Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1899-05-19
IN GRIP OF STEEL.
DR.. Ialmage Draws Lesson from
the Tenacity of Eleazar.
lie Urges Closer Adherence TO the
Gospel and Announces That
lie VIII Not Cease TO
Preach.


(Washlngton, Copyright. 1897
In the first notice concerning DR.. Tai
mage that Pastor Charles II. Spurgeon,
of London, wrote the great English min,
lister said he was glad to find n preacher
that believed something, This dis
course of DR.. Talmage is in that vein,
and urges close adherence TO the old
Gospel; text, II. Samuel, 23:1O, "And his
hand clavc unto the sword"
What glorious thing to preach the
Gospel! Some suppose that because !
have resigned a fixed pastorate will
cease TO preach! MOI MOI leXpect 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
Philstnes opened battle against him,
and his troops retreated. The cow
ards fed. Eleazar and three of his com
rades 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 Phils-
tine army. The cry ran along the host:
Fall back!" 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 the sword that the hlt was inn
bedded 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 so
gallantly welded. "IIis hand clave I'M
to the sword" That is what call mag
niflcent fighting for the Lord God of
Israel. And we want more of it.
l propose TO show you how Eleazar
took hold of the sword and how the
sword took hold of Elcazar. | look at
Eleazars hand, and ! come TO the con
clusiou that he took the sword with a
very tight grip. The towards who fed
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 to
drop their swords. But Eleazar's hand
clave unto the sword. In this Christian
conflict we want a tighter grip of the
Gospel weapons, tighter grasp of the
two-cdged 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 60, so that the
Philistines, seeing the loosened grasp
wrench the whole sword away from
them.
The only safe thing for us TO do is &c
put our thumb on the book of Genesis
and sweep our hand around the book
until the tips of the fingers clutch al
the words: "ln the beginning God ere
nted the Heavens and the earth" Hike
an infidel a great deal better than dc
one of these namby pamby Christians
who hold part of the truth and let the
rest go. BY miracle, God preserved thi:
Bible just as it is, and it is Damascus
blade, The severest test to which {
sword can be put in sword factory i
10 wind the blade around gun barre
like n ribbon, and then, when the swort
| &c Lat 40, ste
shape. So the sword of Gods truth has
been fully tested, and ii is bent this
way and that way and wound this wa!
and that way but ii always comes bacl
TO its own shape. Think of it! A bool
written near 10 centuries ago and som,
Of it thousands of years ago, and yet il
|. our time the average sale of this Book il
more than 10000 copies every week, ant
more than million copies year. ! sa!
now that book which is Divinely in
spired, and Divinely kept and Dvinel,
scattered is weapon worth holding
) tight grip Of. Bishop Colenso will com
along and try to wrench out Of you
hand the five books Of Moses, ant
Strauss will come along and try f.
: wrench out of your hand the miracles
and Renan will come along and try L
+ wrench out of your hand the entire lif
! of the Lord Jesus Christ, and your as
D sociates in the Office or the factory or N
banking house will try TO wrench on
; OF your hand the entire Bible, but il
the strength of the Lord God of lsrae
and with Er,2zar's grip hold on TO il
] You give up the Bible, you give up an
: part of il, and you give up pardon an
! peace and life and Heaven.
Do not be ashamed, young man,
have the world know that you are
friend of the Bible. This book is tn
b friend of all that is good, and it is tn
g sworn enemy of all that is bad. An elt
p quent writer recently gives an incden
t OF very bad man who stood in ce
t of western prison. This Grimm;
:. had gone through all styles of crim
G and he was there waiting for the ga
0 lows. The convict standing there at th
t window of the cell, this writer say
s "looked out and declared, / am an il
a fdel' He said that TO all the men an
d women and children who happened I
y be gathered there, i am an inidel,'
|, and the eloquent writer says, Ever
k man and woman there believed him
And the writer goes on to say, IF b
had stood there saying, i am Chri
tian,' every man and woman would hay
e said, He is liar'"
b This Bible is the sworn enemy of a
). that is wrong, and it is the friend of a
r that is good. Oh, hold on i'll DO nC
s take part OF it and throw the rest ava
= Hold on to all of it. There are so man
/. people now who do not know. You as
d them If the soul is immortal, and the
o say: 81 guess it is; don't know. Pc
e haps it is; perhaps it isn't" Is the Bib
4 true? well, perhaps it is, and perhaE
!, It isn't, Perhaps it may be, figurativ
/ ly, and perhaps it may be partly, an