The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-08-14
THE TRUE VIEW OF GOD.

THE TRUE VIEW OF GOD.
Majestic and Mighty. Tender and NIerciful.
He Satisfies All the Conditions OF an In
finitely Perfect Ruler.
There are two views of God. which
placed together are the hemispheres
which make . perfect globe. A
thoughtful man who has been plagued
with skeptical insinuations, goes ont at
night to study the wonders of the
heavens. He fixes his eye on the even
ing star. which he can hide with his
hand. but it is world of 1000 miles
in diameter! Yonder Alcyone shines
with the concentrated light of a
thousand suns; and that milky way"
that seems but star dust in the sky, is
mass of consultations and revolving
worlds! He discerns one little twinkler
in the constellation of the Swan"
which astronomy tells him is so far
away that. although its light travels to
us at the rate of 10000 miles min
ute, that light requires eight years to
reach us. If the hand that made it
should suddenly extinguish it, we
would sill see the star there for eight
years after it had ceased 10 exist! The
man is staggered by such Overwhelm-
ing facts, and is ready to exclaim:
"Whst is man in this remote corner Of
this stupendous universe that God
should ever bestOw a thought upon
him?''
On his way home after this study of
the amazing pomp of the starry worlds,
he !.alts at the cottage of poor man to
inquire after his sick child He knocks
at the door, and the father as he opens
ii says in low tone: Little Johnnie
is gone home; but the good Book says:
i shall go to him. though he shall
never come back to me-" In one
corner of the lowly room, under white
covering. lies the dead boy. The poor
mother lifts the linen from the pale,
placid face and says: ..Ah, our laddie
died so sweetIy. sir, he made me read
to him the pretty verses about Heaven
They shall hunger no more; neither
shall the sun strike on them, or any
heat He repeated over what he had
learned in the Sunday-schOOl:
Jesus loves me, He who died
Heavens gate to open wide.
He has washed away my sin,
And lets His little child come in.
We are comfOrted about our dear boy;
for You know the good Book says: The
Lord gave and the Lord hath taken
away and we know s0here the Lord has
taken our Johnnie"
Our friend goes out of that cottage
with new view of God. When he gets
home he opens that good Book" that
the humble cottager quoted SO often.
and his eye lights on this wonderful
forty-seventh Psalm: HE healeth the
broken in heart and b;ndeth up their
wounds. He teleth the number of the
stars; He calleth them all by their
Names" The man lays down his Bible
with a sense of amaZement and awe.
Here is view of the Almighty which
he never had before. On the one hand
he sees the transcendent power and
glory of a Being who spreads abroad
the heavens. and guides the ? anets in
their courses, and calleth the stars by
their names. On the other hand he
discovers a loving All Father who con-
descends to hear the prayer of two
poor c0ttagers; who watches over the
pillow of their dying child. and who
binds up tenderly their wounded hearts!
This is the God who sent the 'tgood
Book" to them.
Such Beng fulfils completely the
deal of an infinitely perfect ruler of
the universe. If God were only an ON
nipotent being who could make and
guide planets, He would not fulfil the
ideal. Or if He were only capable of
exercising an oversight over poor
family, and comforting them in their
trouble. then, too, there would be
limitation in His attributes. But here
IS infinite power and wisdom that is
equal to the Hottest things, and yet
condescends to. the lowliest and the
least. Here is Ged who guides
Alcyone and Arcturus, and ye. num-
beers the hairs of His children's heads,
and binds up their broken hearts! No
other religion in the world presents
such a God. Our friends skepticism
begins to vanish under the blaze of this
new light that the "good Book" has
poured in upon him.
He goes on step further and begins
to search the New Testament, which
claims that God has once been ''mani-
fest in the flesh" How did the Divine
Being lock and speak and act when He
became incarnate2 It Is sublime
'.mystery. indeed, that such thing
could happen as that the Son of God
should wear human form. and become
like unto ourselves. But the good
Book declares that it did happen. And
what manner Of person was this God
man who dwelt for thirty years on more
in vesture Of humanity? Is He such
. Being as that sublime Psalm do
scribes, and such as that poor settager
and his. wife believed in?
Yes; exactly the same. ChSist Jesus
rises at once to the Hottest and
descends Do the lewiest. At one
time. He commands the Winds and
the. waves. and they obey Him; at
Ms omnipotent voice tempest bushes
into a calm! At another time He
takes up little children II His arms
, and gives them the sweet benedic-
ton VI His love. One day He null
!. tiplies five barley loavss into bread
|! enough to feed five thousand hungry
\ people The next dav He is watching
/ . poor woman as she drops her farthing
I into the sacred treasury, and teaches
| from it the great lesson Of unselish be-
neyolence. He meets . heart broken
widow following her dead SON to the
grave; as q man He can pity her. but
Is God He instantly restores the dead
youth TO life! When two sisters stand
weeping by their brothers tomb, He
Weeps with them; afew moments after
ward He cries out: "LazaruA come
FORTH" and . purified corpse steps
forth q living man! By and By this Sor