Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1907-11-16


grand charge. then the commander
SAYS: "Order up the rear guard. This
is the psychological moment Now let
the great forward movement De
made" Then the reserve force, ike
a great avalanche. sweeps on, and the
charging force Is halted. Then the
enemy is driven back. Then the
charge is turned into a rout andia n.y.
ing mob. So 1t is with the Divine
Commander. He lets us struggle on /
and on. He lets us struggle until all
seems lost. Then with a mighty clar-
ion call he moves up bis reserve force
and turns our impending defeat into
a glorious victory, for "the God or
Israel shall be your rereward." u
Christian soldiers, is not this mhitary
figure the picture of your past life?
Do you not remember the time years
ago when you got entapgled In the
meshes of that financial ditficultyf
Like Schuyler Colfax, implicated In the
scandal of the Credit Mobiier rascali-
ties, you knew you were honest. You
knew that dishonest dollar had never
stuck In the palm Of your hand. But
somehow you could not make your ac'
counts balance. Disgrace was racing
not only you, but your wife and chill
dren. You can remember the scene as
though 1t was yesterday. The night
before the accounting must be made
you went to your room and locked the
door and l.nelt by your bed and said:
80 God. thou knowest | am honest!
Thou knowest | have done no wrong.
Thou alone canst help me. Save my.
good name. Save me for the honor OF
my family" Then 1t was as though
nv a miraculous power you were
saved. You found the slip Of paper
which held the link to the chain OF
financial evidence. Or the man VINO
had stolen the money from the trust
fund returned it. And when all seem
ed lost God saved you by the adyanc.
ing "rear guard" for 'the God OF
Israel will be your rereward."
Great Life's Trouble.
Or perhaps your great trouble or llfe
came to you as it has come to many Oh
us. Under false pretenses you were
persuaded to take a certain position.
J No sooner were you installed In tha'
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 mol
RIM That would be cowardly. To
stand still made you the inheritor OF
long years Of discord and dissension
What were you to do? Where were
you to go? Conditions seemed to grow
worse every minute. Then when al
seemed lost God sent forward his real
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 o.
five distinct remembrances OF whel
YOU have been saved by him, as
were. by the breadth Of a hair?
But there is another great fact ahou
this rear guard. 1t is always com
, posed of .lc lest soldiers in the army
= Its nr...erj RAY not be very large
It me-, be comprised, as an old soldie
l. told me. of only two brigades out o
three whole divisions. But 1t Is mad
ND of tue and tried veterans. Fo
those Y no compose the rear guar
y must have proved themselves able I
Il stand the test. So have always fel
% that Gcd has for us rear guard mad
% m of the best Christian forces W
l. have ever known. They are the goo
;, men and tie women who have stoo
IL behind us ever since we were borr
10 And during the great moral and spirl
y nal SIT ggles, in Gods name as we
70 as IN the name of infinite love, the
10 have always come to our rescue.
n To the Rescue.
% Ard the peculiar fact about this rea
r. guard is: The older we grow the MOI
10 their spiritual help seems to be by OF
N side. For instance, take that res
so guard OF the old homestead Or
III would naturally suppose those We
m Grams usefulness was ended. VIII
ct YOUR father and mother have pee
nt dead for at least twenty years. The
ro the last Eve years Of her life yoi
bo mother was q helpless, physical L
10 valid. She spent most Of her time
g he'd She was so weak that she cou
no not even read. You now can he'
of YOUR sister reading to her hour aft
hour. Then as for walking, that WI
or out Of the question. She had fali'
- upon the ice and broken her bip. al
- tho bones never knitted again. y
what a useless Christian warrior 81
~ thought she wasl And yet as u
~ years roll on she is drawing nearer al
~ nea,er to you. When the temptations
- life come you can see her face. You CT
20 feel her touch. You can hear 4
words of advice she used to giN
- Why. her favorite passages OF SER
~ ture are today ringing in your memol
10 God has made her love. her prayers, 0
- words of counsel. your rear guard.
80. not tell me she Is dead. She is plea
ior ing with you now to surrender 20
,rt heart to the Masters touch.
nd But there Is another impressive "a
no about Gods reserves. As the Diyi
,ve Commander has detailed certain sail
he ed spirits of the past and present
me aid us in the battle Of life, SO u
,at would detail us to be spiritual re
10. guards for some Of our dear on'
,ou What our Christian mothers a
yth fathers and sisters and brothers ha
inc been to us we shall be to our childr
cor and our friends. There are Spirit
eat lives depending upon us as our spiI
uld ual welfare has depeSded upon
ing faithfulness of others in the past. Al
lall oh. my friends, what an awful eterI
yht, calamity is going to befall some
and those who are near and dear to us
ere we do not do our duty to them as tn
spiritual rear guard!