Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1902-06-11
THE LIFE ETERNAL.
BY Rev, Gardner 5. EIdri1ge. d. d


And Il is life eternal. that they might
know thee. the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom thou hast scnt.-7ionn
Nvii.. 3.
What our life is to be will depend large
ly upon our conception of God. We grow
up in the likeness Of cur God, Ii our
God is arbitrary we will be arbitrary.
There are men who worship not a ration
al God. hut an arbitrary God, and their
life is just as arbitrary as their God. Ii
cur God is auStere our life will be aus
tere. If our God is narrow--distinetly
outlined with our theological pencil-then
our life will be narrow and intolerant,
ready to antagonize every soul that can
not live and move and have its being in
our own little circle. A few minutes
conversation with a n9n win very often
betray the character OF his God. 1t is
important for true be that we know
the true God. This is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ. whom thou hast
sent"
To know God ! must stand face to face
with him. | must hear him speak must
catch his eye. must walk by his side
through all the joys and sorrows through
dll Tue great tTdHSaGtIpHs VI ms -
truth God cannot be defined TO you, but
he has defined himself Where? In Je-
sus Christ, not Carlyle, not Plato. not
Abraham, but Jesus Christ. and when
you want to teach God to your little boy.
do not try to teach him by way of far
| fetched definitions, but take him by the
| hand and lead him to Jesus Christ. and
whisper God to him. See him as he
stands there in quiet, modest majesty,
and says, Peace, be still" TO the angry
waves. That is God, the true God.
There are people who only see God in
the waves, but there he is above the
waves. See him as he meets the widow
| of Main, with bis great-hearted sympa-
thy, as she journeys toward the grave,
saying, Weep not" That is the true
God. When | hear a voice coming to me
out of this book, ike the sound of many
waters speaking now in laundering ac-
cents Of wrath till sin blanches with fear,
and now in those other world tones borne
| in from distant shores that seem to lift
| and bear my life beyond its meaner
sphere, or in the low rhythmic measure
tAat bushes the outburst of grief. then
my heart says, This is the true God;
let my soul rest there"
| To know the true God is life eternal
Where shall we find him, in the heaYensf
We take our astronomical staff In haad
and journey up to the skies. We knock
at the celestial door and ask, rs tod
hereY' and we come back to say, There
is no God there" With geological ham
mer in hand we walk into the fields and
in at the granite doors, and we come
back to say, He is not there" But did
you expect to find God there? Did YOU
find any rocks in the heavens: Did yen
| find any planets in the fields? Look into
the fields and look into the book for God.
Yes, but God is not equally revealed ev-
erywhere There may be no God in Lap
| loni's heaven, but there is God in New
tons heaven; there is a God III Dayid's
heaven; there is God in your heaven.
| How shall we search for God? With
| critics eve. Then do you know what
you will get? Just what you are looking
| for You will get a bundle of Moses
mistakes. You will get Jonah's whale
and Joshua's sun. There is nothing
more pitiable in this world than the lit
| tie critic who is never able t" burst the
veins of mere criticism, going up in the
broad mountains of God and putting his
| finger down here and there, saying. Here
| is a mistake and there is a mistake"
| Coming down into the valley of suffering
humanity. not with the balm Of syinpa-
| thy. but with the vinegar of criticism,
| leating over the pages of this book and
finding fault with this period and that.
| How shall we know God? Just as we
know anything else. by faith and demon
stration, not the demonstration of the
schoolmaster. not the demonstration OF
| the theologian, but the demonstration Of
the spirit But says some one. Il have
| trouble about believing, | cannot be-
| lieve" Then you are an anomaly. To
demonstrate that a seed has life i must
be planted in the earth, and then ii win
blossom into thing of beauty. ] come
to YOU with Jesus Christ. ! say the true
God is there You say we will test him,
we will prove him. We must have a denl-
onstration. Bring out the philosophers,
bring out the critics. bring ont the theo-
Iocians. You shall know him by demon
stration, but not by demonstration of
men. but by the demonstration of the
spirit plant in thy life. Set him in thy
heart. and there he will grow and bios.
som forth in all the glory of godliness.
This Is the rock, this is the foundation.
Gods philosophy of life is very simple
He made the body out of dust. He
breathed the soul in from himself. To
know the dust is science. To know God
is religion. To know the dust is life tenn
poral. TO know God is life eternal. ]
confess | do not know how Christ is both
human and divine; do not know how the
two natures blend in one; | do not know
how the two wills are welded together;
I c9nnot fathom the infinite; | cannot rise
to its height. What better would my life
be If / could? But know ] sus Christ;
for when his righteousness had settled
upon my soul his sunlight awakened me
to a new day, new life.