The Penn's Grove record., 1895-06-07
REV. DR.. TaLuaGE.
The Brooklyn Divine's Sunday
Sermon.
Subject; "shamgar's oxgoad."

.en inc fhiiiStine5 60O men with an OK
g~oad."--Judges ill.,, 81.
One day while shamgar. the farmer. wa,
piowing with q yoke Of oxen. his command
wnoa haw gee was changed 10 the shout
~ DstLe- Fni.isttnes, always ready to make
trouble, march up with sword and spear.
shAmgar, the plowman, had no sword and
would not probably have known how TO
WELD 1t IL he had possessed one. But fight
ne u or go down under the stroke OF Inc
fniiistines. He had an oxgoad-a weapon
used to rye on the lazy team; a weapon
about eight feet long, wAh . sharp iron at
one end to puncturo the beast and a wide
iron chisel or shovel at the other end with
which to scrape the clumps of soil from tne
plowshare. Yet with the iron prong at one
END OF the oxgoad and the iron scraper at
the other 1t wa not such q weapon az one
would desire to use In battle with armed
Phnistines. But God helped the farmer, and
ieaVing the oxen to look after themselves he
charged upon the invaders of his homestead.
some OF the commentaries, to make II easier
Tor snamgar, suggest that perhaps he led a
regiment OF farmers into the combat. his
oxgoad only one Of many oxgoads. But the
Lord does not need any OF you to help in
making the Scriptures, and Shamgar, with
tne Lord on his side. was mightjer thar 800
Phtiisttnes withthe Lord against Thorn. The
battle opened. Shamgar, with muscle
strengthened by open air and plowman's and
reaper's n thrasher's toll, uses the only
weapon Of hand and he swingn the oxgoad
up and down and this way ar that. now
stabbing with the iron prong at one end OF ii
and now thrusting with the iron scraper at
the other, and now bringing down the whole
weight of the instrument upon the heads.of
the enemy. The Philistines arc In a panic
and the supernatural forces come In and a
blow that would not under other circum-
stances nave Frustrated or slain left its
victim hfeless, until, when shamgar
walked over tho field he counted 100 dead.
200 dead, 800 dead, 400 dead, 800 dead, 600
dead-ah the work o. by an oxgoad with
Iron prong at one end and an iron shovel at
the other. TIL fame Of this achievement by
this farmer with an awkward weapon of war
spread abroad and honized him, until he
was h~oistedinto the highest place Of power
and became the third Of the mighty Judges Of
israel, 30 you see that Cincinnatus was not
the only man lifted from pillow to throne,
For what reason was this unprecedented
and unparalleled victory Of q farmers OK
goad put into this Bible, where there was no
trivial?i
1t was. first Of all, to teach you and to
teach me and TO teach all past ages since
then, and to teach all q 9 10 come, that In
the wal for God and against sin we ought to
put to the best use the weapon we happen to
Y ON hand. Why did not Shamgar wait
until he could get q war charger with neck
arehed and back comparisoned and nostrils
smiling the battle afar of, or until he could
gE war equipment or could drill a regiment,
and wheeling them into line command them
forward to the charge? TO wait for that
would have been defeat and humiliation.
So he lakes tho best weapon he could lay
hold OF, and that 10 an oxgoad. We are
called into the battle for the right and
against wrong, and many OF u have not Just
the kind Of weapon we would prefer. 1t may
not be a sword Of argument. It may not be
the spear OF sharp, thrusting wit. 1t may
not be the battering ram OF denunciation.
Butthere is something we can do and some
forces we can weld. Do not wait for what
you have not, but use what you have.
Perhaps you have not e~loquence. but you
have a smile. Well, q smile of encourage
ment has changed the behavior OF tens OF
thousands Of wanderers and brought them
back to God and enthroned them in heaven.
You cannot make a persuasive appeal, but
you can SGT IN example, and a good example
has saved more souls thar you could count
In a year II you counted all the time. You
cannot give 10000, but you can give as much
as the widow OF the gospel. whose two mites,
the smallest coins Of the Hebrews, were
bestowed In such 9 spirit as to make her more
ever endowed all the hospitals and uni
v~ersities Of all Christendom, Of all time.
You have very limited vocabulary, but you
can say ''yeef or "no," and q firm "yes" or
an emphatic "no" has traversed the CEN
turtles, and will traverse all eternity, with
good influence. You may not have the
couragsto confront a large assemblage, but
Q boy and a girl-how to find Christ, and
one Of them may become a William Carey, to
start influences that will redeem India, and
the other . Florence Nightingale, who will
illumine battlefelds covered with the dying
and the dead.
That was a tough case In a town Of Eng
land where . young lady, applying for a
~intendent she would have to pick up one out
OF the street. The worst Of the class brought
from the street was one Bob. He was fitted
out with respectable clothing by the superin-
tendent. But after two or three Sabbaths he
disappeared. He was found with his clothes
in tatters, for he had been fighting. The SEQ
ond time Bot was well clad for school. After
coming once or twice he again disappeared,
and was found In rags, consequent upon
fighting. Ths teacher was disposed to give
him up, but the superintendent said, tLetu Us
try him again." and the third suit OF clothes
was provided him. Thereafter he came until
he was converted, and Joined the church. and
started for the gospel ministry, and became
q foreign missionary, preaching and trans
AuAAh6 ~ bNhApeAANcs "aO USo n v
called Bob2 The illustrious DR.. Robert Nor
rison, great on earth and greater In heaven.
Who Is teacher was ] know NOT, but she used
the opportunity opened and great has been
her reward. You may not be able to load an
Armstrong gun; you may not be able to huk
Q Hotchkfse shell; you may not be- able to
shoulder Q glittedng musket. but use any.
thing you can lay your hands on, Try q
biacksmith,s hammer or q merchants yard.
stick or a mason's trowel or 9 carpenters
plane or o housewives broom or q farmers
oxgoad. One Of the surprises of heaven
will be what grand results came from how
simple means. Matthias Joyce, the vile man,
became a great apostle of righteousness, NOT
from hearing John Wesley preach, but from
seeing him kiss a little child on the pulpit
stsirs.
Again. nv subject springs upon us the
thought that In calculating the prospects OF
religious attempt We must take omnipotence
and omniscience and omnipresenee aud all
the other attributes OF God into the caleula-
ton. Whom do you see on that plowed field
OF mytextf On hearer says, II see Shan.
GAR Another hearer says. 81 see 800 Phil
istines." My hearer, you have missed the
chief parsonage on that battlefield OF plowed
ground. i also see shamgas and 6oo Philis-