The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1899-04-15
IN GRIP OF STEEL.
Dr.. Talmage Draws Lesson from
the Tenacity of Eleazar.
He Urges n Closer Adherence ia the
Gospel ana tHaouDccs Tint
lie VIII Sot Cease to
Preach.

that believed something. This dis-
course of DR.. Talmagc is in that vein,
and urges close adherence to the old
Gospel; text, II. Samuel. 20: 10, "And his
hand clave unto the sword"
What glorious thing to preach the
Gospel. Some suppose that because
have resigned n fixed pastorate ] VIII
cease to preach! No! No! leNpect TO
preach more than ! ever have. IL the
Lord will four times as much though
in manifold places. would not dare
to halt with such opportunity 10 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
Philistincs opened battle against him.
and his troops rctrcated. The cow
ards fed Elcazar and three of his com
rndcs went into the battle and swept
the field. for four men with God on their
side are stronger than whole regiment
with God against them. Fall back"
shouted the commander of the Philis-
tine armN The cry ran along the host:
Fall back" Elcazar having swept the
field, throws himself on the ground 20
rest. but the muscles md siucws OF his
hand had been so long bent around the
hill of the sword that The hiIt was inn
bcddcd in the flesh. and the gold wire Of
the hilt had broken through the skin
OF the palm Of his, hand. and he could
not drop this sword which he had 80
CALAMITY welded. Ills hand clayc un-
to the sword" That Is what call mag
nifccnt fighting for the Lord God of
Israel. And we want more Of il.
! propose TO show YOU how ElcaZar
took hold of the sword and how the
sword took hold Of Eicazar. ! look at
Eleazar's hand. and ! come To the con
clusion that he took the sword with n
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 di-
rection. 1t is easy enough for them 10
drop their swords. But ElcaZar'S hand
clavc unto the sword. In this Christian
conflict we want tighter grip of the
Gospel weapons. a tighter grasp of the
two-cdgcd 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
Philistincs, seeing the looscned grasp,
wrench the whole sword away from
them. ...
The only safe thing for us to do is 10
put our thumb on the book OF Genesis
and sweep our hand around the book
until the tips of the fingers clutch at
the words: 'ln the beginning God ere
ated the Heavens and the earth" | like
an infidcl a great deal better than do
one of these Mandy pamby Christians
who hold part of the truth and let the
rest go. by miracle, God preserved this
Bible just as il is. and it is a Damascus
blade. The severcSt test to which n
sword can be put in sword factory is
TO wind the blade around a gun barrel
like a ribbon, and then. when the sword
is LET loose. il flies back to It's own
shape. So the sword of Gods truth has
been fully tested, and il is bent this
way and that way and wound this way
and that way, but it always comes back
to its own shape. Think of it. \ hook
written near 10 centuries ago, and some
OF il 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 II million copies a year. | say
now that n book which is Dvincly in
spircd, and Divincly kept. and Divinely
scattered is weapon worth holding a
tight grip Of. Bishop Colcnso will come
along and try TO wrench out of your
hand the five books of Moses, and
Strauss will come along and try to
wrench out of your hand the miracles.
and Rcnan will come along and try To
wrench out of your hand the entire life
of the Lord Jesus Christ. and your as
sociatcs in the office or the factory or She
banking house will try TO wrench out
Of your hand the entire Bible. but in
the strength Of the Lord God of Israel
and with Elcazar's grip hold on to il.
You give up the Bible, you give up any
part Of it, and YOU give up pardon and
peace and life and Heaven.
Do not be ashamed, young man, to
have the world know that you are u
friend of the Bible. This book is the
friend Of all that is good, and il is the
sworn enemy of all that is bad. An elo-
qucnt writer recently gives an incident
of very bad man who stood in cell
of western prison. This criminal
had gone through all styles of crime,
and he was there waiting for the gal
lows. The convict standing there at the
window of the cell, this writer says,
"lookcd out and declared, Il am an in
fidel.' He said that to all the men and
women and children who happened to
be gathered there, L am an infidcl,' :"
and the eloquent writer says, Every
man and woman there believed him."
And the writer goes on to say, "If he
had stood there saying, Il am Chris
tian,' every man and woman would have
said, He is n liar!'"
This Bible is the sworn enemy of all
that is wrong, and at is the friend of all
that is good. Oh, hold on IT, Do not
take part of it and throw the rest away.
Hold on TO all Of il. There are so many
people now who do not know. You ask
them IL the soul is immortal, and they
eay. o,,agp ;o. \ Jnn't I,o,,. D.