The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1893-04-28
TWENTY -FOUR YEARS
DR.. TALMAGE'S ELOQUENT ANNlvER.
SARY SERMON.


ed Newspaper Men Spread the Gospe
Even While Aiming at Their Own Age,
BROOKLYN, April 23.-Rev. DR.. Tai
mage today preached his twenty-fourtl
anniversary sermon. Subject, "a Brook
lyn Passionate" The occasion was ar
unusually interesting one, and the great
audience was visibly impressed during
the services. Over the pulpit in flowers
were the figures 1850" and 1888" The
text was Revelation iv, 4, "And round
about the throne We're four and twenty
seats, and upon the seats l saw four and
twenty elders"
This text l choose chiefly for the nu.
merals it mentions-namely, four and
twenty. That was the number of elders
seated around the throne of God, but
that is the number of years seated
around my Brooklyn ministry, and ev-
cry pulpit is throne of blessing or blast
ing, throne of good or evil. And today
in this my twenty-fourth anniversary
sermon "a years come and sit around
me, and they speak out in a "Reminiscences
of gladness and tears. Twenty-four
J
herd such flock as might come, and
that day carried in on my arms the in
FAINT son who in two weeks from today I
will help ordain to the gospel ministry,
hoping that he will be preaching long
after my poor work is DONE
A MARVELLOUS WORK.
We have received into our membership
over 5000 souls, but they, think, are
only small portion of the multitudes
who, coming from all parts of the earth,
have in our house of God been blessed and
saved. Although we have as a church
raised 81 100000 for religious purposes,
yet we are in the strange position of not
knowing whether IN two or three months
Weshall have any church at all, and with
audiences Of COCO or 1000 people crowd
ed into this room and the adjoining
rooms we are confronted with the ques-
ton whether shall go on with my work
here or go to some other field. What an
awful necessity that we should have been
obliged to build three immense churches,
two of them destroyed by fire.
a misopprelte'asion is abroad that the
financial erigemcy of this church is past.
Through journalistic and personal
friends breathing spell has been afford
ed us, but before as get are financial OBJ
legations Ul,ich mast promptly be met, or
speedily this house of God aoiU go into
acorldly uses and become a thedter or a
concert hall. The $4,000 raised cannot
cancel floating debt of $4,000.
Through the kindness Of those to ao1onl
ice are indebted $50, 900 aoould set as for
ever free. 1 am glad to sag that the case !
is not hopeless. We are daily in receipt
Of touching Evidences Of practical synapa-
thy from all classes of the community and
from all sections of the country, and it
iods 5s,t yesterday that by nay o,oa hand
sent for contributions gratefully received
nearly 80 Acknowledgements east, sDest,
north and south
Our trust is in the Lord who divided |
the Red sea and "made the mountains |
skip like lambs" With this paragraph l |
dismiss the financial subject and return
to the spiritual. This morning the great
ness of Gods kindness obliterates every
thing, and if wanted to build groan
! do not know in what forest I would
hew the timber, or from what quarry l
would dig the foundation stone, or who
would construct for me an organ with
tremolo for the only stop. And so this
morning occupy my time in building
one great, massive, high, deep, broad,
heaven piercing halleluiah. In the re-
view Of the last "a years l think it may
be useful to consider some of the char
acteristics of a Brooklyn pastorate.
DEMANDS OF BROOKLYN PASTORATE.
In the first place l remark that
Brooklyn pastorate is always difficult
pastorate. No city under the sun has
grander array of pulpit talent than
Brooklyn. The Methodists, the Bap-
fists, the Congregationalists, the Epis-
copalians, all the denominations send
their brightest lights here. He who
stands in any pulpit in Brooklyn preach
ing may know that he stands within 10
minutes walk of sermons which Sau-
rim, and Bourdaloue, and John M.
Mason, and George Whitefield would
not be ashamed of. No city under the
sun where poor sermon is such drug
on the market.
For forty years Brooklyn has been sur
charged with homiletics, an electricity
Of eloquence that struck every time it
flashed from the old pulpits which
quaked with the powers of Bethune,
and Cox, and Spencer, and Spear,
and Vinton, and Farley, and Beech
er, not mentioning the names of the mag
nifcent men now manning the Brooklyn /,
pulpits. So during all the time there
has been something to appeal to every
mans taste and to crafty every mans
preference.
Now, let me say to all ministers of the
gospel who are ambitious for Brooklyn
pulpit that it is always a difficult pas
torate. If man shall come and stand !
before any audience in almost any church |
In Brooklyn, he will find before him men
who have heard the mightiest themes {
discussed in the mightiest way. You
will have before you, if you fail in an ar !
gument, so logicians in a fdget. If you !
make slip in the use of a commercial J
figure Of speech, there will be 500 mer- /
chants who will notice it. If you throw Q