Telegram-herald., 1889-06-10
Gods Ways Beyond the Compre-
hension Of Mzn.
EHEgEF0RE RlDESI TROU rHY FACE
An Able sermon - Rev. Jeha Douasfis
-Osod Mas Appear Inainereas KuE
HE a. Not- -ahe Co2eau&agh Die
zstef- 4rust IL God.

1c2cIt4 sermon NtSIs rd2Y morning
GA ths subject of the Hidden God,
a. illustrated ia calamiues. lie took
the following te&t
Wherefore h.dest thou thy face and
i0rgettess our aiHleUon and our oppres-
stomp He sad. "The man who ut-
tered these words Was IN trouble, just
sLat the trouble Vas IS not known. IL
might be some personal calamity; some
plague; some IRE; some dark aud
strange providence; but whatever the
cause, lac Vas CRYING out 10 God for
help. The face OF God seemed for tie
time beng 10 be entirely hidden from
him, and he cried out again: Awake,
why sleepest thou, o. Lord2' lie
wondered why the Lord did not come
AZ once to bis rescue.
God does sometimes hide his face,
that Is 10 SAY. he does not declare his
! purpose or toll why he II silent. lie
/ does not answer All of mans inquiries.
| Tins may seem strange that God should
hide himself, but 1t is IN a sense true.
/ God ls both revealed and he Is cOn-
cealed. lie is made known and he Is
! hidden. Gods character Is seen III
nature, but nature does not reveal
( Gods real essence or entirety. Ii
only points out some of the attributes
/ OF God.
/ 1t Will ie observed that when God
makes anv special roNf laiion of HIM
self he usually yeiled himself in some
way. We nave illustrations OF this IA
the burning bush, the pillar of clouds.
/ Mt. Slnal and other WAYS spoken OF IN
/ the Bible, ln winch Goi revealed HIM
! self. And, Ind degd. under our present
constitution of body and mind il is not
supposed We cood survive the full
blaze OF Gods disclosures. But We
small see Him in tine future world
when We come INTO the spiritual king
| dom of God.
The man who used the words of my
text was III haste to get a reply % hls
inquiry. lie thought God had forgot
ten hlm. Man wonders why God does
not come to ms rescue and help hin at
! once. But God knows best. He knows
when to delay His answers, He knows
when 10 act. Gods proyldences are
plans, and these plans cover a period
of time, sometimes ages. Look at the
plan of redemption. That plan was
| through ages-sOme 1000 years.
You remember an event in the life
OF Jesus when he crossed the lake IN a
ship with his disciples. When the storm
ragged and the ship was filling with
water, Jesus slept, and the disciples
thought he was Indifferent to theIrfatc.
He would let none Of them perish, and
he slept more TO test Their faith III HIM
than to frighten them.
It looks sometimes rs # providence
were asleep, rs if it were not yigilant,
a. If the eyes were closed and arms
folded, and there Is "A calm repOse upon
it, and this, too, when the storm Us ln
lis utmost fury. We wonder what IL
all means. We ask ii God has forgot
ten u? No. lie never forgets, bat lie
may bc IN rcpOse-lle may to be
asleep. bat he j. not totally Indifferent.
The War OF the Rebellion had just
closed, victory was perched upon our
banners, the bells rang out the glad
tldngs, the guns echoed good news,
and every telegraph WIRE carried the
intelligence over the continent. Tins
had hardly taken place when Lincoln
was assasalnatcd. Then the country
was draped IN mourning. u there = 4
God, why Was this strange occurrence
permitted Nc do not know. Lincoln
never could have passed away when
hls name was more houorcd.
President Garfield, in the very height
Oi las popularity, was shot down by an
assassin, and for nearly eighty days
suffered great pam, while the prayers
OF Gods people went up TO God for ms
recovery. Why that death? We do
not know. Why that long sickness,
We DO not know. Why that fatal bul-
, let? We do NOT know.
Look at the yellow fcyer plague in
the South. the Chicago lire, tie ire OF
) Eastern Michigan. What docs all this
, mean? | do not know. ana not
| competent 70 solve tine problem. There
may be some hidden purpose winch
i cod viii at some time bring out. Jos
cph could not see Why hc was permit
ted to bc sold into Egypt until many
, years after, when ne saw his fathers
family coming down 10 Egypt TO buy
corn, and then hccxclalmeG 'Ie meant
it for harm bat God meant il Tor
good
/ And now comes this fearful calamity
, i'm the Conemaugh Valley that just APP
pals US. The sudden loss OF life hy
| food and fire is 50 terribly sad that we
| can find 40 language 20 describe d.
The reporters who write OF those scenes
can find no words sufficient to depict
its horrors. Why tins food. why thi.
loss of Afe? We do not know.
would seem as II God were asleep o.
indifferent and stolcal And vet ws
NAV learn. after L b. aii over. thai
some law % nature has been violated
= That some trust hes been broken. tia
tho construction oi tho dam Was no
thorough aud suong a. lt should hav'
a been
! Itmav be shown that the acC1muia
1 tom ot uch an immense oooy II v-3fe
! near p0Vui0us cfy was pri0gs un
a derta sur lt NAV ire shown tfat grecl
. and gain were factors In the c0nsfruC
= ton of ths dam. And 50 it j. tha
= events occur winch we cannot explain
Z and God does not explain. II on
q place p famine. ia another p fire, ln al
a other 3 plague. "a another Test.ien
= Whe God' iace may - hidden from
= us vet l-od s uat lueIi cEont to Cu
real wants. lt may appear - SIS as
? God wrTc soHefl1fs stJcal al1 qUt
. ud 5eTent 20 u1r ceu1 f91 aad want
: because ne docs ugt come - o-r ~ r
: at once ard SHOW his r9ef ard iovc
lnt Hs 1oT faat f0s Gefr
/. inter -e4 n oar welfare taat hc aa
our rcal .rtHs. good r. Eew. Iet p
urr FORGET tls 1oa are uot f0rE9ttr
rg are aot l0sf Ea5 oi fu tas Gro
trFIe9t slrsa1 - human IS
s. Ara remember tasf fners are uo Gro.
p iars ~ esrta whom ee1 IS moro 3
: tera- - tn 30 Uk kad. Hr