Evening star., 1896-07-09

hymn preceded the reading Of the Scrip
lures. I'd Epistle to the Philippians. by Rev.
Ralph Gillian Of Walden, Mass, and then,
after Hear Us, Savior" Rev. Mr.. En-
mis- delivered a few Introductory words.
during the course of which he remarked
that Endeavorers are 1.-The great army Of
the very best of the very best nation"
Ihe first speaker was Rev. j. w. Fifeld,
who is young man, with the air Of
scholar.
MIR. Fifeld'a Talk.
Mr.. Fifield said:
1 thank God for this great convention.
Fer twelve months we have felt the
mighty heart beat Of the great gathering
at Boston, and have looked toward this
with hope and prayer that it might prove
m!ghtier still. The Christian Endeavor
1orces are Gods recruiting army for the
spiritual conquest of the world. AS in Pal
estine once year the children of Abra-
nam gathered to Jerusalem. the capital Of
lne country, that they might stand before
God and receive new visions of possibility
and new messages of duty, so the new
cnndren or the covenant are gathered here
IN washington. the capital of our country.
Ihls Is the passover feast for the young
people or the world BY as much as this
country and the sister countries about us
are greater than Palestine, as noun
tains tower above her foot hills, our great
pialns throw their ripening harvests be-
yohd her valleys; as our cities throb with
power and flash with glory undreamed of
IN faiestine, so should this gathering re-
ceNe SUCH showers of blessing and strength
as never fell on the people gathered on the
sacred hills CT Zion and Moriah.
Does the spiritual life need deepening?
II requires not careful study to learn
.nai something is wrong in the spiritual
world. Few chapters added to the
acts of the apostles. Out of an upper
room. with souls aglow. deep prayer and
the Holy Spirit dwelling in flames upon
them, went a humble unIearned band But
,hey SHOOK Jerusalem; their voices rolled
IKE great thunders through the hollow
ara meaningless worship of their tune
Times nave greatly changed. We have no
upper room for prayer. Our greatest room
IS the basement where we hold socials. We
40 nave a prayer meeting, but in it we re-
peat poetry and have long, cold pauses.
we are learning splendidly how TO stop.
No wonder that the church stands power
less before a devil-tormented world Only
a deep spiritual life will be felt in the
tines IN which we are living, and If 1T re-
CURED conservation and molly impulse to
reach men eighteen centuries ago how
much more does it require it now?
how may the spiritual life be deepened?
ne whole philosophy of the large Chris
u tian n i11e is found in Marks gospel. where
twelve that they Should be with Him. and
that He might send them forth to preach
and have power" He alluded to the power
that lay in the apostles lives, and show
ed that it came from the fact that thay
mad taken time to be with Jesus. and were
Wiling TO be guided by Jesus. We must
not only believe in Christ we must obey
Hlm. Until we keep His commandments
and feel that His will is supreme we shall
reyer have power. 1 urge that upon you.
Wnat might a deeper spiritual life ac-
oomplish? Gods power is hard to mea asure
God IN the hearts of few in Germany
drove papal bgotry to the TIber. God in
a IN Nv \
paced the Bible in the hands of the COM
mon people until Tyndalrs words came
true that the Dlow boy of Saxony knew
ore Ct the Scripture than the pope him
self. 1t has beaten the fetters from the
negro; 1fted woman from the place Of a
slave, and made her the queen of a home
What might not be done If all who bear
the name of Christ were ONLY given over to
His service. We need a deeper sniritnaI
nre We need Christ's guidance and pow
err Oh. children of Gods right hand en-
il hst. Put on the whole armor! Take the
Keen. flashing sword, and drawing II from
the scabbard, let 1t blaze in the light. And
may this convention equip us as never be-
lore for the splendid triumphs of the gos-
pei. " eo"-
Deepening the Spiritual Life" the tonic
of the evening, is an excellent subiect u,ith
"hicn 10 open religious convention and
IT received well delivered discussion from
Ihe hev. r. +. Ramsay, a pastor from At
lanta, Ga.
Mr.. Ramsay's Address.
Mr.. Ramsay asid:
What is spiritual life? 1t ia to he dis
unguished from the business, the social
and even the religious life. These forms nj
activity are not separate from spiritual ac-
tivity. in such sense as that q man l;yas
spiritual life outside of his business. or
of his social Intercourse. or Of b,s ra,;o,o,,.
work: for if one is living a right spiritual
life, this spiritual will lay hold of ones
business activities and social intercourse
anu reislous work, as directions in which
to put itself forth. The spiritual life will
embody itself in these forms Of living. But
these may exist. and In a high degree of
beauty and efficiency, IN those who have
20 spiritual life at all. AS by spiritual
lie we mean right spiritual life, as against
wrong activity on the spiritual side Of our
zen ne,hs' we must contrast the spiritual life
with the carnal life. The right and the
wrong spiritual life agree in this: that each
Is the mans life lived with spiritual heinps.
Tor man cannot live spiritually alone any
more tnan ne can live physically alone
AND man lives a right spiritual life when
ne lives IN communion with righteous snir
u.s. ana ne lives wrong spiritual life when
ne lives In communion with sinful spirfts
how to deepen the spiritual life was next
considered. l sum up all that / have to
say on how to deepen the spiritual life In
one word-live-it we must live in commun
ION with God We must live in communion
Win Jesus christ. Jesus Christ is God in
touch with mar. 1t is through Christ that
man may communicate with God And We
must live in communion with the HoIv
Spirit. We can have no vital connection
with Christ. and 1t is through the Holy
Spirit that Christ becomes vitality connect
ed with US. To commune with the Holy
Spirit is something inward and Immediate.
Life in communion with the Holy Shirt
must be on the part of the human spirit a
lie OF obedience, of love and of faith. There
must be no double life tolerated within orr
own spirit. Submission to the Holy Spirit
is contradictory Of submission to Satan. or
to the flesh, or to self. Spiritual life must
dictate what to read and what to think
about, and our Intellectual activity must be
IN the service Of the spirit. This spiritual
Intelligence must dominate our physical
life. The preservation of health and the
purgation Of passion, and the regula ton of
such merely animal passions as eating and
drinking. all must be baptized in spiritual
ity. Ones whole religious life should he
more spiritual. Let US be ever looking at
Christ. for whom we work. Consciousness
Of aim is intelligence; consciousness of
Christ as the aim Is spirituality We must
also make our whole social life spiritual.
and beware lest We, at least momentariIy.
lose consciousness Of the spirit of Christ
And also our whole business life we must
make spiritual. 1t is SO easy in business to
become merely conscientious obedient to
rule; 1t Is so easy to fix the attention on the