Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-11-15


door ana knelt 10y your bed and said:
20 God thou knowest l am honesti
Thou knowcst have done no wrong
Thou alone canst help me. Save my
cool name Save me for the honor of
my family" Then 1t 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 it. And when all seem
ed lost God saved you by the advanc-
ing rear guard" for 1.-The God OF
Israel will be your rereward."
Great Lies Trouble.
Or perhaps your great trouble of life
came TO you as IL has come to many OF
US. Under false pretenses you were
persuaded to take a certain position.
No sooner were you installed in that
position than you became involved I'm 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
What were you to do? Where were
you to go? Conditions seemed to grow
worse every minute. Then when all
seemed lost God sent forward bis rear
guard. Then it was that the divine
aid manifested itself. Oh, my brother,
can you not thank God that he has
come to your aid in the great exigen.
cies Of life? Have you not four or
Eve distinct remembrances of when
you have been saved by him, as II
were, by the breadth OF hair2
But there is another great fact about
this rear guard. 1t is always COM
posed of the best soldiers In the army.
Its numbers may not be very large
1t may be comprised. as an old soldier
told me, of only two brigades out of
three whole divisions. But it is made
up of true and tried veterans. For
those who compose the rear guard
must have proved themselves able to
stand the test. So have always felt
that God has for US 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 us ever since we were born.
And during the great moral and spirit.
nal struggles, in Gods name as well
rs in the name of infinite love. they
have always come TO our rescue.
T. ccue.
And the Ua about this rear
guard is: Tbs grow the more
their spiritual %, ems to be by our
side. For instance. take that rear
guard OF the old homestead. One
would naturally suppose those vet
erans' usefulness was ended. Why
your father and mother have been
dead for at least twenty years. Then
the last five years of her life your
mother was n helpless, physical IN
valid. She spent most of her time IN
bed. She was so weak that she could
not even read. You now can hear
| your sister reading to her hour aftei
hour. Then as for walking. that was
out Of the question. She had fallel
upon the ice and broken her hip. ant
the bones never knitted again. oh
what useless Christian warrior sh'
thought she was! And yet as The
years roll on she Is drawing nearer an(
nearer to you. When the temptations O.
life come you can see her face You cal
feel her touch. You can hear tn,
words of advice she used to give
Why, her favorite passages OF Scrip
ture are today ringing in your memory
God has made her love. her prayers, he
words OF counsel. your rear guard. D.
not tell me she is dead. She is plead
ing with you now TO surrender YOU
heart TO the Masters touch.
But there is another impressive fac
about Gods reserves. AS the Divine
Commander has detailed certain saint
ed spirits OF the past and present t
aid us in the battle of life, so Coo
would detail us to be spiritual rea
guards for some OF our dear ones
What our Christian mothers anC
fathers and sisters and brothers hav,
been to US we shall be to our children
and our friends. There are spiritua
lives depending upon us as our spirit
; ual welfare has depended upon thu
faithfulness OF others in the past. And
oh, my friends. what an awful eterna
calamity is going to befall some o
those who are near and dear to us /
|, we do not do our duty to them as thei
spiritual rear guardi
The Last Thought
. You must bear we'll In mind tina
. those souls will stand before the judg
ment seat OF Christ and will think O
us and what we have done or shoul,
have done for them. The most over
whelming moment of my ministerial
, career was when this fact was driver
home TO me in way shall never fol-
get. 1t was Sabbath evening. July q
1907. We were tossing about upon tn
Pacific ocean. We had just save
some 115 lives from a watery grave
at the request of the passengers
was holding service In the cabin
Just as l arose to speak a lady cam
and took my hand. She looked cal
nestly into my face as she said: "Di
Talmage. ] was on board the steame
Columbia when she sank this morn
ing. l thought you were thousan,
miles away. Last Sunday morning
was in your church and heard yo
preach. And / want TO tell you tina
when the ship gave lurch and wen
down to her watery grave, and wa
pitched into the sea. the last though
that / had when 1 expected to NEE
my God was of you and your sermon.
i never asked her what that though
was. ] was afraid to know. 1 said
"Can 1T be tbs tle words which
speak, perhag dom. may so in
huence some ae woman, for O
I n