Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-10-28
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divine's Sun
day Sermon.
Subject, "Tho Finger of Cod"

G0dfOdn was Suikln9 IN MS udfDte Nhto
room al Memphis P.sgda after plague had
come and sometimes the + gyptian monarch
was disposed to do better, but at the lifting
OF each plague he was as bad as be ore. The
necromancers OF the palace however, were
compelled to recognize the divine movement,
and after one OF the NEST exasperating
plaques Of all the series they cried out in the
words of my text, This is the finger OF
Goin-not the first nor the last time when
bad people said good thing. An old Phil
adelphia friend visiting me tho other day
asked me il had ever noticed this passage
OF Scripture from which today speak.
told him no, aud | said right away, THAT
is p cool text for n sermon.
We all recogniz, the hand OF God and
know il is mighty hand. You have seen
a man keep two or three rubber balls flying
in the air, catching AMI pitching them 50
that none OF them fell 10 the floor, and Go
this for several minutes, an you have adj
mired his dexterity. But have you thou Zht
how the hand Of God keeps millions AMI
millions Of round worlds vastly larger than
our world flying for centuries without let
ting one fall WondrOus power and skill
" Gods bani, But about that | am NOT to
discourse. Nv text leads me 10 speak OF
less than a fifth of the divine hand. This
IS the finger OF cod" OTlS in two other
places does the Bible refer t. this division
OF the omnipotent hanl. The rocks on
Mount Sinai are basalt and very hard stone.
Do you imagine il was a chisel that cut the
ten commandments in thai basalt: No; In
Exodus we read that the tables o. stone
were "written with the finger OF God"
Christ say that He cast ont devils with THE
finger OF Goj."
The only instance that Christ wrote a
word He wrote not with pen on parchment,
but with His finger on the ground. Yet
though seldom reference is made IN the
Bible to part Of Gods hand, il you aud l
keep our eyes open ami our hearts right we
will be compelled often to cry out This IL
the finger OF Cod 1t is my intention be-
fore long to begin n series OF sermons on
"Ihe Astronomy OF the Bible, or COD
Among the Stars" The Ornithology OF
the Bible, or God Among the Birds" The
Pomology OF the Bible or God Among the
Orchards" The Ichthyology of the
Bible, or Col Among the Fishes The
Geology OF the Bible, or God Among the
Rocks" The Waters o; the Bible, or
Col Among the Sens" The Zoology OF the
Bible, or God Among the Beasts The
/ Precious Stones OF the Bible or God A nons
The Amethysts;n "rhe Conchology OF the
Bible, or God Among the Shells The
3otany of the Bible, or Col Among the
7 FlOWeTss ut = ltONJl ~ VI NAS 49,
/ 1oi Among the Centuries" AMI | want tais
:oming winter to get you AMI get myself
/ ,ato the habit OF seeing th3 finger or Go
verywhere aul in everything; bnt tni'
morning want to ilduco yol to looi Tor
he finger of God in your personal aif urs.
/ The most OF the gesticu alton Is natural.
/ e. stranger a,cost you on the street ana
! ssk you the way to soma place, 1t Is, as
| Natural as 70 brelthe Tor you to level YOU
/ ,orefnger this way or that. Not one Ou5
ST a thousand o? You wcul stand with yoIr
hands by your side an make no motion win
Tour finger. Whatever you may say WIN
your lips is emphas I'D and re-en orce1 OF l
translated by your finger Now G91 IN me
lear old Book says to Us innu neraole Things
oy the way of direction. He plainly tells us
/ he way to 90. But in every exigency
of our life, il we will only looi,
we will find a providential gestur'
and providentia pointing, 50 llt We may
confidently say, "lhis is the finger OF Col"
Two or three times in my lite, when per-
,lexed on questions o. duty after earnest
,rayer have cast lots As to what should
10. In olden times the L0rrs psople cls,
OTIS. Ths land OF Canaan was diyidei o.
ot. The cities were divided among the
priests and Lsvites by lot. Matthias was
,hoseu to the apostleshi3 by loi.
