Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1892-10-29
THE FINGER OF GOD.
AN ELOQUENT SERMON FROM THE
TABERNACLE PULPIT.

L j
PeroratIon of Wonderful Force md
Beauty of Expression.
BROOKLYN, Oct.. 29.-Tho 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
image gave out the hymn beginning
~ God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform.
His sermon was on the text Exodus viii,
ll0,. THE Finger of God"
Pharaoh was sulking in his marble
throneroom at Memphis. Plasne after
plague hal Gomez and sometimes the
Egyptian monarch was disposed to do
better. but at the lifting Of each plague,
hsss was d The sefo5'
nsshc pala see Shooweye Nv ere
csSsspelled to recognize the divine move
tEETent, and after one of The most ezas9.
pera1ing plaques of all the series. they
cried out in the words of my text,
| sThis is the finger of God" -notthe first
nor the last time when bad people sail y
sgootl thing. An old Philadelphia friend
;yisiting me the other day asked me If ]
bad ever noticed this passage of Scrip
:itJire from which today speak. i told
finn no, and said right away, "That is
kagcod text for sermon.
all recognize the hand OF God and
ssnow it is u mighty hand. You have
Eseen u man keep two or three rubber
Eballs flying in the air, catching and
Epitching them so that none of them fell
l;tosthe floor. and do this for several min
lsutes, and you have admired his dexter
|::ittS But have you Thought how the
Ehand OF God. keeps millions and millions
] |::of round worlds, vastly larger than our
sworld, flying for centuries without let
Eting one fall? Wondrous power and
lskill OF Gods handl But about that |
tam not to discourse. My text leads Inc
Eta speak of less than fifth of the divine
Ehand. This is the finger of God.
dEsOnly in two other places does the Bible
Ifrefer to this division of the o1nripotcnt
l;hand The rocks on Mount Sinai are
|ibasalt and very hard stone. Do you
Imagine it was chisel that cut the ten
commandments in that basalt? No; in
|Eaodus we read that the tables of store
We're written with the finger of God"
1ssChrist says that he cast out devils with
ssssthe finger Of God" The only instance
That Christ wrote u word he wrote not
with pen on parchment, but with lis
Efnger on the ground. Yet. though 30
seldom reference is made in the Bible
Esto l. part of Gods hand, if You and ]
Ekeep our eyes open and our heart right
f$we:will be compelled often to cry out,
1l.ss.lThis is the finger of God.r 1t is my
E|siintention before long to begin series of
l!ser1nons on "The Astronomy of the Bi-
l..blessor God Among the Stars" "Tho
l'Ornithology Of the Bible, or God Among
the Birds 1.-The Pomology of the Bible,
or God Among the Orchards" 1.-The
technology Of the Biblo, or God Among
the Fishes "The Geology of the Bible,
or God Among the Rocks" Tho Wa
tiers of the Bible, or God Among the
Seas" 1.-The Zoology Of the Bible, or
God Among the Beasts THE Precious
Stones of the Bible, or God Among the
Amethysts;' 1.-The Conchology of the
Bible. or God Among the Shells 1.-THE
Botany of the Bible. or God Among the
Flowers" The Chronology of the BIZ
Bile. or Col 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 | want
to induce you to look for the finger Of
God in yol:r personal affairs.
PRoyIDENTIAL GESTURES.
To most of us gcsticulation is natural.
If a stranger accost you on the street
and ask you 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 thousand Of you would
stand with your hands by your side and
make no motion with your finger. What
ever you m;y say with yonr lips is enl-
phasizcd nnd REINFORCED and translated
l-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 20. But in every exigency
of our life, if we will only look, we will
find providential gesture and proyi-
dential pointing, so that we may conf
IDENTIFY say, 'sThis is the finger of God
Two or three times in>ny life, when
perplexed on questions of duty after
earnest prayer, l 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
Levites 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 asoleInnity like that of the last
Judgment. 1t is a direct appeal to the
Almighty. Il after earnest prayer you
do not seem TO get the divine direction,
think you might without sin write
upon one slip Of paper Yes and upon
another "No,' Or some other decisive
words appropriate 10 the case, and then,
obliterating from your mind the identity
Of the slips of paper, draw the decision
and act upon it. In that case | think
you have u right to take that Indication
as the finger of God. But 10 not GO
that except as the last resort and will a
deyoutness that leaves absolutely gil
with God.
Formrct that concerns US we hare
no responsibility, and we need not make
appeal:to flo Lord for direction. We
are not responsible for most of our sur
roandingse We are not responsible for
the country of our birth, nor for whether
we are Americans, or Norwegians, or
Scotcb1nen. or Irishmen or EnGlish-