The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1894-05-17
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DivINE's SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "a Cheerful, Church."

unclean and debauched utterance ins
in the pure word OF God and IL not n
common reading. Ny opinion Is that Il
| inspired ode setting forth tho feelln
| Christ toward the church and of the ci
| toward Christ. Christ Ia the bridegi
and the church Is the bride The
| words we can u,terto-day truthfully, VIII,
| IN regard TO the church OF God In gener
This church In particular. "Behold, tho
/ iair, my love-"
The past week has been oue OF prolo
! congraiulaiion for that we have for tw
! fve years been permitted 10 associate
| each other in the relation OF pastor and
pie. When cam" 10 BROOKLYN. I fou
| small band OF Christian Disciples who
/ various causes hal become less and less
/ they stood upon the very verge OF extln,
/ ne a church. and the question WINS h
| agitate from time 10 time whether II We
be possible 10 maintain church life long. II
| Indeed. had not those men and women been
consecrated and earnest. they would have
| surrendered 10 the adverse circumstances
| They marshaled congregational meeting
and gathering up all the forces possible they
I east nineteen votes for pastor all OF which
am happy 10 have received.
IL WAS not through any spirit OF personal
| courage or reckless adventure that was led
! from one OF tho warmest and most convenini
pasorates in Philadelphia that man ever
enjoyed 10 this then most unlnvting field
/ but II was the feeling that God had called me
/ to the work, and was sure He would see me
/ through
have thought that II might be profitable
to MS to state briefly what kind OF a church
/ we have been trying TO establish.
In the first place, remark that we have
/ been trying to build here Christian church
-distinctively such--in other words. a
/ church where we should preach the Lord
| Jesus Christ and Him crucined. Mytheoloyy
Is all gone into five leiters-Jesus. Jesus.
the pardon of all ofrenses. Jesus, the
! foundation for all structures Jesus the
/ balm for all wounds Jesus, the eve salye
/ Tor all blindness. Jesus. the guide through
| nll perplexities Jesus the hope for all dis
couragemenis. Jesus. the reform for all
| wrongs.
l have faith TO believe that there Is morel
| power in one drop OF the blood OF Jesus
/ Christ TO cure the woes OF the world than
In an ocean iull OF human quackery. Jesus
| Is the grandes, note In any minstrelsy. He
u tue brightest gem in any crown height
overlapping all height the centre OF every
circumference the circumference TO every
centre the paciller OF all turbulence the
! umpire OF all disputes. Jesus, Jesus At
| HIS table AL nations are TO sit. Around His
/ throne all worlds are 10 rsvolve He Is to
/ he the irradiation OF the universe. Jesus,
Jesus IL is that truth that we have tried
to preach in this Tabernacle.
DO you ask more minulely what we be.
lieve! | can tell you. We have no dry,
withcred, juiceess theology We believe In
God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven
and earth, the deliversr OF the distressed.
the home Tor the homeless, the friend for the
friendless. We believe in Jesus Christ able
to save 10 the uitermost. pardoning the
guilty, imputing HIS Righteousness TO the
believer. We believe in the Holy Ghost.
! the comforter. the sanctiner. cheering up
the heart in liies ills and kindling bright
lights in every dark landing place. We be-
lieye that the whole race Is SO sunken In sin
that nothing but the omnipotent arm OF God
can ever mt it.or: VsL@laer IA gr.. -
Tree grace. sovereign grace, triumphant
grace, eternal grace. We believe in Bible
authentic In its statements, immaculate
In Its tsteachings, glorious in its promises
We believe III heaven. the abode OF the
righteous, aud In hell the residence OF those
who arc soul suicides-of their own free
choice refusing the divine mercy We be-
iieve IN the salvation of all men who accept
Christ 10y faith. DO they sprinkled or i'm
mersed, worship they in cathedral or in log
cabin, believe they in presbyterlanism or
Episcopacy. dwell they under Italian skies
or in SIBERIAN snowsiorms. be they Ethiopian
or American. All ons In Christ. One Lord
one faith, one baptism. on the way to heaven
We built this Taonrnrcle for the purpose OF
setting forth these great theories OF the gos-
pei Of the Son OF God. Would that we had
been more faithful in the pulpit Would
that we hai been more faithful In the pew
Remark, further. that we have tried mere
to build u church dstinctively unconven-
tional Instead OF asking. as some people
are disposed TO do. how otner people DO II,
W. have asked the question how people do
not do II. Inp.rious custom has decided
that churches shall be angular cherries,
gloomy. unsNmpathetic forgetting that what
men call pious gloom is impious, and that
that church has the best architecture where
the people ara the most comfortable and
that that is the most efficient Christian SER
vice where the people are made most sick OF
sin and most tanxlous after Christ and heaven.
Aud so we called the architects together for
our ilrst church building and said "Gve us
an amphitheater"-tha IL, u large family
ii,sle, gathered around q fireplace.
For many years we hal felt that an amphl-
theater was tho only proper shape for an
audience room. The prominent architects
oithe country said ut cannot be done
You need "A church building And so we
had plan AFTER plan OF churchly buildings
presented. but in due time God sent man
who graspad our idea and executed IT, So
Tar from being afailure, II satisfied our want.
and all our three churcnes were built on the
amphitheatrIcal plan. and scores OF churches
all over the country have adopted the same
plan.
Aud. my brethren and sisters, we fail in
our work just In proportion as we try to be
IKE other churches. We believe that God in
tended every church. like every man, 10 be
individual. gathering up all its peculia rites
and tdlosyncracies and hurllng them all to-
ward some good and grand object. In other
words, no two churches ought ever TO be Just
alike. Here Is a church. for instance, whose
object Is 10 prepare philosophers and artists
and critics Tor heaven. God speed them in
the difficult work Here is a church, on the
other hand, that proposes 10 bring only the
poor into the kingdom Of Jesus Christ. look,
Ing not after the rich. God speed such a
church in lis undertaking But there is u
larger idea thnt church may take-brlnging
In the rich and tue poor, the wise and the
Ignorant, the high and the low. so that kneel-
ing beside each other shall be the man farlng
sumptuousy every day aud the man who
could not get his breakfast. God speedsuch
a church
oh, my friends, we need TO break away
from slavery TO ecclesiastical custom. We
dare not sing IL anybody hears us. We dare
not preach unless We have rounded off our
sentences TO suit the criticism OF the world
We dare not dress for church until We have
haf Ia. "A IA