St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-05-08

ence the pathos. the homesiclkneas, thu
courage, the holy enthusiasm Of Nehe
miah in his midnight moonlight ride
around the ruins Of his beloved Jeru
salem.
Again, my text impresses me with The
fact that. before reconstruction, there
must be m exploration of the ruins
Why was not Nehemiah asleep under
the covers? Why was not his horse
stabbed in the midnight? Let the pc
lice of the city arrest this midnight
rider, out on some mischief. No, Ne
hemiah is going to rebuild the city, anc
he is making the preliminary explora
ton. In this gate, out that gate, east
west, north, south. All through the
ruins. The ruins must be explored be
fore the work of reconstruction car
begin. The reason that SO many peo
pie in this city, apparently converted,
do not stay converted is because they
do not first explore the ruins of their
own heart The reason that there
are SO many professed Chris
tians who in this day lie and
forge and steal, and commit abimi-
nations, and go to the penitentiary, is
because they first do not learn the ruin
of their own heart They have not
found out that 1.-The heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately
wicked" They had an idea that they
were almost right, and they built re
ligion rs . sort of extension, as an or
namental cupola. There was super
structure 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 unrcgenerated nature.
They attempt to rebuild Jerusalem be-
fore, 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 north
east storm Of temptation blows them
down. have no faith in . mans con-
version If he is not converted in the
old-fashioned way-John Bunyan's
way, John Wesley's way, John Calvin's
way, Paul's way, Christ's way, Gods
way. A dentist said to me: 'sDoes
that hurt?' Said I: "Of course it
hurts. 1t is in your business, as in my
profession. We have to hurt before we
can help" You will never understand
redemption until you understand ruin.
A man tells me that some one is menu
Der of the church. It makes no impress
sion on my mind at all. l simply want
to know whether he was converted in
the old-fashioned way, or whether he
was converted in the ncw-fashioned
way. If he was converted in the old
fashioned 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 ques-
ton l ask him is: DO you feel yourself
to be sinner" If he say, ..Well, T.
yes" the hesitancy makes me feel that
man wants 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 merciful to me sinner and be-
fore 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 kneel, crying: '.iIave mercy on
me, 0 God, according to Thy loving
kindness, according unto the multitude
of Thy tender mercies blot out my trans
gressions, and my sins are ever before
Thee" All, my friends, you see this is
not complimentary Gospel. This is
what makes some people SO mad. It
lars, and impenitent in his sins,
and says: you're paupcr." 1t comes
to q woman of fairest cheek, who has
never repented, and says: you're =
sinner" It comes to man priding
himself on Neutrality-suspicious., and says:
you're bound hand and foot by the
devil" It copesAp.our entire race and
says: ''You'rc.h ruiz . CHASTITY ruin, an
illimitable ruin Satan sometimes
says to me: ..Why do you preach that
truth? Why DR. you preach q Gospel
with no repentadee in it? Why don't
you fiatter meas hearts so that you
make them feaA2N right Why don't
you preach q Humanitarian Gospel,
with no repede6Kee in it, saying moth
ing about. TIE rain, talking all the
time about the redcmption?' l say:
FssGef fhea behind me, Satan" would
Fsthex t1eaf16ve souls into safety than
90, 600 into perdition. The redemption
of the Gospel is . perfect farce if there
is no ruin. "The whole need not :
physician, but they that are sick" If
any one, though he be an angel from
Heaven, preach any other Gospel than
this, says the apostle, slet him be nc
cursed" There must be the midnight
ride over the ruins before Jerusalem
can be built. There must be the click
ing Of the hoofs before there can be the
ring Of the trowels.
Again. My subject gives me = speci-
men of busy and triumphant sadness.
If there was any man in the world who
had right to NOPE and give up every
thing as lost, it was Nehemiah. You
say: HE wis . cupbearer in the pal
ace Of Shushan. and it was = grand
place." So it was The hall Of that
palace was 200 feet square, and the roof
lowered over So marble pillars, each pill
lar 60 feet high; and the intense blue
Of the sky, and the deep green Of the
forest foliage, and the white of the driv-
en- snow, all hung trembling in the
But, my friends, you know
very well that fine architecture will
not put down inconsistencies. Yet Ne
hemiah did not give mp. Then, when
you see him going among these desc
lated streets, and by these dismantled
towers, and by the torn-up grave Of his
father, You would suppose that he
would have been disheartened, and that
he would have dismountcd from his
horse and gone to his room and said:
s.Woe is me! Ny fathers grave is torn
mp. The temple is dishonored. The
walls are broken down. have no
money with which to rebuild l
wish had never heen born.