Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-10-31

hymn Nde'
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
DIR. Talmage's subject was "The Baptism
of Fire." and he took as his text Acts XXX
"a, s'None Of these things move me-" III
said:
But, Paul, have you not enough afllietiol
to move you? Are you not an exile from
your native landY With the most genial an,
loving nature, have you not, in order to b.
free for missionary journeys, given yoursel
to celih ~? Have you not turned away from
the magnificent worldly successes that woulc
have crowned your ilustrious genius? Have
you not endured the sharp and singing neu
ralgias, like thorn in the fleshY Have yol
not been mobbed on the land and shipwrecke,
on the sea; the sanhedrim against you; the
Roman government against you; all the
world and all he'll against your
"What of that. says Paul. "None of these
things move mep 1t was not because b,
was hard nature. Gentlest woman was
never more easily dissolved into tears. He
could not even bear to see anybody cry, fol-
in the midst of his sermon when he saw
some one weeping her sobs aloud, "Whai
mean We to weep and to break mine heart:
for 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, "None of these things move mer'
| He meant, 81 will not be diverted from the
work to which have been called by any and
all the adversities and ealamites."
/ 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 i
| look toward the blackened ruins Of the dear
and consecrated spot and with an aroused
faith in loving God, cry out: 'None of
these things move me-"
| When / say that do not mean that we
1 have no feeling about IL. Instead of stand
ing here today in this brilliant auditorium, 1t
would be more consonant with my feelings
| to sit down among the ruins and weep at the
words of David: "If forget thee, o Jerusa-
lem, 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 that
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 marriage vow, and out
of those gates we carried our dead. When
from the roof of my house last Sunday morn
ing 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 1t seemed all Brooklyn
wept with my household" And it was Just
As hard for you to give up your loved ones rs
for us to give up ours. Why, like the beauti-
tul vines that still cover some Of the fallen
walls, our affections are clambering all over
The ruins, and ! could kiss the ashes that
mark the place where 1t once stood. Why,
now that | think of it, / cannot think of il as
an inanimate pile, but as soul, a mighty
TIL L.. -.
majestic organ had soul, for we have often
heard 1t speak and sing and shout aud 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 IL. 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 diverted from our work BY the APP
palling disasters which have befallen us.
We will not turn aside one inch from our de-
termination 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 looked out through the dismal rain |
from the roof Of my house and saw the |
church crumblng brick by brick and timber |
by timber, / said TO myself: Does n is mean |
that my work in Brooklyn is ended? Does this |
terminate my association with the city, where
have been 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 tele-
gram and letter and contribution, saving:
go forward !"
have made and now make appeal to all
Christendom TO help us. We want all Chris
tendon TO help, and will acknowledge the
fsafa
with my own hand. We want to build larger
and better. We want it a national church,
In which people OF all creeds and ali
nations may find home. The contributions
already sent in make a small-hearted church
forever impossible. Would ] not be sorry
spectacle for angels and men IL, In church
built by lsraelites and Catholics, as well az
all the styles Of people commonly called evan
gelical, should instead of the banner of the
Lord God Almighty, raise fluttering rag of
small sectarianisml II we had three hum
ired thousand dollars we would put them all
n one great monument to the mercy of God. !
People ask on all sides about what we shall
build. / answer, 1t all depends on the con-
sent in from here and from the
ends OF the earth. | say now TO all the Bap-
lists, that we shall have in ii a baptisterv. /
say 10 AL the kpiscopalians, we shall have in
our services as heretofore at our communion
able portions Of the Liturgy. | saw to the
Jathoilcs, we shall have cross over the pul-
PIT aud probably on the tower. l saw to the
VI ethodists, we mean to sing there like the
ioiccs Of mighty thunderings. | say TO all
we mean to preach religion
Is wide as heaven and as good as God. We
ave said we had a total loss. But there was /,
me exception. The only things we saved were :
he silver communion chalices. for thew ham ,
,ened TO be in another building, and take ,,
hat fact as typical that we are to be in com =.
nunion with all Christendom. Il believe In :
he communion of saints :" !
think, If all the Brooklyn firemen and all
insurance companies should search among !
hose ruins on Schermerhorn street, they 4
would not find splinter large as the tin end H
i the little finger marked with bigotry. And \
S i is said that the exhumed bricks of the I
walls of Babylon have on them the letter \. !
landing for Nebuchadnezzar, l declare 10 /
on that If we ever get new church the let a
er we should ike to have on every stone and h
very timber would be the letter c. for that n
you'd stand both for Christ and for Catholi- 4
lty. The last two words | uttered In the old 2
nurch on Friday night, some of you may re-
were ''Halleuiahl Amen =,
- lie fft.4T I "a