Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1894-05-30
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE,s sim
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "a Cheerful Church.

IFyr. ''Behold, thou art fair my love
-Sa.o.non's Song tv., l.
Higher criticism" saws that this noor, ~
So0mon's song Is n love scene. n forIorr
maiden signing for her beau. II so. IL is an
UurI"an and debauched utterance inserted
in the pure word OF God and is not 0t n,
common reading. Ny opinion is that n q o.
inspired ode setting forth the feeling n
Christ toward the church and of the cbn-eb
toward Christ. Christ is the brideoroo1,
nnI the chu.h is the bride. The sans
words we can U-terto-day truthfully. whether
IN regard 10 the church OF God in general or
this church in particular, "Behold. thou art
fair, my love-
The past week has been one of prolon,ad
'0Hgrilu.ation for that we have for twenty
five years been permitted to associate with
each otner IN the relation of pastor and neo-
F.'- MheH / came 70 Brooklyn, / found n
s"H.t pand OF Christian disciples who from
various causes had become less and less mill
they stood upon the very verge of extjpctIop
a- % CHURCH. and the question was beinr
agii1tei from time TO time whether il yvouIi
L~ F'S-lnie 10 maintain church life LONGER
In Iced. had not those men and women beaD
cnn-""ratei and earnest, they wouId boI.a
surrendered TO the adverse circumstancas
IH"y marShalel a congregational MEETING
ah . gathering up all the forces possible they
Gt-' nineteen votes for pastor, all of which
am happy to have received.
i was not through any spirit of ne-soDoI
courage or reckless adventure that / was led
from one OF the warmest and most conyeniaI
T1~iorltos in Philadelphia that n man eyer
rh.9E"l TO this then most uninVting field.
but II was tne feeling that God had called me
10 the work, and was sure He would see me
through. A0
have thought that it might be pro6t,bIe
10 Ms 10 state briefly what kind of a church
W. nave been trying to establish.
In the first place, rcmark that we bava
% har
-ii-tin'tively such-in other words n
church where we should preach the Lord
jesus Christ and Him cruciied. MytheoIo1v
is all gone into five lptters-Jesus. Jesus
Ll' parton OF all ofrenses. Jesus, the
foundation for all structuras Jesus ths
balm for all wounds. Jesus, the eve saIve
lur all hunIncSs. Jesus, the guide throu Oh
all perplexities. Jesus, the hope for all dis
c'uragements. Jesus, the reform for all
wrongs.
l have faith to believe that there fs mora
power in one drop of the blood of Jesus
Christ TO cure the woes OF the world than
In an ocean full OF human quackery. Jesus
Is the graniest note in any minstrelsv He
Is the pri2htes: gem in any crown height
overlapping all height: the centre of every
circumference; the circumference to every
centre the pacifier Of all turbulence; tho
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
Jesus 1t is that truth that We have tried
to preach in this Tabernacle.
DO you ask more minuely what we be-
uevef l can tell you. We have no dry.
wIthered, jutceless theology. We believe In
God, the Father Almighty maker of heaven
and earth, the delverer of the distressed
the home sOr the homeless, the friend for the
friendless. We believe in Jesus Christ. able
to save to the uttermost, pardoning the
guilty, imPuting His righteousness to the
N.EaIE. 1.lNH
the comforter, the sanctiher, cheering up
the heart in HES ills and kindling bright
lights in every dark landing place We be-
iieve that the whole race is SO sunken in sin
that nothing but the omnipOtent arm of God
can ever lift il out We believe in grace
grace, eternal grace. We believe in a Bible
authentic in its statements, immaculate
IN its teachings, glorious In It's promises.
We believe in heaven, the abode of the
righteous, and in hell, the residence OF those
VINO are soul suicides-Of their own free
choice refusing the divine mercy We be-
N-ve In the salvation of all men who accept
Christ by faith, be they sprinked or i'm
merssi. worship they in cathedral or in log
cabin, believe they in Presbyterianlsm or
Episaopacy. 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.
We built this Tabernacle for the purpose OF
setting forth these great theories OF the gos-
pei o.! the Son OF God. Would that we had
been more faithful in the pulpit Would
that we had been more faithful in the pew
/ remark, further, that we have tried here
10 build a church dstinctively unconven-
tOnal. Instead OF asking. as some people
are disposed to do, how other people DO il,
We have asked the question how people do
not do IT, Imp-riOUs custom has decided
that churches shall he angular, chesrless,
gloomy, unsymPathetic forgetting that what
men call piOus gloom is impiOus, and that
that church has the best architecture where
the people are the most comfortable, and
that that is the most efficient Christian SER
vice where the people are made most sick Of
al and mostanNioUs after Christ and heaven.
And so we called the architects together for
our first church building and said "Give US
an amphitheater'- is. a large family
circle. gathered around fireplace.
For many years We had felt that an amphi-
theater was the only proper shape for an
audience room. The prominent architects
Ofthe country said at cannot be done.
You need a church building" And so we
had plan after plan Of cburchly buildings
presented. but in due time God sent man
who grasped our idea and executed it. So
far from being failure, It satisfied our want,
and all our three churches were built on the
nmphitheatrical plan, and scores Of churches
all over the country have adopted the same
plan.
and, nv 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, Ike every man, to be
individual, gathering up all its peculiaritieS
and idiOsyucraeies and hurling 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 to prepare philosophers and artists
and critics for heaven. God speed them in
the dIffcult work Here is a church, on the
other hand that proposes to bring only the
poor into the kingdom of Jesus Christ, look
ing not after the rich. God speed such a
church in its undertaking But there IL
larger idea that church may taSe-brinElng
in the rich and the poor, the wise and the
ignorant, the high and the low, sothat kneel-
Ing beside each Othershall be the man faring
EumPtuously every day and the man who
could not get his breakfast. God speed such
u church
on, my 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 of our
Fsnteuces to suit the criticism OF the world.
We dare not dress for church until we have
examined the fashion plates and would rather
stay at home than appear with coat or a
hat not sanctioned by custom. when VIII
the day OF delyerance come to the church OF
God. when. instead of dead religion laid
out in state on cataialque ot ponp anu III
sincerity. we shall have living, hounilhS'
sympatnetic, glowing Christianity?
| remark, further, that we have tried mere
20 build and to conduct n cheerful church.
While. as you know, we have not held back
the terrors OF the law and the sterner doc
trines of the gospel, we have tried in tins
house TO present 10 this people the idea ina
the gladdest, brightest, happiest thing IN al
the universe is the Christian religion. Their
is so much tronble in the world. Business
men hare SO many anxieties. ToilinS mel
nave so many fatigues. Orphans have SC
many desoiAtions. For Gods sake, ii Their
ne any bright place on earth. show I to them
Let the church Of Jesus Christ be the mos
cheerful spot on earth.
| Let me say that I do not want anybody to
come whining around me about the Christian
religion. l have no faith in a religion made
Np OF equal parts of wormwood, vinegar and
Fed pepper. If the religion that Is presented