Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-11-12
REV. DR.. TAIN e


HdTCaN was suIRlnC in lis nlarD'e tnTOu2-
room at Memphis. Plague after plague had
come, and sometimes the Egyptian mOna~ct
was disposed to DO better, but at the lifting
Of each plague he vas as bal as before. Tn
Eecrou1aDcers OF tie palace. however. were
compelled 70 recognize thedivine movement.
and after one OF the most eIasp~ratinC
sI!agues Of all the series they cried out in the
wcrts Of my text, This Is the finger Of
6o.,'-rot The first nor tue las; time when
tad people said a good thing. An oll Phil.
a~telphla friend visiting me- tne other day
asked ne If | hal ever noticed this passage
u Scripture from WHICH | today speak. I
tod him no, and | said right away, Tat
IL " roof text for a sermon
W. al rec1gnIZ. the hanl OF God am
klrw i is mighty hand. You have seei
Il man keep two or tlre- ruler balls fvinl
IN the ar, catching AMI yitchln, them s
that none OF them fell II the floor, and &c
TIL, for several minutes, ami You nave al.
lnirei his d@xterity. But have you thought
L0" the hand III God keeps millions AM
mili rs ~ round worlds ya-tly larger thar
cur world fvlng for centuries. without let
ting pn- fall Won!rou> power anI skill!
OF q ms hanI, But about that am not to
discourse. Ny t-xt LEAF, me I, speak Of
Iesa than a fifth ri the divine mani. This
is the finger OF COL Osty IN two other
places Goes the Bible refer t, this division
OF the olnnipotent han!.~Ihe rocks or
Mount Ninal are basalt and very hard stone
10 YOU iInagin:lt was q chis-l that cut the
ter c1ininan .m"nts in tina hasaltt No; IL
X 4iuo wc read that The tables 81 stouc
H-re written with tn :ilg-r Oh God"
'Arl-t az that He cast out devils with "th@
finger OF Col"
me only instance that Christ wrote &
"prI lie wrote not with prn Oh parchment,
tut with lis finger on the ground. Ne
enough seldom reference IS maize IN the
Hlb'4t Q q part u GODS haai, il you and |
Keep our eyes open mi our hearts r4Int We
VA he conlI He'd often - cry ont, This j.
The finger u God" 1t i my intention te
tire lons TO begin a seri 5 Of sermons on
Inc Astronomy o. the Bible. Or Col
Among the Stars; the OrnitholoEy OF
mo Bible, or Col Among the Biris;' The
fo1no.ogy Dt the B!ble. or Col Among III
Orcherd>;' "lhe lchthvoloSv OF iii
bibie, or Goa Among the Fishes ''The
theology o. the Bible, or Col Among the
lto"ss:' The Waters OF the Bible, or
t'oi Among the Seas The Zoology OF the
Hlbie, or God Among the Beasts The
lrec0as stones o. the Bible, or God Among
the A,ncthvSts;' "Ghe Gonchology Of the
hlhle, or Goa Among the Shells" "The
Eotany o7 the Bible, or Col Among the
Flowers" "Ine c~nlQn9logY u the Bible, or
TO Anon the C~eutuuiee.' al / want tni,
coming winter To ct you and get mysel
INTO the habit Of seeing TIL finger Of Col
everywhere All IN everything; but this
! A-HgI l'tH \ III - I.'lICC SOu 10 ID)R lOl
the finger u God in YOUR personal fairs.
The mOsto OF the ge.tIeu3 alton is natural.
! a stranger Il cost You u the street and
ash YOU the way to some place, it is, as
natural as to breathe tor you to level your
forelinger this way or that. Not one out
OF u Thousand Of You would stand with your
ll2nis by your side and make no motion with
your finger. Whatever you may say with
your lips is emphasized and REINFORCED ana
Translated by Your finger. Now God in the
de&r old BOOK says to u, innumerable things
BY the way OF direction. He plainly tells US
the way to 60. But in every exigency
81 our life, if We will only look,
we will find a providential gesture
and a providentIal pointing, 50 that We may
confidently say, I'M is the finger of God
Two or three times in my life, when per-
pl"Sel on questions OF duty after earnest
prayer, | have cast lots as to what [ should
do. In oilen times the Lords people cast
lots. Tn land OF Canaan was divided by
lot. The cities were divided among tn
priests and L-vi.c> by lot. Matthias was
CHOSEN 10 the apost,eshtp by lot.
Now casting lots is ABOUT the most solemn
thltg you can 10. II Aould never be done
except with a s~olennity like that Of the last
judgement. II IS q direct appeal to the Al
mighty. If after earnest prayer you do
not seem to get the divine direction, | think
You might without SIN write upon one Slip
oil paper yes and upon another No or
some other decisive words appropriate to
the case, and then obliteratin5 from your
mind the identity of the slips of PAPER draw
the decision ani act upon it. In that case |
think You have u right to take that indica-
ton as the finger OF God. But do not do
that EXCEPT as the last r2sort aud with a de-
voutness tlat leaves absolutely all with
Goa.
For much that concerns Us we have no r..
sron>ibIitv. and we neei not make appeal
to tho Lord Tor direction. We arc not r.
SlonSihlc for most Of our surroundings, We
are not rtSDOuSihia for the country OF Our
birth. nor for whether W. are Americans ol
Norwe2Ians or Scotchman or IrlShnen OF
bugishmer. We are not responsible for
the age IN which we I'VE. We are not re
suonS!h,e Tor our tanp.ramant. be it uar.
vous or p..egna,i.. blliou, u sanruin-.
Weara not responsible tor our features, h.
they nonply or beautiful. We are not r..
spCnsible for the halgaf or Smaiiues, of ON,
stature. We are 10. RESPONSIBLE for til.
fact that w. arr mentally dull oil brilliant.
For the most If our environment we have
10 more responsibility to3n we have for [ /.
f'oiDH' - - p'es' - " AIahli'
oce2h.
~ ! I'M y go ~ u re ar a"9a1 Nv
ni!Ftlf&t II uNtl bati +tait war Not Y
epuh>4p!e ioF - no lame Us iot ueil5 II