The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-01-15

dent that with his superior numbers ne
could defeat the King of Israel and cap.
ture maria that he left the work for a
shc .ernoon. He is at noon in wassall
W ..ls royal associates. The battle OF
: terioo was not opened until twenty.
was because the ground was too wet to
move the artillery. Benhadad waits until
afternoon because he is overconhdent.
God is not on the side of the most swords
or the most war .chariots or the most can.
non if they be in the wrong, but on the
side of the right. How such a preposter.
GUS sentiment as nave mentioned should
have gained sway I know not when all his.
tory proclaims the opposite. Describing
the very next battle in which Benhadad
fought and was miserably defeated, the
Bible says, tThe children Of Israel pitched
before them like two little focks Of kids,
but the Syrians filled the country" How
insignificant were the ularmed 1sraehtes,
with Pharaoh's host on foot, on horseback
and chapioted! But the waves of the Red
Sea took part in the conflict. parting. to
let the pursued pass, but coming together
to destroy the pursuers. The Midianites
and Amalekites were like grasshoppers for
multitudes, but 300 men under Gideon
came down, their only weapons pitchers
and lamps and trumpets, and as they held
I'D the lamps and threw down the pitch
ers and blew the trunpets the flash of the
lights and blare of the instruments and the
crash of the crockery made their enemy
fall back in wild terror.
Young man, see that you have on com.
plete armor All looks bright now, and it
seems as if you could march right on with.
out opposition or attack but be 1ot de.
ceived. There are hidden foes ready. to
halt you on your way. The same cup that
Benhadad drank out OF just before his de-
feat will be offered to effect your defeat!
His intoxicated brain saw victory when
there was nothing but rout and ruin.
hadad's army! What shipwrecks on the
sea, what disasters on the land caused BY
inaaming liquids put upon the tongue to
set seething the brain! How many kings
of thought and influence, with crowns
brighter than the one Benhadad wore,
have by strong drink been put into fight
as base as that in which Benhadad rodel
"Give them to me-" says the demon Of in.
ebriacy. "Give them to me; hand them
down-the brightest legislators Of the land.
I will thicken their tongue; l will bloat
their cheek; will stagger their step; ]
will damn their soul. HAND. them down
to me-the physician out of his laboratory,
the attorney from the courtroom, the min
Hand them down to me, the Queens of the
drawing room, and will disgrace their
names and blast their homes and throw
them down farther than Jezebel fell to the
dogs that crunched her carcass"
Yes, you must have full armor. There
are temptations to an impure life all the
time multiplying and intensifying. Read
in private and discussed afterward by the
refined and elegant in parlors are books
poisoned from lid to lid with impurities.
Loose characters in the novel applauded
by rhetorical pens and proprieties of life
caricatured as prudery and infdelity of be.
havior put in way to excite sympathy
and half approval. My wonder is not that
so many 90 astray,, but my wonder is that
ten times as many are not debauched.
Young man, put on the entire gospel out
fit. If you have come from the country to
live in the city, initiate the. example of
young man who arrived in New York on
Saturday night, intending the following
Monday to enter his place of employment.
On Sunday morning, carrying out the good
advice before leaving his country home, he
went to church. Standing at the door he
was abashed as the beauty and fashion
and wealth swept through the doors OF
the sanctuary, and he dared not 60 In, As
he was about turning to 60 away gentle:
man said Have you a seat, young man,
.%No, SIR DO you belong in mt the - city, ~,
the country" "How long have you been
"What are you going to do here"
hope to 20 into business tomorrow"
"That h right. You have begun well,
young man. Never forsake the God OF
your fathers. Come, will give You seat
in my pew" The next morning the young
man presented his letter in business cir:
cles. "What do you want, young man? J"
said the Scotch merchant. II want to get
credit on some leather, upper and sole"
"Have' you references" "I think / can
get references. My father has. friends
here" Young man, did not see you yes.
terday in Mr.. Leno1's pew i do not not
gentleman, asked me to sit in his pew"
Eyes, young man, that was Robert Lenox.
I will trust any one that Mr.. Lenox invites
into his pew. You need not trouble your.
self about references. When these goods
are gone come and get more" That young
man became an eminent merchant, and
more. than that, Christian merchant, and
he attributed all his success to that first
Sabbath in the CITY, Young man just ar.
rived, put yourself under good influences
your first day in town. There hangs your
helmet. Take it down. There is your
breastplate. Adjust it. There is all the
harness for safety and triumph. Put it on.
Also see in my subject the folly OF un.'
derestimating the enemy. That was Ben
hadad's fatal mistake. He could whip
than half day to capture Samaria and
make the King of Israel capitulate. But
what he thought was SO easy turned out
to be the impossible. Better overestimate
than underestimate the other side. We
who are trying to make the world what il
ought to be contend not with homuncull.
We wrestle not with striplings. We have
a whole army of antagonists trying to halt
the King of God and overthrow the calse
of Righteousness.
If we secure the victory, it will be
struggle as fierce as when Darius and
Alexander grappled each other at .Arbela,
as when Joan of Arc rode triumphant at
Orleans, as when the Russians met thi
Swedes at Poltara, as when Marlborough
commanded the allied armies at Blen.
helm. Those were fights for earthly
crowns and dominions, but the fight that
of heaven and all the allied armies of hell
is to settle whether God or Satan Is to
have possession of this planet.
I congratulate all those who ere now IN
the thickest Of life's battles that the time
is coming when the struggle will end and
you will put the harness off, helmet and
greaves and breastplate having fulfilled
their mission. You cannot in one visit to
London Tower see all. You must go again
and again to that place, which is associated
with the story of Lady Jane Grey and
Anne Boleyn and Walter Raleigh and Sir
Thomas More. You will see the crowns
of kings and queens, the robe worn by the
Black Prince, and silver baptismal fonts