Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, May 3, 1917, Page 4

Sermon Delivered Sunday “Thou therefore endure hardness, as'a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” II Timothy 2:3. Should the question be put to this; congregation, individually, “Whom do you regard as the model Americal goldier?”’ I do not know what your answers might be. Some, perhas, would say, George Washington; whie others would name Winfield Scott or Jackson, or Taylor, or Sherman/ or Thomas, or Hancock. Others still might not select the model sddier from among the great commaders, who in ever time of difficult; and danger, were inspired by the know- ledge that every stroke of gends and every heroic deed, would bj noted and published to the world, jut from among the nameless, undistiAguished multitudes who composed the rank and file of the great army of the re- public; the men who carri?d the gun and napsack, performed the long, ard marches, guarded the lonely outpost, and stood in tke fore front of the battle with no thought of fame, but daring deatk for the sake of freedom and the right. But, as for me; while I would yield to none in my admiration of the men who voluntarially lost their identity.in the ranks of a great army, and suffered and died unknown for their country, I would still look for the model soldier among those who, in addition to genuine patriotism, possessed the elements OL___ aracter that lifted them to position@sof wider usefulness, and to greater personal responsibility and fame. General Lyons was none the less a patriot because funeral honors at- tended his remains from the wild field of battle, where he fell, to the peaceful graveyard in his own native village. | General Sedgwick was no less a o~ soldier because the nation mourned when he fell in the thickest of the .fight, pierced by a rebel bullet. Nor was Hancock less heroic and true because the world applauded his splendid genius which wrenched vietory from the hands of Lee at Gettysburg, and set the rebel host back beyond the river. Were you to ask me to name the model American soldier—I would answer unhesitatingly Ulysses Simp- son Grant—the 95th anniversary of whose birth occurred last Friday, the 27th day of April. This is a claim that some would not conceed, but what of that? I am fully prepared to substantiate all that I may claim for our hero, and on the very best authority. | General Ulysses Simpson Grant easily ranks among the greatest mil- ftary commanders who have turned the streams of human history. In the words of another ‘“He towers above them all in the solitude of his mili- tary genius.” He far exceeded Alexander in the breadth of his campaigns, and Marl- borough in the certainty and num- Der of his victories. His Vicksburg campaign overcame vastly more and greater difficulties than those con- fronted by Hannable or Napoleon in crossing tne Alps, and it exhausted the resources of military science. Chattanooga eclipses in vigor, cour- ge mental resources, genius and re- /sults anything ever achieved by Napoleon. The Wilderness in several of its single days surpasses all the hammering done by Martel or ‘en- . dured by Wellington. It is two or three Waterloos piled up and heaped together and pounded out by the enormous ability of this silent soldier. He fought - more battles without losing a single field, took more and better soldiers prisoners, vanquished more and mightier arms, subjugated more territory with ‘more natural fastness, and wore out more opposing forces than this half’ dozen best fighters of all races and of all cent- uries, all put together. And this for the greatest of causes, that he might seciire freedom for one race and give liberty to another, and that ‘the last experiment of a free government might not perish from the earth.” General Grant was the greatest gen- eral of the greatest army of all time, with' the single exception perhaps of .. the present conflict now going on in the world. And, yet whilethe armies \):l Burope are larger numerically an’ the armies of Grant and Lee I doubt if greater, indeed, as great generalship has yet characterized the leaders of the armies as was. dis- played by these two. thighty oppon- ents in the great civil war of P N America. The ranks of the armies of Eng- land; - France, Russia, Germaidy, Austria and Italy, are full of men, brave men, inurred to hardships, and trained in the arts and science and mysteries of war, and yet upon the field of battle the citizen soldier of the U. S., has always stood without a peer. And why? Only becduse his heart is in his country’s service more fully than that of any other soldier beneath the skies. And in this' connection let me say, in the _language of Newell Dwight Hillis, “ Ppastor of Plymouth