Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1891-05-07

/ take the best parts OF all denominations
OF Christians, and weave them into
one great ecclesiastical harmony, broad
as the earth aud high as the
heavens, and that will be the church Of
/ the future. Or, as mosaic is made up of
jasper and agate and many precious
/ stones cemented together-mosaic a thous-
and feet square in St. Marks, or mosaic
/ hoisted in colossal seraphim in st. Sophia
so l suppose God will make, after awhile,
one greaC blending of all creeds, and all
/ faiths, and ali Christian sentiments, the
amethyst, and the jasper, and the chalce-
! dony Of all different experiences and be-
lief. cemented side by side in the great
mosaic Of the ages; and while the nations
/ look upon the columns and architraves Of
! that stupendous church of the future, and
cry out, What mean ye by these stones"
there shall be innumerable voices to re-
spond, "We, mean the Lord God omnipo-
| tent reigneth."
Still further, you mean by these stones
the salvation of the people. We did not
| build this church for mere worldly reforms,
or for an educational institution, or as a
| platform on which to read essays and philo-
| sophical disquisitions, but place for the
| tremendous work of soul saving. Oh,
| had rather be the means in this church of
| having one soul prepared for joyful eter-
! nifty than five Thousand souls prepared for
/ mere worldly success. All churches are in
! two classes, all communities in two classes,
all the race in two classes-believers and
unbelievers. To augment the number of
the one and subtract from the number Of
| the other we built this church, and toward
that supreme and eternal idea we dedicate
all our sermons, all our songs, all our
prayers, all our Sabbath handshakings.
We want to throw detection into the ene-
my's ranks. We want to make them either
surrender Internationally to Christ or else
fly in rout, scattering the way with
canteens, blankets and knapsacks. We
want to popularize Christ. We would
| like to tell the story of his love
here until men would feel that they
had rather die than live another hour
without his sympathy and love and mercy.
| We want to rouse up an enthusiasm for
him greater than was felt for Nathaniel
Lyon when he rode along the ranks;
| greater than was exhibited for Wellington
when he carne back from Waterloo; great
er than was expressed for Napoleon when
he stepped ashore from Elba. We really
believe in this place Christ will enact the
same scenes that were enacted by him
when he landed in the orient, and there
will be such an opening of blind eyes and
unstopping of deaf ears and casting out of
unclean spirits-such silencing bestormed
| Gennesarets as shall make this house
memorable five hundred years after you
and | are dead and forgotten. Oh, my
friends, we want but one revival in this
church, that beginning now and running
on to the day when the chisel of time, that
brings down even St. Paul's and the Pyra-
mids, shall bring this house into the dust
THEY BUILT, BUT ENTERED NOT
Oh, that this day of dedication might be
the day of emancipation of all imprisoned
souls. My friends, do not make the blum
der of the ship carpenters in Noah's time,
who helped to build the ark, but did not
get into it. God forbid that you who have
been so generous in building this church
should not get under it's saving influence
| Come thou and all thy house into the
ark" Do you think man is safe out of
Christ? Not one day, not one hour, not
| one minute, not one second. Three or four
years ago, you remember, a rail train broke
down bridge on the way to Albany, and
after the catastrophe they were looking
around among the timbers of the crushed
bridge and the fallen train and found the
conductor. He was dying, and had only
strength to say one thing, and that was,
'Hoist the flag for the next train" So
there come to us tonight, from the eternal
word voices of God, voices of angels, voices
| @ba
ing. Blow the trumpet. Give the alarm.
Hoist the flag for the next train"
Oh, that tonight my Lord Jesus would
sweep his arm around this great audience
and take you all to his holy heart. You
will never see so good a time for personal
conservation as now. "What mean We by
these stones?" We mean your redemption
from sin and death and hell by the power
of an omnipotent gospel.
Well, the Brooklyn Tabernacle is erected
again. We came here tonight not to ded,
icate it. That was done this morning. To
night we dedicate ourselves. In the Epis
copal and Methodist churches they have
railing around the altar, and the people
come and kneel down at that railing and
get the sacramental blessing. Well, my
friends, it would take more than a night
to gather you in circles around this altar
Then just bow where you are for the bless
ing Aged men, this is the last church
that you will ever dedicate. May the Goo
who comforted Jacob the Patriarch and
Paul the aged, make this house to you the
gate of heaven; and when, in your ole
days, you put on your spectacles to read
the hymn or the Scripture lesson, may yor
get preparation for that land where yor
shall no more see through glass darkly
May the warm sunshine of heaven thav
the snow off your foyeheads!
Men in midlife, do you know that this il
the place where you are going to get YOU
fatigues rested and your sorrows appeaseC
and your souls saved? Do you know thai
at this altar your sons and daughters viii
take upon themselves the vows of the Chris
tian, and from this place you will carr.
out, some of you, your precious dead? Be
tween this baptismal font and this com
munion table you will have some of thu
tenderest of lifes experiences. God bles.
you, old and young and middle aged
The money you have given to this churcl
today will be, hope, the best financial in
vestment you have ever made. You
worldly investments may depend upon thu
whims of the money market, or the hon
esty of business associates, but the none,
you have given to the house of the Lort
shall yield you large percentage, and de
clare eternal dividends long after tn
MONDAY sun shall have gone out like
spark from smitten anvil and all tn
stars are dead.
Highly Unnatural.