Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-10-31
THE BURNED TEMPLE.
Dr.. Talmage on the Destruction of
the Tabernacle.
Lessons Learned From the Late Fire-The
Power of the Lord AcknOwledged-COn-
solutions of ReIigiOn-An Appeal
to All Men.

of Music in that city, mis- subject being
The Baptism of Fire, +" and he took as his
text Acts Xxx. "a, None of these things
move me-" He said:
But Paul, have you not enough e fl ction
to move you? Are you not an exile from
your native land: With the most genial
and loving nature, have you not in order
to be free for missionary Journeys, given
yourself to celibacy? Have you not turned
away from the magnificent worldly sue
cesses that would have crowned your
illustrious genius? Have you not endured
the sharp and singing neuralgias, ike a
thorn in the flesh? Have you not been
mobbed on the land and shipwrecked on
the sea; the Sanhedrim against you, the
Roman Government against you, all the
world and all hell against you?
What of thst:" says Paul "None of
these things move mew 1t was not be-
cause he was hard nature. Gentlest
woman was never more easily dissolved
into tears. He could not even bear to see
any body cry, for in the midst of his ser
mon when he saw some one weeping her
sObs aloud: "What mean ye to weep and
to break mine heart: for ! am ready not
to be bound only, but also to die at Jeru-
salem for the name of the Lord Jesus"
"None of these things move me?" He
meant: Il will not be diverted from the
work 10 which have been called by any
and ell the universities and calamities."
think this morning l express not my
own feeling, but that of every man. wom-
an and little child belonging to Brooklyn
Tabernacle, or that was converted there,
when l look toward the blac6ened ruins
of the dear and consecrated spot and with
an aroused faith in a loving God cry out:
None of these things move me-"
When l say that, / do not mean that we
have no feeling about it. Instead of
standing here to-day in this brilliant
auditorium, it would be more consonant
with my fee .ings to sit down among the
ruins and weep at the word of David: 'If
l forget thee, o Jerusalem, let my right
forget her cunning" Why, let me say to
the strangers here to-day in explanation
of the deep emotion Of my flock, we had
there in that building sixteen years of re-
ligiOus revival ] believe that q hundred
thousand souls were born there. They
came from all parts of the earth and we
shall never see them again until the books
are opened. Why, sirs our children were
there bapfised. and at those affairs our
young nell and maidens took the marriage
%oT, and out OF those gates we carried our
dead. When from the roof of my house
last Sunday morning at three O'Clock l saw
our church in flames, l said: That is the
last of the building from which we buried
cur De Witt on that cold December day
when it see med all Brooklyn wept with my
household" And it was just as hard for
you 10 give up your loved ones as for US
10 give up ours. Why, like the beautiful
vines that still cover some of the fallen
walls, our affections are clambering all
over the ruins, and l could kiss the ashes
that mark the place where it once stood.
Why, now that l. think of it, l can not
think of it as an iDanimate pile but as a
soul, q mighty soul, an indestructible
soul. l am sure that ajestic organ had
a soul, for we have often heard it speak
and sing and shout and wall, and when
the soul of that organ entered Heaven
think Handel, and Haydn, and Mozart,
and Mendelssohn and Beethoven were at
the gates to welcome it So l do not use
the words of my text in heartless way,
but in the sense that we must not and will
not be diverted from our work by the ap-
palling disasters which have befallen Us
We will not turn aside one inch from our
determination to do all we can for the
present and everlasting happiness of all
the people whom we may be able to meet
None of these things move me. None of
these things move you"
When l looked out through the dismal
rain from the roof of my house and saw
the church crumbling brick by brick and
timber by timber, l said to myself: Does
this mean that my work in Brooklyn is
ended? Does this terminate my associa-
Wit this ri ~ Nuh I hou haan
more than twenty years glad in all its
properties and sad in all its misfor-
tunes?" And a still small voice came to
me, a voice that is no longer still or small,
but most emphatic and commanding,
through pressure of hand and newspaper
column. and telegram and letter contribu-
tons, saying, 60 forward"
l have made and l now make an appeal
10 all Christendom 10 help us. We want
all Christendom to help, and l will ac-
knowledge the receipt of every contribu-
ton, great or small, with my own hand.
We want to build larger and better. We
want it National church, in which peo-
pie of all creeds and ali nations find a
home The C )ntributionS already sent in
make small hearted church forever i'm
possible. Would not l be a sorry specta-
Gle for angels and men if, in a church
built by lsraelites and Catholics, as well
as all the styles of people commonly called
evangelical, l should instead of the BAN
ner of the Lord Col Almighty. raise a
futtering rag of small sectar! anism? If
we had $50, 600 we would put them all in
one great monument to the mercy of God. !
People ask on all sides about what we
shall build. l answer, it all depends on |
the contributions sent in from here and |
from the ends of the earth. / say now to |
all the Baptists that we shall have in il a |
baptistry. say to all EpiscopalianS we |
shall have in our services as heretofore at |
our communion table portions of the Lit |
urgy l say to the Catholics we shall |
have a cross over the pulpit and probably |
on the tower. 1 say TO the Methodists, we |
mean TO sing like the voices of mighty |
thunderingS l say to all denominations, |
we mean to preach religion as wide as |
Heaven and as good as God. We have |
said we had a total loss. But there was |
one exception. The only things we saved |
were the silver communion chalices, for |
they happened to be in another building. |
and take that fact as typical that we are |
to be in communion with all Chrstendom. /
Il believe in the communion of saintsW
l think if all the Brooklyn fremen and |
all the insurance companies should search /
among those ruins on Schermerhorn street |
they ould not find splinter large as the
tip end of the little finger marked with
bigotry. And as it is said that the ex-
humed bricks of the walls of Babylon 1
have on them the letter n, standing for
Nebuchadnezzar. declare 10 you that if
we ever get a new church the letter we
should like to have on every stone and