St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-15
CLOSE Up EARLY.
REV. ALEXANDER breaches A
TIMELY SERMON on \ vEXED
o., a. SUBJECT.
SATURDAY NIGHT STORES.
THEIR CLERKS SLEEP LATE
AND DO NOT BEGIN SUNDAY
RIGHT
THE SUNDAY SALOONS ARE BAD,
But the Reverend Gentleman
Says There Are Worse
Things.
HE SUNDAY SALOONS ARE BAD,


preached a sermon in favor of early
closing yesterday, and some of his
! utterances may take some Mime
apolis people by surprise, as he did
not make the saloon the champion
Sabbath breaker. His sermon in full
is as follows:
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself."
How simple is this statement from
the lips of Jesus Christ, and yet its
application is meant for all peo-
pie, in all places and in all times.
How direct is its appeal, and its in
tent is so clear and apparent to all
who hear or think that there is no
possibility of misunderstanding its
import. Surely, while it opens up a
glorious field of noble activity and
ambition for the soldier of Christ,
yet to the selfish and Indifferent it
is quick and powerful and sharper
! than any two-edged sword" The
words of this text, addressed by
Jesus Christ to an individual as a
test, form the golden and only rule
by which any community under the
sun can attain and maintain any
degree Of nobility or greatness.
If brotherly love is kept enthroned
supreme and is the dominant motive
visible in all activities OF a state or
of a people, then will that people be
great and happy, and strong and
cOntented. But if in our commerce
and in our society brotherly love is
becoming thing Of the past; if the
command, do unto others as We
would that they should do unto
YOU" is being more and more prac-
eically interpreted, Get the advan-
tage over others, or they will get
the advantage over you''-if such a
perverted condition of society is be-
coming characteristic of our age,
then most assuredly must we mend
our ways, or else our greatness will
be a thing Of the past and the DEATH
knell of our dissolution will become
louder as selfshness becomes more
relentless and injustice and oppres-
sion more cruel.
Are we maintaining and passing
on to our posterity the high stand
ard of integrity we have received
from our ancestry? 1 fear not.
Today there are too many indi-
cations all around US that, as a peo-
pie, while Christian by name, we are
| wandering farther and farther away
from the Christian standards-espe-
cially as summarized in our text
In this day the Bible needs no
apology. It stands firm as the Rock
of Ages. Christianity needs no
apology, for if you have doubts you
have only to look around you and it's
work will prove it's Divine commits
sion. But what does most sadly
need an apology is our nineteenth
/ century civilization, which seems
more and more inclined to turn the
/ Christian standard, Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself," into
the motto, Every one for him
self"
If we, as a people, are guilty of
the charge of growing in indiffer-
ence toward religion, and if we would
reinstate ourselves into something
approXimating the integrity of our
ancestors, we must return to the God
from whose ordinances we have
wandered, and in returning we must
commence right. We must begin by
keeping His ordinances. Foremost
among these, and that I desire to
especially bring before your atten-
ton this morning. is the due observ-
ance of Sunday-the Lords day.
God, throughout all time, demands
that His children shall offer to Him
the first fruits of all they have.
The first thoughts of the morning.
The first Offering of the labor of our
hands. The first day of the week.
With the breaking Of the Lords day
starts the breaking of all Gods
ordinances. The breaking of the
Lords day is a growing evil amongst
US. In the space of a sermon I can
only point out one of the many forms
of transgression in this respect. but
that form is a large one, and, indi-
rectly, will reach out to most others.
SALOONS NOT THE WORST Of
TENDERS.
For years we have been hearing the
| saloons charged in all quarters as
| being the great hindrance to Sabbath
| observance. The saloon on all hands
| has been arraigned as the arch Sab
! bath breaker. l wish to say that [ do
not think the saloon is the principal
| offender in this matter. It is far from
my intention TO attempt to shield or
! champion the cause of the saloon L
! believe that they are. generally speak
| ing, undesirable places and schools of
/ II 10
saloon cannot be managed and operat-
ed as respectable and useful place of
business in its special line. and in
| justice to some of the saloonkeepers. 1
| will state that I have known of in
stances where they have been so re-
specially and wisely managed as to
be promoters of the cause of temper
| ance in the community where they
have existed. But 1 simply refer to
| the saloons because we have become
| accustomed to firing all our ammuni-
ton at them that I am inclined to
| think that under all the din and noise
| and smoke we have allowed the worst
offender to escape-and what I do
mean to assert today is that while the
saloon is a great sinner in this matter.
yet it is not the chief sinner in the
case of Sabbath breaking and the nor-
observance of the Lords day.
As rule, the regular frequenters OF
I the saloon are not amongst the class
of church-goers, and while it is a par;
of the steady daily routine work OF
the church to win them, yet, generally
speaking, the class OF men who are
the regular habitues of the saloon
have long passed the church-goine
habit, and belong, more or less, to the
great and sad mass of poor, wrecked
humanity.
But we must look nearer home fol
the champion Sabbath breaker. There
is vast army of men and women in
our midst, especially in all our large
cities, whose general inclination and
education is towards that which is
good. Men and women who, for the
greater part, have been brought up ir
wholesome homes, where God has beer
revered and where they have been well