Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1917-11-29
lAKGt AUDIENCE
HEARS SERMON
Rev. Rayburn Connects a Bible In
cident of Inc Past With Affairs
Of Present Time
lFrOm Saturdays daily.l
(By W., A. SeyIer)

That interest is growing in the evan
.gelistic services was evidenced by
the large, attentive audience at the
Friday evening services. The services
by Prof. Wickland Prayer was offered
by Rev. w. F. Rueckheim, pastor Of
the German Methodist church. Evan
gelist Rayburn based his sermon on
portions from the book of Nehemiah,
setting forth the difficulties Nehemiah
met in rebuilding the walls of Jeru-
salem. Nehemiah was deeply con-
cerned about the welfare of the city of
his father He prayed for the welfare
of this city and worried about it's con-
ditiOn The speaker drew an interest
ing parallel between the deplorable
conditions in church affairs today and
those that confronted Nehemiah at
that time. One of the chief reasons
why One-haIf the churches are empty,
or nearly So all over this great coun-
try Of ours is due to the fOOl-hearted
optimism of the average church mem
ber-that dOn't-care spirit. All his IL
Illustrations were drawn from the many
experiences in Mr. Rayburn's revival
campaigns. They were told in a hum
Orous, but telling, way. Nehemiah was
deeply concerned when he heard that
the walls of his beloved Jerusalem
were broken down and it's gates de-
stroyed with fire. At this report he
sat down and Wept so much that the
king noticed his saddened condition.
''How many of YOU" asked the speak
er, "lose any tears or sleep over the
condition of BarabOO?"
With the consent Of the king, Nehe-
miah left his comfortable position and
started for the long, difficult journey
to Jerusalem, not via the luxurious
Pullman or the six-cylinder auto, but
by team over the desert to Jerusalem,
construction. He met with innumera-
BILE drawbacks internal and ex-
ternal. Each one of these was a type
encountered by the work of God to-
day.
In the first place, Judah walled that
the strength of the bearers of burdens
had decayed and that there was too
much rubbish to clear away. One of
the difficulties in any revival is the
pessimism Of some church members
who are sure that for many reasons
the meetings cannot be successful at
this time
The speaker illustrated what he
meant by giving some of his expert
ences at other places, and yet the
meetings were very successful, in spite
of these predictions. In the next Ne
hemiah notes that while the Tekoites
repaired part of the walls, their no.
bles put not necks to the work of their
Lord. Mr. Rayburn asserted that he
found t"nobles" of this sort in every
place he had visited, sometimes among
khe elders of the churcnes.
External forces were more to be
feared than internal influences. While
the workers were busy on the wall
TObiah the AmmOrite came up and re-
marked in a perfectly audible voice,
IF a fox go up he shall break down
Rheir stone wall" This is a type of
ridicule all Christian work has to
meet, but it should not be regarded
any more than it was by the workers
of Nehemiah /
The next difficulty to overcome was
SANDER. Sanballat, the Toronto, find
ing all his previous efforts of no avail
sent an open letter to Nehemiah say
ing: "It is reported that you and the
To- It, l.
ing to be then king" Nehemiahs re-
ply was merely a fiat denial: There
your wall built and that you are go
are no such things done as thou say
est, but thou feignest them out of
thine own heart" 1t is the same to-
day. Every town I get to the SANDER
er thrusts his wicked dart at me, such
as, that l am a tin-hOrn gambler, that
have been seen drunk on a city street
car in Ashland; that l demanded a
guarantee of from $4,000 to $4,000 in
every town before coming to it; that
| was a Holy Jumper in disguise; that
Prof. Wickland was kicked out of the
River Falls State normal and could not
get another job. I waste no more
time on these slanderers but to deny
them fatty, same as Nehemiah did.
Sanballat then sent and asked Nehe-
miah to come down to the plain of Ono
for a conference. Nehemiah's only
reply was: 81 am doing a great work
so that I cannot come down to you"
The devil changes his tactics to gain
his point. If SANDER and ridicule do
not work, he uses a scheme that is en-
tirely proper at the right time. For
instance, the speaker related that at
one of his meetings one night he
missed an entire congregation-no one
there but the pastor He sat there
with bowed head and said he could
not help it. He investigated and found
out that the whole congregation had
gone to some members home in the
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