The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-06-24
MIGHT OF THE GOSPEL.
SCIENTIFIC sCoFFING EASY TO
KNOCK OUT.

/ AN OUT.
The Time Past When Christians Need
Fear the Results of Scientific Fx-
plorers Who Seek to Discredit the
Stories of the Bible-The Weapons of
Unbelievers Turned Against Them
selves
BROOKLYN. June 23-The Rev. T. De-
Witt Talmage, ID. D., preached at the
Tabernacle this evening on "The Mightiest
Weapon Is the Gospel" His text was I
Samuel xxi, 8: 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 good
man. The country is irving to catch
David, and to clay him. David goes into
the house of priest, and asks him for a
sword or spear with which to defend himself.
The priest, not being accustomed to use
deadly weapons, tells David that he cannot
supply him; but suddenly the priest
| thinks of an old sword that had been carr
fully wrapped up and laid away-the very
| sword that Goliath formerly used-and he
takes down that sword, and while he is un-
wrapping the sharp, glittering, memorable
| Dlade, 1T flashes upon David's mind that
| thls was the very sword that was used
against himself when he was in the fight
with Goliath, and David can hardly keep
ms hand Oft 1t until the priest has unwound
1T. David stretches out his hand toward
that old sword, and says: "There is none
like that; give it me-" In other words. ''I
| want in my own hand the sword that has
been used against me, and against the cause
| OF dod." 80 1t was given him. Well my
friends, that is not the first or the last
| sword once used by giant and Philistine
| lnlqulty which Is TO come into the posses-
| sion OF Jesus Christ, and of his glorious
church. | want, as we'll as God may help
me, to show you that manya weapon which
| has been used against he armies OF God is
| yet to be captured and used on our side:
and only initiate David when I stretch out
| my hand toward the blade of the Philistine
aud cry: There is none like that; give it
mel"
remark, first, that this Is true in regard
to all scientific exploration. You Know
that the first discoveries in astronomy and
| geology and chronology were used to battle
christianity. Worldly philosophy came
| out of its laboratory and out of its observa-
| tory, and said: Now, we will prove by the
very structure of the earth, and bv the
movement of the heavenly bodies. that the
Biole is lie and that christianity, as we
have 1T among men. is a positive imposi-
tion." Good men trembled The telescope.
the Leyden jars, the electric batteries. ali
IL the hands of the Philistines But one
day, christianity, looking about for
some weapon with which to defend
| itself, happened to see the very
old sword that these atheistic Philistines
had been using against the truth and cried
out: There is none like that; give it meI'
And Copernicus, and Galileo, and Kepler
| and Isaac Newton came forth and told the
thof in bDf e Al.
and heaven, they had found overwhelming
| presence of the God whom we worship: aud
| this old Bible began to shake itself from the
| Koran, and Shaster, and Zendavester with
| which 1t had been covered up, and lay on
| the desk of the scholar, and in the Iabora-
tory of the chemist, and in the lap of the
christian, unframed and unanswered, while
the towers of the midnight heavens struck
a silvery 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 gradu-
ally made, there must have been some
point at which the process started: then.
who started its and SO that objection was
overcome, and in the first three words of
the bible we find that Moses stated a mag
nifcent truth when he said: lin the be.
ginning"
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 prepos-
ferrous. There is nothing in the coming of
the locusts like an army. An army walk,.
locusts fly. An army goes in order and
procession, locust without order.n ''Waittii
said Christian philosophy; and in 1868, in
the southwestern part of this country.
Christian men went out to examine the
march of the locust. There are men right
before ne who must have noticed
in that very part of the country
the coming up of tine locust
like an army; and it was found that all the
newspapers unwitJingly spoke of them as
an army. Whys They seem to have a
commander. They march like host. They
halt like host. No arrow ever went with
straighter flight than the locusts come-not
even turning aside for the wind. If the
wind rises, the locusts drop aud then rise
again after it has gone down, taking the
same line of march, not varying foot.
The old Bible right every time when il
speaks Of locusts coming like an army:
worldly philosophy wrong.
Worldly philosophy said: Gan that story
about the light turned as clay to the seal
| is simply au absurdity.n Old time worldly
philosophy said: "The light comes
straight" Christian philosophy said;
walt lIJtle Whlle, and 1t goes on and
makes discoveries, and finds that the
atmosphere curves and bends the rays of
| light around the earth, literally "as the
clay to the SEAL" The Bible right again:
worldly philosophy wrong again. 'iAh.n
says worldly philosophy, ''all that Illusion
in Job about the foundations Of the earth
is simply an absurdity. Where vast
| thou says God, when [ set the
| foundations of the earthF The earth
has no foundations" Christian phi
losophy comes and finds that the word as
translated Foundation" may be better
translated "sockets" So now see how it
will read if it is translated right: "Where
vast thou when l set the sockets of the
earth7" Where IS the sockets 1t is the ho-
low of Gods hand-a socket large enough
for any world to turn in.
Worldly philosophy said: "What an alb
surd story about Joshua 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 mott tiJns-one
on its own axis, the other round 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 ere was no
reason why the halting Of the earth
should have Jared and disarrauged
the whole universe. Joshua right and God
right; infdelity wrong every time. | knew