Omaha daily bee., 1899-01-16
DRIFTING AWAY FROM COD
Rev. Barnes Defines the Kind Of Religion
that Many Practice.
IT IS PLEASANT, BUT NOT JUST THE THING
Narrow and Straight Paths Havs
Gone Out of Fashion until People
Hardly Know where They
Are walking.

Are Walking.
Rev. w. 8. Barnes OF the First Presby-
terrain church took for the subject Of his SER
mon yesterday morning We'll Anchored
and told of the danger OF drifting away
from the things OF God. basing his remarks
on the first verse Of the second chapter OF
Hebrews. (Revised version.l He said:
"a great many OF you spend most Of your
time in surroundings not very religious,
some Of you have to spend your time in sur
roundings decidedly irreligious. We all live
in an atmosphere more or less worldly and
| whatever the degree Of our piety or the
| strength Of our faith. we are all beset with
influences that tend to draw us away from
our spiritual mornings. Business associa.
lions and even some of our friendships form
a current which may cause us unconsciously
to drift away from our anchorage. That is
the thing this text refers to. There 10
danger of drifting away
Whatever some may say, who like to
! strike the chords that are pleasing the pub
lie ear. the plain truth is that the spirit OF
our times is not one Of deep piety. We are
making religion too easy a thing. regarding
as a luxury, losing the cross-bearing portion
almost entirely; calling some things re-
ligious that Christ never called religious.
some things good that Christ never called
good. some things Indifferent that Christ
called bad. We are doing a great deal Of
| religious gondola riding in a boat built only
for smooth water. with but one oar and that
in the hands Of another, and gliding over
water in which there is no current and
| scarcely a ripple. 1t is easy and pleasant,
but maybe there is a drifting away from
the simple, plain things we have heard from
| God, and We are called back to our only
safe anchorage.
I'm these days Of Independent thinking,
freedom OF speech and press. fondness for
something a little novel and even slightly
erratic, you need to know your own mind
and be sure Of your foundations. Narrow
paths have gone out Of fashion and while
the broader ones may be better, the ten
dency Is to widen the margin still more
until you scarcely know where you are walk
| ing and are not at all sure that you are get
| ting anywhere. Indeed. 1t Is hard for any,
one to keep his bearings, morally and re-
| iigiously, nowadays. And II ever there was
q time when it was necessary for every indi-
| vidual to think carefully, to lay firm hold
upon the old truth that came from God and
keep himself we'll anchored to tiff ever
that was needed. 1t is needed now.
Back to Old Things.
1.-THE world is full Of teachers Of large
pretensions and small qualifcations-people
who are very ready to tell you what is right
and what is not right, who yet have very
slight acquaintance with the great standard
Of right that has been given to guide all
human feet. You may be almost overcome
by their bold self-confdence You may be
persuaded that you are decidedly old fogyisn
-~L -xlr11 6ahirI IN tinnao hoponarinO
yourself with scruples that SAVIOR more Of
I, the opening OF the nineteenth century than
of the close Of 1t. You may be told that
Jesus Christ only intended to educate the
world up to its present point of intelligence
and then expected to withdraw into the
background and leave all the morally intel
ligent people to be their W guides; that
the bible was only meant to be our primer
and We must show our aptness as pupils by
leaving that behind and going on for our
selves.
But, my friend, brook no such bold In
situations. Let 1t be distinctly known that
you have not the vanity to call the bible a
primer and throw 1t away until you have
learned its lessons in your heart and life.
Let 1t be understood that you will not claim
to be a graduate from the school Of Christ
until the world can clearly see the marks Of
t"o ~ thO ms VI youh oha Wv
back unto the things that you have learned
from high sources. Tie up to the old moor
ings. Don't be afraid to be called narrow
and stiff when you remember that to be
right often means to be narrow and stan.
After all there was something very valu-
able about that old-fashioned solidity. 1t
was splendid building material. Good,
strong lives and sturdy character were built
upon it. We must confess to a good measure
Of moral softness and moral instability
among us. The remedy is plain; we must
have some things-a good many things
firmly settled and securely rested upon. We
must know what we believe; we must know
what Is right; we must know what Chris
tianity teaches; we must not be at sea
adrift, but stay well anchored to the old
truths that have rot persisted and never can
perish, simply because they are true.
"A double-minded man is unstable in all
his ways, but he who chertshes the things
he has heard from above and fears lest he
should drift away from them, he is in a
position to live a life Of solid comfort and
OF solid achievement. He can withstand
the current Of influence in his surroundings
that are running away from simple Chris
tianity. That man will have something to
stand upon when this world will have van
ished from beneath his feet and he will be
conscious of nothing left but himself and
God"
The anthem Whose Hath This Worlds
Goods" was well rendered by the church
choir, the solo part of w. s. Rigdon being
especially fine. w. S. Thickstun displayed
his great ability as an organist in the Lar
getto," by Parker, and "Fugue.' by Bach.