Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-04-14
SWORD OF ELEAZAK.
1T INSPIRES DR.. TALMAGE TOA POW
ERFUL SERMON.
As the Soldier Of Old Gripped His
Weapon. So should We Hold the
Bible - Grasp Tightly the Two
Edged sword of Truth.

w caUOns 30 VIC AtVho INV
Bible - Grasp Tightly the Two
Edged sword of Truth.
copyright. 1899. by American Press Asso-
ciation.l
WASHINGTON. April 9.-In the first
notice concerning Dr. Talmage that
Pastor Charles II. Spurgeon Of London
wrote the great English minister said
be was glad to find preacher that be-
lieved something. This discourse Of DR.
Talmage is in that vein and urges close
adherence to the old gospel; text. ii
Samuel xiii, 10, And his hand clave
unto the sword.
What glorious thing to preach the
gospel Some suppose that because |
have resigned fixed pastorate | will
cease to preach No, no | expect to
preach more than ever have If the
Lord will four times as much. though
in manifold places. | would not dare
TO halt with such opportunity to declare
the truth through the ear TO audiences
and to the eye through the printing
press And here we have stirring
theme put before us by the prophet
A great general of King David was
Eleazar, the hero of the text The Phil
istines opened battle against him. and
his troops retreated The towards fled
Eleazar and three Of his comrades went
into the battle and swept the field, for
four men with God on their side are
stronger than a whole regiment with
God against them. Fall back Il" shout-
ed the commander of the Philistine
army The cry ran along the host
Fall backl' Eleazar. having swept
the field. throws himself on the ground
TO rest. but the muscles and sinews Of
his hand had been so long bent around
the hilt Of his sword that the hilt was
imbedded in the flesh, and the gold
wire Of the hilt had broken through the
skin Of the palm Of the hand, and he
could not drop this sword which he had
so gallantly welded His hand clave
unto the sword That is what | call
magnificent fighting for the Lord God
of Israel And we want more of it
Held In Firm Grasp.
| propose to show you how Eleazar
took hold Of the sword and how the
sword took hold Of Eleazar. look at
Eleazar hand, and come to the con-
clusion that he took the sword with a
very tight grip The towards who fled
had no trouble in dropping their swords
As they fly over the rocks | hear their
swords changing in every direction 1t
is easy enough for them to drop their
swords. but Eleazar's hand clave unto
the sword In this Christian conflict we
want "A tighter grip Of the gospel weap-
ons. tighter grasp Of the two edged
sword of the truth 1t makes me sick TO
see these Christian people who hold only
a part Of the truth and let the rest Of
the truth 90. so that the Philistines
seeing the loosened grasp. wrench the
whole sword away from them. The only
safe thing for us to do is to put our
thumb on the book Of Genesis and
sweep our hand around the book until
the New Testament comes into the palm
and keep on sweeping our hand around
the book until the tips of the fingers
clutch AT the words lin the beginning
God created tho heavens and the earth.
| like an iniidel a great deal better than
/ do one of these namby pamby Chris
tians who hold a part Of the truth and
let the rest 90 By miracle God pre-
served this Bible just as it ia. and it Is
a Damascus blade. The severest test to
which sword can be put in a sword
factory is to wind the blade around a
gun barrel like a ribbon. and then when
the sword is let loose it flies back to its
own shape SO the sword Of God 5 truth
has been fully tested. and it is bent this
was and that way and wound this way
and that way. but it always comes back
TO its own shape Think Of It'll A book
written near 0 centuries ago. and some
Of it thousands Of years ago. and yet IN
our time the average sale of this book
is more than 10000 copies every week
and more than 1000. 600 copies year
say now that a book which is divinely
inspired and divinely kept and divinely
scattered is a weapon worth holding a
tight grip Of Bishop Colenso will come
along and try to wrench out OF your
hand the five books of Moses. and
Strauss will come along and try tc
wrench out of your hand the miracles.
and Renan will come along and try tC
wrench out of your hand the entire life
of the Lord Jesus Christ. and your as
sociates in the Office or the factory oi
the banking house will try to wrench
out of your hand the entire Bible, but
in the strength of the Lord God of Israe
and with Eleazar's grip hold ON to it
You give mp the Bible, you give up any
part of it. and you give up pardon ant
peace and life and heaven.
Friend of All Good.
Do not be ashamed. young man, t
have the world know that you are
friend of the Bible This book is th'
friend of all that is good, and it is th'
sworn enemy of all that is bad. An elo
guent writer recently gives an inciden
of very bad man who stood in Gel
of a western prison This criminal ha'
gone through all styles of crime, an'
he was there waiting for the gallows
The convict standing there at the win
dow of the cell. this writer says "look
ed out and declared. Il am an inhdel
He said that TO all the men and womei
and children who happened to be gath
cred there. i am an infdel " And tn
,loquent writer says. Every man AM
woman there believed him And tn
writer goes ON to say. "If he had stoo'
there saving. i am a Christian. ever.
man and woman would have said ID
is liar
This Bible is the sworn enemy oil al
that is wrong. and it is the friend Q
ali that is good Oh hold on i'll ID
not take part Of it and throw the res
away Hold on to all Of it There ar
so many people now who do not know
You ask them if the soul is immortal
and they say IL guess it is; don
know. Perhaps it is perhaps it ism I,
Is the pitle truel "Well, perhaps II II
and perhaps il isn't Perhaps II ma