The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1889-03-18

God so much that there IN no spot on earth
80 sacred, unless II Is your own firGsde.
The church has been TO you so much COM
fort and illumination that there is nothing
that makes you SO irate as TO have II talked
against fthere have been times when
you have been carried into captivity by
sickness. you lonced for the church, our
holy Jerusalem, just as much as Nehemiah
longed for his Jerusalem, aud 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 il, and in the moon
light you stood listening If YOU could not
hear the voice of the dead organ, the
psalm of the expired Sabbaths What
Jerusalem was to Nehemiah, the church
of God Is to you. Skeptics and infdels
may scott at the church rs an obsolete NJ.
fair, as a relic of the dark ages, as a con.
venlion OF goody goody people, but oil the
impression they have ever made on your
mind against the church of God is abb
soluely nothing. You would make more
sacrifices for II today than for any other
institution, and II II were needful you
would die in its defense. You can take
the words OF the kingly poet as he said,
al | forget thee, q Jerusalem let my
right hand forget her cunning" You
understand in your own experience the
pathos, the homesickness, the courage,
The holy enthusiasm OF Nehemiah in his
glidnight, moonlight ride around the ruins
Of his beloved Jerusalem.
Again, my text impresscs me with the
fact that before reconstruction there must
be an exploration OF ruins. Why was not
Nehemiah asleep under the covcrs2 Why
was not his horse stabbed in the midnight
let the police Of the city arrest this mid
night rider out ON some mischief. No.
Nehemiah is going 10 rebuild the city, and
he is making the preliminary exploration.
In this gate. out that gate, east, west,
north, south. all through the ruins. The
ruins must be explored before the work of
reconstruction can begin. The reason
that ~ MANY people in this day, appar.
entity converted, do not stay converted is
because they did not first explore the ruins
OF their own heart The reason that there
are 40 many proiesscd Christians who IN
this day lie and forge and steal, and com-
init adultery, and 60 10 the penitcniiary, IN
because they do not llrst learn the ruin OF
their own heart They have not found
out that "the heart Is dcccitiul above all
things, and desperately wicked" They
had an idea that they were almost right,
and they built religion W. sort Of cxton-
sion, "a an ornamental cupola. There was
supentructurc OF religion built on sub.
stratum OF unrcpcnled sims. The
trouble with good deal OF modern
theology II that instead OF building on the
right foundation, il builds on the debris
OF an unrcgeneratcd nature. They at
tempt 10 rebuild Jerusalem before, in
the midnight Of conviction, they have seen
the ghastlincss OF the ruin. They have
such poor foundation for their religion
that the iirst northeast storm OF temptation
blows them down. | have no faith Ia
mans conversion II lac IL not converted in
the old-iashioned way--John Bunyan's
way, John Wesley's way, John Calvin's
way, Pauls way, Chrst's way, Gods way
A dentist once said a. me. "Does that
hurig' Said /, "0f course IL hurts IL IL
IN your business as In my profession. We
have 20 hurt before we can help" You
will never understand redemption until
you understand ruin. A man tells me
that some one Is q member OF the church.
II makes no impression en- my mind at all.
| simply want 90 know whether ho was
converted in the old.inshioned way. or
whether he was converted in the new
fashioned way. II he was converted In
the old.iashioncd way lac will stand. II he
Was converted In the ncw.iashioncd WY
he will not stand 1hnt Ia AL there Il
about H. A man comes 10 me 10 talk
about religion. The first question ! ask
him 4, do You iccl yourself "a be- sim
ncry' II he say, well, YES, " the hes.
Iianry makes me feel that that man wants
ride on Nchcmah's horse by midnight
through the ruins-in by the gate of his !
affections, out 10y the gate OF his will. aud |
lssl
. night ride he will drop the rcins ON the |
horso's neck, and will take his right hand |
and smltc on his heart aud say: God DO |
mcUiinl 10 me, a sinner" aud before lac
las stabbed his hon.c he will take his feet
out OF the stirrups, aud lac will slide down
ON the ground. aud he will knccl, crying.
"liaye mercy ON me, q God, according 10
thy loving kindness. according unto the
multitude Of thy tender mcrcics, blot out
my t1nsgrcssions for ! acknowledge my
transgcssions and my sins are ever before
thee Alb, my friends, YOU see this h not
n complimentary gospel. That IL what
makes some people ~ mad. II comes toa
man Of million dollars aud impcniicnt Ia
his sins aud says, You're a paupcr." IL
comes 10 woman OF iairCst cheek, who
has never rcpcntcd, and SAYS, "lou'rc
sinner IL comes to a man pfd-
ing himself on his Independence
aud says, You're bound hand aud foot
hy the devil" ID comes 90 our entire
race and says, "You'rc q ruin, CHASTITY
ruin, an illmitublc ruin" Satan some.
times SAWS to me, "Why 10 you preach
that truth? Why don't YOU preach q gos-
pcl with no repentance Ia iR Why don't
you ilattcr mems hearts ~ that YOU make
them feel all right2 Why don't YOU
preach q humanitarian gospel with no ~
peninncc In II, saying nothing about the
ruin, talking all the time about fcdcmp-
uon?' ! ay,"Gct thee behind me, Satan. ["
would rather lead live souls the right
way than 10000 the wrong way. The re-
dcmpiion Of the gospel n q perfect farce IL
there is no ruin. "'rhc whole need mot a
physician, but they that arr sick" III
amy one, though he be- nn angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel than
this, says the apostle, "lcl him be- ne.
curacd' There must be the midnight
tijc over the ruins before Jerusalem can
he built There must be- the clicking OF
The hoois before there can be the ringing
OF ihc lroVcls.
Again My suhjcc, gives me a spcci.
men u busy and Triumphant sadness. II
them Was any man In the world who had
a night 10 nope and give up everything rs
Lost, Il was Nehemiah. You say, "ilc
was q cup-bcafcr Ia the palace OF Shushan.
and u WAS grand place. ~ IL was. The
hall Of that palace was 200 feet squaw. aud
the roof lowered over thirty.sx marble
pllam. zach pillar sixty Icct high: and the
Intense blue II ihc sky, and tic deep grven
81 thc forest foliage. and the white oi jhc