Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1897-04-08

miah, the church OF GOd Is 70 you. Skep- |
tics and intldels may seoff at the church as
an obsolete affair, as q relic Of the dark |
ages, as q convention Of goody goody peo-
Pile, but all the impression they have ever
made o.. your mind against the church of |
God is absolutely nothing. You would !
make moro sacrifices for it today than any |
other institution, and If it were needful |
you would die N its defense. You can take |
tie words Of .he kingly poet as ne said, |
"If forget thee, o Jerusalem, let my |
right hand forget her cunning" You un- !
derstand in your own experience the pathos, |
the inconsistencies, the courage, the holy |
enthusiasm of Nehemiah in his midnight,
moonlight ride around the ruins of his
beloved Jerusalem.
Exploration Necessary.
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 coyersP Why
was not his horse stabbed in the midnight
Let the police of the city arrest this mid
night rider, out on some mischief. No.
Nehemiah is going to rebuild the city,
and he is making the preliminary explora-
tion. 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 con-
verted is because they did not first explore
the ruins of their own heart. The reason
that there are so many profeHsed Chris
| tians who in this day lie and forge and
] steal, and commit denominations, and go
to tic 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 desperate
ly wicked" They had an idea that they
were almost right, and they built religion
as a sort of extension, as an ornamental
cupola. There was superstucture of re-
ligion built on a substratum of unrepent-
ed sins. The trouble with good deal of
modern theology is that instead of build
ing on the right foundation, it builds on
the debris of an unregenerated nature
They attempt to rebuild Jerusalem before,
in the midnight of conviction, they have
seen the ghastliness of the ruin. They
have such poor foundation for their re-
ligion that the first northeast storm of
temptation blows them down. have no
faith in mans conversion if he is not
converted in the old fashioned way-John
Bunyan's way, John Wesley's way, John
Calvin's way, Pauls way, Christ's waJ,
Gods way. A dentist said to me, "Does
! that hurt?" Said 1: "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.
, The Old and the New.
A man tells me that some one is a mem
9 ber of the church. 1t makes no impression
l on my mind at ALL l simply want to know
e whether he was converted in the old fash
S ioned way, or whether he was converted
8 in the new fashioned way. If he was con
8 yerted in the old fashioned way, he viii
stand. If he was converted in the nev
e fashioned way he will not stand. That il
@ all there is about it, A man comes to MI
: to talk about religion. The first question
j. 1 ask him is, "Do you feel yourself to be
f sinner" If he say, "Well, I-yes," tn
g hesitancy makes me feel that that mai
+ wants ride on Nehemiah's horse by mid
D night through the 'ruins-in by the gate o
Q his affections, out by the gate of his will
}. and before he has got through with tina
d midnight ride he will drop the reins ol
4 the horse's neck, and will take his righ
It hand and slnite on his heart and say
% "God be merciful to me a sinner" an
k before he has stabbed his horse he will TAX
v his feet out of tho stirrups, and he wi
a slide down on the ground, and he wi
', kneel, crying: "Have mercy on me,
e. God, according to thy loving kindness, az
sr cording unto the multitude Of thy tende
| Of frny
r. I acknowledge my transgressions, and m
e. sins are ever before thee" All, my friend!
you see this is not complimentary gospe
That is what makes some people SO mao
10 1t comes to a man of million dollars, an
G. impenitent in his sins, and says, "You'1
ID pauper" 1t comes to woman of fail
,r est cheek, who has never repented, an
II says, YOU'RE sinner" 1t comes to
\. man priding himself on his independence
q and says, YOU'RE bound hand and foot b
Is the devil" 1t comes to our entire tac'
,e and says, "You're a ruin, a ghastly ruil
10 an illimitable ruin" Satan sometime
Of says to me: "Why do you preach thu
v. truth? Why don't you preach q gosp
TO with no repentance in it? Why don't yo
is hatter mems hearts so that you make thel
/. feel all rightP Why don't you preach
q. humanitarian gospel, with no repenten'
he in it, saying nothing about the ruin, tall
. ing all the time about the Redemption|
IS Redemption a Force without Ruin.
ne I say, "Get thee behind me, SATAN"
u; would rather lead five souls into safe
III than 10000 into perdition. The REDEEM
's' ton of the gospel is perfect farce if the
ne is no ruin. "The whole need not a phys
e: clan, but they that are sick" eff al
1 one, though he be an angel from heave
o. preach any other gospel than this" sa
" the apostle, "let him be accursed." The
! must be the midnight ride over the ruil
III before Jerusalem can be built. There mu
n be the clicking of the hoofs before the
no can be the ring of the trowels.
er Again. My subject gives me spec
me- men of busy and triumphant sadness.
there was any man in the world who h;
IT. right to NOPE and give up everything
n lost, it was Nehemiah. You say, "He W
xt cupbcarer in the palace Of Shushan, al
nt it was grand place" So it was. T.
gh hall of that palace was 800 feet squal
W and the roof lowered over 36 marble p
or lars, each pillar so feet high, and the i
las tense blue of the sky, and the deep gre
ur of the forest foliage, and the white of t
as driven snow, all hung trembling in t
lGt upholstery. But, my friends, you knc
en- very well that fine architecture will p
'u' put down homesickness Yet Nehemi
did not give up. Then when you see hi
going among these desolated streets, a.
ch by these dismantled towers, and by t
is torn up grave Of his father, you would su
we pose that he would have been disheartene
les and that he would have dismounted fro
ity his horse and gone to his room and sal
ur "Woe is me! My fathers grave ls torn U
alb The temple is dishonored. The walls q
ar broken down. L have no money WI
ii, which to rebuild. wish had never be
Il; born. wish were dead Not SO sa
ed Nehemiah. Although he had grief
L l.