In His Image | Page 7

in infinite variety the fruits of the orchard, the vegetables of the
garden and the, berries of the woods. He gives us the sturdy oak, the
fruitful nut-tree and the graceful palm.
In compassion He makes the horse to bear our burdens and the cow to
supply the dairy; and He gives us the faithful hen. He makes the fishes
to scour the sea for food and then yield themselves up to the table; He
sends the bee forth to gather sweets for man and birds to sing his cares
away. He paints the skies with the gray of the morning and the glow of
the sunset; He sets His radiant bow in the clouds and copies its colours
in myriad flowers. He gives to the babe a mother's love, to the child a
father's care, to parents the joy of children, to brothers and sisters the
sweet association of the fireside, and He gives to all the friend. Well
may the Psalmist exclaim, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and
the firmament showeth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night sheweth knowledge." Surely everything that hath
breath should praise the Lord.
It would seem that a knowledge of nature would be sufficient to

convince any unprejudiced mind that there is a designer back of the
design, a Creator back of the creation, but, for a reason which I shall
treat more fully in a future lecture, some of the scientists have become
materialistic. The doctrine of evolution has closed their hearts to the
plainest of spiritual truths and opened their minds to the wildest
guesses made in the name of science. If they find a piece of pottery in a
mound, supposed to be ancient, they will venture to estimate the degree
of civilization of the designer from the rude scratches on its surface,
and yet they cannot discern the evidences of design which the Creator
has written upon every piece of His handiwork. They can understand
how an invisible force, like gravitation, can draw all matter down to the
earth but they cannot comprehend an invisible God who draws all
spirits upward to His throne.
The Bible's proof of God becomes increasingly necessary to meet the
agnosticism and atheism that are the outgrowth of modern
mind-worship. I shall speak of the Bible in my second lecture; I refer to
it here merely for the purpose of pointing out the harmony between the
spoken word and the evidence furnished by God's handiwork
throughout the universe. The wisdom of the Bible writers is more than
human; the prophecies proclaim a Supreme Ruler who, though
inhabiting all space, deigns to speak through the hearts and minds and
tongues of His children.
The Christ of whom the Bible tells furnishes the highest evidence of the
power, the wisdom, and the love of Jehovah. He is a living Christ,
present to-day in the increasing influence that He exerts over the hearts
of men and over the history of nations.
We not only have God in the Bible and God in nature but we have God
in life and accessible to all. It is not necessary to spend time in trying to
comprehend God--a task too great for the finite mind; we can "taste and
see that the Lord is good." We can test His grace and prove His
presence. The negative arguments of the atheist and the indecision of
the agnostic will not disturb the faith of one who daily communes with
the Heavenly Father, and, by obedience, lays hold upon His promise.
Belief in God is almost universal and the effect of this belief is so vast
that one is appalled at the thought of what social conditions would be if
reverence for God were erased from every heart. A sense of
responsibility to God for every thought and word and deed is the most

potent influence that acts upon the life--for one man kept in the straight
and narrow way by fear of prison walls a multitude are restrained by
those invisible walls that conscience rears about us, walls that are
stronger than the walls of stone.
At first the fear of God--fear that sin will bring punishment--is needed;
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." But as one learns to
appreciate the goodness of God and the plenitude of His mercy, love
takes the place of fear and obedience becomes a pleasure; "His delight
is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and
night."
The paramount need of the world to-day, as it was nineteen hundred
years ago, is a whole-hearted, whole-souled, whole-minded faith in the
Living God. A hesitating admission that there is a God is not sufficient;
Man must love with all his heart, and