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VOL. IV. RICH MOl
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Blessed are the pure in heart, for thev shall
see God."
When Philip said to Jesus, "Show us the
Father, and it sufficeth us," he expressed the
natural desire of men of every generation to see
God and to know him personally. The ancient
and modern heathen all show this craving by the
use of idols; the early Christian Church felt this
same need and lapsed into this error of heathendom,
and attempted to teach people and make
religion real to them by the use of images. All
idolatrous practices show that men have tried
lo supply a seeming lack or want in the expression
or manifestation of God to man.
Thnnifl* ?
nc iuuh) are not as childish as the
ancients, though we try to stifle this natural desire,
and though we" try to satisfy ourselves in
our religion without a vision of God, yet the challenge
of the doubters in the world will not let us
alone, and these challengers force from us the
same old cry, "Lord, show us the Fattier." The
| WOl'ld rlpmanilB r,V * 3 A- ? - "1
.Hi vi ua Luuuy to proauce real evidence,
based upon our personal experience, of
the truth of our religion, of the reality of our
God, and of the fact that he is active in the
world today in holding an intimate relation with
his earthly children.
This primal desire of mankind and this demand
of the doubters that we have a vision of
God is a blessing to us and not an evil. It keeps
uk from being satisfied with a nominal religious
experience. God wants men to know more of
him, to see him in the world and to feel his lov
i>rt*sence. The statement that we are to
"walk by faith and not by sight" does not apply
to the question of having a personal vision of
God. It means only that our faith will bind us
so close to him that we will have faith enough to
trust all in the future of his guidance. God
wants us to have a vision of him, a real knowledge
of his personality and his presence, for he
wants us to be able to give a "reason for the
faith that is in us." In thi*
^^^^ion is both implied and promised, "Blessed
fire the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
This brings us face to face with the question,
'How can we obtain a vision of Godt" I hope
this study will suggest an answer.
To obtain a vision of God is not an easv task.
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| ^nany have tried to obtain this vision and have
iftiled. So before we try to answer this question
it will be well to look at some of those failures so
that we may avoid the same mistakes.
NOT THROUGH MAN*8 REASON.
The vision of God can not be obtained
through the exercise of man's reason alone. I
m?ke this as a dogmatic statement, for the facts
history support it. All of the heathen faiths
ar? the products of human reason. Ancient 4
I'^ilosophers, thinkers and teachers have in all
sincerity tried to unravel and interpret the great
wmamrj? 11
ND. NEW ORLEANS, ATLANTA JULY
itain the Visi
WARREN H. DU BOSE
questions of life and death, of the present and
the future, of rewards and punishments, of creation
and destruction, and of God and the gTeat
laws which he has established. They have pon
aereu deeply over these mysteries. They have
given years and years to their study, but to no
avail. The faiths they produced were dark with
errors of the human mind.
When the intelligent mind of the twentieth
century, unaided by revelation, has attempted
to unravel these same grave questions the product
has been a series of sad negations, which would
not give the crumb of love to a heart-hungry
man, which would not ameloriate the saddened
condition of the poor, and which would make of
death a fearful enemy, the death of man being
on no higher plain than that of a dog.
^ The Heart's Desire
ii ( 1
i
, ''
Saviour, on me the want bestow,
Which all that feel shall surely know
| Their sins on earth forgiven; I
ii ri;..n *' 1 '
vj.??c jut lu pruve me Kingdom mine,
1> And taste, in holiness divine,
!! The happiness of heaven.
i , (I
ii 11
; Me with that restless thirst inspire, 11
That sacred, infinite desire; ;
And feast my hungry heart; "
!! Less than thyself cannot suffice: !!
My soul for all thy fullness cries, ' |
For all thou hast, and art.
i. n
Je3us, the crowning grace impart; !!
;; Bless me with purity of heart, [[
" That, now beholding thee, 1
v! I soon may view thy open face,
11 On all thy glorious beauties gaze, 11
And God forever see!
i 11
rr n?cy. |
Reason can not give to us a real vision of God.
Reason can only produce the dark, mirky clouds
of doubt and the gloom of despair.
NOT THROUGH CHURCH ORGANIZATION.
me vision of God can not be obtained through
church organization. At the time when the
church was best organized and when the civilized
nations of the world felt her imperial power,
she did not have the vision of God or give this
vision to others. Instead, corruption crept in,
evil and license were given full sway, murder
was done in the name of religion, and the hardships
of extreme persecutions were reeked upon
the lowly followers of the Christ. The Church
of God as a historical institution can not give
to use the vision of God, for this blessing comes
through a different channel than the course of
human ecclesiastics.
'al Presbyter/an <r
rhern Presbyter/am
r 24, 1912. NO. 30.
ion of God
Neither will the strong and aggressive Protestant
churches give to us the vision of God. The
Chureh has a distinct sphere in the life of every
believer, but nominal relation to the Church will
not give to us this vision.
NOT THROUGH ORTHODOXY.
Orthodoxy will not give to us the vision of
God. In Christ's time the Jews were zealous for
the law and customs of the fathers. According
to their own lights they were orthodox and Jesus
was a heretic. But they were so busy with their
little minute questions of law and custom that
they failed to understand the message and the
incaiiiug ui me me ot tJhrist. Jesus came to
show them the Father, and if they had really
seen him as the Son of God, the promised Messiah,
they would have received the vision 01 God.
Today this vision can not come to us by the
mere act of holding fast and cherishing the historical
truths that we have received. It will not
come in the exaltation of our peculiar form of belief.
The vision of God can only come to us as we
let the duties of the twentieth century give life
and energy to the historical truths that he past
has given to us.
So we find that the way to Obtain a vision of
God is through a different channel than these
things which we have mentioned. Reason, the
Church and orthodoxy all have their place and
part in our knowing God, but they are not in
tlliimcnlrno -
i^ncr iiur me means to give to
us this coveted vision and understanding of God.
HOW CAN WE OBTAIN THIS VISION OP GOD !
We have not answered the question, but the
beatitude of Christ, "Blessed axe the pure in
heart, for they shall see God," gives to us the
answer.
When Jesus gave this beatitude he meant more
than the ceremonially pure Jews of his time.
The purity to Which he referred was an inner
purity. Also the word "pure" when applied by
him to men and women meant more than those
who were free from a certain deadly immoral
sin. A few illustrations of the common use of
this word will show to us more of Christ's meaning.
We use the word "pure" in reference to architecture.
We say a building is of a pure Gothic
architecture when it conforms to that school.
And I think that this was one of the ideas that
Christ had in mind when he used the word
"pure." Christ's pure man was a man whose
inner and outer life was shaped according to the
plans and specifications of the life of a child of
Ood.
Again, when we refer to some precious metal
as gold, we say that it is pure when it is freed
from all extra substances, and when the gold is
gold in all of its texture and composition. And
this I beileve was anovher of Christ's ideas of a