The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-09-12
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE DOCTOR THINKS THE BIBLE
THE GREATEST OF ILL BOOKS.
Moro Men Would Fight and Die Tor the
Holy w ord Than for All Other BOOKS
That w ere Ever Written.

BROOKLYN tabernacle. The keynote OF lhe
service was one of gadness. Many or inc
audience had been absent during the SUM-
mar and had returned for this service. NC
nostor commented on passages VI ~.
denicting the morning of the "oiio 'oi'
arance The subject of the Serlhoh WIS.
.vrhe Battle Ours" the text peihs lst
KINGS 2O.27: And the chliorell VI 1 n,,i
,,;tchnd before them like TWO Ht~e h'0N"
of kids. ,.: d,,n,x in one tent
This chapter opens. They were a,ie1 paoI
t;nc for the overthrow of the Lofu isi"ei
You know that if non =, ro'l, r. a one
E;ds will SILVER and huddle toSether' INV, me
lion could CONQUER Il thousand KldS. ne
hattie oDcns. There are Il great nuilituue
nf Srrians under General Ben-hadad, strong
os lions The Israelites are few and weak,
like two little tocks of KIDS. VINO pea
The lions, of course. On no; tle hi. a.
For it all depends whether Gld IS On .he
side of the lions or the kiusi ood 80, on the the
battle, 100000 Syrians lay dead Oh tlic
field. and $1,000 attempting to ny, came
along bv a great wall, which topped ana
crushed them to death. mood
Which was the stronger weapon-great
Goliath's sword or little DAVID $ SING
David had five smooth stones from the
brook He only used one i'll striking down
Goliath He had u surplus of ammunition;
he had enough to take down four more
giants if they had appeared IN the way.
1t all depends upon whether God IS on
the side of the shepherd boy or OH the side
of the giant.
There have been many in our day who
have ventured the opinion that Christian
ity 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 portions of it are rcpulsive to the
people. l reply by asking, which one of the
publishing houses of New York, Philade-
phia, Boston or Chicago is publishing the
Bible today with the omission of single
verse or chapter? Are not our publishers
intelligent men: And would they. contrary
to their financial interests, continue to pub
hsh the Bible without the omission of
single chapter or Il single verse if it were
becoming an unpopular book, and the people
did not want it? II Harpcrs. or Appleton,
or Scrbner. or llippincott should publish a
Blble with the omission of one chapter
they would not sell ten copies in ten wears
lie fact that throughput Christendom
there are hundreds of printing presses
printing the word of God without the omis-
siohS 81 1t chapter or verse, proves that
the Bible is popular; and the fact that
There are more being printed in this decade
man man any other decade, proves that the
F,ble Is increasing in popularity.
go through the courtroOmS of the conn
Try. Wherever | find a judges bench, or
d clerE desk, find the Bible BY what
Qther book would they take solemn oath?
What is very apt to be among the bridn.:
presents? The Bible. What is yery a,t
TO be put III the trunk of a youpc nan
when he starts for city life? The Rihle,
v oitalre predlcted that the Bible during
me ene nineteenth century would become an
obsolete book. Well, We are pretty nearly
through the nineteenth century; the Bible
Is not obsolete yet there is not mich Dros-
pect OF its becoming obsolete; but | have
70 tel you that that room-the very room
IN which Noltaire wrote that prediction
some time ago was crowded from floor
70 ceiling with Bibles for Switzerland.
suppose the congress of the United States
should pass law that no Biblcs, should be
printed in the United States. If there are
thlrty million grown men and women in
lhH country then there would be thirty
n people armed against such a law.
put suppose the congress of the United
states should pass law that Nacaulay's
history, or Charles Reads novels should
not be read-could you get half as large an
other words, there are. as you know and
! Know, 4 thousand men who would die
for their Bibles, where there are fifty men
who would die for any other book. The
TACT that there are now more Bibles being
printed than ever before. that publishers
find it a financial interest for them to con
tlnue the publication of the Bible, proves
that this book is still the most popular
book on the planet.
But" say those who are antasonistic.
'Chrlstlanlty is falling back. from the fact
that the church is not as much respected as
It used to be. and it is not as influential"
l reply to that with the statistic that one
lenominaon-the Methodist church-accord-
ing to statistic given me by one OF their
bishops, dedcates on an average a new
i.h1 lprh Juy of
dred and siXty-five new churches in one de-
IN a year. and over q thousand
new churches built every yeur in this couu-
try. Does that look as though the church
were falling in its power, and were becom-
ing a WORKOUT institution? Around which
institution in our communities gather the
most ardent affections? The postOtlice. the
hotel, the courthouse, the city hall. or the
churches? Why. when our old taber-
nacle was burning, there We're hun
dreds of men standing III the streets who
never went to church, tears raining down
their cheeks. 1t is because the church Of
God stands nearer the Sympathice e me
American people than any other inst 'nfinn
Men may caricature the church an | cali it
Il collection of hypocrtes, but when their
children are swept off with The liphtherIa.
for whom do they send? 10 the posllnls-
ter, to the attorney general, to the alder
men or to the pastors Of the chr hes?
And if there be not room for the oDSc Wrs
in the private house, what building 20 tley
solicit? The academy of music the hotel
public hall, courthouse? No. he ,!lurchce
A nd if they want music on IT,. 81 orca-
sion do they select the MarsnlIaise hymn.
OF ''(;od Save the Queen rr DER CAn
grand national air? No. they want The old
hymn with which we sang their old Chris
tan mother to sleep: they want The Sunda!
school hymn that their little girl yang the
last Sabbath afternoon she Was out before
she was seized with the awful sickness that
broke fathers heart and mothers heat.
Oh. YOU know as well as | dol shall Tot
dwell on it any longer-the church Of God
instead of being wOrn-Out HStltltiOn,
stands nearer the sympathieS Of the people
than it ever did and eclipses all other insti-
tutionS.
But our antagonists 90 Oh IN say that
Christianity is falling back, in the fact HAT
intdelity is holder now and more blatant
than it ever was. | deny the Statement.
Intidelty is not near so bold now ~ il "-"S
in The days of our fathers and grandfl hers
There were times in this country W4tvn
men who were openly and aboye-board in
fidcl and antagonstic to Christianity could
be elected to high Office. Now, let Sc me
man wishing high position i'll The STATE pro
claim himself the foe of Christianity and
an intidel; how many states of the union
would lie carry? How many counties?
How many wards in BROOKLYN? Not one.
All. my friends, intidelity in this day is
not half as bold as it used to be. IL Ii
comes now ii is apt to come under the dis
,,,;,o ,l,,toric or faD nj st sent iInpnta1itV