The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-05-27
oeccc
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON
BY THE REV. FRANK DE WITT TALMAGE, D. D.

the eyes of man, I simply bullded these
walls upon the surface. ] expended all
my energies upon the superstructure.
What would you think of a ship designer
who did not lay the keel of his ship
straight and true? Why, on. the day of
the launching of that boat the hull would
turn turtle in the first great storm
at sea that boat would go to pieces or
sink with all on board. Now. it is not
sufficient in the Christian life for a man
to say, Il am all right because have
visited the sick and fed the hungry and
was eyes to the blind" 1t IS not sufficient
for the architect to say. 81 am all right
because | have worked hard and bullded
my superstructure we'll" 1t is not ra-
tional for the ship designer to talk about
setting his masts before he has laid his
keel well. The questions of the divinity
of Christ and the divine power of Christ
are the most vital questions in the gos-
pei life 1t is a foundation question. This
question precedes all other questions,
"Whom say ye that ann" Jesus asked
the disciples of old Peter answered,
Thou art the Christ, the son of the liv-
ing Cod" Do you answer thus? DO you
believe thus? Do you believe in the SUI
pernatural power of Jesus as the disciples
did when they gathered in Jerusalem to
be endued with power from on high?
These disciples believed that CHRIST
could give MS SUPERNATURAL PoNtl ~
his disciples If he would They did more.
They believed that Christ would give
to them, as individuals, this supernatural
power, If they were only oDedient TO ms
divine commands and tarlfed still in
Jerusalem until they were endned With
power from on high. Now, 1t IS one
fact to feel that Christ can give to 9TH
ers his power If he would, or that he
will give to me individually his higher
power if am willing to obey his COM
mands and do as he wishes me to do.
Let me explain this demarcation.
Realizing Possibilities.
All American boys are porn free and
equal All have a possibility of some
day being elected president Of the United
States If they live. We were all taught
this theory from the cradle. The story
of Lincoln, the rail splitter, and of James
A. Garfield, following the towpath, have
been repeated again and again in almost
every nursery. But though the poor boy,
the boy of the humble home may yet
be elected president of the United States,
do we in the highest flights of our mag
ination suppose that our own boys VIII
ever be elected chief executive of this
nation? We know 1t is possible, but DO
we feel that there Is any probability OF
this possibility coming true? Further
more, when we were young, in the Wild
est flights of our imagination did we
ever have the assurance of the successful
outcome of our own powers, as did the
little boy, Edward Dickinson Baker the
son of the poor English emigrant, who
had crossed the seas and settled ON I'LL
nois praries? One day the lad of twelve
was found weeping by a school friend.
'What is the matter, Eddie?" he asked
oh" said Eddie, II have just been
reading my American history and I find
out that by the American constitution no
foreign born child can ever be elected
president of the United States. Ever since
could think and plan 1 have been plan
ming what I should do when l became
president of the United States"
It is true this unknown lad became sem
ator from Oregon, and he was the man
who left the United States senatorial
halls clad in a soldiers uniform to lay
down his life at Balls Bluff, with these
words upon his lips: "a senator of the
United States should never retreat" But
with all this intellectually and mental
ability do you not consider that 1t was
presumptuous for the boy, Edward Dick
inson Baker, to feel that he would yet
have ability enough to be elected president
of the United States? 1t Is possible for
any boy to be elected chief executive of
this nation, but is it probable that your
son or mine should ever grace the White
House. We believe in the theory, but to
very few is 1t an actual possibility. 1t Is
so with the conception of this divine
power with which Christ is ready to endue
us. We know he can give it, and we
know there are some to whom he does
give it. but we think it is not for us.
These disciples of Pentecost first believed
that Christ could give If he would, be-
cause he was divine; second, that he
would give it to them as individuals il
they would only obey Gods commands
and larry in Jerusalem until they were
endued with power from on high. Are we
ready to believe that Christ will give us
this higher power if we obey his COM
mands?
A Crucial Test
| Oh, that Is a crucial test of faithl 1t
is not difficult for me to understand how
God could give the higher power to a
Moody or Finney or Wesley or a Peter
or James or John or a Mary on the
| day of Pentecost, but that he will give
| to me his higher power IL obey his will
| ah, me, that is hard to believe! And yet
| is not God keeping His promises with
| those who are mentally and physically
no stronger or better than you or |? Some
time ago 1 was riding ont to the grave
of a southern lady who had been a men,
| Der of my church. Among the pallbearers
was a gentleman who. with all his family,
had been rescued from the Galveston
| flood of a few years ago. L said, TELL
me about it." Then he told me how the
waters rose higher and higher. First they
| came to the top of the gates. Then they
rose to the first floors. They grew higher
and higher when the winds in an angry
hurricane blew them in Then the people
were drowned, not by the hundreds but
by the thousands. The walls tottered
| The houses were battered to pieces. Fly
| ing through the air went great beams. 1t
was death everywhere. The dead were so
many that after the water had subsidized
they were piled into boats and taken out
and dumped into the gulf stream. They
| were too many even to be buried.
How did you feel during that awful
tragedy" l asked. LAS calm as | do
| now" he replied. II knew that in the
| face of this storm and flood no human
arm could save me. Human help was be-
| You'd the question. 1t could do no good il
! ii came. l could not swim. Besides that
| I 1o1 in vxrffa and fxxyn Ia