Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1903-11-21

our robes washed air1 made WHITE IN the
blood of the Lamb. Til then, goodbye.
That which they had was metal polished
on one surface; sometimes OF silver; but
ascaly it was y round piece OF metal pol
shed as well as they could DO it. to which
was attached handle. Now, yau can see
such mirror would rot reflect clearly. as
our splendid mirrors do, the images that
were before it. Now it is that furnished
the Apostle Paul with this striking illus
tration: For now we see in mirror, IN a
riddle"
Why, the gospel Itself, is as camera OBJ
scura, in which we see reflected the things
nj eternity. What we see is not the thing
itself, but only the reflection of it. What
we see cannot be the thing itself, but only
the reflection of it. That is what the gos-
pei is. The fourfo.d gospel does not give
lis the living Christ; it only gives the i'm
age of the living Christ. Il is imperfect in
Ear as the reflector will give only an I'M
perfect image of the reality, and we must
never forget the fact that what we are
looking upon in spiritual things is not the
objects themselves, but only the Tefec-
lions. Nor must we forget that the defi-
hilton is made enigmatic, that the objects
look like riddles to US also, because the eye
Of the soul has not clear vision. What we
see, depends on what our heart is. How
often we are troubled by the mists and
fogs that arise from the lower levels OF orr
own lives. How often you and L know
what it is to be lost in the fogs that settle
down upon us as the racing yachts were
lost the, other day in their final reach for
the goal; utterly lost, hidden themselves
and hidden from I'll ahc:l: them: and Like
the challenger, we are apt to get out OF
pur course and lose time in the race for the
goal. So we must not forget that Goth the
mirror and the eye that sees contribute to-
ward the enigmas of our life and the enlr'
Glas that surround us.
Let us look for moment or two at
LIES riddles as they relate to God Him.
the multitudes of men who find it hard to-
gee God. They hear from the pulpit OF
Gods omniscience, His omnpresence, His
eternity, He fills immensely, God is spirit. =
Now, what sort of an idea can man get
from these descriptions of the, Eternal?
And he hears . "Y on must love Goas that at
far as duty is concerned. is this, Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with al thy soul, and with all
thy mind" And he says to Us, "How can
love Him? He is inconceivab.e to me. L
cannot ,rm an image of Him. l cannot
zee Him to know Him, to love Him"
than many theologians do; So He said,
the, "Utterance of God," the Word, shall
come into human relations; He shall take
on Him, the nature of man; He shall de-
scend the ladder of divinity, cMptying
Himself, until He reaches the lower rungs
Of humanity, until He shall move in the
valley of human life so that men can touch
That men can look upon His face and in
hearing Him and in touching Him and in
seeing Him, they shall hear and touch and
see the living God.
God cannot be seen by any eye: there is
no mirror large enough to reflect Him, and
even in that which is '.the express image
of His person." the Christ l have been
said only q moment ago, only the reflection
of Him. We do not see Jesus; we only
see the image of Jesus in this fourfold or
iivefoid mirror, the New Testament. am
saying this in order to relieve s,.eptic
minds of real difficulties. I am saying this
to relieve Christians of real difficulties.
d, The one thing we need to cultivate above
that we see God when we do not. We
should not pretend to have larger visions
than we possess. When it is impossible
for lis to have a clean, clear cut definition,
we should simp,y wait and realize with the
Apostle Paul that what we see is really in
q mirror, and makes it look like riddles to
us very often.
We are puzzled over the mystery of the
incarnation. How could God come down
Our unenlightened friends are trying hard
to eliminate the miracle of the incarnation
from theology. They had better realize
their limits; there are lines in the imaga
we cannot understand. The mystery of the
Trinity. Who can comprehend thai august
doctrine? We must simply wais. There
are SO. many things we cannot compass
IN chn lind npYS
hopelessly landed in the foes. We just
want to remember that what We have, even
in the Bible. is only q mirror in which we
see. as only in a riddle, the realities.
Now let us notice again life's riddles as
they relate themselves to ourselves. What
strange Gro Atures we are. What strange
things you and l sometimes do! How UNI
dies we are to ourselves! Can you under
stand why you took a given course the
other day? You step aside from your own
Ideals and your own predeterminations, as
to what your. career should be. Can you
understand why You said those. things the
do those things? How often men have SAID
to me, II cannot understand myself; ] do
not understand why I did that thing WHY,
really, [ cannot explain it," You cannot,
unsaved person, you cannot explain why
You remain in a state of alienation from
God. Ii what the Bible says is true, there.
is pending over You an endless hell, or
there is availing for you an endless life OF
bliss. Now, would you not think that such
alternatives, "a kingdom or wrath" open
to you, YOU would settle the great ques-
ton? Why, some Of YOU have lived FOR
sixty years with the greatest problem in
the universe still unso,ved. It has been
my privilege to deal VITA Il great many
men wno had lived until they were thirty
or forty or fifty years old, and many OF
them have said, I cannot understand why
I did rot yield before. What riddles we
are to ourselves! How strangely we act! .
How often men fail in their strongest
point! Why, you would say, for instance,
that al Elijah would never be found a
qualling coward, whining under juniper
tree: u man who could defy tire king and,
what is worse, defy the woman. the wife
of the king. falling down and asking that
he might die. Elijah is not the only one
Some men that you know have failed, when
they failed, in their very strongest point.
What an enigma we are to ourselves. Who
can understand himself? 1 would give
more to know my own self than oil else
beside, save God and Jesus Christ.
But look at the enigma Of so many lives
suffering. Why is it that there is so much
suffering? Why is it that some of the best
people are crucified so awful.y? Why is it
that some of the most refined souls have
the arrows driven furthest into their auiv-
e~ing hearts? Do you know why? Can
You explain it? Can you explain the re-.
verses that come, and come to the very
best OF people! Do you know why some
of the noblest of men and women are re-
duccd from comfort, from afirence,
through the meanness of their own chill
ri, l,n Ifxy Of f,.,c Il