The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-05-20

Rev. w. Kinney Hall preached tnt
sermon at st. Marks cathedral yester
day morning, taking as his text 90
Kings, 12-2S,'' reading:
''Whereupon the king took counsel
and made two calves of gold, and said
unto them, it is too much for you tc
go up to Jerusalem; behold thy gods
o Israel, which brought thee up out OF
the land of Egypt"
He said that after the division of the
people God desired that they should
not be divided in his worship ana said
they should worship him in the temple
of Solomon. Though there might be
division temporarily he Wa I'd his
church - be one. It was Fhen as it is
now No matter what may be the d.
visa outwardly God sees only one
cbureS in the world. Romanized,
Anglfcized and Grecian churches all re-
tain the necessary elements of the
church.
But Jeroboam was jealous lest these
pirgrimages to the temple at Jerusalem
would result in weaving his people
from him. And he remem bered how
the people had worshipped golden
calf in the wilderness. Therefore he
set up two golden calves, one at Dan
nd one at Bethel and gave them 10
fHa- people to worship. He used the
SpeCious argument that 1t was 100
much for the people TO 60 10 Jeru-
salem and SO they worshipped these
calves
In this day people are crying that
their religion is too hard. They are
saying it is too much to go up 10
Jerusalem. The whole tendency of
science is to make life more comfort
sble, Medicine is giving new cures Tor
sickness, whi|o surgery is freeing us
from pain. 1t is cOntended that the
rules which governed the religion OF
our ancestors is much too hard for the
modern life and the church, l. adm on
dshed that If it desires to hold its sons
snd daughters it must cast aside soma
of these difficulties.
- Men engaged il business say they
Csnnot attend church on week days
and that religion should be confined
10 Sundays Others even object to at
tending service on Sundays, saying
they need rest or pleasure after the
hard work and worry of the week.
Others object to fasting. Others still
wish some of The hard doctrines of the
early church to be dropped. They
khinlI them too much.
But what is religion? While we are
In prosperity we do not want II. Only
when the world ceases to sI1ile do We
ask for it. But it is when we are near
ing the awful abyss of death that our
hearts seem ready to burst with long
s. o after something which will insure
StateSfect happiness. We cannot have
Of &ssEfeot happiness in this world.
80 aa9nite can never be satisfied with
Nop,.at are we promised by religion?
That We shall enjoy the presence of
Cod, pure and spotless and look on
that divine face. When we think of
our condition today, with our I'M
worthy thoughts and deeds, and Of that
purity which we must attain, can we
believe that religion should be made
easy? Do men iii this world attain to
great wisdom or high places without
long stTC ggles and much deep thought?
Does the poor man, struggling with his
poverty, gain riches without enduring
privations and toiltng early and late?
Is anything worth having in the world
unless we gain it by labor?
The road to Jerusalem is hard. II
means that we must be unse1fsh in the
highest meaning of that term. Try for
without once thinking of asserting
youf own rights and you viii see how
fISSrd is the task. Benevolence is much J
but this perfect unselfishness is more. |
Yes the road is not so hard, for Jesus, |
the Savior, has said, "Loi I am with !
viz always; even to the end" Is not |
the reward worthy of the struggle and |
car we expect to gain it by a few mo- !
merits of Thought during the day and /
and hour or two of religious service on /