Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1889-11-01
TALMAGES SERMON.
Weekly Discourse of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher.
Subject; 'Ekc baptism Of
Fire.

The Rev. T. De Witt Talmage, ID. d..
preached at the Brooklyn Academy of Alu.
sic, his first sermon after the destruction of
the Brooklyn Tabernacle by fire. His au-
dience was of vast size, and public interest
was extraordinary. The opening hymn was
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 said:
But, Paul, have you not enough aflliction
20 move your 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
10 celibacy? Have you not turned away
from the magnificent worldly successes that
would have crowned your illustrious geniusf
Have you not endured the sharp and singing
neuralgias, like a thorn in the flesh? Have
you not been mobbed on the land, and ship
wrecked on the sea; the sanhedrim against
you, the Eoman Government against you, all
the world and all hell against YOU?
What of that? says Paul. None OF
these things move me-" 1t was not because
he was 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 ''Wiat 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 meN He meant
II will not be diverted from tho work to
which | have been called by any and all the
adyersities and calamities."
think this morning express not only my
own feelings but that of every man. woman
and little child belonging to the Brooklyn
Tabernacle, OF that was converted there or
tod
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 l say that, do not mean that we
have no feeling about it, Instead of stand
ing here to-day i'll 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 forget thee, o Jerusa-
lem, 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. 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 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 Sum
day morning at o'clock l saw our church in
flames, said: That is the last of the build
ing from which we buried our De Witt 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 fallen walls.
our affections are clambering all
over the ruins and | could kiss the
ashes that mark the place where it
once stood. Why, now that | think of
it, l cannot think of it as an inanimate
pile, but as soul, a mighty soul, an
indestructible soul ! am sure that majestic
organ had 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 Men
delsSohn and Beethoven were at the gates to
welcome it. So do not use the words of my
text in hearblesS way but in the sense that
we must not and will not be diverted from
our work by tho 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 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 crumbling brick by brick and timber
by timber [ said to myself: docs this mean
that my work in Brooklyn 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
misfOrtunes" And a still small voice came
to me, voice that is no longer still or small
but most emphatic and commanding, through
pressure Of hand, and newspaper column, and
telegram and letter, and contributions say
ing: Go forwardm
have made and now make appeal to all
Christendom to help us We want all Chris
tendon to help, and | will acknowledge the
receipt of every contribution, great or small,
with my own hand. We want to build
larger and better. We want it a national
church, in which people of all creeds and all
nations may find home. The contributions
already sent in make small hearted church
forever impossible Would not be a sorry
spectacle for angels and men if, in church
built by Israelites and Catholics, as well as
all the styles of people comm only called evan
gelical, should, instead of the banner of the
Lord God Almighty, raise huttering rag of
small sectarianism? If we had three hundred
thousand dollars we would put them all in
one great monument to the mercy of God
People ask Oil all sides about what we shall
build [ answer, ii all depends on The contri.
buttons sent in from hero and from the ends
Of the earth. | say now to all the Baptists,
that VIC shall have in il baptiStery. ] say to
all EpiscopaiianS, we shall have in our services
as heretofore ut our communion table nor.
tions Of the Liturgy. say TO the Catholics
we shall have cross over the pulpit and
probably on the tower. ] say to the Metho-
dists, we mean TO sing there like the voices
Of mighty thunderings. | say to all denomi-
nations, we mean TO preach a religion as
wide as heaven and as good as God We
have said we had total loss. But there was
one exception The only things we saved
were the silver communion chalices, for they
happened TO be i'll another building, and
take that fact as typical that we are to be
In communion with all Christendom. Il be-
heYe in the communion Of saintsp
think, if all tho Brooklyn firemeu and all
Insurance companies should search among
those ruins on Schermerhorn street. they
would not find a splinter large as the tip end
Of the little finger marked with bigotry. And
rs il is said that the exhumed bricks of the
walls Of Babylon have on them the letter N,
standing for ACKNOWLEDGMENT, declare to
you that if we ever get new church the let
ter we should like 10 have on every stone
and every timber would be the letter
9, for that would stand both for Christ and
Catholicity The last two words uttered in
The old church on Friday night, some of you
may remember were "Hallelujah Amen u
The two words that l utter now as most
expressive of my feelings in this our first SER
vice after the Baptism of Fire, are Halle
njah Anon! None Of these things move
me-"
We are kept in this mood by two or three
considerations. The first is, that God rules
In what way the church took fire do not
know 1t has been charged OH the light
nings Well, the Lord controls the light
nlngs. lie managed them several thousand:
u years before our electricians were born
The Bible indicates that, though they fash
DOWN the sky recklessly, God builds for them
road TO travel
In the Psalms it is said HE made a way
Tor the lightning and thIndet.n Ever since