Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1897-04-08
BUILDING THE CITY.
DR.. TALMAGE ON NEHEMlAH'S RIDE
IN WRECKED JERUSALEM.

IN WRECKED JERUSALEM.
The EHohantment Of the Moonlight and
Neheuniah's ResoIye-Love of the Church
OF God-Ruin and Redemption-rhe
Great Good That Comes From Trouble.
WASHINGTON, April 4.-From the weird
and midnighS experiences of one of ancient
times DR.. Talmage in his sermon draws
lessons startllngly appropriate. His text
was Nehemiah ii, 10, "Then went up in
tho night by the brook and viewed the
wall and turned back and entered by the
gate of the valley, and so returned"
A dead city is more suggestive than a
living city-past Rome than present Rome
ruins rather than newly frescoed cathe-
dral But the best time to visit ruin is
by moonlight. The Coliseum is far more
fascinating to the traveller after sundown
than before. You may stand by daylight
amid the monastic ruins of Melrose abbey
and study shafted oriel and rosetted stone
and mullion, but they throw their stron-
qest witchery by moonlight Some of you
remem Der what the enchGnter of Scotland
said in the "Lay of the Last MINSTREL"
wouldst thou view fair Melrose Alright,
Go visit it by tho pale moonlight.
Washington Irving describes the Anda-
lusian moonlight upon the Alhambra
ruins as amounting to an enchantment
My text presents you Jerusalem in ruins.
The tower down. The gates down. The
walls down. Everything down. Nehemiah
on horseback by moonlight looking upon
the ruins. While he rides there are some
friends ON foot going with him, for they do
not want the many horses to disturb the
suspicious of the people. These people do
not know the secret of Nehemiah's heart,
but they ore going as sort of bodyguard.
hear the clicking hoofs of the horse on
which Nehemiah rides as he guides ii
this way and that, into this gate and out
of that, winding through that gate amid
the debris of once great Jerusalem.
Rebuilding the City.
Now the horse comes to dead halt at tht
tumbled masonry where he cannot pass
Now he SHES off at the charred timbers
Now he comes along where the water un
der the moonlight flashes from the moutf
of the brazen dragon after which the gait
was named. Heavy hearted Nehemiah
Riding in and out, now by his old hom'
| desolated, now by the defaced temple, nov
amid the scars of the city that had gon
down under battering ram and conf1agra
ton. The escorting party knows not wha
| Nehemiah means. Is he getting crazy
Have his own personal sorrows, added T.
the sorrows of the nation, unbalanced hi
| intellect? Still the midnight exploration
goes on. Nehemiah on horseback ride
through the fish gate, by the tower of tn
furnaces, by the kings pool, by the dragol
we'll, in and out, in and out, until tn
midnight ride is completed, and Nehemia
dismounts from his horse, and to th
amazed and confounded and incredulou
bodyguard declares the dead secret of hi
heart when he says, "Come, now, let U
build Jerusalem" "What, Nehemiah
have you any money!" "No." "Hay
you any kingly authority?" "No.' "Hav
you any eloquence?" "No." Yet that mic
night, moonlight ride of Nehemiah result
ed in the glorious rebuilding of the city {
Jerusalem. Tho people knew not how til
thing was TO be done, but with great e1
thusiasm they cried out, "Let us rise u
now and build the city" Some peop
laughed and said it could not be dom
Some people were infuriated and offere
physical violence, saying the thing shoul
not be done. But the workmen went rigl
on, standing on the wall, troH ell in OF
hand, sword in the other, until the woT
was gloriously completed. At that vel
time in Greece Xenophon was writing
history, and Plato was making philosoph
and Demosthenes was rattling his rh
torical thunder. But all of them togeth
did not do SO much for the world as th
midnight, moonlight ride of praying, cou
ageous, homesick, close mouthed Neh
miah.
Love of the Church.
My subject first impresses me with Il
idea, whatan intense thing is church affe
tion. Seize the bride Of that horse al
stop Nehemiah. Why are you risking yol
life here in the nightP Your horse w
stumble over these ruins and fall on 20
Stop this useless exposure of your life. N
Nehemiah will not stop. He at last tel
us the whole story. He let's us know
was ON exile in far distant land, and
J was servant, u cupbearer in the palace
Artaxerxes Longimanus, and one da
while he was handing the cup of wine
the king the king said to him: "What
the matter with you? You are not sic
know you must have some great troub
What is the matter with you?" Then
told the king how that beloved Jerusale
was broken down. how that his father
tomb had been desecrated; how that t
temple had been dishonored and deface
how that the walls We're scattered a.
broken. "Well," says King Artaxerx'
"what do you want?' "Well, F" said t
cupbearer Nehemiah, 81 want to go hon
1 want to fix up the grave of my father
= want to restore the. beauty of the temp
, want to rebuild the masonry of the ci
I wall. Besides want passports so that
y shall not be hindered in my journey. A
: besides that" as you will find in the &C
4 text, II want an order on the man W
keeps your forest for just so much timl
s as may need for the rebuilding of
4 CITY," "How long shall you be gone
Y said the king The time of absence is
ranged. In hot haste this seeming advt
: turer comes to Jerusalem, and in my tt
Z we find him on horseback in the midnie
4 riding around the ruins. 1t is throu
= the spectacles Of this scene that we disc'
Y er the ardent attachment of Nehemiah
4 sacred Jerusalem, which in all ages
. been the type of the church of God, {
Z Jerusalem, which we love just as much
Nehemiah loved his Jerusalem. The f
: is that you love the church of God so mu
! that there is no spot on earth SO sacr
unless it be your own freside.
= Viewing the Ruins.
q The church has been to you go mt
4 comfort and illumination that there
y nothing that makes you so irate as to hi
4 it talked against. If there have been tin
when you have been carried into captiv
~ L.. @h, III, 4