Church, Brook- lyn, N. Y.; “The day when American boys carry the battleflag into the trenches of Frauce will be a golden || day in the history of liberty. The spectacle will electrify the world, hearten our allies and dismay our enemies. That our entrance into this war will hasten the coming of peace and end the last war that will curse our earth let us firmly believe. For peace will come soor, come to stay, ' and so come as to be worth keeping in all future time. Let us recall incoln’s words as we ‘diligently -:pply the means, never loubting that | “a just God, in his ow: good time, \ '} - fwill give us the rightil results.” g r the peace for whick we are Istruggling is a permanent peace that lsprings from justice, liberty and self !government; a peace that is based - jupon the scantity of treaies; the N Jlysses Simpson Brant” (The Model Sedler) - by Rev. B. D. Hanscom,. pastor of Methodist Church. pace that safeguards the rights of Attle lands; the peace that follows |the overthrow of autocracy and the emancipation of the oppressed; the peace that safeguards free institu- tions against all organized militar- ism. For that peace the widows of Belgium will thank us; for that peace the mothers of France who have of- fered their boys at a costly sacrifice will bless us; for that peace the com- mon people of England, Russia, and Canada praise us. For this is the peace of which the angels of good will sang 2,000 years ago—a peace that is as firm as the mountains and as enduring as the stars because it is ‘based upon the eternal principles of ~justice, liberty and humanity. ‘But let us return again to the subject. Let us look once more at the text—*“Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” Let usc look for a few moments to some of the distinguishing characteristics of one, who is a worthy model, in so far as a soldier can be a nrodel for a disciple of Christ. I have no apology to make in selecting such a model, yet I have an explanation to make at this point. General Grant was not an absolutely perfect man. No man is perfect; all men make mistakes; all men| have shortcomings and imper- fections. Grant was a great man who did great things and like all great men he was misunderstood, misjudged and mistreated. Like Lin- coln he was saamefuliy ecriticised, unjustly condemned, cruelly ma- linged, viciously vituperized. And yet with all he was a silent, honest, straightforward patriot soldier and Christian gentleman. Yes! Grant was a Christian. He was raised in an old fashioned Meth- odist family, and knew what being coverted -and having religion meant. And those who knew him most in- timately testify that they never heard him utter a profane or vulgar word. A staff officer, so it is said, came into his headpuarters one day quite elacted and said, “I have a good story. There are no ladies here, are there?” Grant answered, ‘“No, but there are gentlemen.”” Enough said. Now what are some of the char- acteristics of this great soldier that the Christian might well afford to have. First—I would mention a strong, courageous will of his own. It was this that enabled him, when a ‘boy, to mount and ride a pony that no other boy could mount and ride and that enabled him when 'a man, to crush- a rebellion that no cther man could crush. But for the phenominai courage and- tenacity of that will. instead of sutrendering at Appomattcx, the in- trepid Lee might have un’urled his banner in Washington and dictated terms of peace to a dismembered re- public, from its own canital. So, too, the christian scldier needs a'strong, courageous will of his own. But, says some one, “The Christian must have no will of his own. He must surrender his will to God.” 'Tis true the Christian must sur- render his will to God; but how can he do that unless he has a will of his own to surrender, And how can he resist temptation, overcome evil, and stand firm for the right, unless when surrendered, it is still his own will, operating in harmiony with the divine will. Grant gave his heart and his hand to the service of his country. You and I may do the same and yet our hand is not amputated or our heart removed. It is our hand and heart just the same. Grant’s will was surrendered to his country but it was still his own will. So the Christian surrenders his will to God, yet it is his own will still. Take the will out of a Christian and you remove the back-bone of his character and he becomes the plaything of every wind and the victim of every lurking foe. That is what ails some Christians. They haven’'t got any will. Now what is the ‘difference between a will sur- rendéred ‘to God and one that has not been surrendered. Just this—the surrendered will stands firm for the right because it is right. But the unstrrendered will stands stubbornly for its own way right or wrong. Has your ' will been surrendered to God? Another elemen: of strength in Gen. 