Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1895-06-27
The Lords Furnace.

In the church God Is present as a great rcser
voir OF feryid love-
Every language has taken fire as
the symbol of love and emotion. We
speak 80 naturally of warm love, fer
vent feeling, glowing earnestness, ar
dent enthusiasm, and the like, that
we are scarcely aware of using fgura-
tive language. We do not usually
ascribe emotion to God, but surely
the deepest and most blessed of the
senses in which it is true that fire is
His emblem IS that He is Love. His
fire is in Zion. lie dwells in His
church, store-house of blazing love,
heated seventy times seven hotter
than any creatural love, and pouring
out its ardors for the quickening and
gladdenlng Of all who walk in the
light of that fire and thaw their cold
ness at its blaze.
Then, if so, how comes it that so
many Christian churches are ice
houses instead of furnaces? How
comes it that they who profess to live
in the Zion where this fire flames are
themselves 80 cold? If Gods blaz-
ing furnace is in Jerusalem, it should
send the thermometer up in all the
houses of the city. And what a
strange contradiction 1t is for men to
be in Gods church, the very focus
and center of His burning love, and
themselves to be almost down below
zero in their temperature! The
Christian Church ought to be all
ahame in all it's members with the
fire of love kindled and alght from
God himself. Every community of
Christian people ought to radiate
warmth and light which it has absorb
ed from its present God. Our love
ought to answer His, and, being
caught and klndled from that mighty
fire, should throw back to its source
some of the heat received in fervors
of reflected love, and should pour the
rest benefcently on all around. Love
to God and love to men are regarded
In Christian morals as beams of the
same fire, only travelling In different
directions. But what q miserable
contrast to such an ideal the reality
in so many Of our churches is! A
fiery furnace with its doors hung
with icecles is no greater contradic-
ton and anomaly than Christian
church or a single soul which pro-
fesses to have been touched by the
infinite loving-kindness Of God, and
yet lives as cold and annoyed as we
do. The Lords fire is in Zion"
Are there any tokens, Of that fire
among us, in our hearts, and in our
temperature as Christian churches?
There is no religion worth calling
SO which has not warmth in it. We
hear great deal from people against
whom l do not wish to say word
about the danger of an emotional
Christianity" Agreed, if by that
they mean q Christianity which has
no foundation for its emotion IN prln-
ciple and intelligence; but not agreed
if they mean to recommend Chris
ti6nity which processes to accept
truths that might klndle a soul be-
meath the ribs of death and make the
dumb sing, and yet is never moved
one hair's-breadth from its quiet
phlegmaticlsm. The is no religion
without emotion. Of course, it must
be intelligent emotion built upon the
acceptance of divine truth, and regu-
lated and guided by that, and so con-
solidated into principle; and it must
be emotion Which works for its living
and impels to Chrlstllke conduct.
These two provisos being attended to,
then we can safely say that warmth
is the test of life, and the readings Of
the Thermometer which measure the
fervor measure also the reality Of our
religion. A cold Christian Is con-
tradiction in terms. If the adjective
is certainly applicable, 1 aal afraid
the applicability of the noun is e4-
tremely doubtful. If there is no fire
what is there? Cold Is death.
We want no Aimsy, transitory
noisy, ignorant, hysterical agitation
Smoke is not fire. 1.-THE temperature
were higher and the fire more wisely
fed, there would not be any. But W,
do want more obvious and powerful
effect of our solemn, glorious, anc