The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-06-02
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
"STORMED AND TAKEN"


were with him; and Abimelech took an az
/ in his hand, and cut down bough from the
trees, and took it, anGI laid it on his shoulder,
and said unto the people that were with him,
What We have seen me do, make haste, and
do as I have DONE And all the people like.
wise cut down every man his bough, and
! followed Abinelech, and put them to the
hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; SO
that all the men OF the tower OF Shechem
died Judges tx, 4S, 40.
Abimelech is name malodorous in Bible
history, but full Of profitable su digestion.
Buoys are black and uncomely, but they show
where the rocks are. The snakes rattle is
hideous, brt it gives timely warning. From
the piazza of my country home l saw night
by night fifteen miles away light house:
put there not for adornment, but to let
mariners know that it would be better to
stand off from the dangerous point. And all
the iron bound coast of moral danger Is
marked with Saul and AEab and Jezebel and
Abimelech. These people put in Bible history
not only as warnings, but sometimes because
there was in their behavior q fash Of some
thing worth imitation. God can drive q
straight mil with very poor hammer. The
city of Shechenl was TO be taken, and Abime-
lech and his army were to do it. l see the
dust of the excited march, and hear the
shout of the captains, and the yell Of the be-
seigers The swords click on the shields, and
the vociferation Of the two armies in
death struggle is horrible to hear. The battle
goes OH until toward sundown, when Abime-
lech and his army say to the city of Shechem,
'surrender," and unable to hold out any
longer they surrender, ard there are pools of
blood and discovered limbs Of wounded SOL
diers with their heads OH the lap Of mother,
or wife, or daughter who have come out for
the last ofices.of kindness and love, and there
are glazed eyes looking up beggingly for
mercy that war never shows, and groan
rolls across the city, stopping not because it
can find no place to rest, so full is the place
of other groans. A city wounded, city
dying, a city dead Wall for Shechem all ye
who know the horrors Of a sacked town. In
looking off can see but one building stand
ing and that is the temple Of the good Ber-
ith. Som, Of the soldiers have fled from the
city and got up into this temple, and there
they feel quite safe. They say "Abimelech aud
his army captured the city Of shechem, but
they will never take this temple Of Berth;
we put ourselves under the protection of that
god; all is well inside the temple" Oh,
Berth, the god, if you have eyes,
pity them, If you have hands, help
them; if you have thunderbolts, strike
for these refugees. But how are
Abimelech and his army to take that tenn
plel By swordl no. By battering rams
hurled up with hundred armed strength
goes into the woods, valorous, with an axe,
and he cuts down branch Of tree, puts it
on his shoulder and starts for the
temple Of Berth, and tells
all his. men to do as he has
done, and there is great struggle for the
axes, and hear a cracking and cutting and
hacking all through the woods, and each
man cuts down tree branch, puts it upon
his shoulder and follows Abimelech. "All
armed now!" gall armed" is the response
What strange army, and with what strange
equipment Abimeleck comes to the foot of
the temple of Berth and he throws down the
tree branch. Tho first platoon Of soldiers
come up and they throw down their tree
branches, and the second and the tenth and
the twentieth platoons, and they throw down
their tree branches. The soldiers look out of
the tower and they say, "Why, those men Oh
Abimelech have lost their senses. They cer-
tainly cannot expect 10 take this temple in
that way" But meanwhile Abimeech and
his men strike the flints and with the spark
kindle the brushwoo1. The Gre rolls up
through these tree branches until one arm Of
flame is thrown over one side OF the temple,
and another arm Of flame is thrown up over
the other side the temple, and the red palms
clasp mid-sky, and the Using flame and the
those who are inside the tower, and crash,
crash! 60 the walls Of the temple Of Berth,
and then standing in the ashes and amid the
debris, Abimelcch and his men, with stout
lungs and swarthy chests, shout Victory,
victory!" or as it is in my text: "And Ablme-
lech got him up to Mount Zalmon, he and all
the people that were with him; and
Abimelech took an ak in his hand and cut
down bough from the trees, and took it and
laid it Oh his shoulder, ,and said unto the people
that were with him, what yo have seen me
do, make haste and do as I have done And
all the people likewise cut down every man
his bough and followed Abimelech, and put
them to the hold, and set the hold on fire
upon them; so that all the men Of the town
of Shechem died"
Learn first the folly of adhering to any
God and the world. Look over all the Orien-
tai weapons-the battle axe and the javelin
and the harbegeous; but with which one OF
them could Abimelech and his army have
wrought such execution as they did by this
stratagem! 1t was not easy to take that
place. have seen house where in the Rev.
olutionary war a husband and wife, hour
after hour, kept back whole regiment; and
it was no easy thing for Abimelech and his
men to take that temple when it was so thor
oughly armed. Yet Abimelech takes the tree
branch and his men take the tree branches.
and what steel could not have done, what
any kind Of earthly warfare could not have
accomplished-such styles as we are ordina-
rily familiar with-this stratagem accom-
plished. Was there anything else that could
have done the work so well? Aoimelech
lost not one man in all or MS
army. Oh, fathers and mothers, brethren
and sisters in Jesus Christ, let us say that any
style of religious attack which succeeds IS
right. is lust, is proper; anything that brings
down the temple of sin, anything that helps
capture this world for God. The trouble is
we want to keep OIL the old-style coat Of mail,
and we come on with glittering spear to at
tack the enemy, not knowing that they have
O thousand spears where we have ten. II this
world is ever to be brought to God it will not
be captured by the sharp sabre OF sarcasm,
or by the glittering lances of rhetoric, or by
gunpowdery explosion OF lndlgnetlon, or py
or by the sharpshooting Of wit, or by howitz-
ers hurting shells five miles, or cavalry
horses gaily cnparisoned paving the air with
their front feet The world will never be
taken for God in that way. 1t will not be
argued into the kingdom, but it will be done
this way: Let every man 60 into the 1orest
of Gods truth and cut a tree branch-iet the
$4,000 Christian ministers i'll America to-day
% into the forest Uf Gods truth and cut from
q tres q branch--let every congregation do
the same, and th.n let us march on, and all
this liindled by the fires of holy zeal, the for
trees Of sin shall become bonfire Of victory
and en- apocalyptic joy shall ilumine the
heavens, and, in other words, if this world is
to be better for God, it will have to be by
some other mode of attack than that
which some people approve or If the ordi-
nary style of prayer does not succeed, let us
have some otherstyle OF prayer. If ordinary
church music docs not succeed, let US have q
backwoods chorus. If prayer meeting at
o'clock at night does not succeed, let us
have it as early in the morning as when the
angel found wrestling Jacob too much for
him. II q sermon with the authorized three
t. 4, doo, of cnooood Iat have a sermon