The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-07-28
A DISARMED PEOPLE.
Or. TAlMAGE FINDS A LESSON IN
THE SUBJuGATEp lSRAEllTE.

The Church of Today Has Allowed the In
ndels to Assume Too Much In Science
and Literature-we Need More Men Like
Agassix, Siiiiman and Hitchcock.
MADISON, Wis, July 2S.-The great
throng of many thousands from all parts
of the north and west are gathered at
the Monona Lake assembly, a Chautau-
qua held near this city. Rev. DR.. Tai
mage this forenoon preached to the great
multitude on "Sharpened Axes, the text
being Samuel xiii. 1921, Now, there
was no smith found throughout all the
land of Israel" etc.
My loving and glad salutation to this
uncounted host, Chautauquans, Chris
tan Endeavorers, gospel workers and
their friends from all parts of Wisconsin
and America, saints and sinners! My
text is gloriously appropriate. What a
CALLING subjugation the lsraelites were
suffering! The Philistines had carried
off all the blacksmiths and torn down
all the blacksmiths' shops and abolished
the blacksmiths trade in the land of
Israel.
These Philistines had 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
plow or his ak he had to go over to
the garrison of the Philistines to get il
DONE There was only one sharpening
instrument left in the land, and that was
file. The farmers end the mechanics
having nothing to whet up the coulter,
and the goad, and the pickax save a
simple file, industry was hindered and
work practically disgraced.
The great idea of these Philistines was
to keep the Israelites disarmed. 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 in
struments of agriculture or the military
weapons up to an edge. Oh, you poor,
weaponless Israelites, reduced to file,
how pity you! But these Philistines
were not forever to keep their heel on
the neck of Gods children. Jonathan,
on his hands and knees, climbs up a
great rock beyond which were the Phil
istines, and his armor bearer, on his
hands and knees, climbs up the same
rock, and these two men, with their two
swords. hew to pieces the Philistines,
the Lord throwing great terror upon
them. So it was then; so it is now. The
two men of God on their knees mightie1
than d Philistine host on their feet.
CHURCH WITHOUT WEAPONS.
learn first from thissubject how dan.
gerous it is for the church of God to al
low its weapons to stay in the hands OF
its enemies. These Israelites might again
and again have obtained supply OF
swords and weapons, as, for instance
when they took the spoils of the Am
monites, but these Israelites seemed con.
tent to have no swords, no spears, nc
blaclsslniths, no grindstones, no active
iron mines, until it was too late for them
to make any resistance. see the farm.
ers Juggling along with their pickaxes
and plows, and l say, where are you
going with those thingss" They say
sob, we are going over to the garrison Of
the Philistines to get these things sharp
ened." l say, 'You foolish men; why
don't you sharpen them at homer" "Oh.
they say, ''the blacksmiths' shops are al
torn down, and we have nothing left us
but file"
So it is in the church of Christ today
We are too willing to give up our weap
ons to the enemy. The world boasts
that it has gobbled up the schools, and
the colleges, and the arts, and the sci
ences, and the literature, and the print
ing press. Infdelity is making mighty
attempt to get all our weapons in it,
hand and then to keep them. You know
it is making this boast all the time, and
after awhile, when the great battle be
tween sin and righteousness has opened
if we do not look out we will be as badly
off as these Israelites, without any
swords to fight with and without any
sharpening instruments.
l call upon the superintendent of lit
erary institutions to see to it that thu
men who go into the classrooms to stant
beside the Leyden jars, and the electric
batteries, and the microscopes or tele
scopes be children of God, not Philis
tines. The atheistic thinkers of this day
are trying to get all the intellectual
weapons of this century in their owl
grasp. What we want is scientific Chris
tians to capture the science, and scholas
tic Christians to capture the scholarship
and philosophic Christians to capture
the philosophy, and lecturing Christians
to take back the lecturing platform.
THE WEAPONS OF SCIENCE.
We want to send out against Schenke
and Strauss and Renan of the past mel
like the late Theodore Christlieb of Bonn
and against the infdel scientists Goo
worshiping Silliman and Hitchcock ant
Agassiz We want to capture all tn,
| philosophical apparatus and swing
around the telescopes on the swivel un
til through them we can see the morn
ing star of the Redeemer, and with min
eralogical hammer discover the "Rocl
| of Ages" and amid the flora of tn,
realms find the "Rose Of Sharon and tn
Lily Of the Valley"
We want a clergy learned enough t,
| discourse of the human eye, showing j
to be microscope and telescope in on
instrument, with 800 wonderful con
| trivances and lids closing 10000 or 4O, 00
times day, all its muscles and nerve
and bones showing the infinite skill o
an infinite God, and then winding vi
I with the peroration, HE that forme'
( the eye, shall he not seer' And then W
want to discourse about the human ear
: its wonderful integuments, membrane
and vibration, and its chain of small
bones, and its auditory nerves, CLOSING