Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-06-17

WASHINGTON, June 16.-In this dis
course DR.. Talmage raises high eXpec-
tations of the day when that which is
now only dimly seen will be fully re-
vealed; text. Job XVI, II: 'Lo, these
are parts Of his ways. But how little
a portion is heard OF him? But the
thunder of his power who can under
Stand:"
The least understood being in the uni
verse is Cod BlasphemOus would be
any attempt by painting or sculpture
to represent him. Egyptian hieroglyphs
tried to suggest him by putting the fig
ure of an eye upon Il sword, implying
that God sees and rules. but how i'm
perfect the suggestion. When we speak
of him, It is almost always in language
1igurative. He is Light or Day
spring From on High" or he is Il 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 assem-
bled in Westminster abbey for the pur-
pose of making system of religious
belief, they first of all wanted an an
swer TO the question. ''Who is Code"
No one desired to undertake the an
swering of that Overmastering Ques-
ton. T:ey finally concluded to give
the task to the Youngest man in the
assembly. who happened to be Rev.
George Gillespie. He consented to
undertake it 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 a
spirit, infinite. eternal and unchange-
able in thy being. wisdom, power, hOli-
ness. justice. goodness and truth
That first sentence of Gillespie's prayer
was unanimously adopted by the as
sembly as the best definition Of God.
But after all. it was only partial sue
cess, and after everything that Ian
guage 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
providentiaI world we are forced to cry
out with job in my text: 10 these are
parts Of his ways. But how little Il
portion Of him is heard: But the thun-
der Of his DO yer who can understands
Archbishop Tillotson and Or. Dick
and Timothy Dwight and Jonathan
Edwards Of the past and the mightiest
theolocians Of this young century have
attribute OF omnipotencc. And we have
all seen demonstration of Gods al
mightiness. 1t might have been far
out at sea when in an eQUinoctial gale
God showed what he could do with the
waters. 1t might have been in IN Au-
gust thunderstorm in the mountains
when God showed what he could 90
with the Ii@htninGs. 1t might have
been in South America when God show /
ed what he could do with the earth !
quakes. 1t might have been among the I
Alps when God showed what he could |
do with the ayaI3ncheS. Our cheek |
was bIanchel. our breath stopped. our |
pulses 1iUtteTed. our whole being was /
terrOriZel. but we had seen only an liz |
stance OF divine strength. What was |
the power Of that storm compared with |
the power which holds all the oceans? I
What was the power that shook the I
hills compared with the power that I
swings the earth through all the cen /
turtles and for COCO years and in a |
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 sys-
tenn and all the consultations and gal /
aXieS and the universe? The mightiest |
intellect Of man would give away if for
q moment there came upon it the full |
appreciation of what OmnipOtence is.
What you and see and hear of divine
strength are only parts of his ways.
But how little a portion is heard of
him. But the thunder Of his power
who can understands"
Gods Omnipotence.
We try to satisfy ourselves with say
ing: 1T is natural law that controls
things. GravitatiOn is at work; cen
tripetal and centrifugal forces respond
to each other" But what is natural
law? 1t is only Gods way of doing
things. At every point in the universe
it is Gods direct and continuous power
that controls and harmonizes and sus-
tains. That power withdrawn one in
slant 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 inter-
nal fires of our world imprisoned, only
here and there squirting from a COtO-
paXi or StrombOli or from Vesuvius,
putting Pompeii and Herculaneum in
to sepulcher, but for the most part the
internal fires chained in their cages of
rock and century after century unable
to break the chain or burst open the
door. What power to keep the compO-
nent parts of the air in right proper
ton. so that all around the world the
nations may breathe in health, the
frosts and the heats hindered from