The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1898-09-21
NEW BATTLE CRY.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Says One is
Badly Needed.
The World is Staggering Under the Blows
OF Crime-our Cities Becoming More
Corrupt and Wicked--The Evils
of Profanity and Drunken
ness Shown Up.

AA eAC lOllOWlHS ScrnOu dILenIlOn is
called by the popular Washington di-
vine to some of the great evils of our
time. He suggests that a fresh start
be made and new impetus given to
the battle against sin. The text is:
Psalms 6S: Let God arise, let his
enemies be scattered"
A procession was formed to carry
the ark, or sacred box, which, though
only three feet nine inches in length
and four feet three inches in height
and depth, was the symbol of Gods
presence. AS the leaders of the process
sion Lifted this ornamented and bril-
liant box by two golden poles run
through four golden rings, and start
ed for Mount Zion, all the people
chanted the battle hymn of my text,
"Let God arise, let his enemies be scat
tered"
The Cameronians of Scotland, out
ragged by James l., who forced upon
them religious forms that were often
sive, and by the terrible persecution of
Drummond, Dalziel, and Turner, and
by the oppressive laws. of Charles, /.
and Charles H., were driven to pro-
claim war against tyrants, and went
forth to fight for religious liberty, and
the mountain heather became red
with carnage, and at Boutwell, Bridge
and Ards Moss and Drumclog the bat
tie hymn and the battle shout of those
glorious old Scotchmen was the text
have chosen: 'Let God arise, let his
enemies be scattered"
What whirlwind of power was
Oliver Cromwell, and how with his sol
diers, named the "Ironsides," he went
from victory to victory! Opposing
enemies melted as he looked at them.
He dismissed Parliament as easily as a
schoolmaster at school. He pointed his
finger at Berkeley Castle and it was
taken. He ordered Sir Ralph Hopton,
the general, to dismount and he dis
mounted See Cromwell marching on
with his army, and hear the battle cry
of the "Ironsides," loud as a storm
and solemn as death-knell, standards
reeling before it, and cavalry
horses going back on their launches,
and armies flying at Marston Moor, at
Winceby Field, at Naseby, at Bridge
water, and Dartmour-"Let God arise,
let his enemies be scattered!"
So you see my text is not like a
complimentary and tasseled sword
that you sometimes see hung up in a
parlor, a sword that was never in bat
tSe, and only to be used on general
training day, but more like some
weapon carefully hung up in your
home, telling its story of battles, for
my text hangs in the Scripture
armory, telling of the holy wars of
three thousand years in which it has
been carried, but still as keen and
mighty as when David first unsheath-
ed it. 1t seems to me that in the
Church of God, and in all styles of re-
formatory work, what we most need
now is battle cry. We raise our little
standard, and put on it the name of
some man who only few years ago
began to live and in a few years will
cease to live. We go into contest
against the armies of iniquity, depend
ing too much on human agencies. We
use for a battle-cry the name of some
brave Christian reformer, but after
awhile that reformer dies, or gets old,
or loses his courage, and then we take
another battle-cry, and this time, per-
haps, we put the name of some one
who betrays the cause and sells out
to the enemy. What we want for bat
tle-cry is the name of some leader
who will never betray us, and will
never surrender, and will never die.
All respect have for brave men and
women, but if we are to get the VIC
tory all along the line we must take
the hint of the Gideonites, who wiped
out the Bedouin Arabs, commonly
called Midianites. These Gideonites
had glorious leader in Gideon, but
what was the battle-cry with which
they flung their enemies into the worst
defeat into which any army was ever
tumbled? 1t was "The sword of the
Lord and of Gideon" Put God first,
whoever you put second. If the army
of the American Revolution is to free
America, it must be 'The sword of the
Lord and of Washington" If the Ger
mans want to win the day at Sedan, it
must be "The sword of the Lord and
Won Moltke." Waterloo was won for
the English, because not only the arm
ed men at the front, but the wor-
shippers in the cathedrals at the rear,
were crying, "The sword of the Lord
and of Wellington"
The Methodists have gone in triumph
across nation after nation with the
cry, "The sword of the Lord and of
Wesley" The Presbyterians have gone
from victory to victory with the cry,
"The sword of the Lord and of John
Knox" The Baptists have conquered
millions after millions for Christ with
the cry, 'gThe sword of the Lord and
of Judson." The American Episcopal
fans have won their mighty way with
the cry, "The sword of the Lord and
Bishop McIlvaine." The victory is to
those who put God first. But as we
want battle-cy suited to all sects of
religionists, and to all lands, nomi-
nate as the battle-cry of Christendom
in the approaching Armageddon the
words of my text, sounded before the
ark as it was carried to Mount Zion:
"Let God arise, let his enemies be scat
tered
AS far as our finite mind can Judge,
It seems about time for God to rise.
Does it not seem to you that the abom-
nations of-this earth have gone far
enough? Was there ever time when
sin was SO, defant? Were there ever
before so many fists lifted toward