Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-11-15
CalrnaQe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmage, d. D.


rrences from the Scriptural statement
bat the human race originally bore the
fvne image are impressively pointed
1t by the preacher in this sermon.
'om the text Genesis I. 81. 80 God
reated man in his own image"
The first leaf of the worlds history
nd been turned. The stupendous task
creation approached completion.
cd surveyed II and pronounced it
cry good The Illuminating fires had
cen kindlcd. and the command had
one forth. let there he light, and
hero was light" The heavens were
hing with tapestries of blue, and the
hite clouds of the day were trimmed
18th gold and the black curtains of
he night bespanglcd. Every star was
CLEAN. and God saw the light that
was good. and God divided the light
rom the darkness. And God called the
ght day. and the darkness he called
ght. And the evening and the morn
be we're the first day"
That the dry land might be separated
rom the deep seas the waters were
rivcn back until they crouched and
rowled and fawned at the foot of the
fountains. The great hollows were
cooped ont of the ocean beds and
bsscd into heaps. Tho rivers were
Irncd loose and allowed TO cut their
lay through the valleys and squirm
mong the hills and push on and on in
lcir serpentine windings until they
ere lost in the great bosom of the
cas. Then Mount Shasta arose and
TODD sentinel over the Pacific. The
Iatterhorn was detailed to keep its
yes upon the Mediterranean. and
lount Washington was stationed tO
Patch the Atlantic. Then the volca
ocs had their hemorrha ges and breath
d forth their hot breath and vomited
their awful aGones.
Then Flora ran lied forth to cover up
he CHASTITY wounds of suffering
World, with her bandages of green and
elbow and white. She planted the
rocus at the foot Of the snow bank, and
ovcred the hillsides with forests, and
catered her seeds far and wide in the
ALLEYS. Then. chasing the shadows
rom under the trees. she sprang from
he lowlands and climbed the lofty
liIS, clutchng this crevasse and that
rag balancing here and nesting there,
Until ut last the rocks, like Jacobs ia
ortc son, stood bedecked in garments
( many colors The garden of Eden
vas abloom. The desert was blossom
ng as the rose. The white lily and the
ed rose and the blue forgetmenot. as
gh pricstesscS before the affairs of the
Mountains. We're swinging their in
ense OF praise: "And the earth brought
orth grass and herb. yielding seed aft
(r its kind and the tree yielding fruit
whose seed was in itself after its kind,
nd God saw that 1t was good. And
he evening and the morning were the
bird day
Then God reached forth his hand and
ouched the waters, and the mighty
eviathans of the deep began to move.
he goldfish swan among the entan-
Fled thickets Of kelp. The speckled
|rout leaped from the eddy The Won
lerful aquariums Of the seas had their
nyrads Of inhabitants. Then God
touched the land. and the woods We're
burned into great menagerle and the
valleys became great pasture field,
illed with browsing herds. Then he
fouched the air, and the heavens were
piled with vibrating wings and made
|nelodious with songs of the prima
lonnas of the skies. And God saw that
hll the works OF his hand were good.
And the evening and the morning
were the fifth day"
In His Own Image
Everywhere we turn we see the bless
ne of Gods creation. No grass could
De greener, no sky could be bluer no
songs could be sweeter. All the seas
Ind the lands and the skies We're filed
with glories. Thus all things were
Feady for mans advent. The curtain
bf the worlds drama was lifted for the
fhief actors about to perform their
parts, Two mighty thrones of power
were pushed forward, upon which were
10 sit the twain who We're created only
little lower than the angels. So on
the sixth day God created man in his
own image, male and female created
be them. And God blessed them. And
iod said unto them, BE fruitful and
multiply and replenish the earth and
Iubdue 1T. and have dominion over the
ish of the sea, and over the fowl Of the
iir, and over every living thing that
noveth upon the earth. And God saw
Everything that he had made, and be-
mold, it was very good. And the even
ny and the morning were the sixth
lay"
Now, what does the word ''iIAage" in
the great climax of Gods creation
mean? When God says, II have made
man in my own image does it mean
MS n great author suggests, that God
INTENDED to say that he was only 81
magnied MANI" "Oh. no." you an
swer that is not the meaning of that
passage. The catcchism tells us that
God Is spirit, infinite, eternal and un.
lchangpable. The idea of worshipng
God as physical body is a material
ism little different from that of the
savage. If we do this, we can bow be
fore any painted idol Just as the heath
ems have their hideous painted images
before which they knecl." That is
true, my friend that is absolutely true
If we are going to worship God sim
ply as q physical being. we are in eX
actly the same position as some OF the
Asiatic worshipcrs, who used to brinl
food every night and lay it upon the