Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-03-02
Calnase
sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase. d. d.

Los Angeles, Cal, Feb. 25.-An up
lifting sermon, profuse in illustrative
incident and suited to the needs of the
times, was given by the preacher to-
day, who took for his text Matthew TX.
%, According to your faith be itunto
YOU
Rev. John Watson, better known to
Americans by his literary sobriquet of
Ian Maclaren, wrote a powerful para
graph in Il retrospect OF his LIES min
istry. This is his message to the preach
ers of the present day: The review OF
the past has convinced me that while
preaching has various ends the chief
ought TO be comfort. 1t Is useful in its
way TO explain the construction Of the
book OF Isaiah and to give the history
OF Hebrew literature. but it Is better
to minister the consolation of Isaiah's
fifty-third chapter 10 the weary heart.
No ore can blame a preacher for ex-
pounding Christian dogma, but hsS
words will be more useful when they
declare the Christ himself, OF whom
dogma at its best Is but the garments.
The preacher is justified In attacking
sin with righteous indignation OF soul
and with burning invectivc Of words.
but perhaps he would come more quick
~ to his purpose IL he turned the sim
ner from his sin by causing him to fall
in love with goodness" In other words,
according to DR.. Watson, the chief
work of the ministry Is not iconsclas-
tic, but constructive. 1t Is not so much
to WELD the dissecting knife and ex-
pose the awful ravages Of the disease
called sin as it is to lead his congre-
cation out into the flower gardens of
Gods love and to show his people what
is possible for them to attain IL they
are only willing to drink the water Of
life, of which, if man once drinks, he
shall never thirst again. 1 always did
believe that the sight of q good man be-
ing honored for his virtues had more
beneficent influence upon a community
than the sight of n grewsome gallows
upon which n murderer had been stran-
gled to expiate his crime, and / always
did believe that Murillo's Ascension
and William STRUTS a Little Child
Shall Lead Them" have had more pow
or to eradicate evil than Michael Ange-
los horrible agonies Of lost souls, de-
picted In his great masterpiece of the
Last Judgment"
Thus we turn to my next today with
feelings of infinite JOY. When we
study the assurance which Jesus Christ
gave to the two blind men of the east,
who came 10 him crying, ''Thou son of
xsf1 1,o, n
have to explore with Dante the dark
caverns ana the lakes of fire Of an aw-
ful inferno or have John Milton echo
for us the deSpairful calls of his "Par-
adise Lost or climb with Ignatius Don
nelly the funeral pyre of his Caesars
Column" But we can walk with Sir
Thomas More amid the incense laden
avenues of his Utopia. We can watch
men by the power of faith lifting noun
tains; we can see Christians. as mighty
reforming chieftalns. going forth TO
conquest rs David. the shepherd boy,
went forth TO overthrow the gigantic
Philistine; we can see men assailed by
the hosts of temptations raising high
the golden shield OF faith so that the
fiery darts OF Satanic attack fall to the
ground with n harmless ring. o faith,
thou art not a mere gospel theory
Thou art mighty workman, able to
graft all the powers OF the supernat-
ural into our being. Thou art the mes
senger ready TO lift man TO God and
TO bring God down to man. Accord
ing to your faith be 1t unto you"
spale Christ TO the blind men of old.
According TO your faith be it unto
YOU" says Christ TO the men and the
women OF the present day.
Physical stamina.
In order TO make our subject n little
more Ineligible let me remind you of
the blessings OF faith from worldly
or temporal standpoint. Let US. In
the first place. try to see what a
mighty factor faith can be in develop
ing our physical stamina. Archbishop
Temple once said, Faith is the laying
hold of the future in the midst of the
present, Of the unseen in the midst or
the SEEN" And so faith can SO sus-
tain and stimulate the physical powers
that frame weak and feeble and even
imperfect can achieve tasks that would
tax the powers OF vigorous constitu-
ton. Let me illustrate my thought by
the scene of my text.
There is great excitement on the OUT
skirts of Capsrnaum. Christ has 5ust
been working n number OF his mira
Giles. The most startling OF these was
the raising from the dead OF the daugh-
ter OF the ruler Jairas or course you
can understand the tremendous sem
sation such an act caused. The news
spread like wildfire. The people every
where We're fiocking bout Jesus While
the multitudcs were following him
there We're two blind men by the road
side. believe from the construction
OF this chapter they were beggars
When the crowd surges past them their
acute ears hear the commotion. what
is the matterf" they ask. "Oh," some
one says, Jesus, the worker of mira
cles, is passing by" do you believe
he can open my eyesT' TREMENDOUSLY
asks one of the blind men. 81 do not
know" is the reply. ''You We're born
blind, were you not? No one that is
born blind has ever been known to
see" Eyes" says the blind man,
"but did not Christ raise the dead
daughter OF Jairus? I feel, know he
can give us sight" Then the blind
men, who could not get near to Christ
on account OF the crowds, began 20
shout at the top OF their voices, "Thou
son of David, have mercy on usr' BE
quiet" says some one. There Is no
good of your shouting. Your eyeballs
are useless. Christ can do nothing
for you" But still the blind men cry
more vociferously, Thou SON OF Da.
vid, have mercy on usr' Christ hears
their suppliant voices above the cheers
of the multitude. He stops and says
30 them practically this: "Blind men
nn Won hnlinN.n 1 am nl,ln 70 oman ,ronr