Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1893-07-29

And we want some one able to eXp0und
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 "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 possession of the
platform Let all the printing presses
of the country speak out for Christ,
and the reporters and the type settlers,
and the editors, and publishers, swear
allegiance to the Lord God of truth.
Again, / learn from this subject
what large amount of the church's
resources is actually hidden, and bur-
led, and undeveloped. The Bible init
mates that that was very rich land
this land of Israel. 1t says: "The
stones are iron, and out of the hills
thou shalt dig brass" and yet hun
dreds of thousands of dollars worth of
this metal was kept under the hills.
Well, that is the difficulty of the church
of God ut this day. Its talent is not
developed. If one-half of its energy
could be brought out it might take the
public iniquities of the day by the
throat and make them bite the dust.
If human eloquence were consecrated
to the Lord Jesus Christ it could in a
few years pursuade this whole earth to
surrender to God. There is enough un-
developed Christian energy in the Uni
ted States to bring the whole world to
Christ: but it is buried under strata of
Indifference and under whole mount
aims of sloth. Now, is it not time for
the mining to begin. and the pick-aXes
to plunge, and for this buried metal to
be brought out and put into the fur
naces, and be turned into howitzers
and carbines for the Lords host? The
vast majority of Christians in this day
are useless The most of the Lords
battalion belong to the reserve corps.
The most of the crew are asleep in the
hammocks. The most of the metal is
under the hills. Oh, is it not time for
the church of God to rouse up and I'M
derstand that we want all the energies,
all the talent, and all the wealth en-
listed for Christ's sake?
Again learn from this subject, that
we sometimes do well to take advan-
tage of the worlds sharpening instru-
ments. These Israelites were reduced
to file, and so they went over to the
garrison of the Philistincs to get their
axes and their goads and their plows
sharpened. The Bible distinctly states
in the context that they had no other
instruments now with which to do
this work. and the Israelites did right
when they went over to the Phills-
tines to use their grindstones. My
friends, is it not right for us to employ
the worlds grindstopes? If there be
art, if there be logii if there be bust
ness faculty on the other side. let MS
go over and employ it for Christ's
sake. The fact is. we fight with
too dull weapons, and we work with
too dull implements. We hack and
maui when we ought to make a
clean stroke. Let us go over among
sharp business men, and among sharp
literary men, and find out what their
tact is, and then transfer it to the cause
of Christ. If they have science and art
it will do us good to rub against it. In
other words, let us employ the worlds
grindstones. We will listen to their
music, and we will watch their acumen,
and we will use their grindstones, and
we will borrow their philosophical APP
paratus to make our experiments. and
we will borrow their printing-presses
to publish our Bibles, and we will bor-
row their rail trains to carry our Chris
tan literature, and we will borrow
their ships to transport our mission
aries. That was what made Paul
such a master in his day. He not
only got all the learning he could
get of DIR. Gamaliel, but afterward,
standing on Mars Hill, and in crowded
thoroughfare, quoted their poetry and
grasped their logic, and welded their
eloquence and employed their mythol-
ogy, until Dionysius, the Areopagite,
learned in the schools of Athens, and
Heliopolis, went down under his ire
mendous powers. That was what gave
Thomas Chalmers his power in his day.
He conquered the worlds astronomy
and compelled it to ring out the wis
dom and greatness of the Lord, until,
for the second time, the morning stars
sang together, and all the sons of God
shouted for joy. That was what gave
to Jonathan Edwards his influence in
his day. He conquered the worlds
metaphysics and forced it into the
service of God, until not only the old
meeting house in Northampton, Mass,
but all Christendom felt thrilled by his
Christian power.
Again, my subject teaches us on what
small allowance Philistine iniquity
puts a man. Yes, these Philistines
shut up the mines, and then they took
the spears and the swords, then they