Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1898-10-05
SERMONS OF THE DAY

ouDJeCt. "EneInIeS OverInfOwn'-1n Ine
Church of God and In All Styles oi
KeforinatOry Work What is Needed
Most is n Battle Cry.
TEXT: "Let God arise, let His enemie.
oe scattered. ."-Psalms xviii, l.
A procession was formed to carry the
ark, or sacred box, which, though only
three feet nine inches in height and depth
was the symbol Of Gods presence. As the
leaders Of the procession lifed this orna.
mented and brilliant box by two colder
poles run through four golden rings, and
chanted the battle hymn Of my text, Lei
God arise, let His enemies be scattered
The Cameronians OF Scotland, outraged
by James l., who forced upon them relig
tOus forms that were offensive, and by the
terrible persecution of Drummond. Dalzie
and Turner, and by the oppressive laws Of
Charles l. and Charles H., were driven tc
proclaim war against tyrants. and went
forth to fight for religious liberty; and the
mountain heather became red with car.
mage, and at Boutwell, Bridge and Aird's
Moss and Drumclog the battle hymn and
the battle shout Of those glorious ole
Scotchmen was the text l have chosen:
LET God arise, let His enemies be scat
tered"
What a whirlwind of power was Oliver
Cromwell, and how with his soldiers
named the 'Ironsides," ;" he went from vic
tory to victory! Opposing enemies melted
as he looked at them. He dismissed Parlia-
ment as easily as a schoolmaster school
He pointed his finger Mt Berkeley Castle
and 1t was taken. He ordered Sir Ralph
Hopton, the general, to dismount, and he
dismounted. See Cromwell marching oD
with his army, and hear the battle-cry OF
"Ironsides," loud as q storm and solemn as
q -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
Bridgewater and Dartmouth-"Let Goo
arise, let His enemies be scatteredI'
So you see my text is not like n compli-
mentary and tasselled sword that you
sometimes see hung up In a parlor a
sword that was never in battle, and only
to be used on general training day, but
more like some weapon carefully hung uI
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 unsheathed 1t. 1t seems to me that In
the Church Of God, and in ali styles of re-
formatory work, what we most need is
now a battle-cry. We raise our little stan.
dard, and put on 1t the name OF some mar
who only a few years ago began to live
and in a few years will cease to live. We
go into conquest against the armies OF
tniquity, depending 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 OF
loses his courage, and then we take nm
other battle-cry, and this time perhaps we
put the name OF someone who betrays the
cause and sells out to the enemy. What
we want for battle-cry is the name OF
come leader who will never betray US, and
will never surrender. and will never die.
All respect have 1 for brave men and
women, but II we are to get the victory ali
along the line we must take the hint of the
Gideonites, who wiped out the Bedoujn
Arabs, commonly called Midianites. These
Gideonites had a glorious leader In Gideon
but what was the battle-cry with which
they flung their enemies into the worst de-
feat into which any army was ever tumbledi
1t was THE sword of the Lord and OF
Gideon" Put God first, whoever you put
second. II the army Of the American revo-
is to free America, 1t must be "The
sword of the Lord and of Washington" II
the Germans want to win the day at Sedan
1t must be 1.-The sword Of the Lord and
Won Moltke." Waterloo was won for the
English, because not only the armed men
at the front, but the worshipers in the
cathedrals at the rear, were crying 1.-The
sword of the Lord and of Wellington"
The Methodists have gone in triumph
across nation after nation with the cry,
1.-The sword Of the Lord and of Wesley
The Presbyterians have gone from victory
to victory with the cry, 1.-The sword of the
Lord and of John Knox" The Baptists have
conquered millions after millions for
Christ with the cry, "The sword of the
Lord and of Judson.'' The American
EpiscopaIians have won their mighty way
with the cry, 1.-The sword OF the Lord and
Of Bishop MIlvaine." The victory Is to
those who put God first. But as we want
a battle-cry suited to all sects Of religion
lists, and to all lands I nominate as the
battle-cry Of Christendom in the approach
ing Armageddon the words of my text,
sounded before the ark as 1t was carried to
Mount Zion: "Let God arise, let His
enemies be scattered"
As far as our finite mind can Judge, it
seems about time for God to rise. Does 1t
not seem to you that the denominations of
this earth have gone far enough2 Was
there ever O time when sin was so defiant?
Was there ever before so many fists lifted
toward God telling Him to come on if He
dare2 Look et the blasphemy abroad
What towering profanity! Would 1t be
possible for anyone to calculate the num-
bers of times that the name of the Almighty
God and Of Jesus Christ are every day
taken irreverently on the lips? Profane
swearing is as much forbidden by the law
as theft, or arson, or murder, yet who
executes its Profanity is worse than theft,
or arson, or murder. for these crimes are
attacks on humanity-that Is an attack on
God.
This country is eminent for bias
phemy. man travelling In Russia was sup
posed to be clergyman. "why do you take
me to be a clergyman" said the man. "oh,"
said the Russian, "all other Americans
swear The crime is multiplying in tnten-
sity. God very often shows what He thinks
of it, but for the most part the fatality Is
hushed up. Among the Adirondacks met
the funeral procession of a man who two
days before had fallen under a flash of
lightning, while boasting, after n Sunday
Of work in the fields, that he had cheated
God out Of one day anyhow, and the man
who worked with him on the same S..bbuth
is still living. but helrless invalid, under
the same flash.
Years ago, In a Pittsburg prison, two men
were talking about the Bible and Christi
anity and one OF them, Thompson by name,
applied to Jesus Christ a very low and viii
lainous epithet, and, as he was uttering it.
he fell. Aphysian was called. but no help
could be given. After n day lying with
distended pupils and palsied tongue, he
passed out Of this world. In cemetery In
Sullivan County In New York State are
eight headstones in a line and all alike, and
these are the facts: In 1861 diphtheria ragged
in the village and a physician was remark
ably successful In curing his patients. So
confident did he become that he boasted
that no case Of diphtheria could stand be-
fore him, and finally defied Almighty God
to produce a case Of diphtheria that he
could not cure. His youngest child soon
after took the disease and died, and one
child after another, until all the eight had
died OF diphtheria. The blasphemer chai-
lenged Almighty God, and God accepted
the challenge. Do not think that because
God has been silent in your case, o pro-
fame swearerl that He is dead. Is there
nothing now in the peculiar feeling Of your
tongue, or nothing In the numbness Of your
bruin, that indicates that Godsmay come to
avenge your blasphemies, or is already
avenging them? But these cases 1 have
noticed. believe, are only few cases
where there are hundreds. Families keep
them quiet to,avoid the horrible conspicuity.
Physicians suppress them through pro!es-
sional confidence. 1t is a very, veiy long
roll that contains the names Of those VIII"
died with blasphemies on their lips.
Still the crime rolls on. up through par
In 70 N, thraurh cha ndaliers wit h inhta all