Mr. Raymond said afterward
that this was the first success of the campaign.
Not willing to tire his audience, he preached a very short sermon;
but it was his manifesto, and all the better for being short. He
took his text from Nehemiah, Chapter II., verses 19 and 20--
"_But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the
Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn,
and despised us, and said: 'What is this thing that ye do? Will ye
rebel against the King?_'"
"_Then answered I them and said unto them, 'The God of Heaven, He
will prosper us; therefore, we His servants will arise and build_.'
"Fellow-parishioners," he said, "you see the state of this church.
Concerning the cause of it I require none of you to judge. I enter
no plea against any man. Another will judge, who said, '_Destroy
this temple and in three days I will rear it up_.' But He spake of
the temple of His body; which was destroyed and is raised up; and its
living and irrevocable triumph I, or some other servant of God,
will celebrate at this altar, Sunday by Sunday, that whosoever will
may see, yes, and taste it. The state of this poor shell is but a
little matter to a God whose majesty once inhabited a stable; yet the
honour of this, too, shall be restored. You wonder how, perhaps.
_It may be the Lord will work for us; for there is no restraint to
the Lord to save by many or by few_.
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