The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-04-16

! the sands OF time they perished with time.
| A polytheistic paganism; not too much OF
| God, but too many Gods, that was their
/ 1ndong.
! And so We might particuiarize. What is
| true OF nations is true of men, for it is
! the man that makes the nation. Any mo-
| live, ether than the highest, is fatal to per-
manenc. and power. 10 adopt any other
/ motto OF life than that which our LORD de-
| .lares in the text-to do the will OF Cod
is to court destruction. We need this
warming to-day. We pride ourselves on the
| .uct Inat we are peaceaDle and peaceful
! people. We enter upon war only as der
nier resort. We are seeking to develop the
! Industrial side of our life. We boast of
I our achievements in commercial competi-
| ton; that the balance OF trade is largely
] in our favor We point to the enormous
| accumulation of capital; to our ever in
! .reasing exchequer. We are the rsealthiest
nation on the race OF the earth. Oar re.
| sources are iueNhaustible, our possibilities
| d increment unlimited. But herein lies
our very peril. IL needs no figures to de-
clare that the spirit OF materialism is rife
IS never before III our land. The domino.
ION OF wealth becomes daily more cruel.
he quest OF riches i more and more
strenuous.
Ni,nonaires are not numbered by the
scores, but by the thousands. Materia.sm
IS rampant. Its interests are supreme. II
| las 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 tins question. The pen
1ulum is beginning to swing the other way.
We take hope from the thought that many
| are studying with insight the gross mate
~t, ,.f h, . .l,..Atr
against it are on the increase in the pulpit.
ignorant, vulgar and brutal wealth receives
severcv chastlsemcnts than few decades
since. Empty show, eXtrayagant display
and selfish luxury are seen by increasing
numbers, according to their holowness
lnd inlluity. There is a growing demand
Tor 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
men. OF society. The leayen is working,
but as yet the lump remains practically un-
lCavened.
What, then. is the duty of the church
aad 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
GpO-tleship. We are ambassadors for
Christ as truly as was Paul. Through us,
through our lives our thoughts. our ac-
And what message would He have us
bring? Is it a message OF worldlness, of
selhshncss, 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 soporihc 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 ye 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
which with aching heart He expressed that
day OF His conversation with the woman of
Samaria, would be fulfilled
Elizabeth Fry was thoughtless girl OF
seventeen years, used to all the rehnements
of luxury and life of ease, wholly selfish
an! 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, l 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 / might serve my Lord" There could
he but one result from such conservation.
God sent her among the outcast, and her
life became constant benediction. The
work she began in Great Britain among
female convicts spread all over the cont.
nent of Europe. Letters from crowned
heads, as well as from philanthropic peo-
pie in the common walks of life began TO
pour in, inviting her TO visit the prisons
u 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
good will to men. The prisons of Europe
laws to punish criminals were greatly
modified in nearly all European countries.
Indeed the reformation spread throughout
the world. This was the work accom-.
pished by one woman, who had submitted
her life wholly to the will of God. She was
changed from thoughtless, fr vo.ous girl
into a woman OF great usefulness and pow
er. But the power came because the pur-
pose came. She gave full place to God,
and to His plans; she put them first, and
20 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
90 nigh task. We may find our horizon
!ircumscribed, and our opportunities lin.
ted. but ii our meat and our drink are to
30 ehe will of God, the opportunities will
De many and the results viii be precious
nd permanent.