Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-11-02
A BAPTISM OF FIRE
Rev. TaImage Refers to the Loss
Of the Tabernacle.
a New Edifcc VIII BE Erected to
Take the Place Of tho
Old-An Appeal
for Aid.

brooklyn Iabernacle by nre. bis audi
ence was Of vast size, and public inter
est was extraordinary. The opening
hymn a
God moves in q mysterious way
His wonders TO perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
DIR. Talmage subject was 1.-THE Bap-
tism Of Fire." and he took as his text
Acts Xxx, "a, "None of these thing move
me-" he said:
But, Paul, have you not enough
affection 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 mission
airy journeys, given yourself to celibacy?
Have you not turned away from the
magnificent worldly successes that
would have crowned your iilustrtous
genius? Have you not endured the
sharp and singing n~euralgias, like a
thorn in the flesh? Have you not been
mobbed on the land, and shipwrecked
on the sea; the sanhedrim against you,
all the world and all hell against you?
'sWhat of that?" says Paul. "None Of
these things move me-" 1t was not be-
cause he was a hard nature. Gentlest
woman was never more easily dissolved
into tears. He could not even beAr to
see anybody cry, for in the midst of his
sermon 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 Jerusalem in the name o. the
Lord Jesus" What then did Paul mean
when he said, ''None of these things
move me?" He meant II will not be
diverted from the work to which / have
been called by any and all the ADVERSE
ties and calamities."
i think this morning / express not
only my own feelings but that OF every
man, woman and little child belonging
to Brooklyn Tabernacle, or that was
converted there, or comforted there, or
blessed there, when l look toward the
blackened ruins OF the dear and conse-
Grated spot and with an aroused faith in
o loving God, cry out: 'None Of these
things move me-"
When / say that, do not mean that
we have no feeling about it. Instead of
standing here today in this brilliant
auditorium, it would be more ~consonant
with my feelings TO sit down among the
ruins and weep at the words Of David:
eff j forget thee, o Jerusalem, let my
right hand forget her cunning" Why,
let me say to the strangers here today
in explanation of the deep emotion of
my flock, we had there in that building
sixteen years of religious revival. /
believe hat 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 arc
openea. Why, sirs! our children were
there baptized, and at those affairs our
young men and maidens took the mar
riage vow, and out Of those gates we
carried our dead. When from the roof
of my house last Sunday morning at 3
o'clock ! saw our church in flames, !
said: THAT Is the last Of the building
from which we buried our De Witt on
that cold December day when il seemed
all Brooklyn wept with my household"
And 1t was just as hard for you to give
up your loved ones as for US to give up
ours. Why, like the beautiful vines
shat still cover some Of the fallen walls,
our affections are clambering all over
the ruins, and I could kiss the ashes
that mark the place where itponce stood.
Why, now that | think Of it, / cannot
think OF IL as an inanimate pile. but as
q soul, q mighty soul, an indestructible
soul. / am sure that the majestic organ
had a soul, for we have often heard 10
speak and sing and shout and wall. and
when the soul Of that organ entered
heaven ! think Handel, and Haydn,
and Mozart, and Mcndelssohn, and
Beethoven were at the gates to welcome
1t. So do not use the words of my
text in a heartless way, but in the sense
that we must not and will not be 'di-
verted from our work by the appalling
disasters which have befallen US. We
will not turn aside one inch from our
determination to do all wo can for the
present aDnd everlasting happiness OF
I'll the people whom we may DO able to
meet. None OF these things move me.
None OF these things move you"
When i looked out through tho dis
NAL rain from the roof of my house and
saw the church crumbling brick by brick
and timber by timber, l said 10 myself:
Does this mean that my work in Brook
lyn Is ended? Does this terminate my
association with this city, where / have
been more than twenty years glad in all
its properties, and sad in all its mis-
fortunes? Aud q still small voice came
to me, a voice that is no longer still or
small, but most emphatic and command
ing, through pressure of hand, and news
paper column, and telegram and letter
and contribution, saying: q forwardr'
have made and / now make appeal
70 all Christendom to help Us. We want
all Christendom to help and / will ac-
knowledge the receipt Of every oontri-
button, great or small, with my own
hand. We want TO build q larger and
better. We want it . national church,
in which people Of all creeds and Ala
nations may find = homo. The contri-
buttons already sent in make . small
hearted church forever impossible.
Would not ] be . sorry spectacle for
angels and men II, In q church built BY
Israelitos and Catholics, IS well
- all the styles Of people COM
monly called evangelical. I should. inr
stead Of the banner Of the Lord God
Almighty, raise . fluttering rag Of
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