The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1893-08-04
''SHARPENED AXES"
Rev. T. Dewitt TalmaGe Talks 20
the Wisconsin Chaptauquans.
Christian Weapons I'm the Hands of ths
Enemy-Lessons from the Subiuga-
tlon OF the IsracIites by
the Phfllsttues.


Now there was no smith found throue nout
all the land OF Israel; for the Philistines said:
Lest the Hebrews make them swords or
spears" But all the Israelites went down to
the PhilistircS. TO sharpen every man his
share, and HIS coulter and his az, and his mat
took Yet they had file for the mattocls. and
for the coulters. and for the forks. and for the
axes. and TO sharpen the goads.-Samuel xiii,
1921.
this uncounted host of Chautauquans,
Christian Endeavorers, Gospel workers
and their friends from all parts of
Wisconsin and America, saints and
sinnersl My text is gloriously appro-
pirate. What a scalding subjugation
the Israelites were suffering. The Phil
istines had carried off all the black
smiths and torn down all the black
smiths shops, and abolished the black
smiths trade in the land of Israel.
These Philistines had a particular
grudge against blacksmiths, although
have always admired them, and have
sometimes thought / ought to have
been one myself. The Philistines
would not even allow these parties
to work their valuable mines of
brass and iron, nor might they make
any swords or spears. There were
only two swords left in all the land.
Yea, these Philistines went on until
they had taken all the grindstones
from the land of Israel, so that if an
Israelitish farmer wanted to sharpen
his pillow or his AK, he had to go over to
the garrison of the Philistines and have
it done. There was only one sharpen
ing instrument left in the land, and
that was a file. The farmers and the
mechanics having nothing to whet up
the coulter, and the goad, and the pick
az, save a simple file, industry was
hindered and work practically dis
graced. The great idea of these Phil
istines was to keep the Israelites dis
armed. They might get iron out of the
hills to make swords of, but they would
not have any blacksmiths to weld
this iron. If they got the iron welded,
they would have no grindstones on
which to bring the instruments of
agriculture or the military weapons up
TO the edge. Oh, you poor, weapon
less Israelites, reduced to a file, how
pity youl But these Philistines were
not forever to keep their heel on the
neck of Gods children. Jonathan, on
his hands and knees, climbs up great
rock beyond which were the Philfs-
tines, and his armor-bearer, on bis
hands and knees, climbs up the same
rock, and these two men, with their
two swords, hew to pieces the Phi1is-
tines, the Lord throwing a great terror
upon them. So it was then; so it is
now. The two men of God on their
knees, mightier than Philistine host
on their feet.
learn from this subject, how dam
gerous it is for the church of God to
allow its weapons to stay in the hands
of its enemies. These Israelites might
again and again have obtained a sup
ply of swords and weapons, as for in
stance when they took the spoils of the
Ammonites; but these Isrealites
seemed content to have no swords, no
spears, no blaclsmiths, no grindstones,
no active iron mines, until it was too
late for them to make any resistance.
l see the farmers Juggling along with
their pickaxes and plows, and 1 say:
Where are you going with those
things?" They say: "Oh, we are go
ing over to the garrison of the Philis-
tines to get these things sharpened."
/ say: You foolish men, why don't
you sharpen them at home?" 'Oh,"
they say: 1.-THE blacksmith shops are
all torn down, and we have nothing
left us but file."
We want to send out against Schen-
KEEL and Strauss and Renan of the past,
l. 1.
of Bonn; and against the infdel sci
entists, God-worshiping Silliman and
Hitchcock and Agassiz. We want to
capture all the philosophical appara-
tus, and swing around the telescopes
on the swivel, until we can see the
morning star of the Redeemer, and
with meteorological hammer discover
the Rock of Ages" and amid the
realms find the Rose of Sharon and
the Lily of the Valley" We want a
clergy learned enough to discourse of
the human eye, showing it TO be a
microscope and telescope in one in
strument, with eight hundred wonder
full contrivances, and lids closing
thirty thousand or forty thousand
times a day; all its muscles
infinite skill of an infinite God, and
then winding up with the peroration:
''He that formed the eye, shall He not
see?" And then we want to discourse
about the human ear, its wonderful
integuments, membranes and vibra-
ton, and its chain Of small bones, and
its auditory nerves, closing with the
question: He that planted the ear
shall He not hear2" And we want
some one able to expound the first
chapter of Genesis, bringing to it the
theology and the astronomy of the
world, until, as Job suggested, ''the
stones of the field shall be in league"
with the truth, and 1.-The stars in
their courses shall fight against
Sisera." Oh, church of God, go
out and recapture these weapons.
Let men of God go out and take pos
session of the platform. Let all the
printing! presses of this country speak
out for Christ, and the reporters, and
the type-setters, and the editors, and
publishers, swear allegiance to the
Lord God of truth. All, my friend,
that day must come; and if the great
body of Christian men have not the
faith, or the courage, or the consecra-
ton, TO do it. then let some Jonathan,
on his busy hands and on his praying
knees, climb up on the rock of hind
rance, and in the name of the Lord
God of Israel slash to pieces those lit
erary Philistines- If these men will
not be converted to God, then they
must be destroyed
Again, learn from this subject what