Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-01-18

in life to do good and to conmunicat
such ideas or thoughts as will assis
othefs in becoming better qualified fo
| the duties and responsibilities Of goo
citizenship. and that any line {
| thought that will accomplish tn
above, is as bread cast upon tn
water. IF not found at first, may b
picked up and eaten by some famish
| ing one and thereby be the means 9
saving some one from life OF wretch
edness and restitution. This beiua
the aim Of the author of this articl
may the few and imperfect ideas tina
| he may address reach the minds AM
| hearts of the bereaved and disconso
late, the poor and destitute. who ar
ready to give the battle of life feel
ing. that to then. the conflicts of lif
are irrepressible To those who fee
themselves excluded and cut off from
higher circles Of society to those whs
are looked down upon by the rich ane
influential Of the earth. be it remem
bered by all high and low. rich and
poor, that God is not alone til.
God Of the rich and opnlant. bu
that he is ever ready and willing t
bestow his richest blessings upon the
lowest of his creatures who seek com
fort and consolation from his bounti
full hand. No matter how low your
condition in life may be. no matter
what your sins may have been, though
they be as scarlet or as crimson
the blood Of dying Christ has made
full and complete atonement for all
the sins of earth, aud no power in
'searth or hell'' is able to defeat the
purpose of that atonement. Nothing
but our refusal to accept it will dimin.
ish its power in US. Oh, is there not
comfort and consolation in the fact
that all the bereaveG sorrowing ones
of the earth may come to a loving
Father and receive the same spirit
ual blessing. The same divine power
that saved the profligate Magdalene,
that had compassion on a Syropho
nician woman, stepped in sin, is able
and ready to minister comfort and
consolation to all that ask in faith.
Then would say to all who are
walking in the broad way of death
and ruin, turn away from the paths OF
sin and vice, fly to the loving Jesus.
confess to him all your sins and realize
his divine power to save to the utter
most all that come to him in true
faith. We. who have entered upon
the duties and responsibilities of an
other year, we, who have shared the
joys and sorrows Of the year that is
past and gone. look back upon the
time we spent and ask ourselves the
question, have we done anything for
God and humanity? Have we dis
charged duties and obligations TO our
beings to the best of our abili-
ties, or have we been Indifferent to
the sufferings that have surrounded
us? Have we, as Christian people,
loved and honored God as the source
Of all the blessings we have enioyeds
In other words, have we done all the
good we could do, and as little evil as
we possibly could do, or have we done
more evil than good? Have we been
indifferent to the hardshios and suffer
ings of those less favored, whose pros
poets were not SO bright as ours9
Have we oppressed the hireling in his
wages? Have we scorned the request
of the poor and needy Have we
stood in the way of sinners? Have we
sat IN the seat OF the scornful9 Have
we withheld bread from the hungry
or seed from the sower? Have we been
faithful over few things, or have we
been unfaithful in the many duties
that surround us in life's journey?
Has the recording angel recorded in
our behalf, and set down to our credit
the things that shall make up for our
eternal peace in the present as well as
IN the ages to come? We believe that
God viii reward men according to the
deeds done in the body, and not ac-
cording to what they believe, accord
ing to what we do, aud not according
to what we profess. We believe a
tree is to be known by its fruit. and
not according to its appearance. We
believe that men are good or bad ac-
cording to the amount of good or evil
they do. God, who is just in all his
dealings with the children of men. will
not, does not require of any of his
creatures more than they are able to
perform, but according to their means
or ability. He requires obedience Is
all his laws. Therefore, "if the erring
hunger feed him. if naked, clothe him.
are the divine commands OF him who
suffered the worst indignilies from
the very ones he came to save. How
much like the blessed Jesus is our
lives exemplifed' Are we, who pro.
Tess to be his adopted children. his
followers, devoting time and talent to
the great work OF saving mankind
from suffering and destitution2 Are
we, his protested followers, initiating
him by doing good to all with whom
We come IN contact, or upon the other
hand are we doing all to please and
crafty our own selfish natuYesg BE
this as it may, God will Judge us ac-
cording to what we do. ANoS.
Little Mountain, Va.
The February number of the Define
ator is called the Midwinter number
and covers the whole field OF season.
able fashions with its accustomed