Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-08-23
Calmase
sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase, ID. ID.

turesque imagery the preacher in this
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 the
dead"
The symbol OF the graveyard is used
by Jesus for his gospel teachings, just
as TSEiy artists use skeletons for
their models in great artistic master
pieces. The parable of Dives and
Lazarus is nothing more or less than
great panorama. a collection OF YER
bal pictures, showing the eternal trag-
edy OF n misspent life.
Scene the First.-Ap eastern prince
is In mis- palace. All that wealth and
power and temporal grandeur can give
Is his. His clothes are of royal purple
His dining room is a banquet hall
His walls are OF white marble. His
floors are mossics. His Railways and
bedrooms and parlors are filed with
statuary and richest tapestries and
beautiful artistic masterpieces. Upon
his doorstep crouches a poor beggar,
starving TO death malodorous and Of
fensive 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 been stripped of his
all. Then Dives, down in the region
Of the lost, looks up and sees Lazarus,
who had once sat at his doorstep n de-
spised beggar, but now cherished and
cared for by Abraham, the father of
the faithful, and he cries out: st pray
thee, father, that thou wouldst send
Lazarus to my fathers house. for I
have five brethren, that he may testify
unto them, lest they also come into
this place of torment"
Then what hRppens7 God seems to
reach down and lift a skeleton out of
its grave and clOthe ii again with
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 II 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 specter. This is a 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 lawEiver that
makes them so influential?
The Rank of Moses.
Moses by the law of adoption took
the rank of one who was well born.
He was the adopted son of Pharaoh's
daughter. He was the heir apparent
or 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 n 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 a pauper. a slave or
a Hebrew. He had been raised TO
royal rank. All that he had 10 do
was to keep his lips closed, and he
might live In affiuence and inherit a
throne. And yet this Egyptian prince.
this adopted child OF Pharaoh's daugh
ter, was ready to surrender all of king
~ power In order to be n follower OF
the true God Now. every effect must
have a.logical cause. A man does not
surrender great prize Of life Just
Tor a 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 a
man surrendering an earthly throne
LOT his religion unless he deeply and
conscientiously believed in that reIi-
gion! When German princess a few
years ago married Emperor Nicholas
ana became Empress Alix of all the
kussias, she renowned the Lutheran
church and Joined the Greek, church.
OF which her husband is the spiritual
mead When the English Princess
Ena or Battenberg became Queen Vic
toria OF Spain, she left the Episcopa
Han church. in which she had been
confirmed and baptized, and Joined the
catholic church, which is the estab-
hshed church OF her adopted country.
Inese two princesses changed their
reilglous creed in order to win a royal
uiaoem. But what would You say if
the present Prince OF Wales should join
the Roman Catholic church? What
would you say IL he should turn from
the Episcopalian church and give his
religious fealty to the pope of Rome,
as did Cardinal John Henry Newman?
III he did this. he would by that act
surrender all his rights to the British
throne. The British people will not
have Roman Catholic for their king
When they got rid of James IL, the
last king Of that religion, they made
q perpetual stipulation that none but
Protestants should sit on the British
throne. The prince knows that the
price he would have to pay for joining
The Roman Catholic church would be
the loss Of his throne. II he con-
Guided to Join that church In spite of
that penalty, you would say that man
must be sincere. No man lightly re-
nounces throne. And yet this is Just
what Moses did. He was the son of
Pharaoh's daughter. He had, in the
sight of the law the right of sneceS-