The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1889-11-01
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Burning OF the Tabernacle
Furnishes a Theme.
The Calamity Not without It's Lessons
The CathOIieity OF the Church or
Christ Exemplified - Another
Structure to be Reared,

burning of the Tabernacle as the basis
for his sermon. His text was:
None OF these things move me.-Acts Xxx, q.
But, Paul, have you not enough a IA ic-
ton to move your Are you not an exile
from your native landf With the most
genial and loving nature, have you not
in order to be free for missionary jour
neys, given yourself to celibacy? Have
you not turned away from the magnifi-
cent worldly successes that would have
crowned your illustrious genius? Have
you not endured the sharp and singing
neuralgias, like a thorn in the flesh?
Have you not been mObbed on the land
and shipwrecked on the sea, the sanhe-
drim against you, the Roman Govern
ment against you. all the world and all
hell against you?
"What Of that?" says Paul. "None Of
these things move me-" 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
sermon, when he saw some one weeping
her sobs aloud: "What mean ye to weep
and to break mine heart? For 1 am
ready not to be bound only, but also to
die at Jerusalem for the name of the
Lord Jesus" What then did Paul mean
when he said: mono of these things
move me?" He meant; Il win not be
diverted from the work to which have
been called by any and all the ADVERSE
ties and calamities."
1 think this morning I express not only
my own feelings, but that of every man,
woman aud little child belonging to
Brooklyn Tabernacle, or that was con-
verted there, or comforted there, or
blessed there, when I 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 L say that do not mean that Re
/ have no feeling about it. Instead of
/ standing here to-day 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:
| "If l forget thee, o Jerusalem, let my
/ right hand 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 religious revival. l be-
| lieve that a 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 baptized, and at those affairs our
young men and maidens took the mar
| riage vow, and out of those gates we car
ried our dead. When from the roof of
| my house last Sunday morning at three
O'Clock I saw our church in flames, 1
said: '"rhat is the last of the building
from which we buried our Dewitt on
that cold December day, when it seemed
all Brooklyn wept with my household"
And it was just as hard for you to give
up your loved ones as for US to give up
ours. Why like the beautiful vines that
still cover some of the walls, our affections
are clambering all over the ruiDs, and /
could kiss the ashes that mark the place
where IL once stood. Why, now that /
think Of it, 1 can not think Of it as an in =
animate pile, but as a soul, mighty
soul, an indestructible SOUL. l am sure
that majestic organ had a soul, for we
have often heard it speak and sing and
vail, aud when the soul Of that organ en- e
terod Heaven 1 think Handel and Haydn
and Mozart and MendelssOhn and Beeth =
oven were at the gates to welcome it. SO
l do not use tho words of my text in a
heartless way, but in the sense that we
must not and will not be diverted from
our work by the appalling disasters which
have befallen US. We will not turn
aside one inch from our determination
to do all we can for the present and ever
lasting 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 1 looked out through the dismal
rain from the roof Of my house and saw
the church crumbling brick by brick ant
timber by timber, / said to myself
''Does this mean that my work in Brook.
lyn is ended9 Does this terminate ny
association with this city, where 1 have
been more than twenty years, glad in all
its properties and sau III all its misfort
unes2" Aud a still, small voice came to
me, a voice that is no longer still o.
small, but most emphatic and command
ing, through pressure of hand and news
paper column, and telegram, and letter
and contribution saying: go forward
1 have made and I now make appeal to
all Christendom to help Us. We want al
Christendom to help, and I will acknowI
edge the receipt of every contribution
great or small, with my own hand. We
want to build larger and better. W.
, ! want it a national church, in which peo
pie OF all creeds and all nations may finG
a home. The contributions already sen
in make q small hearted church fOreI =
impossible, Would not I be a sorry
spectacle for angels and men if, in
/ church built by Israelites and Catholics
as we'll as all the styles of people com
monty called evangelical 1 should, in
| stead of the banner Of the Lord God Al
, mighty, raise a Tutoring rag of small
sectarianism? If we had three hundre
thousand dollars we would put them al
in one great monument to the mercy Q
God.
People ask on all sides about what W
shall build. l answer, it all depends o
, the contributions sont in from here an
trcm the ends of the earth. / say now (
oil the BAptists, that we shall have in it
baptistry. / say to all Episcopalian!
we shall have in our services, as hereto
fore at our communion table, portions {
the Liturgy, / say to the Catholics, W
shall have a cross over tho pulpit an
n / probably on tue tower. 1 say to tn
IS Methodists, we mean to sing there ljk
u the voices of mighty thundeZings. 1 sa
= to oil denominations, we mean to preac
1t religion as wide as Heaven and as goo
IS as God. We have said we had tots
/" loss. But there was one exception. I'll
Il only things we saved were the silve
y co mmuniun chalices, for they hGppene
ID to be in another building, and take tn,
fact as typical that we are to be in con
. munion with all ChristendOm. 81 be-
/, ieve in the communion OF saints -
think if all the Brooklyn firemen an
all insurance companies should scare
among those ruins on Schermerhor
street they would not find splinter
large as the tip end OF the little fng,
marked with bigotry. And it is said TIL
the exhumed bricks of the walls of Bah,
Ion have on them the letter n, standiI