The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-09-12

In the First Presbyterian church yes.
terday morning Rev. DR.. Paden preached
TO large congregation on the subject OF
Indifference in religious matters. He tooL
for mis- text. Amos vi Z: Woe Untc
Then That Are at Ease in Zion" and
after citing numerous other passages OF
scripture conveying the same idea. said
as follows:
After reading such warnings, you can
hardly deny that the Bible IS an earnest
DOCK. Its author speaks as one who
means exactly what he says; as one with
whom II were folly 10 tr:le. The com
nandments are as incXoTdDle as the laws
Of nature. He who disobcys them does so
at his peril; carelessness in the face Of
suoh peril is crime. Gods offers OF love
and mercy are dealings in reality; 10 be
indifferent to such offers is insulting; 10
reject them is suicide. If this book has
any truth init, Gods love is love in ear
nest, ana MS law Is law indeed. Christ
was the incarnation Of this divine serious
ness, and Christianity is n sham without
his spirit Let others do as they viii,
Christians must take divine love and law
seriously They must be in earnest. There
Is no place for half-hearted Indifference
IN religion which says: Thou shalt
love with ali thy heart, or this do and
tnou shait live; woe unto them that take
their ease neSlectils Gods love or law
need hardly remind you Of the perils
OF negligence. Her danger flags are float
ing at every turn of your life. Turn which
way you Will You may read the warning.
Beware Of neglect: neglect is the most
lnsidious ana persistent of all destroyers.
on need not sow your garden with
weeds; hand IL over TO Monsieur Neglect
ana the weeds Will thrive without your
giving the matter an anxious thought.
You need not go TO the trouble Of knock
ing youc house to pieces: hand it over to
Monsieur Neglect, and he viii see that it
goes 10 ruin without you striking so much
as 4 single blow. Give him time and he
will do the work as well as dynamite You
need not go out in the street and ask men
70 come and take away your business;
hand IL over to Monsieur Neglect and
men viii take your business from you
without YOU asking them. and almost be-
fore you know il. You need not worry
yourself sick over your lessons 70 get 4
position at the foot of your class; hand
them over to Monsieur Neglect. and you
VIII drop TO the bottom like stone or
blockhead- You need not so to school 10
your horse or your dog to become an
animal; Just call in old Monsieur Neglect
ignore your spiritual nature. Your con-
science-let that go. Your aspirations
let them go; ana your drawings toward
Goblet them go, and before you know it
you viii be submerged III animalism; you
will be to the dogs.
II you want to lose the use of your
hand, your head, your heart, cult using
them: Quit your practice and your
cunning IA, al your trade or art
all serious thought and your brain
will soon be rafting in your skull
Cultivate indifference in all matters of af-
lection ana you VIII soon have black
hole Of Calcutta where your heart ought
10 be- And it is so in matters concerning
your higher life. Let religion alone YOU
VIII become irrelgious: you needn't read
the arguments of atheists 10 make you
Goddess; simply ignore God; leave MIN out
OF your thoughts and affections, and YOU
are a practical atheist. Worse. ignore
your capacity 10 commune with God long
enough, and You viii lose it. Mr.. Darwin
confessed as he grew old that fiS religious.
nature was dried up or auophied by dis
ri al D. int
The shriYeled pontif of eneyclOpa edism."
The law of service is use or lose. Neglect
Is the agent of destruction. The devils
prayer was. Let MS alone"
sAUCY DON'T CARE.
This neglect is The child Of Indifference;
or. perhaps. IL would be better to say
that Negligence the Sloven leans for sup
port on Saucy don't care. We all know
WANT IL means to say. Il don't care -"
one of the earliest lessons Of childhood is,
Don't say that. you ought to care" 1t
Is part Of our education TO be delivered
from the curse OF careicsSness. Careless
or indifferent work is bad work. You
condemn q mechanic ny saving he is an
Indifferent workman; you condemn a man
when you say he is an Indifferent sort of
fellow. Indifference. Incidence, irrespon-
sipiiity, insitcieEcy belong 10 the same
brood Tney VIII, If nurtuTed, leech the
life out of the hest horn man.
Ihc earnest world has very little use
Tor thc POGO curante, or the man who
has been dead weight, when ne has been
felt an the forward movement of humani-
Z. II has been as 4 clog on the wheels.
the very light within him has been dark
ness. fOc he has been too much at case
10 climb where Gods great men light
their torches at the sun With the roads
omen to endless treasures of wisdom and
knowledge he has been content 10 say, Il
doct know OF course he don't. Seine
men wouldn't know the multiplication
table If they had given il as little atten-
10 ord nf .a1-
some would not Know the affection of
their Father IN heaven. More than half
the ignorance and darkness in matters Of
religion Is SELF chosen. None are so deaf
as those who do NOT care 20 hear: none
so agnOstic or unknowinG as those who
DO not care 10 know Beware of the curse
OF carelessneSs in matters Of religion
Woe unto them THAI ignore religion with
easy Indifference. who make light of the
divine Inspiration and discipline offered /
by Christ.
Much of this Indifference or want of
thought IS due TO debility of the affee- |
lions. or want ot heart When the palsy /
of Indifference begins to creep over the I
affections, hesrtiness begins TO vanish /
heartleSsness begins to reign; where once /
there was sympathy now there is apathy; I
The whole character becomes anaemic |
and the whole plane of living low. he is 1
coming to the level of that terror of the I
Reign OF Terror. the man with material !
site formula instead of heart &C. r. r. I
500. Woe unto the man who thus 4
arops into the Avernus emptiness because I
I is easy. There is hell at the bottom; /
4nd there is no heaven at any halfway I
station: heavens at the top. You cannot |
be much that IS worth being, or do much I
that is worth doing with an Indifferent /
neart Indifference is the sworn foe of /
divine enthusiasm, and a hunted outlaw
IN the realm of Affection An Indifferent !
husband or an Indifferent Wife is uD- /
worthy the name. y mother who treats 4
her child with Indifference is worse than
she abdicates her claim 10
be the earth's best exposition of the love
o. GOd-alWaNS excepting him who was
God Motherhood. like God. is love What
has ideal love to do with carelessness2
And We are to love God with all our
hearts, and our neighbOrs as ourselves
Woe be unto US If we try TO put off either
God or man with easy Indifference.
LUKEWARMNESS.
The phase of Indifference which en-
hangers us most is that which we call |
being lukewarrn; for Iukewarmness is a
state Of decline. It is not q stage of
warming up. or it would he a good thing. |
or on the way to IL; but ii is not a stage |
Of warming up. but rather stage of
'Lukewar.nness is in no sense a begin |
hing. We may begin by being cold, but |
lot by being lukewarm. He who was
lever ferVent. can never be lukewarfn."
And this state Of soul is not hard to re-
,ogrize. Just as you know that certain
unsatisfactory colorS have came by fad
ng. you know that this religious trSpidity |
zones through loss of fervor or zeal A J
nan who is losing, or who has largely
ost interest in his home or business. is
n the lCkewarm condition. Such an one
fleets one like nausea; you hear him
irawl, oh, / have lost all interest in
he thing You turn with relief to the
nan who says. And I never had any"
You know where to find the man who
S against you. but the man who is liable
o lose his interest is an uncannv IN !
prf a nj AZ . hanprnac ls,lra J.; T.