THE SABBATH HOUR

Northern Advocate, 4 October 1930, Page 3

THE SABBATH HOUR

THE SINNER'S FIGHT AGAINST

THE STARS.

Address delivered by Captain Victor Dick, at the Salvation Army hali, on Sunday night, September 28, .1930.

j “They fought from heaven; the jjstars in their courses fought against j I Sisera.”—kludges 5: 20.

The immediate cause of the utterance of this poetic and often quoted text was probably Deborah’s remembrance of a terrific thunderstorm in which the flash of the lightning and the roar of thunder added materially to the confusion of the horses attached to the war chariots of Sisera. There is an indication of this in verse 22, whore the destruction of the enemy at the river Kishon is being described, and it is said “Then work the horsehoofs broken by the means of the prancings, the prandngs of their mighty ones.” This storm, which seemed to bring the forces of. the skies into battle, is taken advantage of by Deborah and Barak in their song of victory. There is probably not a passage in the Bible more frequently quoted, and dealing with the theme of the onward sweep of righteousness and the inherent weakness of a bad cause.

The text has a deeper meaning than .just for the cause of utterance, for there is no doubt in the mind of the singers that God Himself had marshalled the heavens above to fight in defence of His people, and lo insure the overthrow of their powerful enemy.

Our theme is very simple and easy to understand. If a man is doing right he may be sure that God is on his side. So long as we are obedient to God, in nature and in grace, in physical as well as spiritual realms, we may be assured that the forces of the universe are marshalled on. our side, Paul must have had this thought in his mind when ho said “All things work together for good to them that love God.” On the other hand, if we do wrong, if we disobey God, we put ourselves out of joint, as it were, with the universe of which we are a part. While goodness means harmony, wickedness means discord. The man who does right, who lives in obedience to God, finds hidden treasures laid up for him in unexpected places all along the path ' of life, because God is working for his advantage, even though he has to face fearful odds at times, whilst the man who sins against God walks a path that is ambushed by unknown enemies, who are likely to spring upon him, to his destruction, at. an unthought of moment. Sisera stands as a representative of those who fight against God. He seems to have been a brilliant fellow with a strong personality, full of vigour, and many qualities which go to make one a leader among men. But he despised God, Who had so thoughtfully given evidence of His favour towards the people of Israel. Every advantage seems to be on his side. Military prestige; a general with a famous name; large armies fully equipped; but the people whom he fought against had God on their side, and he went down to destruction before a force against whicli he was powerless to contend. He wished, like every other general, that if he must die, he would die on the battlefield leading bis men to victory. Sisera had no doubt gone into battle with the thought of possible danger to himself, and would picture that if death came it would be when he w r as selling his life at a great price whilst valiantly iiispiring his own troops. But how different was the end, and how humiliating to such a soldier! 'Not only defeated—but routed. He had to run away alone, a poor refugee from the enemy. God had stopped in and the man who despised hi,m was brought low. “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of My words, of him shall fhe Son of Man be ashamed, when he shall come to His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.”—St, Luke 0: 26.

1 I J.et us follow Sisera as he ficeth ‘away for his life. He comes to the tent of .Tael, the wife of Heber the Kenitc —the representative of a tribe who were supposed to be neutral. Jael saw him coming, and said “Turn in, my lord, turn into me; fear not.” And as it seemed the only place of refuge, and with absolute confidence in the woman’s hospitable intention towards him, he went in and laid down greatly exhausted. His throat was parched with thirst. As she turned to leave him he asked for a drink, and it was given him, iSisera sail ‘.Stand in the door of the tent, and ;if any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, ‘ls there any man in .iere? thou shall say ‘No.’ ” So Sisera, tired out, utterly defeated and broken down, gave way to the prostration of his physical strength, and I fell asleep in fancied security. Jael I uad seen him go by in the morning with his great army to cattle. Bur j now all was changed, and he was at | ier mercy. The moment she heard aim sleeping soundly, she scorns to lave formed her purpose. A ery quioty she takes a nail that was used to asteu down the tent corners. She hives it through his temple, and the ■;reat man passes to his reward —slain .■y a woman. Surely there could have been no meaner end to a general’s career? But that is not too strong an illustration of the way sin deceives us into believing that at the Very worst it will bring pleasure and honour. The glamour is all in our imaginations and the lying promises of the Devil. Eve was promised that if she ate d’f the forbidden fruit she should become wise like a god; that was the fascination about it. It might be dangerous, but there was the glamour which enthralled in her imagination. But what about the reality? Banishment from the Garden of Eden in shame and disgrace, to a life cursed by thorns and thistles, by pain and sorrow and tears. All the promises of happiness and peace j lo the sinner through sinful courses ’ are as deceptive as that. The unexpected is always happening to the j sinner. When Sisera was counting up the forces ho had to meet in 6 battle that day he did not count on the thunderstorm that was to play such havoc to his cause. He did not count against Jael or her triblc. But, when a man wars against God, he meets unexpected foes at every turn. How many passages of Scripture there arc which bear out this truth! “When they shall say peace and safety, then suddenly destruction conieth upon them.” Liston to the words that Christ uttered about the man with the groat farm, whose crops wore so bountiful that he had no place to store away his harvest. Yet in the hour of abundance lie had no thought of those who were in need or of gratitude to God, who had given him all these things, So he determined that lire would build larger barns and comfort himself by saying: “Soul, take I thine ease, for thou hast much goods laid up fdr many years.” Tiun Christdeclared tht stinging rebuke, like an arrow that fell from the skies: “Then fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” In the story of the ten girls, wise and foolish, there were five who slept on in indifference and icarelessness, not making provisions for jGod’s claim or sudden appearance. These messages tell us that we must be at peace with God if wo would bo safe and assured of victory. Take heed to the message, and put your friendship with the universe by confessing your i sins against God, and finding, forgiveness of them in Jeus’ name. Finally, there was a pathetic touch at the conclusion cf this man’s story. His (Sisera’s) mother was waiting at home j expecting her sou to be victorious—

watching, as a mother will, for her son’s return. But iSrsera did not return —and she had to learn of his defeat. There are many wives and mothers and fathers who will have to bear the shame of your defeat if you fight against God. Now- stop! Listen! Give your heart to Christ now, and make glad the hearts that have prayed 'that you should be victorious.