National Baptist world., 1894-10-05
A SUBLIME CONCEPTION.
Inc Disclosure of the Being and Chara ter
of an Eternal, Holy and Gracious God.

The Disclosure of the Being and Chara acter
of an Eternal, Holy and Gracious God.
The story Of creation is sublime
Gllmpses of ancient mcnarchies fur
nlsh dlssOlvlng views of vast human
power. Single characters, like Moses
and Paul, which approach the human
! idea of nobleness, make wonderful por-
traits. Matchless poetry, in which a
more than earthly light shines, speaks
here to mind and heart. But not
creation in all it's sublimity, not an
clent empires in their grandeur and in
their tragic fall, not human characters
brilliant on the high places of power,
not charming passages of prose or
poetry, not triumphant songs, though
nations sing in rapture, constitute
the crowning glory of this Bible
of our fathers. The distinguish
ing glory of our Bible, which spans
like rainbow both Testaments, is the
disclosure of the being and character
Of an eternal, holy and gracious God
This conception is the most sublime,
the most thrilling, the most ennobling,
that occupies the thoughts of men. By
the aid of the sacred pages mind is per-
mltted to contemplate God, who made
the world, before whom angels veil
their faces, to whom darkness and
light are the same, who from everlast-
ing to everlasting is God, from whose
presence the wings of the morning are
vain to help us fee, who dwe,Is in the
high and holy place, and also within
the humble heart of man. Clouds and
darkness to human eyes are about Him.
but through the riffs in the veil some
beams of light dart to tell us how
bright the glory which we are not suf
fered yet to see face to face.
That glory is softened and brought
near us in the New Testament. Mai
esty, tenderness, nobility, beneficence,
unspe akable love, are revealed in Jesus
of Nazareth : majesty, when Jesus
walked the wild waves and bade the
fury of winds and sea be still; tender
ness, when, fOreseeing disaster for the
city of David, though forty years dis
tapt, He wept over Jerusalem; nobili-
ty, when at the cost of reproach and
misunderstanding He befriended peni-
tent outcasts; benefcence, when He
walked earth's weary ways, leading
mems thoughts to God by miracles of
power and words of wisdom: Divine
love and mercy SO clear that even our
dim eyes are startled by the vision,
when we behold Him on the cross pray
ing for His bitter foes.
Little by little this brilliancy comes
out in the unfolding history. 1t shines
like starlight over patriarchal tents,
over Israel's moving host on the way
to Canaan, and over the dark years of
Israels struggle and sin. It shines as
the moonlight when the prophets
glowing words show the greater saliva
display Divine purposes SO benefcent
that Israel's broken covenant and tenn
poral ruin shall not make void the
promises. 1t shines with the bright
ness of the dawn, when Christ, from
glory come, stands forth the Light of
the World. And this revelation of God
and the revelation of mans nature and
need and hope and destiny grow radi-
ant together; for this God, in all His
majesty and gentleness, is our own
God; and it is He, in whose image we
were Hduc, VIII O1cfS 10 Dc our SulOe !
and our portion forever.
Some of these rays from the throne
of God shine in upon our infancy
Some are giving us light in youth and
mans estate. Some will conquer the |
falling shadows of liz evening, and |
shows where to tread without fear in |
the valley of death. They were given
to attract our love, to guard against
our despair, to illumine our path to
Heaven, to give US, even here, some
noble conception of Gods majesty and
goodness, and some real acquaintance
with His ways, thus preparing US for
our Heavenly home, for the cloudless
revelation of God is the brightness of
Heaven.-Rev. T. E. Bartlett, in N. Y.
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