Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1861-08-21
SERMON.

| FRIENDS AND DhEihhhN
have met this morning upon an oc
casion OF no ordinary interest. A
dark cloud Of war lowers over oul
heads. The shrill clarion Of the
martial trump is heard within oul
borders. The presence Of a proud,
insulting foe is announced by the
roar OF cannon; and tortresses erect
ee for our protection against foreign
invaders, are even now occupied by
thousands Of de. .dly enemies, and
that from our own land, thirsting
for our blood. This we regard us a
calamity of fearful magnitude, call
ing upon us for tho'ttulness, humil-
ity aml prayer. A feeling Of this
sort has gone abroad in the commu-
n,ty, ana the great and good Presi-
dent OF our young Republic, has
thought proper to nix upon this day
as IL proper time to humble ourselves
as a peop e, before Almighty God,
to onitss our sins, and beg Of Him
t. vt The impeding storm In
Pursuance then, oi' the object before
Us, | beg leave to invite your atten-
ton to that portion Of Divine Truth
found IN the book Of Re' 'o''ltio'',
18th chapter and 9th verse;
land heard as it we c, the voice of
gre multitude and rs The voice of many
wa Q s, and ns he voice OF mighty tlinn-
der.nls say ng: Alleluiah for the Lord
I'd Dmnip"'cni n1ghcth.
We worship sovereign God. A
great and glorious Being, who has
H way in the armies Of the skies,
and rules perfi city uncontrolled
amongst the muititudes of earth
THERE'S none that can stay His hand
or say to Him, what doest thou p
Among all the schemes of His vast
AMI iscomprel sible administra-
on, there is none. with respect to
which, He designs to counsel with
his creatures; no, not even to an
Angel, does He "give an account of
His matters"
The sovereignty of God is exhib-
tied in His works of Creation, Prov
idence and Grace. He wills that
world shall exist, and forthwith it
springs into being "Hespeaks. and
it is done: He commands and it
stands fast" By the Omnipotence
of His voice, yon blazing sun, flood
ing hill and dale in the splendor of
his beams, took his position in tho
midst of the heavens. By an exer-
ton Of his power, all the planets
composing our system. sorang into
being, and commenced their flight
around our common centre. Other
suns and other systems, no doubt,
are to be traced to the same great
origin.
Now, however vast. however Won
derful may be the field of creation
however numerous and great the
objects four d thereon-however well
Fl ted to strike the Imagination and
hea IS Of beholdei s-of one thing,
rational beings may rest well assur-
ed, the Providence of God is over all
His works,-presel wing them in ex-
istence, ,-and directing their move
ments in such way as to promote
His glory.
Confining our view for the present
to the world we inhabit, the sover
eighty of Divi Providence is ap-
parent in all that appertains unto it.
A late learned historian has said,
with great propriety, that the hand
o GOD is in history" This witness
rs true. Unroil i, y IL please the
long record from t day Of creation
down to the present; digest to the
fullest possible extent its wonderful
contents; follow out that grand Sc
ries of events presented to your
view look at their antecedents, con-
comitants and consequents; and
then divest yourselves, if you can,
without violence to the dictates of
sober reason, of the conviction that
an unseen hand has been in them all.
IL is the pi e e'ogative ofthe Infin-
:te Jehovlh to put down one and e.
evate another. If we consult an
cient history-if we turn over the
leaves of ''finished time"-we shall
be impressed with the fact, that
kingdom after kingdom has made
its appearance upon the stage of the
world, has fulfilled its mission, and
gone down to rise no more. Others
have been founded upon its ruins:
Dynasty has succeeded Dynasty
Empire has followed empire, and
though some of them have come
forth with all the celerity and splen-
dor Of the comet in its fight, they