The Penn's Grove record., 1891-10-02
DR.. TALMAGR
Tho Brooklyn Divine's Sunday
Sermon.
Subject: 1.-THE importance OF Sacred
Music"

S&SVt@s
Music"
TEXT: "His brothers name trds .Jibdt,
he tcas the father of all such as handle
the harp and organ."-Genesis w., 81.
Lamech had two boys the one a herdsman
and the other . musician. Jubal, the
younger son, was the first organ builder.
He started the first sound that rolled from
the wondrous instrument which has lac 30
much to do with the worship Of the ages.
But what Improvement has been made mn
der the hands Of organ builders such as
Bernhard, Sebastian Bach and George
Hogarth and Joseph Booth and Thomas
Robjohn, clear on dow TO George and Ed
ward Jardine of our wi day. l do not
wonder that when the first organ, that We
read Of as given in 757 by an emperor of the
east TO q king of France, sounded forth its
full grandeur a woman fell into adelirium
from which her reason wa never restored. q
The majesty of a great organ skillfully
played is almost too much for human endur-
ance,. but how nue. the instrument has done
in the reinforcement Of divine service IL
will take all time and all eternity to cele
brate. Last April when we dedicated this
church to the service of Almighty God our
organ was not more than half done. 1t has
nov come so near completion that this morn
II 1 pltdCh q 0oAAtHtSAJ "a ~
mighty throne OF sacred sound. 1t greets
the eye as well as the ear. Behold this noun.
tain Of anthemsi This forest of hosannahsi
Its history is peculiar.
The late Mr.. George Jardine recently made
a tour of the organs Of Europe. He gath
cred up In his portfolio an account of all the
excellences OF the renowned instru nents Of
music on the other side of the Atlantic and
all the new improvements, and brought back
that portfolio to America, declaring that
Brooklyn Tabernacle should have the full adj
vantage of all he had obtained, and although
he did not live to carry out his idea, his son,
Mr.. Edward Jardine, has introduced into this
great organ all those improvements and
g~randeurs, and while you hear this organ
you hear all that Is notable in the organs Of
Lucerne and Fribourg and Hasrlem and st.
Paul and Westminster Abbey, and. other
great organs that have enraptured the world.
In it are banked up more harmonies
than 1 can describe, and all for God
and the lighting of the soul toward
Him. Its four banks Of keys it,
one hundred and ten stops and appliances.
its four thousand five hundred and ten pipes,
its chime OF thirty-seven bells, its cathedral
diapson and pedal double diapson, its song
trumpet and night horn and yox humana.
all, all, we dedicate to God and the soul. II
viii, l believe, under thedivine blessing lead
amounted thousands into the kingdom. Its
WttuluR mdTcut5, It's buduhskiNi uk dututLi,,
its requiems will sound after all the voices
that follow it to-day shall have sung their
last song. To God the Father, Toe the Son
and God the Holy Ghost we dedicate it'll
There has been much discussion as to
where music was born. / think that at the
beginning, when the morning stars sang to-
gether, aud all the suns OF God shouted for
Joy, that the earth heard the echo. The
cloud on which the angels stood to celebrate
the creation was the birthplace of song.
Inanimate nature Is full of Gods stringed
and wind instruments. Silence itself--per-
feet ~silence-is only a musical rest in Code
great anthem of worship. Wind among the
leaves, insects humming in the summer air,
the rush of billow upon beach, the ocean far
nut sounding its everlasting psalm, the bob
olink on the edge of the forest, the quail
whistling up from the grass, are music.
On Blackwelrs Island l heard coming
from a window in the lunatic asylum a very
sweet song. 1t was sung by one who had
lost her reason, and / have come to believe
that even the deranged n disorded ele-
ments of nature would make music to our
ear, IL we only had a~cuteness enough to
listen. l suppose that even the sounds in
nature that are discordant and repulsiva
make harmony in Gods ear. You know
that you may come 30 near to al orchestra
that the sounds are painful instead of pleas.
urable, and l think we stand SO near deva.
stating storm and frightful whirlwind we
cannot hear that which makes to Gods
ear and the ear OF the spirits o y
a music as complete as it is tremendous.
The day of judgment, which will be a day
of uproar and tumult, l suppose will bring
no ~dissonance to the ears Of those who can
calmly listen, although it be as when some
great performer is executing a boisterous
piece Of music, be sometimes breaks down
the instrument on which he plays, 30 it may
H.. On that last 6uv that the NrarzI !, rob ~
God, played by the fingers OF thunder and
earthquake and co~nf1agYation, may break
down the world upon which the music is ex-
ecuted. Not only Is inanimate nature full
of music, but God has wonderfully organized
the human voice. so that in the plainest
throat and lungs there are fourteen direct
muscles which can make over sixteen thou
sand different sounds, and there are thirty
indirect muscles which can make, it ha
been estimated, more than one hundred and
seventy-three millions of soundsl
Now, I say. when God has SO constructed
the human voice, and when he has Oiled the
whole earth with harmony, and when he
recognized it in the ancient temple, 1 haves
right to come 70 the conclusion that God
loved music.
Propose this morning, In setting apart
this organ for sacred USE, to speak about sa-
cred music; first showing you its Importance
and then stating some OF the obstacles to its
advancement.
i draw the first argument for the i'm
portance of sacred music from the fact that
God commanded it. Through Paul He tells
US to adnonish one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, and through
David He cries out, ''Sing ye to God, all ye
kingdoms Of the earth" And there are
hundreds Of other passages | might name
proving that it is as much a mans duty to
sing as it is his duty to pray. lndeei, l
think there are more IN ands in t 9 Bible
to sing than there are to pray.
God not only asks for the human voice but
for instruments OF music. He asks for the
cymbal, and the harp, and the trumpet, as
well as the organ. And l suppose that in
the last days of the church, the harn, the
lutte, the trumpet and all the instruments Of
music, whether they have been in the service
Of Righteousness or sin will be brought by
their masters and laid down at the feet Of
Christ, and then sounded in the church's
triumph, OF her way from suffering into
glory. Praise ye the Lordr' Praise Hin
WIN your VOICES lraise TIN WIN sefihSeu
instruments anu WIN organs:
ance Of this exercise from the impressiysnsss
of this exercise. You know sometime N
what secular music has achieved. You
know it has made its impression on govern
meuts upon laws. upon literature upon
whois generations. One inspiring national
~