.(ULY 15, 1913 



Our Homes 



A. I. ROOT 



" Thy kingdom come ; thy will be done on earth 

 as it is done in heaven." 



Our readers will recall that I have for 

 some time past been declaring that some 

 great " world-wide " event is just before us. 

 We have wireless telegraphy, flying-ma- 

 chines, telephones, and progress and im- 

 provement everywhere; but of course the 

 progress is not always on the side of right- 

 eousness; but we have God's promise that 

 his " kingdom " shall ultimately prevail. 

 When I asked the question, " What is com- 

 ing next ? " a good brother away off in Cal- 

 ifornia said he could tell me what the gi'eat 

 thing was to be very soon on the world's 

 program. He said Jesus Christ is coming 

 back to earth; and I think he was right 

 about it, and I think our business is to be 

 on hand and on the alert and ready for 

 " his coming." 



With the above in mind you may under- 

 stand how greedily I drank in the sermon 

 I am giving below. Of course I sat close 

 to our good pastor, as I am obliged to do 

 with any speaker on account of my deaf- 

 ness ; and I said " amen ! " to his different 

 points so many times that 1 was ashamed 

 to say it any more; but some of the audi- 

 ence afterward expressed a wonder that I 

 ■did not keep on with my amens. 



Now, if any of you good people feel in- 

 clined to shout amen as you go over the 

 sermon below, just put your amen on a 

 postal card (or any thing else you like), 

 and direct it to your old friend A. I. Root. 



THE MOVEMENT IN THE MULBERRY TREES. 

 BY REV. H. SAMUEL FRITSCH^ D. D. 

 And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a 

 going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that thou 

 shalt bestir thyself ; for then shall the Lord go out 

 before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines. — 

 II. Sam. 5:24. 



Saul, the ill-fated king of Israel, was 

 dead. David, by divine favor and native 

 ability, had assumed the dead monarch's 

 idle scepter and ascended his vacant throne. 

 All Israel was jubilant, except for one thing 

 — the Philistines, the uncircumcised Phil- 

 istines ! 



When the Philistines heard that they had 

 anointed David king over Israel, they all 

 came up to seek David. For reasons of liis 

 own, David was not very anxious to see the 

 Pliilistines, so he went down to his strong- 

 hold, leaving orders to say when they call- 

 ed, " Sorry, but not at home ! " But the 

 Pliilistines were not to be put off as easily 

 as all that. They had an intense desire to 

 see this David, so they prepared to sit down 

 and wait for him. They gathered their 



forces together in the valley near by, ready 

 for battle. 



In this predicament David enquired of 

 the Lord, " Shall I go up against the Phi- 

 listines? Wilt thou deliver them into mine 

 hand? " and the oracle gave him this assur- 

 ing reply, "Go up: for I will certainly 

 deliver the Philistines into thine hand." 

 And David went up, and smote the Philis- 

 tines. 



But these Philistines, though uncircum- 

 cised, were neV;ertheless brave men. They 

 rallied their scattered forces, came back, 

 and again pitched their tents in battle array. 



Again, therefore, David enquired of the 

 Lord : " Shall I go up against the Philis- 

 tines? Wilt thou deliver them again into 

 mine hand?" But this time the answer 

 of the oracle was, " Thou shalt not go up ; 

 but circle over to that grove of mulberiy 

 trees yonder, and let it be, when thou hear- 

 est the sound of a going in the tops of the 

 mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir 

 thyself; for then shall the Lord go out 

 before thee, to smite the host of the Philis- 

 tines." 



Accordingly, David camps liis men in the 

 mulberry grove. He waits, breathlessly 

 watching the tops of the trees. Not a branch 

 waves, not a twig shakes, not a leaf trem- 

 bles, not a sound, not a sign ! And yonder 

 is the army of the Philistines, eveiy minute 

 adding gi-eater numbers, every hour becom- 

 ing more formidable ! 



It must have been nerve-racking and dis- 

 couraging for David and his men thus to 

 wait in the strange stillness while evei-y 

 moment the enemy became more powerful 

 and insolent. Sometimes earnest Christians 

 to-day become impatient and disheartened 

 because great evils flourish in the land like 

 the green bay tree, while all around there 

 seems to be a stupefying moral and relig- 

 ious lethargy and apathy which cares not 

 and does nothing! How long, Lord, how 

 long? How long must we tamely sit by and 

 submit to the insolence of the liquor traffiic, 

 the burning shame of the white-slave trade, 

 the stigma of ecclesiastical controversy and 

 competition, the ci*y of industrial oppres- 

 sion, the stench of political coiruption, the 

 wicked waste of war? Will the kingdom 

 never come? 



It is my purpose in this sermon to call 

 your attention to certain movements in the 

 itops of the mulberry trees of our land and 

 time which seem to me to be prophetic. The 

 kingdom is coming! The Pliilistines are 

 soon to be routed and smitten hip and 

 thigh ! I know it ! I know it ! I know it 



