The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-04-27

every cost Again and again must orchestra and
chorus be assisted; the part must be rehearsed
over and over, not for the perfecting OF the ma
lority, but for the sake OF the that is false.
No matter whether It bo but an insignificant in
strument or an inferior voice., as compared with
others, IL spells the whole the thing must be
rectifed-reconciledt to tho whole-ere the whole
can proceed.
Even before that chorus Of praise IL finished.
there 10 heard one false note Of diseord. Mans
voice so weak and fallen when compared with
the grand music Of the spheres, is suddenly out
of tune with the harmony Of heaven, and. like
true musician, God cannot rest satisfied until that
false note is made true. No matter that 1t be
but but an insignificant part of the grand whole,
must be taken to. reconcile the
false to the inHrits idea of perfection.
There in the genuine artist who Is hurt by an
unfaithful picture What you and might
admire win be- offensive to him because OF dis
proportion in single point. or false contrast Of
coloring, or unnatural form of feature. II it be
not true in every respect his enjoyment Of the
whole is spoiled.
had made. and behold il was very good. Imagina
tion itself cannot picture the perfect beanty and
LONELINESS o. thai new creation. No briars and
thorns no sign OF pain or suffering anywhere.
The sun scorched nothing, chilling cold and
burning heat were alike unknown. nowhere
marks of decay, nowhere signs of weakness,
nowhere tracks Of death. But suddenly there
falls upon point a mar, a stan--one little
pin-poipt has changed its true, color,
single form has lost its original beauty. To the
Great Artists eve the whole picture is displeas-
ing until this shall be rectifed, restored. God
saw man in His ownimage Wherein that con-
sisted in all it's fulnass and its power neither you
nor l nor anyone will ever know until We
get where we shall see God as He is. But
that there was nobility fullress, glory, grandeur
In that first creation we cannot doubt. How
soon that divine likeness was dishgured- The
eye that had looked upon the Creator himself
was dimmed, and for relief turned away from
the brightness that could no longer be endured;
tho voice that had held sweet communion with
God was dumb with fear, the ear that had lis.
tened to Gods own voice was dulledito insensibil-
ity and the very form that stood erect, fearless
before God, hurries now out of sight, crouches in
fear under miserable shelters. But the great
sculptor could not rest to see any part OF his
work thus disfSured AS now the lover Of fine
arts exhumes from the rubbish Of decaying tenn
Piles and crumbling cities the works of the great
masters of antiquity, as he seeks, by every APP
pliance of art to restore what of beauty is faded
and what of symmetry is destroyed, so does
this maker OF Ills own image seek to exhume
His work from the decay into which it has
fallen. With infinite wisdom does He apply
His method of restoration, with exhaustess
patience does He seeks to reunite the
| shattered parts, with bounGless love does He
form a plan by which the beauty can be re-
~~Ss
perfection regained.
'.There, too, is the machnist In the whirring
| and rumbling of his wheels, and straps, and
rods he feels there is something wrong some
where. There is a jar. The single wheel out
of its place, and. false to the law of the whole,
must be reconciled to great fly wheel and whir-
ring strap and band and revolving cylinder.
Something is. wrong-on]y a little something
but be 1t only so much as a spur wheel,
the wrong must be righted. In the vast
machinery of the universe every part
worked in perfect order every star in
its orbit, every force in its place, every power
doing its appointed work But one little wheel
lostits true balance and ceased to fulfill its
functions. The myriad worlds never felt the
jar; they moved not a hair breadth out of their
appointed course, they stopped not an instant In
their ceaseless motion. But the great Maker of
all felt the disorder That which could not af-
feet a universe moved Him-and to restore again
to its place that shattered part He exerted His al
mighty power. And then, rising higher in the
forms OF life-in the vast family of creation--the
Father of all heard from child the
cry of pain and distress, and though angel and
archangel mi ght unite their voices around Him
his ear detected call that was not in the key of
praise. Though principalities and powers still
preserved their full harmonies; though the en-
joyment of the rest of creation was not lessened
in the slightest degree, yet the Divine ear heard
the lament, His heart beat in pity for the suf-
ferng and as parent responds toa chlds COM
plant, with swifter thought. with fuller love,
with more intense yearning does God strive to
hush that cry, to soothe the suffering one, and
heal, with his own touch, the elf-infcted wound.
| With His own touch he healed the wound of His
| suffering child. Let us mark that now. The
| illustration given must suffice for definition of
| the word reconciliation. The Divine impetus
| towards reconciliation is the impetus of the mu
Stefan to correct the false note, the impetus of
the artist to remove the stain, and the necessity
| OF the machinist to mend the single wheel; the
quick response of the father to quiet the pain of
| the suffering child Reconciliation means re-
/ creation; re-establishmento of broken harinories
4 to the perfection of melody; remodeling of a.
broken, disfgured image to the sculptors ideal
| of perfection; a recastiHg of the heart that it.
| shall work in perfect accord With the machinery
| of right and TRUTH a reformation of the child
| that he shall stand again true, and pure. and
| noble, and happy, and calm, and peaceful and
| strong-a joy to God once more. Something
| like this the apostle means when he says that
God was reconciling the world unto Himself
/ 1.-THE Father of all must take unto his own
/ embrace the child wounded, hurt, suffering. No
hired nurse can soothe-that only is the mission
\ of the great mother-heart of God. With his own
| touch God reconoiles the world to himself And
| that touch! What is ita How does it come to
| usl When do we feel it? How may we know
| it, Paul explains it ali in the text God was in
Christ reconcling theworld unto Himself Christ
| is Gods touch upon the world. Oh, to feel. to
believe. to know, to enjoy the full force
| Of this expression. God in Christ
/ We will not load it down with ambiguity and
doubt We will take it in its simplicity. We
| will receive it on the authority of the Bible.
The Bible says, Heb. l. 2, He is the express
image of Gods person, the brightness of His glory
| If the Bible stands at all as a book worthy Of
| our confidence, then this truth stands. that God
is in Christ What does it moan7' you ask, be-
| wldered by the very bo6ness Of the expression
I Why, believe that it means just what it says
that God was really in Christ Not merely that
| He sent him as one sends messenger with del
| egated power bus that He came tho fuliness Of
| Divine power Himself.
Goods reconciliation IT, man is the result of
| His very existence. Like the musician the art
| list, the machinist, He, by the very fact Of His
perfection. seeks to perfect the imperfect to re-
build the ruin, to restore the broken, dis6gured
| image to reform the degenerate. We have the
/ instrument of reconciliation He does it Him
/ self in Christ. He comes into direct association
with humanity. He touches the world in Christ
and in Christ tine world touches Him. God and