Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-27
A NEW TABERNACLE
Erected in Brooklyn for Rev. DR.. Tai
mage Is Formally Opened.
UNION MEETING IN The EVENING
Al Which the Famous Preacher Tells the
Story Of Its Building.
SIX THOUSAND PERSONS ARE PRESENT
SPECIAL TELEGRAM TO rHR DIsPAroH. !,

Tabernacle on Clinton avenue this evening,
the building having been dedicated in the
morning at 1890. A great union meeting,
in which clergymen of all denominations of
Christians participated, was held in the
afternoon. Six thousand persons were pres
cut at each of the services, and many thou
sands were turned away. Text: "What
mean We by these stones?" Joshua iv, 6.
The Jordan, like the Mississippi, has bluffs
on the one side and flats on the other. Here
and there a sycamore shadows it. Here and
there a willow dips into it. 1t was only little
over waist-deep in December rs l waded
through IT, but in the months of April and May
the SHOWS on Mount Lebanoa thaw and flow
down into the valley. and then the Jordan over
1Ows its banks. Then it is wide, deep, raging
and impetuous At this season OF the year l
hear the tramp of 10000 armed men coming
dowa TO cross the rver. You say why do they
not 90 up nearer the rise of the river at the old
camel ford2 All! my friends. it is because it is
not safe to 90 around when the Lord tells Us to
go ahead. The Israelites had been going
around 40 years. and they had enough of ii. l
do not know how il is with yOu, my brethren,
but have always got into trouble when went
around, bnt always got into safety when went
ahead.
There spreads out the Jordan, a raging tor.
rent much of il snow water, just come down
1sraelites shiverng at the idea of plunging in
and one soldier says to his comrade, Joseph,
you swim?" And another says: If we
get across this stream viii get there with
wet clothes and with damaged armor. and the
Canaanites viii slash US TO pieces with their
swords before we get up the other bank" But
1t is no time to halt The great host marches
The priests carrying the ark go ahead the
people follow. l hear the tramp Of the great
multitude The priests have now come within
q stones throw OF the water. \ ct still there is
abatement of the Hood Now tlpV lave
come within four or five feet OF the stream;
but there is no abatement of the flood. Bad
prospect! Ii seems as If these Israelites that
crossed the desert are now going TO be drowned
in sight Of Canaan. But "Forwardr' is the cry
The command rings all along the line of the
host. Forward Now the priests have come
lift their feet from the solid ground. and put
Them down into the raging stream No sooner
are their feet there than Jordan flies. On the
right hand God piles up great mountain of
floods; on the lett the water flows of toward
the sea.
Their Wandering Have Ceased.
How are theyUo celebrate this passage' Shall
II be with musicr 1 suppose the trumpet and
cymbals were all worn out before this. Shall
il be with banners waving? Oh no; they are
all faded and torn. Joshua cries out: ~ will
tel you how TO celebrate this: Build a monu-
menJ here 10 commemorate the EVENT. and
every priest puts heavy stone on his shoulder
and marches cut and drops that stone in the
dlvlnely-appointed place. see the pile grow
ing in height, IN breadth, in significance; and.
In after years. men went by that spot and saw
this monument, qn6 cried out one another,
in fulflment OF the prophecy of the text:
"Nha mean We by these stones?'
Blessed be God, he did not leave our church
in the wlGeTnessi We have been wandering
about for a year and a half wOrshiplng in the
ACADEMY o. Music. BROOKLYN and Academy of
Music, New York. And some thought we
would neve- reach tn; promised land. Some
said we had OeIt' TAX this route and others
that. Some said we haG better GO back, and
some said there were sons of Anak in the way
that would eat US up; and before the smok,
had cleared away from the sky after our Taber
lacle had been consumed, people stood on the |
very site of the place and said: 'This chUrch |
will never again be huilt." We came down to
the bank or Jordan; we looked of upon the |
waters. Some of the sympathy that was eX- |
pressed turned out to be snOw-water melted /
from the top Of Lebanon. Some said: "iou |
had better not GO In yOu will get your feet |
wet" But We waced in, pastor and people, |
farther and farther. and in some way, the Lord |
only knows how. we got through. and tonight |
60 all around about this great house, erected |
by your prayers anG sympathles and sacrifices, |
and cry out in he words OF my text. What |
mean ye by these stones? 1t is an outrage to |
build house like this, so vast and SO magnif- |!
