The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1892-04-21

build three churches in one city. Inc ouil4-
| ing Of one church generally ends the useIui-
ness of q pastor How can any one preSlde
! M the building of three ehurcnes| Buu
| before tyentv-four hours had passed we
were compelled to cry out, with feteI q
INV text s'Iet us build three tabernacies;
| We must have home somewhere. Inc oiu
site had ceased to be the center OF our con-
preration, and the center of the congrega-
ton, as near as we could find 1t, Is where we
| now stand. It'll
Having selected the spot should we build
ON it a barn or tabernacle, beautiful ana
commodious7 Our common sense as wen as
| orr religion, commanded the latter. But
what push what industry, what sk1ll, "haC
| sacrifice what faith in God were necessary
ImpediInents and hindrances without num-
| Der were thrown in the way, ana had IL NY Nv
been for the perseverance Of our church 9TH
Gals. and the practical help Of many people,
and the PRAYERS of millions Of good Souls IN
all parts Of the earth, and the blessing OF
| Almighty God the work would not nave
been done. But it is done, and all gooo
people who behold the structure feel IN ther
hearts, if they do not utter 1t with tneir ups,
GLOW amiabie are Thy tabernacles, . Lord
of Hostsp On the third Sabbath OF last
April this church was dedicated, DR.. Hamnn,
of Washington, preaching an lnsnlring ser
mon DR.. Wendell Prime, of New York,
Offering the dedicatory PRAYER, and some
fifteen clergymen during the day taking
part in the services. Hosannah!
How suggestive to many of us are the
words spelled out in flowers above the pull
pit-''1SG9' and 1892 for those dates
bound what raptures, what griefs, what
struggles, what triumphs. mention 1t as
matter of gratitude to God that in these
twenty-three years [ have missed but one
Sabbath through physical indisposition, and
but three in the thirty six years of my MN
how tlGad
twenty-third milestone, l start anew. L
have in my memorandum books analyses
of more sermons than I have ever yet
preached, and / have preached, as near as L
can tell, about $3.50.
During these past years have learned two
or three things. Among others | have
learned that all things work together for
good" Ny positive mode Of preaching has
sometimes seemed to stir the hostilittes of all
earth and he'll. Feeling called upon fifteen
years ago to explore underground New York
city life, that l might report the evils to be
combated, took with me two elders OF my
church and New Y ork police commissioner
and a policeman, and l explored and re
ported the horrors that needed removal and
the allurements that endangered our young
men, There came upon me an outburst OF
assumed Indignation that frightened almost
everybody but myself. That exploration
put into my church thirty or forty news
paper correspondents from north, south,
east and west; which opened for me new
avenues in which to preach the Gospel that
otherwise would never have been opened.
Years passed on and | preached series
Of sermons on Amusements, and false re-
port OF what did say-and one of the SER
mons said to have bsen preached by me was
not mine in q single word-roused violence
that threatened me with poison and dirk
and pistol and other forms OF extinguish'
rnent, until the chief of Brooklyn police,
without any suggestion from me- TOOK pos
session Of the church with twenty-four po'
lcemen to see that no harm was done. Ihat
excitement opened many doors, which en-
tered for preaching the Gospel.
After awhile came an ecclesiastical trial,
in which was arraigned by people who did
not like the way l did things, and although l
was acquitted OF all the charges the contest
shook the American church. That battle
made me more friends than anything that
ever happened and gave Inc Chistendom and
more than Christendom for my weekly
audience On the demolition of each church
we got better and a larger church, and not
q disaster, not a caricature, not a persecu-
ton, not an assault, during all these twenty
three years, but turned out for our acvan.
tage, and ought l not to belleve that all
things worlxtogether for Good| hosannah !
Another lesson have learned during these
twentv-three years is that it is not necessary
to preach error or pick flaws in the cid
Bible in order to get an audience; the old
Book without any fixing up Is good enough
for me, and the higher criticism, as it is
called, means lower religion. Higher
criticism is another form OF lnhdehty, ana
its disciples will believe less and less, until
many OF them will land in Nowhere and
become the worshipers of an eternal what
is it," The most of these higher critics seem
to be seeking notoriety by pitching into the
Bible. 1t is such a brave thing to strike
your grandmother. The old Gospel put in
modern phrase, and without any of the
conventionaiities, and adapted to all the
wants and woes of humanity, have found
the mightiest magnet, aud we have never
lacked an audience.
Next to the blessing Of my own FANNY l
account the blessing that have always had
a great multitude OF people to preach TO-
That old Gospel / have preached to you
these twenUy-three years Of my Brooklyn
pastorate, and that old Gospel | will preach
till die, and charge my son, who Is on the
way to the ministry, to preach 1t after me,
for [ remember Paups tnunderbolt, "lf any
man preach any other Gospel, let him be
accursed." And now, as L stand here on my
twenty-third anniversary, l see two audi
ences The one is made up of all those who
have worshiped with us in the past, but have
been translated to higher realms.
What groups OF chlldren-too tair ana too
sweet and too lovely for earth, and the Lord
took them, but they seem present to-day.
The Group has gone out of the swollen throat
and the pallor from the cheek, and they have
on them the health and radiance OF heaven
Hail, groups of glorified children How glad
/ am to have you come back to US to-day
And here sit those aged ones, who departed
this lire leaving an awful vacancy In home
and church Where are your stats and where
are your gray locks and where you STOPPING
shoulders, ye blessed old folks? "Ohp they
say, 1--WE are ali young again, anc
the bath in the river from under the throne
has made us agile and bounding. In the
place from which we come they use no stats
but sceptersp Hail, fathers and mothers il
| Israel; how glad we are to have you come
back to greet US. But the other audience
see in imagination is made up OF all those tt
whom we have had opportunity as church.
directly or Indirectly, of presenting the
Gospel. Yea, all my parishes seem to come
back to-day. The people OF my first charg
in Belleville, New Jersey. The people of m,
second charge in Syracuse, New York Th
people of my third charge in Philadelphia
| And the people OF all these three Brooklyn
Tabernacles. Look at them, aud all thos
whom, through the printing press, we hav
| invited to God and heaven, now seeming t.
sit in galleries above galleries fifty galleries