Milford chronicle., 1889-03-22

reason that so many people IN TINS day, 0p-
parently 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 adult
cry, and go to the penitentiary, 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 re
ligion as a sort Of extension, as an orna-
mental cupOla There was superstructure
of religion built on a substratum of unre-
pented sins. The trouble with good deal
Of modern theology is that instead Of build
ing on the right foundation, 1t builds on the
debris of an unregenerated nature. They
attempt to rebuild Jerusalem before, in the
midnight of conviction, they have seen the
ghastliness of the ruin They have such a
poor foundation 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 fash
ioned way-John Bunyan's way, John Wes-
ley's way, John Calvin's way, Pauis way,
Chrsts way, Gods way. a dentist once
said to me; docs that hn~t" Said 1; "Of
course it hurts. 1t is in your business as in
my profession. We have TO hurt be-
fore we can help" You will never
understand redemption until you under
stand ruin. a man tells me TINT some
one is a member Of the church. It makes no
impression on my mind at all simply want
to know whether ho was converted in the old
fashioned way, or whether he was converted
in the new fashioned way. II he was converted
in the old fashioned way he will stand If 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 aboutreligion The
first question ask him is: DO you feel your
self to be a sinnerF' 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 he will drop the
reins on the horses neck, and will take
his right hand and smite on his heart and
say: God be meriful to me, a sinner; .
and before he has stabbed his horse he viii
take his feet out of the stirrups, and he win
slide down on the ground and he will kneel,
crying, "Have mercy on mo, o God, accord
ing to thy loving kindness, according unto
the multitude of thy tender mercies; blot out
my transgressions, for I acknowledge my
transgressions, and my sins are ever before
theen All, my friends, you see this Is not a
complimentary gospel. That is what makes
some people so mad. 1t comes to a man Of a
million dollars and impenitent in his sins, and
says, you're a pauper.n 1t comes to n
woman Of fairest cheek, who has never re-
pented, and says, you're a sinner" 1t comes
to a man priding himself on his independence,
and says, "You're bound hand and foot by
the deviln 1t comes to our entire race and
says, you're a ruin, a ghastly ruin, an il
imitable ruin.n Satan sometimes says
to me, "Why do you preach that truthl
Why don't you preach a gospel with
no repentance in itl Why don't you
aatter mems hearts so that you make
them feel ell rightl Why don't you preach a
humanitarian gospel with no repentance in
it. saying nothing about the ruin, talking all
the time about redemptiong' 1 say, Get
thee behind me, Satan" would rather lead
five souls the right way than twenty thou
sand the wrong way. The redemption Of tho
gospel is perfecC Iarce if there is no ruin
'The whole need not physician, bat they
that are sick" IF any one, though ne be an
angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
than this, " says the apostle, ''let him be ac-
cursed There must be the midnight ride
over the ruins before Jerusalem can be built.
There must be the clicking Of tho hoofs be-
fore there can be the ring OF the trowels.
CHRISTIAN PERSEVERANCE.
Again. Ny subject gives me a specimen of
busy and triumphant sadness If there was
any man in the world who had a right to
nope and give up everything as lost, it was
Nhlemiah. You say: He was q cup bearer
in the palace of Shushaa, and it was grand
placen 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
foliage, and the white Of the driven snow, all
hung trembling in the upholstery. But, my
friends you know very well that fine archi-
lecture viii not put down homesicllness. 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 sup
pose that he would have been disheartened,
and that he would have dismounted
from his horse and gone to his room and
said: "1Voe is me. My fathers grave is torn
up. The temple is dishonorcd. Tho walls
arc broken down. l have no money with
which to rebuild wish had never been
born. wish / were dead" Not so saws Ne
hemiah. Although he had grief 50 intense
that it excited the commentary Of his king,
yet that penniless, expatriated Nehemiah
rouses himself up to rebuild tho city. He
gets his permission Of absence. Ho gets his
passports He hastens away TO Jerusalem.
By night on horseback he rides through the
ruins He overcomes the most ferocious op-
position. He arouses the piety and patriot
ism Of the people, and in less than two months,
namely, in tifty-two days, Jerusalem was re
built That's what call busy and trium-
phant sadness.
Ny friends, tho 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, Il have fallen
into sin, and never can start again for
new lie" If Satan can make you forn that
resolution, aad make you keep it, he has
ruined you Trouble is not sent TO crush you,
but 20 arouse you, to animate you, to propel
YOU The blacksmith does not thrust the
iron into the forge, and then blow away with
tho bellows, and then bring the hot iron out
on tho anvil and beat with stroke after stroke
to ruin the iron, but to prepare it for better
use. Oh that the Lord God Of Nehemiah
would rouse up all broken hearted people to
rebuild. Whipped, betrayed, shipwrecked,
imprisoned Paul went right on. The Italian
martyr Algerius sits in his dungeon writing
letter and he dates it "From the delectable
orchard Of the LeoRine prison" That Is
what call triumphant sadness. knew
mother who buried her baby on Friday and
on Sabbath appeared in the house of God and
said, "Giye me a class; give me Sabbath
school class. 1 have no child now left me,
and l would like to have a class Of little
children. Give me real poor children. Give
me a class of the back street. That, I say,
is beautiful. That is triumphant sadness.
At O'Clock this afternoon in a beautiful par
lor in Philadelphia parlor pictured and
statuetted-there will be from ten to twenty
destitute children Of the street. It has been
so every Sabbath afternoon at O'Clock for
many years. These destitute children receive
RELIGIOUS instruction, concluding with cakes