Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-04-19
CaQ1naQe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talma6e, D. d.

Los Angeles. cat. April l5.-In this
sermon the preacher shows how our
human miSconccptio of God and his
promises lead lis into error and that
the remedy is simple faith and obedi-
cncp The text il John iv. 4S. Except
We see signs and wonders, We will not
believe"
We are always demanding gospel
proof. Like Gidcon Of old we want
our faith ho>terc1 up 10y the wet
fleece. Like doubling Thomas, we
want TO sec 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 lie is risen
from the dead. When any fact about
God or tho prophecies of the Bible is
told us we NJ nucr SIN. ",ivc us the
evidence or wc viii mo- hclicvc." Now,
want TO show yOu mo- only that faith
is the substance Of things hoped for
the evidence Of thinc~ not seem but
that we should believe and trust God
and accept his word aud promises,
even when lhcr" arc no signs and won
dcrs visible to confirm our faith. May
! God 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 the realms of human cXplana-
ton. The story is told That one day
Michael Angelo entered the studio OF
4 Raphael You know that the floren-
tine master was nearly decade older
than the painter Of the Sistne Madon-
ma As an artist who had won his
spurs. he had a right 10 give advice to
, the Younger man Michael Angelo stood
for some time before one of RaphaclS
casels. The Young man ut this time
was absent from his studio. Angelo
lifted Il pencil and drew the curves Of
the figure upon the canvas along broad
or lines. Then under the picture he
wrote this one word three times "Am-
plify. Amplify. Ampify" You who
have stood before the wonderful crea
lions Of the architect Of st. Peters Of
Rome know what he meant by that
tion OF your subjects Oh Raphael.
knot the muscles OF your models
arms and make swarthier necks and
broader shoulders AMI more leonine
countenanceS. The tauntng Philstine
is not dwarf. but giant. The mas
Ter builders of history are not pygmieS.
but Tirans. Neptune's trident does not
! ,In lint hu tic. In,
the mighty deep Amplfy. Anplfy,
.Amplify. Good advice that for Raph-
ael. in an artistic sense Good advice
for us in a theological sense. We have
received certain revelations given in
reference to Gods personality. but we
must not stop with these revelations.
We must be continually charging our
ideas of God We must try to gain a
conception of him greater than our
eyes can see and greater than our hui
man intellects can explain.
We must amplfy our belief Of God 3
personality in reference to his eternal
existence. The first verse Of the first
chapter of Genesis says "In the begin
ming God created the heaven and the
IL.
alludes to the creation of the world
and the planetary system, Friend, did
not God exist before that? ooh, yes"
you answer; "God has always existed.
But what do you mean by always"
! follow Hugh Miller, the Scottish ge-
ologist, in his Testimony Of the
Rocks" and in his "FOotprints of the
Creator" and 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 well expressed by the
psalmist when he said "A thousand
years in thy sight are but as yesterday
when it is past, and as II watch in the
night" In the creation of the world
the seconds Of time are centuries, and
the inmates are mllenniums, the hours
are eras. and the days are ages upon
ages. II you go and stand by the falls
Of Niagara, the scientists will tell 70,
that the falling waters wear away
about six feet of rock every year Their
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 water.
OF thousands of years. Next these &c
ologists will open the leaves of tn,