Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1901-06-29
GLIMPsEs OF GOD.
Discourse Of DR.. Talmage en- the
Divine Saviour.
We Rsis~. High Expectations ef Day
Mhea That Now Hat Diniy
See. VIII se Fsisy
Revealed.
| Icopyright 1901. BY Louis Klopseh. ~. III
Il Mashlnra INne 10.

when that which Is now only dlnll |
seen will be fully revealed; text. Job
PC. Ia: "Lo. these are parts OF His
ways. But how little a portion is
heard OF Him? But the thunder of
His power who can understand"
The least understood being in the
universe is God. BlasphemoWs would
be any attempt by painting or sculp
ture 10 represent Him. Egyptian
hierogiyphs tried 20 suggest Him 10y |
putting the figure of an eye upon
sword. implying that God sees and
rules. but how imperfect the sug- /
gestionl When we speak OF Him, il |
is almost always IN language fgura-
tive. He i Light" or "Dayspring |
from on High" or He is High |
Tower or the Fountain of Living |
Waters" His splendor is SO great
that no man can see Him and live.
When the group of great theologians
assembled in Westminster abbey for
the purpose Of making a system of
religious belief. they first Of all want
! ed an answer 20 the question: who
Is God?" No one desired to under
take the answering Of that overmas-
tering question. They finally con-
eluded 20 give the task 70 the young
est man in the assembly. who hap
pened 20 be Rev. George Gillespie. He
consented 90 undertake IL on the con-
| dition that they would first unite
with him in prayer for Divine direc-
ton. He began his prayer by say
| ing: 20 God. Thou art spirit. i'm
finite. eternal and Interchangeable in
| Thy being. wisdom. power. holiness.
Justice. goodness and truth" That
first sentence OF Gnlespie's prayer
was unanimously adopted by the as
sembly a. the best definition of God.
But. after all. IL was only a partial
success. and after everything that
language can do when put TO the ut
most strain and all we can see Of God
i'm the natural world and realize OF
God in the providential world we are
forced TO cry ont with job in my
text: 40. these are parts OF His
ways. But how little a portion is
heard Of Him? But the thunder OF
| His power who can understand
Archbishop Tillotson and DIR. Dick
and Timothy Dwight and Jonathan
Edwards Of the past and the might
lest theologians of this young cen
tury have discoursed upon the power
1
And we have az seen demonstration
Of Gods almightiness. IL might have
been far ont ~ sea when in an
equinoctial gale God showed what He
could do with the waters. IL might
have been i'm an August thunder
storm in the mountains when God
showed what lie could do with the
lightnings IL might have been i'm
e / 4.
. | what He could do with the earth
quakes. IL might have been among
the Alps when God showed what lie
could do with the avalanches. Our
|, cheek was blanched. our breath
stopped. our pulses fiuttered. Oui
whole being was terrOrized. but we
had seen only an instance OF Divine
strength. What was the power 81
that storm compared with the pOweI
which holds all the oceans? VIVA
has the power that shook the hill
! compared with the power that swing
: the earth through all the centurie
and for 5000 years and in a forma
tive and incomplete shape for hun
dreds of thousands OF years? Wha
IS that power that sustains our worl'
: compared with the power which roll
= through immensely the entire sofa
!. system and all the consultations an
galaxies and the universe? Tn
= mightiest intellect OF man woul
give way il for a moment there cam
upon IL the full appreciation OF wha
omnipotence Is
We try 70 satisfy ourselves wit
saving: 1T IS natural law that col
ie trolls things. gravitatiOn is az wOrl
IT centripetal and centrifugal forces r,
II spond 90 each other" But what
r natural law? IL is only Gods way
doing things. At every point in II
a universe il is Gods direct and col
I'd tinuous power that controls and ha
as monies and Sustains. That pOws
"a Withdrawn one instant would NAL
Il the planetary system and all n
worlds which astronomy reveals OF
he universal wreck, bereft hemisphere
% dismantled sunsets, dead coasteil
tiOns. debris of worlds. What pow
b. 81 must be that keeps the intern
o. fires of our world impTisoned-on
al here and there squirting from Cot
paxi, or "A StrOmbOli, or from a Nesu'
ck us, putting Pompeii and Herculaneu
he into sepuIcher. but for the most pa
ok the internal fires chained ina ths
&C cages Of rock, and century after cs
IN fury unable 10 break the chain
n burst open the door. What power
SIS keep the component parts of {
,rt air in right proportion, so that
In | around the world the nations IN
10 | breathe in health, the frostS and I
ps- heats hindered from working "a
va. versal demolition. Power, as Isai
% | says. Ito take mp the isles as a We