Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-10-11
STOLEN GRINDSTONES
THE EMINENT BROOKLYN DIVINE ILLUS
TRATES 4 BIBLE LESSON.
What We Want Is Scientific Christians 10 Combat
the Infdel Scientists Of To-day and Rscaptre
the Stolen WsapOns-Ths Church Of God
To-day Wants More Backbone
Special telegram to the Register.

Special telegram TO the Register.
BROOKLYN, n. Y, October 1O.-At th'
Tabernacle, this morning, the Rev. I. DE
Witt Talmage, D. D., after expoundins
passages of Scripture, gave out the hymn
beginning:
How firm a foundationye saints ofthe Lord,
Hath He laid for your faith in His excellent
wordp'
The text of the sermon was / Samuel
ch. xiii. v. 1921: 'Now there was nc
smith found throughout ali the land o.
Israel; for the Philistines said, lest the
Hebrews make them swords or spears,
But all the Israelites went down to the
Philistines to sharpen every man his
share, and his coulter, and his axe, and
his mattock. Yet they had file for the
mattock, and for the coulters, and for the
forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the
goads." DIR. Talmage spoke as follows:
What
CALLING sUBJUGATION
for the Israelites! The Philistines had
carried off all the blacksmiths' shops,
and abolished the blaGksmiths' trade in
the land of Israel The Philistines would
not even allow these parties to work their
valuable mines of brass and iron, nor
might they make any swords or spears.
There were only two swords left in all the
land. Yes, these Philistines went on un-
til they had taken all the grindstones from
the land of israel, so that if the lSraelitish
farmer wanted to sharpen his plough
or his axe, he had to go over to
the garrison of the Philistines to get it
done. There was only one sharpening in
strument left in the land, and that was
n file. The farmers and mechanics having
nothing to whet up the coulter,
and the goad, and the pick-axe, save a
simple file, industry was hindered, and
work practically disgraced. The great
idea of these Philistines was to keep the
Israelites disarmed. They might get iron
out of the hills TO make swords of, hut
they would not have any blacksmiths to
weld this iron If they got the iron weld
ed they would have no grindstOncs on
which to bring the instruments OF agricul-
ture or the military weapons up to an edge
D you poor, weaponleSs lsraelites, reduced
to file, how pity you! But these Phil
istines were not forever to keep their heel
ON the neck of Gods children. Jonathan
on his hands and KEGS climbs up great
rock beyond which were the PhiliStineS;
and his armOr-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 Il
terror upon them. So it was then; so it is
now. Two men of God on their knees
mightier than Philistiue host on their
teet!
learn first from this subject how dan
gerOus it is for the Church of God to allow
its weapons to stay
IN THE HANDS or ITS ENINIIES.
These Israelites might again and again
obtained a supply of swords and weapons,
rs for instance when they took the spoils
Of the AmmOnites; but these lSraeliteS
seemed content to have no swords, no
spears, no blackSmiths, no grindstOnes, no
active iron mines, until it was too late for
them to make any resistance. | see the
farmers tugging along with their ptc&ax-
Is and plough, aud | say: "Where are you
going with those things?" They say: "Oh,
we are going over to the garrison Of the
Philistines to get these things sharpened. !"
say: "YOu foolish men, why don't you
sharpen them at home?" "Oh," they
say, 1.-THE blacksmith's shops are all torn
down, and we have nothing left us but
Il 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 the colleges, and the arts, and the sci
ences, and the literature, and the printing
press. Infdelity is making mighty at
tempt 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
a while when the great battle between Sin
aud Righteousness has opened, If we do not
look out we will be rs badly OFT as these
Isrealites without any sword to fight with
and without any sharpening instruments.
| 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 eclectric batteries,
and the microscopes, and telescopes, he
children of God not PhillistineS. The
Carlylean, EmersOnian and Teyndallsan
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
Christians to capture the scholarship, and
philOsOphic Christians to capture the phi
losophy, and lecturing Christians to take
back the lecturing platform. We want to
send out against Schenkel, and Strauss,
and Renan, Theodore Christlieb, of Bonn;
and against the infidel scientists of the
dGy GOd-worshipping Silliman, and
Hitchcock and AgaSSlZ. We want to cap
ture all the philosophical apparatus, and
swing around the telescopes on the swivel,
until through them we can see the morn
ing star of the Redeemer, and with minera-
logical hammer discover the Rock of Ages,
and amid the fora of all realms, find the
Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley.
We want 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
times day; all its muscles, and nerves,
AMI bones showing the infinite skill of an
infinite God, and then winding up with the
peroration: HE that formed the eye,
shall he not see?' And then We want to
discourse about the human ear, its wonder
full integuments, membranes, and yibra-
ton, aud 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 eX-
pound the first chapter of Genesis, bring to
it the geology and astronomy of the world,
until, rs job suggested: The stones OF
the field shall be in league" with the truth,
and the stars in their course shall fight
against Sisera. o, church of God, 60 out
and recapture their weaponsl
LET MEN OF GOD GO OUT AND TAKE POS
SESSION
of the platform. Let any printing presses
that have been captured by the enemy be
recaptured for God; and the reporters, and