire
3 sistible." I say look out for the mar
+ who has one idea, and that determine
tion for soul-saving. / believe Got
! would strike me dead if dared ii
point the spear in any other direction
Oh, for some of the courage and en-
o thusiasm OF Joshua! He flung two
e armies from the tip of that spear. i
n is sinful for us to rest unless it is TO &c
stronger muscle and fresher brain ant
u purer heart for Gods work.
e / believe that the next year will b.
e the most stupendous year that Heavei
l. ever saw. The nations are quakinl
q now with the coming of God. It will b
a year of successes for the men o
II Joshua, but of doom for the men Of Al
r You put your ear to the rail track, an,
le you can hear the train coming mjle
4 away. So put my ear to the ground
and I hear the laundering on Of tn
Is lightning train of Gods mercies ant
x judgments. The mercy of God is frs
L to be tried upon this nation. 1t vii
's be preached in the pulpits, in theateri
on the streets-everywhere. Peopl
ne will be invited to accept the mercy Q
u the Gospel, and the story and the SON
le and the prayer will be mercy" Bu
= suppose they do not accept the offe
10 Of mercy-what then? Then God wi
oi come with His judgments, and th
" grasshoppers will eat the crops, and tn
"a freshets will devastate the valleys, an
rs the defalcations will swallow til
OF money markets, and the fires will bur
H. the cities, and the earth will quai
" from pole to pole. Year Of mercies az
60 Of judgments; year Of invitation an
On of warning; year of jubilee and ,
- woe. Which side are you going to
'e- on-with the men of All or the men