The Penn's Grove record., 1889-04-06
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON:
The Moonlight Ride.


"Then went I up in the night by the brook
viewed the wall, and turned back ana en-
tered by the gate Of the valley, ana SO re
turned" Neh. q Is.
A dead city is more suggestive thai
a living city-past Rome than presen
Rome-ruins rather than newly Tres
coed cathedral, But the best I'M U
visit is by moonlight. The 20 i'eun
Is far o fascinating to tue traveiel
after shutdown than before. You MAJ
stand by daylight and the monastl'
ruins Of Melrose Abbey, and study
shafted Orlel, and rosetted stone AM
mullion, but they throw their stronges
witchery by moonlight. Some OF you
remember what the enchanter or scot
land said in the "Lsy Of the LAS
Minstrel:
wouldst thou view fair Melrose Alright.
Go visit it by the pale moonlight.
Washington Irving describes the
a ndalusian moonlight upon the Alham
bra ruins as amounting to The enchant'
ment. My text presents you
JERUSALEM IN RUINS.
The tower down. Tie gates down.
The walls down. Everything down.
Nehemiah on horseback, by moon
light 10 king upon the ruins. WINE
he rides, there are some friends on foot
going with him. for they do not want
the many horses to disturb the suspi'
clons OF the leople. These people dc
not know the secret OF Nehemlah's
heart, but they are going as a sort OF
~body.guard. hear the clicking hlofs
of the horse on which Nehemiah rides,
as he guides it this way and that, into
this gate and out of that, winding
through that gate amid the debris Of
once great Jerusalem. Now the horse
comes to a dead halt at the tumbled
masonry where he cannot pass. Now he
SHES off at the cbarred timbers. Now
he comes along wi. ere the water under
the moonlight flashes from the mouth
of the dragon after which the gate
was named.
Heavy hearted Nehemiah Riding
in and out, nov by his old home desc.
lated, by the defaced temple, now
amid the scars OF the city that bad
gone down under batteIing.r and
c0nfagration. The escortlng party
knows not what Nehemiah means. Ii
he getting crazyP Have his W per
sonal sorrows, added to the sorrows
OF the nation, unbalanced his lntellecti
THE MIDNIGHT EXPLORATION
goes on. Nehemiah on horseback rides
through the Fish gate, by the tower Of
the furnaces, by the Kings pool, by
the Dragon well, in and out, in and
out, until the midnight ride is com
pleted. and Nehemiah dismounts from
bis horse, and to the amazed and con.
founded and incredulous body-guard,
declares the dead secret of his heart
when he says, ''Come, now, let us
build jerusalem" ''What, Nehemiah,
have you any money!" mo-" "Have
you any kingly authority" mo
Have you any elOquenceP" mo-
Yet that midnight moonlight ride o!
Nehemiah resulted in the glorious
rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem.
The people knew not how the thing
was to be done, but with great enthu'
siasm they cried out, "Let us rise uI
now and build the ethyl" Some people
laughed, and said it could not be done.
Some people were lnfuriate, and of.
fered physical violence, saying the
thing should not be done. But the
workmen went right on, standing on
the wall. trowel In n hand, sword In
the other. until the work was gloriously
completed. At that very time, in
Greece, XenOphOn was writing a his
tory, and Plato was making philosophy,
and D~emosthenes was rafting hi;
rhetorical thunder, but all of then
together did not do 80 much for the
world as this midnight moonlight ride
of praying, courageous, homesIck
close. mOuthed Nehemiah.
My subject first impresses me will
the idea what an intense thing is
CHURCH AFFECTION.
Seize the bride of that horse and stol
Nehemiah. Why are you risking youl
life here In the nightp Your horse
will stumble over these ruins and fal
on you. Stop this useless exposure o
your life. No; Nehemiah will moi
stop. He at last tells us the whole
story. He let's us know he was al
exile In a far distant land, and he wa
La servant, a cup-bearer in the palace o.
rArtaxerxes Longimanus. and one day
while he was handing the cup of win,
to the king, the king said to him
What is the matter with your You
are not sick. l know you must hay,
some great trouble. What is tn,
matter with your" Then he told tn,
king how that beloved Jerusalem wa!
broken down; how that his father,
tomb had been d%esecrated; how that
THE TEMPLE HAD BEEN DIsHoNoBEI
and defaced; how that the walls wer,
scattered and broken. "Well," say
King Artaxerxes, "wbat do 70,
wantY" "Well," said the cup-beare
Nehemiah, 81 want to go home.
want to FIX up the grave of my father
want to restore the beauty of til,
temple. / want to rebuild tie mas
onry of the city wall. Besides, | wan
passports, SO that | shall not be hind
cred In my journey. And beside
that" as you End in the context, Sc.
| want an order on the man who keep
your forest for just SO much timber a
I may need for the rebuilding of tn,
city," How long shall you be gonep'
said the king. The time of absence /
arranged. In hot haste this seemin!
adventurer comes to Jerusalem, and l,
ny text we find him on horseback il
the midnight, riding around the ruins
It is through the spectacies of thi
scene that we discover the ardent at
tachment of Nehemiah for sacred Je
rusalem, which in all ages has been tn,
type of the Church of God, u Jerusa
lem, which we love just as much a
| Nehemiah loved his Jerusalem. Til
fact is that
YOU LOVE THE CHURCH
of God so much that there is no spo
on earth 40 sacred, unless II is your owl
| ireside. The Church has been to yoI
so much comfort and illumination tina
there is nothing that makes you 5
rate as to have 1t talked against. l
there have been times when you hav
been carried into captivity by sickness
YOU longed for the Church, our hol
Jerusalem, Just as much as Nehemia'
longed for his Jerusalem, and the frs
Iday you came out you came to tn
house of the Lord. When the Tempt
was in runs, as ours was years age
" L.