trivances observable in nature, a law-giver, and judge of human beings endowed with a sense of duty. Cruden, of Cruden’s Concordance,—says that “God is one of the names which we give to that eternal, infinite, and incompre- hensible Being, the Creator of all things; who preserves and governs everything by his almighty power and wisdom, and who is the only object of our worship.” The omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Being whom we call God, has existed from all eternity, is “without beginning of days or end of life”; the great I Am, the same yesterday, today and forever, the “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” He is incomprehensible to poor finite man, but that is all the more a reason why he should be believed in. If we could under- stand him, then we would be his equals. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”—Isa. 55:9. God Incomprehensible Because we cannot fully understand God is no reason that we should not believe in him. “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and our children.”—Deut. 29:29. A correct system of reasoning should establish God. What can be more foolish than to think that this rare fabric of heaven and earth could come by chance, when all the skill of art is not able to make an oyster? To see rare effects, and no cause; a motion without a mover; a circle without a center; a time without an eternity; a second without a first; these are things so against philosophy and natural reason, that he must be a beast in understand- ing who can believe in them; and that which is made, is, while that which made it is not! This folly is infinite.”—Jeremy Taylor. To The Unknown God Cicero, the Roman, said that there was something in the nature of things which the mind of man, which reason, which human power cannot effect, and certainly that which produces this must be better than man. What can this be but God? The Greeks had many gods which they worshiped, but their senses told them that there was a power greater than man,—and so, 3 along with their numerous other images, they erected one to the “Unknown God,” and it was this that prompted the Apostle Paul, as he entered Athens, to remark: “For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, “To the Un- known God.” Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” —Acts 17:23. Many Things Prove the Existence of God The screen of nature is too thin to keep God from bursting through. It is impossible to govern the world without God. God is great and he will be sought; he is in science, in history, and in omniscience. There are times when men’s thoughts turn to God, for the idea is born within; the infidel with his head pillowed upon his dying bed, weakens to listen to the comforting promises of the God of the Bible; all astronomers believe in God, as Galileo expressed it in studying the heavens, “O God, I think thy thoughts after Thee.” Napoleon’s mind turned to God while looking into the sky at night, when he ex- claimed, “Who made all this?’ He knew that it did not come by chance. “The world that we inhabit must have had an origin; that origin must have consisted in a cause; that cause must have been in- telligent; that intelligence must have been supreme; and that su- preme, which always was and is supreme, we know by the name of God.” He should be the object of all our desires, the end of all our actions, the principle of all our affections, and the governing power of our lives. Our accountability at the end of life’s journey will be to him, whether we realize it or not, for we are not here by chance, nor without a purpose. Daniel Webster when asked what was the greatest thought that had ever entered his mind, said significantly,—‘“My accountability to God.” Astronomy proves God’s existence; “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork”; also the fulfilled prophecies of the Scriptures prove that God lives and reigns in the affairs of men (prophetic fulfillment will be taken up in a later chapter). It might be important to know God and his requirements; for, 9