Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-06-27
CalmaQe
Sermon
By Rev.
Prank De witt Talmaee, d. d.

Los Angeles, Cal, June 23,--In this
vernon the preacher shows that the re-
crct to a life Of real achievement and
usefulness In TO live np 10 our priv.
IIeges by laying hold Of the dtvfns
PROMISES In good faith and expecting
large things. The text IL John II, Z,
And they filed them up to the brim."
II there Is any passage In the Bible
which teaches us to expect big things
from God 1t II the sentence WHICH I
have chosen for my text. When jesus
commanded the servants at tho wed.
ding Of Cana Of Galilee to fill UP the
water pots they did not go grnmblins
around saying: "Oh, what Is the use?
What the guests need Is wine, not wa
ter. Besides, Jesus Is not asking us
to Gil one water pot, but six Of them.
Why. those six water pots will hold 49,
gallons Think OF the distance we Will
have to travel down TO the well to get
that water! Think Of all the fun and
the music and the songs we will lose
while we are gomez No, those young
men spake not thus. They obeyed or
ders. If they had known what was
about to occur they would have said.
III Christ can change the water Into
wine, then the more water we have
the more wine we shall have" So
they took their buckets and started off
for the well. They kept emptying the
water into the water pots until the wa
ter ran over the tops of the water pots.
"And they filed them up to the brim."
They did big things for God and they
got big things. May we today learn
to have "a brimful faith" May we
expect God to bless rs nightly in ev-
cry department Of life and tn our
youth and middle age and old age and
make great preparations for the com
ing spiritual blessings.
Let us, in the first place, have
brimful faith in reference to our pray
ers. Let us learn that prayer to God
is not a narrow ledge Of rock upon the
side of mighty precipice where we
must stand trembling and pleading for
eternal life or else our feet will slip
and we will tumble into the bottomless
pit. But prayer is the broad Invitation
God gives to his children to come and
talk with him and ask what they will
and be will grant their requests II 1t is
best for them to be granted. Prayer Is
promissory note that God puts into
our hands, and we are encouraged to
fill it out literally. Prayer Is the hold
we have on the power that is capable
Of recreating ourselves and recreating
our dear ones and low ering the bars SC
that we can enter into great fields Of
usefulness. Prayer is the most vital
spiritual power we have on earth.
With 1t we can catch the ear Of the
Lord God Almighty. and he will listen
to our petitions and grant them II II
is best for us and for those for whom
we pray. What says the Bible? Ia
there any limitation to the petitions
we are to make to God? Nay. All
things will be granted for our best
welfare if these petitions are made in
the spirit Of Jesus Christ. ASK and
it shall be given YOU seek. and We shall
, find knock. and it shall be opened I'M
to you" But. though this sweeping In
vitation is given to make our prayers
as big as heaven itself, some of the
most miserable and contemplate and
, insignificant things in the world are
those we ask in the circumscribed and
limited petitions which we make tc
God through the gateway Of prayer.
Narrow Ideas.
/ In our ideas of prayer we are just a.
, narrow boundaried as are the ideas OF
: some men born away back in the coun
try who have never seen steam en-
CINE, who have never learned to read 9
I newspaper and who have never beer
, to a village of larger population thar
! 200 inha bitants. You 60 to such a man
I. and say, My friend, how would you
like to go to New York and see the
greatest metropolis Of the new world?'
He answers: mo, l don't want to go
Why. some of the men down at the
village store tell me that the buildings
there are twenty times higher than my
barn Why. would be afraid to go
/ there for fear they would fall dowu
and crack my skull open. And they
say the street cars run SO fast thai
!, they Kill people there every day. Anc
they say there are lot of thieves anC
4 murderers there. No New York for me
prefer to live here in my quiet dig
gings, where I am not in danger OF
@ being killed every step l take But
say: "My friend, you are not going Il
: keep your children here in the back
woods. There are no schools q
churches here. You have poor, mis-
cradle shack of house, with no car
pets on the floors and no pictures upoI
the walls. Are you going TO let you
r children grow up as ignorant as yo'
Rre?' We'll" answers the old back
|, woodsman, Il do not know that bool
learning does man any good. The
: children have enough to eat. The!
have enough clothes TO wear. The,
y have a room in which to sleep. Wha
is the good of stockings and under
! clothes? They co not ne1p man Il
keep any warmer And then littl
II dirt does not hurt anybody. I hav
=: lived for nigh on to fifty years In thes
y here woods without learning how t
sead or write, and guess the childre
5 are no better than their father Is. II
had to do as have done | guess the
can do the same" You see that man
an animal, a simple animal. The grea
wide world, with its music and hook