New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-12-25


Cgch, corner Of Madlson-square aud TweOty-fourth-
swss solemnly dedicated to the service Of God In
morning, the Rev. DIR. Adams, pastor of the
mrch, preached; the afternoon discourse was by
Rev. Geo. ID, Prentice; and the evening sermon
delivered by the Rev. DIR. Bethune, after prayer
ID been offered by the Rev. DIR. Cox On each oc-
ision the building was crowded. Tae following is
A. outline Of
DIR. BETHUME's SERMON.
Hebrews Kill part Of the 10Th vsrse" we have Altar"
The preacher commenced by describing the con-
'trast between the day when this was written
and the present. and between the sublime spectaces
and solemn services OF the Levi'ica dispeosa,ion
with It's frankinceDse and It's sacrifices and the simple
character of the service prescribed by The Savior Of
the world. But Goo was not tbere-;here were but
shadows and types the substance of the shadows,
sId the reality of the types had yet to be revealed;
Christ came, and tue worship Of spirit was appointed
man, clad in no Official robe, a man of slrrows
bat one who announced himself as the son Of God,
ONE upon earth, and "a was declared OF him took
way the Gin Of the world; justified by
nth, in whom men have access into
be grsces of his Father No longer
,eed men seek access into the temple of Mount ZION,
Hce Jesus has raid that, whore two or three are
s,hered together, He is there; and, though we no
niger seek the altar Of the Tabernacle, we have an
itar which God himself hath instituted. Here
ave temple wherein 10 worship our God; bu. not
any superstition, not in any belief in the efficacy
absurd pomp and splendor Your insercessor now
T. at the right hand of his Father, and every one
no believes in his name is one of holy, rsyat
'iestLoOd, TO offer sacrifice in spirit and IN trath.
10 have an altar which God himself established for
Jesus Christ, altar, our mediator, and our
Icri6ce. Let us coDsider-irst, Jesus Christ, the
tar Of his Cbuch and, second, the Services Of the
Lurcb, by Jesus Christ It's altar. Thirdly, by faith
bel offered acceptable sacrifice to God than
ain. There must have been an altar where
ser there was sacrifice; not only for the
re, but because the altar sancti6ed the gift, and
isny passages Of the Old Testament show the
sttital efficacy in all worship ascribsd
the altar. No sacrifice could, by the law be made
xcept on the altar, and on the place appointed by
Tod himself Even the prayers Of the Israelites,
hen absent from Jerusalem, offered with their
ices toward the holy HILL and, in the apocaypsal
ision, the offering Ia dlrec cd to be laid upon the
Olden altar that was before the throne But it is
OF TO be supposed that material altar did, in Itself
anctify the sacrifice any more than an Offering of
NO pigeons could remove sin. Christ, we are told,
pbsecrated himst If for the Offering the cross al
hough his own human nature, being sinless, required
o expiation; He became our altar, as is fully and
loosely elaborated in the Episte to the Hebrews.
Our Emmanuel is now seated near the thrcne-there-
ore, we do not see with the eye of flesh our altar;
tut VS. approach it with that faith which is the evil
ence Of thinss unseen And this invisible altar is
quay well suited to the spiritual worship we have
% ofier-as the material altar to tue Levitical
worsbp, which dealt in material objects, and apart
from tie center Of which God was not to be found.
Yet, their substantial altar was shadow our invisi-
bic altar is Substantial truth That altar Where
is il not The pious mariner finds il in the
deep; the stranger beholds it in the foreign land;
the yiDg penitent it beside his coach; tbs re
lgoBs finds il in bis closet the congregation Of
saints especially behold il when they assemble to-
gether an prayer and this il is that makes, indie d,
ole altar and one church. How vast the worship
which gots up TO God from all tbs church, ia all
sges It's meTtyrs IFS cOnfessors il saints are always
assemble there together; and how vast the worship
Of the praise and halelujahs which go up iron
This great congregation and roll along the eternal
shores of Heaven The priest the prophet the altar,
are ali the came and one How sublime worship il
This how ii casts into obscury all the which
the natural heaiheDsm of the human hear has Oised
into the Church In the second place the service of
the Church by Jesus Cbrst-its altar Under this
head the preacher described the several religious
vices of the patrarchs praphets and high priests of
the Old Law. The hgh-prest typiied the Savior:
the former entered into the holy places Of the Temples
the latter entered into the holy place of Heaven, as
the insrcessor for man, lesving behind him no sub.
sttute nor representative earth. The priesthood
lie left was priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable TO God making them, in the words of
Sacred Writ "kings and priests unto God his Father
for ever and ever and into this order enter ell shO
serve and believe in him for ever This priestho ID
is also called loyal, because Christ, unhke
Aaron, is king as well as high priest and
all his servants make nation OF kings as
well as kingdom of priests. How msshievous, then,
the misnomer which applies the name OF "priest' to
any peculiar order of men. From this flows the idol
airy of the Romsh mass. Every Chris ian who oilers
rs his sacrifice faith in expation of sim is priest,
according TO our High Priest, Jesus. When He laid
down his sacrifcal offering, who dare take 1t no on
earth lie now acts as ntercessor with God, relying
on the efficacy of the sacrifice he had once offered;
when lie relies on it, why should man dare 70 think
Of any further eNpiitionl The sacrifice which
Christians have TO offer, is, Peter tells that OF
Acknowledgement and as inferior priests, they must
offer il through their High Priest, Jesus Christ Bring
Litbsr your bodies consecraed as fitting sacrifice 10
God bring your whole heart time, MUD and iniu-
ence an offering to your God. Offer here, the sacri-
Zee Of Your lips, the power of speech your praise IN
HYMNS and holy anthems, aud prayers openly offered,
not in your closets alone, that your light may
go forth and return sancthed and increaed by
that of your God. Offer your sacrifice here where
he W no presdes is not, thank God, your priest but
your mnister-your servant yours and Gods We
must DO more. We must be jealous to spread the
Gosj 81 among those who have il not as to build tenn
niles for ourselves! We must love our neighbors as
ourselves Blessed privilege That allows us TO
Offer those things as sacrifices 10 our God kndied
In our hearts with the fire of his Spirit. And as oar
High Priest assembled, may You ascent 10 tha'
Temple of vast extent which comprehends all the
church, all the holy angels, all the blessed spirits
All that is created is too That Temple shall
be the Lord God Almighty. May we all enjoy II
there for ever and ever, amen
After a Bene diction by DIR. Adams, the colgrega
ton dispersed.
The church is Of Gothic architecture; the pulpit,
news aud doors of dark oak the walls white the roof
hirhly decorated in white, blue, red and gold and
The wndow VS. Of glass stained in different colors. The
grand floor is very spsciou', apparently capable Of
accommodating 500 persons, while the galleries
Il