Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1891-10-02
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINES sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject: The Importance of Sacred
Music"

the harp and orgGn."-Genesis iv.. 81.
Lamech had two boys, the one a herdsman
and the other musician. Jubal, the
younger son, was the frat organ builder.
he started the first sound that rolled from
the wondrous instrument which has had so
much to do with the worship Of the ages
But what Improvement has beer made I'M
der the hands Of organ builders such as
Hogarth and Joseph Booth and Thomas
Robjohn, clear on down to George and Ed
ward Jardine Of our own day. I do not
wonder that when the first organ, that we
read Of as given in 757 by an emperor Of the
east to king of France sounded forth its
full grandeur q woman fell into a delirum
from which her reason was never restored.
The majesty of great organ skillfully
played is almost too much for human endur-
ance but how much the instrument has done
in the reinforcement Of divine service it
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
now come 50 near completion that this morn
ing | preach q sermon OBLIGATORY of this
mighty throne of sacred sound. 1t greets
the eye as well IS the ear Behold this noun
tain of anthems. This forest of hosannahsl
Its history Is peculiar.
The late Mr.. George Jardine recently made
a tour or 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
grandeurs, and while you hear this organ
you hear all that is notable In the organs of
Lucerne and Fribourg and Harlem and st.
Paul and Westminster Abbey, and other
great organs that have enraptured the world.
In it are banked up more harmonies
and the lighting of the soul toward
Him. It's four banks of keys, its
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 it's song
trumpet and night horn and vox humana
all, all. we dedicate to God and the soul. It
will, believe, under the divine blessing lead
uncounted thousands into the kingdom. Its
wedding marches, its thanksgiving anthems,
its requlems will sound after all the voices
that follow it to-day shall have sung their
last song. To God the Father, God the Son
and God the Holy Ghost we dedicate it!
There has been much discussion as to
where music was born. [ think that at the
beginning, when the morning stars sang to-
gether, and 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.
lnanlmate nature is full of Gods stringed
and wind instruments. Silence itself-per-
feet silence-is only a musical rest in Gods
great anthem of worship. Wind among the
leaves, insects humming in the summer air.
the rush OF bllow upon beach, the ocean far
out sounding its everlasting psalm, the bob
ollnk on the edge Of the forest, the quail
Whlstllng up from the grass are music.
On Blackwelrs Island l heard coming
from window in the lunatic asylum very
sweet song. 1t was sung by one who had
lost her reason, and have come to believe
that even the deranged and disorded ele-
mentS Of nature would make music to our
ear, if we only had acuteness enough to
listen. l suppose that even the sounds in
nature that are dlscOrdant and repulsive
make harmony in Gods ear. You know
that you may come so near to an orchestra
that the sounds are painful instead of pleas
urable, and | 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 above us
a music complete it is tremendous.
The day of judgment, which will be day
of uprOar and tumult, suppose will bring
no dlSSOnance to The ears of those who can
calmly listen: although it be as when some
great performer is executing a boisterous
piece of music, he sometimes breaks down
the instrument on which he plays, so it may
be on that last day that the grand march of
God, played by the fingers of thunder and
earthquake and cOnfagratiOn, may break
down the world upon which the music is
ecuted. Not only is inanimate nature full
of music but God has wonderfully organized
the human voice, SO that IN the pIalneSt
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 has
been estimated, more than one hundred and
Seventy-three millions of sOands!
Now, I say. when God has so constructed
the human voice. and when he has filled the
whole earth with harmony, and when he
recognized it in the ancient temple, [ have
right TO come 10 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 imp Ortance
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
COL commanded it. Through Paul He tells
us to admonish one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, and through
David He cries out, Sing ye to God, all We
kingdoms of the earth" And there are
hundre Is of other passages might name
proving that it is as much a mans duty to
sing as it is his duty to pray. Indeed,
think there are more commands IN t g 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
cymhal, and the harp and the trumpet as
well as the organ. And suppose that in
the last days Of the church, the harp, the
int 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
triunLh, on her way from suffering into
glory. Praise We the Lordr' Praise Him
with your voices. Praise Him With str1nged
inst and