Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-12-29
Ea0D AMONG THE STARS.
.TALMAGE DlscoURsES ON THE
ASTRONOMY OF THE BIBLE.
A Tripto the Upper Stories OF Gods
House--What the Stars Tell Us
OF God and His Greatness
The Birth OF Astronomy.

AdAiAetSo pCedCueO lue Atoo VI oio
promised series of sermons on God
in the natural world as disclosed in
the Bible. The subject chosen for the
initial sermon was 1.-THE Astronomy
| of the Bible, or God Among the Stars"
| the text being from Amos tx. G: eft
! is he that buildeth his stories in the
heavens" Preceding the sermon the
great congregation sang Isaac Watts
hymn:
The heavens declare thy glory, Lord,
In every star thy wisdom shines.
That is frst-rate poetry from Amos,
/ the herdsman. While guarding his
!. ilocks at night, he got watching the
III heavens. He saw stars above stars,
Z and the universe seemed to him like 81
i great mansion many stories high,
N silver room above silver room, silver
n pillars beside silver pillars, and win
u dows Of silver and doors OF silver,
and turrets and domes Of silver rising
\ into the immensities, and theprophet's
Y sanctiiied imagination walks through
that great silver palace OF the universe,
/ through the first story, throus II the
second story, through the third story,
n through the twentieth story, through
n the hundredth story, through the
II thousandth story, and realizing that
& God is the architect and carpenter
N and mason OF all that upheaved
he cries out i'll the words OF
u the text: cit ia he that buildeth his
d stories in the heaven"
N My hearers, it is time that we Wi
" dened out and heightened our relig-
ious thoughts. In our pulpits and
Y Sabbath classes and Christian work
i ;,f all sorts we ring the changes on
few verses OF Scripture until they eX-
cite no interest. Many OF the best
parts OF the Bible have not yet been
preached from or indeed even noticed
Hence 1 to-day begin u series OF SER
e nous, not for consecutive Sabbath
q mornings, but as often as l think it
best for variety's sake, on the astron-
b omy Of the Bible or God among the
n stars, the geology Of the Bible or God
among the rocks, the ornithology Of
the Bible or God among the birds
4 ichthyology OF the Bible
\ or God amongst the fishes,
the pomology of the Bible or God
among the orchards, the precious
stones OF the Bible or God among the
amethyists, the concholoey OF the
Bible or God among the shells, the
botany OF the Bible or God am ong the
flowers, the chronology of the Bible
or God among the centuries. The
feet is that we have all spent too
much time on one story OF the great
mansion of God universe. We need
occasionally to go upstairs or down
stairs in this mansion; downstairs
and in the cellar study the rocks, or
upstairs and see God in some Of the
higher stories, and learn the meaning
of the text when it says: cit Is he
that buildeth his stories in the heav-
en-"
THE BIRTH OF ASTRONOMY.
Astronomy was born in Chaldea.
It's mother was astrology, or the
science OF foreteling events by juXta-
position of stars. The Orientals, liv.
ing much out CT doors and in q very
clear atmosphere, through which the
stars shone especia ly lustrous, got
the habit of studying The night heav-
ems. In the hot seasons caravans
journeyed chiefly at night, and that
gave travellers much opportunity OF
stellar information. On the first page
Of the Bible the sun and moon and
star roll in. TIL sun, u body nearly
100000 miles in circumference and
more than $4,000 times as large as
our earth: the moon, more than
1000 miles in diameter. But God is
used to doing things on such an on
npotent scale that he takes only one
verse to tell of this lunar nanufac-
ture. Yea, IN three words all the 9th
er worlds are thrown in. The record
says, '"I'he stars also" 1t takes whole
pages to extol the making OF tele-
scope or microscope or q magnetic
telegraph CT threshing machine, or
to describe fine painting or statue,
but it was so easy for God to hang
the celestial upholstery that the story
is comprised in one verse-"God made
two great lights, the greater light to
rule the day and the lesser light to
rule the night. The stars also!" AS
tronomers have been trying TO call
the roll OF them ever since, and they
have counted multitudes of them pas
sing in review before the Observable
rles built at vast expense, and the
size and number of those heavenly
bodies have taxed to the utmost the
scientists Of all ages. And God finishes
all he has to say about them in three
words-"the stars also!" That is
Mars, with its more than $4,000, 900
square miles, and Venus, with it's more
than 81, 100000 square miles, and
Saturn, with it's more than 10000
100000 square miles, and Jupiter,
with it's more than 24,OO0,O 1000, 600
square miles, and all the planets of our
system of more than rs, 900, 900, 900
square mi es, and these stars OF our
system, when compared with the stars
of the other systems, as a handful OF
sand compared with all Rocky Noun
salns and all the Alps. THE stars
also"' For brevity, for ponderosity,
for splendor, for suggestiveness tor
sublimity, piled On sublimity, these
words excel all that human speech
ever uttered or human imagination
ever SCARED after. ''The stars also!"
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