Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-12-31

my family with me. am going TO take
all my church with me. am going TO
take all my friends and neighbors with
me. have so much faith in manager
and cross feel sure of it l am going
to coax you in. ! am going to push you
in.
BY HOLY STRATAGEM
l am going to surprise you in. Yea =,
with all the concentrated energy of my
nature-physical, mental, spiritual and
immortal am going to compel you to
90 in. l like you so well want to spend
eternity with you! -.
Some of your children have already
gone. Some time ago l buried one of
them, and though people passing along
the street and seeing white Grape on the
door bell may have said: cit is only a
child, - yet when the broken-hearted
father came to solicit my service he said:
''Come around and comfort us, for
though she was only fifteen months old
we loved her so much. - All! 1t does
not take long for child to get its arms
around the parent whole nature.
What Christmas morning it will make
when those with whom you used to keep
the holidays are all around you in heavenl
DIV Olt SOuuS again
and mother who had so many aches and
pains and decrepitudes well again, and
all your brothers and sisters and the little
ones. How glad they will be to see you! !
They have been waiting. The last time
they saw your face ii was covered with
tears and distress, and pallid from long
watching, and one of them | can imagine
to-day, with one hand holding fast the
shiniDU and the other hand
out toward you, saying: 4,
''steer this way, father, steer straight for me;
Here safe in heaven am waiting for thee
OH those Bethlehem angels when they
went back after the concert that night
over the hills, forgot to shut the door.
All the secret is out. No more use of
trying to hide from us the glorieS to come.
1t is too late to shut the gate. Il is
blocked wide open with hosannas march
ing this way, and hallelujahs marching
that way.
What almost humans me is the thought
that il is provided for such sinners as you
and have been. If it had been provided
only for those who had always thought
right, and spoken right and acted right,
YOU and | would have had no interest III
it, had no share in it, you and [ would
have stuck to the raft mld-Ocean, and let
the ship sail by, carrying perfect passen
gers from perfect life on earth to per-
feet life in heaven.
Oh, have heard the commander of
that ship is the same great and glorious
and sympathetic One who hushed the
tempest around the boat on Galilee, and
| have heard that all the passengers on
the ship are sinners saved by grace. And
so we hail the ship, and it bears down
this way, and we come by the side of it
and ask the captain two questions:
''Who art Thou? and whence?' and He
says: 81 am Captain of Salvation, and
[ am from the manger. Oh, bright
Christmas morning of my soul s delight.
Chime all the bells. Wreathe all the
garlands. Rouse all the anthems. Shake
hands in all the congratulations.
Merry Christmas! Merry with TIE
thought of sins forgiven, merry with the
idea of sorrows comforted, merry with
the raptures to come. Oh! lift that
Christ from the manger and lay Him
down in all our hearts. We may not
bring to Him as costly present as the
magi brought, but we bring to His feet
and to the manager to-day the frank in
cense of our joy, the pearls of our tears,
the skiss of our love, the prOstration of
our worship.
Down at His feet all churches, all ages,
all earth, all heaven. Down at His feet
the four and twenty elders on their faces.
Down the "great multitude that no man
can number. - Down Michael, the arch
eangell Down all worlds at His9eet and
aRorship. ''Glory to God in tArshighest,
tdg oqearth peace, good wiII$8 menl"
~.
.sssmoke Seal of Neesi Shna" Plgg