The Penn's Grove record., 1893-09-15
2EV. DR. lALMAGR
The Brooklyn Divine's
Sunday Sermon.

I SbbSbNA -"
TEXT: "And tie children of Israel pitched
before them like ttoo little focks Of ktds."-I
Kings Xxx, 81.
With thirty-three kings drunk in one tent
this chapter opens. They were allies plot
ting for the overthrow of the Lords Israel.
You know that If a lion roar q flock Of
kids will SILVER and huddle together. One
lion would conquer a thousand kids. The
battle opens. There are a great multi.
tude Of Syrians under General Ben-
hadad, strong as lions. The Israeli
ties are few and weak, like two little fiocks
of kids. Who begt2 The lions. OF course.
oh, no the kids, for it all depends whether
God is on the side of the lions or the kids.
After the battle 100, 900 Syrians lay dead oil
the field, and 81, 1000, attempting to fly, came
along by a great wall, which toppled and
crushed them to death.
Which was the stronger weapon-great
Goliath's sword or little David's sling2
David had five smooth stones from the brook.
He only used one In striking down Goliath.
He had a surplus of ammunition. He had
enough to take down four more giants ifthey
had appeared in the way. It all depends up
on whether God is on the side OF the shop
herl boy or on the side OF the giant.
There have been many in our day who
have ventured the opinion that Christianity
Is falling back, and that in so years 1t will be
extinct. They found their opinion on the
assumed fact that the Bible is not as much OF
a book as it used to be, and that portions Of
1t are repulsive to the people. Ireply by
asking, Which one OF the publishing houses
of New York, Philadelphia, Boston or Chi
cago is publishing the Bible to-day with the
omission of a single verse or chapter2 Are
not our publishers intelligent menu And
would they, contrary TO their financial inter-
ests, continue to publish the Bible without
the omission OF a single chapter or a single
verseif it were becoming an unpopular book
and the people did not want 1t?
II Harpers or Appleton or Scribner or Lip
pincott should publish a Bible with the
omission of one chapter, they would not sell
10 copies in 10 years. The fact that through
ought Christendom there are hundreds OF
printing presses printing the word of God
without the omission Of a chapter or a verse
proves that the Bible is popular, and the
fact that there are more being printed in
this decade than any other decade proves
that the Bible is increasing In popularity.
1 go through the courtrooms of the coun-
try. Wherever l find a judges bench or q
clerks desk 1 find the Bible. By what other
book would they take solemn oath2 What
is very apt to be among the brides presents2
The Bible. What is very apt to be put In the
city life2 The Bible. Voltaire predicted
that the Bible during the nineteenth century
would become an obsolete book. Well, We
are pretty nearly through the nineteenth CEN
fury. The Bible is not obsolete yet. There
is not much prospect oft becoming obsolete,
but I have to tell you that that room-the
very room In which Voltaire wrote that pre-
diction-some time ago was crowded from
floor to ceiling with Bibles for Switzerland.
Suppose the congress OF the United States
should pass a law that no Bibles should be
printed in the United States.
II there are 0 1000, 900 grown men and
women in the country, then there would be
SO, 900 900 people armed against such a law.
But suppose the congress of the Unitei
States should pass a law that Macaulay's
history or Charles Reade's novels should not
be read-could you get half as large an army
or the fourth as large an army In other
words, there are, as you know and / know,
a thousand men who would die for their
Bibles where there are ~ men who would
die for any other book. The fact that there
are o more Bibles being printed than
ever before, that publishers And 1t a financial
interest for them to continue the Bible,
proves that this book isstillthe most popular
book on the planet.
'rBut," say those who are antagonistic,
"Christianity is falling back from the fact
that the church is not as much respected as
1t used to be and it is not as influential" l
reply to hat with the statistic that one de-
nomination-the Methodist church-accord-
ing to a statistic given by one of the bishops,
dedicates on an average a new church every
day of the year. Three hundred and sixty
five new churches in one denomination in u
year and over a thousand new churches built
every year in this country. Does that lool
as though. the church were falling in its
power and were becoming q wornout institu-
ton? Around which institution in our COM
munities gather the most ardent affections2
The postofiicc, the hotel, the courthouse, ths
city hall or the churches?
Why, when our old Tabernacle was burn
ing there were hundreds OF men standing in
| the stranfs who nnyeF went To fh,1rsh tpara
raining down their cheeks. 1t is becauseths
church OF God stands nearer TO the Ameri-
can people than any other institution. Men
may caricature the church and call 1t a col
lection Of hypocrites, but when their chill
dren are swept OF with the dipbtherla for
whom do they send? To the postmasts Or. to
the attorney general, to the aldermen, or to
I the pastors of the churches? And If there
be not room for the obsequies In the private
house what building do they solicit2 The
academy Of music, the hotel, public hall,
courthouse? No; the churches. And If
they want music on the sad occasion do
they select the "Marseillaise" hymn, or
"God Save the Queen" or our own grand
National air? No, they want the old hymn
with which we sang their old Christian
mothers to sleep. They want the Sunday
school hymn that their little girl sang the
last Sabbath afternoon she was out before
she was seszod with the awful sickness that
broke fathers heart aud mothers heart. oh,
you know as well as I dol shall not dwell
on it any lohger-the church of God, instead
of being q wornout institution, stands nearer
the sympathies OF the people than it ever
did and eelipses all other institutions.
But our antagonists go on and say that
Christianity is falling back, In the fact that
infdelity is holder now and more blatant
than 1t ever was. / deny the statement. In
fidelity is not near so bold now as it was In
the days of our fathers and grandfathers.
| Tharo tspza Jn fhta nNtxntrx rIhor, ~
who were openly and above board MID and
antagonistic to Christianity could be elected
to high office. Now, let some man wishing
high position in the State proclaim himself
the foe OF Christianity and an infdel, how
many States of the Union would he carry2
how many countiesp how many wards In
Brooklyn? Not one.
All, my friends, infidelity In this day is not
half as bold as II used to be. II 1t comes
now, 1t is apt to come under the disguise of
rhetoric or fantastic senttmentality. l know
II a man with great intelligence does become
IN infidel and begins an attack on Chris
tianitY II makes great excitement-of course
it does, and people come to the conclusion,
weakminded Christians come to the conclu-
sion, that everything is going overheard be-
cause some mar OF strong intellect assails
Christianity.
III man jumps overheard from a Cunard
steamer, he makes more excitement than all
the 500 sane passengers who continue In the
berths or on the decks. but does that stop
the ship? Does that wreck all the 500 pas
sengers? 1t makes great excitement when a
man leaps from a platform or q pulpit into
inadelity, but does that hinder our glorious
Bible from taking its millions into the skies2
1 tell you infdelity is not half as bold now as
II used to be.
Do you suppose sue things could be
enacted now as were enacted in the days Of
Robespierre, when a shameless woman wse
elected to be goddess, and she was carried
on a golden chair to a cathedral, and thu
people bowed down TO her as a divine beinf
and burned incense before her-sie TO tax.
the place Of the Bible, and OF Christianity.
and OF the Lord Almighty And while tina
ceremony was going on In the cathedral. IL
the chapels and In the corridors adjoininl
the cathedral scenes OF drunkenness and de
Lauehery and obscenity were enacted such
RS the wortd had never seen. Gould such a
thing as that transpire now2 No, sir. The
police would swOop on it, whether in Pari.
or New York. InfdelitY is not half as bold
now NJ Il used TO be.
"But," say our antagonists, "Christianity
is falling back because science, its chief
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