Now casting lots is about the moss solemn
hing you can do. l. sloIl lneysr b. d)n9
sxce1t with a solennity like that o, the last
Judgment. l. is a direct appeal to the Al
mighty. II after earnest prayer you do
not seem 70 get the divine direction, think
you might without sin write upol one sup
IF paper YES AMI upon another NO, or
some other decisive words appropriate 70
The case. AMI then CELEBRATING from your
mind the identity of the slips OF paper draw
the decision an acs upon lt. In that case
think you have a rigat to take that ln1l'l-
lion as the finer OF CD. Blu. do NOT 90
chat except as thu last r1sors an with ds'
youtness that leaves Absolutely all win
God.
For muci that concerns rs We have no re.
sponsibility, and we neet not make appeai
to the Lord for direction. We ara no. r
snonsible for most of our surrounding 8, We
are not responsible for tas country oil ou'
birth. nor Tor whether We are Americans OF
Norwegians or Scotchmen or lrishnen o.
Enelishmep. We are not responsible 10
the age in which we live. We are not re
sponsible for our temper Iment, be II ner
vous or pilegnaiic, bilious OF salguils'
We ara not responsible for our features, d
,bev honely or beautiful. We are not re
sponsible for the height or smallnesi OF gu
stature. We are not responsible Tor IN
fact that We are mentally dull OF brilliant
For the most OF our environments we nav
no more responsibility than we have for TX
moltusts at the bltto Of the Atlanta
ocean.
Oh. am 50 glad that thsre ara about five
hundred THOUSAND things tllt we are NOT re
sponsibls for, Do not blame US for being 1t
our manner cold as an iceberg, or neryou
as a cat amid PACK OF Fourth OK July nre
crackers. II you are determine to bIam
somsbody, blame our great grandfathers' o.
great-yran imothers, VINO del oeIore IN
Revolutionary war, AM who may have ha'
habits depressing au1 ruinous. There ar
wron1 things about rs all, which make M
think that one hunirei AMI fly years ag'
there was some terri. ole crank in our auces
trai line. Real'zs that. AMI II will be re
lief semi-in.inite Let US take Ourselves a
we are this moment, and then ask "Whic'
wayy' Get all the direction you can iron
careful and constant study OF thu Bible, an,
then look up AMI look out AMI look around
and see If you can fin1 the finger OF Go1.
1t is a remarkable thing that somet'm
no one can see that finger but yourself =
year before Abraham Lincoln signei TO-
proclamation Of emancipation the "hit
House was thronge1 with committees an
associations, ministers and laymen, a1Vlsih
tie president 70 Iutno bi0t ~
But he waited and waited, amid soon an
anathema, because he did not hinselt SO
The finger of Col After awhile and at Jus
;be right time he saw the divine pointin
ana signe1 the proclamation. The distI
auished Confederate, Mason an
Slidell were taken OF an Englls
r,ssel by the United States Govern
iaent. "Oont give them up, saoute
all the northern States. Let u nave wa
with England rather than surrender them,
vas the almost unanimous cry OF the NORTH
But William n. Seward saw the finger 9
,5ci leading in just the opposite directlo
and the Confederates we're given up, ana
avoided a war with England which at tns
time would have been the demolition OF 10
Uuited States Government. :,
In other worls. the fin ger OF COD as IL a.
reefs you, may be Invisible to everyooa,
elfe. Follow the divine pointing, as 20
see 1t. although the world may call you
fool. There has never been man OF
Noman who amounted to anything tna
has not sometimes BEEN called 100
Nearly all the mistakes that you ana
hive made have coma from our followin
the pointing OF sons other finger, instea
81 the finger Of Col But now, suppos
All forms OF disaster close in upon a maj
Suppose his business collapsss. Supoo
he buys goois and cannot sell them. SUI
pose by new invention others can furnis
the same goods at less prics. Suppose a col
spring or a late autumn or the coming OF a