Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-07-18
KEEP THE ERE BURNING.

KEEP THE FIRE BURNING.
The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar;
it shall never go out.-LEvITIcUs Wis.
Under the Mosaic dispensation religious
observances were mandatory. Under the
new dispensation they are no less obligatory,
yet it is to be feared that less regard is paid,
in these modern days, to the forms of relig-
ion if not to the spirit. Sabbath after Sab
bath the church bells chime out their invita-
ton to worship. The response is the as
sembling of beggarly few, numbering per-
haps one-tenth of the population, at the va
rious churches. They go, for the most part
from sense of duty, and sit through the
service with the air of martyrs suffering in a
good cause, and pass. thence looking like
prisoners just released from tiresome CAP
tivity.
Among the majority of professedly Chris
tian people religion is reserved only for the
Sabbath day. They seldom carry it into
their daily life, but at the close of the service
on the Lords day lay it aside as they do
their Sunday clothes, only to be resumed
when the bells again ring out the advent of
the Sabbath morn. From Monday morning
till Saturday night they mingle with their
fellows with the utmost freedom, talk lightly
on the most serious subjects, laugh at pro
fame jests, act and speak in precisely the
same vein that worldly men act and s9eak.
There is nothing in their conduct to distin
guish them from those who make no pre-
tense of godliness. They do not seem to
think it necessary that the. fire should ever
be burning upon the altar.
Herein is the greatest scandal of the
modern Christian church. Men and
women attend divine service on the Sabbath
either because of sense of duty or
because it is fashionable to do so.
But when the day is spent they forget
their resolutions to labor for the good of
their fellow men, and fall into the popular
current of the worldlings. Men may asso-
ciate with them for years and never divine
that faith and good works are necessary to
salvation in the world that is to come. They
keep the fire burning, and that rather feebly,
for only one day in seven. The remaining
six they are as other men, pursuing the same
daily life, engaging in the same sharp bust
ness transactions, participating in the same
amusements, enjoying the same sports.
They seldom, if ever, urge upon their asso-
ciates the necessity of repentance or picture
the beauties of religion, but allow them to
pursue their downward way to perdition
without protest.
The clergy are not exempt from criti-
cism on this score. Very many of them
regard their whole duty accomplished after
they have read their sermons on the Sabbath.
Some are too INDECENT to follow up their
words by practical, earnest work during the
week. Others are Indifferent. They prefer
the enjoyments of social life to the labors of
pastoral duty. They are ready to spend an
afternoon or an evening among the polite
and fashionable members of their ,ongrega-
tions, to engage in the sports in vogue at
these gatherings, but seldom willing to
60 among the poor and lowly, there to adj
minister the consultations of religion, or to
point the way to everlasting life. Their re-
ligion is like that of their parishoners-for
use upon special occasions only. The fire
upon the altar goes out at the close of the
Sabbath, and is relit only after six days.
Religion will never become a potent
agency in the affairs of mankind until those
who profess it manifest more earnestness.
Men do not enlist in cause in which apathy
is the predominating quality. They naturally
think that if cause is worth espousing it is
worth whole-hearted support. When they
see those who claim to be Christians SO in
different as to the progress of religion they
conclude that it is not worth their while to
take part in the crusade. Enthusiasm is
infectious, and if all Christians were enthusi-
astic at all times instead of spasmodically,
the church membership would increase and
multiply with astonishing rapidity. 1t is
not enough that there should be fervor for
few weeks in year, gotten up by contract
with professional revivalist, but the fire
upon the altar should be ever burning as
brightly during the week as on Sunday.
Ministers and laymen should both unite in
the endeavor to feed the flame of earnestness
and zeal, and should not permit the fire to go
out from one weeks end to another