Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-06-21

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-
yealed; text, Job XVI, IA: 10, these
are parts of his ways. But how little
n 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. BlaspheInous would be
any attempt by painting or sculpture
10 represent him. Egyptian hierog,yphs
tried to suggest him by putting the fig
ure or an eye upon sword. implying
that God sees and rules. but how i'm
perfect the suggestion! When we speak
OF him, II is almost always in language
tgurative. He is Light or DAY
spring From on High" or he is n "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 n system of religious
belief. they first of all wanted an an
swer to the question, "Who is God?'
~'O OhC oScACo W tue uH-
swering of that overmastering ques-
ton. They finally concluded to give
the task to the youngest man in the
assembly, who happened 70 be Rev.
George Gillespie. He consented to
undertake it on the condition that they
would first unite with him I'm 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 Glllespie'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
proyidential world we are forced to cry
out with Job In my text: "Lo. these are
parts or his ways. But how little a
portion of him is heard7 But the thun-
der OF his power who can understands
Archbishop Tillotson and DIR. Dick
and Timothy Dwight and Jonathan
Edwards Of the past and the mightiest
theologians of this young century have
discoursed upon the power of God, the
attribute OF omnipotence. And we have
oil seen demonstration of Gods al
mfghtiness. 1t might have been far
cat az sea when in an equinoctial gale
We'd snovvd what he could do with the
vnteeA II might have been In an Au-
49, thunderstorm In the mountains
e'4so 0od allowed what he could do
$50 zoe HghtningS 1t might have
S0eH ID south America when God show
- what he could do with the earth
suakes- IA might have been among the
Alps when God showed what he could
Go with the avalanches. Our cheek
was blanched- our breath stopped, our
pulses huttered, our whole being was
terrorized, but we had seen only an in
stance OF divine strength. What was
the power Of that storm compared with
the power which holds oil the oceans :?
What was the power that shook the
bills compared with the power that
swings the earth through oil the GEN.
turies and for 1000 years and I'm n
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-
TEN and all the consultations and gal
sxies and the universe? The mightiest
intellect OF man would give away IL for
a 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.
m a..
him! But the thunder OF his power
who can understand
Gods Omnfpotence.
We try TO satisfy ourselves with say
Ing: at is natural law that controls
things. Gravitation is at work; CEN
tripetal and centrifugal forces respond
10 each other" But what is natural
law? 1t is only Gods way of doing
things AT every point I'm the Universe
Ii Is Gods direct and continuous power
that controls and harmonizes and sus-
tains- That power withdrawn one in
stunt 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 1t must be that keeps the inter-
nal hres Of our world imprisoned, only
here and there squirting from a Coto-
paxi or n Stromboli or from Vesuvius.
putting Pompeli and HercuIaneum in
10 sepulcher, but for the most part the
internal fires chained In their cages of
rock and century after century unable
10 break the chain or burst open the
door! What power to keep the compo-
nent parts OF the air In right proper
ZION. so that all around the world the
hauons may breathe In health. the |
frosts and the heats hlndered from |
working universal demolition! Power.
as Isaiah says, Ito take up the isles a s |
a very little thing''-Ceylon and Borneo |
and Hawaii as though they were peb-
pies; power to weigh the mountains |
IN scales" and the hills In balances
Tenerife and the Cordilleras. To move
rock we must have lever and screw |
aud great machinery, but God moves |
the world with nothing but a word; |
power TO create worlds and power to |
destroy them. as from the Observable |
ries again and again they have been |
seen red with fame, then pale with |
ashes and then scattered.
What Is that power to US? asks soua
one. 1t is everything to us. With him
on OR side, the reconciled God, the
sympathetic Ged. the omnipotent God,
NE may defy eli human and satanic
antasonisms. and when we are shut In
oy OBSTACLES we can say, as did one of
srooisAers men when the sailor was
describing how their ship was sur
rounded by icebergs in the Arctic sea.
Inc Ice was strong. but God was
stronger than the ice" And, whatever
opposition we may have. our God is
mightier than the opposition. All right
with God, we may have the courage of
tue general dying on the battlefield.
de asked to be turned, and when they
said, Which way shall we turn your
ne said, Turn my face toward the en-
envy What challenge that was ut
hn DI1