The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1894-02-22
GODS BARE ARM.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Talks on the
Wondrous Works of God.
With Barred Arm Stretched Forth He
Called Into Being the Wondrous
Conditions of Earth and Universe
that Compel Mans Reverence.

cred by Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage in
the Brooklyn tabernacle on a recent
Sabbath, being based on the text:
The Lord hath made bare this Holy arm =
Isaiah Iii, 10.
1t almost takes our breath away to
read some of the Bible imagery. There
is such boldness of metaphor in my
text that 1 have been for some time
getting my courage up to preach from
it. Isaiah, the evangelistic prophet, is
sounding the Jubilate of our planet re-
deemed, and cries out: 1.-THE Lord hath
made bare His holy arm" What over
whelming suggestiveness in that figure
of speech, "the bare arm of God!' The
people of Palestine to this day wear
much hindering apparel, and when
they want to run special race, or lift
special burden, or fight special bat
tie, they put off the outside apparel, as
In our land, when a man proposes
special exertion, he puts off his coat
and rolls up his sleeves. Walk through
our founderies, our machine shops, our
mines, our factories, and you will find
that most of the toilers have their
coats off and their sleeves rolled up.
Isaiah saw that there must be ire
mendous amount of work done before
this world becomes what it ought to
be, and he foresees it all accomplished,
and accomplished by the Almighty;
not as we ordinarily think of Him, but
by the Almighty with the sleeve of His
robe rolled back to His shoulder: 1.-The
Lord hath made bare His holy arm"
Nothing more impresses me in the
Bible than the ease with which God
does most things. There is such a re-
serve of power. He has more thunder
bolts than He has ever flung; more
light than He has ever distributed;
more blue than that which He has
overarched the sky; more green than
that with which He has emeralded the
grass; more crimson than that with
which He has FURNISHED the sunsets.
] say it with reverence, from all can
see, God has never half tried.
But see how easy God made the light
He did not make bare His arm; He did
not even put forth His robed arm; He
did not lift so much as finger. The
flint out of which He struck the noon
day sun was the word: Light" LET
there be light" Adam did not see the
sun until the fourth day. for, though
the sun was created on the first day, it
took the rays from the first to the
fourth day to work through the dense
mass of fluids by which the earth was
compassed. Did you ever hear of any
thing so easy as that? So unique?
Out of a word came the blazing sun,
the father of flowers, and warmth,
and light? Out of a word build
ing fireplace for all the nations of
the earth to warm themselves BY!
Yea, seven other worlds, five of them
inconceivably larger than our own.
and seventy-nine asteroids, or worlds
on smaller scale! The warmth and
light for this great brotherhood, great
sisterhood, great family of worlds,
eighty-seven larger or smaller worlds,
all from that one magnificent fireplace
made out of the one word-''Light.'
The sun eight hundred and eighty-six
thousand miles in diameter. I do not
know how much grander a solar sys-
tenn God could have created if He had
put forth His robed arm, to say nothing
of an arm made bare! But this know,
that our monday sun was spark
struck from the anvil of one word, and
that word-"Light."
But" says some Que, "do you not
think that in making the machinery OF
the universe, of which or solar system
is comparatively small wheel work.
ing into mightier wheels, it must have
cost God some exertion? The upheaval
of an arm made bare?" No; we are
distinctly told otherwise. The ma
chinery of a universe God made simply
with His fingers. David inspired in a
night song, says so: "When consider
Thy heavens, the work Of Thy fingers. ,
Now ask, for the benefit of all dis
heartened Christian workers, if God
accomplished SO much with His fin
gers, what can He do when He
puts out all His strength? and
when He unlimbers all the batteries OF
His omnipotence? The Bible speaks
again and again of Gods outstretched
arm, but only once, and that in the
text, of the bare arm of God.
MY lSAG HldheS IL plain llldG the rec
LITIGATION of this world is stupendous
undertaking. 1t takes more power tc
make this world over again than il
took it at first. A word was only
necessary for the creation. but for the
new creation the unsleeved and I'M
hindered forearm of the Almighty
The reason of that l can understand
In the ship yards of Liverpool, or Glas
gov, or New York, a great vessel is
constructed. The architect draws out
the plan, the length of the beam, the
capacity of tonnage, the rotation of the
wheel or screw, the cabins, the masts
and all the appointments of this great
palace of the deep. The architect fin
ishes his work without any perplexity
and the carpenters and the artisans tot
on the craft so many hours day, each
one doing his part, until with flags fly
ing, and thousands of people huzzaine
on the docks, the vessel is launched
But out on the sea that steamer breaks
her shaft and is limping slowly along
toward harbor, when Caribbean whirl
winds, those mighty hunters of the
daap LOOKING ont for prav af shipS