The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-11-20

.slcd IS wel as they could Go u. 20 which
IVES attached a handle Now, You can see
such mirror would rot reflect clearly. ~
Cur sp,encid mirrors do, the imasSs ths;
were before IL Now II - that furnished
the Apostle Paul with this striking illus
tratiou. For now We see IN mirror, ~ a
I.ddle'
Why the gospel itself. is as a camera OBJ
sclga IN which we see reflected the things
OF eternity What we see Is not the thing
itself, bu; only the reflection OF IL What
We see cannot be the thlag itself. but only
the reflection oi Il. That Is what the gos.
pei is. The touylo.d gospel does not give
u the living Christ; Il only gives the I'M
axe Of the living Christ. IL IL imperfect IN
50 iaI as man has had par; m II. and IN So
FAR as the reflector VIII give only an ,m.
perfect image O! the reality, ana We must
never Jorge, the fact that what we are
looking upon IN splutUal things i not the
objects themselves, bat only the rc.eC-
tlons. Nor must We forget that the den
n!uOn a. made enlgmaAc, that The objects
look ike riddles 10 " 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 hy the mists and
fogs that ARISE from the lower levels Of our
own hyes. How often you and | know
what 10 l. 10 be lost IN the iogs that settle
down upon Us as the racing yachts were
lost the other day IN their tnal reach FOR
the goal; utterly lost hidden themselves
and hidden from all about them, and like
the challenger We are apt 20 get oGt OF
our Course and lose time lu the race for the
goal. 80 We must not forget that both the
mirror and the eye that sees contribute to
ward tire enlemas OF our life and the eng
mas tina; surround Us
Let us look for momon, or two AZ
lIie's riddles as they relate 20 God HIM
sell Now, ] have a deal OF sympathy for
the multitude, OF men who and Il hard 90
see God They hear from the pulpit OF
Gods omu science, His omnlprcsenoc, HIS
eternity, lie nils lmmeuslty, God Is spirit.
Now, what sort OF an idea can a man get
from these descriptions OF the Eternal
And he hears, You must love God that
the sum total of the gospel IN a word, 80
far as duty Is concerned. Is this, Thou
snalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind And he says 10 NJ, How can
/ love Him: He Is inconceiNab.e TO me. /
cannot form an image OF HIM. | cannot
see Hin TO know Him, TO love Him
Now God understands this heap better
than many theoiogians do. 50 He sald,
the "UttoranCc Of God the Word. shall
come into human relations; lie shall take
on Hi.. 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
Him, so that men can hear HIS voice. 50
that men can look upon His face and IN
hearing Him and IN touching Him and in
seeing Him they shall hear and touch aud
see the living God.
God cannot be seen bv any eve; there is
no mirror large enough 10 reflect Him. and
even IN that which Is "the express image
OF His person the Christ | have been
talking about, we have been seeing, as /
- ~ n,
of HIM. We DO not see Jesus; we only
sec the image of Jesus IN this iouTi0ld or
tIveiold mirror, the New Testament. ! am
saving tins in order 10 relieve skeptc
minds OF real difficulties. ] am saying this
10 roncvo Christians OF real difficulties
Inc one thing we need to cultivate above
all else Is sincerity. We should not say
that we see God when we do not We
should not pretend 10 have larger visions
than we possess. When II ls impossi bic
for us 10 have clean, clear cut definition
we should simply wait and realize with the
Apostle Paul that what we see is really IN
a mirror, and makes II look Ike riddles TO
MS very often.
We are puzzled over the mystery of the
incarnation. How could God come down
and c'othe Himself IN an infant Of days
Our uneni.chteued friends are trying hard
10 eliminate the miracle OF the incarnation
from theOiocv They had better rearize
their limits, there are lines IN the image
we cannot understand. The mystery of the
Trinity. Who can comprehend that august
doctrine; We must simply wait. There
are so many things We cannot compass
that II We try 90 VIC shall find ourselves
EOpCless.Y landed IN the iOgs We lust
want TO remember that what we have, even
IN the Bible. IL only n mirror in which We
see. as only IN a riddle, the realities
Now let us notice again lies riddles as
q In a. frfr .g1f|tH l.v
strange creatures we are. What strange
things you and ! sometimes do How un-
pcCountaD.y We sometimes act What rid
dies we are to ourselves Can you under.
stand whv YOU took a given course the
other day. You step aside from your own
ideals aud your own pgeGeterminauons, rs
TO what your career should be Can YOU
understand why You sand those things the
other day; Why YOU were so bind as to
DO those things How often mon have sand
to me, 81 cannot understand myself; do
rot understand why did that thing. Why,
really, ! cannot explain it, You cannot,
unsaved person, you cannot cSp,aln why
YOU remain IN O. state Of alienation from
God il what the Bible says 10 true there
ls pending over you an endless hell, or
there II avaIling for you an endless life Of
bliss. Now. would vOu not think that such
alternatives, "a kingdom or wrath" open
70 you, you would settle the great Quee-
ton Why, some OF YOU have lived for
sixty years with the greatest problem ia
the universe still unao.vei. II has been
my privilege 20 deal with a great many
men who had lived until they were thirty
or forty or nifty years old, and many o.:
them have saId. ] cannot understand why
] did not yield before. What riddles we
ere 70 ourselves How strangely we act.
How often men fail IN their strongest
pJlnti Why, YOU would say, for instance,
Jh1t an Elijah would never be found a
quakIng coward, whining under n juniper
tree, 4 man VINO could DEFY the king aud,
what ia worse. DEFY the woman, the wife
Of the king falling down and asking that
he might die. EIJal is not the only one.
Some men that YOU know have failed when
they failed, IN their very strongest point.
What an en- gina we are % ourselves Who
cen understand EIusc.y ] would give
more 10 know ny own self tnan all else
beside, save God and jesus Christ.
But oOk az the enigma OF 20 many lives
Take. for instance, the problem of personal
suffering. Whv "a 10 that there D. 50 much
suffering? WY ls ). shat some OF the best
people are erIciEcd 30 awiully, Why is II
that some OF the most refined souls have
the arrows driven furthest into their quIv-
ering hearts, Do you know Why; Can
you explain IT. Cen you explain the re-
verses that come, and come 20 the very
best n ueOpley Do YOU know why some
o. the nob'cst % men aud women are re
cIccd from comfort, from afiiuence,
through the meanness Of Their own chil.
dreu oT through the rascah'y OF trusted
friends. 20 almost penury,
/ know a woman of refined. sensitive
spirit, VINO has been for more than 4 third
ct a century crJcihed 90 a wooden man.
srmc preacher. Cf course herself consent.
iag, more thaa n third Of century united
her o. tha. wooden man. ! am not draw.
nr upon NJ Imagination, j have them