Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-03-01
CalrnaSe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaae, u. d.

'iftng sermon. profuse in illustrative
incident and suited to tho needs Of the
times. was given by the preacher to-
hay. who took for his text Matthew ix
20, According to your faith be it unto
you
Rev. John watson. better known To
Americans by his literary sobriquet Of
Ian Maclaren. wrote a powerful para
graph in a retrospect of his LIES min
lstry. This is his message to the preach
ers Of the present day: THE review of
the mast has convinced mo that while
preaching hns various ends the chief
pught to be comfort. 1t is useful In its
way 10 explain the construction OF the
book Of Isaiah and to give the history
pf Hebrew literature, but it is better
to minister the consolation Of Isaiahs
hftythird chapter to the weary heart.
No one can blame n prea cher for ex-
pounding Christian dogma. hut his
words will be more useful when they
declare the Christ himself of whom
dogma at its hest is but the garments.
The preacher Is justified in attacking
sin with righteous Indignation of soul
and with burning invectivc Of words,
but perhaps he would come more quick
~ to his purpose il he turned the sin
ner from his sin by causing him to fall
IN love with goodness In other words.
according TO pr. Watson. the chief
work Of the ministry is not iConoclas-
tic but constructive 1t is not SO much
10 WELD the dissoctng knife and OK
pose the awful ravages Of the disease
rallied sin as it is to lead his congre-
cation out into the flower gardens Of
Gods love and to show his people what
Is possible for them to attain if they
are only willing to drink the water of
life Of which, if man once drinks, he
shnll never thirst again. I always did
believe that the sight Of Il good man be-
Ing honored for his virtues hrd a more
henefcent influence upon community
than the sight of grewsome Gallows
upon which n murderer had been stran-
gled to expiate his crime. and always
did believe that Murlllo's Ascension"
and William STRUTS "A Little Child
Shall Lead Them" have had more pow
er to eradicate evil than Michael Angc-
plcted in his great masterpiece Of the
Last Judgment
Thus we turn to my next today with
feelings Of infinite JOY. When We
study the assurance which Jesus Christ
gave to the two blind men Of the east.
who came TO him crying. Thou son of
David, have mercy on us we do not
have to explore with Dante the dark
cavsrns and the lakes of fire Of an aw
full inferno or have John Milton echo
for us the desparful calls Of his Par
sdise Lost" or climb with Ignatius Don
nelly the funereal pyre Of his Caesars
Column But We can walk with Sir
Thomas More amid the incense laden
avenues Of his Utopia. We can watch
men by the power OF faith lifting noun
tains: we can see Christians. as mighty
reforming chieftains, going forth to
conquest. as David. the shepherd hoy.
went forth to overthrow the gigantic
Philistne: we can see men assaulted by
the hosts Of temptations raising high
the golden shield of faith so that the
fiery darts of Satanic attack fall 10 the
ground with IA harmless ring. O faith,
thou art not mere gospel theory.
Thou art 4 mighty workman. able TO
graft all the powers of the supernat
ural into our being. Thou art the mes
Eenger ready 10 lift man to God and
10 bring God down TO man. "AccOrd-
ing 10 your faith he il unto YOU"
epakc Christ to the blind mon Of old.
"AccordinC 10 Your faith he it unto
you" says Christ To the men and the
women Of the present day.
Physical Stamina.
In order to make our subject a little
more intellgible let me- remind YOU Of
the blessings of faith from worldly
or a temporal standpoint. Let MS. in
the first place, fry to see what
mighty factor faith can be in develop
Ing our physical stamina. Archbishop
Temple once said. Faith is the laying
hold OF the future in the midst of the
present, of the unseen In the midsl OF
the seen And so faith can so sus-
tain and stimulate the physical powers
that frame weak and feeble and even
imperfect can achieve tasks that would
tax the powers of vigorous cOnsttu-
ton. Let me illustrate my thought By
Oh" scenc of my text.
There is great excitement on the out
skirts of Capernaum. christ has Just
been working a number of his mira
'l"s. The most startling OF these was
the raising from the dead OF the da,lgh-
ter of tho ruler Jairus OF course YOU
can understand the tremendous SEN
Eation such an act caused The news
spread like Wldfrc The people cverv-
where were hockng a bout Jesus. While
the multitudcs We're following him
there were two blind men by the road
side. | believe from the construction
OF this chapter they were bcggars.
When the crowd Surges past them their
acute ears hear the Commotion. What
is the natter they ask. "Oh." some
one says, Jesus, the worker of mira
cles. is passing by" DO you believe
he can open my eyes,: TREMENDOUSLY
asks one Of the blind men. ~ do not
know" is the reply. "YOu We're born
blind, We're Won not? No one that IS
born blind has ever been known 10
see Yes says the blind man.
"but did not Christ raise the dead
daughter OF Jairus; feel | know he
can give us sight" Then the blind
mon, who could not get near TO Christ