The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-11-13

steszs1tzskelszlSlslSsg fully in agree
RAsI0R- -RUSsELD ment with his
presentation. His
text was. "That in the Ages to come
He might show the exceeding riches
OF His grace in His loving kindness to.
ward us in Christ Jesus" CEphesians
Il, ~ He said in part
Following In the footsteps of our fa-
Tiers, who handed down to us our
present day creeds. we have misun.
derstood our gracious Creator. We
studied astronomy and declared the
Creator Almighty: we studied geology
and confirmed the decision. We stud
fed zoology and anthropology and de.
clared that the Creator was All-Wise.
rs we came to appreciate Him. We
noted the adaptation OF our various
organs to our use and comfort-thc
hand. the foot, the eye. the ear, the
clrculatory system. the nervous sys-
tenn, and the power Of the will over
these.
We said to ourselves, truly man is
fearfully and wonderfully made, truly
his Maker IS God infinite In wisdom
and skill. We examined the subject
of mans moral sense. and although
we found # impaired We have been
astonished to note how even the most
selfish and deprGyed have an instinct
of Justice. sense of right. whether
they follow 1t or not.
"Love Divine All Love ExeelIing."~
Then we said. Whence came this no.
BILE principle Of Justice as the back
bone or moral quality in our race?
The only reply was that In this par
ticular God originally created man in
His own moral likeness. and that Il
measure Of this moral quality has per-
sisted Notwithstanding the fall through
disobedlence into death and its conse-
quent Generalization through sin and
weakness.
Looking further we perceived that
the noblest specimens of our race pos
sess still other qualities closely associ.
ated with Justice, but outrankng II.
The noble quality which overtops all
the rest we term Love. 1t Is Love
which makes the heart tender. sympa-
thetlc, helpful and happy; It is Love
that makes home. whether exercised
In palace or q hoyel. IL Is Love
which backs up Justice and insists
that no III shall be worked toward a
nelghbor. IL is Love that Is on the
alert to assist by word or act all OF
those needing aid. 1t is Love that in
spires us to the bodest acts OF hero
ism. II is Love that prompts the Civ
ing OF time and strength. Of means
and even life itself on behalf of It's
object.
All freely admit that Love is the
greatest. the most blessed quality pos
sessed by humanity, and that without
II even paradise could not bring hap
piness. We ask, Whence came this
quality of Love. and from what foun-
tain can we receive the fresh supplies
so much needed by so many Of our
race? The answer Is that the great
Creator Himself is the Fountain. "Gol
is love-" This All-Wise and All-Pow-
erful and Adjust One is pre-eminent-
ly the "God Of all grace" The Father
of mercies," "The Fountain Of bless
ing"
Love Divine. all love exeelling,
JOY OF heaven, TO earth come down;
Fix In us Thy humble dwelling,
All Thy faithful mercies crown"
"show Me Thy Glory"
The ancients had the correct thought.
That they had caught but glimpse OF
The Divine character and its glory;
hence their prayer. "Show me Thy
glory" The same should be our senti-
ment In the clear light now shining
upon Gods Word we perceive that It
will require the entire outworking of
the Divine Plan Of the Ages to illus
trnte or make known to humanity the
real character Of the Heavenly Father.
Only the very few can by faith accept
the Divine promises and trust in their
ultimate fulllment and see far down
into the future the full shining forth
Of Gods character, perfect in rs Wis
dom. Justice. Power and Love.
We may not judge the Infinite love
in all respects by human comparison,
but we may know that our difficulty
IN the matter Is that the human com
parisons can only imperfectly repre-
sent the Infinite We see the excava-
tion or perhaps the foundation walls,
or perhaps the first story OF s'ruc-
ture; but II we were 10 judge wholly
by these imperfect PARIS ii would be
manifestly unfair and we should be
deceiving ourselves. The only way to
Judge OF the builders capacity and In
ientions would be to see the archltec-
rural drawing and TO study the details
land then we may but very imper-
fectly appreciate the whole. Is 1t not
thus in respect TO the great Makers
present work and ultimate designs Z
Tte poet has well said.-