Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1889-03-23

mind against the church OF God Is
absolutely nothing. You would make
moro sacrifices for IL today than for
any other institution, and IL IL were
nccdful you would die in its defense.
You can take tho words of the kingly
post us he said. III | forget thee. o
Jerusalem. let my right hand forget
her cunning" You understand in
your own experience tho l,atlios, the
inconsistencies. 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 imprcsscs me with
the fact that before reconstruction
there must be an exploration Of ruins.
Why was not Nehemiah asleep under
the covers. Why was not his horse
stabbed in the midnight! 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 OK.
ploration. In this gate. out that gate.
east west. north. south. All through
the ruins. Tho ruins must be explored
before the work of reconstruction can
begin. Tie reason that So many pco-
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 profcsscd Christians who in
this day lilo and forge aud steal. and
commit adultery. and 20 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 dcccitful above all things, and
desperately wicked" They had an idea
that they were almost right. and they
built religion rs Il sort Of extension. ms
an ornamental cupola There was IA su.
pcrstruciu;c Of religion built on sub.
stratum of unrpentcd sins. The
trouble with good deal Of modern
theology is that instead Of building on
the right foundation. il builds on the
debris Of an unrc"cncrltcd nature.
They attempt to rebuild Jerusalem be-
fore, in the midnight Of conviction,
they have seen the ghaStilincSs Of the
ruin. They have such poor founda-
ton for their religion that the first
northeast storm of temptation blows
them down. have no faith in u
mans conversion il he is not con.
vcrtcd in the old fashioned way-.lohn
Bunyan's way. John Wcslcy's way.
John Calvin's way. Pauls way.
Christ's way. Gods way. \ dentist
once said To me, Does that hurt"
Said |. "Of course il hurts. II is in
your business rs in my profess
sion. We have to hurt before we
can help" You will never un.
dcrs:and redemption until you
understand ruin. \ man tells me
that some one Is II member Of the
church. II makes no impression on
my mind at all. | simply want To
know whether hc WAS converted IN the
old fashioned way. or whether he was
converted in the new fashioned way.
II lie WAS converted in the old fash
ioned way he will stand. If he Was
converted in the new fashioned way
he will not stand That is ;,!l there is
about it, \ man comes Ia uic 10 talk
about religion. The lirt Question |
ask him is. DO you fccl Yourself 10
be Il sinn2r!' If hc say. well. l.
yes. tie hrSiiuncy ,ua,:rs ric feel that
that man wants Il ride on .ChcinialI' )
horse by midnight through the rains
in by the gate 81 his affections out
by the gate of his will: and before lie
has got through with that midnight
ride lie will drop the rIas on the
horses neck. and will take lis right
hand anl smi,c ou his heart and say ::
God hc ricwiful 10 me II sinner"
and before he HISS stabbed his horse he
will take lis feet out OF the :iiTupS.
and he will slide down on the ground,
and hc will kncel crying. Have
mercy on me. O Gud. according 10 thy
loving Kindness. according unto the
multitude of Thy tender ncrcics; blot
out my irirSgrcSsioiis. for ] aciinowl.
edge my tisliisgrSsions and my sins
are ever before thee. All. EIy friends
you SEQ t!:ls is not II complimentary
gospel. That is what nt,,;c, some pco-
pie so niad. IL comes IL II man uf a
million dollars and iinpcuit"nt in his
sins and says. YOUR Il lg;upcr." II
comes 10 II woman Of falrcSt clccli,
who has never rcrcrtcd. and says,
YOU'RE sinner. II comes Ia II man
priding himself ON his independence
and says. YOU'RE lou,d hand and
foot by the devil" II comes 10 our
entire race and says, YOUR II ruin,
CHASTITY rain, an ilii.n:iablc ruin.
Satan sometimes says to me, why
do you preach tnat truth: Why
don't you preach Il -"fcl with
no repentance il il. Why don't
you Halter mems hearts 50 that you
make them feel ull right! Why don't
you preach humanitarian gospel
with no repentance III it, saving moth
ing about the ruin, talking all the
time about rcdcmptioni' say, Get
thee behind me, Satan" | would
rather lead five souls the right way
than twenty thousand the wrong way.
The redemption of the gospel is u per-
feet farce If there is no ruin. "Tho
whole need not physician, but they
that are sick" IF any one. though
he he an angel from heaven. preach
any other gospel than this. says tho
apostle. let him he accui~1d. There
must be the midnight ::lc over the
ruins before Jerusalem can h. built.
lhcrc must he TIE cllchlng oi the
hoofs before there can be the ringing
of the trowcls.
CHRISTIAN PERSEVERANCE
Again My subject gives me II Spcci.
men of busy and triumphant sadness.
Ii there was any man in the world
who had u right 10 NOPE and give up
everything us lost. il was Nehemiah.
You say. lie was OPP bearer in the
palace Of Shushan. and il was II grand
place" So il was. The hall Of that
palace WAS two hundred feet square.
and the roof hoyccd over thiriy-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 well
al =.