Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-07-04
THE GOSPEL WEAPON.
Or. TalmAqe on Worldly PhiIos-
ophy and Bible Truths.
The Weapons of Worldly Philosophy
Turned to ChristIanty's service-Eyery
Jhins Useful to Christians-Th Lords
Army of Business Men.

Rev. I. De Witt Talmage in a recent
sermon a. Brooklyn took for his subject:
''The II ightiest Weapon Is the Gospel"
His text was from / Samuel xxi g.:
There is none like that; give it me"
The preacher said:
David fed from his pursuers. The world
runs very fast when it is chasing a good
man. The country is trying to catch
David and 10 slay him. David goes into
the house of priest and asks him for a
sword or spear with which to defend him
self. The priest, not being accustomed to
use deadly weapons, tells David that he
can not supply him; but suddenly the
priest thinks OF an old sword that had
been carefully wrapped up and laid away
the very sword that Goliath formerly
used-and he takes down the sword, and
while he is wrapping the sharp, glitter
ing. memorable b ade, it flashes upon
David's mind that this was the very
sword that was used against himself when
he was in the fight with Goliath, and
David can hardly keep his hand Of it IN
til the priest has unwound it. David
stretches out his hand toward that
old sword and says: There is
none Ike that; give it me-" In
other words. 81 want in my own
hand the sword that has been used against
me. and against the cause of God" So it
was given him. Well, my friends that is
not the first or last sword once used by
giant and Philistine iniquity which is TO
come into the possession OF Jesus Christ,
and of his glorious Church. want, as
well as God may help me, to show you
that many a weapon which has been used
against the armies of God is yet to be
captured and used on our side; and only
Invite David when l stretch out my hand
toward the blade of the Philistine, and
cry: There is none like that; give it
mel"
remark, first that this is true in re-
gard &c all scientific exploration. You
know that the first discoveries in astrono-
my and geology and chronology were
used TO battle CHRISTIANITY. Worldly
PHILOSOPHY came out of its laboratory and
out Of its observatory, and said: Now,
we will prove, by the very structure OF
the earth, and by the movement CT the
heavenly bodies. that the Bible is lie
and that Christianity, as we have it
among men, is q positive imposition"
Good men trembled The telescope, the Ley
den jars, the electric at cries, all in the
hands of Philistinss. But one day, Christ
ianity, looking about for som weapon with
which TO defend itself, happened TO see
the very old swords that these athei c
Pbilistines had been using against the
truth and cried out: 9Th are il none like
that; give it meW And Copernicus, and
Calico, and Kepler and Isaac Newton
came forth and told the world that, in
their ranss cking of earth and Heaven.
thew had found overwhelming presence of
The God whom we worship; and this old
Bible began TO shake Itself from the Koran
and Shaster and Zendavesta with which it
had been covered up, and lay on the desk
of the scholar, and in the laboratory of
the chemist, and in tue lap of the Chris
tian, unframed and unanswered. while
the towers of the midnight heavens struck
a slvery chime in its praise.
Worldly philosophy said: Matter is
eternal The world always was. God did
not make it" Christian philosophy
plunges its crowbar into rocks, and finds
that the world was gradually made, and if
gradually made there must have BEEN
some point at which the process started;
then, who started it? Aud so that obiec-
ton was overcome and in the first three
words of the Bible we find that Moses |
Stated magnificent truth when he said: |
In the beginning"
Worldly philosophy said: ''Your Bible |
is most inaccurate book; all that story |
in the Old Testament, again and again |
told, about the army of the locusts-it is |
There is nothing in the |
coming of the locusts like an army. An |
army walks, locusts fly. An army goes in
order and procession, locusts without or
:. l.. H. l.,
and in 1868 in the southwe stern part of |
this country Christian men went out to
examine the march of the locust. There |
are men right before me who must have
noticed in that very part G the country |
the coming up of the locust like an army;
and it was found that all the newspapers
unwittingly spoke of them as an army. |
Why? They seem to have commander. |
They march like host They halt like n
host No arrow ever went with straighter |
flight than the locusts come-nOt even |
turning aside cor the wind. II the wind
rises the locusts drop and then rise again
inter it has gone down, taking the same
line of march, not varying a foot. The
Bible is right every time when it speaks
of locusts coming Ike an army; worldly
philosophy wrong
Worldly philosophy said: "All that
story about the light turned as CLAW to the
seal' is simply an absurdity." Old time
worldly philosophy said: THE light
comes straight" Christian philosophy
said: 'Wait little while" and it goes
on and makes discoveries and finds that
The atmosphere curves and bends the ray
of light around the earth, literally
'as the CLAW 70 the seal" The Bible right
again; worldly philosophy wrong again.
"Ah," says worldly philosophy. ''all that
illusion in Job about the foundation of the
earth is simply an absur iity. what vast
thou says Go I, when set the fouuda-
tions of the earthp The earth has no
foundations" Christian philosophy comes
and finds that the word as translated
foundation" NAV be better translated
Sockets" So now see how it will read
if it is translated right: Where vast
thou when / sat the sockets of the earth?"
Where is the socket? 1t is the hollow of
God's banda socket large enough for any
world to turn in.
Worldly philosophy said: what an abb
surd story aboutJ oshua making the sun and
moon stand still. If the world had stopped
an instant the whole universe would have
been out of gear" Stop" said Christian
philosophy, mot quite so quick" The
world has two mot ons-one on its ak
and the other around the sun. 1t was not
necessary in making them stand still that
both motions should be stopped-only the
one turning the world on its own axis.
There was no reason why the halting of
the earth should have Jared and disar-
ranged the whole universe. Joshua right
and God right; infidelity wrong every
time. l knew it would be wrong. Ithank
God that the time has come when Chris
tian need not be scared at any scientific
The f. i, that