Sermon Illustrations

ILL- Keep the Image Sharp - Our Daily Bread - April 1985

The 19th century French inventor Louis Daguerre was one of the pioneers of photography. In those early days, he could take a picture by exposing a metal plate to light. When the plate was taken out of the camera, however the image soon disappeared. Daguerre tried many ways to keep the image from fading but nothing worked. One day he found a plate that had been left in a closet full of chemicals and to his amazement the image was bright and sharp He took other pictures, put the plates in that closet and got the same result He didn’t know what caused the image to remain, but he was determined to find out. He began by removing things from the closet one by one. Even after everything was removed, the images still remained. How could this be? Daguerre later discovered that some mercury had been spilled in the closet. Further, experiences proved that it is mercury vapor that was keeping the image on the photographic plate.

You see, folks what the mercury vapor did to that photographic plate , The Holy Spirit does within us. He helps us keep the image of Christ in focus. As we obey the Holy Spirit, He will keep a sharp image of Christ before us.