Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-10-01
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
INTERESTING THERE BY The WASH
lNCTON PREACHER

las
The temple was done. II was the very
chorus Of ala mHruiicenr" aud pomp.
Splendor crowded against -plrndur. II was
the diamond necklace 90 the earth. From
the huge pillars crowned with leaves aud
flowers and rows of puUrcrtnat" wrought
out in FURNISHED metal down even 10 the
toncs and snuffer~ made uui OF pure gold,
everything was a. rnmpl"f" &C. the hod III
rrctrd architect could make u. II seemed
Is IL vision from heaven had alishtri on
the mountains. The day for dedication
came. Tradition suy- that there were IN
aud around abou; the InmHl" IN that day
200 600 silver truWprt-. 40 900 harl~. 40 600
tmhrrs and 200 OOO singers. =" that all
modern demonstrations ui huS~eliurI or
Boston seem nothing "nWuar'd with that.
A. this great sound ~urg"i mp amid the
precious stones of tine tempt" II must
have seemed like the river ot life dashinc
against the amethyst of the wall ui heaven.
The sound arose. and Gol, IS ii to show
that He was we'll pleased with the music
which His children make in all ages,
dropped into the midst of the temple
cloud of glory 80 oyrrpow'ring that the
officiating priests We're obliged to stop IN
the midst Of the services.
There has been much discussion as to
where music was born. think that at the
beginning. when the morning stars sang
together and all the sons of God shouted
for ioy. " the earth heard the echo. The
cloud on which the angels stood to crle-
braie the creation was the birthplace of
song. Tae stars that glitter at night are
only so many KEYS of celestial pearl on
which Gods fingers play the music OF the
spheres. Inanimate nature is fun OF Gods
striugpl and wind instruments. Silence
itself perfect Silcnre-is only a musical
rest in Gods great anthem of worship.
Wind among the leaves insect humming in
the summer air the rush of billow uuon
beach. the ocean far out sounding its ever
lasting psalm, the bObolink on the edge of
the forest the quail whistlinG up from the
grass. are music. While visiting BlacEwell's
Island | heard, coming from window Of
the lunatic asylum, very sweet song. 1t
was sung by one who had lost her reason.
and | have come to believe that even the
derauged and disOrdpred elements Of ma
turr would make music 10 our ears If we
only had acuteness enough to listen. |
suppose that even the sounds in nature
that are discOrdant and rcpulsive make
harmony in Gods ear. You know that YOU
may come so near to an orchestra that the
sounds are painful instead of pirasurable
and think that We stand so near devastat-
ing storm and frightfu whirlwind we can
not hear that which makes to God ear and
the ear of the spirits above Us music as
complete a. it is tremendous.
propose TO speak about sacred music,
first showing You it, Importance and then
stating some of the obstacles otis advance
ment.
draw the first argument for the impor-
tancr of sacred music from the fact that
God commanded it. Through Paul he tells
us to admoniSh one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs. Through David
he cries out Sing We to God. all We king
doms of the earth" And there are hun
dredS Of other passages might name. PROV
ing that it is as much a mans duty to sing
as it is his duty to pray Indeed | think
there are more commands in the Bible to
sing than there are to pray. God not only
asks for the human voice, but for the in
struments of music. He asks for the cvm-
bal and the harp and the trumpet Aud I
suppose that in the last days Of the church
the harp, the flute, the trumpet and all the
instruments of music that have given their
chief aid to the theater and bacchaual. will
| be brought by their masters and laid down
at the feet Of Christ and then sounded in
| the church's triumph on her way from suf-
| fering into glory. Praise We the Lordr
Praise Him with your voices Praise Him
with stringed instruments and with or
| gans.
L draw another argument for the import
| ance OF this exercise from the impressive
! ness of the exercise. You know something
| of what secular music has achieved You
know it has made its impression upon gov
ernments, upon laws, upon literature upon
whole generations. One inspiring national
| air Is worth 30 900 men as Il standing army.
| There comes a time in the battle when one
! bugle is worth 1000 muskets. In the earlier
| part OF our Civil War the Government pro-
| posed to ecOnOmiZe in bands of music. and
| many OF them were sent home, but the gen
erals in the army sent word to Washington:
You are making a very great mistake. We
are falling back and falling back We have
not enough music" l have to tell YOU that
no nation or church can afford to severely
economic in music.
Why should we rob the programmes nj
worldly gayety when we have so many ap-
propriate songs and tunes composed in our
own day, rs well as that magnificent inner.
1tance OF church psalmOdy which has como
down fragrant with tine devotions of other
! generationS-tunes no more worn out than
| when our greatgrandfathers climbed M on
them from the church pew to glory? Dear
Old souls, how they used to sing! And in
those days there were certain tunes mar
| fled to certain hymns and they have lived
in peace a great while, these two old peo-
pie, and we have no right to divorce them.
! Born as we have been amid this great
| wealth of church music, augmented by the
compositions of artists in our day, we ought
! not to be tempted out Of the sphere of
| Christian harmony and try to seek uncon-
secrated sounds. 1t is absurd for million
ARE to steal
Many Of you are illustrations of what a
sacred song can do. Through it you were
brought into the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
You stood out against the warning and ar
! gument of the pulpit, but when in the
sweet words of Charles Wesley or John
| Newton or TOplady, the love of Jesus
was sung to your SOUL then you sur
rendered as an armed castle that could not
be taken by a host lifts its window to listen
to harp's thrill.
There was a Scotch soldier dying in New
Orleans, and a Scotch minister came In to
| give him the consultations of the gospel,
| The man turned over on his pillow and
said, Don't talk to me about religion. "
Then the minister began to sing familiar
| hymn that was composed by David Dicken.
son, beginning with the words:
Oh, mother dear Jerusalem,
When shall come to thee?
He sang it to the tune of "Dundee," and
everybody in Scotland knows that, and as
he began to sing the dying soldier turned
over on his pillow and said to the minister
''Where did you learn that" ''Why," re
piled the minister, my mother taught nj
that" $50 did mine" said the dying sol
der, and the very foundation of his hear
was upturned, and then and there he yielded
himself to Christ. Oh, it has an irresisti
BILE power! Luther's sermons have beer
forgotten, but his Judgment Hymn" sing
on through the ages and will keep on sing
ing until the blast of the archangel's trum
pet shall bring about that very day whicl
the hymn celebrates. I would to God tina
you would take these songs of salvation a
messages from heaven, for Just as certainl
as the birds brought food to Elijah by tn
brook Cherith so these winged harmonies
God sent are flying to your soul with tn
bread of life. Open your mouth and tax
it, o hungry Elijah!
1 have also noticed the power of sacre
song to soothe perturbation. You ma
have come in here with a great many wol
rimentS and AnXnt1ns vat nnrhnns in th