The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1916-12-07

..azs used powers OF
nature all around
AL . us; but Is not man
%f}}8S worth more than
'r>-,---- : these7
In recent religious periodical there
was n picture of a drove of animals
being driven through a passage In a
stock yard. In connection with the pic
ture was verse of poetry, describing
these as going to the slaughter with
out n care, without dream of death,
without qulckened breath, all un'
knowing, and the last words of the
verse were these: "And these ere
sheep" There was another picture of
young men marching along n city
street. They were in civilian clothes,
but each carried a bundle as If going
on some very uncertain journey. They
were described as smiling to cover
hearts that faltered. They knew their
fate; they were touched with fear and
hate. They were recruits going to the
slaughter, too, and the last words of
the verse were: "And these are men,"
No, not only in the days of our Lord,
but In these days the question may
be asked, "Is u man better than q
sheep?"
Popular Estimate.
A man is worth more than sheep
I'm dollars and cents. In the days OF
slavery in this country n strong negro
man would fetch more in the market
than a sheep. Today II a man is killed
by public conveyance, more can be
recovered on his life than on the life
o. u sheep. The higher valuation is
largely because intellectually man Is
far above n sheep. Whatever may be
the intellectual power of horse or
dog, certainly sheep Is considered
the least intellectual of all animals.
Man has moral nature of which the
sheep is apparently absolutely devoid ;
his spiritual nature puts him far above
any animal. His spiritual nature In
a sense suggests immortality. for when
he dies his spirit goes to God who gave
1t, while that of sheep goes down.
Mans Estimate Of Himself.
But what seems to be mans es.i.
mate of himself as compared with a
sheep? To preserve sheep Is to pre-
serve perishable property or material
interests. To preserve himself, his
whole being, Is to preserve his spirit
ual and immortal interests. How is a
man acting at that point? Is he not
giving more time, thought and labor
to the things that perish than to the
things that endure? Does the Bible
get as deep interest as the morning
paper? Is the house of worship or
prayer attended as enthusiastically as
n place OF amusement? Is the thought
of making the world better as insistent
as that of pleasing himself?
Man seems to be quite enthusiastic
in the propagation of sheep, spending
money without stint and giving thought
and time to the subject, but how
| TuItNy uOcS nc IuhSluSi lhc lluHdSu'
tion of the right kind of men. Pos
slbly in this day propagation of men
for the slaughter In war would be par.
allel to the propagation of sheep for
the food market.
Gods Estimate Of Man.
What is Gods estimate of man? Did
he not create him 10 his own image
and likeness? Someone has said man
Is the paragon Of creation. God did
not do so with sheep. 1t is true that
everything in creation was good, but
no creature was In the likeness of God
except man. God made full provision
for the preservation OF his own like
ness, making mans environment most
congenial to such preservation, ahC
when man demanded liberty of mora
choice, God presented the strongest
possible plea for obedience. When mar
fell, God still held before him laws oi
easy performance and connected viii
them the falrest promises of blessing
For centuries, while man would fal
away from God, God followed him NJ
most patiently and lovingly. Wher
at last man would not heed the mos
loving call to moral rectltude, Coo
gave his only begotten Son to die FOL
him, and for nineteen centuries tn,
salvation of Jesus Christ has been of
fered to man without money and with
out price. And to return TO the figur,
of the sheep, Jesus Christ stands read!
to be a spiritual shepherd to any maj
who will come into his fold.
As man demanded moral freedom II
the garden of Eden, so today ever!
man is responsible to God for hi
standing before him. He is his owl
keeper, in n sense, but as man look
on himself and recognizes that II 4
utterly impossible to be perfect.
moral, and Is thus rendered hopeless
there is only one thing to do, and tha
is to recognize Gods gracious provI
sion for him In presenting the saliva
ton of Jesus Christ before him 70
his acceptance. To accept that saliva
tion Is to show that man estimate
himself above sheep. Many recop
nize the value of this acceptance o
Jesus Christ In their own experience
but are there not many of these VIII
are quite Indifferent to those who ar
about them, who have not so accepts
Jesus Christ as shepherdf To sav
sheep out Of ditch Is commend
able thing, but to save the soul of
man is something a thousand time