I AM going to ask the reader to glance at I two paragraphs clipped from Canadian newspapers published in the city of Vancouver.
PARAGRAPH 1.
DEATH OF MR. A. POWER, K .C.
Mr. Augustus Power, K. C., I. S. O., passed away in the city yesterday at the age of 65. Mr. Power had come to Vancouver about one year ago from Ottawa, where he had been chief clerk in the Department of Justice for many years. He was born in 1847 in Quebec, his father being Judge William Power of that city. He was a widower at the time of his death, and leaves one son and a daughter. The funeral service, which will be private, will be held at 1670, Pendrell Street. Interment will be made in Mountain View Cemetery.
PARAGRAPH 2.
MAN CHOKED TO DEATH.
The coroner's jury yesterday afternoon, at Mack Brothers' undertaking parlors, returned a verdict of Death by choking at the inquest into the death of "Gus" Power, who died in a restaurant several days ago. Up to the time of the inquest the man's identity remained hidden. But when J. Anderson, official photographer of the police department, was sent to the inquest to photograph the remains, he at once recognized the man as Power, who is well known to the police, for, according to them, he has been at the station many times.
Will it be believed that these two paragraphs, written within a few days of each other, refer to the same event, and record the death of the same individual?
The first paragraph describes the man in his public character, as known by a wide circle of officials and business acquaintances.
The second paragraph describes him as he was known by his more intimate friends, those who were able to peep behind the curtain, and learn his habits when alone, or with the boon companions of his leisure hours.
But even these could not know him as he really was. Neither the dead woman, who had been his wife, nor the son and daughter, who survived him, knew all that was true of him in his inmost soul.
It has been well said that in each one of us there live four persons.
The first is the person whom our friends, those who move in the same social circle, those with whom we have business relations, know.
The second is the person whom our intimate associates, the members of our families, those who come closest to us in our daily life, know.
The third is the person as we ourselves know him or her, the true self, with features often unsuspected by others, but not hidden froth our own consciousness.
The fourth is the person whom God knows! He sees depths in our souls, depths of evil, of which we ourselves are not aware. He knows us better than we know ourselves. What would have been written in the Canadian papers if all, that the deceased man had known about himself, could have been told?
And what if all that God knew about him could have been declared? Ah! In this latter case the record would have been such that no human being could have endured the reading of it.
Not only, however, is this true in the case of a man like "Gus" Power, the frequent occupant of the police cells. It is true of the fairest specimen of humanity. The best of Adam's sons that has ever lived could not bear to have recorded all that God knows him to be.
You know very well, my reader, that your case offers no exception to this. Even if you could write down all that you know about yourself, the story would not be a pleasant or inspiring one to read. How much more if the true history of your life were written from the standpoint of God's perfect knowledge of you! For of Him we have to say: "There is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether." (Psa. 139:4.)
How wonderful it is that God, in spite of His full and perfect knowledge of all our sinfulness, should yet love us, and desire our company! Yet such is the case. Though Ike could not pass over our sins as if they were of small account, He could, and did, express His love by giving His Son to die for them, and thus to save us from their terrible consequences.
Is love such as this nothing to you? Even what you know about yourself is enough to make you sure that you need a Savior. But when you consider what God knows about you, and how that all the sins you have ever committed in thought, word and deed, abide under His eye, well may you rejoice to hear of salvation being freely provided!
Would that men understood better how serious a matter sin is, and how black they appear in God's sight. They would then be more eager for His gracious remedy.
What is your attitude to these plain, unvarnished facts, reader? Have you fled for refuge to Christ, and staked all your confidence upon the merits of His blood? If not, will you not let this little paper be God's messenger to your soul, leading you to take the momentous step of personal faith in Christ as your Savior and Substitute?
“The broken heart the Lord will favor,
The contrite spirit He will bless;
He came to, be the lost one's Savior,
He came to be the sinner's Friend.”
H. P. B.