Milford chronicle., 1901-05-10

IHSeS Ohce ahtdSOnisJlc out now frlendl
to the gospel and encourages Christian
workers; text, Samuel xxi, o, There /
none like that; give it me-"
David fled from his pursuers. In
world runs very fast when it is chasing
| good man. The country is trying {,
catch David and to STAY him. Davi,
goes into the house of a priest and ask
him for a sword or spear with which t,
defend himself. The priest, not being &C
customed 10 use deadly weapons, tell
David that he cannot supply him, bu
suddenly the priest thinks of an oil,
sword that had been carefully wraDDeC
up and laid away-the very sword tina
Goliath formerly used-and he takes dowr
that sword, and while he is unwrappinl
the sharp, glittering, memorable blade i
flashes upon Dayid's mind that this is the
very sword that was used against himself
when he was in the fight with Goliath
and David can hardly keep his hand of
It until the priest has unwound it. Da
vid stretches on; his hand toward that
old sword and says, "There is none like
that; give it me-" In other words. 81
want in my own hand the sword which
has been used against me and against
the cause of God" So it was given him
Well my friends, that is not the first Of
the last sword once used by giant and
Philistine iniquity which is to come into
the possession Of Jesus Christ and Of his
glorious church. | want, as well as God
may help me, to show you that many a
weapon which has been used against the
armies Of God is yet to be captured and
used on our side, and / only initiate Da-
yid when ! stretch out my hand toward
that blade of the Philistine and cry,
There is none like that; give it me!'
! remark first that this is true in regard
to all scientific exploration. You know
that the first discoveries in astronomy
and geology and chronology were used ia
battle Christianity. Worldly philosophy
came out Of its laboratory and out Of its
observatory and said, 'Now, we will
prove by the very structure Of the earth
and by the movement Of the heavenly
bodies that the Bible is a lie and that
Christianity as we have it among men is a
positive imposition" Good men trem.
bled. The telescope, the Leyden jars, the
electric batteries. all in the hands Of the
Philistines. But one day Christianity.
looking about for some weapon with
which to defend ITSELF happened to see
the very old sword that these athe:stie
Philis6nes. had been a8sitg against the
truth and cfiede2gt, "There is none like
that; give it me-" And Copernicus and
Galilei and Kepler and Isaac Newton
and Herschel and 0. NJ. Mitchell came
forth and told the world that in their ran
sacking Of the earth and heavens they
had found overwhelming presence Of the
God whom we worship, and this old BIZ
bic began to shake itself from the Koran
and Shaster and Zendavesta with which
it had been covered up and lay on the
desk of the scholar and in the laboratory
OF the chemist and in the lap of the Chris
tan unframed and unanswered, while
the tower of the midnight heavens struck
a silvery chime in its praise.
The Eternal Master.
Worldly philosophy said: Matter is
eternal. The world always was. God
did not make it." Christian philosophy
plunges its crowbar into rocks and finds
that the world was gradually made, and
il gradually made there must have been
some point at which the process started
Then who started it? And so that OBJ
lection was overcome, and in the first
three words of the Bible we find that
Moses stated magnificent truth when
he said, I'm the beginning"
Worldly philosophy said: "Your Bible
IS most inaccurate book. All that story
in the Old Testament, again and again
told, about the army of the locusts-it is
preposterous. There is nothing in the
coming of the locusts like an army. An
army walks; locusts fly. An army goes in
order and procession, loeusts without or
der" Wait" said Christian philosophy,
and in 1868 in the southwestern part Of
this country Christian men went out to
examine the march of the lOcusts. There
are men right before me who must have
noticed in that very part of the country
the coming up Of the locusts like an
army, and it was found that all the news
papers unwittingly spoke of them as an
army. Why? They seem to have a
commander. They march like hosl.
They halt like a host. No arrow ever
went in straighter fight than the locusts
come, not even turning aside for the
wind. If the wind rises, the locusts drop
and then rise again after it has gone
down, taking the same line of march, not
varying a foot. The old Bible is right
every time when it speaks of locusts
coming like an army; worldly philosophy
wrong.
Worldly philosophy said, "All that sto.
ry about the light turned as clay to the
seal is simply an absurdity" Old time
worldly philosophy said. "The light
comes straight" Christian philosophy
says. "Wait a little WHILE" and it goes
on and makes discoveries and finds that
the atmosphere curves and bends the
rays Of light around the earth, literally
"as the clay to the seal" The Bible
right again; worldly philosophy wrong
again. "Ah," says worldly philosophy,
all that allusion in Job about the foun-
dations of the earth is simply an absurd
ity. Where vOSt thou says God, when
! set the foundations of the earth? The
earth has no foundation" Christian phi
losOphy comes and finds that the word as
translated foundations" may be better
translated Sockets" So now see how i,
will read if it is translated right, "Where
vast thou when I set the sockets of the
earthT Where is the socket? 1t is the
hollow of Gods banda socket large
enough for any world to turn in.
Worldly philosophy said: what an alb
surd story about Joshua making the sun
and moon stand still! If the world
had stopped an instant, the whole uni
verse would have been out of gear
stop" said Christian philosophy; mot
quite so quick" The world has two mo,
tions-one on its own axis and the other
around the sun. 1t was not necessary In
making them stand still that both mo
tons should be stopped-only the one
turning the world on its own axis. There
was no reason why the hating Of the
earth should have Jared and disarranged
the whole universe. Joshua right and
God right; infidelity wrong every time. ]
knew it would be wrong. l thank God
that the time has come when Christian.
need not be scared at any scientific ex
ploration. The fact is that religion ant
science have struck hands in eterna
friendship, and the deeper down geology
can dig and the higher up astronomy car
soar all the better for US. The armies o.
the Lord Jesus Christ have stormed tn,
observatOries of the worlds science an(
from the highest towers have flung GU
the banner of the cross, and Christianit,
now from the Observatories at Albanl
and Washington stretches out its han,
toward the opposing scientific weapon
crying, "There is none like that; give i
me-" was reading of Herschel, VIII,
was looking at a meteor through a tele
scope, and when it came over the face o
the telescope it was so powerful he har
to avert his eyes. And it has been jus
so that many an astronomer has gone int
an observatory and looked up into tn
midnight heavens, and the Lord God ha
through some swinging world hamet
! upon his vision. and the learned ma