Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1892-04-09

nacle to cut out this sermon from the
newspapers and put it in their pocket
books, SO that they can intelligently
answer our falsifiers, whether clerical
or lay.
And with these you may put that
other statement, which recently went
through the country. and which saw in
Detroit; which said that the Brooklyn
Tabernacle had hard finar;ial strug
glo because it had all along been paying
such enormous salaries to its pastor, DR..
Talmage, when the fact is that, after
our lust disaster and for two years. |
gave all my salary to the church build
ing fund. and received Sc 900 less than
nothing. In other words. in addition to
serving this church gratuitously for two
years. let it have $4,000 for building
purposes. Why is it that people could
not dosus justice and say that all OUR
i, Financial struggle as church came
from doing what Peter, in my text, alb
surdly proposed to do, but which, in.
the inscrutable providence of God, we
were compelled to do-build three taber-.
nacles. -
Now, / feel better that this.is off my
mind The rest of my sermon will be-
spun out of hosannahs. ! announce to
you this day that we arc ut last, as a
church, in smooth waters. Arrange
mcnts have been made by which our
financial difficulties arc now fully and
satisfactorily adjusted. Our income
will exceed our outGo. and Brooklyn
Tabernacle will be yours and belong to
you and your children after you, and
anything you see contrary to this you
may put down to the confirmed habit
which some people have got of misrepre-
senting this church and they cannot stop.
When came to Brooklyn | came to
small church and big Indebtedness.
We have now this. the largest Protestant
church in America. and financially as a
congregation we are worth, over and be-
yond all Indebtedness, considerably more
than $l5O,0OD.
| have preached here twcnty-thrce
years, and expect, if my life and health
arc continued. to preach here twenty
three years longer, although we will all
do well to remember that our breath is
in our nostrilS and any hour we may be
called to give IN account of our stew
artlship. All we ask for the future is
that you do your hest. contributing all
you can to the support of our ins.itu-
tons Our best days ore yet TO conc:
our greatest revivali of religion and our
,nighticst ontpourings of the Holy
Ghost. We have got through the Red
sea. and stand today on the other bank
clapping the cynlbals of victory.
Do You wonder that last Sabbath
asked you i'll the midst of the service to
rise and sing with jubilant voice the
long meter Doxolosy:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise hin, MI creatures here below,
Praise him above, yc heavenly host,
prlisc Father. Sun and Holy Ghost.
Yes, twcnty-threc years have passed
since came to live in Brooklyn, and
they have been to me cventful years. 1t
was a FRUSTRATED CHURCH to which |
came. church So flat down it could
drop no further. Through controversies
II7,r1Iicll-it world bo useless to rehearse it
was we'll nigh cXU1ncJ, ana Tor u long
while it had been without a pastor. But
nineteen members could he mustered to
sign a call for my coming. AS COM
mittee was putting that call before me
in an upper room in my house i'll PEila-
dclphia. there were two other committees
on similar errands from other churches
Fa
tertaining and keeping apart from un-
happy collision.
The auditorium of the Brooklyn
church to which came detied all the
laws OF acoustics; the church had a
steeple that was the dcrision of tho
town, and high box pulpit which shut
in the preacher as though he werc dan
cerous to be let loose. or it acted as a
barricade That was unnecessary to keep
back the people, for they were so few
that a minister of ordinary muscle could
have kept back all WHO were there. My
first Sabbath in Brooklyn WAS sad day,
for did not realize how far the church
wasdown until then, and on the evening
of that day my OWL brother, through
whose pocket entered the ministry,
died, and the tidings of his decease
reached NC at o'clock in the evening,
and was to preach at half past I.
But from that day the blessing of God
was on us, and in three months we began
the enlargement of the building. Before
the close Of that year we resolved to
construct the first Tabernacle. 1t was
to be temporary structure, and, there
fore. we called it tabernacle instead
of a temple. What should be the style
of architecture was the immediate ques-
ton. had always thought that the
amphitheatrical shape would be appro-
pirate for IL church. Two distinguished
architects were employed, and after
much lowering over designs, they an
nounced to us that such building was
impossible for religious purposes. as it
would not be chllrchly, and would sub
iect themselves and MS to ruinous criti-
cis1n; in other words, they were not
ready for a revolution in church archi-
lecture.
Utterly disheartened as to my fayorite
style of architecture, SAID 10 the Crus-
tees, Build anything you please and
must be satisfied" But one morning a
young architect appeared at my house
and asked if we had yet selected plan
for our church. said, mo, and what
we want we cannot get" "What style
of building do you want:'' he asked
And taking out a lead pencil and let
ter envelope from my pocket, in less than
minute. by few curved lines, | indi-
Gated in the rough what we wanted
"But." said, "old architects tell us it
can't H. lioiic. and there is no use in your
trying" lie said Il can do it. How
long Gun have to mako out the plansy
/ said, This evening at o'clock every
thing is to be decided"