Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1897-04-09

could not hear the voice Of the dead or
gan, the psalm Of the expired Sabbaths-
What Jerusalem was to Nehemiah the
church Of God is to you. Skeptics and
infdels may scoff at the church as an
obsolete affair, as a relic Of the dark
ages, as a convention Of goody goody
people, but all the impression they have
ever made on your mind against the
church Of God is absolutely nothing.
You would make more sacrifices for 1t
today than any other institution, and II
it were needful you would die in its de-
fense. You can take the words of the
kingly poet as he said, "If l forget
thee, o Jerusalem, let my right hand
forget her cunning" You understand
in your own experience the pathos, the
homesickness, the courage, the holy en-
thusiasm of Nehemiah in his midnight
moonlight ride around the ruins Of his
beloved jerusalem.
Exploration.
Again, my text impresses 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 police
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 exploration. In
this gate, out that gate, east. west,
north, south. All through the ruins
The ruins must be explored before the
work Of reconstruction can begin
The reason that so many people 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 professed Christians who in this
day lie and forge and steal and commit
denominations and 90 to the peniten-
tiary is because they first do not learn
the ruin of their own heart. They have
not found out that "the heart is deceit
full above all things and desperately
wicked" They had an idea that they
were almost right, and they built reh-
eion as a sort Of extension, as an orna-
mental cupola. There was a superstruc-
ture of religion built on substratum OF
unrepented sins. The trouble with a
good deal of modern theology is that
instead Of building on the right founda-
ton it builds on the debris Of an unre-
generated nature. They attempt to re-
build Jerusalem before, in the midnight
of conviction, they have seen the ghast-
illness Of the ruin. They have such a
moor foundation for their religion that
the first northeast storm Of temptation
blows them down. have no faith in q
mans conversion if he is not converted
in the old fashioned way-John Bun
vans way, John Wesley's way, John
Calvins way, Paul's way, Christ's way,
Gods way. A dentist said to me, docs
that hurt?' Said 1: "Of course it hurts.
1t is in your business as in my profes-
sion. We have to hurt before we can
help" You will never understand re-
demption until you understand ruin. A
man tells me that some one is a mem
ber of the church. 1t makes no impres
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 new fashioned
way. If 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 about re-
Ieion. The first question l ask him is,
"Do you feel yourself to be a sinnerT'
If he saws, "Well, I-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 horse's neck and will take his right
hand and smite on his heart and say,
God be merciful to me, sinner, and
before 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: Have mercy on
me, o God, according to thy loving
kindness, according unto the multitude
of thy tender merciesl Blot out my
trapsgressions, for | acknowledge MY
transgressions, and my sins are ever be-
fore thee. T." All, my friends, you SEE
this is not a complimentary gospel
That is what makes some people SC
mad II comes to a man Of Sl,OOO,O
and impenitent in his sins and says,
YOU'RE pauper" Itcomes toa WON
an of fairest cheek who has never re
pented and says, You're a sinner
It comes to a man priding himself OIL
his Independence and says, You n
: bound hand and foot by the devil" II
comes to our entire race and says
"You're a ruin, a ghastly ruin, an IL
limitable ruin." Satan sometimes say
TO me: "Why do you preach that truth
, Why don't you preach gospel with ne
repentance in it? Why don't you hattei
mems hearts so that you make then
feel all right? Why don't you preach
, humanitarian gospel, with no repent
ance in it, saying nothing about tn
ruin, talking all the time about the re
demption?" l say, "Get thee behin'
me. satan" would rather lead hv
!, souls into safety than 20, 900 into perdi
7 tion. The redemption Of the gospel is
, perfect farce if there is no ruin. "Th
whole need not a physician, but the,
| that are sick" IF any one, though b
be an angel from heaven, preach an,
other gospel than this" says the apos
tie, "let him be accursed- There mus
be the midnight ride over the ruins be
( fore Jerusalem can be built There rau'
e be the clicking of the hoofs before ther
= can be the ring of the trowels
s triumphant Sadness
, Again, my subject gives me spec
: men of busy and triumphant sadness
4 II there was any man in the world VIII
( had right to NOPE and give up ever
{ thing as lost, it was Nehemiah. 10
+ say, "He was a cupbearer In the palat
9 of Shushan, and ii was grand place
r Soitwas. The hall Of that palace was se
s feet square, and the roof lowered ov'
QR marble pillars. each pillar so fe