News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-11-04
THE SUNDAY PULPIT.
DIR TALMAGE,s CALI, FOR RECRUITS
FROM TIE PEWS 10 FIGHT SIN.
ssTwo Men of God on Their Knees Nfishtier
<hau n PhiIistine Host ON their Fs et.''

DR.. Talmage on Sunday conducted
the simple religious ceremony which he
favors in person; gave out the hymns
and Joined with his congregation in
their songs aud praise. There. were
some charming melodies from the grand
organ; but, as is usual in this church,
the sermon was the chief attraction.
MIR. TaImage took for his text the fol,
| lowing lines from ]. Samuel, xiii. 1 O.,
90 21-"Now, there was no smith
found throughout all the land of Israel :;
for the Philistines $40, Lest the He
brews make them swords or spears
/ But all the Israelhes went down to the
Philistines to sharpen every man his
share, and his coulter, and his axe, and
his mattocK. Yet they had q file for
the mattocks, and for the coulters, and
for the forks, and for the axes, and to
sharpen the goods"
The preacher SAID :-'fWhat q CALLING
subjugation for the Israelites The
Phihstines had carried off all the black
smiths and torn down all the blacksmith
shops and abolished the blacksmith
trade in the land of Israel There were
only two swords left in all the land,
just two. Yes, these Philistlnes went
on until they had taken all the grind
stones from the land of Israel, SO that
if an lsraelitish farmer wanted to shar-
pen his plough or his axe he had to go
over to the garri ON of the Philistines to
get it done. There was only one shar-
pening instrument left in the land, and
that was file. The farmers and me-
chanics having nothing to whet up the
coulter and the goad and the pickaxe,
save a simple file, industry was hindered
and work practically disgraced. The
great idea of those Philistines was to
keep the Israelites disarmed. They
might get iron out of the hills to make
swords of, but they would not have
any smiths to weld this iron II they
got this iron welded they would have
no grindstones on which to bring the
implements of agriculture or the mill
tary weapons up to an edge.
''But these Philistines were not for
ever to keep their heel upon the neck
of Gods children. Jonathan, on his
hands and ees, climbs upon a great
rock, beyond which were the Philis-
tines; and his armor bearer, on his
hands and knees, climbs up the same
rcck; and these two men, with their
two swords, hew to pieces the Philis-
tines, the Lord throwing great terror
upon them. So it was then; go it is
now. Two men of God on their knees
mightier than Philistine host on their
feetl'
After his review of the Biblical story
of the triumph of the chosen people Mr..
Talmage turne his attention to prac-
tical deduction from the lesson.
~ learn first from this subject" said
he, 'how dangerous it is for the Church
of God to allow its weapons 10 stay in
the hands of its enemies. We ale too
willing t. surrender our arms to the
enemy. The world boasts that it has
gcbbled up the schools and the colleges,
aud the arts and r Sciences, and the
literature and the printing press. Inf
deity is making a mighty effort to get
all our weapons into its hands and then
to keep them. When the great battle
between sin and righteousness has
opened, if we do not look out, we will
be as badly off as these Israelites, with
out swords to fight with.
"The Tyndallean thinkers of this day
are trying to get all the intellectual
weapons of his country in their own
grasp. What we want are scientific
Christians to capture the scientific,
scholastic Christians to capture the
scholarship, philosophic Christians to
capture the philosophy and lecturing
Christians to take back the lecture
platform. We want to send out against
Christlieb, of Bonn, and against the in
fdel scientists of the day some new,
God-worshipping Silliman and Hitch
cock and Agasslz. We want a clergy
learned enough to discourse of the hu-
man eye and show the infinite skill of
an infinite God that created it.
LET men of God 60 out and take
possession Of the platform. Let any
printing presses that have been captured
by the enemy be recaptuTed for God,
and the reporters and the typesetters and
the editors and the publishers swear
allegiance to the Lord God of Truth"
At another point in his discourse, re-
ferring to the duties of ministers of the
Gospel, the preacher said that the
Church of God needed laymen to assist
in the work of capturing the Phllistines.
1hIulSLcLS dI6 numerically IOO Sludil,
he said. "Then they die of dyspepsia
and consumption through the number
less exposures that they are subjected
to. Ministers receive enough calls in a
year from men who have maps and med
icines and lightning rods and pictures
to sell to exhaust their vitality. They
are set in draughts at funerals and
poisoned by the unventilated rooms of
invalids and visited by committees who
want addresses made until life becomes
a burden to bear We need more lay
men to do the work, for it is no more
the work of the pulpit to convert and
save the world than it is the work of
the pew.
See to your eapons, all ye men of
God! Church of Christ, lift up your
head at the coming victory! We are on
tn winning side. l think just now the
Kings horses are being hooked up to
the chariot. see the plumes of the
Lords cavalrymen tossing in the air
The apocalyptic angel has already bur
nished the trumpet. Clap your hands,
all ye pc plel Hark to the sound of
the falling thrones ami the dashing
down of demolished iniquities. Halle
lujah The Lord God omnipotent
reignethn .s...~
An American Princess.
1t is said that the oldest son of the
Prince of Wales is to marry an Ameri- |