Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-08-26

10y Oeh SQUARE the poems and tarpaulin
Tue natchWays the vessel is grooming and
cFeaklng IN the grip of tornado, and
rails over into the trough of the sea and
broadside it rolls on to the beach and
keels over, leaving the crew to struggle
IN the merciless surf. Castawav! Cast
away! And so I have to tell YOU that
there are thousands of men DESTROYED
through the sudden swoop of tempta-
tlons. Some great inducement to world
Ilness or to sensuality or TO high temper
or to some form of dissipation, comes
upon them. If they had time to
examine their Bible, if thew had
time to consult with their friends,
II they had time to deliberate
they could stand if; but the temptation
came so suddenlY-an euroclydon on the
Mediterranean a whirlwind of the Car
lbbean. One awful surge of temptation
and they perish. And so we often hear
the old story: 81 hadn seen nv friend
IN a great many years. We were very
glad to meet. He said I must drink
and he took me by the arm and pressed
me along, and filed the cup until the
bubbles ran over the edge, and in an evil
moment all my good resolutions were
swept away, and, to the outraging of
God and my own soul, fell. - Or the
my family. l though that by one false
entry, by one deception, by one embez-
Element, l might spring out free
. from all my trouble; and the temptation
came upon me so fiercely I could not de-
iloerate. l did wrong, and having done
wrong once ! could not stop O, 1t is
the first step that costs; the second is
easier, and the third; and on to the last.
Once having broken loose from the
anchor, it is not so easy to tie the parted
strands. How often it is that men are
ruined for the reason that the temptation
comes from some unexpected quarter
As vessels lie in Margate. Roads, safe
from southwest winds; but the wind
changing to the northeast, they are
driven helpless and go down O that
God would have mercy upon those upon
whom there comes the sudden swOop of
temptation, lest they perish, becoming
castaways! castawayS!
FATAL CARELESSNESS.
By talking with sea captains I have
found out also that some vessels come
to this calamity through sheer reckless
ness. There are 8 200 900 men who fol-
low the sea for living. 1t is a simple
fact that the average of human life on
the sea is less than twelve years. This
comes from the fact that men by fam
iliarIty with danger sometimes become
reckless-the captain, the helmsman,
the stoker. the man on the lookout, be-
come reckless, and in nine out of ten
shipwrecks it is found out that someone
was awfully to blame. So I have to
tell you that men are morally ship
wrecked through sheer recklessness-
There are thousands who do not care
where they are in spiritual things. They
do not know which way they are
sailing, and the sea is black with pratt
cal hunks that would grapple them with
hooks OF steal and blindfold them and
make them ''walk the plank. - They
do not know what the next moment may
bring forth. Drifting IN their theology.
Drifting in their habits. Drifting IN re-
gard to- all their future. No God, no
Christ, no settled anticipatious of eternal
felicity; but all the time coming nearer
and nearer 70 dangerous coast. Some
OF them are on fire with evil habit, and
they shall burn on the sea, the charred
hulk tossed, up on the barren beach.
Many ofghefn. with great troubles, fnan-
clal tEpables, domestic troubles, social
troubles; but theya4 never pray
for& comfort. With an ag-
grayation Of sin theg spray for no
pardon. They do netsteer for the Light
ship thatdances in gfatssss at the AfURth
of heaysn s haTbor; Eectstsss% az EssFFy sare
they .rbNe cit. dEifEng fuEtsafer rom
Coos thsg edsAg ref itl47 81
fueHcess further from Happiness; and
wiIst is the worst thing about it is, they
they are taking their families along with
them, and the way one goes the proba-
bilitv is they will all 90. Yet no anxiety.
As unconscious of danger as the passen-
bo in bo-
fore the Vesta crashed into her.
Wrapped up in the business Of the store,
not remembering that soon they must
quit all their earthly possessions. Alb
sorbed in their social position, not know
ing that very soon they will have at
tended the last levee and whiri in the
last shottische. They 90 not deliber-
ately choose to be ruined; neither did the
French frigate Medusa aim for the Ar
gu Il banks, but there it went to pieces.
1 wish l could wake you up. The perils
are so augmented, you will die just as
certainly as you sit there unless you be-
stir Yourself Are you willing TO become
castaway? You throw out no oar. You
take no soundings. You watch no COM
pass. You are not calculating your bear
ings while the wind is abaft, and yOnder
is a long line of foam bounding the hori- |
ZOu, ana you Will De pusneu on toward |
1t, and thousands have persisted there,
and you are driving in the |
same direction. Ready about! |
Down helm Hard down! Man the !
life boat! Pull, my lads, pull! Gle |
that being often reproved hardeneth his |
neck, shall be suddenly destroyed and |
that without remedy. - But some of |
you are saying within yourselves: " What |
shall l do?'' Do? Do? Why, my.
brother, do what any ship does when
in trouble. Lift a distress sgnaay t4is
the sea there is q flash and a boom.Fs ~ oIsa
listen and you look. A vessel is2fs
trouble. The distress gun is soundaah r
a rocket is sent up, or blanket iss5ated.
or a bundle of rags-anything t6Rcatch |
the eye of the passing craft. So if you
want to be taken off the wreck of your
sin, you must lift distress signal. The
publican lifted the distress signal
when he cried: ''God be merciful to
me a sinneri' Peter lifted the dis
tress signal when he said: lord, save
me, I perish. - The blind man lifted |
the distress signal when he said: ''Lord,
that my eyes may be opened. - The
iojIar lifted tho 6iStrpss siUnal U hen ha