Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1895-03-04
FILLING NEW GROUND
REV. Dr.. TALMAGE PLEASED WITH
His PRESENT WORK

Skeptics-The Cause of Goethe's IRE
ligion-FieIds of Usefulness Seldom Oc-
cupied by the Church.
NEW YORK, March 3.-Public inter
est in the services at the Academy of
Music is something phenomenal. Al
though the arrangement is an innova-
tion in religious methods in New York,
both as to time and place, there is no
church in the city to which SO many
people go or where so much eagerness
to secure admission is displayed. The
usual immense audience was present
this afternoon to hear the famous
preacher. DR.. TaImage's subject was
New Ground'' and his text Romans
XIV, 20, Lest I should build upon an
other mans foundation -
After, with the help of others, I had
built three churches in the same city,
and not feeling called upon to undertake
the superhuman toll of building q fourth
church Providence seemed to point to
this place as the field in which I could
enlarge my work, and I feel a sense of
relief amounting to eXultation. Where
unto this work will grow | cannot
prophesy. 1t is inviting and promising
beyond anything 1 have ever touched.
The churches are the grandest institu-
lions this world ever saw, and their pas
tors have no superiOrs this side of heav-
en-, but there is a work which must be
done outside the churches, and to that
work 1 join myself for awhile, "Lest I
build on another man S foundation. F"
Service IN the Open Field.
The church is fortress divinely
built. Now, a fortress is for defense, and
for drill, and for storing ammunition, but
an army must sometimes be on the
march far outside the fortress. In the
campaign of conquering this world for
Christ the time has come for an advance
movement, for general engagement,
for massing the troops, for an invasion
of the enemies country. Confident that
the forts are we'll manned by the ablest
ministry that ever blessed the church, [
propose, with others, for awhile, to join
the cavalry and move out and on for
service in the open field.
In laying out the plan for his mis-
sionary tour Paul, with more brain than
any of his contemporaries or predeces-
sors or successors, sought out towns
and cities which had not yet been
preached to. He goes to Cornith, city
mentioned for splendor and vice, and
Jerusalem, where the priesthood and
sanhedrin were ready to leap with both
feet upon the Christian religion. He
feels he has a special work to do, and
he means to do it. What was the result?
The grandest life of usefulness that man
ever lived. We modern Christian work
erS are not apt to initiate Paul. We
build on other peoples foundations. If
we erect a church, we prefer to have it
filled with families all of whom have
been pious. Do we gather Sunday
school class, we want good boys and girls,
hair combed, faces washed, manners at
tractive. So a church in this city is
apt to be built out of other churches.
Some ministers spend all their time in
fishing in other peoples ponds, and they
throw the line into that church pond
and jerk out a Methodist, and throw the
line into another church pond and bring
out Presbyterian, or there is a religious
row in some neighboring church, and
the whole school of fish swim off from
that pond, and we take them all in with
one sweep of the net. What is gained?
Absolutely nothing for the general cause
Of Christ. 1t is only as in an army,
when regiment is transferred from one
division to another, or from the Four
teenth regiment to the Sixty ninth regi-
ment. What strengthens the army is
new recruits.
This Is a Big World.
The fact is, this is a big world When
in our schoolboy days we learned the
diameter and circumference of this
planet, we did not learn half. 1t is the
latitude and longitude and diameter and
circumference of want and woe and sin
that no figures can calculate. This one
spiritual continent of Indebtedness
reaches across all zones, and if l were
called to give its geographical boundary
! would say it is bounded on the north
and south and east and west by the
great heart of Gods sympathy and love.
Oh, it is a great world. Since O'Clock
this morning at least so, 900 have been
born, and all these multiplied popula-
lions are to be reached of the gospel
In England or in eastern American cit
les we are being much crowded, and an
acre OF ground Is OF Sr6aG Valu6, Out OuG
west 500 acres is a small farm, and 90,
600 acres is no unusual possession. There
is vast field here and everywhere unoc
cupied, plenty of room more, not build
ing ON another mans foundation. We
need as churches to stop bombarding the
old ironclad sinners that have been proof
against 80 years of Christian assault,
and aim for the salvation of those who
have never yet had one warm heart
and point blank invitation. There are
churches whose buildings might no
worth $500, 900, who are not averaging
five new converts year and doing less
good than many a log cabin meeting
house with tallow candle stuck i'll
IL.