Democratic messenger., 1892-12-24

stopping that and starting it again with
out the shipwreck of the universe! But
can easily believe it, What confounds
me is not that he could stop and start
again those two worlds in .Joshua's time,
but that he could have made the wheel
of worlds of which the sun and moon
are only cogs, and keep that wheel roll
ing for thousands of years-the fywheel
Of all eternity.
If an engineer can start long train,
it is not surprising that he can stop it.
If God could make and move the uni
verse, which is an express train drawn
by an omnipotent engine. am not sur
priscd that for part of day he could
put down the brakes on two pieces of
the rotating machinery. lnfidelity Is
hard up for ground of complaint against
the Scriptures when it finds fault Will.
that cessation of stellar and lunar travel
Here is my watch. | could not make a
watch if tried, but can stop it and
start it again.
My difficulty is not that God could
stop two worlds and start them again,
but that he could make them at all as he
did make them. What pleases me and
astounds me more Is that each one of
the millions of worlds has God given
name. Only comparatively small num-
ber of them have names given them by
scientists. If astronomers can give n
name to whole constellation or galaxy
they think they do well, but God has =
name for each star in all immensity
Inspired David declares of God, "H.
telleth the number of the stars; he call
eth them all by their names"
They are not orphans that have never
been christened. They are not waits
ships ON the high seas of immensity
They belong To family of which God
is the Father, and rs you call your chill
dren Benjamin or Mary or Bertha or
Addison or Josephine So he calls all the
infant worlds and all the adult worlds
by their first name, and they know it as
we'll rs though there We're only one child
of light in all the divine family. He
calleth them all by their names" and
when he calls, | warrant they come.
Oh. the stars. Those vestal fires kept
burning on infinite altars. Those light
houses on the coast of eternity. The
hands and weights and pendulum Of the
great clock of the universe. According
to Hrrschel. the so called fixed stars are
not fixed at all, but each ore sun with
Il mighty system of worlds ro. ling round
il, and this whole system with all the
other systems rolling on around some
other great center-mill:ons and mil
lions. billions and billions. trillions and
trillions. quadrillions and quadrillions!
TIE INHABITED WORLDS.
But what giaddens me, and mt the
same time Overwhelms me, is that those
worlds are inhabited. The Bible says
so. and what small idea you must
have of God and his dominion if you
think ii only extends across this chip of
world which You and | now inhabit
Have YOU taken this idea of all the other
worlds being inhabited rs human guess
work: Read Isaiah, forty-fifth chap
ter, eighteenth verse. Thus saith the
Lord that created the heavens. God
himself that formed the earth and
made it; he hath established it, he
created il not in vain, he formed it
to be inhabited" Now, il he inhabited
the earth so that il would not be created
in vain, would he make worlds hundreds
and thousands of times larger and not
have them inhabited? Speaking of the
inhabitants of this world. he says, 'The
nations are as the drop of bucket"
II all the inhabitants Of this world are
as drop of a bucket, where are the other
drops Of the bucket: Again and again
the Bible speaks of the host of heaven,
and the word ''host" means living crea-
lures. not inert masses, and the express
sion ''hosts Of heaven" must mean in
habitants of other worlds. The psalm
ist cries ont. Thy mercy is great above
the heavens" Ii there We're no inhabi-
tants above the heavens. what use of
any mercy: Again, the Bible exclaims,
THY goodness is great above the heav-
ens." What could be the use of his
goodness above the heavens if there
We're no inhabitants TO enjoy il? Again,
the Bible says, He has set thy glory
above the heavens" And here my text
comes in with its idea of mansion of
many stories, 1t is he that buildeth his
stories in the heaven"
Is it possible that we who live on the
ground floor Of this many storied build
ing are the only tenants, and that the
larger rooms, and the more gorgeouslv
upholstered rooms. and the more bril-
liantly chandeliered rooms above it are
uninhabited: Beside this we are posi-
II -, 81. ~
worlds are inhabited-the world angelic
and the world diabolic. Those two
worlds added To our own make it posi-
tive that three worlds are inhabited
Why then stop with three worlds of liy-
ing beings when there are not only mil
lions but billions of worlds? Are they
all standing like expensively furnished
houses in time of financial panic marked
TO Let. and no one to take them? All
around us in this world we see economy
of omnipotence.
II Christ was going to feed the hun
CRY seven Thousand III the wilderness,
he made use of the boys five loaves and
two fishes, cxpending no more of Gre
ative power than was needed. Waste
world. And do you suppose that God
would waste world material in our solar
system To the amount of what has been
estimated rs seven hundred trillion miles
of solid contents. and that only small
part as compared with other systems
which go 10 make up this many storied
mansion of the text. where it says. 1T
is he that buildeth his stories i'll the
heaven"
Did Professor Herschel and his sister.
Catherine. in finding worlds find only
worlds uninhabited and waste? Is
Ceres. which Piazzi discovered in 1901,
wasted? Is Nesta, that Olbers discovered
in 1907. wasted: Is Prosperine, which
Professor Luther discovered in 1853.
wasted: Is Urania. which Professor
Hind discovered in 1864, wasted:
Is Pandora. discovered in 1853 by
Professor Searle. wasted: Are the
fifteen thousand stars recorded in one
vanr in tha nbSaryatorv at WnSbiDntpp