The Progress., 1894-04-14
TABERNACLE PULPIT.
"STRANGERS IN TOWN" THE
SUBJECT OF SERMON.
81 Was Stranger and y" Took NJ" In
Matt. XIV. : 35-Dangers and Pitfalls
Which Beset the Christian on His visit
to the MetropoIis-An Instructive Talk

to-day be 50 appropriate as Ill thc
Brooklyn tabernacle, where it IS estl-
mated that 10000 strangers attend
every year 1t was a sermon that had
for them a special interest. The text
selected was Matthew XIV 81. Il was
stranger and We tool, me in.
1t is moral disaster that jocoslty
has dcSpoiled so many passages OF
scripture, and my text IS one that has
suffered from irevcrent and mlsap-
piled quotation, 1t shows great
poverty of wit and humor when peo-
pie take the sword Of divine truth for
a game at fencing, or chip off from
the Kohinoor diamond Of inspiration
a sparkle to decorate a fools cap. My
text is the salutation in the last judg-
mcnt to be given to those who have
shown hospitality, and kindness, and
Christian helpfuIness to strangers,
Bv railroad and steamboat the popuIa-
ton of the earth are all the time IN
motion, and from one years end to
another our cities are crowded with
visitors. Every morning on the
tracks Of the Hudson river, the Penn
svlvania, the Erie, the Long Island rail
roads there come passenger trains more
than | can number; 50 that all the de-
pots and the WharveS are a-rumDle and
a-clang with the coming IN OF a great
immigration of strangers. Some OF
them come for purposes of barter,
some for mechanism, some for artistic
qualification, some for sightseeing. A
great many of them 60 out on the
evening trains, and consequently the
city makes but little impression upon
them; but there are multitudes who,
in the hotels and boarding houses,
make temporary residence. They larry
here for three or four days, or as many
weeks They spend the days in the
stores and the evenings in sightseeing.
Their temporary stay will make or
break them, not only financially but
morally. for this world and the world
that is to come. Multitudes of them
come into our morning and evening
services. | am conscious that | stand
in the presence Of many this moment.
| | desire more especially to speak
to them. May God give me the
right word and help me to utter 1t IL
/ the right way.
There have glided into this house
those unknown to Others whose his
tory, if told, would be more thrilling
than the deepest tragedy, more eXcit
ing than PATHS song, more bright
than spring morning, more awful
than wintry midnight. If they coulC
stand up here and tell the story O.
their escapes, and their temptations
and their bereavements, and their dis
asters, and their victories, and thei1
defeats, there would be in this house
such commingling of groaES and dc
CARNATIONS as would make the plac,
uncomfortable.
There is man, who, in infancy, la,
in a cradle satin-lined. Out yonder is
man who was picked up, founding
on Boston Common. Here Is a man wh'
is coolly observing this religious ser
vice, expecting no advantage ant
caring for no advantage for him
self; while yonder is man who ha
been for ten years in an awful cOntla
grafton of evil habits and he is mer
cinder of destroyed nature, and he
wondering if there shall be in thi
service any escape or help for his in
mortal soul Meeting you only once
perhaps, face to face, | strike hand
with you in an earnest talk abou
your present condition, and you
eternal well-being st. Pauls ship a
Melita went to pieces where two sea
meet but we stand to-day at a poin
where thousand seas converge, an
eternity alone can tell the issue of tn
hour.
The hotels of this country, fc
beauty and elegance, are not SUI
passed by the hotels in any othe
land; but those that are most celt
brated for brilliancy of tapestry an
mirror can not give to the guest an
costly apartment unless he can atfor
a parlor in addition to his lodging
The stranger, therefore, will general
:, find assigned to him a room withor
any pictures, and perhaps any rockin
chair. He will find box Of matcht
on bureau, and an old newspapC
left by the previous occupant, an
that will be about all the ornament
ton. At o'clock in the evening
. after having taken his repast, he wi
look over his memorandum book
= the days work; he will write lett
to his home, and then a desperate
G. will seize upon him to get out. Yc
= hear the great city laundering undo
u your windows, and you say, 81 mu
II join that procession" and in ten mi
o utes you have joined it. Where a
o you going? "Oh," you say, II haven
Il made up my mind yet" Better NAL
o up your mind before you start. Pc
l, haps the very way you go now "
u will always go. Twenty years ag
g there were two young men who can
" down the Astor house steps and START
@ out in wrong direction, where thu
. have been going ever since.
, Well where are You golng?' sa
one man III am going to the Acaden