Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-01-11

~~N-~S "Ath AttNih nOlOCdUSI OF UCStfOX-
cd manhood and womanhood. What
blasphemies assail the heavens, What
butcheries sicxen the centuriesl What
professions of crime and atrocity and
woe encircle the globei IL justice had
spoken. IL would have said. '"The world
deserves humiliation. and let annihi-
iation come" IL in,mutability had
spoken. il would have said: ~ have nj
ways been opposed to wickedness and
always Will be opposed to il. The
world is 60 me an affront infinite and
away with it?' IL omniscience had
spoken. IL would have said, II have
watched that planet with minute and
all comprehensive inspection. and I
cannot have the offense longer contin-
ued." IL truth had spoken, il would
have said. II declare that they who Of
fend the law must 20 down under the
law. But divine love took different
view of the worlds obduracy and pol
luton. 1t said: 81 pity all those woes
or the earth. cannot stand here and
see no assuagemcnt of those sufferings.
| Will go down and reform the world.
l Will medicate its wounds. I VII
calm its frenzy. l will wash OFF it's
pollution. ! will become incarnated.
l viii take on my shoulders and upon
my brow and into my heart the con-
sequences OF that worlds misbeha vior.
l start now, and between my arrival
at Bethlehem ana my ascent from OIL
vet l viii weep their tears and suffe,,
their griefs ana die their death. Fare
well, my throne. my crown. my scep-
ter, my angelic environment, my hcav-
en-, till have finished the work and
come backY' God was never conquer
cd but once, and that was when he was
conquered by his own love. "God is
love-
In this day, when the creeds of
churches are being revised, let more
emphasis be put upon the thought of
my text. Let 1t appear at the begin
ming of every creed and at the close.
The ancients used to tell of a great
military chieftain who, about to GO to
battle, was clad in armor, helmet on
head and sword at side, and who nut
out his arms to give farewell embrace
to his child. and the child, affrighted Mt
his appearance, ran shrieking away.
Then the father put Off the armor that
caused the alarm, and the child saw
who he was and ran into his arms and
Struggled against his heart. Creeds
must not have too much iron in their
make up, terrorizing rather than at
tracing. They must not hide the smil-
ing face and the warm heart of our
Father. God. Let nothing imply that
there is a sheriff at every door ready
TO make arrest, but over us all and
around US all n mercy that wants to
save and save now.
Why the Bible Was Written.
If one paragraph of the creed seems
to take you. like n child, out of the
arms of father, let the next para
graph put you in the arms of mother.
AS one whom his mother comforteth
so will | comfort you" oh. what
mother we have in God, And my text
is the lullaby sung to us when we are
III or when we are maltreated or when
we are weary or when we are trying TO
do better or when we are bereft or
when we ourselves lie down TO the last
sleep. We feel the warm cheek of the
mother against our cheek, and there
sounds in ii the hush of many mothers.
God is love-"
This was the reason the Bible was
written. The world needs no inspired
page to tell il that God will chastise
sin, for that is proved I'm the life OF |
many an offender. You can look through |
the wicket of any prison and see the
TACT which the world understood thou |
sands or years before Solomon wrote Il. |
The way OF the transgresSor Is hard" |
The world needed no Bible to tell Il |
that God is omnipotent. for any one |
who has seen Mont Blanc or Niagara |
or the Atlantic ocean I'm n cyclone
knows that. The world needed no 81. |
bic TO tell II OF Gods wisdom. for cv. |
erything, from a spiders web TO the
upholstery or summers sunset. from
the globe of dewdrop TO the rounding
of world, declares that. But there
was one secret about God that was
wrapped mp I'm n scroll OF parchment.
and II staid there until apostolic hand
unrolled that scroll and let out upon
The world the startling fact, which II
could never have surmised, never
guessed, never expected, that he loved
our human race so ardently that he
VIII pardon sin and subdue the Offend
II with divine kiss and turn foaminy
halefactors into worshipers before the
hrone- Oh, L am so glad that the Sc
ret Is out and that it can never again
pc yelled! Tell il to all the SHINING
suffering, dying race, tell il In song and
sermon on canvas and In marble. on
'rch and pillar; tell 1t all around the
,arth-"God IL love"
Notice that the wisest men OF the
iations for thousands OF years did not
amid their idolatrics make something
o represent this feeling, this emotion.
ihey had Jove, representing night:
Neptune, the god of the sea; Minerva
ne goddess OF wisdom; Venus, the god
less OF base appetite; Ceres, the god.
less OF corn, and an Odin and an Osiris
ma Titan and Juggernaut and
whole pantheons of gods and goddess
y, but no shrine, no carved image. no
culptured form. has suggested n god
Il pure love. That was beyond human
ram. IL took God TO think that,
fod TO project that, God let down
rom heaven to achieve that.
False Religions.
rear is the dominant thought I'm all
alse religions. For that the deyotees
Ut themselves with lances and swing
n iron hooks and fall under wheels
no hold up the right arm Sc long that
hey cannot take it down. Fear. bru-
sh fear! But love is the queen in our
eiigion. For that we build TEMPLES. I
or that we kneel at our affairs. For
aat we contribute our aims. For that i.
lartyrs suffered at Brussels market
lace and at Lucknow and Cawnpur
nd Peking. That will yet bejewel the I
'und earth and put it an emerald ON
he great, warm, throbbing heart of !
cd. +
Inc world has had many specimens
siandered men and women, their mo- {
YES slandered, their habits slandered Z
siandered until they got out of the {
orld and then PERTAINS honorad nv o