Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-05-24
Calnnase
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase, D. D.

Los Angeles. Cal, May oO.-That the
| divine power for life and service con-
| ferred on the disciples at Pentecost is
still accessible to present day Chris
tians and will be conferred on those
who fulfill its conditions is the conten-
ton Of the preacher in this sermon on
the text Luke xiv. 40, Until We be
endued with power from on high
While l was bordering on this text
like fash this sentence rose to nv
lips: How many men and women
there are who have all the mighty ele-
ments for gospel power except the one
fact that they are not developed! What
service they might render as gospel
cvangelists if they would only follow
the leadings Of Jesus Christ and plead
with him that they might he baptized
with the power Of the Holy Ghost"
These men and women are like the dis
clples Of Jesus Christ before the day
Of Pentecost. They believe in Jesus.
In one sense they have been followers
OF Christ. but in another sense they
have not had their souls fired with the
living Goals from Off his affairs. These
mon and women are in exactly the
same position rs was Dwight J.. Moo
dy during the first years Of his minis.
try in the city Of Chicago.
Let me show you what that condi.
ton was by reading n. l.. Moody's ex-
perience in his own words: when I
was preaching in Farwell hall, in Chi
cago, | never worked harder ia pre-
pare my sermons than l did then.
preached and preached, but 1t was
beating against the air. A good wom-
an said to me. Mfr. Moody, you don't
seem to have power In your preaching
My desire was that ! might have
fresh amounting. I requested this wo-
man and few others to come and
pray with me every Friday afternoon
at o'clock. Oh. how piteously
prayed that God might fill the empty
vessel, After the fire in Chicago was
in New York city. and. going into a
bank on Wall street It seemed as If
felt strange and mighty power COM
ing over ME. I went IN to the hotel,
and there in my room wept before
God and cried. % my God, stay thy
hand He gave me such fullness that
it seemed more than I could contain.
May God forgive me II l speak in
| boastful way but do not know that
| have preached sermon since but
God has given me some soul. Oh,
would not he back where I was four
years ago for all the wealth Of this
world. If you would roll 1t at my feet
l would kick it away like q football.
/ seem wonder to some of you, but
I am greater wonder to myself than
to any one else. These are the very
same sermons | preached in Chicago
word for word. 1t is not new sermons,
but the power of God Ii is not n new
gospel but the old gospel with the
Holy Ghost Of power" This is the tes-
,imony Of the greatest winner of souls
in the evangelistic field of the last cen
fury.
Brethren, we desire this higher pow
err. As ministers we want It. Some of
us, like Mr.. Moody, have spent the
last ounce OF energy in the preparation
of sermons, but. ike him, I'VE have
been beating against the air" AS
Sunday school teachers. as members
Of the churches. we all want this high
er power. How can we get the higher
power Of the gospel: | know Of no
better way TO learn how to get it than
to study the events of the days proceed
Ing the first Christian Pentecost. when
dICniplaS to ,n
mand of Jesus Christ. tarricd in Jeru-
salem until they were "endued with
power from on high" o God. give to
us the higher power Of gospel life as
thou didst give that power to thy dis
ciples Of old and art willing to give it
to thy disciples Of the present day.
Believed In Christ's Power.
These disciples. in the first place be-
lieved in supernatural Saviour. They
believed that he had power over hui
man souls. Just rs matchmaker is
greater than his own watch and can
make a watch and then take it apart
and put II together again. so they be-
licved that Christ. who created the
world and created life, could take that
life away from human body and
then put that life back again into the
same human body. They saw him
raise Lazarus from the tomb. They
believed that Just as shipbuilder
could knock out rotten plank from
the hull OF the boat he had once built
and put new plank in its place. so
Jesus Christ, who had created the
body, could put IN new eye in the
place OF blind eve. He actually per-
formed this miracle in the physical
body again and again before their own
eyes. They believed in his inspiring
power. Just as man can today take
the currents Of electricity which he has
produced and carry those currents over
a wire and store them up in an electric
machine called an automobile they be-
lieved that this Jesus, who is a super
natural Christ could transmit his pow
err into the lives OF his disciples II he
wished so to do In other words, they
looked upon Christ AS a supernatural
being. able TO give supernatural gifts 10
those to whom he wished to give those
gifts. Do you believe that Christ Is
supernatural being and able to do this
as the disciples of old believed it on
the days preceding Pentecost?
"Well," you answer, "to tell the truth,
have not thought about It," You say,
~ have not been worrying so much
about what ] believe as about what
I do" You say: Theorists never