The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-07-10
THE MIGHTIEST WEAPON.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage's Sermon
at the Brooklyn Tabernacle.
quered by the Gospel - Christian
Philosophy VS.. Worldly Philoso-
ply - No Weapon Like tile
Gospel OF Christ.


1.-THE highest weapon is the Gospel"
was the subject Of Rev. DR.. Talmage's re-
cent sermon at the Brooklyn Tabernacle.
His text was, l. Samuel Xxx, 9: ''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 q good
man. The countryis trying to catch David,
and to slay him. David goes into the house
Of q priest, and asks him for sword or spear
with which to defend himself. The priest,
not being accustomed to use deadly weap-
Ons, 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 that
sword, and while he is unwrapping the
sharp, glittering, memorable blade, 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 off it until the
priest has unwound it. David stretched out
his hand toward that old sword and says:
"There is none like that; give it me-" In
other words: II want in my own hands 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 the last sword used by giant and Philis-
tine iniquity which is to come into the pos
session of Jesus Christ, and of His glorious
church. want, as well as God may help
me- to show you that many weapon which
has been used against the armies of God is
yet to be captured and used on our side;
and only initiate David when stretch out
my hand toward the blade of the Philistine
and cry: 'There is none like that; give it
to me-"
remark first, that this is true in regard
to all scientific exploration. You know that
the first discoveries in astronomy and geOl-
ogy and chronology were used to battle
Christianity. Worldly philosophy came out
Of its laboratory and out of its observatory,
and said: snow, we will prove, by the very
structure Of the earth, and by the movement
of the heavenly bodies, that the Bible is a
lie and that Christianity, as we have it
among men, is positive imposition" Good
men trembled The telescope, the Leyden
Jars, the electric batteries, all in the hands
of the Philistines. But one day, Christiani-
tX looking about for some weapon with
which to defend itself, happened to see the
very old sword that these atheistic Philis-
tines had been using against the truth, and
cried out: There is none like that: give it
to mep And Copernicps, and Gahleo, and
Kepler, and Isaac Newton came forth, and
told the world that, in their ransacking of
the earth and heavens, they had found over
whelming 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 the
lap of the Christian, unframed aud unan-
swered, while the towers of the midnight
heavens struck silvery chime in its praise.
Worldly philosophy said: matter is eter-
nal. 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!
and so that objection was overcome, and in
the first three words of the Bible we find
that Moses stated "a magnif cent truth when
he said: sin the beginning"
Worldly philosophy said: "Your Bible is
a most inaccurate book: all that story in the
Old Testament. again and again told, about
the army Of the locusts-it is preposterous.
There is nothing in the coming Of the locusts
like an army An army walks, locusts fly.
An army walks in order and procession,
locusts without order" "Wait!n said Chris
tian philosophy; and in 176S, in the south
western 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 of the country
the coming up of the locusts like an army
and it was found that all Of the newspapers
unwittingly spoke of them as an army.
| Whya They seem to have commander.
They halt like host. No arrow ever went
with straighter fight than the locusts come
not even turning aside for the wind. II
the wind rises, the locusts drop and then
| rise again after it has gone down, taking
the same line of march, not varying a foot
The old Bible right every time when il
speaks of locusts coming like an army
worldly philosophy wrong.
| Worldly philosophy said: "All that story
about the light turned as clay to the seal
is simply an absurdity," Old time worldly
philosophy said, 1.-THE light comes straight u
Christian philosophy said: "Wait little
while,n and it goes on and makes discover.
les and finds that the atmosphere curves and
bends the rays of light around the earth
literally las the clay to the seal" The Bi
BILE right again; worldly philosophy wrong
again. "Ah," says worldly philosophy, "al
that illusion in Job about the foundations Of
the earth is simply an absurdity. Where
vast thou, says God, w hen l set the foun
dations of the earthr The earth has NJ
foundations.' Christian philoso ply come!
and finds that the word as translated "foun
dationn may be better translated sockets
So now see how it will read if it is translated
right where was thou when set tn,
sockets of the eartb." Whereas the socket
II is the hollow of Gods hand--a socke
large enough for any world to turn in.
Worldly philosophy said "What an alb
surd story about Joshua making the SUI
and moon stand still. If the world hat
stopped an instant, the whole univers,
would have been out of gear "Stop,
said Christian philosophy, mot quite s,
quick" The world has two motions-on,
on its own axis and the other around tn,
sun. 1t was not necessary in making then
stand still that both motions should b,
stopped-only the one turning the world OIL
its own axis. There was no reason why tn,
halting of the earth should have Jared an,
disarranged the whole universe. Joshu
right and God right infidelity wrong ever,
time knew it would be wrong. l thanl
God that the time has come when Chris
tians need not be scared at any scientif
exploration. The fact is that religion an,
science have struck hand in eternal friend
ship, and the deeper down geology can di