The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1893-09-15
lALMAGE.
Drunken Kings IN 1.Aeir rxn,s
xa1ing Up Things for the flnai ,yerth ~.
-Tne Bible Continues thu Mos pa,.s :.
ar SOCK Sermon by Rev. 4.
OeWitt Tainage. d. IL. ~ Y

Dewitt Taimaee, %. u.
Sunday Rev. 7. Dewitt Talmare
preacned TO . thronged audience Ia the
nsookiyn tabernacle The keynote 81
tne service was one of gladness MANY
q the audience had been absent during
sne summer and had returned for thiS
service The pastor commented az
passages Of Scripture depicting The
m, morning OF the worlds deliverance.
ne sublect.of the sermon was: ..The
battie Ours the text being /. Kings,
2o,sI And the children 81 1srael
pitched before them like two littie
focks Of kids
With thirty.three kings drunk IN one
tent this chapter opens They were
alhes plotting for the overthrow Of the
Lords Israel. You know that Il a lion
roar q flock Of kids viii SILVER and
hnddie together. One lion could con.
quer a thousand kids. q.
The battle opens. There are 4 great
multitude.of syrians under Cen. Ben
hadad. strong as lions, The Israelites
are few and weak, like two little fiocks
OF kids Who beat? The lions, Of
course. Oh, no; the kids. For 1t all
depends whether God Is ON the side 81
the lions or the kids After the battle
10000 Syrians lay dead on the field.
and $1,000 attempting 70 ay, came
along by a great wall; which toppled
and crushed them to death.
Which was the stronger weapon
great Goliath's sword or little Dayid,s
sling9 David Ind 1--WE smooth stones
from the brook. He only used one IN
striking down. Goliath. He had a sur
plus OF ammunition; he had enough to
take down four more giants Il they had
happened in the way. II all depends
upon whether God is on the side Of the
shepherd boy or on the side of the
giant. 4 4.
There have been many in our day
who have ventured the opinion that
Christianity is falling back, and that
in fifty years twill 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.
1reply by asking, Which one Of the
publishing houses of New York, Phila-
delphia, Boston or Chicago is publish.
ing the Bible to-day with the omission
of single verse or chapter2 Are not
our publishers intelligent men? And
would they, contrary TO their financial
Interest,", continue to publish the
Bible without the omission 81 sinRle
chHptcr or a single worse II It were ~
coming an unpopular book and tlas
people dId mot want m u Hnrper'h.
or Appleton. or Scribner, o. Lippincotf
should publish . Bible With the otn,S.
sien Of one chapter caey ssouid not Elm
ten copies in ten years 4
The fact that throughout Christen-
dom there are hundreds OF printing
presses printing the Word Of God with
out the omission Of q chapter or q 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 increas-
ing in popularity.
Igo through the court-rooms Of the
country. Wherever I find Judges
bench or clerks deslkII find the Bible.
By what other book would they take
solemn oath That is very apt to be
among the brides presentsP The Bible.
What is very apt to be put in the trunk
of the young man when he starts for
city life? The Bible. voltafre pre-
dicted that the Bible during the nine
teenth century would become an obso-
lete book. Well, we are pretty near
through the nineteenth century; the
Bible Is not obsolete yet; there Is not
much prospect Of It's becoming obso-
lete; but / have to tell you that that
room-the very room in which voltaire
wrote that predi ction-some time ugo
was crowded from floor to ceiling with
Bibles for Switzerland.
Suppose the congress Of the United
States should pass law that no Bibles
should be printed in the United States.
II there are thirty million grown men
and women in the country then there
would ben thirty million people armed
against sucA law. But suppose the
congress Of the United States should
pass law that Macaulays history OF
Charles Reads novels should not be
read, could you get half as large an
nrmyor the fourth MS large nm ARMY
In other words there are, as you know
and i know, a thousand men who
would die for their Bibles where there
are fifty men who would die for any
other book. The fact that there are
now more Bibles being printed than
ever before, that publishers find It a
financial interest for them TO continue
the publication Of the Bible proves that
this book is still the most popular book
on the planet
.sBut," say those who are antag-
onistic, 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" i reply to that
with the statistic that one denomina-
tion-the Methodist church according
to q statistic given me by one Of their
bishops, dedicates ON an average o new
church every. day Of the year. Three
hundred and sixty-five new churches in
one denomination in q year, and over .
thousand new churches built every year
in thiscountry. Does that look as though
the church were failing in Its power,
and were becoming q worn-out institu-
ton? Around which institution In our
communities gather the most ardent
affection? The post Office, the hotel,
the courthouse, the city hall, or the
churches . Why, when our old taber-
nacle was burning there were hundreds
Of men standing In the streets who
never went TO church. tears running