The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1901-06-21
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY The NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject The Nature OF God - The Least
Understood Being In the Universe -
Evidence Of Divine Power - Gods In
Unite Love-His Natur. Never Changes


Dr. Ialmage raises high expectations of
the day when that which Is now only
dimiy seen Will be fully revealed text,
JOB NXvl, IA: 10. these are parts OF His
ways, But how httle portion Is heard
OF him: But the thunder OF HIS power
who can understand
The least understood being in the uni
verse Is God. B!asphem0us would be any
attempt by painting or sculpture to rep
resent HIM. EsyT~ian hleroglyphs tried
10 suggest Him by putting the figure of
an eye upon sword, implying that God
sees and rules, tGt how imperfect the sug.
gestioni When we speak OF Him il is al.
most always in a language hgurative. He
Is Light or "Dayspring From on High"
or lie Is High Tower or the "Foun-
tain OF Living Waters" Has splendor is
so great that no man can see HIM and
live. When the group of great theolog-
lans assembled IN Westminster Abbey
Tor the purpose OF making a system of re-
hglous belief they first OF all wanted an
answer 10 the question. Who Is Godg"
No one desired TO undertake the answer
ing OF that oYermasterlng question. They
hnally concluded 10 give the task 10 the
youngest man IN the assembly, who hap.
pened 10 be Rev. 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
hls prayer by saying, 20 God Thou art a
spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable
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 IL
was only a partial success. and after
everything that language can do when
put to the utmost strain and all we can
see OF God IN the natural world and real
lze OF God IN the provldential world we
are forced TO cry out with Job in my text
'Lo, these are parts of His ways But
But the thunder of His power who can
understand"
Archbishop Tillotson and Dr. 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 all seen dem
onstration of Gods almightiness. IL might
have been far out at sea when in an
equlnoctial gale God showed what He
could do with the waters. IL 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
blanched, our breath stopped our pulses
tuttered, our whole being was terrorized
but we had seen only an instance of di-
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 the centuries and for G0O0
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 immensity the entire solar
system and all the consultations and gal.
axies and the universe? The mchtiest
intellect OF man would give away II for a
moment there came upon 10 the full aD-
probation of what omnipotence Is. What
you and | see and hear OF divine strength
are only parts of His wavs. But how
little a portion is heard of Him. But the
thunder OF HIS power who can under.
stand?
We try to satisfy ourselves with saying
'lt is natural law that controls things.
Gravitation is at work. centripetal and
centrifugal forces respond 10 each other"
But what IL natural law! IL is only Gods
way OF doing things. At every point in
the universe 1t is Gods direct and con-
tinuous power that controls and harmon
ICES and sustains. That power withdrawn
one instant would make the planetary sys.
TEN and all the worlds which astronomy
reveals one universal wreck, bereft hemis-
pheres, dismantled sunsets, dead constel.
lations, debris Of worlds What power it
must be that keeps the internal fires of
our world imprisoned, only here and there
squirting from a Cotopaxi or a Strombol
or from a Nesuvlus, putting Pompeii and
Herculaneum into sepulcher, but for the
most part the internal fires chained in
their cages of rock and century after cen.
tury unable to break the chain or burst
open the door! What power 10 keep the
component parts of the air in right pro-
portion, so sASA all around the world the
nations may breathe in health, the frosts
and the heats hindered from working uni.
versal demolition Power, as Isaiah says,
ito take up the isles as a very little
thing'-Ceylon and BOrneo and Hawaii
as though they were pebbles; power 20
weigh the mountains IN scales and the
"hills in balance" and the Cor.
dileras. To move a rock we must have
lever and srew and great machinery, but
God moves the world with nothing but a
word power 20 create worlds and power
90 destroy them, as from the observatOries
again and again they have been seen red
with flame, then pale with ashes and then
scattered.
What is that power 10 u.s. asks some
one. IL IS everything 10 us. With Him
pathetic God, the omnipotent God, we
may DEFY all human and satanic antagoa-
isms and when we are shut IN by ob8ta
ces we can say, az did one Of Frobisher's g
men when the sailor was describing how
their snip was surrounded by icebergs IN
the Arctic sea. "Ihe ice was strong, but
God was stronger than the ice" And
whatever opposition we may have, our
God IL michtier than the opposition. All
right with God, we may have the courage
OF the general dying on the battlefield
He asked 20 be turned. and when they
said, (which way shall we turn you" he
said. Turn my face toward the enemy
What challenge that was uttered by the
old missionary hero, III God be for M
who can be against US" Think OF 80
God is the only being IN the universe who
has power 20 do az He pleascs. All hu-
man and angelic forces have environments.
There are things they cannot DO heights
they cannot scale, depths they cannot
fathom.
We get some little idea Of the divine
power when we see how ~ buries the
proudest cities and nations Ancient
Memphis 1t has ground up until many of
its ruin are no larger than your thumb
nail. and YOU can hardly find a souvenir
large enough TO remind you 81 your visit.
The city of Tyre j. under the sea which
washes the shore on which are only a few
crumbling pillars left. SodOm and Go
morrah are covered By waters 30 deathful
that not a FISH can live in them Babylon
and Nineveh are 20 blotted out OF exist
cnce that not one uniniured shaft of their
ancient splendOr remains Nothing but
omnipotence could have put them down
and put them under The antedluvian
world was able % send % the postdilu-
Wan world only one ship. wi.h a very
small passenger list Omnipotence first
rolled the geas over the land and then
told them 20 20 back % their usual chan.
nels a. Svers and lakes and oceans. A.
OfnnipOtent command the waters DOunc
inc uuon their urey and A. Ouuuirotonf