Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1901-07-04
THE NATURE OF GOD

THE NATURE OF GOD
LR. #TALMAGE'S SUNDAY SERMON.
Least Understoodof Any Being III the
Universe Evidences of His Nature
and Existence. ]
fCopyright 1901
WASHINGTON, d. C.-In this discourse
Dr.. Taimage raises high expectations Of
the day when that which is now only,
dinlE seen will be, fully revealed; text,
ways w But.how little portion m a i issheard = ard
of Hin1y But the thunder Of His power
who can understand e, I, ~
The least understood being in the uni
verse is God, Biasphemous would be any
atteAspts BIZ paintins eryscuipt pture4 is 1fep-s
resent IN. Egyptian hieroglyphs tried
to suggest Him by putting the figure of
an eye upon sword, implying that God
sees and rules, Iut how imperfect the sug-
gestion!E When we speak of Him it is al
most alEays III a language hguratiye. He
is Light or rDayspring From on High" !"
or He Is a High Tower or the "Foun-
tain of Living Waters His splendor is
so great that no man can see Him and
live. When the group Of great theolog-
ians assembled in Westminster Abbey
ior tbs nlrpose of making a system Of re-
hgio,ts belief, they first Of all wanted an
answer to the. question, Who is God?'
No one desired to undertake the answer
ing OF that overmastering question. They
finally concluded to give the task to the
youngest man in the assembly, who hap
pened to. be ReY. George Gillespie. He
consented to undertake it on the condi-
ton that they would first unite with him
in prayer for divine direction. He began
his'prayer by saying, 20, God, Thou art a
spirit, infinite, eternal and Interchangeable
in Thy being, wisdom, power, holiness,
justice. goodness and truth" That first
sentence OF Glllespie,s prayer, was unani-
mously adopted by the assembly as the
best definition of God. But, after all, it
everything that language can do when
put ths utmost strain and all we can
see oi God in the natural world and real
sl lze OF isGod in the providenrial word we
are forced to cry out with Job in my text:
..Lo, Eshese are parts of His ways. But
how little portion Of Him is heard ?
But TIE thunder Of Ills power who can
underaand?"
Archbishop Tillotson and Dr. Dick and
of the past and the nlightiest theologiana
OF this young century have discoursed
upon the power Of Cod, the attribute OF
omnipotence. And we have all seen dem
onstration Of Gods ahnlghEiness. It might
have been far out at sch when in an
equinaetial gale God showed what. He
could do with the waters, Itsmight have
been in an August thunderstorm in the
mountains when Cod showed what He
could do with the hghtnings It might
have been in South. Amersca when Goa
showed.What He could dS with the earth
AfTs ynEt I'll 81 lbeen among thu
do with the avalancnes. . OH Chez capllss VIZ
blanched, our breath stopped, our pulses
futtered; our whole being was torrorized
but we had seen only an instance OF di
vine strength. What was the power O.
that storm compared with the powel
which holds all the oceans? What was
| the power that shook the hills compared
| with the power that swings the eartl
| through all the centuries and for 6COt
years, and in formative and incomplete
shape for hundreds Of thousands Of years
What is that power that sustains ou1
world compared with the power whicl
rolls through immensity the entire solar
system and all the constel Nations and gal
axies and the universe? The mighties
intellect of man would give away if for
moment there came upon it the full ap
I pTGCldGlOn O1 WudG +OIluIpOJCICC Is. w Ia
| you and see and hear of divine strength
are only "parts of His ways. But hoy
little portion is heard of Him. But th
thunder Of His power who can under
stand?"
We try to satisfy ourselves with saying
ut is natural law that controls things
Gravitation is at work; centripetal an,
centrifugal forces respond to each other.
But what is natural law It is only God
way of doing things. At every point il
the universe it is Gods direct and con
tinuous power that controls and harmon
ICES and sustains. That power withdraw
one instant would make the planetary sys
tenn and all the worlds which astronom
reveals one universal wreck, bereft hemis
pheres, dismantled sunsets. dead conste
lations, debris of worlds. What power
must be that keeps the internal fires G
our world imprisoned, only here and ther
squirting from Cotopaxi or Strombo
or from Vesuvius, putting Pompeii an
Hercuianeum into sepulcher, but for tn
most part the internal fires chained i
their cages of rock and century after Ger
tury unable to break the chain or burs
open the door! What power to keep tn
component parts of the air in right prt
portion, so that all around the world tn
nations may breathe in health, the frost
and the heats hindercd from working un
versal demolition! Power, as Isaiah say!
-EQ tdhc w tLC Isles SiS@ q VCAv Attl
thing" "-Ceylon and Borneo and Hawa
as though they wee pebbles; S55wwsr
weigh t...,e mountains II Scales and tn
'1hilis in balances '-Tenerife and the Co
dilleras. To move rock we must hay
lever and screw and great machinery, b1
God moves the world with nothing but
word; power to create worlds and powt
I to destroy them, as from the observatori,
, again and again they have been seen re
with flame, then pale with ashes and the
scattered.
IT What is that power to us? asks son
one. It is everything to ue; With Hi
on our side, the reconciled God, the syI
pathetic God the omnipotent God, v
may defy all human and satanic antago
I isms, and when we are shut in by obst
(. cles we can say, as did one of Frobisher
, men when the sailor was describing no
, their ship was surrounded by icebergs
: the Arctic sea, .The ice was strong, b.
: God was stronger than the ice" An
/ whatever opposition we may have, o.
r God is mightier than the opposition.
right with God, we may have the coura
t of the general dying on the battlefel
I He asked to be turned, and when th
said, (Which way shall we turn yous"
said, ssrurn my face toward the enemy
What challenge that was uttered by t
old missionary hero, eff God be for |
> who can be against rs?" Think of
O God is the only being in the universe w
Il hoe pnu,or n do He nIoouoc 4