The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-05-11
GOD CONSTANTLY
 SHOWS HIS LOVE Strong Sermon by the Rev.
 Sterling J. Foster. MAN CANNOT UNDERSTA AND Our Opinion of God Is insignificant Compared With What He Thinks
 of Us-His Methods Are
 Magnanimous.
MAN CANNOT UNDERSTAND

The Rev. Sterling J. Foster preached a strong sermon at the South Highlands Presbyterian church yesterday morning on the wonderful love God Is constantly showing for His children. taking his text from Romans 5.s God Commendeth His Love to Us. in That While We Were Sin ners Christ died for Us" He said;
 Professor Jowett, the late principal of Baliol college. being asked on one occa- sion by lady. what he thought of God, replied: Madam, 1t matters little In com parison with the tremendously important question, what does God think of me.
 ''In this answer, we find displayed the greatest wisdom. for manifestly, If God be God, the supreme ruler of this uni- verse, holding all things in the hollow of His hand, and before whom we are but atoms in the universe, mere creatures of day, hopelessly unable to contend against Him, it is of the last importance to us, what He thinks of us, and especially, how He feels toward us, for what we think of God and how we feel toward Him, will be largely determined by what we believe He thinks of us, and how He feels to- ward us. There is implanted within us this law of reciprosity, and generally speaking, hate begets hate and malice begets malice, and love begets love. This has been exemplified over and over in the history of the past. When Charles I. suc- ceeded to the throne of England. he found a people loyal and devoted to the throne he was hailed as a most glorious king, who would right the wrongs that had crept into the government and rule ac- cording to the constitution; in other words, the people believed in him, in his love and affection for them.
 All This Was Changed.
 But how soon was all this changed, how soon did it become evident that he was a tyrant, bent upon the distraction of their ancient liberties and the uprooting of their hard won freedom of religion. And then their love was turned into a deep hatred, all love died out of their hearts, and they rose up against him. made war upon him, and at last when they had conquered him, they made him pay the penalty of his crimes with his 
 blood.
 And too. in like manner when Louis XVI. came to the throne of France, he was hailed as the Moses who should lead the people out of the wilderness of their miseries, their hunger and misfor- tunes He was regarded as a king of kindly nature, and in sympathy with the sufferings of his subjects. But their dream was to have a rude awakening for on the other hand, 1t soon developed that he was weak and careless sovereign. dominated by a trivial queen, and human nature could bear no more, and they rose as one man against him, and vented on him all the pent up miseries and disap- pointments of a hundred years of mis- rule
 ''If this be true in earthly govern ments, where misrule and hatred can only bring temporal pain and suffering, how much more true is it, where the suf- ferings and pain are eternal; where we feel our impotence to ward off the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,' and know that we can only be ground up in the process of resisting. It is the sad dest day of life for us, when we reach tHe uhdl cOicluSlon that 'COd does not care And yet how are we to know otherwise? Where can we find the at- titude of God to His creatures? Who can answer the question of all questions. and calm our anxious hearts?
 Nature Cannot Answer.
 Shall we ask of nature? Her answer leaves us still in doubt We see the sun shining brilliantly in the heavens, and the landscape is bathed in its giories, and forest and field are sparkling with the morning dew the fields bring forth their increase and give promise of rich harvests in the autumn, and we say surely God loves us. He who openeth his hand and supplieth the need Of every living crea- ture can have nothing but heart of love for the objects of his bounty. But sud- denly the heavens are overcast, the clouds gather, the thunders tehhify us and the forked ightenings seem to flash out the anger of God, and the cyclone with furious din, sweeps by on it's path way of destruction, and then again we wonder as we gaze on the wreck and ruin, if God cares.
 'br we are seated in our homes, with smiling peace over the land, and our children playing around Us with innocent joy and in our contentment we look up and say surely God loves us after al But the pestilence that 'walketh by noon- day, or the arrow that fiieth by night comes nigh our dwelling, and on the morrow the solemn tolling of the bell tells of another new made grave, and we sit down again in limp confusion and won- der again.
 Is Tossed To and Fro.
 And so it Is we toss to and fro, halting between two opinions. unable to solve the tragic mystery of life and death asked an old gentleman SC ie years since, who had passed his three score