Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1902-01-02


struck celebrating the conquest. which
he never made. On that medal ives
represented his own crowned head,
Wilberforce did not tell what he was
going to do with the slave trade, but
how much he accomplished Is suggest
ed by Lord Brougham's remark con-
corning Wilberforce after his decease,
He went to heaven with 100000 brok-
en- letters in his hand" The only kind
of Boosting that prospers was that OF
Paul who cried out, II glory in the
cross of Christi" and that OF John
Newton, who declared, 81 am not what
l ought to be; l am not what | wish
to be; l am not what / hope to be,
but. by the grace of God. / am not
what | was"
Do not boast OF your moral strength.
Better underrate than overrate our
selves.
My subject Is $50 a refutation Of the
famous sentiment that God Is on the
side Of the heaviest artillery. God Is
not on the side of the most swords
or the most war chariots or the most
on the side of the right. How such
preposterous sentiment as have men
toned should have gained sway /
know not when all history proclaims
the opposite. How insignificant were
the unarmed Israelites, half starved
and unorganized, compared with
Pharaohs host on foot, on horseback
- ~ hn
Red sea took part in the conflict. part
ing to let the pursued pass, but COM
ing together to destroy the pursuers.
The Midianites and Amalekites were
like grasshoppers for multitudes, but
800 men under Gideon came down,
their ownly weapons pitchers and
lamps and trumpets, and as they held
up the lamps and threw down the
pitchers and blew the trumpets the
flash of the lights and the blare OF the
instruments and the crash of the
crockery made their enemy fall back
in wild terror.
Notice also that my text takes 1t for
granted that you must put on the har-
ness, else how can you take it OFF? Life
is a battle-a thirty years, forty
years or a sixty years war Every
possible effort will be made to make
you think wrong The young man
who gets his head filled with wrong
notions about God, about Christ, about
the soul, about the great beyond, is
already captured. Think right. and
you will act right. Keep the heart
pure, and the life will be pure. Have
the heart corrupt, and your actions
will be corrupt.
Young man, see that you have on a
complete armor. All looks bright now,
and it seems as if you could march
right on without opposition or attack,
but be not deceived There are hidden
foes ready TO halt you on your way.
The same cup that Benhadad drank
out OF just before his defeat will be Of
fered to effect your defeat. What work
Benhadad's cup made for Benhahad's
army! What shipwrecks on the sea,
what disasters on the land, caused by
inflaming liquids put upon the tongue
to set seething the bralnl 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 rode! Give them to me-"
says the demon of inebriacy. Give
them to me; hand them down-the
brightest legislators OF the land.
will thicken their tongue | will bloat
their cheeks; will stagger their step;
l will damn their soul. Hand them
down to me-"
We hold our breath in horror as
once in awhile We hear OF someone,
either by accident or suicide. going over
Niagara Falls, but the tides, the
depths, the awful surges OF intemper-
ance, are even hour OF every day
rushing scores OF immortals down Into
unfathomed abysm. Suicides by the
hundreds OF thousands! Suicides by
the million! Beware OF the cup out OF
which Benhadad drank personal and
national demolition.
Yes, you must have full armor.
There are temptations to an impure
life all the time multiplying and in
tensifying. Read in private and dis
cussed 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 inhdelity
OF behavior put in a way to excite SYM
patty and half approval. My wonder
is not that so many go astray but my
wonder is that ten times as many are
not debauched. There are influences
at work which, II unarrested. will turn
our cities into Sodoms and Gomorrahs
ready for the hail and fire and brim-
stone of Gods indignation.
Yes. you must have full armor. for
there are all the temptations to gam
ing practices, either In gambling halls
or in the money markets, buying what
o..