News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1893-06-01
TIMBREL OF JUBILEE
MOSES AND MIRIAM ON THE BANKS
OF THE RED SEA.

Day of Rejoicing Mt the Brooklyn Taber
nacIe-Dr. Talmage's Eloquent and In
spring Sermon-A New Departure b,
the Thankful Pastor.
BROOKLYN, May 2S.-This was one Of
bhe greatest days in the history of the
Brooklyn Tabernacle. The music, in
itrumental and congregational, was Of
the most joyous type; the hymns, the
prayers and the sermon were celebrative
If the entire extinguishment OF the float
ing debt of $40, 900, accumulated from
the disasters which required the build
ing of three immense churches. Text,
Exodus XIV, 90. 81: ''And Miriam, the
prophecies, the sister of Aaron, took a
timbrel in her hand, and all the women
went out after her with timbrels and
with dances And Miriam answered
them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath
triumphed gloriously; the horse and his
rider hath he thrown into the sea-"
Sermonizers are naturally so busy in
getting the Israelites safely through the
parted Red sea and the Egyptians sub
merged in the returning waters that but
little time is ordinarily given to what
the Lords people did after they got vel
up high and dry on the beach. That
was the beach of the Red sea, which is
at its greatest width 200 miles and at its
least width II miles. Why is the ad
jective red" used in describing this
water? 1t is called the Red sea because
the mountains on its western coast look
as though sprinkled with brick dust, and
the water is colored with red seaweed
and has red zoophyte and red coral.
This sea was cut by the keels of Egyp-
tan, Phenician and Arabic shipping. 1t
was no insignificant pond or puddle on
the beach of which my text calls US to
stand | hear upon it the sound of a
tambourine, for which the timbrel was
only another name-an instrument of
music made out of circular hoop, with
pieces of metal fixed in the sides of it,
which made jingling sound, and over
which hoop a piece of parchment was
distended. and this was beaten by the
knuckles of the performer.
The Israelites, standing on the beach
of the Red sea, were making music on
their deliverance from the pursuing
Egyytians, and hear the Israelitish men
with their deep bass voices, and I hear
the timbrel of Miriam as she leads the
women in their jubilee. Rather lively
instruments, you say, for religious serv-
ice, the timbrel or tambourine. But l
think God sanctioned it. And / rather
think we will have to put little more
of the festive into our religious services
and drive out the dolorous and funeral,
and the day may come when the timbrel
will resume is place in the sanctuary.
But that which occupied the attention
of all the men and women of that Israel
itish host was the celebration of their
victory. They had crossed. They had
triumphed. They were free.
More wonderful was this victory and
defeat than when the hosts of Richard
overcame the hosts of Saladin at Azotus,
than when at Bannockburn Scotland
was set free. than when the Earl Ct
Northumberland was driven back at
BrGnham Moor, than when at the battle
of Wakefield York was slain, than when
at Dosworth Field Richard was left
dead. than when the Athenians under
MiltiaIes at Marathon put the Persians
to Git. for this victory of my text was
gained without sword or catapult or
spear The weapon YVES a lifted and
prostr..ted sea. And Miriam, the proph-
etess. the sister of Aaron, took timbrel
in her hand, and all the women went out
after her with timbrels and with dances.
And Miriam answered them, Sing We to
the Lord, for he hath triumphed glori-
ously: the horse and his rider hath he
thrown into the sea-.
A GLORIOUS TRIUMPH.
Brooklyn Tabernacle today feels much
as Moses and Miriam did when they
stood on the banks of the Red sea after
their safe emergence from the waters.
By the help of God and the generosity of
our friends here and elsewhere our $780,
900 of floating church debt is forever
gone, and this house, which, with the
ground upon which it stands, represents
$4,000, this day reconsecrate to God
the Father, God the Son and God the
Holy Ghost A stranger might ask how
could this church get into debt to an
amount that would build several large
churches? My answer is, Waves of de-
struction, stout as any that ever rolled
across the Red sea of my text.
Examine all the pages of church his
tory and all the pages of the worlds his
tory and show me an organization, sa-
cred or secular. that ever had to build
three great structures, two of them de-
stroyed by fire. Take any of your big
gest life insurance companies, or your
biggest storehouses, or your biggest
banks, or your biggest newspaper estab-
lishments and let them have to build
three times ON the same foundation, and
it would cost them a struggle if not
demolition. Ny text speaks of the Red
sea once crossed, but one Red sea would
not have so much overcome u.s. 1t was
with us Red sea after Red sea. Three
Red seasl Yet today, thanks be to
God, we stand on the shore, and with
organ and cornet in absence of timbrel
we chant, 'Sing We unto the Lord, for he
hath triumFhed gloriously; the horse and
his rider hath he thrown into the sea-"
But why the great expense of this
structure? My answer is the immensely
of it and the frmness of it. 1t cost over
$4,000 to dig the cellar before one stone
was laid, reaching as the foundation does
from street to street, and then the build
ing of the house was constructed in way,
we are told by experienced builders who
had nothing to do with it, for durability
of foundation and wall such as charac-
terizes hardly any other building of this
city To the day of your death and
mine, and for our children and grand
children after US, it will stand here a
house of God and gate of heaven.
For me personally this is time of
gladness more than tongue or pen or
type can ever tell. For "A years l had
been building churches in Brooklyn and
seeing them burn down until l felt I
could endure the strain no longer, and |
had written my resignation as pastor
and had appointed to read it two Sab
baths ago and close my work in Brook
Ign forever. felt that my chief work
was yet to be done, but that l could not
do it with the Alps on one shoulder and
the Himalayas on the other. But God
has interfered, and the way is clear, and
i am here and expect to be here until
my work ON earth is done.
Why should want to go away from
Brooklyn? l have no sympathy with the
popular sentiment which defames our
beloved city. Some people make it part
of their religion to excoriate and belittle
the place of their residence, and there has
been more damage, financial and moral,
done to our city by this hypercriticism
than can ever be estimated. The course
sf our city has been onward and upward
We have citizenship made up of hun
dreds of thousands of as good men and
women as inhabit the earth, and | feel
hoDora6 II, baipo n cifizop IF PrOolz1xvr,