The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-11-09
THE FINGER OF GOD.
Sermon by Rev. T. Dewitt Tai
mage, D. D.


DR.. Talmage's discourse at the Brook
Ign tabernacle last Sunday was based
on the text, Exodus viii, 10, 1.-THE Fin
ger of God" Following is the sermon:
Pharaoh was sulking in his marble
throne room 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
ment, and after one of the most exas-
perating plaques of all the series, they
cried out in the words of my text: This
is the finger of God"-not 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 l
had ever noticed this passage of Scrip
ture from which to-day speak. l told
him no. and said right away, THAT is
good text for sermon"
We all recognize the hand of God and
know it is 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 dex-
terity. 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
letting one fall? Wondrous power and
skill of Gods hand! But about that l
am not to discourse. My text leads me
to speak of less than fifth of the di-
vine 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 i'm
agine 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
1.-THE finger of God" The only instance
that Christ wrote a 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
Bible, or God among the Stars; the
ORTHODOXY of the Bible, or God among
the Birds; the Pomology of the Bible,
or God among the Orchards; the Ichthi-
ology of the Bible, or God among the
Fishes; the Geology of the Bible, or
God amoug the Rocks; the Waters of
the Bible, or God among the Seas; the
Zoology of the Bible, or God among the
Beasts; the Precious Stones of the Bible,
or God among the Amethysts; the
Conchology of the Bible, or God among
the Shells; the Botany of the Bible, or
God among the Flowers; the Chronology
of the Bible, or God among the Cen
turies 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.
To most of us gesticulation is natural.
If stranger accosts you on the street
and asks the way to some place, it is
as natural as to breathe for you to
level your forefnger this way or that.
Not one out of a thousand of You would
stand with your hands by your side and
make no motion with your finger.
Whatever you say with your lips is en-
phasized and reinforced and translated
by your finger. Now, God, in the dear
old book, says to us innumerable things
by the way of direction. He plainly
tells us the way to go. But in every
exigency of our life, if we will only
look, we will find providential gesture
and providential pointing, so that we
may confidently 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 the
Lords people cast lots, The Land OF
Canaan was divided by lot. The cities
were divided among the priests and lie.
vites by lot. Matthias was chosen to
the apostleship by lot Now, casting
lots is about the most solemn thing you
can do. 1t should never be done except
with solemnity like that of the last
Judgment 1t is direct appeal to the
Almighty. If, after earnest prsyer, you
10 not seem to get the divine direction,
think you might without sin, write
upon one slip of paper Eyes" and upor
another NO" or some other decisive
words appropriate to the case, and ther
celebrating from your mind the identi
ty of the slips of paper, draw the decis
ion, and act upon it In that case
think you have right to take that in
dication as the finger of God. But dc
not do that except as the last resort aNd
with devoutness that leaves absolute
ly all with God.
For much that concerns us we hav,
no responsibility, and we need not max,
appeal to the Lord for direction. w,
are not responsible for the country O
our birth, nor for whether we are Amer
J leans, or Norweg ans, or Scotchmen, o.
Irishmen, or Englishmen. We are no
responsible for the age in which we live
Weare not responsible for our temper
ament; be it nervous or phlegmatic, bill
} ious, or sanguine. We are not respon
sible for our features, be they homel,
or beautiful. We are not responsible
, for the height or smallness of our stat
ure We are not responsible for tn,
fact that we are mentally dull or bril-
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