Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-07-28


of many thous ands from ali parts OF the
North and W est are gathered at the Mo-
mona Lake Assembly, Chautauqua he'd
near this city. Rev. Talmage this torenoC II
preached to this great multitude on
|Sharpened Axes the text being ]. Sam
uel 10: 1871: Now there was no smith
found throughout all the land of Israeli"
etc.
My loving and glad salutation to
this uncoo nted host Chautauquans,
Christi Endeavore s,gospel wol k ers
and their friends from ali parts of
Wisconsin AID America, saints and
sinners Ny text is gloriously appro-
pirate. What IA scalding sub ugation
the lsraciites were suffering. The
hilistines Lad carried off all the
blacksmiths, and torn down all the
blacksmi his shops, aud abolished the
blacksmiti's trade in the land of
Israel These Pnilistines had par
ticular grudge against blacksmiths,
although | have always adm red
them, and have sometimes thought l
ought TO have been one myself The
Phil shines 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 lett n all the
land. ca, these Phil, stine went on
until they had taken ali the grind
stones from the land of Israel, SO that
if an lsraelitish farmer wanted TO
sharpen his pillow or his axe, he had to
20 over to the garrison of the Philis-
tin S to get it done. here was only
one sharpening instrument left in
the land, and that was "a file. The
farmers and the mechanics having
nothing to whet up the coulter, and
the DAD and the pickaNe, save simple
file, industry was hindered and work
praC tically disgraced. The great idea
of these ihillstines was to keep the
lsraelites dlsarmed. They might get
iron out of the hills to make swords
of. but they would not hav' any bla k
>miths to weld this IRON. i they got
the iron welded, they would have no
grindstones on which to bring the in
strumc hts of agriculture or the mill
tary W. apons up to an edge. Oh, you
poor, weaponless lsraelites, reduced to
"A file, how | pity you! But these Phil
l tines were not forever 10 keep their
heel on the ne. k of Gods CHI ldren.
Jonathan, on his hands aod knees,
climbs up a great rock beyond which
were the Philistines; and his armor-
bearer, on h hands and knees, elm lbs
up the same rock, and these two men,
with thor two swords, hew to pieces
the Philistine the Lord throwing a
great terror upon them. So it was
then; so it is now. The two men OF
God on their knees mightier than a
Philistine host on their feet.
So it is in the Church of Christ to-
dav. We are too willing TO give up
our weapons to the enemy. The world
boasts that it has goObled up the
schools, and the colleges, and he arts
and the sciences, and the literature,
and the printing press. Intidelity i
making mighty attempt TO get all
our weapons in its hand, and then tC
keep them You know it is making
this boast all the Time; and after
awhile, when the great battle be ween
Sin and RICH eousness has opened, il
we do not look out we will be as bad v
off as these Israelites, wi hout any
swords 30 fight wi h, and wi hout any
sharpening instrument i call III on
| the superintendenLs of literary ms Jl-
tutionS TO see to it that the men who
go into the clasS-rOomS o and 1eside
the Leyden jars, and the cleo rio bat.
teries, and the microscopes or tele-
scopes, be children of God, not Philis-
tines. The atneislic thinkers of his
day are trying 10 get all the in ellect.
ual weapons OF this century in their
own grasp. " hat we want is scien-
tific Christians to capture The science,
and sch )las ic Christians to capture
the scholarship, and philosophic Chris
tians to capture the philos )phy, and
occurring Christians, to take back the
lecturing platform.
We want to send out against Schen.
KEEL and Strauss and Renan of the past,
men like the late Theodore Christliel
of Bonn; and against the infidel
scientists, Go -worshipping Sllinan
and Hitchcock and Agasslz. We want
to capture ali the philosophical a.
paratus, and swing around the tele-
scopes on the swivel, until through
them we can see the morning star OF
the Redeemer, and with mineralogical
hammer d iscover the Rock If Ages, "
and amid the fora of the realms find
the "Rose of Sha, on and the lily OF
the valley" We want a clergy LEAF led
| enough o di course of the human eve.
! showing it to be microscope and
| telescope in one instrument, wi h eigh,
! hundred wonderful contrfvances, and
! lids closing 10000 or 4O,00J times a
day; all its muscles and nerves and
bones sh )wing the infinite ski of an in.
finite God, and lhen winding up with
the per rat on, "He that formed the
eye, shall he not see?" And then
we want to discourse about the
] human ear, lis wonderful integu,
/ ments, membranes. and Vibration,
and its chain of small bones, and its
auditory nerves. closing with the ques
ton: "He that planted the ear shall he
not hear?' And we want some one abb
TO expound the first chapter Of Gene.
sis, b inging to it the geology and the
astronomy of the world, until, as job
/ SUI & 'sted, tire stones Of the field
sha | be in league" with the truth and
"the stars in tueir courses shall fight
against Si>era." Oh, Church of God,
( go out and recapture these weapons.
Let men of God go out and take pos.
session of the platform. Let all I'll G
! printiug-press of this country speak
out for Christ, and he reporters, and
the type-setters, and the editors, and
! publishers swear alleg ance to the
Lord God of truth. An, my FIR end,
that day must come. and il the great
body of Christian men have not the
faith, or the ourage, or the c)nsecra.
ton to do 10, then let some Jonathan,