The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-02-13
LESSONS FROM BARUCH.
REV. w. +. PRICE AT THE INDEPEN-
DENT CHURCH.

Furnishes a Theme for a Practical
Sermon What Christians Need to
Bring Them Up to the Bible Stand
ard-Lessons from the Text.
Rev. w. F. Price, successor TO Rev. J. P.
Newman, of the Madison Avenue Congre-
gational church, New York, preached yes
teraay in the Independent Presbyterian
church at both morning and evening ser
vices TO large congregations. At the morn
ing service he took his text from Nehe-
miah iii, 90: After him Baruch the son of
Zabbai, earnestly repaired the other piece
from the turning of the wall unto the door
of the house of Ehashib, the high priest"
The book of Nehemiah, among other mat
tiers, contains an account of the condition
of things in Jerusalem during q certain pc
riod of the writer's life. About 80 years
previous to this, Jerusalem was besieged by
Nebuchadnezzar and the city was captured
by him and the inhabitants were carried
away to Babylon. In accordance with the
advice of Nelzaraden, the Kings Chief Mar
shall, the city was set on fire and the walls
were thrown down and left in a heap
of disordered rubbish on the ground. That
memorable spot, however, was a sacred as
the city that formerly stood upon it was
now desolate and a heap of ruins
During the reign of Cyrus, King of Per-
STA, a decree was issued to the effect that the
Jews should be restored to their own land
and once more lay the foundation of the
holy city in Jerusalem.
BUILDING UP JERUSALEM
For some time after this decree had been
called into effect the walls of the city had
not been repaired, but were still as Nebu-
chadnezzar had left them, consequently
Nehemiah, who had held high position I'M
der King Artaxerxes, King Of Persia, upon
hearing of the deplorable condition of Jeru-
salem and of the great affection Of his fell
low countrymen there, obtained permission
of the King to go to Jerusalem and to re-
build the walls. So after his arrival Ne
hemiah stirred up the people to the work of
rebuilding the broken wall and of restoring
the old city to its former state as fortified
town.
The chapter from which the text is taken
gives the names and order of the builders,
and among others the name of Baruch, the
son of Zabbai. The Bible is very reticent
touching the history of this man yet, said
the preacher, from the brief account of
Baruch few practical lessons may be
drawn, which may be of benefit to those
who are now engaged in building the walls
of Zion, or of Gods spiritual kingdom.
Like Baruch we should be willing to aid in
the prosecution of good work.
1T may be well for us" he said, "to re
MEMBER J0aU Ine way 10y WnlCn any one
can best serve bis day and generation and
most advance the interests of Zion is not
by continually seeking after new the
cries, new foundations of religious belief,
but that it is rather by building upon those
foundations which have been handed down
by holy men of old. Is there not" he
asked, "a tendency in many to overlook
and undervalue certain religious thngsl
Are we not liable TO forget the old and true
pathsl To lightly esteem those religious
ordinances and principles so highly honored
and faithfully followed by our fathersl We
certainly will do wisely and well if we
build on the old evangelical foundations,
following the footsteps of our godly fore
fathers, striving to honor the holy princi-
Piles they adopted and thus carry forward
the work which they began.
LESSONS FROM THE TEXT.
Another lesson to be deduced from this
account of Baruch is that, like him, we
should prosecute our work for the Lord
earnestly We read that Baruch entered
upon the work with marked zeal and en-
thusiasm. He was so thoroughly absorbed
in it that be seemed to be blinded to
everything else, and when the courage of
his fellow workers was ready to fail, and
their enthusiasm in the work began to flag,
the very sight of Baruch inspired them with
renewed vigor and strength We will do
well if we copy this mans spirit in our work
for the Lord. Among many other things
needed by those who built up the wall of
Zion to-day is earnestness. 1t has
been well said that nothing less
than earnestness can succeed in any case of
great difficulty, and this we must have if
the ends of the gospel are to be accom-
pllshed. As Paul says 1t is good TO be
jealous and effective always in a good
thing Nowhere is this more true than as
applied 70 those who are engaged in Chris
tian work, for earnestneSs is good and bene-
fits not only the one who possesses it, but also
those with whom he comes in contact.
Devout earnestness on the part of those en-
gagged in a good work is contagious. 1t
has self-transmitting power. This is what
the church needs more and more in her
members.
EARNEsTNESs IN RELIGION.
Robert Hall once said: No man ever
excelled in a profession to which he did not
feel an attachment bordering on enthusi-
asm.' This is altogether true when APP
piled to our Christian profession. If we
expect to grow IN grace, if we expect to be
able TO add to our faith virtue, to virtue
knowledge, and t. knowledge temperance,
and to temperance patience and to patience
godliness, and to godliness brotherly kind
ness, and to brotherly kindness charity, and
thus build up our character like unto that
of Christ; if we are to do this for ourselves
and TO influence our fellows to do likewise,
we must have a deep, calm, indomitable,
serving the Lord.
The fourth lesson suggested by the &C
count of Baruch is that like him, we should
persevere in our work for the Lord even in
the face of difficulty and opposition. One
only needs to read the narrative TO find the
same opposition and the almost insuper-
able difficulties each of these builders had
TO encounter and overcome. In no other
portion of the Bible is any allusion made to
the man named in the text and had he not
started in the noble enterprise it is very
probable that no mention of him would
have been found anywhere in the sacred
records.
MUST WORK FOR OURSELVES
SIN the account of Baruch," said the
preacher. "the great value of individual
effort in the service of the Lord is brought
out. Had it not been for the piece which
Baruch repaired the wall of Jerusalem
would have been incomplete. The people
were banded together in the work, but
each had his piece to repair and is it not
possible that the piece OF work God has
given you and me to do will never be done
II il is not done by usi One of the solemn
utterances OF the Lord is that the
son of man is as man taking