The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1893-05-10
BROOKLYN PASTORATE.
Talmage breaches His TwenH-Fourth
Anniversary Sermon,
Recalling Both Sad and Pleasant Remin-
jscences-Different Things Which
tho Tabernacle Pastor Had to
Contend With.

was Rev. w., 4: "And found about the
throne were four and twenty seats, and
upon the seats ] saw four and twenty
elders"
"This text l choose chiefly for the
numerals it mentions, namely, four and
twenty. That was the humber OF ell
ders seated around the throne OF God.
But that is the number of years seated
around my Brooklyn ministry, and
every pulpit is throne of blessing or
blasting, throne of good or evil. And
to-day is my twenty-fourth anniversary
sermon. Twenty-four years come and
sit around me, and they speak out in
"reminiscences of gladness and tears.
Twenty-four years ago arrived in this
city to shepherd such flock as might
come, and that day 1 carried in on my
arms the infant son, who, in two weeks
from to-day, will help ordain to the
Gospel ministry hoping that he will be
preaching long after my poor work is
done.
We have received into our member
ship thousands of souls, but they, l
think, are only a 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 wheth-
er in two or three months we shall have
any church at all, and with audiences
of thousands of people crowded into
this room and the adjoining rooms, we
are confronted with the question
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 misrepresentation is abroad that the
financial exigency of this church is
passed. Through journalistic and per-
sonal friends breathing spell has been
afforded us, but before us yet are finan.
cial obligations which must promptly
be met, or speedily this house of God
will go into worldly uses, and become a
theater or a concert hall. The S12, DOC
raised can not cancel floating debt OF
S140, 900. Through the kindness OF
those to whom we are indebted, $50, DOC
Jay the case is not hopeless. We are
daily in receipt of touching evidences
of practical sympathy from all classes
of the community and from all sections
of the country, and it was but yester
day that by my own hand sent fol
contributions gratefully received nearly
fifty acknowledgements east, west
north and south.
Our trust is in the Lord, who divided
the Red sea and made the mountains
skip like lambs" With this paragraph
dismiss the financial subject and re
turn to the spiritual. This morning
the greatness of Gods kindness obliter
ated everything, and if wanted to built
a groan do not know in what forest
would hew the timber, or from what
quarry l would dig the foundation, Oh
| who would construct for me an organ
with tremolo for the only stop, and 81
this morning l occupy my time in build
ing one great massive, high, deep
broad, Heaven-piercing hallelujah. IL
the review of the last twenty-foul
years think it may be useful to con-
alder some of the characteristics of g
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 thai
Brooklyn. The Methodists, the Bap
fists, the Congregationalists, the Epis
copalians, all the denominations sen,
their brightest lights here. He VIII
stands in any pulpit in Brooklyn preach
Ing may know that he stands within
fifteen minutes walk of sermons whicl
4 Saurin, and Bourdaloue, and Johl
M. Mason, and a George Whitefiel
would not be ashamed Of No city ur
der the sun where poor sermon is sue
. drug on the market.
For forty years Brooklyn has bee,
unchanged with homiletics, an cleo
tricity of eloquence that struck ever,
time it flashed, from the old pulpit
which quaked with the powers of
Bethune, and Cox, and Spencer, an,
q Spear, and Vincent, and Farley
and a Beecher, not mentioning tn
names of the magnificent men nov
manning the Brooklyn pulpits. So dur
ing all the time there has been some
thing to appeal to every mans tast
and to crafty every mans preference
Now let me say to all ministers of tn
gospel who are ambitious for Brook
lyn pulpit, that it is always Difficult
pastorate. If a man shall come an
stand before any audience in almos
any church in Brooklyn he will find be
fore him men who have heard tn
mightiest themes discussed in tn
mightiest way. You will have befor
you, if you fail in an argument, fit
logicians in a fidget. If you make
slip in the use of commercial figure c
speech there will be 500 merchants VIII
will notice it. If you throw out a
anchor or furl sail in the wrong way
there will be ship captains right o.
who will wonder if you are as ignoran
Of theology as you are of navigation
So it will be place of hard study.
you are going to maintain yourself, yo
will find Brooklyn pastorate a diff
cult pastorate.
l remark still further, Brookly
pastorate is always conspicuous pa
torate. The printing press of the couI
try has no greater force than that o
tee sea coast, Every pulpit word, geo
or bad, wise or ignorant, kind or me;
is watched. The reportorial corps ,
these cities is an orpa nized army Man