The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-12-31

discourse of DR.. Talmage rebukes AFRO
gance, it encourages humanity and shows
how the evening of life may be bright
ened. The text is / Kings Xxx, II, Let
not him that girdeth on his harness boast
himself as he that putteth il off"
Harness is the obsolete word for armor.
1t means harness for the man, not har-
ness for the beast; harness for battle, not
harness for the plow. The ancient armor
consisted of helmet for the head. breast
plate and shield for the heart, greayes
for the feet The text makes a compari-
son between a man enlisting for some
war and n vete.ln returning, the one
putting on the armor and the other put
ting IL off.
Benhadad, the king of Syria. thought
he could easily overcome the king OF
Israel. Indeed. the Syrian was SO sure
Of the victory that he spread an antebel-
lum banquet. With t~hirty-two kings he
was celebrating what they were going TO
do. There were in all thi~rty-three kings
at the carousal, and their condition is de-
scribed in the Bible not as convivial or
stimulated exaltation. but drunk. Their
gilded and hammered pavilions were sur
rounded by high melted horses, neighing
and champing, and hitched to chariots
such as kings rode in. Benhadad sends
! officers over to the king of Israel demand
ing the surrender of the city. saying,
Thou shalt deliver me thy silver and
thy gold and thy wives and thy children"
and afterward sends other officers, say
ing that the palace of the king will be
searched and everything Benhadad wants
lie will take without asking. Then the
king Of Israel called a council of war,
and word is sent back to Benhadad that
his unreasonable demand will be resisted.
Then Benhaded sends another message
20 the king of Israel. a message full of
arrogance and bravado. practically say
ing: 1--WE will destroy you utterly. l
will grind Samaria into the dust, but
there will not be dust enough to make q
handful for each one of my troops" Then
the king Of Israel replied to B%enhadad,
practically saying: Let me see you dc
what you say. You royal %braggart, you
might better nave postponed your BAN
quet until after the battle instead Of
spreading it before the battle. You huzza
too soon. Let not him that girdeth ON
his harness boast himself as he that put
teth IL off,"
An avalanche OF courage and righteous
ness, the Israelitish army came down on
Benhadad and his host. 1t was a hand to
hand fight, each Israelite hewing down a
Syrian. Benhadad, on horseback, gets
away with some of the cavalry, but is
only saved for a worse defeat, in which
100000 Syrian infantry were slaughtered
in one day. Now we see the sarcasm and
the epigrammatic power Of the message
of my text sent by the king of Israel to
Benhadad, Let not him that girdeth on
bis harness boast himself as he that put
teth it off"
Pride Gocth Before q Fall.
All up and down history we see such
too early boasting. Soult. the marshal of
France, was so certain that he would
conquer that he had a proclamation print
ed announcing himself king of Portugal
and had q grand feast prepared for 4
o'clock that afternoon, but before that
hour he fled in ignominious defeat, and
Wellington of the conquering host sat
down at 4 o'clock at the very banquet the
marshal of France had ordered for him
self. Charles V. invaded France and was
so sure of conquest that he requested
Paul Jovius, the historian, to gather to-
gether a large amount of paper on which
to write the story of his many victories,
but disease and famine seized upon his
troopers, and he retreated in dismay. So
Benhadad's behavior has been copied in
all ages of the world. 1t will be my OBJ
ject, among other lessons, to show that
| he who puts off the armor, having mist
ed the battle, is more to be congratulated
than he who begins.
First, / find encouragement in this sub
ject for the aged who have got through
the work and struggle Of earthly life. My
venerable friends. if you had at twenty
five years Of age full appreciation of what
you would have to go through in the thir-
ties and the forties and the ffties Of your
lifetime you would have been appalled,.
Fortunately the bereavements. the temp
t~ations, the prosecutions, the hardships.
were %curtained from your sight. With
more or less fortitude you passed through
the crises of pain and sadness and diSap-
pointmeEt and fatigue and still live 10 re-
count the divine help thai sustained you.
At twenty or thirty years Of your age al
the tap of the drum you put on the har
ness. Now, at sixty or seventy or eighty.
you are peacefully putting il off You
would not want to try the battle of life
over again. So many OF just your tenn
permanent and with as good a starting
and as fine a parentage and seemingly
with as much equipoise OF character as
you had have made complete shipwrcck
that you would not want again to run the
risks. Though you can look back and scc
Amy mistakes, the next time you might
make worse mistakes. Instead Of being
depressed over the fact that you are being
counted out or omitted in the great IN
dertakings OF the church and the world.
rejoice that you have a right TO hang up
your helmet and sheathe your sword and
free your hands from the Sauntlets and
yOur feet from the boots of mail.
Glad TO BE at Peace.
AZ the Soldiers home in the suburbs OF
this city | often admire the peaceful and
contented looks OF the venerable heroes as
they sit under the trees or go in and ont
the fine abode that our government has
appropriately provided for them. They
are not longing for other Chapultepecs.
They do not want TO undertake another
South Mountain. Their foot does not
ache to get into the stirrup Of the caval-
ryman. They are not longing for the hard
tack Of the soldiers breakfast along the
~Chickahominy. They have no desire for