The Hazel Green herald., 1892-05-13
THE TABERNACLE.
The erooklyn Ship Has 6ufeted Many
~ a Storm, W
nut Il Now sailing Upon n CLASSY SEA-
Hosannas the Feature OF an Interest,"
ng sermon by Rev. Il. dewitt
Tnlmage, ID. ID.


Trials and Triumphs," and the text
Luke tx. 80: Let MS make three tab
ernacles.'
Our Arab ponies were almost dead
with fatigue as, i'm December, 1889, we
rode near the foot of Mt. Hcrmon in the
Holy Land. the mountain called by one
ga mountain OF ice;" by another IA gilt
tering brcast-platc of ice;" by another
"thc Mont Blanc of Palestine" Its top
has an almost unearthly brilliance
But what must IL have been in the time
20 which my text refers? Peter and
James and John were on that mountain
top with Jesus, when, suddenly,
Christ's face took on the glow Of
the MONDAY sun, and Moses and Eli
iah, who had been dead for centuries,
came out from the heavenly world and
talked with our Saviour. What an over
whcning three! Moses, representing
the law; Elijah, representing the proph-
cts. and Christ, representing all worlds.
Impctuous Peter was SO wrought upon
by the presence of this wondrous three,
that, without waiting for time to con-
slider how prepostcrous was the propo-
stion. cried out: Let us make three
tabcrnaclcs: one for Thee, one for
Moses and one for Elijah" Where
would they get the material for build
inc one tabernacle. much less material
enough To build two tabcrnaclcS and,
still less how would they get the ma
tcrial for building three? Where would
they get the hammers? Where the
. I.., r,1 H..
curtains? Where the costly adorn-
mcnts? IIcrmon is barren
peak. and to build one tab
ernaclc in SUCH place would have been
an undertaking beyond human achieve
mcnt, and Peter was propounding the
impossible when he cried out in enthu-
siaSln: Let us build three tabcrnaclcs."
And yet, that is what this congregation
has been called upon To do and has done.
The first Brooklyn tabernacle was dedi-
gated in 1874 and destroyed by fire in
1872. The second Brooklyn tabernacle
was dedicated in 1874 and destroyed by
fire in 1889. The third Brooklyn taber-
naclc was dedicated in April, 1891, and
in that we are worshiping to-day. What
sOundcd absurd for Peter To propose,
when he said on Mt. Hcrmon, in the
language of my text, Let us build three
tabcrnaclcs," we have not only done,
but, in the mysterious providence of
God, were compelled to do.
We have been unjustly criticised by
people who did not know the facts,
sometimes for putting So much money
IN church buildings, and sometimes for
not giving as much as we ought to this
or that dcnominational project, and no
explanation has yet been made. Be
fore get through with the delivery of
this sermon and its publication and dis
tribution | shall show that no church
on earth has ever done more magnifi-
Gently, and that no church ever con-
quercd more trials, and that no mem
bcrShip ever had in it more heroes and
heroinos than this Brooklyn tabernacle,
and mean To have it known that any
individual on religious newspaper or sec
nlar newspaper that hereafter casts any
reflection on this church's fidelity and
generosity is guilty of n wicl<edness for
for which God will hold him or il re-
sponsihlc. One year it was sent out
=
this church was doing nothing in the
way Of liberality, when we had that
year raised So4, 900 in hard cash for re-
hgious uses There has been persistent
ami hcmisphcric lying against this
church. We have raised during my
Pastoratc for church building and re-
ilgions purposes, S09s, 200, or practically
S,OO0,0 900. Not an Irish famine,
OR Charleston earthquake, or
an Ohio frcshet, or Chicago
eonfagration, but our church was
given free seats in the morning and
evening services 10 $4,000 strangers a
year, and that in twenty years would
amount To $500, 900 auditors. We have
Hccivcd into our membership 5,357
members, and that is only small por-
ton of the number of those who have
here been converted 10 God from all
parts OF this land and from other lands.
Under the blessing of God, and through
The kindness of the printing press, my
sermons now go every week into every
ne'ghborhood in Christendom. and are
regularly translated into nearly all the
great languages of Europe and Asia.
The syndicates having charge of this
sermonic publication informed me few
days ago that my printed sermons every
week in this and other lands, go into
the hands of 25O, 900, 900 people. Dur
ing the last year, lam authoritatively In
formed, over 1000 different periodicals
were added To the list of those which
mako This llfna ftnf, nd vat fhaFa
are ministers of the Gospel and reli-