The Opelousas courier., 1892-12-24
REV. DR.. TALMAGE
HE IRCOELYN DIVINE's SUN
DAY SERMON
TEXT: "The finger Of ~God."-Exodus

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
necromancers Of the palace. however. were
compelled to recognize the divine movement.
ana after one of the most exasperating
plaques OF all the series they cried out in the
words OF my text, This is the finger Of
Goa"-not the first nor the last time when
BAD people said a good thing. An old Phil.
adelphla friend visiting me the other day
ASKED me If | had ever noticed this passage
OF scripture from which today speak. I
!oid him nc, and | said right away, That
Is o text for a Sermon
We all recognize the hand OF God and
know 1t lsa mighty hand. You have seen
a 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 Go
this for several minutes, and you nave ad.
mired his dexterity. But have you thought
now 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
OF Gods handi But about that / am not to
discourse. My text leafs me to speak of
less than a filth of the divine hand. "This
IS the finger OF God" 0nlY 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 imagine it was a chisei that cut the
ten commandments in that basalt? No; in
Exodus we read that the tables OF stone
were written with the finger of Cod
Christ say that He cast out devils with "the
finger of Col" q
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 a part OF Gods hand, if you and
keep our eyes open ana our hearts right we
will be compelled often to cry out, This is
the finger of God!' It is my intention be.
fore long to begin a series Of sermon on
The Astronomy of the Bible, or God
Among the Stars tine Ornithology of
tneBible, or God Among the Birds" THE
Pomotogy of the Bible. or Goi Among the
Orchards The lchth5ology OF the
Bible, or God Among the Fishes" 1.-THE
Geology Of the Bible, or God Among the
Col Among the Seas t'Tae Zoology of the
Bible, or God Among the Beasts "Fhe
Precious Stones OF the Bible, or God Among
the A~inethysts;f 1.-The Conchology of the
Bible, or GOD Among the Shelis;'' ''The
Botany of the Bible, or God Among the
Flowers 'rhe Chronology of the Bible, or
God Among the Centuries" AMI I a this
coming winter to get you and get myself
into the habit of seeing thu finger of Col
everywhere and in everything, but this
morning I van to induce you to look for
the finger of God in your personal affairs.
The most of the gesticu'ation is natural.
J. a stranger accost you on the street and
ash You the wSg to some place, it is. as
natural as to breathe for you to level your
forefinger 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 may say with
your lips is emphasized 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 60. But IN every exlgeney
of cur hf, if we will only look,
we will find a providential gesture
and a provldential pointing. 50 that we may
confidently say, "Iinis is the finger of God"
Two or three times in my life, when per.
picked on questions Of duty after earnest
prayer, I have cast lots as to what l should
do. In olden times the Lords people cast
lots. The land OF Canaan was divided by
lot. The cities were divided among thu
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. Il should never be done
except with a solemnity like that OF the last
Judgment. 1t is q direct appeal to the Al
mighty. If after earnest prayer you do
not seem to get the divine direction, l think
YOU might without sin write upon one slip
of paper YES and upon another No" or
some other decisive words appropriate to
the case. and then oblitarating from your
mind the identity Of the slips OF paper draw
the decision ami act upon 1t. In that case
think YOU have a right to take that indica-
tion as the finger OF God. But do not do
that except as the last resort and with a de-
voutness that leaves absolutely all with
God.
For much that concerns us We hayen no re-
snonsihiiity. and we need not make appeal
to the Lord for direction. We are not rs
sponsible for most Of our surroundings. we
are not responsible for the country OF our
birth. nor for whether we are Americans OF
NorWe2ians or Scotchmen or lrishmen Oh
E~neiishn1en. We are not responsible FOL
the age in which we live. We are not re
sponsIble for our temperament, be 1t ner-
vous or paiegnatie, bilious or sangulne.
We are not responsible for our features, be
they homeIy or beautiful. We are not re
sponsible for the height or smallness OF our
stature. We are not responsible for tht
fact that we are mentally Il OF brilliant.
For the most of our environments we have
no more responsibility than we nave TOR tn
molt,,sts at the botto of the Atlantic
ocean. a..
Oh. I am so glad that thsre are about hve
hundred thousand things that we are not re
snansible for! DO not nlameu us for being II
AIR manner cold as IN icsbarg, or nervou
as d cat amid q PACK OF Fonrta OF July nre
cracsers. If you ara determined to Diam
somebody, blame u great-graudfathefs' o
Revolutionary war, aud who may have ha'
habits depressing and ruinous. Ihere az
yvrong things about US all, which make m
think that one hundred an fifty years ag
there was some terrible crank in ances
trail line. Raalizs that. and it VIII De q =
lief s~ani-inhnite. Let US take ourselves 9
we are this moment, and then ask Wnlc
wsvn Get ali the direction you can fror
careful and constant study OF the Bible, IN
then look up and loek out and look aroune
and sea Il YOU can find the finger or Go1.
r is remarkable thing that sometime
no one can sea that ingsr out yourself; !
wear before Abraham Lincoln signed tn
nrocIatnation OF emancipation tae Whl
House was thronged with conaml5tess an
assoeiations ministers and iaymen, advlsin
4ha yresident to make that prociarnatloi
RTt he waited and waited, amid scon al
apatheua. because he did not hlnssit .
AZ finger of Col. After awhile and at Jsu
tha risht time he saw the divine polntii
and signed the proclamation. lh9 oiss.
o,1ished Cenfederates, MASON q.
Slidelf. were taken Oh an Gngsr
mant liDon't give them W" shout
y i ..-thsr, Sta44@ stat li= hava "
with England rather than surrender them,
was the aln1ost unanimous cry of the nortl
But William e. Seward saw the finger {
God leading in just the opposite direcslo
and the Confederates were given up. andN
avoided a war with England which at tne
time would have been the demolitlon OF %
United States Government.
IN other words. the finger OF God as it q
reefs YOU, may bs Invisible to everyood
else. Follow the divine pointing, as ye
see it. although the world may cali you
fool. There has never been a nan OF