The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1893-08-10
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
'sShazpened Axes" GPreachedat Mad
ison, Wis.,.


throughout all he land Of Israel" etc.
Samuel xiii 1921.
Ny loving and glad salutation to this I'M
counted host, Cbautauquans, Christian En-.
deavors, gospel workers and their friends
from all parts OK Wisconsin and America
saints and sinners Ny text is gloriouslJ
appropriate. What a CALLING subjugatior
the Israelites were suffering The Philistines
had carried off all the blacksmiths and torn
down all the blacksmiths shops and abolished
the blacksmith's trade in the land OF Israel.
These Philistines had particular grudgs
against blacksmiths, although have always
admired them and have sometimes thought
/ ought to have been one myself The Phil
istines 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 left in all the
land. Yea, these Philistines went on until
they had taken all the grindstones from the
land of Israel, SO that II an Israelitish farmer
wanted to sharpen his plow or his ak he had
to go over to the garrison of the Philfst1nes
to get it done. There was only one sharpen
ing instrument left in the land, and that was
a ile The farmers and the mechanics hav-
ing nothing to whet up the coulter, and the
goad, and the pickax save a simple file, in
dustry was hindered and work practically
disgraced.
The great idea OF these Philistines was to
keep the Israelites disarmed. They might
get iron out ofthe hills to make swords OF,
but they would not have any blacksmiths to
weld this iron. If they got the iron welded,
they would have no grindstones on which to
bring the instruments of agriculture or the
military weapons up to an edge. Oh, you
poor. weaponless Israelites, reduced to q file,
how I pity you But these Phflistines were
not forever to keep their heel on the neck OF
Gods children. Jonathan, on his hands and
knees, climbs up great rock beyond which
~, md hfc
on his hands and knees, climbs up the same
rock and these two men, with their two
swords, hew to pieces the Philistines, the
Lord throwing a great terror upon them. 80
it was then so it is now. The two men Of
God on their knees mightier than Philfstine
host on their feet.
learn first from this subject how danger
GUS it is for the church Of God to allow Its
weapons to stay in the hands of its enemies.
These Israelites might again and again
have obtained supply of swords and
weapons, as for instance, when they
took the spoils of the Ammonites, but
these Israeiites seemed content to have
no swords. no spears, no blacksmiths,
no grindstones, no active iron mines, until 1t
was too late for them to make any resistance.
! see the farmers Juggling along with their
pickaxes and plows, and say, Where are
you going with those things?" They say,
''Oh. we are going over to the garrison OF
ened" say, "You foolish men why don't
YOU sharpen them at homer "Oh," they
say. ''the blacksmiths shops are all torn
down, and we haze nothing left US but
file "
So it is in the church of Christ to-day We
are too willing to give up our weapons to the
enemy. The world boasts that 1t has COB
bled up the schools, and the colleges, and
the arts, and the sciences, and the literature,
and the printing press. Inf1delity Is making
mighty attempt to get all our weapons In
its hand and then to keep them. You know
1t is making this boast all the time, and after
while, when the great battle between sin
and righteousness has opened, If we do not
look out we will be as badly off as these Is
raeites without any swords to fight with
and without any sharpened Instruments.
call upon the superintendent Of literary
institutions to see to 1t that the men who go
into the classrooms to stand beside the Ley
den Jars, and the electric batteries, and the
microscopes or telescopes be children OF
God. not Philistines. The atheistic thinkers
of this day are trying to get all the intel
lectual weapons of this century in their own
grasp What we want is scientific Christians
to capture the science. and scholastic Chris
tians to capture the scholarship, and pn1ioso-
phic Christians to capture the philosophy,
and lecturing Christians to take back the
lecturing platform.
We want to send out against Schenkel
and Strauss and Renan of the past men like
the late Theodore Christlieb of Bonn, and
against the inhdel scientists a God worship
ing Silliman and Hitchcock and AgassiZ.
We want to capture all the philosophical
| apparatus and swing around the telescopes
| on the swivel until through them we can see
| the morning star of the Redeemer, and with
neurological hammer discover the "Rock
| of Ages" and amid the flora of the realms
| find the ''Rose of Sharon and the Lily Of
| the Valley"
| We want clergy learned enough to dis
course Of the human eye, showing 1t to be a
microscope and telescope in one instrument,
| with 500 wonderful contrivances and lids
closing 30 900 or 40, 900 times day, all its
! muscles and nerves and bones showing the
infinite skill of an infinite God, and then
winding up with the peroration, HE that
formed the eye shall He not see?" And
then we want to discourse about the human
ear its wonderful integuments, membranes
and vibration. and its chain of small bones,
! and its auditory nerves. closing with the
question, HE that planted the ear, shall He
| not hear"
And we want some one able to expound
the first chapter of Genesis, bringing to it
the geology and the astronomy of the world,
until as job suggested, ''the stones of the
field shall be in league" with the truth, and
"the stars in their courses shall fight against
| Sisera" Oh, church OF God. go out and re-
out and take possession OF the platform. Let
all the printing press Of this country speak
out for Christ. and the reporters, and the
typesetters, and the editors and publishers
swear allegiance to the Lord God of truth.
All. my friend that day must come, and II
the great body OF Christian men have notthe
faith, or the courage, or the conservation to
do it, then let some Jonathan on his busy
hands and on his praying knees climb up on
the rock OF hindrance, and in the name OF
the Lord God OF Israel slash to pieces those
literary Philistines. If these men will
not be converted TO God, then they must be
destroyed.
Again, / learn from this subject what a
large amount OF the church's resources ts
actually hidden and buried and undeveloped.
The Bible intimates that that was very
rich land-this land OF Israel. 1t says,
1.-The stones are iron, and out OF the hills
thou shalt dig brass" and yet hundreds Of
thousands OF dollars worth OF this metal was
kept under the hills. Well, that is the diff
Guilty with the church of God at this day. IT.
talent is not developed. Ii one-half OF it,
energy could be brought out, 1t might take
the public iniquities of the day by the throat
and make them bite the dust. If human
| eloauence were consecrated to the Lore