The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-03-30
REAPERS.
Three Hundred Millions Attest
the Truth of the Bible.
Sermon Preached in Brooklyn Tabernacle
on Sunday, March 10, 1882, by
Rev. r. Dewitt Talmage.
SUBJECT CHRISTIANITY TRIUMPHANT

IEXT-AInOS TX. l5: 'BenOld, the days
come, saith the Lord, that the plOwman
shall OyeTtake the reaper"
Picture of tropical CLINE with sea
son so prosperous that the harvest
reaches clear over the planting time,
and the swaTthy husbandman swinging
the sickle in the thick grain almost
feels the breath of the horses on his
shoulders, the horses hitched to the plOW
preparing for new crop. Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that the plOw-
man shall Overtake the reaper" When
is that2 That is now. That is the day
when hardly have you done reaping one
harvest than the plOwman is getting
ready for another. l know that Mr..
IngeTsOll and his cOadjutOTs say in their
lectures, and in their interviews, and
i'll phTaseOlOgy charged with all venom
| aud abuse and caricature, that Christi
anity has collapsed, that the Bible is an
obsolete book, that the Christian Church
is on the retreat. l shall answer that
wholesale charge in this, my last SER
mon on intidelity. Vast multitudes, |
believe, during these sermons have been
persuaded that the Bible is a common
sensical book, that it is reasonable
book, that it is an authentic book. Men
have told me that while they had been
accustomed to receive the New Testa-
ment they had disbelieYed the Old Tes-
lament until by the blessings of God
upon this exposition, they have come to
believe that the Old Testament is just
as true as the New Testament, and [
have had so many encouTagements to go
on that l have kept on to this time with
these discOuTses. And so l believe that
the people are all going to be persuaded
that the Bible is Gods word. But now
let us see whether the Bible is a last
years almanac. Let us see whether the
Church of God is in Bull Run retreat,
muskets, canteens and haYeTsacks strew-
ing all the way. The great English his
tOTian, Sharon Turner, man of vast
learning and of great accuracy, not a
clergyman, but an attorney, as we'll as
a historian, gives those overwhelming
statistics in regard to Christianity, and
in regard to the number of Christians
in the different centuries: In the first
century, 100000 Christians; in the second
century, 100000 Christians; in the third
century, 100000 Christians; in the
fourth century, 100000 Christians; in
the fifth century, 100000 Christians;
in the sixth century, 100000 Chris
tians; IN the seventh century, 24,000,000
Christians; in the eighth century, 3d.
100000 Christians; in the ninth century,
100000 Christians; in the tenth cen
tury, 50,000,000 Christians; in the
eleventh century, 100000 Christians;
in the twelfth century, 80,0O0OOO Chris
tians; in the thirteenth century, 75OOO-
600 Christians; in the fourteenth cen
tury, 80,OOO,0OO Christians; in the fif-
teenth century, 100000 Christians;
in the sixteenth century, 125, 100000
Christians; in the seventeenth century,
155, 100000 Christians; in the eighteenth
! century, 2OO,OO0,000 Christians decad-
ence, as you observe, in only one cen
| tuTy, and more than made up in the fol-
| lowing centuries, while it is the usual
| computation that there will be when
! the record of the nineteenth century is
made up at least 30O,000,0O0 Christians.
| Poor Christianity! Three hundred mil
| lions in one century. In few weeks of
| Testament were distributed. Lay aside
all ChristendOm and see how heathen-
dom is being surrounded and honey
| cOmbed and attacked by this all-cOnquer-
ing Gospel. At the beginning of this
century there were only $50 mission
aries; now there are 25,000 missionaries
and native helpers and eyangelists. At
the beginning of this century there
were only $4,000 heathens converted; !;
now there are 1,650,OOO converts from
heathendOm. There is not a sea coast
on the planet but the battery of the
Gospel is planted and ready to march OH.
1t may take good while to plant these
batteries, and they may do all their work
in one day. They will. Nations are to
be born in day.
But come back to ChristendOm, and
recognize the fact that during the last
ten years as many people have connected
themselves with evangelical churches
as connected themselves with the
churches in the first fifty years of this
century. So, they say, Christianity is
falling back. The Bible is becoming an
obsolete book. l go into Court, and
wherever l find Judges bench or a
Clerks desk find Bible. What shall
L find in nine out of every ten houses in
ChristendOm? The Bible. Yoltaire
wrote the prophecy that the Bible in the
nineteenth century would become eX-
tinct. The century is gone, all except
eighteen years, and there have been
more Bibles published in the latter part
of the century than in the former part.
Do you think the Bible will become ex-
tinct iU eighteen years? The room in
which VOltaire wrote that prophecy not
long ago was crowded from floor to cell
ing with Bibles for Switzerland. Sup
pose Congress should pass law that
there should be no more Bibles printed
in America, If there are thirty million
grown people in the United States there
would be thirty million people in an
pose Congress should make law against
the reading or the publication of any
other book. How many people would go
out in such crusader There are a
thousand men who would die in defense
of this book, where there is no more
than one man who would die in defense
of any other book. The Bible is the
most popular book of the century, and
the most popular book on the planet to-
day. "Oh," say some, :'the church is a
collection of hypOcrites, and it is losing
its power, and it ia fading out from the
world" Is itP There are at least one
thousand new Christian churches built
in America every year. Does that look
as though the church was fading Outp
The institution which stands nearest
the hearts of the American people is the
Christian Church. appeal to your COM
mon sense. You know the most endear-
ing institution on earth, the most popu-
lar institution on earth to-day is the
Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Aman
is fool that does not recognize it. Let
a man openly proclaim himself the enc
my of our glorious Christianity, and he
cannot get majority of votes in any
State, in any city, in any county, in any
ward in America. Mr.. IngersOll years