Democratic messenger., 1904-04-16
Talma8e
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De 6Ciff
Tofm Se. d. d.

Los Angeles. Cal. April 10.-ln this
sermon the preacher shows that i'm
sickness. as well as in health. God re-
quires our cooperation and the ex-
rrcise of our faith. and that the divine
blessing follows this union of faith
aud works. The text is Genesis xxx.
81. 'And the tlocks brought forth cat
tie. ringstraked. speckled and spotted.
Iaban. though man of wealth and
influence among the Hebrews of his
day. was yet. like many rich men in
our time. mean and unprincipled where
n bargain was involved. In his COM
pact with Jacob the weak points OF
his character were strikingly revealed
He had two daughters. Leah WAS
tender eyed. but Rachel was very beau
iiful:" in other words. the elder sister
was homely and unattractive. She
was a maiden lady whom no one cared
to marry; her eyes were infamed. or
watery. or cast" her disposition was
evidently as much askew as her eyes
Jacob was deeply in love with the
younger sister. but after he had served
seven long years for her old Laban
cheated him out of his promised bride
and palmed off upon the young man
the unattractive elder sister. Then.
In order TO win the younger sister.
Jacob had TO serve seven more Ions
years. and as result lie had two
wives instead OF one.
Power of the Mind.
At the end of his fourteen years Of
service Jacob prepared to leave his IA
ther-in-law's employ. He wanted to
take his two wives and go of and
build home of his own somewhere.
This. however. Laban did not wish him
to do. So the crafty Laban made a con-
tract with Jacob that il he would stay
and continue in charge of his herds OF
cattle and fiocks of sheep he. Laban.
would give TO the young man rs pay
ment for his services all the calves and
the lambs and the kids that were born
ringstraked or speckled or spotted
Jacob agreed to the bargain. But
when he agreed the young man was
crafiier than the old man. As the ia
ther- in-law had been unprincipled with
Jacob. so Jacob was unprincipled now
with Iaban. What did Jacob do? Did
he allow nature TO simply take its usual
course? No. He began To scheme and
TO cunningly influence the colors of
the calves, the kids and the lambs
about TO he born. lie took some rods
of green poplar and hazel and chestnut
and laid those rods of white and black
In the watering troughs of the herds
and the focks. Then. when the cows
and the sheep and the goats came to
drink out of the watering troughs the
black and white rods reflected in the
water made such startling impress
sion upon them that the calves. kids
and lambs born thereafter were infiu.
enced by that prenatal shock. and most
of them were ringstraked and spotted
and specklcd. Thus Jacobs herds
grew larger than Laban's. and the
craft of the INSCRIPTIONS son-in-law
overreached the dishonesty OF the ia
ther-in-law.
After Jacob placed the rods of green
poplar and hazel and chestnut in the
watering troughs the startling and far
reaching effect produced upon the AMI
mails Is not To be wondered. nj. Il
you place u stick i'm the water. by the
laws of reflection that wood may seem
TO become n creature of life. ! remem-
her when lad once dropping my fish
Ing pole. and as IL lay at the bottom
of the brook the ripples made that rod
look like q long serpent wriggling up
stream. As these cattle stoop to drink
! SEQ them start back as though ven
eInons kissing snake was lifting UP
his fatal fangs to strike. My text pre-
sents one of the best instances to be
found in literature of the far reaching
effect of the mind over the physical
body.
Mental Hallucinations.
We may grant today the influence
OF the mind over the body. but we do
not go so far as to assert that all phys
lcal diseases or abnormalities are the
direct results of mental hallucinatiOns
as the straked. spotted and speckled
progeny of the cows. sheep and goats
were the result of Jacobs wicked act.
We do not advocate the theory that n
surgeons knife is only another name
for a butchers ax. that a modern hos
pital is only Satanic incubator. that
medicine bottle is only fools poison
and that sickness is only a synonym
for sin; hut. as there are thousands
and tens of thousands of men and We
men who honestly believe In faith
cure pure and simple. as we term
that definition. have chosen In this
sermon TO preach on Jesus Christ as
the Divine Healer and to show both
from a Biblical and common sense
standpoint that the surgeons knife
and the physicians prescription have
a part in the worlds Christianization
and civilization as well as the minis
ter's pulpit and the consecrated school
teachers desk.
The Bible teaches us that faith
should always go hand in hand with
works. The same divine laws which
apply TO men in ordinary walks of life
apply also TO the patient in the in.