Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-09-15

Il, DeNltt Talnage preached 10 Il thronged
audience IN the Brooklyn Tabernacle. The
keynotc,Qf the service was one OF gladness
Many OF the audience had been absent during
the summer ana had returned for this service.
The pastor commented on passages OF Script
ure depicting the morning OF the worlds de-
liveranoe. The subject of the sermon was:
"The Battle Ours" the text being l. Kings
2O:27: "And the children OF Israel pitched be.
fore them like two little hocllS Of kids"
With thirty-three kings drunk in
one tent, this chapter opens. I hey
were allies plotting for the overthrow
of the Lords Israel. You know that
If lion roar, a flock of kids will
SILVER and huddle together. One lion
could conquer thousand kids The
battle opens. There are great null
titude of Syrians under Gen. Il n
hadad, strong as lions. The Israelites
are few and weak, like two little
fiocks of kids. Who beat? The lions,
of course. o no; the kids For it
all depends whether God is on
the side of the lions or the kids.
After the battle, one hundred thou
sands Syri ms lay dead on the field,
and twenty-seven thousand attempt
ing 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
sling? David had five smooth stones
from the brook. He only used one in
striking down Goliath. He had sur
plus of ammunition; he had enough to
take down four more giants if they
had appeared in the way 1t all de-
ponds 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 ventured the opiniO that
Christianity is falling back, and that
in fifty 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 por-
tions of it are repulsive TO the people.
l reply by asking, which one of the
publishing houses of New York,
Philadelphia, Boston or Chicago
is publishing Che bible to-day
with the omission of n single verse or
chapter? Are not our publishers in
telligent men? And would they, con-
trary to their financial interests, con-
tinue to publish the bible without the
omission of a single chapter or single
verse if it were becoming an unpopu-
lar book, and the people did not want
it? If Harpers, or Appleton, or Scrib-
ner, or Lippincott should publish a
bible with The omission of one chapter
they would not sell ten copies in ten
years. The fact that throughout
Christendom there are hundreds of
printing presses printing the word of
God without the omission of chapter
or 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.
| go through the court rooms of the
country. Wherever / find judges
bench or a clerk desk | find the
bible. BY what other book would
they take solemn oath? 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 life? The bible.
Voltaire predicted that the bible dur
ing the nineteenth century would be-
come an obsolete book. Well, we are
pretty nearly through the nineteenth
century; the bible is not obsolete yet;
there is not much prospect of its be
coming obse etc; but have to tell you
that that room-the very room in
which Voltaire wrote that prediction
some time ago was crowded from
floor to ceiling with bibles for SwitZer-
land. Suppose the congress of the
United States should pass law that
no bibles should be printed in the
Tn ted States. If there are 3G,0OO,OOO
grown men and women in the country
then there would be 10000, 900 people
armed against such law. But sup
pose the congress of the United States
should pass law that Macaulay' S
lie
should not be read-could you get half
large an army? In other words
there are, a; you know and
know, a thousand men who would die
for their bibles. where there are fifty
m,n who would die for any other
DO k. The fact that there are now
more bibles being printed than ever
before, that publishers find it tinan-
cial interest for them 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 antago-
nistic, 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" In reply to that
with the statistic that one denomina-
tion-the Methodist church-accord-
ing to statistic given me by one of
their bishops, dedicates on an average
a new church every day in the year.
Three hundred and sixty-tive new
churches in one denomination in a
year, and over thousand new
chur hes built every year in this
country Does that look as though
the church were failing in its power,
and were becoming worn-out insti-
tuition? Around which institution in
our communities gather the most
ardent affections2 The postsflice, the
hotel, the court house, the city
hall, or the churches? Why,
when our old tabernacle was
burning, there were hundreds of
men sta ding in the streets who
never went to church, tears raining
down their cheeks. 1t is because the
church Of God stands nearer the sym
pathies of the American people than
any other institution. Men may carl
cature the church and call IL a collec-
ton of bypocrites; but when their
children are swept off with the diph-
iberia, for whom do they send? To
the postmaster, to the attorney-gen-
4. eral. to the aldermen, or to the pastors
of the churches? And il there he not