The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-11-01
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUM-
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Helpful Churches"

CTy. -ISdlulS AA.,
If you should ask fifty men what the church
Is, they would give you fifty different an
swers. One man would say, sit is a conven-
lion of hypocrltes." Another, SIT is an as
sembly OF people who feel themselves great
deal better than Others" Another, 1T Is a
place for gossip, where wolverine disposi-
lions devour each other" Another, SIT is q
place for the cultivation Of superstition and
can't" Another, SIT is an arsenal where
theologians go to get pixies and muskets and
shot" Another, "It Is an art gallery, waere
men 20 to admire grand arches and exquisite
fresco, and musical warble and the Dan
tesuue in gloomy imagery" Another man
would say, SIT Is the best place on earth ex-
cent my own home" II I forget thee, 0
Jerusalem let my right hand forget her cum.
ming"
! Now, my friends. whatever the church Is,
NV text tells you what 1t ought to be-a
great, practical, homely, omnipotent help.
siSend thee help from the sanctuary" The
pew ought to yield restfulness to the body.
The color Of the upholstery ought to yield
TO Weld strength for the moil and struggle OF
everyday life. The Sabbath ought to beh r.
messed to all the six days OF the week, draw
ing them in the right direction. The church
ought to be magnet, visibly and nightly
affecting all the homes OF the worshipers.
Every man gets roughly jostled, gets abused,
gets cut, gets insulted, gets slighted, gets
exasperated.
+ By the time the Sabbath comes he has an
accumulation Of six days OF annoyance. and
that IS starveling church service which has
not strength enough to take that accumulat-
ed annoyance and hurl it into perdition. The
business man sits down In church headachey
from the weeks engagements. Perhaps he
wishes he had tarried at home on the lounge
with the newspapers and the slippers. That
man wants to be cooled of and graciously
diverted. The first wave OF the religious
seryice ought to dash clear over the hurr1-
cane decks and leave him dripping with holy
and glad heavenly emotion. "Send thee help
from the sanctuary"
In the first place, sanctuary help ought to
come from the music. A woman dying IN
England persisted In singing to the last mo-
ment. The attendants tried TO persuade her
10 stop, saying it would exhaust her and
make her disease worse. She answered II
must sing. I am only practicing for the
heavenly choir" Music on earth Is re-
hearsal for music In heaven. II you and
are going to take part In that great orches-
ira, 1t Is high time that We were stringlng
and drumming our harps. They tell US tnat
Thalbergand Gottschalk neyer would 80 into
a concert until they had first In private re.
heersed, although they we're such masters OF
the instrument. And can it be that we ex-
meet to take a part in the great oratorio OF
heaven if we do not rehearse here? But L
am not speaking of the next world. Sabbath
song ought to set all the week to music. We
want not more harmony, not more artistic
expression, but mott volume in our church
music.
Z, Now am no worshiper Of noise, but be-
lieve that If our American churches would,
with full heartiness OF soul and full emphasis
OF voice, sing the songs OF Zion this part OF
sacred worship would have tenfold more
power than it has now. Why not take this
tpart OF the sacred service and lift 1t to where
it ought to be-? All the annoyances OF life
might be drowned out Of that sacred song.
do YOU tell me that it Is not fashionable to
sing very loudly? Then, 1 say, away with
THE fashion. We dam back the great Mis-
sissippi of congregational singing and let
flew drops of melody trickle through the
dam. say, take away the dam and let the
fbillows roar on their way to the oceanic
heart Of God. Whether 1t is fashionable to
sing loudly or not, let us sing with all pos
sible emphasis.
We hear a great deal OF the art OF singing,
sof music as ON entertainment, OF music as
recreation. 1t is high time We heard some
thing OF music as help-a practical help.
In order to do this We must only have few
lhymns. New tunes and new hymns every
Sunday make poor congregational singing.
Fifty hymns are enough for fifty years. Tne
Episcopal Church prays the same prayers
every Sabbath, and year after year and
century after century. For that reason they
have hearty responses. Let us take hint
from that fact, and let US sing the same
songs Sabbath after Sabbath. Only Id tnat
way can we come to the tull force OF this
exercise. Twenty thousand years will not
wear out the hymns OF William Cowper and
Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts.
Suppose now each person in this audience
has brought all the annoyances OF the last
365 days. Fill this room to the ceiling with
sacred sons, and you would drown out all
those annoyauces Of the S65 days. and you
would drown them out forever. Organ and
comet are only to marshal the voice. Let
the voice fall into line, andtn companies, and
in brigades, by storm take the ooduracy and
Gin OF the world. II you cannot sing for
yourself, sing for Others. BY trying TO give
others good cheer you will bring Good cheer
70 YOUR own heart. When Londonderry,
Ireland, was besieged, many years ago, the
people inside the city were Iamishing, and a
vessel came up with provisions, but the YES
sel ran on the river bank and stuck fast. The
snemy went down, with laughter and de.
rision, to board the vessel, wnen tho vesse
gave broadside fire against the emeny. and
by the shock was turned back into the stream, j,
and all was we'll.
Oh, ye who are high and dry on the rocks
OF melancholy, give broadside fire Of song
against your spiritual enemies, and by holy
rebound you will come out into the calm
waters. II we want to make ourselves
happy, we must make others happy.
s'Mythology tells US Of Amphian, who played
his Tyre until the mountains were moved and
the walls OF Thebes arose. but religion has q
mightier story to tell of how Christian song
may build whole temples Of eternal Joy and
lift the round earth into sympathy with the
skies. tarried many nights in London. ard
used to hear the bells-the small bells OF
the city-strike the hour OF night-one, two,
three, FOUR and after they were done strik-
ing the hour OF night, then the great St.
PauPs Cathedral would come in to mark the
hours, making all the other sounds seem ut
terly Insignificant as with mighty tongue it
announced the hour or tine nighs-svery
stroke an overmastering boom.
My friends it was intended that all the
lesser sounds of the world should be drowned
out in the mighty tongue of congregational
song beating against the gates of heaven.
Do you know how they mark the hours in
heaven? They have no clocks, as they have
no candles, but great pendulum Of halle
luish swinging across heaven from eternity
to eternity.
Let those re use to sing
Who never knew our God.
But children OF the heavenly king
Should speak tne.r toys abroad.
Again remark that sanctuary help ought
20 come from the sermon. 0f thousand
people in this or any other audience. how
many want sympathetic help? Do you guess
q hundred2 Do you guess 500? You have
guessed wrong. Twill tell you just the pro-
portion. Out Of thousand people in this
audience there are just 1000 who need sym
pathetic help. These young people want it