The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1907-11-15

good name. save me for the honor OF
my family" Then II was as though
by miraculous power You were
saved You found the slip of paper
which held the link TO the chain of
financial evidence. or the man who
had stolen the money from the trust
fund returned II. And when all seem
ed lost God saved you by the adyanc
ing rear guard FOR "the God of
Israel Will be your rereward."
Or perhaps your great trouble OF life
came TO you as 1t has come 20 many of
us. Under false pretenses you were
persuaded TO take a certain position.
No sooner were you installed I'm that
position than you became involved In a
fight over which you had no control
You found that you were the center of
two bitter factions. You dared not
run. That would be cowardly. To
stand still made you the inheritor of
long years Of discord and dissension.
What were you TO do7 Where were
you 10 go7 Conditions seemed TO grow
worse every minute. Then when all
seemed lost God sent forward his rear
guard. Then Il was that the divine
aid manifested Itself Oh. my brother,
can YOU not thank God that he has
come to your aid i'm the great eXigcn-
cles Of life? Have you not four or
five distinct remembrances of when
YOU have been saved by him, ms #
were. by the breadth Of a hairi
But there is another great fact about
this rear guard. 1t is always COM
posed Of the best soldiers I'm the army.
Its numbers may not be very large.
II may be comprised as an old soldier
told me. Of only two brigades ont Of
three whole divisions. But IL is made
up Of true and tried veterans. For
those who compose the rear guard
must have proved themselves able 90
stand the test. So | have always felt
that God has for us a rear guard made
up OF the best Christian forces we
have ever known. They are the good
men and the women who have stood
behind MS ever since we were born.
And during the great moral and spirit
ual struggles. in Gods name ms well
ms in the name Of infinite love. they
have always come TO our rescue.
But there IL another impressive fact
about Gods reserves. As the Divine
Commander has detailed certain saint
ed spirits Of the past and present To
aid us in the battle Of life, so God
would detail us 10 be spiritual rear
guards for some OF our dear ones.
What our Christian mothers and
fathers and sisters and brothers have
been TO us we shall be 10 our children
and our friends. There are spiritual
lives depending upon us as our spirit
ual welfare has depended upon the
faithfulness Of others in the past And.
oh, my friends. what an awful eternal
calamity is going to befall some of
those who are near and dear 10 us If
we do not do our duty TO them as their
spiritual rear guard
God has sent you, o man and woman
to be a spiritual rear guard for your
/ fellow men.
Are you doing for others as your
Christian parents and friends in the
past have done for you? Thus Isaiah
700 years before Christ was born in
the Bethlehem stable is enunciating in
the words of my text the same gospel
truth as Paul. the greatest Of the apps
ties. taught in the sixth chapter of
Galatians. The scenes are almoS'
identical. They both represent a strus
gle God. the great commando H
chief. is detailing us to certain dutir.
Thus Paul. as he sees a great lua'
upon our back. says, Every man -'1l
bear his own burden" That mr7n
God expects us TO stand in the dil.ru
places on the line Of battle.