Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-03-29
molly REBUILDING.
APPLIES THE EXAMPLE OF
i'rw,.H TO CHRISTIAN LIFE.

.a City-Nehmiah, q Captive, Longs
,..,,,,;,a the Home of His Fathers-Hi,
,,ipht Ride-why and How the
..r, of Man Must BE Reconstructed.
,na Brooklyn Tabernacle last Sun
Inning the Rev. 7. De Witt Tai
moT D. s.. expounded the seventh
g. stsr of Ecclesiastes. The subject of
p mei m 10 sermon was aThe Moon
H. R;de.a and the text, Nehemiah ii.
Then / went up in the night by the
bok. and viewed the wall, and turned
*, and entered by the gate of the
law lay and so returned" He said:
dead city is more suggestive than a
inG city-past Rome than present
n'e-r,lins rather than newly frescoed
helral. But the best time to visit a
= is by moonlight. The Coliseum is
more fascinating to the traveller after
Down than before. You may stand
1avlicht amid the monastic ruins of
lrose Abbey. and study shafted oriel,
rosetted stone and mullion, but thew
NV their strongest witchery by moon
Nj, Some of you remember what the
thauter of Scotland said in the Lay
he Last MINSTREL"
,yonldst thou view fair Melrose arirht.
t HS visit it by the pale moonlight.
FasL;ueton Irving describes the An
usian moonlight upon the Alhambra
rs as amounting to an enchantment.
text presents you Jerusalem in ruins.
tower down. The gates down. The
lis down. Everything down. Ne
niab on horseback, by moonlight
king upon the ruins. While he rides,
re are some friends on foot going
Ii him, for they do not want the many
rses to disturb the suspicious of the
bile. These people do not know the
ret of Nehemiah's heart, but they are
Ing as sort of body guard. 1 hear
clicking hoofs of the horse on which
hemiah rides, as he guides it this way
that, into this gate and out of that,
Dding through that gate amid the
[,ris Of once great Jerusalem. Now
horse comes to a dead halt ut the
hbled masonry where he cannot pass.
(w he SHES off at the charred timbers.
lw he comes along where the water
der the moonlight flashes from the
buth of the brazen dragon after which
gate was named. Heavy hearted
(lemiah! Riding in and out, now by
old home desolated, now by the de-
led temple, now amid the scars of the
X that had gone down under the bat
Eine-ram and confagration. The es-
ring party knows not what nehemiah
cans. Is he getting crazy? Have his
IN personal sorrows, added to the sor-
lis of the nation, unbalanced his in
rrbo ~, III irh ,anc
Nehemiah Oh horseback rides through
first gate, by the tower of the fur
ces, by the Kings pool, by the dragon
i'll. in and out, in and out, until the
dn;ght ride is completed, and Nehe-
ah dismeunts from his horse, and to
amazed and COMPOUNDED and in
edulous body guard, declares the dead
cret of his heart when he says, Come,
W., let us build Jerusalem" What,
Ihemiah, have you any money!" "No."
lave you any kingly authority" no"
lave you any eloquence?" NO" Yet
et midnight, moonlight ride of Nehe-
ah resulted in the glorious rebuilding
the city of Jerusalem. The people
ew not how the thing was to be done,
with great enthusiasm they cried
!, Let us rise up now and build the
T." Some people laughed and said it
tld not be done. Some people were
uriated and offered physical violence,
ing the thing should not be done.
the workmen went right on, stand
on the wall, trowel in one hand,
brd in the other, until the work was
riously completed. At that very
e. in Greece, Xenophon was writing
istory, and Plato was making phi
ophv. and Demosthenes was rafting
rhetorical thunder, but all of them
either did not do so much for the
fld as this midnight, moonlight ride
praying, courageous, homesick, close
uthed Nehemiah.
UPBUILDING OF ZION.
~ subject first impresses me with the
what an intense thing is church af-
zion. Seize the bride of that horse
stop Nehemiah. Why are you risk
Your life here in the night? Your
Sc Will stumble over these ruins and
on you. Stop this useless exposure
-FOUR life. No; Nehemiah will not
P. He at last tells us the whole
~ tie let's us know be was an exile
Tar distant land, and he was serv-
eup-b bearer in the palace of Ar
erxes Longimanus, and one day,
lie he was handing q cup of wine to
King, the King said to him, what
.he matter with you? You are not
L know you must have some great
aole' Whet is the matter with your"
n ne toldthe King how that beloved
asalem Was broken down; how that
1athers tomb had been desecrated;
that the temple had been dis
ofed and defaced; how that the
We're scattered and broken. We'll,
Alng Artaxerxes, what do you
WE'LL" said the cup-bearer
emlah, i want to go home. I want
up the grave of my father. Iwant
estore the beauty of the temple. I
70 rebuild the masonry of the city
besides, want passports SO that
lall not be hindered in my journey.
besides that, as you will find in
context, II want an order on the
VINO keeps your forest for just SO
\ n; timber as may need for the re-
o11ng OF the CITY," How long shall
oe gomez" said the King. The
OF absence is arranged. In hot
TINS seeming advcnturer comes
jerusalem, and in my text
ma him on horseback, in the mid
~ riding around the ruins. It is
aush the spectacles of this scene that
alseover the ardent attachment of
Tmlah for sacred Jerusalem, which
y, ages has been the type of the
~ OF God. our Jerusalem, which We
Jus, as much as Nehemiah loved his
Shuiem 1 The fact is that you love
hurch of God SO much that there