Milford chronicle., 1904-03-11
TALMAGE
SERMON
y
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMAGE, DID,.
Pastor of Jefferson Park Pres5y.
teriNn Church. Chicago

Los Angeles Cal, March 6.-In tbi
sermon the preacher discusses tn
psychological phenomena Of mind in
huencing mind and shows how tn,
soul may be elevated and encrgized b,
divine influence. The text is Acts Y
II, And he saw heaven opened and &
certain vessel descending"
Theory is often little more than the
hne art of guessing. 1t is sometimes
the way Of concealing the fact that
you do not know thing, by using
scientific language. 1t is the verbal
means we have Of dressing up specula-
tion to make it look plausible. But
there are certain causations impossible
to analyze, and learned answers only
make the phenomena the more mysteri-
Gus.
What is specific gravity? "That is
the physical law" you answer, (which
Isaac Newton discovered. Sitting one
day under an Overarching tree branch
In his orchard he felt puff of wind
upon his cheek. The Overhanging
branch swayed, and a fall pippin, like
a lump of gold, dropped into his lap
1hen the English sage began to won
der why that apple came down to earth
instead of flying away, as though it
had the wings of a bird, toward the
stars. As a result of these ponderings
Newton Seneralized all the causes of
cohesion and gravitation which bind
thls earth into a compact mass and
called them specific gravity" But.
my friend, with your learned answer
you have not explained to me any
thing. In reference to the laws OF
physical cohesion you have only given |
to me two big words to express what |
did not know before and what l do
not know now. What is life?" 1 once
asked school professor. "What is
the definition of life? Here is a body
weighing 1G0 pounds A bullet is fired
ont of an assassin's gun. One moment
that body is alive; the next it is dead.
1t weighed 100 pounds before the heart
ceased to beat; it weighed 16O pounds
after the breath had left the nostril.
Give me a definition Of life" "Whv.
lite,' answered the professor, 'is moth
ing more or less than the juxtaposi-
ton of the protopasmatic molecules"
His learned answer left the subject as
great mystery as ever
Spiritual Phenomena.
As in the material world. so in the
mental and spiritual world there are ,
Iacts and phenomena which we know :
TO be certainly true though we cannot !.
explain them. We must recognize ra-
tlonal results as such, although we can =
not tell the why's" and the "where- +,
fores' nor the causes which produced :
these results. For instance, we are :
nearly all ready to grant the power 7
OF human telepathy, or the influence of -
one human mind upon another human II
mind even at a distance. Sitting in ~
public meeting some night you exer- n
Else the power of will upon a person. II
ana soon he will turn round and look II
1t you' although that person could give q
10 rational reason why he turned and n,
ookcd. Indeed, so powerful sometimes III
$ this influence of one human mind h.
'Yer another that many students of Ga
have come TO the belief ~
nat some mUrderers who WELD the %.
lager or aim the pistol may be mere m
the helpless and plant instruments go
I unknown criminals who have i'm I'm
elled them to commit their murderous do
eeus. Mesmerism, hypnotism, be-
'tchery, enchantment, are merely Of
ing names defining this mysterious of
over, which almost everywhere in on
le intellectual world is beginning TO tb,
recognized, and men are asking tb,
hetEer it may not sometimes de- an,
irone the supremacy Of the individual mo
III. George Du Maurier in his famous viy
'ok deals with the hypnotic power cal
le human mind may have over an iou
her mind. In that book the English
ritter makes Svengali, a Polish Jew e
ID musical genius, by hypnotism lsnC
lnstorm a French laundress into a ple
ina donna. He lays all Paris at her We
IT, although in her normal conditicl ems
at young woman's voice was weak 8 O.
her ear could not recognize music enc
harmony from a discord. Der;
Gospel TeIepnthy. l n
Is one human mind has an influence ( thin
'r another human mind, we also hon
NV that there is a spiritual telepathy. l W
subtle, mysterious influence which com
other world eXerts upon our own. ity'
ional messages as direct and unmis- ''Yo
able as that which came to Peter wer
N the house top of Simon's house in is a
pa may also come to us. We may SION
unable to. explain how the divine moth
come to the human imp
d. God will speak to us now if we of t
only let him, as surely as he spoke long
many cases to his servants of old. ems
re look to God continually for guild ! powC
:. to us, too, shall the promise be ity o
lied, Thine ears shall hear word at o
nd thee saying, This is the way; stopT
( We in it," The purpose Of this far I
ION is not to analyze the causes of the
le telepathy so much as to suggest swer
$ in which God may be speaking any
5 children in these days. lost