The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1889-03-21

:
mind against the church of God is
nothing. You would make !
more sacrifices for it today than for
any other institution, and If it were
needful you would die in its defense.
You can take the words of the kingly
poet as he said, eff / forget thee, D
Jerusalem, let my right hand forget
her cunning" You understand in
your own experience the pathos, the
homesickness, the courage, the holy
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
there must be an exploration of ruins.
Why was not Nehemiah asleep under
the covers2 Why was not his horse
stabbed in the midnight2 Let the po-
lice of the city arrest this midnight
Nehemiah is going to rebuild the city,
and he is making the preliminary ex-
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 that 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 in
this day lie and forge and steal, and
commit adultery, and go to the peni-
tentiary is because they first do not
learn the ruin of their own heart.
They have not found out that ''the
heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked" They had an idea
that they were almost right, and they
built religion as sort of extension, as
an ornamental cupola. There was SUI
perstructure of religion built on q 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 to rebuild Jerusalem be-
fore, in the midnight of conviction,
they have seen the ghastiliness of the
ruin. They have such poor founda-
ton for their religion that the first
northeast storm Of temptation blows
them down. l have no faith in
mans conversion if he is not con
verted in the old fashioned way-John
Bunyan's way, John Wesley's way,
John Calyin's way, Pauls way,
Christ's way, Gods way. A dentist
once said to me, Does that hurta"
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. / simply want to
know whether he was converted in the
old fashioned way, or whether he was
converted in tho new fashioned way
If he was converted in the old fash
ioned way he will stand II he was
converted in the new fashioned way
he will not stand That is all there is
about it. A man comes to me to talk
about religion, The first question /
ask him is, ''Do you feel yourself to
be a sinner2' If he say, "Well, +
yes" the hesitancy makes me feel that
that man wants o ride on Neheniah'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 he will drop the reins on the
horses neck, and will take his right
hand and smite on his heart and say:
God be merciful to me o sinner;"
and before he has stabbed his horse he
will take his feet out of the stirrups,
and he will slide down on the ground,
and he will lcneel, crying, Have
mercy on me, 0 God, according to thy
loving kindness, according unto the
multitude of thy tender mercies; blot
out my transgressions, for ! aclznowl-
edge my transgressions and my sins
are ever before thee. All, my friends,
you see this is not complimentary
gospel. That is what makes some peo-
pie so mad. 1t comes to Il man of
million dollars and impenitent in his
sins and says, ''You're a pauper." 1t
comes TO a woman of fairest cheek,
who has never repented, and says,
''You're a sinner" It comes to a man
priding himself on his independence
and says, you're bound hand and
foot by the devil" 1t comes to our
entire race and says, You're ruin,
n CHASTITY ruin, an illimitable ruin. J"
Satan sometimes says to me, why
do YOU preach that truth2 Why
don't you preach gospel with
no repentance in it2 Why don't
YOU flatter mems hearts SO that you
make them feel all right2 Why don't
you preach a humanitarian gospel
with no repentance i'll it, saying moth
ing about the ruin, talking all the
time about redemption" ! say, Get
thee behind me, Satan" 1 would
rather lead five souls the right way
tl.an twenty thousand the wrong way.
The redemption of the gospel is per-
feet farce if there is no>>ruin. 1.-The
whole need not a physicianN but they
that are sick" '1f any one, though
he be an angel from heaven, preach
any other gospel than this, says the
apostle, ''let him be accursed." There
must be the midnight ride over the
ruins before Jerusalem can be built.
There must be the clicking of the
hoofs before there can be the ringing
of the trowels.
CHRISTIAN PERSEVERANCE.
Again. My subject gives me speci-
| men Of busy and triumphant sadness.
| If there was any man in the world
who lad right TO NOPE and give up
everything as lost, it was Nehemiah.
You say, "He was n cup bearer IN the
| palace of Shushan, and it was grand
| place. So it was. The hall of that
palace was two hundred feet square,
and the roof hovered over thirty-six
marble pillars, each pillar sixty feet
| high; and the intense blue of the sky,
and the deep green of the forest foil
age, and the white of the driven snow
| all hung trembling in the upholstery
| But, my friends, you know very wei
| that fine architecture will not pui
down homesiclSness. Yet Nehemiah
| did not give up. Then when you SCI
him going among these desolatet
streets, and by these dismantled tow
ers, and by the torn up grave of hi
father you would suppose that h
would have been disheartened, ant
that he would have dismounted from
his horse and gone TO his room an,
said: "Woe is mel Ny fathers grav'
is torn up. The Temple is dishonored
The walls are broken down. | hav'
no money with which 10 rebuild.
wish I had never been born. / wisl
| / we're dead.n Not SO says Nehemiah
Although he had a grief so intens
that il excited the commentary of hi
king. yet that penniless, expatriate
Nehemiah rouses himself up to rebuilt
| the city. He gets his permission 9
absence. lie gets his passports. II
hastens AWAY to Jerusalem. By nigh
on horseback he rides through tn