Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-08-03


10 God Is the human eye, The tongue Is
speechlcss and a clumsy instrument of ex-
preston rs compared with IL. Have you
not seen IL fash with indignation, or kin
die with enthusiasm. or cxvand with dcvo-
tion. or melt with sympathy. or stare with
fright. or lever with villniny. or droop with
sadness, or pale with envy, or fire with re-
yengc or twinkle with mirth. or hcam with
love! IL Is tragedy and comedy and pas
toral and lyric In turn. Have you not seven
its upliftcd brow ~ surprise, or its frOwn
Of wrath. ar It's contraction 81 painS II
the eye say one thing and the lips say an
other thing. you believe the eye rather than
the lips.
The ewes Of Archibald Alexander and
Charles G. Finncy were the mightiest part
OF their sermon. George Whitefield en-
thrallcd great asscmblagcs with his eyes,
though they werc crippled with strabismus.
Many n military chicftain has with a look
hurled regiment to victory or to death.
Martin Luther turned his great eye ON an
assassin who came To take his life. and the
villain fed. Under the glance Of the hui
man eye tho tiger with five times mans
strength, snarls back into the African
Jungle But those best appreciate the
value of the eye who have lost II. The
Emperor Adrian by accident put out the
eve OF his servant, and he said 10 his serv
ant: What shall pay you In, money or
in lands! Anything you ask me- / am so
sorry put your eye ont" But the servant
refused TO put any financial estimate on
the value Of the eve, and when the emperor
urged and urged again the matter he said,
"Oh. emperor. want nothing hut my lost
eve Alas for those for whom thick
and impcnetrablc vail Is drawn across the
face Of the heavens and the face Of ones
own kindred, That was u pathetic scene
when blind man lighted torch Mt night
and was found passing along the highway,
and some one said, why do You carry
that torch when you cant sec?" "Ah,"
said he, II can't see, but carry this torch
that others may see me and pity my help
lcssncss and not run me down" Samson,
tho giant, with his eyes put out by the
Philistines, Is more helpless than the
smallest dwarf with vision unchanged.
All the sympathics Of Christ were stirred
when he saw Bartimeus with darkened
retina, and the only salye he ever made
that we read OF was a mixture of dust and
saliva and prayer, with which he cured
the eyes Of man blind from his nativity.
The value of the eye Is shown rs much by
Its catastrophe as by its healthful action.
Ask the man who for 20 years has not
seen the sun rise. Ask the man who for
half century has not seen the face Of a
friend. Ask In tho hospital the victim Of
ophthalmia. Ask the man whose eycsight
persisted In powder blast. Ask the Bar
timcus who never met n Christ or the man
born blind who Is to die blind. Ask him.
This morning. In my imperfect way,
have only limited mt the splcndors, the
glories, the wonders, the divine reyela-
tions, the apocalypses OF the human eye,
and stagger hack from the awful portals
OF the physiological miracle which must
have taxed the ingenuity Of n God To cry
out In your ears the words Of my text. ''He
that formed the eye, shall he not sccf''
Shall Hcrschcl not know rs much as his
telescope! Shall Fraunhofer not know ns
much as his spcctroscope: Shall Swan
meridian not know as much ~ his micro
scope: Shall DIR. Hookc not know rs much
as his micrometer! Shall the thing formed
know more than its master: He that
formed the eye, shall he not sees"
The Eyes of God.
The rccoil OF this question IL trcmen-
dous. We stand nj the center Of vast cir
cumfercnce OF observation. No privacy.
On us. eyes Of chcrubim, eyes Of seraphim,
eyes Of archangel. eyes Of God. We may
not be able "a see the inhabitants Of other
worlds, but perhaps they may be able To
see us. We have not optical instruments
strong enough to descry them. Perhaps
they have optical instruments strong
enough To dcscry us. The mole cannot see
the eagle niidsky. but the eagle midsky
can see the mole midgrass We are able TO
seq mountains and cavcrns of another
world, but perhaps the inhabitants of other
worlds can see the towers of our cities. the
fash Of our seas, the marching Of our pro-
ccssions, the white robes OF our weddings
the black scarfs Of our obscquics.
II passes out from the guess into the
positive when we are told in the Bible
that the inhabitants of other worlds do
come rs convoy TO this. Are they not all
ministering spirits sent forth tn minister
To those who shall be heirs OF salvation?
But human inspection. and angelic in
spcction, anc stellar inspection, and lunar
inspection, and solar inspection are tame
compared with the thought Of divine in
spection. "You converted me 90 wears
ago." said black man to my father.
How sof" said my father. Twenty
years ago." said the other. 'in the old
schoolhouse prayer meeting at Bound
Brook you said in your prayer, Thou.
God, seest me, and I had no peace under
the eye OF God until became Christian"
Hear Ii. "Thc eyes Of the Lord are In ev
cry place" His eyelids try the children
OF men," Ellis eyes were rs a fame Of
fire" ~ will guide thee with mine eye"
Oh, the eye Of God, So full OF pity 50 full
Of power. 50 full of love, So full 81 indigna-
ton. 50 full Of compassion, ~ full Of mercy
How ii peers through the darkness. How
IL outshincs the day How IL glarcs upon
the offender. How IL beams on the peni-
tent soul. Talk about the human eye as
being indescribably wonderful-how much
more wonderful the great, searching, over
whclming eye of God, Ali eternity past
and all eternity to come ON that rctina.
The Asterisk.
Tho eyes with which we look into each
others face today suggest Il. IL stands
written twice ON your face and twice on
mine, unless through casualty one or both
have been oblitcratcd. He that formed
the eye, shall he not SECT oh, the eye OF
God IL sees our sorrows TO assuagc them.
sees our pcrplexities TO discntangle them,
sees our wants to sympathize with them.
! II we fight him back, the eye Of an antag-
onis,. II we ask his grace, the eye Of an
everlasting friend. You often find in
book or manuscript n star calling your Mt
tention to a footnOtc or explanation. That
star the printer calls an asterisk. But all
the stars of the night nre astcrisks calling
I your attention TO God, an all observing
/ God. Our every nerve n divine handwrit-
ing. Our every muscle pulley divinciy
swung. Our every bone sculpiurcd with
divine suggestion. Our every eye "A reflec-
tion OF the divine eye. God above Us, ana
God beneath rs. and God before us. and
God behind us. and God within us. What
"a stupendous thing TO live, What n stu
pendous thing To die! No such thing rs
hidden transgresSiun.
A dramafc advocate in olden times, at
night in n courtroom. persuaded Of the in
nocence Of his client charged with murder
and Of the guilt Of the witness who was
trying 90 swear the poor mans life away
that advocate took up two bright lamps
and thrust them close up To the face of the
witness and cried, May IL please the court
and gentlemen 81 the jury. behold the
murderer" and the man, practically under
that awful glare, confessed that he was the
criminal instead Of the man arraigned at
the bar. oh. my friends. our most hidden
sin Is under u brighter ligh' han that. IL
Is under the burning eye ~ God He IL
not blind giant stumbling through the
heavens. He Is not blind monarch feel
ing for the step Of his chariot. Are you