Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-09-20
CHURCH CHIMES.
The Sermon of the Rev. Mr.. Putnam
Mt st. Marks Cathedral Yesterday.
He Chooses for His Text, "And God
Said Unto Moses, Il Am That
AM"
"The Eternal God is Thy Refuge, and
Underneath Are the Ever
lasting Arms"

well filled yesterday, ana the congre-
CATION was profoundly interested in the
discourse OF the Rev. Mr. Putnam from
the text: "And God said unto Moses,
Il am that / am"
"Moses," began the Reverend, gentle
man, drawing nigh unto the burning
bush upon Mount Horeb, was walking
upon holy ground. 1t was ground con-
secrated by the special presence OF God;
His presence was manifest in the fire in
the bush which was burning without be-
ing consumed, and by the voice which
talked with Moses ont OF the midst of tie
fire.
We are standing upon holy ground
when we draw nigh and seek to under
stand the great meaning OF the words
which read as the text. They contain
the special revelation which God made
respecting His own essence and nature,
there at the burning bush. Moses knew
that when he should come into the pres
ence Of the Israelites and declare to them
his mission they would demand to know
the God who had sent him-what was
his name? He knew that the Israeltes
forms of idolatTy. and were conversant
vi with many gods: bearing various names;
There were eric" the sun "IIopimon,"
the air; "Pthoh, +" fire, and many others.
lin the names OF the gods OF Egypt were
displayed various degrees of decline OF
religious worship from the alteration of
the one true God notably it would seem
hot I,n oto Of Il 10,
the worship OF the elements and powers
human beings clothed with divine
the brute creation.) Moses said the He
brews would demand the name under
which they were to worship the God of
their fathers He asked, therefore, what
is His name? What should he tell them ?
the answer is contained in the text
"And God said unto Moses, am that |
am" Or "What | am now that | ever
shall be, the same yesterday, to-day, and
forever" 81 am" that is the name under
which they shall worship Me. This is
my memorial unto all generations: My
name forever. 81 am, - that is self-exist-
ent. This is what God reveals in His
name: al exist" He aflirms, from
eternity, and shall exist forever as | exist
now. | am the self-existent one. This
is all contained in the name. Take off
the shoes from your feet, "for the place
wherein thou standest is holy ground"
Cleanse the heart and the thoughts
as you take upon the lips this
name and seek to know its meaning. The
name "Jehovah" is of the same meaning
as this 81 am" they are from the same
root they are in short, the same word.
The first great truth then revealed and
proclaimed in this name is self-existence
Moses was distrustful OF HIMSELF he felt
that he was quite unequal to the import
ant task that God would lay upon him.
He seemed to himself personally unfit to
become the leader OF his downtrodden
countrymen in the great struggle to throw
off their bondage to Egyptian monsters.
The responsibility and the greatness of
the opportunity he would throw upon
another. Conscious OF his own unftness
and his own weakness, and full
OF consequent anxiety and fear, he cries
out to God, "Who am that | should go
unto Pharaoh, and that | should bring
forth the children of Israel out OF
Egypt" To Moses cry OF "Who am l"
God answers with His 81 am" 1t is 81
am that | am" who sends his servant to
execute His mission. Human defcien-
cies are offset and supplied by Him who
self-appropriates this name and thus re-
veals his person and nature. 1t is the
Being without beginning and without
end having in Himself the eternity OF
the past and the eternity of the future;
He who was and is and is to come. 1t
should not be unmentioned that the verb
in this phrase under which God
declares Himself, implies causation as
well as being, the idea of existence in
notion" it has been said, lie who causes
to be as well as he who is. In this name,
then, is implied not only self-existence,
but the root and cause OF all existence.
How sit lays bare to the human soul the
everything base OF all things" 1t makes
known the Reason and Ground of all
things whatsoever. who am ~" was
the cry of Moses in his weakness and
timidity and unfitness, "that / should
go, The answer is, Il am sends thee"
Mr.. Putnam then went on to explain
how this answer was given to Moses to
Moses, and he likened it unto
that great utterance with which Moses
supported the dropping courage OF his
people: "The eternal God is thy refuge
and underneath are the eternal arms"
He spoke OF how the one self-existent God
revealed himself to Moses in these words
and through Moses to all this world. lie
showed how this was also a revelation OF
the fact that God is now what He is,
what He always is and what He always
shall be; he showed how the revelation
had inspired and stimulated Moses for
the accomplishment of his work, and OF
how Moses was taught to look beyond
himself and his own weakness
lie spoke also OF the weaknesses OF
man and their willingness to shirk re.
sponsiblities, and to leave the work
TO Christ and those who are
more capable, and in conclusion
said: "Let us then look up
to God and ask him with all earnestness
to enter into all life's events, its JOY and
sorrows, to hallow and bless them; its
evils, and to bring out OF them good its
aims and cndeavors, to sanctify and
make them single and pure; its
trials and losses to inspire them
with courage and hope. /" No
man liyeth to himself" but all life
worth the name is lived unto Him, from
whom it is derived and to whom it must
be returned