West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1889-10-31
BAPTISM OF FIRE.
SEARCHING AMONG THE RUINS.
Talmsge Tells the Lesson OF the De.
struction OF the Tabernacle.

Inc teeV. L. DE Witt Talmage, ID. d..
preached at the Brooklyn Academy of Mn.
sic, his first sermon after the destruction of
the Brooklyn Tabernacle by fire. His au-
ulence was OF vast size, and public interest
was extraordinary. The opening hymn was:
God moves I'm a mysterious way
Ills wonders 60 perform.
He plants HIS footsteps I'm tho sea,
And rides upon the storm.
DIR. Talmage's subject WA 1.-THE Baptism
OF Fire" and he said:
But, Paul, rave you not enouoh affection
TO move your Are you not an exile from
your native land2 With the most genial and
loving nature, ave you not, i'm order 10 be
Tree tor missionary journeys, given yourself
70 cenbacyl Have you not turned AWAY
from the magnificent worldly successes that
would have crowned your illustrious eeniusi
Have you not endured the sharp and singing
peuralgias, like a thorn i'm the heshY Have
you not been mobbed on the land, and ship.
wrecked ON the sea; the sanhedrim against
you, the Roman Government against you, all
the world and all hell against your
hat OF thatT says Paul. 'None OF
these things move meP' IL was not because
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 soma
one weeping her sobs aloud, "What mean We
10 weep and to break mine heart? for L an
ready not to be bound only, but also to die at
Jerusalem for the name OF the Lord Jesus
Mhat then did Paul mean when he said
None OF these things move meY' He meant
Il will not be diverted from the work 10
which l have been called by any and all the
Universities and calamities.H
L think this morning / express not only nv
own feelings but that of evory man. woman
and little child belonging TO the BROOKLYN
tabernacle, or that was converted there. or
comforted there, or blessed there when IooL
toward the blackened ruins OF tho 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, I do not mean that we
nave no feeling about il. Instead of stand.
ing here to-day in this brilliant auditorium
IL would be more consonant with my feelings
70 SIT down among the ruins and weeD at the
words OF David: IF L forget thee, o Jerusa-
lem, let my right hand forget her ~cunning.n
why, let me say to the strangers here TODAY
In explanation of the deep emotion of nv
hook, we had there in that building sixteen
years OF religious revival. L believe that n
hundred thousand souls were born there.
Ihey came from all partG of the earth and
we shall never see them again until the books
are opened. Why, sirsl our children wero
there baptized, and mt those affairs our younr
men and maidens took the marriage VOW
ana out or those gates we carried our dead.
Mnen from the roof OF my house last Sum
day morning at 3 o'clock L saw our church i'm
flames, i said: THAT is the last of the build
ing from which we buried our De Witt ON
that cold December day when it seemed
al Brooklyn wcpt with my household"
And it was Just as hard for Won 70
give up your loved ones as for us to give
up ours. Why, like the beautiful vines
that sun cover some of the fallen walls
our directions are clnmbering ali
over the ruins, and 1 could kiss the
once stood. Why, now that I think Of
It, L cannot think Of il as an inanimate
ple, but as n soul, a mighty soul. AN
lndestructible soul. 1 am sure that majestic
organ had a soul, for we have often heard il
speak and sing and shout and wall. and when
the soul of that organ entered heaven / think
handel, and Haydn, and Mozart and Men
delssohn, and Beethoven were at the gates To
welcome it. SO l do not use the words of nv
Oe4 I'm a heartleSs way, blu in the sense that
we must not and will not be diverted from
our work by the appalling disasters which
nave Detallen us. We will not turn aside one
men from our determination TO do all we can
Tor the present and everlasting happiness of
ithe 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, / said TO myself: does this mean
that my work i'm Brooklyn is endedY Does
tins terminate my association with this CITY
where 1 have been moro than twenty wears
glad in all its properties, and sad i'm all its
mlstortunesF And n still small voice came
- hNt q OAN ALhb II no longer SIil or small
out most emphatic and commanding. through
pressure OF hand, and newspaper column. and
telegram and letter. and contributions say.
ing: 'Go forwardr'
l have made and 1 now mako appeal 10 all
Christendom to help us. We want ali Chris.
tendon to help, aud I will acknowIedge the
receipt OF every contribution, great or small
with my own hand. We vnnt 10 build
larger and better. We want it a national
church, IN which people OF all creeds and all
nnfInmg VNnU GWN = 49,. NJ go "
already sent IN make a small hearted church
forever impossible. Would not be n sorrv
spectacle for angels and men il. in n church
bunt by lsrdehtes and Catholics. as well as
AL the styIos Of people commonly called evan.
Cereal, 1 should, instead Of the banner Of tho
Lord God Almighty, raise n nuttering roc Of
small sectari0nismY III we had three Hundred
thousand dollars we would put them oI in
one great monument 70 the mercy OF God.
People ask on all sides about what we sbsu
Dulid. answer, 1t all depends on the contri.
buttons sent in from here and from the ends
OF the earth. l say now 10 oil the Baptists.
that we shall havein u n baptistery. / saw 10
oil Ep~iscopalians we shall have i'm our services
as heretofore at our communion table Dor.
tons Of tho Liturgy. I say to the Catholic
We shau have n cross over tho pulpit and
probably on the tower. / say 10 tho Metho-
olstsi We mean 20 sing there like the voices
OF mighty thunderings. / say to all denomi-
nations we mean 70 preach n religion as
"NAN o. % HuA az hpDl as NOu. We
nave said we had n total loss. But brre vvoa
one exception. The only things we saved
were the silver communion ch1lices Tor they
happened 20 be in another buildi1g and +
take that fact a. typical that we are to bo
~ with All ChristonIo1u. II be.
heve IN the communion Of sainter'
1 tmnk, N all the BROOKLYN nremcu and all
insurance companies should search amopo
those ruins on S-chermerhorn street fbov
would not find a splinter large as the Tin end
OF me htJle finger marked with bigotrv And
as y Is said that the cxhumed bricks OF fIta
VANS OF Babylon ave on them the letter N
sanding Tor Nebuchodnczzar i declare ~
you that N we over get n new church fhe lot.
teF re should like TO have ON every ffyno
and every timber would De the lotto.
=, Tor thnt would stand both for Chrisf ond
yatholicitY. Tho last two w1rIs uttered h,
the Ola church ON Friday night. some of Won
may remember, were ""Halleluiahf Amen n
Inc two words that i utter now al most
expressive Of my feelings in this our 0rsf sor.
vice after tho Baptism of Fire. ore Hollo-
mJanf Amenl none OF these Things moye
me.' 'o
we are kept in this mood by two or riroo
Toh-l4erabons The first is. That God rule.
Ln "hag way the church took fire r do MOI,
euD"' ~ has been charged on tie light
LUZ. Oh The Lord controls the Iight.
Hlhss ne managed thom several thousands
~, years before our electricians we're born
ne BiDis Indicates that. though they FASH
u0Fn the sky recklessiy. God builds for tbem
q road 10 travel
ln Tho Psalms 10 is said. "He maJe n yyay
TOT tuo lightning and thunder 81 Eyer