The Penn's Grove record., 1903-04-17

ga not strike fundaments II. Greece and
rome perlshed because theF did not GRASP
the divine philosophy of life; the truth
that righteousness exalteth a nation. but
SIN Is a reproach to any people" The su.
preme motive of their existence was car.
nal, not spiritual, and SO, being built upon
the sands of time they persisted with time.
a poiythelstle paganism; not too much of
God, but too many Gods, that was their
undoing.
And so we might ~particuiarize. What is
true OF nations is true of men. for il is
the man that makes the nation. Any mo-
tive, ether than the highest, is fatal to per-
manence and power. 10 adopt any other
motto Of life than that which our Lord de-
clares in the text-to do the will of God
Is to court destruction. We need this
warning to-day. We pride ourselves on the
tact that we are a peaceable and peaceful
people. We enter upon war only as a der
nler resort. We are seeking to develop the
industrial side of our life. We boast of
our achievements in commercial COMPETE
ton; that the balance of trade is largely
IN our favor. We point to the enormous
accumulation OF capital; to our ever in
creasing exchequer. We are the wealthiest
nation on the face of the earth. Our re-
sources are inexhaustible, our possibilities
OF increment unlimited. But herein lies
our very peril. 1t needs no figures to de-
clare that the spirit of materialism is rife
as never before in our land. The domina-
ton of wealth becomes daily more cruel.
The quest of riches is more and more
strenuous.
Millionaires are not numbered BY the
scores, but by the thousands. Materialism
IS rampant. Its interests are supreme. It
has been said that market is beginning to
dominate literature and art, instead of
classic models and superior excellence. To-
day men no less than things have their
price, and the money value is made the
standard of the worth of an object. 1t is
true that in some quarters there is revul-
sion of spirit on this question. The PEN
dulum is beginning to swing the other way.
We take hope from the thought that many
are studying with insight the gross mate
r1ailsm of the age. The prophetic voices
against it are on the increase in the pulpit.
Ignorant, vulgar and brutal wealth receives
severer chastisements than a few decades
since. Empty show, extravagant display
and selfish luxury are seen by increasing
numbers, according to their hollowness
and iniquity. There is a growing demand
for simplicity of life, for solidity, for ear
nest realities, for ethics, for spirituality.
for better ideals, for deeper thinking and
for the inner as well as the outer develop
ment of society. The leaven is working,
but as yet the lump remains practically I'M
leavened.
What, then, is the duty of the church
and the Christian in this matter? Do We
not need to stand where Christ stood, to
make the motive of His life the supreme
motive of ours? Let US remember our
apostleship. We are ambassadors for
Christ as truly as was Paul. Through us,
through our lives, our thoughts, our ae-
tons, God is seeking to speak to the world.
And what message would He have us
bring? Is it a message of worldliness, OF
selishness, of carnal desires. a message OF
skillful temporizing with His commands
and skillful attempts to make His claims
upon us consistent with luxury and pleas
ure and worldly conformity? There is no
doubt that many in our churches are seek
ing to apply this ~soporiic to their con-
sciences; to be in this world and Of this
world, and yet belong to God. Let us re-
member the words Of the great apostle:
"Be not fashioned according to this world,
but be We transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that We may prove what IS the
good and acceptable and perfect will of
God"
What was needed in Rome is not less
needed with us here to-day. Should there
come such a Transformation, should there
be in every life the proving OF the will OF
God, the whitened harvest would wait no
longer for reapers; the desire of our Lord,
s55if.sa. er--- .
Elizabeth Fry was a thoughtless girl OF
seventeen years, used to all the rehnements
of luxury and a life of ease, wholly selfish
and wholly useless, when God came to her
through the voice of a Quaker preacher.
She consecrated her life to God. Her meat
and her drink were the doing of the Mas
ter's will and work. At the age of sixty
FIVE she wrote: "Since my heart was
touched, at the age of seventeen, | believe
[ have never awakened from sleep. IN SICK
ness or in health, by day or by night, with
out my first waking thought being how
best I might serve my Lord" There could
he hut one result from such conservation.
God sent her among the o~utcast, and her
life became a constant benedietion. The
work she began in Great Britain among
female conricts spread all over the conti-
nent of Europe. Letters from crowned
heads, as we'll as from philanthropic peo-
pie in the common walks of life began to
pour in, inviting her to visit the prisons
of other lands, and subsequently she visited
Scotland, France, Germany and other coun-
tries, upon this errand of mercy, every
where hailed as an angel of peace and
rood will to men. The prisons of Europe
were reformed through her labors, and the
laws to punish criminals were greatly
modified in nearly all European countries.
Indeed the reformation spread throughout
the world. This was the work accom-,
plished bv one woman, who had submitted
her life wholly to the viii of God. She was
changed from a thoughtless: II volous girl
into a M of great usefulness and pow
er. But the power came because the pur-
nose came. She gave full place to God.
and to His plans: she put them first, and
so God used and honored her. And what
was true of Elizabeth Fry may be true of
| each one of us. We may not be called to
| so high a task. We may find our horizon
| circumscribed and our opportunities Inn
| tied. but if our meat and our drink are to
do the will of God, the opportunities will
be many and the results will be precious
| and permanent.