The Atlanta constitution., 1894-05-14
a CHEERFUL CHURCH.
Dr. fiaEEmaGe breaches "a Bright, Cheer
jDs Sermon Previous to the Fire.

Brooklyn, May 1.-THE last sermon which
DR.. Talmage preached in his tabernacle
was on the cheerful church. His text was
Behold thou art fair. my love-" Solomon's
song, iV:1.
Brooklyn. May 13-(Special)-Th taber-
nacle was crowded to the doors today
when Rev. DR.. Tamage took for the sub
Ject OF his forenoon sermon a passage of
scripture which has been made the sub
Ject OF much discussion and various inter
pTetatIon by modern theologianS. The
Theme was, "a Cheerful Church." and the
text was selected from Solomons Song iv:
l: "Behold thou art fair my love"
Higher criticiSm' says that this book of
SolomOn's Song is a love scene, a forlorn
maiden signing for her beau If SO, it is an
unclean and debauched utterance inserted
IN the pure word of God, and is not fit
for common reading. My opinion is that
1t is an inspired ode setting forth the feel
the church toward Christ. Christ is the
bridegroom. and the church is the bride.
The same words we can utter today trut,l-
fully whether in regard TO the church OF
thou art fair, my love" The past week
has been one of prolonged congratulation
for that we nave for twenty-five years been
permitted TO associate with each other
III the relation of pastor and people. When
[ came to Brooklyn | found small band
of Christian disciples who from various
causes had become less and less, until they
stood upon the very verge of extinction as
a church; and the question was being
be possible to maintain a church life
longer. Indeed, had not those men and
women been consecrated and earest, they
would have surrendered to the adverse cir
cumStances. They marShaled a cOnSrega-
tiOnal meeting, and, gathering up all the
forces possible, they cast nineteen votes
for q pastor all OF which L am ndppy 10
have received.
1t was not through any spirit of personal
courage or reckless adventure that led me,
from of the WarmeSt and most con-
genial pastOrates in Philadelphia that Il
man ever enjoyed, to this then most un-
inviting field but it the feeling that
God had called me to the work, ana L was
sure He would see me throuSn.
1 have thought that it might be profitable
to us to state briefly what KIND OF
In the first place, l remark that we nave
been trying to build here Christian
church-distinctively such; in other words
a church where we should preach the
Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified: My
theology is all gone into live ietters-JesoS
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 perple eXities. Jesus the nope TOT
al discoura gements. Jesus, the reform Tor all
wrongs. | have faith to believe that there
is more power in one drop OF the olood OF
Jesus Christ to cure the woes OF the world
than in an ocean full of human quackery
Jesus is the grandest note in any minstrel
sy He is the brightest gem in any crown
Height overcoming all height. The center
of every circumference The circumference
to everT center. The pacifer of all turbu-
lence. The umpire of all disputes Jesus!
Around his throne all worlds are to reVOVe
He is to be the irradiation Of the universe.
Jesus! Jesus! 1t is that truth t4at we nave
tried to preach in this tabernacle.
Their Belief.
DO you ask more minutely what we be-
leve? can tell YOU. We have no dry,
withered. iuiceless theology. We believe in
God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven
and earth, the DeliVerer Of the distressed,
the Home for the homeless! the trlend tor
the friendless We believe in Jesus Christ,
able to save to uttermost, parduhlng the
guilty, imputing his righteousness to the
believer. We believe i'll the Holy Ghost,
the Comforter the Sanctifier, cheering up
the heart in lifes ills and kndling bright
lights in every dark landing place. We be-
ieve that the whole race is 50 sunken in
sin that nothing but the omnlpotent arm or
God can ever lift it out. We believe IN
grace-free grace, sovereign grace, uium-
phant grace, eternal grace. We believe in
Bible-authentic in its statements, imnacu-
late in it's teachings, glorious in its prom
the righteous; and in hell, the residence of
those who are soul-sucides-of their own
free choice refusing the divine mercy. We
believe in the salvation of all men VINO, ac-
cept Christ by faith, be they sprinllled or
Immersed, worship they in cathedral or IN
log cabin, believe they in PrestyterIIh5m
or Episcopacy, dwell they under Italian
skies or in Siberian snow storms, be they
Ethiopian or American. All one in Christ.
way to one heaven. We built this taber
nacle for the purpose of setting forth these
great theories of the gospel Of the Son OF
God. Would that we had been more I@lth-
fuI in the pulpit Would that we had been
more faithful in the pew!
I remark, further. that we have tried
here to build a church distictiVely uncOn-
ventiolfal. Instead of asking, as some peO-
PIE are disposed to do, how other people do
it, we have asked the. question how people
do not do it. Imperious custom has de
cided that churches shall be angular,
cheerless gloomy, unsympathetic; forget
ting that what men call a pious gloom is
imnious, and that that church has the best
architecture where the people are the most
comfortable, and that that is the most
efficient Christian service where the people
are made most sick Of sin, and most anX-
ious after Christ and heaven. And so we
called the architects together Tor our first
amphitheater'- is. large family
circle, gathered around a fireplace For
many years We had felt that an amphi-
theater was the only proper shape for an
audience room The prominent architects of
the country said, ut cannot be done. You
need a churchly building.' And SO we had
plan after plan of churchly buildings pre-
scented; bat in due time God sent man
who grasped our idea and executed 1t. so
far from being a failure, 1t SATISFIED our
want and all our three churches were built
on the amphitheatrcal plan, and scores of
churches all over the country have adopted
the same plan.
oll, work just in proportion as we try to lie
like other churches We believe that God
every church. l:'sG oN':,- nan, to
he individual, gathering ND all its rtCuliari-
ties and idiOSN NncraS1eS aHI Aurllng them all
toward some good and Grand object. In
other words, no two churches ought ever to
he lust alike. Here is "a church. for in
stance. whose object it is to prepare philoso-
pliers and artists, and critics for heaven.
God speed them in the difficult work! Here
is a church on the other hand, that pro-
noses to bring only the poor into the king
dom Of Jesus Christ. looking not after the
rich God speed such church in its under
taking, But there is a larger idea that
church may take-bringinS in the rich and
the poor, the wise and the ignorant, the
high and the low; so that kneelnG beside
each other shall be the man faring sumptu-
ouslv every day, and the man who could
not get his breakfast. God speed such a
church!
Freak These Old Customs.
Ont nv friends, we need to break away
from slavery to ecclesiastical custom. We
dare not sing if anybody hears us. We
dare not preach unless we have rounded
off our sentences to suit the criticism of
fine world We dare not dress for church
nntil we have examined the fashion plates
and would rather stay at home than ap-
naar with a coat or hat not sanctioned
Nv custom. When will the day of deliver
once come to the church of God. when, in
stead of dead religion, laid out in state
a catafalque of pomp and lnsincerity, we
shall have living, bounding, sympathetic,
glowing Christianity!
remark. further, that we have tried
here TO build and TO conduct a cheerful
chTch> While, as you know, we have not
haId hack the terrors of the law and the
doctrines of the @OSpel we hay va