Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1893-01-27
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divines Sun
day Sermon.
Subject: "The Circle Of the Earth

w
text intimatei the shape OF it-Go1 sitting
upon the circle OF the eartb. The most
beautiful figure in all geometry is the circle.
God made the univers, on the plan OF
circle There are III the natural weld
straight lines, angles, parallel grams, dag
onals, quadrangles, buS these evidently are
not GODS favoritss. Almost everywhere
where you will fin1 Him geomotrizing you
find the circle dominant, and if not the
circle, then the curve, which is a circle that
died y0on- If it had lived long enough it
would have been full ora periphery.
An ellipse is circle pressed only little too
hard at the sides.
Giants Caussway, in Irelanj. shows what
God thinks OF mathematics. There are over
81, 900 columns of rocks-cctagonaI, hexa-
gonal, pentagonal. These rocks seem to
have been made by rule and by compass.
Every artist has his molding room, where
be may make fifty shapes, but he chooses
one shape as preferable to all Others. | will
not say that the Giants Cluseway was the
worlds molding room. but do say out OF
great many figures God seems to have SCI
ected the circle as the best. ut is He that
stitch on the circle Of the EARTH" The stars
in Gree, the moon in circle, the sun in
circle, the universe in a circle, the throne OF
God the center o; that circle.
When men build churches they ought to
initiate the idea of the Great Architect and
put ths audience in circle. knowing that
the tides Of emotion roll more easily that
way than in straight lines. Six thousand
years ago Col flung this world out OF His
right han J, but He did not throw it out in
a straight line, but curvilinear, with LEASE
Of love holding it SO as to bring 1t back
again, The world started from His hand
rure and f len'c. It has been rolling on
through regions o. moral ice AMI distemper
How long it will roll God only knows. but
it will in due Tina make complete circuit
and come back to the place whence it started
the hand OF God-pur and e lenic.
The history of the world goes in circle
Why is it that the shipping in our day is
improving so rapidly? 1t is because men
are initiating the old model OF Noah'S ark.
A ship carpenter gives that as his opinion.
Although so much derdei by small wits,
that ship of Noah's time beat the Majestic
and the Etruria and the City of Paris, of
which We boast SO much. Where is the
ship on the sea to-day that could out~ide a
deluge in which the heaven AM the earth
were wrecked, landing all the passen gers IL
safety--two of eaca kind OF living creatures,
thousands of species?
Pomolosy will go on with its achieve
ments until after many centuries the world
will have pluns and pears equal to the para
disaical. The art of gardening will grow
for centuries, and after the Downings and
Mitchells of the world have done their best
i'll the lar future the art of gardening will
come up TO the arborsscsnc9 OF the year |.
Ii the makers OF colore1 glass go on improv'
Ing they may III some centuries be able to
make something equal to the east win low of
York minister, which was built in 1890. We
are SIX centuries behinn those artists, but
the world must keep on toiling until it sh all
make the complete circuit and come up to
the skill OF those very men.
If the world continues to improve in ma
sonry we shall have after awhile, perhaps
after the advance OF centuries. mortar equal
to that which / saw last su inner in the wall
of an exhumed English city, built in the
time OF the Romans, 1900 years ago-that
mortar to-day as good as the day in which it
was made, having outlasted the brick aud
the stone. | say, after hundreds of years,
masonry may advance to that point Ii the
world stands long enough we may have a
city as large as they had in old times Baby
lon five times the size of London.
You 90 into the potteries in England an
you find them making cups and vases after
the style of the cups and vases exhunsi
from Pompeii. the world is not going
and will come back to the styles OF pottery
known SO long ago as the days OF Pompei.
The world must keep on pro crossing until it
makes the complete circuit. The curve is i'll
the right direction; the curve will keep on
until it becomes the circle.
Well, now, my friends, what is true in the
material universe is true in Gods moral
government and spiritual arrangement.
That is the meaning OF Ezekie.'s Wheel Al
commentators agree in saying that the
wheel means Goa's providence But whee
is of no use unless it turn, and il it TURF
: it turns around, and if it turns arounl il
moves 10 circle. What then? Are W,
parts of a great iron machine whirle-
around whether we will or not, the victims
of inexoraule fateY MOI So far from that
/ shall show you that we ourselves start tn
circle of good or bad actions and that it will
surely come around again to us unless b,
divine intervention it be hindered, Thos
bad OF good actions may make the circuit 0
many years, but come back to us they viii
as certainly as that God sits on the circle O
the earth.
Jozebel, the worst woman of the Biblt
slew Naboth because she wanted his vine
yar0. While the dogs were eating the bod
of Naboth. Elisha the prophet put down hi
compass ana marked a circle from the do9
! clear around to the dogs that should eat tt
body of Jezsbel the mrrderess 'lmpo
siblew tde people said; "that will n~ve
happen" Who is that bsiny flung Out or I'll
! palace Window Jezsbs. A few hours aftt
they came around hoping to bury her. The
find only the palms of her hands AMI tt
| skull The dogs that devourel Jezsbel an
the dogs that devoured Nabothl Oh, whs
a swift, what an awful circuitl
/ Rnt N ic cOnoot i'm &c 10 nat fhic oirol
sweeps through a century or through man
! centuries. The world started with theot
racy for government that is, God was til
| president AMI emperor of the world. Peopl
! got tired of theocracy. Tdey said: "W
don't want Go directly interfering with tt
affairs OF the world; give us monarchy.
The world had monarchy. From mon
archy it is going to have Unite monarchy
After awhile the limited monarchy will
| given up, and the republici IN form o. gov
eminent will be everywhere dominant an
reco5nizs1. Then tho world will get tire
of the republican form of government. an
it will have an anarchy, which is no govern
ment at all Aud then all nations, fin lin
out that man is not capable of righteousl,
governing man. will cry out for tn aocrac.
and say: 'Let God come back and conduc
the affairs of the world"
Every step-monarcly, limited mon
arcy, repuolcanism, anarchy only differ
eat steps between the first theocracy aud tn
last theocracy, or ssgments OF the great cir
Gle of the earth on which God sis. But d.
not become impatient because you canno
see the curve of events. AMI therefore con
clude that Gods governm snt is goiny t.
break down. History tells us that in tn
making OF the pyramids 1T took 2909 mer
two years to drag one great stone fro II the
quarry an put it into the pyramids.
Well, now, If men short lived can affor'
to work SO slowly as that cannot Col in tn
| building of the eternities afford to wait
What though God should take 10000 year.
to draw a circle? Shall We take our LITTLE
watch, which we have to wind up ever,