Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-04-09
TALMAGE'S SERMON
INTERESTING THEME m THE
WASHINGTON PREACHER
Subject; 'The Triumph of Sadness. /"

dead city Is more suggestive than liv-
ing city-past Rome than present Rome
ruins rather than newly fresc0e1 cathedral.
But the best time to risit ruin is by moon
light. The Coliseum Is far more fascinating
20 the traveller after shutdown than beiorc.
You may stand by daylight amid the monas-
tie ruins Of Melrose abbey. and stuiv
shaited oriel and rosettei stone and mul.
hon. but they throw their strongest witrhery
by moonlight. Some Of YOU remember what
the enchanter Of Scotland said in the LAY
OF the Last Minstrel
"WoGldst thou view fair Melrose Alright?
Go visit il by the pale moonlight"
Washington Irving describes the An ialn-
sian moonlight upon the Alhambra ruins
as amounting TO an enchantIhent Ny 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 GO
ing 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 are go
ing as sort OF bolyguard.
hear the clicking hOOfs of the horse on
which Nehemiah rides. as he guides 1t this
way and that. into this gate and ont Of that,
winding through that gate amid the debris
W bANt El'il bNl u9L4flils NpN the HRISf
comes to dead halt at the tumble masonry
where he cannot pass. Now he SHES OF at
the charred timberS. Now he comes along
where the water under the moonlight flashes
from the mouth of the briGtn dragon after
which the gate was named. Heavy hearted
Nehemiah, riding in ani out, now by his old
home desOlated, now by the defacad temple,
now amid the sears OF the city that had gone
down under b1ttering ram an conilagratiOn!
Tho napprtIny ms IT ., what Nnha-
miah means. Is he getting crazy? Have
his own personal sorrows, added to the sOr-
rows Of the nation. unbalanced his iutellectY
Still the midnight exploration goes on.
Nehemiah on horseback rides through the
fish gate, by the tower OF the furnaces, by
the kings pool, 10y the dragon well, III ant
out until the miluight ride is completed.
and Nehemiah dismounts from his horse,
and to the amazed and confouuiel and in.
credulous bodyguard, declares the dead
secret of his heart when he says,
! "COme, now, let us build Jerdsa-
lem" what, Nehemiah, have You
any MONEY!" "No.' Have YOU any
| kingly authority?' NO" Have You any
! eloquence!' mo" Yet that midnight,
| moonlight ride OF 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 enthusiasm they
cried out, "Let us rise up now and build the
| city," Some people laughed and said it
could not be done. Some people were in-
furiate and offered physical violence, saying
/ the thing should not be done. But the work
men went right on, standing on the wall,
trowel in one hand, sword in the other, un-
til the work was gloriously completed. Al
that very time in Greece, Nanophon was
writing history. and Plato was making
| philosophy, and Demosthcne' was rafting
his rhetorical thunder. But all Of them
together did not do so much for the world
rs this midnight, moonlight ride Of pray
ing, courageous, hOmesick close mOutheI
Nehemiah.
MY subject first impresses me with the idea
what an intense thing is church atfe.tio l..
Seize the bride Of that horse and stop,
| Nehemiah. Why are you rsking your life
here in the night? Your horse will stumb.,
over these ruins and fall on you. Stop thu
useless exposure of your life. No; Nehemiah
| will not stop. He at last tells Us the whole
story. He let's us know he was an exile in a
far distant land and he was 4 servant, a cup
bearer in the palace Of ArtaXerXes Lonigma
nus, and one day, while he was handing tn,
cup of vino to the king the king said L
him: "What is the matter with you? Ior
are not sick. | know you must have som.
great trouble. What is the matter with you2
Then he told the king how that beloved
Jerusalem was broken down, how that hi
fathers tomb had been deseCrated, how
that the temple had been dshonorcd aud
dotaced. how that the walls were seal,
tered a1d broken. 'Well,' says k'ns
Ar.axerxes, "whut do you WANT
"Well," said the cupbearer, Nehemiah
81 want to 20 home. | want to fix up the
grave Of my father. l want to restore tn,
beauty Of the temple. | want to rebuild thu
masonry of the city wall. Besides, 1 wan
passports so that I shall not BE- hinderni in
my journey, and besides that, as You will
find in the context, II want an ORDER on thu
man who keeps your forest for just so mucl
timber as | may need for the rebuilding o
the CITY," How long shall you be gomez
said the king. The time of absence is mr.
ranged. In hot haste this seeming adven
turer comes to Jerusalem, and in my text W.
find him on horseback, in the midnight, rid
ing around the ruins. II is through tn
spectacles of this scene that we discover tn
ardent attachment of Nehemiah for sacret
Jerusalem, which in all ages has been tn
type of the church of God. our Jerusalem
which we love Just as much as Nehemia
loved his Jerusalem. The fact is that 20
love the church of God so much that there
no spot on earth 50 sacred unless 1t be YOU
own 1resde The church has been to you 8
much comfort and illumination that there i
nothing that makes you 50 ilate rs to haV,
it talked against.
If there have been times when YOU hav
been carried into captivity by sickness, yo
longed for the church, our holy Jerusalem
just as much as Nehemiah lOnged for hi
Jerusalem. and the first day you came on
you came to the house OF the Lord. Whe
the temple was in ruins, like Nehemiah, 20
walked around and looked at it. and in tn
moonlight you stood listening il you cOul
not hear the voice of the dead organ tn
psalm of the expired Sabfaths. What JerU
- l., .g,l,N .f 4 i
to you. Skeptics and inildels may scof &
the church as an obsolete affair, as q relic {
the dark ages, as a convention of good
goody people, but al! the impression the
have ever made on your mind against tn
church of God is absolutely nothing. 70
would make more sacrifices for it to-day tina
any other institution, and If it were needfl
you would die in its defense. You can TAX
the words of the kingly poet as he said, :"
forget thee, o Jerusalem, let my rigl
hand forget her cunning" You understan
inyour own experience the pathos, the hom
Sickness the courage, the holy enthusiast
of Nehemiah in his midnight ride ar0un
the ruins of his beloved Jerusalem.
Again, my text impresses me with the fa
that before reconstruction, there must be a
exploration of ruins. Why was not Neh
miah asleep under the covers? Why was NJ
his horse stabbed in the midnight? Let II
pullCS VI tHe CITY arrest tHlS ulullSul Iluc
out on some mischief. No. Nehemiah
going to rebuild the city, and he is makir
the preliminary exploration. In this gat
out that gate, east, west, north, south. A
, through the ruins. The ruins must be g,
plored before the work OF reconstruction ca
begin.
The reason that 50 many peoplein this da
apparently do not stay converted is becau:
they did not first explore the ruins of the
.. own heart. The reason that there are {
, many protested Christians who in this da
lie and forge and steal and commit abomin
tions and 20 to the penitentiary is becau
: they first do not learn the ruin of their ow
heart. They have not found out that "tt