The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1885-08-13

Do not His love exceed;
Each ID divine, and each 10 thine
r N 0so,d. Il n. r Observer.
THE TRUE VIEW OF GOD.
Majestic and Mighty. Tender and Msrclfal.
He Satisfies All the Coalitions Of IN In.
nnitely Perfect Ruler.
There are two views of God. which
placed together are the hemispheres
which make q perfect globe. A
thoughtful man who has been plagued
with skeptical insinuations, goes out 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 .
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 80 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 still see the star there for eight
years after it had ceased to exist! The
man is staggered by such overwhelm-
ing facts, and is ready to exclaim:
"What is man in this remote corner of
this stupendous universe that God
should ever bestow q thought upon
himp"
On his way home after this study Of
the amazing pomp of the starry worlds.
he 1alts at the cottage of poor man to
inquire after his sick child. He knocks
at the door. and the father as he opens
1t says in q low tone: Little johnnie
is gone home; but the good Book says:
i shall 60 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 sweetly, 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.
And lie lets sh ais itt a chsRak s s.
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 where the Lord has
taken our johnnie
Our friend goes out of that cottage
with a 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
passage. 1t is in the one hundred and
forty-seventh Psalm: He healeth the
broken in heart, and bindeth up their
wounds. He tellcth the number Of the
stars; He calleth them all by their
names" The man lays down bis Bible
with 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 . Being who spreads abroad
the heavens, and guides the planets In
their courses, and calleth the stars by
their names. On the other hand be
discovers . loving All. Father who con.
descends to hear the prayer Of twc
poor cottagers; 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 q Beng fulfils completely The
deal Of an infinitely perfect ruler o.
the universe. II God were only IN ON
nipotent being who could make and
guide planets, He would not fulfil tht
IDEAL. Or Il He were only capable o.
exercising an oversight over . pool
family, and comforting them in theil
trouble. then, too. there would be I
limitation in His attributes. But herr
Il infinite power and wisdom that i
equal to the Hottest things. and ye
condescends to the lowliest and tn
least Here is . God who guide
Alcyone and Arcturus, and yet mum
bers the hairs of His children's heads
and binds up their broken hearts! NJ
other religion in the world present
such . God. Our friends skepticisn
begins to vanish under the blaze Of thi
new light that the good Book" ha
poured in upon him.
He goes on step further and begin
to search the New Testament, whicl
claims that God has once been 'mani
fest in the flesh" How did tho Divin
Being look and speak and act when H
became incarnatee 1t Is . sublim
mystery" indeed, that such thin
; could happen as that the Son OF Co
/. should wear human form. and becom
!, like unto ourselves. But the GOO
Book declares that It did happen. An.
what manner Of person was this God
man who dwelt for thirty years or NOR
, in vesture Of humanity Is He sue
. Being - that sublime Psalm de
scribes, and such ~ that poor cottage
and his wife believed imp
J Yes; exactly the same. Christ Jesu
rises ct once to the Hottest IN
iescensls to the lowl:cst. At on
} time He commands the winds IN
the waves, and they obey Him; Z
. His omnipotent voice q tempest hushs
into Q calm! At another time h
takes up little children in His arm
. and gives them the sweet Lenedi'
. I r