Milford chronicle., 1904-08-12
Calmaoe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, DID,


text is Revelations xxi, l. @And ther
was no more sea-"
Who was the writer? Where wer
his feet planted when he saw the spec
tacles which he describes in his divine
~ inspired Apocalypse? These tw,
conditions must be clearly understood
before one can in any true way grasr
the meaning Of the words of nv text
Indeed, to properly appreciate the
words or the actions of any man we
must first put ourselves in that mans
place.
We all understand this condition in
everyday life. Why, then, cannot we
put ourselves in the biblical writer's
places when we try to Interpret the
molly oOokF During the darkest days
Of the civil war Congressman Dixon of
New York state entered the White
House with long list Of grievances.
which he and some of his colleagues
had drawn mp against the government.
Abraham Lincoln heard him patiently
until he was through. Then he said:
Dixon, l believe you and your friends
We're truly honest men when you drew
up those criticisms against nv admin
istratiou. But the trouble is you fell
lows do not put yourselves in my place.
If you did, you would do just about
what / am doing. l tell you how l
will fix those matters. You 20 home
ana think up all the things You would
like me TO do, and then come back to- |
morrow and tell me the result, and |
viii do just what you want me to do" !
Congressman Dixon said: 81 went /
back 20 my hotel that evening with INV
head high up among the clouds. Why
said / TO myself, Lincoln said he will
do anything l want him to do; that
makes ne tonight practically president
OF the tnited States" But after sup
per that night Congressman Dixon
went 10 his room He laid the white
sheets Of paper upon his desk and be-
gan TO plan what he wanted Lincoln
to do. The more, however. he thought.
the more difficult it was for him to lind ,,
anything to write. Why? Because the .
more he put himself IN the presidents
place the more he fe3t he wO,lh do
just AZ Lincoln was doing and had
done. The next day came / did not
go to the White House" said Congress
man Dixon. neither did / 90 the next :
day or the next About three weeks :
later | attended a public reception at =
the White House. As soon as | en- L
tered the room the president saw me :
and he called ont. Hello. Dixon! Why Il
did you not keep your appointment y
with me the day after our conversa- q
tionE Because | was ashamed TO do y
So. All yes said Lincoln, L Thought ul
you would not come hack The actions al
and words of a man appear entirely 81
litferent when you put yourself in that oi
mans place than when you crlticise VI
hem from an outsiders standpoint" NJ
Put Yourself In His Place. IA
Today in order to rightly interpret "a
he words of my text. we must first u
'ut ourselves in st. Johns place. In Sc
lac first instance, we notice. he is an DIS
Id man. His life's work was nearly 'iil
one. A man at eighty looks at condi- "a
ions in heaven and ON earth differently III
rom the way young man at twenty RIA
)oks at them. The struggles of life an
'ere TO st. John very real and intense. II
or years he had been a resident of MI
phesus. in Asia Minor He had been nr'
mighty factor in the spreading of an
he gospel through all those regions. Tue
e nad suffered for Christ; he had al "a Cal
ost been martyred. The second fact NO
g must notice is that st. John is an see
-!le- Like Napoleon at St Helena. he III
lew that in all probability he could ma
'yer again go back to his earthly ana
ork Under the Domitian persecu- per
IN, lie was sent to this lonely. rock my
und island of the Mediterranean. pee
leretore the sea meant more to him WOr
nm il might mean to some of us. 1t reN'
amt, as ! shall try to show, first. the Ieet
ga Of mystery" secondly, the "sea terri
hate thirdly. the sea of senoro- mile
NJ" and fourthly. the "sea of spirit mus
struggle BY putting ourselves in the
Johns place as exiles upon the sane
ma of Patmos l believe we can the
nbolize all these facts. thou
irst, the sea is a mysterious mon m
r. DO we have to go TO n Joban- terry,
n vision TO know that? Has any
u. woman or child ever stood upon WI
Beach and looked Off upon the lionel
.hty deep and not wondered about lterr
t was happening away down in ialwa
depths that no fathom line has ever Il ny
been able to sound? For years and the
RS Africa was called the dark CON we
MT. No white mans foot had pene- was,
ed its secret haunts until the last babe
Ury. Bnt the dark continent was know
2r more dark than is the dark ciple'
m. What Henry NJ Stanley has Yet
J to darkest Africa in one sense perso
Wyville Thomson. and after his IN tn
h Sir John Murray, have been to he 50
depths Of the sea. The scientists Paul
unraYeled few Of the seas mys- TO
$. They have shown the world that man
2 are different sea currents flowing canno
one another in different directions. Paul
le different currents of the air al glass
the aeronaut to journey in one di- part
On or another BY deep sea dredg- began
hey have brought up from the low the S.
lcean depths the Drimaval oozo cried