The Iola register., 1891-05-01
TALMAGES SERMON.
FROM THE TEXT, WHAT MEAN NE
DIsCOURsEs on THE NEW BROOK
LYN TABERNACLE.--TH EDIFICE
BUILT FOR GOD.
sermons in stones.

the new Brooklyn Tabernacle on Clln-
ton avenue last night from the text:
what mean ye by these stones:
Joshua, iv, 6. The pastor said:
The Jordan. like the Mississippi, has
bluffs on the one side and fats on the
other. Here and. there a sycamore
shadows it. Here and there willow
dips in-o it. 1t was only little over
waist deep in December as l waved
through it, but in the months of April
and Nay the SHOWS on Mount Lebanon
thaw and iOs down into the valley. and
then the Jordan overflOws its banks.
Then it is wide. deep. raging and impet-
uous. AT this season of the year l
hear the tramp of 10000 armed men
coming down to cross the river. You
say, why do they not 90 up nearer the
rise Of the river at the old camel ford:
| All. my friends. it is because it Is not
safe to go around when the Lord tells
US to go ahead. The Israelites had
been going around for forty years, and
they had enough Of it. I do not know
how it is with you, my brethren, but |
have always got into trouble when l
went around but always got into safety
when wen. ahead.
There spreads out the Jordan, rag
ing torrent. much OF it snow water Just
come down from the mountain top: and
| | see some Of the Israelites shivering at
the idea of plunging in, and one soldier
says to his comrade, Joseph, can you
| swimE" And another says: IF We get
| across this stream we will get there
| with vet clothes and with damaged
arnor. and the Canaanites will slash Us
| 20 pieces with their swords before we
| get up the other bank But it is no
! time to halt. The great host marches
on. The priests carrying the ark so
| ahead. the people follow. | hear the
| tramp OF the great multitude.
| The priests have now come within a
| stones throw of the water. Yet still
there is no abatement OF the food. Now
they have come within four or five feet
| of the stream. but there is no abatement
OF the food. Bad prospect! It seems
as if these lsraelitas that crossed the
desert are now going to be drowned in
| sight OF Cannan. But forward" is the
cry. The command rings all along the
line Of the host. ''EOrward,' Now the
| priests have come within one step OF the
river. This time they lift their feet
from the solid ground and put them
down into the raging stream. No soon
| er are their feet there than the JOrdon
flies. On the right hand God piles up
"A great mountain of floods: on the left
the waters flow of toward the sea. The
great river. for hours. halts and rears.
The back waters not being able 20 flow
over the passing Israelites. pile wave on
wave. until perhaps a sea bird would
find some difficulty in scaling the wat
er cliff. Now the priests and all the peo-
pie have gone over on dryland. The wat
er on the left hand side by this time ha.
reached the sea: and now that the mir
aculous passing has been made, stand
back and see this stuDendOus pile o.
waters leap. God takes the hand from
that val Of foods and lik. a hundred
catar5cts they plung and o r in thun-
derOus triumph 10 the ssa.
How are they to celebrate the pas.
sage: Shall it he with music: I sup,
. I
worn out before this. Shall it be with
banners waving? o. no: they are all
faded and torn. Joshua cries out: Il
will tell you how to celebrate this:
Build a m0num= nj here to commemorat
the event" and every priest puts Z
heavy stone on his shoulder and march,
es out and drops that stone in the di
yinely appointed place. | see the pile
l. ia
ficance. and in after years men went BY
that spot and saw this monument and
cried one to another. in fuliilment Of the
text: What mean ye by these
stoles?"
Blessed be God. ne did not leave oul
church in the wilderness, We have
been wandering about for year and ;
half wCrshipping in the Academy @
Music. Brooklyn. and Academy o
Music New York. And some thought
we would never reach the promised
land. Some said We had better tax.
this route. and Others that. Some SAID
there were sons OF Auak in the way that
would eat us up: and before the smoke
had cleared away from the sky after Oul
tabernacl had been consumed, people
stood on the very site of the place an
] I
built" We came down 70 the bank of IOr
dan:we Looked off upon the waters. Some
; ofthe sympathy that had been expressed
proved to be snow water melted from
the top Of Lebanon. Some said: ~ o.
had better not 60 in: you will get yOul
feet wet" But we waded in. pastor
and people. further and further. and il
some wav. the Lord only knows how, we
IL 80 -1rlr 2 7 oil
around about this great house. erected
. by your PRAYERS and sympathles anC
sacrifices. and cry out in the words o
nv text: wv hat mean We by these
stones:" 1t Is an outrage to build {
, | house like this. so vast and 50 magniti
cent. unless there he some tremendou:
reasons for doing it: and so, my friends
pursue vou tonight with the question
OF my text. and l demand OF the trus
tees and of the elders and OF all whC
have contributed in the building OF thi:
structure. ''What mean ye by these
stones:' But before l get your answer
! to nv question you point to the memo
saw to me. Explain that unusual grouI
OF memorials. What mean you by thest
stones?" By permission of the people
of my beloved charge I recently visited
the Holy lands, and having in mind by
day and night during my absence thi:
rising house of prayer, l bethought
: myself, What can l do to make
: that place significant and glorious.
On the morning of December VT
were at the foot of the most sacred
mountain OF all the earth, Mount Cal
very. There is no more doubt OF the
locality than of Mount Washington ol
Mount Blanc. On the bluff of thi:
mountain which Is the exact shape Ol
the human skull, and so called in the
Bible, ''The place Of a skull, " there i: