Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1906-04-21
C-alnnase
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaae, D. ID.


the remedy Is simple faith and obedi-
encc, The text IS John iv. ~. Except
ye see signs and wonders. ye will not
believe"
We are always demanding gospel
proof. Like Gideon of old we want
our faith bolstcred up by the wet
fleece Like doubling Thomas. We
want 10 see Christ In the flesh and TO
thrust Our fingers into the torn palms
of the hands and into the wounded side
before we will believe that he is risen
from the dead When any fact about
God or the prophecies of the Bible IL
told us we at once say, Give us the
evidence or we will not believe" Now.
want 10 show you not only that faith
Is the substance of things hoped for.
the evidence of things not seen" but
that we should believe and trust God
and accept his words and promises,
even when there are no signs and won.
ders visible TO confirm our faith. May
Col help us as. in his name. we enter
upon this most important and vital
subject,
Signs and wonders theological have
come to us God and his attributes
pass all tile realms of human eXplana-
ton. The story Is told that one day
Michael Angelo entered the studio or
Raphael You know that the Floren-
tine master was nearly II decade older
than the painter of the Sistine MadOn-
ma As an artist who had won his
spurs. he had a right to give advice to
the younger man Michael Angelo stood
for some time before one Of Raphael's
easels. The young man at this time
was absent from his studio. Angelo
lifted pencil and drew the curves OF
the figure upon the canvas along broad
er lines. Then under the picture he
wrote this one word three times: Am
plify. Amplify! Amplify" You who
have stood before the wonderful crea-
tons of the architect of 81. Peters OF
Rome know what he meant by that
word He meant Increase the concep-
ton of Your subjects" Oh. Raphael,
knot the muscles of your models
uiiliN anu iisAhf swat iAtitl ltihF anu
broader shoulders and more leonine
countcnanccs The haunting philistine
is not dwarf, but giant. The mas
ter builders Of history are not pygmies
but Titans. \eptune's trident does not
rule u mill pond. but has for its realm
the mighty deep. Amplify! Amplify.
Ampliy. Good advice that for Raph-
ael In an artistic sense Good advice
for us In theological sense. We have
received certain revelations given In
reference 10 Gods personality. but we
must not stop with these revelations.
We must he continually cnlarging our
ideas of God We must try TO gain a
conception OF him greater than our
eyes ran see and greater than our hui
man intcllects can explain.
We must amplify our belief Of Gods
personality in reference 10 his eternal
existence. The first verse of the first
chapter of Genesis says. In the begin
ming God created the heaven aiid the
earth" But that beginning" simply
alludes 10 the creation of the world
and the planetary system. Friend. did
not God exist before that? "Oh. yes"
you answer: God has always existed"
But what do you mean by "alwaysf"
| follow Hugh Miller. the Scottish ge-
ologst. in his Testimony OF the
Rocks" and In his footprints OF the
Creator" ana he tells me that the six
days OF creation were not six days of
twenty four hours each, but that each
day represented ages upon ages Of
time. This conception of the time OF
the creation was we'll expressed 10y the
psalmist when he said, "A thousand
years In thy sight are but as yesterday
when ii is past. ana as a watch in the
night" In the creation OF the world
the seconds of time are centuries, and
the minutes are milcnniumS. the hours
are eras. and the days are ages upon
ages II You 20 and stand by the falls
of Niagara. the scientists will tell you
that the failing waters wear away
about six feet of rock every year. Then
they will take you for miles down the
rapids toward Lake Ontario. and show
you where those rocks have gradually
been worn away 10y the falling waters
of thousands of years. Next these ge-
ologsts will open the leaves Of the
rocks aud tell you that those rocks
which have been worn away took ages
upon ages 10 form Then. after We 10
back thousands upon thousands OF
years 10 the creation of the world, you
are not yet NJ the beginning Of Gods
eternal existence. for God existed be-
fore the world was
what Eternal Means.
What tin eternal existence of God
means cannot be better illustrated than
by the following words OF NJ. Camille
Fammarion. the celebrated astrono-
mer. What this French writer says
about the heavens we can easily apply
10 the duration of time Let US imag-
inc that we sail a million years with
the velocity of light, $4,000 miles a
second Are we az the confines of the
visible universe; See the black i'm
mensities we must cross. But yondcr
new stars are III up in the depth OF the
heavens. We push on toward them;
we rpnch them again million years.