The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-05-15

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his horse stabbed in the midnight. Let the
police OF the city arrest this midnight rider
out on some mischief No. Nehemiah is go
ing to rebuild the city. and he is making
the preliminary exploration. In this gate,
out thss gate, east;;s west, norths oueh: All
through the rpins.s The ruins must be e1-.
plored before the work Of reconstruction
can begin The reason that so many people
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 pro-
fessed Christians who in this day lie anu
forge and steal and commit adultery, and go
to the peniteutiary, is because they first do
not learn the ruin of their own heart. They
have not found out thats the Sheart4 4ls@de-
ceitful above all things. and desperately
wicked" They had an idea that they were
almost right, and they built religion as a
sort of extension, as an ornamental cupola.
There was superstructpre Of religion built
on a substratum of uurepented sins. The
trouble with good deal OF modern theology
is that instead Of building on the right foun-
6ation, it builds on the debris Of an uure-
generated nature. They attempt to rebuIS
Jerusalem before, 10 thes midnight Of COM
viction, they hareescen the ghaStliness Of
the ruin They have such poor foun-
dation for their religion that the first
northeast storm of temptation blows
them down have no faith in mans con-
version if he is not converted in the old
fashioned wav-Johr7Bupyan's- John
Wesley's way, John CalSin's way, Paul's'
way, Christ's way, Gods way A dentist
once said 10 me, Docs that hurt?" Said ],
"Of course II hurts.-tis in your. business as
in my profession. We have to hurt before
we can help" You will never understand
until YOU understand ruin. A
man tells me that some one is member
of the church 1t makes no impression on
my mind at all. Isimp.v want to know
whether he was converted in tie old-fash-
ioned way. or whether he was converted in
the new-fash;oned way. II he was con-
yertel in the old-fashioncd way lie will
stand. If he was converted in the uewfash-
ioned way he wi.snot stand. This is all
there is about it. man comes to me
TO talk about religion. The first ques-
ton I ask him is: ''Do you feel your
self to be sinner!' Ii he says, "W.ell,
I-yes,p. the; hesitancy makes me
feel thai, that man wants a ride on Nene-
miah's horse bvmidnisht 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 sulite on his heart
and say: ''God be merciful TO me sinner;"
and before he has stabbed his horse ho will
take his feet out of the stirrups, and Will
slide down on the ground, and he viii kneel,
crying, .s{Eave mercy On me-. 0 God, accord
ing to Thy loving kindness. according unto
the multitude of Thy tender mercies; blot
out my trausgressious, for | acknowledge
my transgressions, and my sins are ever
before Thee" All, my friends, you see this
is not complimentary gospel. That IS
what makes some people so mad. It comes
to man of million dollars and !mpenitent
in his sins and ss,ys, You're pauper." 1t
comes to woman of fairest cheek. who has
never repented, and says, You're a SIN
ner." 1t 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 q ruiz, ghastly ruin, an illimita-
bic ruin" Satan sometimes says to me-
'tWhy do you preach that truth? Why
don't you preach gospel with no repent
ance in it? Why don't YOU fatSr mems
hearts so that you make them feel all right!
Why don't you preach humanitarian sos-
pei with no repentance in it, saying nothing
abont the ruin, talking all the time about
redemption?' say, Get thee behind me-
Sstan.'' would rather Lead FIVE souls the
right way than twenty thousand the wrong
way. The redemption OF the gospel is a
perfect farce if there is no ruin. ''The
whole need not a physician, but they that
are sick" 'If any one, though he be an
angel from Aeaven, preach any other gospel
than this, p5sayss the: apostle, ''let him be
sccarsed. 'i There mest besthe midnight
rias over the ruins before Jerusalem can be
buiits TIERS must be the clicking Of the
hoefs before there can be the sTidging Of
the trowels.
Again: My subject gives me a specimen of
busy, and triumphant sadness. II there was
any man in the world who had right to
nope and give up every thing as lostit was
Nehemiah. :You say, "tIe was a cup bearer
in the palace of Shushan, and it was grand
palace" So 1t was; The hall Of that palace
was two hundred feet square, and the roof
covered over thirty-six marble pillars, each
pillar sixty feet high, and the intense blue Of
the Sky, and the deep green Of the forest
foliage, and the white Of the driven snow,
all hung trembling in the upholstery. But,
my friends, you know very well that fine
architecture will not put down homesick-
ness. Yet Nehemiah did not give up. Then
when you see him going among these
desolated streets, and by these dismantled
towers, and By the torn up grave of his
father, you would suppose that he would
have been d;sheartened, and that, he would
have dismounte6 from: his horse and
cone'to his room and said: '"Woeis mel Ny
fathers grave is torn up. The Temple is
6ishonored. The walls are broken down.
have, no money with which to rebuild.
wish had never been born. wish l were
dead Not, SO. says Nehemiah, Although
he-nad ascier so Intense that it excited the
commentary of his King, yet that penniless,
expatriated Nehemiah rouses himself up to
rebuild the city. He gets his permission Of
absence. He gets his passports He hastens
away to Jerusalem. BY night on horseback
he rides through the ruins He overcomes
the most ferocious opposition. he arouses
the 2icty and patriotism OF the people, ard
III I,S than two months, namely. in ffty-two
DAYS. Jerusalem was rebuilt That's what
can busy and triumphant. sadness ... -
My friends, the whole temptation is with
you, when you have trouble, to do just the
opposite to the behavior of Nehemiah, and
that is to give up. You say, Il have lost
my child and can never smile again" You
say, Il have lost my property, and never
can repair my fortunes" You say, II have
fallen into sin, aud never can start aealn
for 4 new life.n II Satan can make you