The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-12-09
AT THE TABERNACLE.


.uu -bot.n Religion The secular Pres.
tnH lue roipit
Hu1NLNN Sept lU This forenoon Rev
ID. Witt 1umagc preached to -,
f......j audience in the BROOKLYN r,bar.
.... The keynote Of the service was one
...uiuc-- Many of thpnudiencc had been
-un during the summer and had re-.
uHel for tNl- service. The pastor com
m.utrl ON passages of Scripture depicting
He morning of the worlds dclivernncc.
THE subject Of the sermon was, 1.-THE Bat
leOurs,' the text being / KINGS NN. o..
Aud the children of Israel pitched before
Them like two little 1uck- ufLid,"
With 33 kings drunk m one tent thi,
chapter opens They were allies plotting
for the overthrow of the Lord, Israel You
know that if 70 lion roar flock of kids
will sh Ner and huddlo together One lion
could conquer a thousand kids The bat.
tie opau-. There are a great multitude of
Syri1u4 under General Beu-had4d. STRONG
rs lions. The israclitps are few and weak.
like two little hocks of kids. Who hegt9
Tho iou of course Oh, nos the kids. for
il ull depends whether God IL ON the side of
tine lions or the Kids After the battle 100
900 Syrians lay dead ON the field. and 97.0OU
attempting to fly, came along bya great
wall. which tOpued and crushed them to-
death
Which was the stronger veapon-grcat
Goliath'- sword or little David's sliupg
David bad five smooth stones from the
brook. He only used one in striking down
Goliath. He had a surplus of ammunition:
NE had enough to take down four more
giants if they had appeared in the way. 1t
all depends upon whether God is on the
side of the shepherd boy or on the side of
the giant
There have been many in our day who
have veutured the opinion that Christian.
ity is falling back, and that in 50 years it
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 it Gre repulsive to the peo-
pie. | reply by asking which one Of the
publishing houses of New York, Philadel-
phia, Boston or Chicago is publishing the
Bible today with the omission of a single
verse or chapterf Are not our publishers
intelligent men? And would they. con
trary to their financial interests, continue
to publish the Bible without the omission
Of a single chapter or single verse if it
We're becoming an unpopular book and the
people did not want it?
If Harpers or Appleton or Scribner or
Lippincott should publish Bible with the
omission of one chapter, they would not
sell 10 copies in 10 years. The fact that
throughout Christendom there are hun
dreds of printing presses printing the word
of God without the omission of a chapter
or verse proves that the Bible is popular,
and the fact that there are more being
printed in this decade than any other de
cade proves that the Bible is increasing in
popularity.
A POPULAR BOOK.
60 through the courtrooms Of the coun-
try. Wherever find a judges bench or a
clerks desk / find the Bible BY what
other book would they take solemn oath2
What is very apt TO be among the brides
presents? The Bible. What is very apt to
be put in the trunk of the young man when
he starts for city lifey The Bible. Vol
taire predicted that the Bible during the
nineteenth century would become an obso-
lete book. Well, we are pretty nearly
through the nineteenth century, the Bible
is not obsolete yet. There is not much
prospect of its becoming obsolete, but |
have to tell you that that room-the very
room in which Noltaire wrote that predic-
tion-some time ago was crowded from
floor to ceiling with Bibles for Switzer-
land Suppose the congress of the United
Sta1ea should pass a law that no Bibles
shuu'S-be printed in the United States.
If there are 10000 900 grown men and
women in the country, then there would be
5O,TuJO0O people armed against such a law.
But suppose the congress of the United
States should pass law that Macaulay :
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 fur
their Bibles where there are 50 men who
would die for any other book. The fact
that there are now more Bibles being print
ed than ever before; that publishers find it
q financial interest forthem to continue the
publication of the Bible, proves that this
book is still the most popular book on the
planet.
But" say those who are antagonistic
Christianity is falling back, from the fact
that the church is not as much respected as
it used to be and is not as influential
reply to that with the statistic that one de
nomination the Methodist church - &C
cording to a statistic given me by one OF
their bishops, dedicates on an average q
new church every day of the year. Three
hundred and siXty-tive new churches in one
denomination in a year, and over thou
sand new churches built every year in thi,
country Does that look as though the
church were failing in its power and wert
becoming wonout institution Arounc
which institution in our communities gain
er the most ardent atfectlonsy-the post
Office, the hotel the courthouse the city
hall or the churchesy
Why, when our old Tabernacle was burn
ing there were hundreds OF men standing
in the streets who never went to church
tears raining down their cheeks. 1t is be
cause the church of God stands nearer the
sSnPaVules ot 'ile <Ailstloon tii'',
any o'uer iusv'Tu'iU y, neii iilay o'i t
'ue CHuICn an" can ~ d" 0Ot,oO.''li VI ~ ~
cfs'es, puT "ueh tHelr clili''len "ie s" tl,
On WIN 'ne ulpl1uerla ior "itHui Nv wv
7elu' 10 Ine pOSViilasoer' ~ 'ue ".oo' -.
general 70 'ne alOel ~ " 'ne 80,
u uhe VnuIcnes' Anu II ouei t pe NV oo 'l
lor Jne oDsequles III Ihe prlNaue Ho'S