Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-10-24
THE FINGER OF GOD.
An ELOQUENT SERMON FROM THE
TABERNACLE PULPIT.

TABERNACLE PULPIT.
Or. Talmage Selects Text from Exodus
and breaches a Powerful Discoursc---A
Peroration Of Wonderful Force and
Beauty Of Expression.
BrooKLYN, Oct. 23.-The capacity Of
the Tabernacle was tested this morning
by the vast crowd that filled it in every
part as soon as the doors were opened.
After reading and commenting on sew
eral passages of Scripture illustrative of
Gods providential dealings, DR.. Tai
mage gave out the hymn beginning
God moves in mysterious way
His wonders to perfoRm.
His sermon was on the text Exodus viii.
10, s.The Finger of God"
Pharaoh was sulking in his marble
throneroom at Memphis. Plague after
plague had come, and sometimes the
Egyptian monarch was disposed to do
better, but at the lifting Of each plague
he was as bad as before. The necro-
mancers of the palace, however, were
compelled to recognize the divine move
nlent, and after one of the most exas-
perating plaques of all the series they
cried out in the words of my text,
s'This Is the finger Of God"-nott the first
nor the last time when bad people said a
good thing. An old Philadelphia friend
visiting me the other day asked me if /
had ever noticed this passage of Strip
ture from which today speak. l told
him no, and ! said right away, "That is
q good text for sermon"
We all recognize the hand of God and
know it Is q mighty hand. You have
seen man keep two or three rubber
balls flying in the air, catching and
pitching them so that none of them fell
to the floor, and do this for several min
utes. and you have admired his dexter
ity. But have you thought how the
hand of God keeps millions and millions
Of round worlds, vastly larger than our
world, flying for centuries without let
ting one fall? Wondrous power and
skill Of Gods handi But about that
am not to discourse. My text leads me
to speak of less than q fifth Of the divine
hand. "This is the finger of God"
Only in two other places does the Bible
refer to this division of the omnipotent
hand. The rocks ON Mount Sinai are
basalt and very hard stone. Do you
imagine it was chisel that cut the ten
commandments in that basalt? No. in
Exodus we read that the tables of stone
were written with the finger Of God"
Christ says that he cast out devils with
ssthe finger Of God" The only instance
that Christ wrote word he wrote not
with pen on parchment, but with his
finger on the ground. Yet, though SO
seldom reference is made in the Bible
to part of Gods hand, If you and /
keep our eyes open and our heart right
we will be compelled often to cry out,
"This is the finger of God 1t is my
intention before long to begin series of
sermons on 'The Astronomy of the BIZ
BILE, or God Among the Stars "The
Ornithology Of the Bible, or God Among
the Birds" 1.-The Pomology of the Bible,
or God Among the Orchards;" ''The
achthyology of the Bible, or God Among
the Fishes" "The Geology of the Bible,
or God Among the Rocks;" "The Wa
tors of the Bible, or God Among the
Seas;' "The Zoology of the Bible, or
God Among the Beasts;' 1.-The Precious
Stones OF the Bible, or God Among the
Amethysts;" 1.-THE Conchology Of the
Bible, or God Among the Shells;" "The
Botany of the Bible, or God Among the
Flowers;" "The Chronology of the BIZ
BILE, or God Among the Centuries" and
want this coming winter to get you
and get myself into the habit of seeing
the finger of God everywhere and in
everything; but this morning l want
to induce you to look for the finger of
God In your personal affairs.
pRovIDENTIAL GESTURES.
To most of us gesticulation is natural.
II stranger accost You on the street
and ask you the way to some place, ii is
as natural as to breathe for you to level
your forefinger this way or that. Not
one out of thousand of you would
stand with your hands by your side aud
make no motion with your finger. What
ever you may say with your lips is en-
phasized and re-enforced and translated
by your finger. Now God in the dear
old Book says to us innumerable things
by the way of direction. Ho plainly tells
us the way to so. But in every exigency
Of our life, If we will only look, we will
find proyidential gesture and a provi-
Dental pointing. 80 that we may conf
IDENTIFY say, ''This is the finger of God"
Two or three times in my life. when
perplexed ON questions of duty after
earnest prayer, ] have cast lots as TO
what ! should do. In olden times tho
Lords people cast lots The land Of
Canaan was divided by lot. The cities
were divided among the priests and
Levites by lot. Matthias was chosen to
the apostleship by lot. Now casting
lots Is about the most solemn thing you
can do. II should never be done, except
with q solemnity like that Of the last
Judgment. 1t Is direct appeal to the
Almighty. II after earnest prayer you
do not seem TO get the divine direction,
I think you might without sin write
upon one slip OF paper "Yes," and upon
another mo-" or some other decisive
words appropriate to the case. and then.
obliterating from your mind the identity
Of the slips Of paper, draw the decision
and act upon il. In that case think
you have right 70 take that indication
rs the finger Of God. But do not do
that except as the last resort and with q
devoutness that leaves absolutely all
with God.
For much that concerns us we have
no responsibility, and We need not make