The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-09-27
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S Sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "The Battle Ours"

TEXT. "And the children Of Israel p1tched
before then, like too little .focks of kids" II
Kings XXX, q.
With thirty-three kings drunk in one tent
this chapter opens. They were allies plot
ting for the overthrow of the Lords Israel.
You know that if lion roar flock OF
kids will shiver and huddle together. One
lion would conquer q thousand kids. The
battle opens. There arc a great multi
tude OF Syrians under General Ben
hadad, strong as lions. The Israel
ties are few and weak, like two little docks
of kids. Who beat2 The lions, of course.
Oh, no the kids, for it all depends whether
God is on the side of the lions or the kids.
After the battle 100. 900 Syrians lay dead on
the field, and 27, 900, attempting 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 surplus of ammunition. He had
enough to take down four more giants ifthey
had appeared in the way. 1t all depends up
on whether God is on the side OF the shep-
herd boy or on the side Of the giant.
There have been many in our day who
have yentured the opinion that Christianity
Is falling back, and that in so years 1t will be
".
assumed fact that the Bible is not as much OF
book as it used to be, and that portions Of
it are repulsive to tho people. reply by
asking, Which one of the publishing houses
of New York, Philadelphia, Boston or Chi
cago is publishing the Bible to-day with the
omission of single verse or chapter2 Are
not our publishers intelligent menP And
would they, contrary to their financial inter-
ests, continue to publish the Bible without
the omission of single chapter or a single
verse IL it were becoming an unpopular book
and the people did not want it2
If Harpers or Appleton or Scribner or Lip
pincott should publish Bible with the
omission of one chapter. they would not Hell
10 copies in 10 years. The fact that tn :ough-
ought Christendom there are hund1 eds 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 decade proves
that the Bible is increasing in popularity.
90 through the courtrooms Of the coun-
try. Wherever find judges bench or a
clerks desk find the Bible. By what other
book would fhey 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 during the nineteenth century
would become an obsolete book. Well, we
are pretty nearly through the nineteenth CEN
tury The Bible Is not obsolete yet. There
is not much prospect Oft becoming obsolete,
but have to tell you that that room-the
very room in which Voltaire wrote that pre-
diction-some time age 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. f.
If there are $4,000, 900 grown men and
women in the country, then there would be
0,000 900 people armed against such law.
But suppose the congress of the United
States should pass law that Macaulay's
history or Charles Reade's novels should not
be resd-could You get half rs large an army
or the fourth a, large an army2 In other
words. there are, as you know and I know,
q thousand men who would die for their
Bibles where there are so men who would
dio for any other book. The fact that thsre
are now more Bibles being printed than
ever before, that publishers find 1t financial
interest for them to continue tho Bible,
proves that this book is still the most popular
hook on the planet.
'sBut," say those who are aptagonistic,
"Christianity Is falling back from the fact
that the church is not as much respected as
III
reply to that with the statistic that one de-
nomination-the Methodist church-accord-
ing to statistic given by one ofthe bishops,
dedicates on an average u new church every
day OF the year. Three hundred and sixty
flve new churches in one denomination in a
year and over thousand new churches built
every year in this country. Does that look
as though the church were failing in its
power and were becoming wornout institu-
tionp Around which institution in our COM
munities gather the most ardent affections?
The postof1cc, the hotel, the courthouse, the
city hall or the churches2
Why, whom our old Tabernacle was burn
ing there were hundreds OF mon standing in
the streets who never went to thurch, tears
raining down their cheeks. 1t Is becausethe
church of God stands nearer to the Ameri-
can people than any other institution. Men
may caricature the church and call it q COL
lection Of hypocrites, but when their chill
dren are swept of with the diphtheria for
whom do they send? TO the postmast or, to
the attorney general. to the aldermen, or to
the pastors Of the churches? And if there
be not room for tho obsequies in the private
house what building do they solicit? The
academy OF music, the hotel, public hall,
courthouse? No; the churches. And if
they want music on the sad occasion do
they select the "Marseillaise' hymn, or
"God Save the Queen" or our own grand
National air2 No, they want the old hymn
with which we sang their old Christian
mothers to sleep. They want the Sunday
school hymn that their little girl sang the
last Sabbath afternoon she was out before
she was seized with the awful sickness that
broke fathers heart aud mothers heart Oh,
you know as we'll as dol shall not dwell
on 1t any longer-the church OF God instead
OF being wornout institution, stands nearer
the sympathies Of the people than it ever
did and ecipses all other institutions.
But our antagonists go on and say that
Christianity is falling back, in the fact that
inHdelity is bolder now and more blatant
than it ever was. I deny the statement. In
fidelity is not near 30 bold now as it WAS in
The days OF our fathers and grandfathers.
There were times in this country when men
who were openly and above board infldel and
antagonistic to Christianity could be elected
to high office. Now, let some man wishing
high position in the State proclaim himself
the foe Of Christianity and an infidel, how
many States Of the Union would he carryp
how many counties2 how many wards in
BROOKLYN Not one.
All, my friends, infldelity in this day is not
half as bold US it used to be. If it comes
now, it Is apt to come under the disguise OF
rhetoric or fantastic sentimentality. know
II a man with great intelligence does become
an infidel and begins an attack on Chris
tianity 1t makes great excitement-of course
it does, and people come to the conclusion,
woakminded Christians come to the conclu-
sion, thst;everythins Is going overheard be-
cause some man Of strong intellect assails
Christianity.
II a man jumps overheard from Cunard
steamer, he makes more excitement than all
che ECO sane passengers who continue in the
berths OF On the decks. but does that stop
the ship? Does that wreck all the 600 pas
sengers9 It makes great excitement when a
man Ian frfaun a nj alaffnrro q ra,llnit inf