Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-06-19

Sthat which is now only dimly seen
will be fully revealed; text, JOB XVI, IA,
''Lo, these are parts Of his ways but
how little portion is heard OF him! But
the thunder Of his power who can under
stand?"
The least understood being in the uni
verse is God Blasphemous would he
any attempt by painting or sculpture TO
represent him. Egyptian hieroglyphs
tried TO suggest him by putting the figure
OF an eye upon a sword, implying that
God sees and rules. but how imperfect
the suggestion. When we speak of him,
it is almost always in language figuratiye.
He is Light" or "Dayspring> from on
High" or he is a High Tower" or the
Fountain OF Living Waters" His splen-
dor is so great that no man can see him
and live. When the group of great theo-
logians assembled in Westminster Abbey
for the purpose of making a system of re-
ligious belief, they first of all wanted an
answer TO the question. who is God"
= No one desired - undertake the answer
ing of that oS ermastering question. They
finally concluded to give the task to the
youngest man in tie assembly, who hap
pened to be Rev. George Gillespie. He
consented TO undertake ii on the condition
that they would first unite with him in
prayer for divine direction. He began
his prayer by saying, 20 God, thou art q
spirit. infinite, eternal and Interchangeable
in thy being. wisdom, power, holiness,
justice, goodness and truth" That first
sentence of Gillespie's prayer was unani-
mously adopted by the assembly as the
best definition of God But, after all, it
was only a partial success, and after ev-
erything that language can do when put
to the utmost strain and all we can see of
God in the natural world and realize of
God in the proyidential world we are
forced to cry out with Job in my text:
10, these are parts OF his ways. But
how little portion is heard of him? But
the thunder Of his power who can under
standT
Archbishop Tillotson and DIR. Dick and
Timothy Dwight and Jonathan EdN ards
OF the past and the mightiest theologiAns
of this young century have discoursed up
on the power of God, the attribute Of
omnipotence. And we have all seen de-
monstrations of Gods almightiness. 1t
might have been far out at sea when in
an eQuinoctial gale God showed wha, he
could do with the waters. 1t might have
been in an August thunderstorm in the
mountains when God showed what he
could do with the lightnings. 1t might
have been in South America when God
showed what he could do with the earth
quakes. 1t might have been among the
Alps when God showed what he could
do with the avalanches. Our cheek was
blanch T. our breath stopped, our pulses
futtered. our whole being was terrorized,
but we had seen only an instance of d.
vine strength. What was the power of
that storm compared with the power
which holds all the oceans? What was
the power that shook the hills compared
with the power that swings the earth
through all thes centuries and for 5000
years and in formative and incomplete
shape for hundreds of thousands of
years? What is that power that sustains
our world compared with the power
which rolls through immensely the entire
solar system and all the consultations
and galaxies and the universe? The
mightiest intellect of man would give
way if for a moment there came upon
it the full appreciation of what omnipo-
tence is. What you and SEQ and hear
of divine strength are only parts of his
ways. But how little portion is heard
of him. But the thunder of his power
who can understand"
Coils Way of Doing.
We try to satisfy ourselves with say
ing, sit is natural law that controls
things, gravitation is at work, centripetal
and centrifugal forces respond to each
other" But what is natural law? 1t is
only Gods way of doing things. At ey
cry point in the universe it is Gods direct
and continuCls power that controls and
ba~ and ctIStniDG That noXyar
withdrawn one instant would make the
planetary system and all the worlds
which astronomy reveals one universal
wreck bereft hemispheres. dismantled
sunsets, dead consultations. debris Of
worlds. What power it must be that
keeps the internal fires OF our world inn
prisoned-only here and there squirting
from a Cotopaxi, or a Stromboli, or from
a Vesuvius, putting Pompeii and Hercu
laneum into sfpulcher. but for the most
part the internal fires chained in their
cages of rock and century after century
una Bile to break the chain or burst open
the door! What power to keep the com
ponent parts of the air in right proper
ton, so that all round the world the ma
tons may breathe in health, the frosts
and the heats hindered from working
universal demolition! Power. as Isaiah
says, TO take up the isles as 4 very lit
tie thing" Ceylon ana Borneo and Ha
wall as though they were pebbles; power
to weigh the mountains in scales" and
the hills in balances '-Tenerife and the
Cordilleras.
What IS that power to US: asks some
one. 1t is everything to US. With him
on our side. the reconciied God. the SYM
pathetic Coo, the omnipotent God, we
may defy all human and satanic antago-
nisms. And when we are shut in by Oh
stacles We can say as did one of Frobish-
IRIS men when the sailor was describing
how their ship was surrounded by ice
bergs in the Arctic sea. The ice was
strong but God was stronger than the
ice" and whatever opposition we may
have our God is rcichtier than the oppo
sition. All right with tod. nc may have
the courage of the general dying OH the
battlefield lie asked to be turned. and
when they said. (Which way shall we
turn von?.' ne said Turn my face to-
ward the enemy" What challenge
that was uttered by the old missionary
hero. "Tf God bo for US, who can he
against us?' Thnk OF It, God is the
Oaly bcius in the universe who has power
to do as he pleases All human and
angelic forces have environments. There
are things they cannot do: heights they
cannot scale: depths they cannot fathom.
Whateyer their might and velocities'
4bey are servants Of omnip8tence,