Still further, I learn from this subject the advantages of concerted
action. If Abimelech had merely gone out with a tree-branch the work
would not have been accomplished, or if ten, twenty, or thirty men had
gone; but when all the axes are lifted, and all the sharp edges fall,
and all these men carry each his tree-branch down and throw it about
the temple, the victory is gained--the temple falls. My friends, where
there is one man in the Church of God at this day shouldering his
whole duty there are a great many who never lift an ax or swing a
blow.

Oh, we all want our boat to get over to the golden sands, but the most
of us are seated either in the prow or in the stern, wrapped in our
striped shawl, holding a big-handled sunshade, while others are
blistered in the heat, and pull until the oar-locks groan, and the
blades bend till they snap. Oh, religious sleepy-heads, wake up! While
we have in our church a great many who are toiling for God, there are
some too lazy to brush the flies off their heavy eyelids.

Suppose, in military circles, on the morning of battle the roll is
called, and out of a thousand men only a hundred men in the regiment
answered. What excitement there would be in the camp! What would the
colonel say? What high talking there would be among the captains, and
majors, and the adjutants! Suppose word came to head-quarters that
these delinquents excused themselves on the ground that they had
overslept themselves, or that the morning was damp and they were
afraid of getting their feet wet, or that they were busy cooking
rations. My friends, this is the morning of the day of God Almighty's
battle! Do you not see the troops? Hear you not all the trumpets of
heaven and all the drums of hell? Which side are you on? If you are on