Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-11-12
THE STOLEN CRlyDSTONES,
Rev. T. DE Witt Talmage'S Great
Sermon on the Above
Subject.
Christians Who Have Lost Thir Former
Usefulness Severely Scred.
At the Brooklyn Tabernacle, pr. Tai
n, a m ,,rooobol fro,, 4bo fol1ou,i, ri


Now there was no smith found throughout all
the land of Israel, for, the Philistines said, lest
the Hebrews make them swords or srees. But
all the Israelites went down to the PLliAines to
and his ak, and his mattock. Yet they had u
file for the mattocks, and for the coultess, and
for the forks and for the axes and TO sharpen
the goads.-I. Samuel, xiii. 19-2l
What calling subjugation for the lSael-
ties! The Philistincs had carried Off all
blacksmiths' shops, and abolished the
blacksmiths' trade in the land of Ishel.
The Philistines would not even allow these
parties to work their valuable mines |of
brass and iron, nor might they make iy
swords or spears. There were only two
swords left in all the land. Yea, these
Philistines went on until they had taken
all the grindstones from the land of Israel,
so that if an Israelitish farmer wanted %
sharpen his pillow or his az, he had to q
over to the garrison of the Philistines to
get it done. There was only one sharpen
ing instrument left in the land, and that
was file. The farmers and the mechanics
having nothing to whet up the coulter.
and the goad, and the pickaX, save simple
file, industry was hindered and work prac-
Philistines was to keep the Israelites dis
armed. They might get iron out of the
hills to make swords of, but they would not
have any blacksmiths to weld this iron. If
they got the iron welded they would have
no grindstones on which to bring the in
struments of agriculture or the military
weapons up to an edge. Oh, you poor,
weaponless Israelites, reduced to file.
how l pity you! But these Phlistines
were not forever to keep their heel on the
neck of Gods children. Jonathan. on his
hands and knees, climbs up great rock
beyond which were the Philistines; and
his rmor-bearer, on his hands and knees,
climbs up the same rock, and these two
men with their two swords hew to pieces
the Philistines, the Lord throwing a great
terror upon them; SO it was then; SO it is
now. Two men of God OH their knees,
feet
l. I learn first from this subject, how
dangerous it is for the church of God to
allow its weapons to stay i'll the hands of
its enemies. These Israelites might again
and again have obtained supply of swords
and weapons, as for instance when they
took the spoils of the Ammonites; but
these Israelites seemed content to have no
swords, no spears, no blaczsmiths, no
grindstones, no active iron mines, until it
was too late for them to make any resist
ance. / see the farmers Juggling along with
their pickaxes and pillow. and say: "Where
are you going with those things?" They
say: ooh. we are going over to the garri-
son of the Philistines to get these things
sharpened." [ say: "You foolish men,
"Oh," they say, "tle backsmiths shops
are all torn down, and we have nothing left
us but file."
So it is in the church of Jesus Christ to-
day. We are too willing to give up our
weapons to the enemy. The world boasts
that it has gobbled up the schools and col
leges, and the arts and the sciences, and
the literature and the printing-prcss. In
fidelity is making mighty attempt to get
all our weapons in its hand and then to
keep them. You know it is making this
boast all the time, and after while when
the great battle between sin and righteous
ness has opened, if we do not look out we
will be as badly off as these lsraelites with
out any swords to fight with, and without
any sharpening instruments. l call upon
the superintendent of literary institutions
to see to it that the men who 90 into the
class-rooms to stand beside the Leyden
jars, and the electric batteries, and the
microscopes, and telescopes, be children of
God, not Philistines. The Carlylean, EN-
ersonean, and Tyndallean thinkers of this
day are trying to get all the intellectual
weapons OF this century in their own grasp.
What we want is scientific Christians to
capture the science, and scholastic Chris
tians to capture the scholarship. and phil
osophic Christians to capture the phi
loso by, and lecturing Christians, to take
back the lecturing platform. We want to
send out against Schenkel, and Strauss,
and Renan, a Theodore Christlieb, of Bonn;
o,,l ~ %1,o, ,>I1 II
q God-worshiping Silliman, and Hitch
cock, and Agassiz, We want to capture all
the philosophical apparatus. and swing
around the telescopes on the swivel, until
through them we can see the morning star
OF the Redeemer, and with neurological
hammer discover the Rock of Ages, and
amid the flora Of all realms find the rose of
Sharon and the lily Of the valley.
We wanta clergy learned enough to dis
course of the human eye, showing it to be
a microscope and telescope in one instru-
ment. with eight wonderful contrivances,
and lids closing thirty thousand or forty
thousand times day; all its muscles and
nerves and bones showing the infinite
skill of an infinite God, and then winding
up with the peroration: Gle that formed
the eye, shall He not see?" And then we
want to discourse about the human ear, its
wonderful integuments, membranes. and
vibration, and its chain Of small bones.
and its auditory nerve, closing with the
question: "He that planted the ear. shall
He not hear?" And We want some one able
to expound the first chapter of Genesis.
bring to it the geology and the astronomy
of the world, until, as Job suggested: "The
stones of the field shall be in leag,le' with
the truth, and the stars in their course Shall
fight against Sisera. 0 church of God. 90
out and recapture these weapons.
Let men Of God 90 out and take possess
sion of the platform. Let any printing
presses that have been captured by the
enemy be recaptured for God; and the re-
porers, and the type settlers. and the ed
itors, and the publishers swear allegiance
to the Lord God of truth. All, my friend,
that day must come, and if the great body
OF Christian men have not the faith. OF the
courage, or the consecration to do it, then
let some Jonathan, on his busy hands and
on his praying knees. climb upon the rocl,
of hindlance, and in the name of the Lord
God of Israel slash to pieces those literary
Philistines. Ii these men will not be con-
verted TO God, then they must be over
thrown.
2. Again, learn from the subject what
large amount Of the clIurch- resources is
actually hidden and buried undeyeloped.
The Bible intimates that that was a very
rich land. this land Of Israel 1t saws:
pct~,