The Tupelo journal., 1904-09-30

D UT the greatest battlefield which
u Heaven or earth has seen is that
which is found within the human soul
On that place of conflict have been
fought out questions and issues which
have @ do not only with time but with
eternity. Every soul knows what this
conflict means. Some have more deS-
perate battles to fight than others;
some have to wage the silent warfare
within until the very life'S blood seems
to be forcing its way through the sweat
glands, and the anguish of spirit would
crush out the very life; while others
experience the ordinary battles, and
know sometimes defeat and sometimes
victory. The few endure the supreme
conflicts, but all experience the inner
fghtings and strivings. The soul is q
constant battle-ground. 1t is the place
where man decides the great issues OF
life and eternity. 1t is the place from
which there sounds forth the cry OF
defeat or victory. Never did warrior
on battlefield. as he contended hand to
hand with the determined foe. realize
more fully what conflict means than
does the soul 10 which m the bitter
strife. the contending of the forces of
good and evil. 1t is within the soul
that a mar decides whether self or
God shall rule: it is within the soul
that desire and duty wage their des-
perate strife; it is within the soul that
righteousness contends with UPRIGHT
~eousness. truth with error, Gods spirit
with the spirit of the evil one. We all
know what it means to speak of the
soul as a battle-ground. 1t is a scene
of conflict from which man can never
separate himself. The worlds battle
fields change, here to-day and there to-
morrow, and seldom is a second battle
fought upon the same ground and over
the Same issue, but the greatest of all
battlefields. the human soul, is the con-
slant recurring scene of warfare, and
over and over again the soul finds it
must fight against the besetting sin,
the prevailing weakness, the persistent
temptation.
THIS conflict began away back in the
beginning, when Adam and Eve
fought out the issue OF good and evil
in the garden and met defeat because
they left God out of their reckoning.
The record of that battle has come
down to us through the ages. and ev-
cry life since then has come under the
shadow of that defeat. Adams defeat
has brought all the human race under
the dominion of sin and death. But
ever as by one man sin entered into
the world and death by sin, Sc by one
man, the man Christ Jesus, there came
life and salvation into the world by His
victory owe sin and death. How the
nation looks for the hero who shall
deliver it from the bondage of the OPP
p~ressor! A David for Israel; a Wei
Iington for Europe; a Washington for
America; a Garcia for Cuba. And as
nations in bondage need a deliverer,
so the human race under the bondage
of sin needed a deiiverer. Jesus was to
fight over again the battle where Adam
lost and thus bring back to man the
purity and the blessing which he lost
I'm Adam. The supreme defeat of the
ages was that which took place in the
garden at the dawn of human history.
The supreme victory was that which
was won by the Son of God when He
came into the world, and endured all
the foundations and trials to which
man is subject and yet without sin,
His first victory was a personal one
aver sin His second victory was the
victory over death. His first victory
prepared Him to become the worlds
saviour. and brought Him to that sec
ond battlefield where the ~deliverance OF