Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-03-24

this Gene that we discover the ardent
| attachment of Nehemiah for sacred
Jerusalem, which in all ages has been
the type of the church of God, u
Jerusalem, which We love justas much
as Nehemiah loved his Jerusalem.
The fact is that you love the church
of God so much that there is no spot
on earth so sacred, unless il Is your
own fireside. The church has been TO
you so much comfort and illumination
that there is nothing that makes you
so irate as to have II 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 longed for his Jerusalem,
and the first day you came out you
came 10 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 in the
moonlight you stood listening if you
could not hear the voice of the dead
organ, the psalm Of the expired Sab
baths. What Jerusalem was 10 Nehe-
miah, the church of God is to you.
Skeptics and in6dels may scott at the
church as an obsolete affair, as a relic
of the dark ages, as a convention of
goody goody people, but all the i'm
preston they have ever made on your
mind against the church Of God is
absolutely nothing. You would make
more sacrifices for il today than for
any other institution, and il ii were
needful you would die in its defense.
You can take the words of the kingly
poet as he said, IF l forget thee, o
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 mid
night, moonlight ride around the ruins
of his beloved Jerusalem.
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE HEART.
Again, my text impresses me with
the fact hat before reconstruction
there must be an exploration of ruins.
Why was not Nehemiah asleep under
the coversl Why was not his horse
stabbed in the m~idnightl Let the po-
lice of the city arrest this midnight
rider out on some mischief. No.
Nehemiah is going to rebuild the city,
and he is making the preliminary *
ploration. 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 hat SO many peo-
pie in this day, apparently converted,
do not stay converted is because they
did not first explore the ruins of their
own heart The reason that there are
so many professed Christians who n
this day Lie and forge and steal, and
commit adultery, and 60 to the peni-
tertiary, is because they first do not
learn the ruin Of their own heart.
They have not found out that 1.-THE
heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked" They had an idea
that they we're almost right, and they
built religion as a sort Of extension, as
ap ornamental cppola. There was a su-
perstructure of religion built on sub
stratum Of unrepented sins. The
trouble with a good deal of modern
theology is that instead of building on
the right foundation, it builds on the
debris Of an unregenerated nature.
They attempt 10 rebuild Jerusalem be-
fore, in the midnight of conviction,
they have seen the ghastiliness of the
ruin. They have such a poor founda-
ton for their religion that the first
northeast storm Of temptation blows
them down. / have no faith in a
mans conversion if he is not con.
verted in the old fashioned way-John
Bunyan's way, John Wesley's way,
John Calvin's way, Paurs way,
Christ's way, Gods way. A dentist
once said TO me, Does that hurti"
Said /. "Of course it hurts. II is in
your business as in my profes-
sion. We have TO hurt before we
can help" You will never un-
derstand redemption until you
understand ruin. A man tells me
that some one is a member of the
church. 1t makes no impression on
my mind at all. l simply want to
know whether he was converted in the
old fashioned way, or whether he was
converted in the new fashioned way.
IL he was converted in the old fash
Toned way he will stand. If he was
converted in the new fashioned way
he will not stand. That is all there is
about il. A man comes toAne 10 talk
about religion. The first question |
ask him is, do you feel yourself TO
be a sinner" If he say, "Well, l.
yes" the hesitancy makes me feel that
that man wants a ride on Nehemiah's
horse by midnight through the ruins
in by the gate of his affections, out
by the gate Of his will; and before he
has got through with that midnight
ride Inc will drop the reins on the
horses neck, and will take his right
hand and smite on his heart and say: |
God be merciful 10 me n sinner;n |
and before he has stabbed his horse he
will take his feet out of the stirrups,
and lac will slide down on the ground,
and he will kneel, crying, Have
mercy Of me, o God, according 20 thy
kindness, according unto the
multitude of thy tender mercies; blot
out my t~ransgrcssions, for l aclinowl.
edge my transgressions and my sins
are ever before thee All, myfricnds,
you see this Is not q complimentary
That is what makes some peo-
pie so mad. II comes 10 q man OF a
million dollars and ~impenitent in his
sins and says, You're a pauper." II
comes 20 a woman Of fairest cheek,
who has never repented, and says,
You're q sinner" II comes 10 q man
priding himself on his independence
and says, You're bound hand and
foot ly a. Ill " IA .1- -.