The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1888-03-08
SONGS IN THE NIGHT.
REV. DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON AT
THE TABERNACLE.

Vice-The Right Hand of Fellowship
Extended Many New Members.
Thousands to Hear the Great Divine.
| BROOKLYN, March 4.-Exercises at the
| Tabernacle this morning were jubilant.
! One hundred and twenty new members
were given the right hand of fellowship,
making the commitment membership
one thousand four hundred and fifty.
| Thousands of strangers were present.
| The ten great silver tankards and the
long line of chalices made the sacra-
! mental table very impressive.
Before the sermon the congregation,
! led by cornet and organ, sang:
| When earth shall pass away,
| In the great judgment day,
Jesus is mine!
The Rev. t. De Witt Talmage, D. D.,
took as the subject of his discourse: GA
Song Concerning My Beloved. His
text was Isaih V, 1: Now will [ sing to
nay well beloved a song of my beloved"
DR.. Talmage said:
The most fascinating theme for heart
proper attuned is the Saviour. There is
something in the morning light to sug
gest him, and something in the evening
shadow to speak his praise. The flower
breathes him, the star shines him, the
nature chant him Whatever is grand,
bright and beautiful, if you only listen to
it, will speak his praise. When 1 come
in the summer time and pluck flower,
think of HIM who is ''the rose of
Sharon and the lily of the valley.
When | see in the field a lamb l say, ''Be-
hold the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world" When, in very
hot weather, | come under projecting
cliff, say:
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee,
Over the old fashioned pulpits there
was a sounding board The voice of the
minister rose to the sounding board, and
then was struck back again upon the
ears of the people. An so the ten thous-
and voices of earth rising up find the
heavens a sounding board which strikes
back to the ear of all the nations the
praises of Christ. The heavens tell his
glory, and the earth shows his handi-
work. The Bible thrills with one great
story of redemption. Upon a blasted and
faded paradise it poured the light of a
glorious restoration 1t looked upon
Abraham from the ram caught in the
thicHet. 1t spoke in the bleating of the
herds driven down to Jerusalem for
sacrifice. 1t put infinite pathos into the
speech of uncouth fishermen. 1t lifted
Paul into the seventh heaven; and it
broke upon the ear of St. John with the
brazen trumpets and the doxology of the
elders, and the rushing wings of the
seraphim.
Instead of waiting until you get sick
and worn out before you speak the
praise of Christ, while your heart is hap
piest, and your step is lightest, and your
fortunes smile, and your pathway bios
SONS, and the overarching heavens drop
upon you their benediction, speak the
praiseGof Jesus.
The old Greek orators when they saw
their audience inattentive and slumber-
ing, had one word with which they
would rouse them up to the greatest en-
thusiasm. In the midst of their orations
they would stop and cry out '.Marathonr'
and the peoples enthusiasm would be
unbounded. My hearers, though you
may have been borne down with sin. and
though trouble and trials and. temptation
may have come upon you, and you feel
hardly like looking up, methinks there is
one grand, royal, imperial word that
ought to rouse your soul to infinite re-
joicing, and that word is Jesus"
Taking the suggestion of the text, I
shall speak to you of Christ, our song. I
remark, in the first place, that Christ
ought to be the cradle song. What our
mothers sang to us when they put us to
sleep is singing yet. We may have for
rotten the words; but they went into the
fiber of our soul, and will forever be a
part of it. 1t is not so much what you
formally teach your children as what
you sing to them. A hymn has wings
and can fly everywhither. One hundred
and fifty years after you are dead, and
sold Mortality" has worn out his
chisel in recruiting your name on
the tombstone, your great-grand-
children will be singing the song
which this afternoon you sing to your
little ones gathered about your knee.
There is place in Switzerland where, if
you distinctly utter your voice, there
come back ten or fifteen distinct echoes,
and every Christian song sung by a
mother in the ear of her child shall have
ten thousand echoes coming back from
all the gates of heaven. Oh, if mothers
only knew the power of this sacred spell,
how much oftener the little ones would
be gathered, and all our homes would
chime witlfthe songs of Jesusl
We want some counteracting influence
upon our children. The very moment
your child steps into the street he steps
into the path of temptation. There
are foul mouthed children who would
like to besoil your little ones. 1t will
not do to keep your boys and girls in the
house and make them house plants; they
must have fresh air and recreation. God
save your children from the scathing,
blasting. damning influence of the streets!
/ know of no counteracting influence but
the power of Christian culture and ex-
ample Hold before your little ones the
be the word that shall exercise
evil from their hearts. Give to
your instruction all the fascina-
ton of music, morning, noon and night;
let it be Jesus, the cradle song. This is
important if your children grow up, but
perhaps they may not. Their pathway
may be short. Jesus may be wanting
that child. Then there will be sound
less step in the dwelling, and the youth
full pulse will begin to futter, and little
hands will be lifted for help. You can
not help. And a great agony will pinch
at your heart, and the cradle will be
empty, and the nursery will be empty,
and the world will be empty, and your
soul will be empty. No little feet stand
ing on the stairs. No toys scattered on the
carpet. No quick following from room
to room. No strange and wondering
questions. No upturned face, with laugh
ing blue eyes, come for a kiss; but only
n grave, and wreath of white blossoms
on the top of it; and bitter desolations
and signing at nightfaH with no one to
put 20 bed, and a wet pillow, and a
grave, and wreath of white blossoms