The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-08-20
CalnaQe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, D. D.

| sermon shows the significance of the
| testimony of Israel's great leader to
/; Jesus as the Messiah The text Is
Luke xvi 81. IF they hear not Moses
and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded. though one rose from tllc
dead"
The symbol of the graveyard is used
by Jesus for his gospel teachings, just
as many artists use skeletons for
their models in great artistic mas en-
pieces. The parable Of Dives and
Lazarus is nothing more or less than
Il great panorama, n collection Of YER
bal pictures. showing the eternal trag-
| edy of a misspent life.
Scene the First.-An eastern p'ince
Is In his palace. All that wealth and
power and temporal grandeur can give
Is his. His clothes are of royal purple
His dining room is Il banquet hall.
His walls are of white marble. His
floors are mosaics. His Railways and
bedrooms and parlOrs are filed with
statuary and richest tapestries and
beautiful artistic masterpieces. Upon
his doorstep crouches Il poor bessar.
starving to death, malodOrous and of
fcnsive from innumerable ulcers and
assesses which have broken out over
his body on account Of improper nOur
ishment.
Scene the SecOnd.-Two graves and
the celestial advent Of the beggar and
the eternal incarceration of him who
had once been king among men. The
earthly pauper has been crowned. The
earthly prince has beelIStripDed OF his
all. Then Dives. down in the region
of the lost. looks up and sees Lazarus.
who had once sat at his doorstep de-
spised beggar, but now cherished and
cared for by Abraham. the father OF
the faithful, and he cries out: II pray
thee, father, that thou wouldst send
Lazarus to my. fathers house, for
have five brethren. that he may testify
unto them. lest they also come into
this place Of torment"
Then what happens? God seems to
reach down and lift a skeleton out Of
u
flesh. He stands this resurrected dead
man before us and points to him as he
says: IF they hear not Moses and the
prophets, neither will they be per
suaded, though one rose from the
dead" The statement practically is
that If a man Is OPEN to conviction he
will be convinced by the writings Of
Moses and the prophets; If he is not
convinced by them. nothing would
convince him-not even the testimony
Of a specter. This is startling asser-
ton. Have We ever fully realized
that those words are so convincing?
What was there In the life and writ
ings Of that ancient iawgiver that
makes them SO influential?
The Rank of Moses.
Moses by the law of adoption >took
the rank Of one who was we'll born.
He was the adopted son Of Pharaoh's
daughter. He was the heir apparent
of the greatest throne on earth. He
had all that wealth and position and
honor could give him. He was born
great. He was rocked in a golden
cradle and fed out Of a golden spoon
and had servants innumerable to run
his bidding. When he was carried
forth in one Of the royal chariots the
people used to kneel and say. There
goes the child who will one day rule
over us as king" In the sight of the
law he was not pauper, a slave or
unh Tn hoI icn1 <<,
royal rank. All that he had to do
was to keep his lips closed. and he
might live in affluence and inherit a
throne. And yet this Egyptian prince,
this adopted child Of Pharaoh's daugh-
ter. was ready to surrender all of king
ly power IN order to be - follower Of
the ssue God. Now, every effect must
have logical cause. A man does not
surrender great prize of life just
for whim. There must have been
some great impelling force In Moses
life to have led him to serve God and
espouse the cause Of the Hebrew
slave.
We have read of men and women
surrendering their faith for an earthly
throne. but did you ever know Of
man surrendering an earthly throne
for his religion unless he deeply and
conscientiOusly believed In that reli-
gion? When a German princess few
years ago married Emperor Nicholas
and became Empress Alix of all the
Russias she renowned the Lutheran
church and joined the Greek church,
of which her husband Is the spiritual
head. When the English Princess
Ena Of Battenberg became Queen Vic
toria Of Spain, she left the Episcopa-
liam church, In which she had been
confirmed and baptized and joined the
Catholic church. which is the estab-
lished church of her adopted country.
These two princesses changed their
religious creed In order to win royal
diadem. But what would you say IL
the present Prince Of Wales should join
the Roman Catholic church? What
would you say II he should turn from
the Episcopalian church and give his
religious fealty to the pope of Rome.