Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1894-11-15

established here and now.
But men are not perfect as yet, al
though they are working toward that
goal. Men do, indeed, love their neigh
bors better than they did even 100 years
ago Still there is much room for greater
love, and there comes to US the question
if it be possible for us to fully follow this
commandment of Jesus-if it is possible
for one to love his neighbor as HIMSELF
to love his neighbor SO that i'll no way
and at no time he will be tempted to
wrong that neighbor.
There is not one of us here to-day who
has not met people, and persons, too, who
are not bad i'll any sense, that we cannot
even like. Now | do not conceive that
this feeling among men is anything new;
indeed all the facts of history and all we
are able to learn about mankind in the
past, tends to show that men are more
lovable to-day than they We're in the days
of Christ. But taking men as they are
to-day, can we follow this command OF
Jesus and ''love one another" and not
only love one another, but to do good to
those that hate us-can we love every
human being even though he be our BIT
terest enemy?
1t is only when we attain this victory
over self that we have any right to claim
to be Christian Among all the other
good gifts of our Heavenly Father comes
this best of all gifts-this attribute of
God himself-this power of toring'
As hard as it seems sometimes to love
some one of our kind, yet it is as natural
for us to love human beings as 1t is for
us to breath, and if we fail to love all men
till we will work no ill to any, it is be-
cause we have let seltishness and GOODNESS
dry up the fountain from which love
| springs; we have failed to let our soul life
| grow till we can fulfill this command
ment. God created man in his own image,
and when man once reaches the per-
/ 10. ill Iowa a
God is all love. This attribute OF our
nature cannot be killed however we may
abuse it. No matter how deep we may
cover it over with superstltlons ana
seltishness and bigotry and sin, at the
first opportunity it will spring forth ana
attach itself to something. However
much we may abuse this holy attribute
of our nature, we cannot wholly destroy
| it its flame will forever burn, and we are
only living the best lives, We are only
/ irving to tit ourselves to obey the com
mandment when we are doing all we can
to keep this fire pure and bright. Ana
| when love reigns supreme i'll our hearts
there will be no petty dlscords. Inc al
monition to ''love our nelghbor as our
| selves" will not limit our nelg hbor To MN
| who believes as We debut 1t Will make
/ all men our brot hers and We shall stand
! before God the Father as ore happy, har-
/ monious family, because We shall pe filled
.
/ doing good; we shall be filled with the
/ shirt of Him who loved mankind SO mach
I t nat he steadily and untilnchlngly walked
/ i'll he path Of duty pointed out, tenderly
caring for the weak ones, lifting up the
| fallen till at last he hung upon the cross.
! "Greater love hath no man than this That
/ He gave his life for his brot her.
! In Christ time, to hate all men save the
Jews was ii virtue. 1t was only when the
/ Nazarene came with the Golden Rule and
he command to love one another Without
istinct ION AS to whom that other was,
hat love for man as man WIS first placed
among the virtues, and hate and selfish
ness were given the character of sin. And
. from that time to this, through turmoil,
T and strife, and PAIN, and SIN. the struggle
has been going on by which men are
cleansed from all that belltties, ana are
filled With light and life h1led with a
| knowledge OF the height and depth OF
their own natures. And even now 1t Is
/ only rare souls that have reached the
/ plane W here they can obey this only com
mandment of Christ and ioye Their neigh
7 Dor d. themselves. There Is only now ana
then "A soul that so loves Its KIND That IL
never Worketh i'll to its neishbor.
Bat il Is a great encouragement to US
who feel so weak so unworthy, to know
that even few of Gods children have
attained his lofty height. We are hap
pier because Christ lived, and worked,
and died for US. Not that by His dying
He released US from one ota OF the conse-
quences OF our own acts, for We do not
believe He did or could do that, but lie
shows us to what a height II Il possible
for any man to attain. 1t helps us i've
our life OF toll, and WEAKNESS, and dlsap-
pointment, to know that lie so loved Us
that He gave His life for US that we might
see the divinity i'll man and no longer
grovel in he dust, but stand erect before
God and speak to him face to face.
Christ said: The fat her and are one,
but He also delig GIFTED to call Himself, "the
Son of Man. There was no relationship
between Him and the Father that you
and may not attain II we are SO lncllned
He was our elder broth her, and He told Us
that W hat He did, we might do also. HIS
life Was and is a pure example OF love, the
+ kingdom of heaven was 50 near 10 HIM,
/ He was so saturated with the love OF Ills
God, hat He has become to other men the
"ideal man." And it was because tie loved
God so much that lie came to see the
goodness in all men, and seeing he divine
in all men He came TO love man with per
feet love. In Him We zee TO what per-
lection tine love of man, because ne Is
man, can bring human being. ANA
because Christ loved His neighbor as lin
self, because His lie Was a "fultillment OF
the law men have seen God i'll Him, and
no wonder.
There i no plac, where We can see so
much of God a. in man. And when a man
Ia. allowed the milk OF human kindness
TO flow freely, when he has opened the
door of his heart and let the good angel
come in, every human being VIII be inter-
esting to him: ne vii feel that he is akin
to all men, and Will See hat he has duty
to perform toward all men. TO such a
one every man j. his brother because
every man contains n spark OF the same
divine lire hat burns in his own heart