The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-06-13
A HELPFUL RELIGION
DR. TALMAGE TELLS WHAT THE
! CHURCH OUGHT TO BE.


Nseded-Reiigious Humdrum the Worst
Of All Humdrum-The Old Style Church.
Copyright 1898. by American Press Asso-
ciation.l
WASHINGTON, June l2.--If people under
stood religion to be the practical re-en-
focement that DR.. Talmage says 1t is in
this sermon, the number of Christian dis
ciplee would be greatly multiplied; text,
Psalms *, 2, "Send thee help from tho
sanctuary"
If you should ask 30 men what the
church is, they would give you so different
answers One man would say, ut Is a
convention of hypocrites" Another, ut
is an assembly of people who feel them
selves great deal better than others.
Another, at is place for gossip, where
Another, "lt is a place for the cultivation
Of superstition and can't" Another, st
Is an arsenal where theologians go to get
pixies and muskets and shot" Another,
ut is an art gallery, where men go to ad-
mire grand arches and exquisite fresco and
musical MARBLE and the Dantesque in
gloomy imagery" Another man would
say: 1t is the best place on earth except
my own home. If forget thee, o Jerusa-
lem, let my right hand forget her cum
ming"
Now, whatever the church Is, my text
tells you what it ought to be-a great
practical, homely, omnipotent help. "Send
thee help from the sanctuary" The pew
ought to yield restfulness for the body, the
color Of the upholstery ought to yield
pleasure to the eye, the entire service
ought to yield strength for the MOL and
struggle of everyday life the Sabbath
ought to be harnessed to all the six days
of the week, drawing them in the right
direction; the church ought to be mag
net, visibly and nightly affecting all the
homes of the worshipers. Every man
gets roughly jostlod, gets abused, gets
cut. gets insulted, gets Sighted gets exas-
perated BY the time the Sabbath comes
he has an accumulation Of six days Of an
noyance, and that is starvcling church
service which has not strength enough to
take that accumulated annoyance and hurl
1t into perdition. The business man sits
down in church headachey from the weeks
engagements Perhaps he wishes he had
tarried at home on the lounge with the
newspapers and tho slippers. That man
wants to be cooled of and graciously d.
verified The first wave Of the religious
service ought to dash clear over the hurri-
cane decks and leave him dripping with
holy and glad and heavenly emotion.
"Send thee help from the sanctuary"
The Help of Music.
In the first place. sanctuary help ought
to come from the music. A womandy
in England persisted in singing to the last
moment. The attendants tried to per-
suade her to stop, saying it would exhaust
her and make her disease worse. She an
swered: II must sing. | am only prac-
ticing for the heavenly choir" Music on
earth is rehearsal for music in heaven.
If you and are going to take part in that
great orchestra, it Is high time that we
were stringing and drumming our harps.
They tell us that Thalberg and Gottschalk
never would go into concert until they
had first in private rehearsed, although
they were such masters of the instrument.
And can it be that we expect to take part
in the great oratorio Of heaven If We do
! not rehearse herep
But l am not speaking of the next
world. Sabbath song ought to set all the
week to music We want not more har-
lnony, not more artistic expression, but
| more volume in our church music The
English dissenting churches far surpass
| our American churches in this respect.
An English audience Of 1000 people will
give more volume of sacred song than
an American audience of 1000 people.
do not know what the reason is. Oh,
you ought to have heard them sing in
Surrey chapel! I had the opportunity Of
preaching the anniversary-I think the
nineticth anniversary-sermon in Row
land Hill S old chapel, and when they lift.
ell their voices in sacred song 1t was sim
ply overwhelming, and then in the even
ing of the same day in Agricultural hall
many thousand voices lifted in doxology.
1t was like the voice Of many waters. and
like the voice of many thunderings, and
like the voice of heaven.
The blessing thrilled through all the laboring
throng,
And heaven was won by violence of song.
Now, am no worshiper Of noise but
believe that if our American churches
would with full heartiness of soul and full
emphasis of voice sing the songs of Zion
this part Of sacred worship would have
tenfold more power than it has now. Why
not take this part of the sacred service and
lift it to where it ought to be9 All the
annoyances of life might be drowned out
by that sacred song. Do you tell me that
it is not fashionable to sing very loudly?
Then, + say, away with the fashion. We
dam back the great Mississippi of congre-
gational singing and let few drops Of
melodytrickle through the dam. l say
take away the dam and let the pillows
roar on their way to the oceanic heart Of
| Cod \Nhnthpr is fachippahle tO sing
loudly or not let us sing with all possible
emphasis.
We hear great deal of the art of sing
ing, of music as an entertainment, Of mu-
sic az a recreation. 1t is high time we
heard something Of music as u help, a
practical help. In order to do this We
must have only few hymns. New tunes
and new hymns every Sunday make poor
congregational singing. Fifty hymns are
enough for so years The Episcopal church
prays the same prayers every Sabbath and
year after year and century after century.
For that reason they have the hearty re-
sponses. Let us take hint from that fact
nnd let us sing the same songs Sabbath
after Sabbath. Only in that way can we
come to the full force of this exercise.
Twenty thousand years will not wear out
| tne hymns Ol Nnllalu SOWpeT, Sndrics
Wesley and Isaac Watts. Suppose, now,
each person in an audience has brought
NIL the annoya1ccs of the last 305 days
Fill the room to the ceiling with sacred
song, and you would drown out all those
! annoyances of the last 1865 days, and yor
would drown them out forever organ
and cornet are only to marshal the voice
Let the voice fall into line, and in com
panics and in battalons by storm taxi
the obduracy and sin of theworld. If you
cannot sing for yourself sing for others
By trying to give others good cheer you
will bring good cheer to your own heart.
High and Dry on the Rocks.
When Londonderry Ireland was besicget
many years ago, the people inside the cit.
were furnishing, and a vessel came upwitl
PROVISIONS, but the vessel ran on the rive
Tank and stuck fast. The enemy wen
down with laughter and dcrision to boar
the vessel, when the vessel gave broad
side Ere against the enemy and by tn
shock was turned back into the stream
and all was well. Oh, yo who are hig
and dry on the rocks of melancholy, Civ
| n hrDn,lSitir fire of song against YOUR spirit