The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-10-03
Sacrament of Baptism Was
 Subject Last Night
OF SACRAMENT
Striking Illustration Used 10 Show the Application of SncrEmcntal Prin- ciple to Affairs of Every
 Day Life

iAi1tiS tion. His subject yesterday morning was "The Essentials of Church Membership and last night, Why Christ Ordained the Sacrament of Baptism
 MT Lanier's illustrations are notable for the striking illustrations he uses to impress his meaning upon the minds of his hearers. Last night he said:
 Picture in your mind all the human race born by natural birth, and then contrasted to these and over on the other side, Jesues, another and higher order of life; and that it is His purpose to reproduce Himself in all children born by natural birth, so that He will dwell in them and they will dwell in Him how is this done? How only can this be done? The answer of Jesus and the Christian church has always been sac ramentally that Is, by being born anew of the water and the spirit of God.
 Here at once arises the necessity that we clearly understand what the church means by a sacrament, before we car begin to appreciate the necessity and wisdom of the church's answer. Long ago I came to the conclusion that 8 truth to be a religious truth must be a universal truth, and after giving you the church's definition of a sacra- ment, I will at once proceed to show you that this world in which we live is a sacramental world from center to cir conference.
 "The definition of a sacrament is as follows: CD It Is an outward and visible sign; (2) of an inward and spiritual .0A +l,t. asl s,t., is the means whereby we receive this inward and spiritual grace.
 The Sacrament of Time
 "The first illustration which l will use is that of clock. It Is first an outward and visible thing, a machine consisting of wheels, face and hands; but by means of this outward and visible thing, and especially the hands with the 12 hours marked on the face we are made par takers of something which no one ever saw or can see-time. Any one of you by running your hand into your pocket and pulling out your watch can tell me what time of the day 1t is, and you can not do 1t without your watch or some other sacrament of time Understand. then that in your watch you have an illustration of what the church means by a sacrament.
 "The outward and visible thing called your watch is the means by which you receive knowledge of the inward and invisible mental thing called time. Thus these sacraments called watches become the regulators by which We go to bed, get up in the morning, eat our meals, go to church and to business and are born, live, marry and die by Detroy these sacraments of time and you would upset every railroad in the United States, and in a fpr a long period, which during a fog would obscure the sun, moon and stars, you would lose the idea of what time it is altogether; and then destroy Gods sac rament of time-the sun, moon and stars and there would be no time, for time is the measure of motion. These outward and visible signs turn out to be wonder ful things after all, beneath which we hear, The moving of the spirits wing
 "I take savage with me into one of the marvellous cathedrals of Europe and show him one of the wondrous creations of some inspired artists brain. It is the wonderful painting of mother and a child. To him 1t is paint and a sorry affair, but to us it is a sacrament, an outward and visible sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary and our Lord. So all painting is a sacrament, an outward and visible sign of the inward and in- VlSlDlt CItdilNt lIutii III llt l1l11u Ol God. and in the mind of man.
 q go into some art gallery and see carved in stone the statue of a man and his sons in the coils of a serpent from the sea. It is an outward and visible sign, but it Is more than that It tells the story oL the whole history of man from the beginning of his strug- ges with the destructive forces of earth and sea, which sooner or later overpower us and lay our psychic life low in the dust. Not only in this instance, but in all cases. sculpture is the outward and visible sign of that which goes on in the artists spirit behind the veil of flesh and blood.
 Literature an illustration
 q can well imagine this conversation taking place between Capt John Smith and one of Powhatan's warriors. Captain Smith sitting beneath one of Virginias s mighty oaks reading one of the English classics and an Indian warrior comes up and asks him what he is doing, and Captain Smith replies, I am listening to a mighty man talk, who many years ago lived beyond the great sea, whence I came. The Indian in amazement says, How is that? Smith points to the book and says, He is talking to me out of this book, by means of these little visible signs and scratches which you see here. And the Indian in grunt' of incred- ulity leaves him, but however increduous that Indian may be, literature Is the sac rament, the sign language by means of which the Spirit of God and the spirits of the mighty dead do speak to us from beyond the stars.
 When you come to think of it, how that by means of a few marks the spirits of Moses, Isaiah and Jeremiah communi- cate their thoughts to us as perfectly as If they stood face to face with us. it is no more mysterious but is one with that other true mystery how that the word by means of the outward and vis- ible water and blood becomes flesh, and by means of the same invisible spirit and outward water and blood we are regen- erated in baptism, for the two stand or fall together. The incredible wonder would be on the other hand, for we never did and never can communicate with one another otherwise than sacra- mentally.
 "There you are sitting in your seats and here am 1 preaching to you. and there is no doubt but that my spirit is in communion with your spirits. How is this done? How only can this be done? ? Through the sacrament of sight and sound-nothing but a vibration of air and yet through this sacrament of eye and ear and vibration of the sound of the orators voice his spirit passes into his audience,f and makes them laugh, shout and weep as one body with him self. and yet many think it thing incredible that through the sacrament of water and blood the Spirit of God through which all psychic life is born in this world-cannot and does not use the same as the means through which to