'Grant’s character was his con- stant readiness for service, which in his position as a commander of an army manifested itself in constant readiness to fight. He never” asked for long periods of preparation. While fully aware of the value in ‘warfare of disciplin and training, he never stopped to drill when the enemy was near but always hastened to put' his troops into bhattle array, and thus compelled the foe to fight immediately or beat a hasty retreat. McClellen might drill around Washington, Hallock around St. Louis, and Buel around Louisville, till every opportunity which prompt action might have turned to ad- vantage was lost; biut Grant would employ none of these tactics around Vicksburg. Even against the advise of Sherman, and other able men in his command, he hastily gathered up his recruits, run them off from his base of supplies, struck one army under Johnston and scattered it to the winds; then with a dash as brilliant as Napoleon's best, turned, and fell upon the astonished Pember- ton, drove him headlong into his fortifications around the city, and then setting down just long enough to catch his breath moved immediate- 1y on his works. Always ready for service and so should the Christian soldier be. Ready for service—ready to fight. Preparation is needful, ave indespens- ible. Every opportunity for prepar- ation for the great conflict should be laid hold upon by the Christian and turned to the best possible ae- count. “Study to show thyself ap- proved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, was Paul’s injunction to Timothy, equal- ly applicable to you and to me. “Put on the whole armour of God.” Make ready for the conflict, but when the time for battle comes don’t stop to drill. A great war is going on between the armies of the Lord and the host of hell. Christ, the Captain of our salvation leads the consecrated hosts of his elect; and having himself set us a glorious example of valor in victory, animates us to follow in his footsteps by the ‘“‘exceeding great and precious promise of His Word. Some professing Christian don’t seem to realize that the fight is on. They the forever hanging around the detention camps or the training camps or dress-parade.. That is why they never get any where or win any viotories. Like Grant the Christian should be already for service, ready to fight. Anotner element of strength in Grant was unselfish unswerving fidelity to duty in what ever position he might be placed. You know that there are some folks who have to have the high positions of honor, or else they won't do anything but bother and criticise and. find fault with others. But Grant was always ready for duty. He stood ready to accept with- out cavil or question, any place to which lawful'authority might assign him. Not once did he ask for posi- tion, nor did he complain when in- justice was heaped upon him, but submitted silently, and did a soldier’s duty, like a soldier. From the open- ing to the closing of his public career, he evidenced none of that selfish ambition which was at once the in- spiration and the weakness of Alex- ander, Hannable, Ceasar and Napol- eon, and that led them to delight in conquest, at the price of blood, and devastation and ruin. It was not thirst for fame that prompted him to turn from the peaceful scenes of life, to the revolting scenes of war, but a high sence of duty. To Bis- mark he said “The truth is I am more of a farmer than a soldier, I take lit- tle interest in military affairs and although I entered the army 35 years ago, and uave been in two wars, I never went into the army without regret and never retired without pleasure.” Time would fail me to speak of all the attributes of this worthy model for the Christian soldier. Let us in closing recall his words to Gov. Yates when he reported for duty to his country, notwithstanding THE BEMIDJ1 DAILY PIONEER T his experiencé and training, he quiet- ly said, “Please assign me to any position where I can be useful.” Are you ready to say that for Christ’s sake this morning? ~Are you? Y DON'TNEGLECTKIDNEYS| tion, Overcomes Kidney Trouble. It is now conceded by physicians that the kidneys should have more attention as they control the other organs to a remarkable degree and do a tremendous amount of work in removing the poisons and waste mat- ter from the system by filtering the blood. The kidneys should receive some assistance when needed. We take less exercise, drink less watcer and and often eat more rich, heavy food, thereby forcing the kidneys to do more wor. than nature intended. 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