cent. unless there be some tremendous reasons |
for dong il; and so. my friends, pursue you |
to-nlghL with the question Of my text. and de- |
mand Of these trustees and of these elders and |
of all who have contributed in the building of |
this structure What mean We by these /
stones
Meaning of the Memorial Wall
But before get your answer to my question |
you point to the memOriai wall at the side of |
this pulpit and say to NE. Explain that un- |
usual group of memorials " hal mean YOU by |
those stones2' BY permission of the people of |
my beloved charge l recently visited the II DIV
Lands, and having II mind by day and night |
curing my absence this rising house of pra Ter
bethOught myself What [ do To make |
that place significant and glorious" On the |
morning of Decem Der 5 we were at the foot of
nj all fhp
Mount Calvary. There is no more doubt of tho
locality than OF Mount Washington Mont
Blanc. On the bluff of this mountain which is
The exact shape of the human skull,
and so called IN the Bible 1.-THE place
OF skull" there is room for three
crosses. There | saw 4 stone 50 suggestive / !
rolled il down the hill and TRANSPORTED il IL
Is at the top of this wall, white stone, with
crimson veins running through il, the white
typical of purity the crimson suggestive of the
blood that paid the price of our redemption.
We place it at the top Of the memorial wall
Tor above all In tins church for all time, in SER
mon, and song and prayer shall be the Sacrifice
of Mount Calvary. Look at it. That stone
was one Of the rocks rent at the Cru cifixion.
That heard the cry 1t Is finished" Was anv
church on earth houOTed with such a memorial?
Beneath it are two tables Of stone which l
had brought from Mount Sinai, where the law
was given. Three camels three weeks
crossing the desert 10 fetch them. When at
Cairo, Egypt proposed to the Christian Arab
chat he bring one stone from Mount Sinai. He
said: I'VE can easier bring two stones than
Sut. lOE We uuSI DdlanC6 IDem on the Dack OF I
the calnel;' and did not think until the day of
their arrival how much more suggestive would
be tho two, beclCs" the law was written on !
tYo tables OF stone. Those stones marked
with the words Mount Sinai" felt the earth
quake that shook the mountains when the law |
= as gwen. The lower stone of the wall is from !
Mars ElIl, the place where Paul stood when he !
preached that famous sermon on the brother
hood of the human race. declaring God |
bath made Of one blood all nations' |
since Lord Egln took the famous |
s.atuary from the Acropolis the hill
adjoining Mars Hill the Greek Government
any Egyptian antiquities and armed soldierv
Euaru not only the AcroDolis but Mars Hill. !
! hat stone l obtained by special permission
from the queen OF Greece, most gracious and
brilliant wOInaI., who received US as though we ]
had been ola acqu2ntanCes and through Mr..
Irc0Upis tie Prime Munster of Greece ard ,
.ir- Sno"den, our american Minister Plenipo- {
tenII2ry, ard Dr. Manatt, our American Con- ,
sui, thai suggestive tablet was sawed from the 1
pulpit of rock on which Paul preached Now
y Nou understand why we have marked it The
Gospel" Long after my lips shall utter in this
church their last message, these lips of stone
VIII tell OF the law. ard the sacTince and the
gospel. This dav present them to this church
and TO all who shall gaze upon them. Thus
you have my answer to the question What
mean you by these stones?"
Earthly Residence for Christ
But you must not divert me from the ones
ton of the text as 1 first put it. l have inter-
preteG these four memorials my right hand
but there are hundreds of stones in these sur
rounding walls and underneath us in the
foundations, and rising above US III the towers
he Guarries of this and transatlan tic coun-
iries al the call OF crowOar and chisel have
Contributed toward this structure What
mean ye by these stones?'
You mean among other things thar they shall
not have much of home when He was here
W no and where is that enid cryinRP IL is lie.