Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-07-04
MIGHTY WEAPON.
sILENCING THE CAVALIERS,
Christian PhiIosophy's Replies to
Worldly Philosophy.


TEXT: "IRere Is none lie that; giUe Il
eH-I Samuel xxi, 0.
David fed from his pursuers. The
world runs very fast when it is chasing
q good man. The country is trying to
catch David, and to slay him. David goes
into the house Of priest, and asks him
Gor o 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 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, memoir
able 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 stretches 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 hand the sword that has been used
against mo, and against the cause Of God"
So it was given him. Well my friends, that
Is not the first or the 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
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 1t mer ..-
1 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
Kill 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
lie and that Christianity, as we have it
among men, is a positive imposition" Good
men trembled. The telescope, the Leyden
jars, the electric batteries, all in 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 meT And
Copernicus and Calico, and Kepler, and
Isaac Newton came forth and told the world
chat, in their ransacking of the earth
and heaven, they had found overwhelming
presence of the God whom we worship; and
this old Bible began to shake itself from the
Koran, and Shaster, and Zendayesta 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
mharmed and unanswered, while the towers
of the midnight heavens struck q silvery
chime in its praise. 49,.
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
30 that objection was overcome, and in tho
first three words Of The Bible we find that
Moses stated magnificent truth when he
said: sin the beginning"
Worldly philosophy, said: "Your Bible is
a most inaccurate book; nll 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 aiinly goes in order and procession, locusts
. without order" "Wait!n said Christian phi
6sophy; and in 1868, in the southwestern part
o. This country, Christian men went
out to examine the march Of the locust. There
are men right before me who must have no.
), Iticed IN that very part of sE- .yunrry the
co.ulng up of the locust like an army; and it
was found that all the newspapers unwit-
tingly spoke Of them as an army Why?
They seem to have q commander. They
march like a host They halt like a
straighter fight than the locusts come
NOT even turning aside for the wind If
the wind rises, the locusts drop and then rise
again after it has gone down, taking the
same line of march, not varying foot. The
old Bible right every time when it speaks of
locusts coming like an army; worldly phil,
osophy wrong.
about the light turned as clay to the seal
philosophy said: 1.-THE light comes straight
Christian philosophy said: ''Wait httl
WHILE" and it goes on and makes discoverie
and finds that the atmosphere curves an,
bends the rays of light around til,
earth, literally, ''as the clay to the seal
The Bible right again; worldly philosopn.
wrong again. "Ah," says worldly, philoso
ply, ''all that illusion in Job about tn
foundations Of the earth is simply an alb
surdity. Where vast thou,' says God
swhen I set the foundations of the earth Tn
earth has no foundations" Christian phi
iosophy comes and finds that the word a
translated Foundation may be bette
translated "sockets" So now see how
will read il it is translated right: "Wher
vast thou when set the sockets Of tn
earth ?" Where is the socket It is the no
for any world to in
Worldly philosophy said: ''What an absur
story about Joshua making the sun and moo
stand still. II the world had stopped an in
slant, the whole universe would have bee
out Of gear.n sStop,n said Christian philosc
ply, mot quite so quick The world ha
two -moionS-one on its own axis, and tn
other around the sun. 1t was not necessary i
making them stand still that both motion
should be stopped-only the one turning th
world on its own axis. There was no reaso
why the halting of the earth should hav
Jared and disarranged tho whole univers'
Joshua right and God right; in6delity wron
every time. knew it would be wrong.
thank God that the time has come whe
Christians need not be scared at any scientil
exploration. The fact Is that religion an
science have struck hand in eternal friendship
and the deeper down geology can dig an
the higher up astronomy can soar, a
the better for us. The armies of I'll
Lord Jesus Christ have stermed IL
observatories Of the worlds science, ar
fro1u the highest towers have flung o,
the banner of the cross and ChriStianit
tonight, from the observatories Of Alban
and Washington, stretches out its hand t.
ward the opposing scientific weapon, cr
ing: ''There is none like that; give 1t me
was reading this afternoon Of Hersche
who was looking at a meteor throue
a telescope, and when it came over q
face Of the telescope 1t was SO powerful he he
to avert his eyes. And it has been just so tn
many an astronomer has gono into an o
servatory and looked up into the midnigl
heavens, and the Lord God has, through son
swinging world famed Upon his vision, al
the learned man cried out: ''Who am 1! U
done! Unclean! Have mercy, Lord Godp'
Again,1 Il remark, that the travelling di