The Penn's Grove record., 1894-05-18
REV. DR..
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "a Cheerful Church.

pJNtt ShCCEhuh
Z Behold, thou art fair my love
-solomon's Song w., 1.
higher criticism says that this pook Of
So'omon's song is a love scene, q foriorn
maiden signing for her beau. II SO, 1t is an
unclean and debauched utterance inserted
In the pure word OF God and Is not fit fol
common reading. My opinion is that 1t is an
inspired ode setting forth the feeling Of
Christ toward the church and of the church
toward Christ. Christ Is the bridegroom,
and the church Is the bride. The same
words we can utter to-day truthfully, whether
In regard 10 the church of God In general OF
this church in particular, "Behold, thou art
fair, my love-"
The past week has been one OF prolonged
oongratulation for that we have for twenty
nve years been permitted to associate with
each other in the relation of pastor and peo-
pie. When | came TO Brooklyn, / found q
small pand OF Christian disciples who from
various causes had become less and less until
they Stood upon the very verge Of extinction
as q church. and the question was being
agltatei from time to time whether 1t would
be possible to maintain a church life longer.
indeed. had not those men and women been
consecrated and earnest, they would have
surrendered to the adverse circumstances
Iney marshaled a congregational meeting,
and gathering up all the forces possible they
cast nineteen votes for q pastor, all Of which
l am happy to have received.
1t was not through any spirit OF personal
courage or reckless adventure that I was led
from one OF the warmest and most congenial
pastorates in Philadelphia that a man ever
enjoyed to this then most uninviting field.
but 1t was the feeling that God had called me
to the work, and was sure He would see me
through.
l have thought that it might be profitable
TO us to state briefly what kind Of church
we have been trying to establish.
In the first place, I remark that we nave
been trying to build here q Christian church
-dlstlnctively such-in other words, q
church where we should preach the Lord
Jesus Christ and Him crucitied. MYTHOLOGY
is all gone into five letters-Jesus. Jesus.
the pardon Of all offenses. Jesus, the
foundation for all structures. Jesus, the
balm for all wounds. Jesus, the eye salve
for all blindness. Jesus, the guide through
all perplex;iies. Jesus, the hope for all dis
rouragemenis. Jesus. the reform for all
wrongs.
l have faith 10 believe that there is more
power in one drop of the blood OF Jesus
Christ to cure tha woes of the world than
In an ocean full o; hu a quackery. Jesus
is the grandest note in any minstrelsy. He
is the brlghtes. gem in any crown; height
toNOAboPPihS al llClSul kuo bulEc v ef6TH
circumference; the circumference to every
centre the pacifier OF all turbulence the
umpire OF all disputes. Jesus. Jesus! At
His table all nations are to sit. Around His
throne all worlds are to ~revolve. He Is to
be the irradiation of the universe. Jesus,
Jesus! 1t is that truth that We have tried
to preach nthis Tabernacle.
Do you ask more infinitely what We be-
IHeve2 I can tell you. We nave no dry,
withered, j~uiceless theology. We believe in
God, the Father Almighty, maker Of heaven
and earth, the deliverer OF the distressed.
the home Tor the homeless, the friend for the
lfriendless. We hellevs in Jesus Christ, able
Ito save to the uitermost, pardoning the
guilty, imputine His righteousness to the
believer. We believe in the Holy Ghost,
the comforter, the sanctit1er, cheering up
the heart in llfe's ills and kindling bright
lights In every dark landing place. We be-
|ieve that the whole race is so sunken in sin
that nothing but the o~mnipotent arm OF God
can ever lift il out. We believe In grace
free grace, sovereign grace, triumphant
grace, eternal grace. We believe In a Bible
authentic in its statements. immaculate
In its teachings, glorious In Its promises.
We believe In heaven, the abode of the
righteous, and in hell. the residence OF those
who are soul su cides-of their own free
lcho, zee refusing the divine mercy. We be.
Hove n the salvation Of all men who accept
lChii,t by faith, be they sprinkled or i'm
lmcrsed, worship they in cathedral or In log
cabin, believe they in Presbyterianism or
| Episcopacy. dwell they under italian skies
or in Siberian snowstorms, be they Ethiopian
or American. All one in Christ. One Lord,
one faith, one baptism, on the way to heaven.
I'VE built this Tabernacle for the purpose Of
lsetting forth these great theories OF the Cos
Ipel of the Son OF God. Would that we had
been more faithful in the pulpit Would
THAT we had been more faithful In the pew !
Iremark, further, that We have tried here
Ito build a church ~distinctively unconyenl
%ltional. Instead of asking, as some people
are disposed to do, how other people do It,,
Tvs have asked the question how people do
mot do II. Imperious custom has decided
THAT churches shall be angular, chesrless,
gloomy, unsympathetic, forgetting that what
men call a pious gloom is impious, and that
THAT church has the best architecture where
| 1.-The people are the most comfortable, and
| THAT that is the most efficient Christian SER
vice where the people are made most sick OF
sin and most anxious after Christ and heaven.
And so we called the architects together for
our first church building and said "Give us
an amphitheater'-that Is, q large family
l%circle, gathered around q fireplace.
For many years we had felt that an smphi-
audience room. The prominent architects
kofthe country said sit cannot DO done.
You need a church building" And 80 we
bad plan after plan Of churchly buildings
presented, but In due time God sent a man
who grasped our idea and executed 1t. So
far from being failure, 1t satisfied our want,
and all our three churches were built on the
amphitheatrical plan, and scores Of churches
ai over the country have adopted the SAINT
lplan.
And, my brethren and sisters, we fail In
Iour work Just In proportion as we try to be
like other churches. We believe that God in.
TENDED every church, like every man, TO b,
individual, gathering up all its peculiaritles
and idiosyncracies and hurting them all to,
ward some good and grand object. In Other
words, no two churches ought ever to be JUS
alike. Here Is a church, for instance, who's
object Is to prepare philosophers and artists
and critics for heaven. God speed them III
1.-THE difficult work. Here ia q church, on the
other hand, that proposes to bring only the
Ipoor into the kingdom of Jesus Christ, look
ling not after the rich. God speed such
church in its u~ndertakIngi But there is
larger idea that a church maytake-bringinl
in the rich and the poor, the wise and thu
Ignorant, the high and the low, 50 that kneel
ling beside each other shall be the man farms
ls%umptuously every day and the man VIII
could not get his breakfast. God speedsuct
o church,
oh, nv friends, we need to break ava,
from slavery to ecclesiastical custom. W,
dare not sing II anybody hears US. We dar
not preach unless we have rounded off GU
sentences to suit the criticism OF the world
We dare not dress for church until we hav
examined the fashion plates and would rattle
stay at home than appear with o coat or
hat not sanctioned by custom. When vii
the day oil deliveranee come to the church O
God, when, instead Of dead religion lai
out In state on a catafalque OF pomp and In
sincerity, we shall have a living. bounding
sympathetic, glowing Christianity
I remark, further; that we lave tried her
TO build and to conduct a cheerful church
While. as you know, we have not held bac
the terrors OF the law and the stsrner doc
trines Of the gospel, We have tried in thi
house to present to this people the idea tha
the gladdest, brightest, happiest thing in a
the universe Is the Christian religion. Their
is so much trouble in the world. Bushes
men have 50 many anxlsties. Toiling me
have SO Iaany ~satigues. Orphans have S
many desoiatfons. For Gods sake, II ther
be any bright place on ssrth. show Y to then
Let the church Of Jesas Christ be the mo
cheerful spot on earth:
Let me say that I do not want anybody I
aanaa xvhfntnO ar0nnA ma ahouf the 0hrfGtfa