The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-05-15
4 MOONLIGHT RIDE.
Sermon by Rev. Dr.. T. Dewitt
1TaImage, D. d. -
Neheniah's Ride at Midnight Through
the Ruins OF Jerusslem-The Ex-
pleration OF Ruins Necessary Be-
fore There Can be Recon
ct

the brook and viewed the wall, and turned
back and entered by the gate of the valley,
and so returned" The eloquent divine spoke
as follows:
4 dead city is more suggestive than liv-
Ing city-past Rome than present Rome
ruins rather. than newly frescoed cathedral:
But the best time to visit aSruinHls by moon
lisht.s The"c cGiiSeumis farEore fascinating
to .hetrave,er after sundown than before.
You may stand by daylight. amid the mo-
nastic ruins Of Melrose Abbey, and study
shafted oriel, and rosetted stone and null
lion, but they throw taeip strongest Witch
cry by moonlight. Some Of you remember
what theenchauter OF Scotland: said in the
sLay- ofthe Last Minstrel: 10
Wouldst thou view fair Melrose arighA
Go visit It by the pale moonlight.
Washington Irving describes the Ancalu-
sian moonlight upon the Alhambra ruins as
amounting -toe an. enchantment. My text
presents you Jerusalem in ruins. The
tower down--sThe gates 7doyn.. =The
waliss down Everything down. ESNehe-
miah .en shorseback,S by nroenighN l9ok-
inc upon the ruins. While he rides there
are some friends on foot going with him,
for they do not want the many horses to
disturb the suspicious of the people These
people Go not know the secret of Nehemiah's
heart, but they are going as sort OF pody
guard. I hear the clicking hoofs Of the
horse ~oa which Nehemiah rides, he
guides itthis~ag- and tha+s~ into This gate
and out Of that, winding through that gate
amid the debris Of once great Jerusalem.
Now the horse comes to dead halt at the
tunbled masonry where he can not pass
Now he shes of at lie charred timberS, Now
he comes along where, the water. under the
moonlight flashes from the mouth OF the
brazen dragon after which the gate was
named. Heavy hearted Nehemiah! Riding
in and out, now by his old home desolated,
now by the defaced temple, now amid the
scars of the city that had gone down under
ha.tering ram and confagration. The es-
coYting party knows not what Nehemiah
means. Is De getting crazy! Have his own
personal sorrows, added to the sorrows or
the nation. unbalanced his lnteI!ects StNl
the neutrality-suspicious. ccescu.T Nehemiah
on horseback rides through the fish gate py
the tower Of the furnaces, 10y the Kings pool,
by the dragon well. iuand out, lnsand outSun-
tiltne midnight ride IS completed, and Nehe-
miah GismoUnts from his horse. and to the
amazed and conCounded and lncreOu!ouS
body guard. declares the dead secret OF his
heart when ne says Come. now. let US
br;il6 Jerusa!em.'' What, Nehemiah, have
Won any moneys" NO" Have you any
kinely autherityss NO" s.sEavc you any
eloousnce?'' No" Yet that midnight,
,noonlisht ride Of Nehemiah resulted in the
glorious rebuilding OF the city Of Jerusalem.
The people knew not how the thing was TO
be done but with great enthusiasm they
cried oct. let Us rise up now and build the
city, Some people laughed and said 1t
could not be done Some people were in
furjate and offered physical violence, says
ing the thing should not. be done. Bpt the
wor1men went right Soa,: ssanains-on tae
wall, 4roysel inEoas haad Sword inthe staer
until the work was gloriouslE completed. Al
that very time, in Greece, Xenophon was
writing a'history, and Plato was making
philosophy, and Demosthenes was rafting
his rhetorical thunder, but all OF them to
eethcrsGid not doso mueS fort the lworldas
this midnight, moonlight ride Of SprayIhg,
courageous, homesick, close mouthed Nehe-
miah.
Ny subject first irdpresses me with the
idea what an intense thing IS church afec-
ton. Seize the bride Of that:horse ard stop
Nehemiah. Why are you riSking your life
here in the night2 Your horse will stumble
over these:guins and fall ensrou- Stop this
useless exposure Of your life. No; Nehe-
rpiah will not stop. He at lasttelis us-the
whole story. &c. lets US know that he was
an exilein far distant land, sand he was
servant, a cup bearer in the palace OF
Observation-Disclosures oneday. while
be was hacding the cup of wine to the king,
the king said to him. ''What is the matter
with you? You are not sick. I know you
must have some great trouble. What is the.
matter with youl" Then he told the king
how that beloved jerusalem was broken
down; how that his fathers tomb had been:
6esecrated; how that the temple had been
dishonored and Gefaced; how that the walls
were scattered and broken. Well"
says King .Artaxerxes, what Go you want!"
sWeu," seSd the, cup bearer Nehemiah, 81
want to 90 home. want to fix up the grave
of my father. Iwant to restore the beauty OF
the temple I want to rebuild the masonry
of the city wall Besides, want passports
so that shall not be hindered in my Journey.
And besides that as you will find IN the
context, .sl want an order on the man who
keeps your forest for Just so much timber
ash NAV need for the rebuilding ofthe city"
"How long shall you be gone" said the
king. The time of absence is arranged: In
hot haste this seeming adventurer comes to
Jerusalem, and in my text we find him on
horseback, in the midnight, riding around
the ruins. 1t is through the spectacles OF
this scene that we discover the ardent at
tschmenS of Nehemiah for sacred Jerusalem,
which in all ages has been the type Of the
church Of Sod, our Jerusalem, which we love
lust as much as Nehemiah loved his Jerusa-
lem. The fact is that you love the church
of God so much that There is no spot on earth
so sacred unless it is your own freside.
The. church, has, been,to you so much com.
fort aud Illumination that there is nothing
that makes you so-irate as to have it talked
against If there have been times when
YOU have been carried into captivity by
sickness, you longed for the church, our
holy Jerusalem, just as much as Nehemiah
Ionsed for his Jerusalem, and the first day
YOU came out you came to the house OF the
Lord. When the temple WAS in ruins as
ours was years ago, like Nehemiah, you
walked around and. looked at it, and iu the
moonligat.you stood listening If you could
not hear the voice Of the dead
organ. the psalm Of the expired Sab
baths. What Jerusalem was to Nehemiah
the church of God is to you. Sleptics
and inSdels may scott at the church as an
obsolete affair, as relic Of the u&rk ages, as
q convention Of goody- -goody people, but all
the impression they have ever mace on
.your mind against the church OF God Is a0-
solutely nothing. You would make more
sacrifices for it to-day than for any otnec
institution. and if were neeGfuI you would
die in its defense. You can take the WORDS
r%~~