Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-02-18
TALMACE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK De WITT TALMACE, DID,.
eastss Of Jefferson Pask Psesby.
terrain Church, Chicago


and which many find stumbling block
to belief the preacher in this sermon
urges their acceptance by faith as the
first essential step toward elucidat'on.
The text IL Timothy III, 16, "Great is
the mystery Of godlincss."
Ignorance IL q stuntcd scoffer. AS a
dwarf she Will rldiculc the helping
hand Of knowledge, which she is too
short Of stature TO reach. AS an icon.
oclastic waif Of the street she will hurl
dcrisive missiles at the big square win.
dows Of the temple Of wisdom, whose
walls she Is too puny to topple down.
Come" said an arIstocratic but very
ignorant woman of London to her
guest"come into the front room.
want to show you poor. crazy. delud-
cd and yet harmless old man. He seems
TO have an intelligent face but there
he sits in the house Just across the
street hour after hour, day after day
Hnd week after week as Il little child,
with a clay pipe, blowing soap bulb
bles." Who was the frivolous hostess
who was patroni2ngiy ashin., her lNcst
To laugh at the old man who seemed to
lind enjoyment in blowing Il few soap
bubbles in Leicester square, London ::
Not one person OF this generation ever
heard of licr name. Who was the poor,
silly old man Of intelligent face, with
n penny clay pipe, blowing soap bub-
bles? He was Isaac Newton. whose
skull incascd the greatest brain OF his
time. He was Isaac Newton. iahorious-
", intensely. unrcmittiDgiy studying
the laws of the refraction Of light. for
which investiga ions and discoveries
he was to bc honorcd by scientific so.
cietics II around the world. 1t IL
never safe To take public opinion as Il
guide in estimating men or things.
Shallow critics often assume Il sapcnt
men and in supercilious tone dcridc
the Wisdom they cannot comprehend.
4 stuffed owl with spcctacles OIL nose
may pose IL n mu;cum as an en-
blcm Of wisdom. but tho winged den
ZEN Of the forest hocting in the dark
ness is no fcathnrcd oracle
Footprints uT Truth.
How Otter, have ihc pure white gar
NclitS Vt wisdom been brspa tered and
hoiou,ed by blatant. bombastic icno-
rance. How often has the philosopher
AMI the truth seeker been tainted with
his failure to solve the problems of
The unive.se. He does not know every
thing: no man moro conscious oe the
fact than he. But should he on that
o. tea,
Hiid refrain altogether from dr!nl:lng
81 the p.criaD sprirg? Should the sci
Cntifc student he so DISCOURAGED ut his
limitations ~ to destroy the telescope
Because il does l,ot reach The limits Of
space: SHOULD be throw away bis mi
croscopc because il does not magnify
enough? is he TO burn out with sense
less passion eyes that are not omnis-
cient and wreck his cardruns because
they fnil TO detect remote harmonios:
Isaac Newton. himself tho greatest
philosopher Of his time. was one Of
the lu!NbiHAt of men. Al the cud Of
bis life II" said II know not how |
may appear to others. As foi myself.
seem 10 be Ike Il schooiboy PLAYING
NJ the foot of the sand dunes. gather
ing here :; white shell ana y smoother
stone than ordinary. while the great
sea of knowledge lies all uncxDlorcd
before me- Because II man does not
know everything. that is no reason
why he should doSpse tho "trrlplr Of
WISDOM" Because lnrc and there a
veil or mist cannot he penetrated.
That is no reason why he should be
come ground mole and not try TO fol-
low in The self revealed footprints Of
truth.
Mysteries OF tie Gospel.
There are two purposes for this ser
mon. The first is 10 talk about some
of the great mysteries of the gospel
| would show YOU that about every
church altar there are great Appala
chlan ranges. great towering noun
tain peaks 81 mysteries. SO high they
are that the mind Of man cannot attain
10 them yet each bears the mark of
divine gertrude. the mark of the cross
is stamped upon them MS the Mount
Of The Holy Cross in Colorado bears
the sign OF tho cross To his sign we
bow ard believe, even though We can
not Understand. Peter could nut under
stand John Of the Apocalypse could
not understand. and Paul, behcldine
them, exclaimed. Great Is the Iuys
terry of godlness.'' What those
mighty jnte!lccts could not grasp must
hr n mystery to us until it IL fully eX
pl2.n"d bc:uld the grave.
III" second purpose of III" sermon il
the practical side. 1t + to remind YOU
that though We nov NOW only in
part" tlat part Is sulii,."nt for nj the
great purposes o. salvation aad re-
dnmp'ion. II is 10 prove, aS T.. IL
Chaplin puts It, that "al.Eoug! we sec
through glass dnrkly we do sec
something" and that that "some-
fling is sufficient II we welcome it as
Il gospel handmade TO lead us into per
feet peace and 10 lead us to that throne
of God whore each can say, Il shall
know even rs also am known
The mystery of the Trinity; How
lcan there De- three persons and one
a;odhcad? Three in one and one in
HIf'' lla' IL III IH'NpIdHiih't illNS
terry. "You must he very careful
wrote a dear ministerial friend to me
when WAS preaching II series of scr
mons upon the Holy Spirit You must
be very careful not 10 convey the false
idea to your people that there are three
distinct and separate thrones in hcav'
en-" 1t Is mystery TO be reverently
accepted beyond the power Of the hr.