Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-07-06
THOSE THREE FIRES.
DR.. TALMAGE DISCUSSES THE BURN
ING OF THE TABERNAcLeS.

They Are Mysteries Which He VIII Wait
to Have Solved In the Great BeyOnd-The
First Stage In the Great Preachers Trip
Around the World.
AT half past o'clock on the night Of
May If, 1894, 1 descended the front
steps Of my home in Brooklyn. The sem
sation of leaving for a journey around
the world is not all made up Of bright
anticipation The miles to be travelled
are 20 numerous, the seas to be crossed
are so treacherous, the peradyentures
are so many, that the solemnities out
number the expectations My family
accompany me to the railway train
Will we all meet again? The climatic
changes, the ships, the shoals, the hur-
ricancs the bridges, the cars, the cpl
denies, the possibilities, hinder any
positiveness Of prophecy come down
the front steps Of my home. viii | ever
again ascend them? The remarks made
by Hon. William NJ. Eyarts a few even
ings before at the public reception-on
the conclusion Of my twenty y-ffth year
of Brooklyn pastorate--though uttered
in facetiOusness, were consolatory. He
said, "Dr. Talmage ought to realize
that if he goes around the world he will
come out at the same place from which
he started" " May the God who holds
the winds in one fist and the ocean in
the hollow Of the other hand protect us!
/ leave home while the timbers Of
our destroyed church are still smoking.
Three great churches have been con-
sumed. Why this series Of huge calami-
ties know not. Had | not made all the
arrangements for departure and been as
sured by the trustees Of my church that
they would take all the responsibilities
upon themselves, would have post
poned my intended tour or adjourned it
forever. but all whom have consulted
tell me now is the time to 60, and my
face is toward the setting sun.
Six times before this have l crossed
the American continent, and l have
seen the sun rise from the golden cradle
of the eastern sky and seen him buried
beneath the pomp Of the western hori-
zon. Three girths have been put around
the American continent-the Northern
Pacific, the Union Pacific and the
Southern Pacific. All these girths have
been frightened, and the buckles are
moving ever and anon until the conti-
nent is less and less in circumference.
When I first crossed it, it took fully
seven days Instead Of the elegant din
ing cars Of today, we stopped at restau-
rants with table covers indescribable,
for they had on them layers Of other
strata of breakfasts insulting in appear
ance. The first time l ever saw Judge
Field Of the United States supreme
court was at one Of these tables on the
Rocky mountains. Like myself, he had
dismounted from the Union Pacific
train. We sat opposite each other. The
different courses Of food were put upon
the table, but his appetite and mine de-
clined everything presented. Our eyes
met and we burst into a guffaw Of
laughter that was the introduction of a
friendship that has been valuable to me
ever since. A smile as well as a tear
may open chapter Of hearty acquaint-
anceship.
What is the meaning Of the three
fires? AS 1 leave, people in many lands
are discussing the question, for tele-
grams from across the Atlantic as well
as from many parts of this country show
that the fiery news had leaped every
whittier Three vast structures dedicat-
ed to God and the work Of trying to
make the world better gone down, and
all this within few years. They were
well built as to permanence and dura-
bility. All the talk about these build
ings as mere fretraps is the usual cant,
for there is as much secular cant as re-
ligious cant. Have you heard in the
last 40 years of any church, or any hall,
or any theater which, after destruction,
was not called a firetrap? That charge
always makes lively opening for any
description Of fire.
There have been no better structures,
secular or religious, put up in the last
25 years than the three Brooklyn Taber-
nacles. and the modes of egress from
them so ample that the thousands OF
worshipers assembled in any OF them
could be put safely on the street inside
of five minutes. The fact is that there is
nothing in this world incombustible.
When the great Chicago and Boston fires
took place, they burned up stones and
iron. The human race will go Oh build
ing inconsumable churches, and incon-
sumable banks, and inconsumable store
houses, and inconsumable cities, and
then all will be consumed i'll the worlds
last fire.
Builders who had large experience
and established reputation pronounced
the Brooklyn Tabernacles perfect struc-
lures. But what is the meaning of the
three fires? There may be hundred diff
ferent lessons learned by hundred diff
ferent people, and legitimate lessons
As for myself adjourn the most Of the
meaning to the next world We will
learn there in two minutes more than
we can find out here in 90 years. With
that anticipation, mysteries do not often
bother me-
One reason for these consecutive dis
asters may be that the patience Of the
best people in the world, the members
Of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, was to be
perfected. Purified by fire. " Mighty
discipline for one of the Lords hosts.
Whether l ever meet them on earth or
not, it will be a theme Of heavenly rem
inisccnce. We shall talk it all over, the
story Of the three fires.
Another reason why the last church
xpant dovvn may have bopn that some of