The Penn's Grove record., 1893-04-28

they were so old au | decrepit. but when the
Lords chariots haitei one day in front oil
the old parsonage they stepped IN v,igorou.
as an thlete, aud as we saw the wheels OF
fire whirling through the gates of the sun
set we all cried out, '.My father, my father,
the cheriots OF Israel and ths horsemep
thereofF
remark again, a Brooklyn pastorate Is
characterized by its happiness.
No city under the sun where people taR
such good care of their ministers. In pfc
nortiou as the world outside may curse q
Congregation stands close up by the man
whom they believe In. Brooklyn society
has for its foundation two elements-the
Puritanic, which always means a quiet Sab
bath, and the Hollandish. which means a
worshipful people. On the top of this an
admixture OF all nationalities-th brawny
Scot, the solid English, the vivacious Irish,
the polite French, the philosop1ic German
-and in all thisi ntermingling OF population
the universal dominant theory that a man
can do as he pleases provi led he doesn't dis
turb anybody else.
A delightful climate. While it is hard on
weak throats, for the most OF us it is
bracing. Not an atmosphere made up OF
the discharged gases Of chemical factories or
the miasms Of swamps, but coming painting
right off 1000 miles of Atlantic Ocean be-
fore anybody else has had a chance to
breathe lit All thTou III the city a society
Of kind, genial, generous. sympathetic
people. How they fly to you when you are
in troubled How they watch over you when
you are sicki How tender they are with
~"- shan you hava buried your dead
! brooklyn is good place to live In, a good
| place to die in, a good place to be buried in,
a good place from which to rise in the
beautiful resurrection.
In such a city l nave been permitted to
have "a years of p~astorate. During these
years how many heartbreaks how many
| losses, how many bereavemepts! Hardly a
family of the church that has not been
struck with sorrow. But God has sustained
you in the past, and He will sustain you in
the future. l exhort you to be of good
cheer, Oh thou OF tue broken heart. sweep.
ing may endure for a night, but joy cometh
in the morning" ] wish over every door OF
this church Wa might have written the
word ''Sympathy"-sympathy for all the
1oung.
We must crowd them in here by thou
sands and propose a radiant gospel that
they will take on the spot. We must make
this place so attractive for the young that a
young man will come here on sabbath morn
ing, put down his hat, brush his hair back
from his forehead, uubuttcn his overcoat
| and look around wondering il he has not by
| mistake got into heaven. He will see in thu
faces of the old people not the gloom which
some PEG Die take for religion, but the sun =
shine of celestial peace, and he will say,
"Why, 1 wonder IL that isn't the same peace
tn It shone out on the face of my father and
mother. when they lay dyiugs'
And then there will co ne a dampness In
his eyes through which he can hardly sea.
and he will close his eyes to imprison the
emotion, but the hot tear will break through
the fringes of eyelashes and drop upon the
coat sleeve. He will put his head IN the
back of the pew in front and sob. lord
God of the old people, help mer' We ought
10 lay a plot here fof the religious capture
If all the young people In Brooklyn.
Yes. sympathy for the old. They ave
their aches and pains and distresses. They
cannot hear or walk or see as well as they
used to. We must BE- reverential in their
presence. On dark days we must help them
through the aisle and help them find the
place in the hymn book. Some Sabbath
morning We shall miss them from their place,
and we shall say, "Wnere is Father So-and-
so to-dayS' and the answer will be: "What.
haven't you heardf The Kings wagons
have taken Jacob up to the palace where his
Joseph is yet alive"
Sympathy for business men. Twenty
four years of commercial life in New York
and Brooklyn are enough to tear ones
nerves to pieces. We want to make our
Sabbath service here a rescue for all thesa
martyrs of traffic, a foretaste of the land
where they have no rents to pay, and there
are no business rivalries. and where riches,
| instead OF taxing wings u ny away, DFOOU
over other riches.
Sympathy for the fallen, remembering
that they ought to be pitied as much as .
man run over with a rail train. The fact ii
that in the temptations and misfortunes OF
life they get run over. You and l in thu
same circumstances would have done al
badly. We should nave lone worse perhaps.
II you and l hal the same evil surroundings
an / the same evil parentage that they had
and the same native horn proclivities to evil
that they had, you ami l should have been
in the penitentiary or outcasts Of society,
mo" says som self righteous man, y
couldn't have been overthrown in that way
You old hypocrite, you would have been thu
first to fall
We want in this church to have sympathy
Tor the worst man, remembering he is 0
brother: sympathy for the worst woman,
remembering she is a sister. IL that is o
the gospel, l do not know what the gospel
Is. All, yes, sympathy for all the troubled,
Tor the orphans in their exposure, foi
widowhood with its weak arm fighting for
bread, for the household which erst re.
sounded with merry voices and pattering
feet now awfnlly still-broad-winged sym.
pathy, like the feathers or the Almighty
patty; sympathy which shows itself In the
grasp of the hand, In the giittering tear Of
the eye, in the consoling word Of the
mouth; sympathy of blankets for the cold,
of bread for the hungry, OF medicine for the
ick, of rescue for the lost. Sympathy
Let it thrill in every sermon. Let il
tremble in every song. Let it CLEAN in every
tear and in every light. Sympathy Men
and women are signing for sympathy,
grooming for sympathy, dying for sym
pathy, tumbling off into u~ncleanliness and
crime and perdition for LACK Of sympathy.
MAY Col give it to usi Fill all this pulpit
with It from step to step. Let the sweep Of
tbosa 1a1Iariaa srrr0oat ifa anoirclinn arms
Fill all the house with II, from door to
door. and from floor to ceiling, until there
Is no more room for 1t, and it shall overflow
into the street. and passersby on foot aud in
carriag e shall feel the throb of Its magni6-
cent benedlction.
church. Let that be my new departure as a
pastor. Sympathy Gratituts to Goi de-
mands that this morning 1 mention the
fact that during all these 81 years l have
missed but one service through sickness.
When | entered the ministry was so deli
cate | did not think | would preach three
months, but preaching has agreed with me,
and l think the heslthiest thing in all the
earth is the religion of Jesus Christi Bless
the Lord. o my soull WHAT ingrRtes we
are in regard to our heaithi
Imust, in gratitude to God, also mention
the multitp1es to whom l nave been per.
mitted to preach. 1t is simply miraculous,
Nv hhCA mug " NJ uAuEr htkut
by night, and year by year, anu long after
i has got to be an old story. I know some
people are dainty and exclusive in their
tastes. As for myself, l like g big crowd,
/ would like to see an audience large enough
to scare mel 1t this gospel is good, the more
that get 1t the better.
Many have received the gospel here, bur
others have rejected it. Now, l tell you
what l am going to do with soma Of my
dearest friends Who have hitherto rejected
the gospel. You are not afraid OF me. and |
am not afraid af you, and some day. o
brother, will clasp your hands together.
and l will turn your face the other way.
and l will take hold of your shoulders. and
while you are helpless in my grasp i will
give you one hea1long push into the king
dean of God. Christ says we must compel
you to come in. / will compel You to come
in. Can l consent to anything slss with
these men, who are as dear to me as my own
soulp will compel you to come In.
Proiting by the mistakes OF the mast. l
must do better work for you and batt, n
work for God. Lest I might through some
su iden illness or casualty, be snatched away
before | have the opportunity OF doing 50. /
take this OcclRinn tn daCtaro vnu lor. a.,