Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1902-12-19
GLORY OF CRISES
It Is Manifested In the Deliverances
Which God Sends.
Mans Part, Then, Is To Stand still,
While God Fights for Eim-Ser-
mon by the "Highyvay and
Byvyay'' Preacher.
Copyright, 1902, by the A. N. Kellogg
Newspaper Company


Newspaper Company
Chicago, Dec. A. 1902.
Text: Stand still, and see the saliva
ton of the Lord. The Lord shall fight
for you and We shall hold your peace. -
Elk. 14:13-14
Man breads crises. God delights in
them. Man likes to feel that he IS
master of the situation. God wisely
leads the way, sometimes between
the mountain and the deep sea, anI
permits the enemy to cut off retreat
= in the rear, so that His glory can be
manifested and His power realized
in the deliverance wrought. The
words of our text were spoken to the
children of Israel during one of the
most trying crises in their history. It
is the third day since they have
fled from the cruel bondage IN
Egypt. They are on the edge of the
desert, and a short distance moro
in. their journey will carry them be-
yond the pursuing chariots of Pha-
raoh. And when confidence is grow
ing strong in their breasts that they
are safe, suddenly the cloudy pillar
veers to the southwark and leads
them between the mountains and the
sea, and as the afternoon wears away
and the sun sinks to rest the NOUN
tains on the right hand cast their
deep shadow of gloom over the long,
irregular column of helpless men,
women and children, and on the left
hand the roar and splash of the sea
are heard. Suddenly upon their ears
breaks the dull rumble of the on
crushing chariots of the pursuing
Egyptians, and their straining eyes
penetrate the fading light of the
: evening, and make out in the dis
lance the advancing enemy. Escape
seems impossible. They are panic
stricken, and in agony of fear they
turn upon Moses and begin to up
braid and abuse him.
Here was trying crisis, indeed!
The. vengeful enemy threatening
them in the rear, the walls of rock
and the rolling sea on either hand.
and rebellion in the camp. In the
face Of such awful peril, but, with
eye fixed on that pillar of cloud,
which was even now beginning to
glow with light as the darkness set
tied down around them, Moses
showed sublime confidence in God as
he calmly speaks: Gear not, stand
still, and see the salvation of the
Lord, which He will shew to you to-
day: for the Egyptians whom ye
have seen to-day, We shall see them
again no more forever. The Lord
shall fight for you, and We shall hold
your peace And then follows the
mighty deliyerance of the children of
Israel from their peril, and the ut
ter destruction of the enemy of God
and Gods people.
An f1,rilI 0f L; c41
from the pages of Gods Book has it's
lessons for you and for me-Crises
and the glory which shines out of
them # Gods hand is leading, and
His power. controlling. There are
crucial periods in the lives of every
individual and every nation which
mark the complete breaking away
5 from old conditions and the entrance
upon "a larger liberty. The crisis
comes at the point where it is uncer-
tain whether the one who has been
led out will surrender to the pursu-
= ing enemy and go back to the land
of bondage and to a worse slavery
than ever before, or whether in the
gathering gloom, with the relentless
foe pressing upon him, he will lift
his eyes to the glowing cloudy pillar
OF. the Divine presence and stand
still and watch for the salvation of
the Lord, which never fails to come.
Watching for the Crisis.-I under
stand that in cases of typhoid fever
the careful physician exercises the
greatest precautions in detecting the
crisis in the disease, for carelessness
and failure to note the true con6i-
stion of the patient might bring about
a fatal issue. He watches for the ap-
proach of the crisis, and so is. prepared
for it when it comes. There is peril
in not discovering the crisis. A
sleeping nurse and careless doctor
would miss the critical period. There
is peril for you and for me in not
discovering the crisis as it comes to
us in hfe's experiences. The sleeping
conscience and the careless mind will
make us miss the critical period.
The crisis came in the life of Saul
when at Gi1ga1 he usurped the priest
iy Office and offered burnt Offering
before the Lord. His sleeping con-
science was not sensitive towards
God and it permitted his careless
mind to plunge him heedlessly on to
holy ground. He was not watching.
The crisis came when he little
dreamed 1t was there. Hardly had
he completed his sacrifice of burnt
. offering when Samuel. Gods prophet
and priest, came. Oh, what an
eternity of difference few moments
make in q life, sometimesi Saul, the
king, by the amounting of the Lord.
with the possibility of perpetuating
line of kings through his posterity!
Saul, the rejected one, because he
was not watching for the crisis and