Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1906-08-25
Caln,age
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee. d. ID.

sermon the preacher shows MS John.
aud us model of strength courage
aud heroism Tor Christians of every
age The text is John xiii. %. Now
there was leaning on Jesus bosom one
OF his disciples. whom Jesus loved"
No art student feels that lie has truly
studied 10 the best advantage unless
he has sat AT the feet of the old mas.
tiers What Mecca IL to the Moham-
medans aud Benares to the Hindoos
and Jerusalem To the Christians. Rome
and Venice and Florence and Milan
aud Paris and Antwerp are 10 the
young artists aud sculptors. No over
come was Michael Angelo when he
first looked upon the wonderful figure
OF ST. George carved by the sculptor
Donatello on the outside of the church
of san Michel at Florence that for a
time he could not speak. Then as he
studied the magnificent proportions Of
that greatest of all the great works or
the Florentine sculptor he raised his
hand majestically and cried. Now.
march" In these two simple words
the architect OF 81. Peters, the sculp-
tor of David" and Moses" and the
artistic creator of The Last Judgment"
and of the frescoes of the Pauline
chapel affirmed that the statue OF st.
George was perfect In It's physical pro
portions aud had everything in Its
makeup but Il human soul.
The works of the old masters are
almost overpowering; hence we lind
that the greatest art schools OF the
world are near ~ the galleries IN which
are preserved the immortal pictures
and the statues Of the greatest artists
aud sculpiors OF past centuries. The
Louvre has more 10 do with attracting
art students 10 the Latin quarter" OF
Paris 10y the hundreds and thousands
than any other cause. Not day pass
es but you can see scores of young stu
dents. with their easels, copying Mu-
rillo's Holy Family" or his "Assump-
ton of the Virgin" which hang upon
the Louvre's walls. There Isubens and
Rembrandt and Velasquez and Fra
Bartolemeo and la Ninci are still as
much art professors az though they
were alive In the flesh. What Is true
OF Paris Is equally true of all the ital-
ian cities. So much are the models OF
the ancient artists sought after for
copying purposes that the ltallnn gov
ernment has forbidden any Of Its sub
lects 10 sell any VI these old master
pieces 10 any buyer outside OF the
country. The king of Italy knows that
the loss OF the works OF the old mas
tiers would be lrreparable. and II they
We're scattered one OF the greatest glo-
ries Of Italy would have vanished for
ever
What Raphael's Madonnas are TO
the young art students as models. the
characters Of Moses and Joshua and
Samuel and Nehemiah and Daniel and
John the Baptist and Peter and Paul
aud John. the beloved disciple are
To young Christians. These Bible char
acters are not perfect, any more than
the artistic works of the old masters
are perfect Paul Neronese, one OF the
greatest OF Venetian artists, painted
his female characters Of The Family
Of Darius at the Feet of Alexander
After the Battle OF lssus" in the hoop
skirts and low hodiced waists OF the
Venetian costumes OF the sixteenth
century. although the battle OF Issus
was fought third OF a millennium be-
fore Christ was born. There is only
Ia A1sn
Bible. and that person IL Jesus Christ.
But though the best Bible characters
are not perfect. yet. many of them are
rightly held up as prototypes for young
Christians to copy after. Today want
TO speak about one of the best and
noblest of tho apostles for US to emu
late want 90 show how ST. John
was strong. and how he was one OF
the most influential and perhaps the
best beloved of all the disciples who
gathered about the table at the last
supper. just preceding the cruciixion.
81. John Model.
The model Of my text in the first
place. was. believe. n Christian OF
superb physical proportions lie was
not. as some people suppose. physical
weakllng lie did not have his head
pillowed upon chrlsts breast at the
banquet table 81 the last supper be.
cause he was Il suffering invalid. oh.
no. Far from that. OF all the stall
wart young men gathered about this
TABLETOP AZ that time they We're prob
ably all young ST John. | believe, had
the best and the strongest physical
frame His eye. like David's. the shep-
herd boy must have been clear and
quick. Ills limbs must have been sup
pie and sinewy His chest must have
been brond and deep. His skin must
have heen aglow with health He
must have had the body OF an athlete.
He must have been young man bulb
bling over with fun and good humOr.
on account Of the resIliency OF his
strong physical constitution lie must
have had all the advantages which ac-
crue from good health because the
Bible Indirectly affirms II
How does the Bible assert this? You
must read between the lines The Ri
BILE implies that John lived To be II