Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-10-20

cams 10 tns tnlQnlgnt mission that she
was dying in a haunt of iniquity near by
Who would go to tell her OF the Christ of
Mary Magdalen? This one refused, and
that one refused, saying: 81 dare not
go there A Chr stan woman, her
white locks typical of her purity of soul,
said. ''I will go and / will go now. -
She went and sat down by the dying girl
and told her Of the Christ who came to
seek and TO save that which was lost.
First to the forlorn one came the tears of
repentance, and then the smile as though
she had begun to hope for the pardon of
Him who came to save to the uttermost.
Then, just before she breatbed her last i,
she said TO the angel of mercy bending
over her pillow: "Would you kiss me?'
'l will, - said the Christian woman as
she put upon her cheek the last saluta-
ton before in the heavenly world, I
think, God gave her the welcoming kiss.
That was religionI
YES, THAT WAS RELIGION.
Good Samaritans along every street,
and along every road, as well as this one
on the road to Jericho.
But our procession of slghtseers is
again in line, and here we pass through
deep reviue, aud l cry to the drago-
this?" and he replied, "This is the
brook Cherith, where Elijah was fed By
the ravens. And in that answer he
overthrow my lifelong notions of the
place where Elijah was waited on by the
black servants of the sky. A brook to
me had meant slight depression of
ground, and q stream ford able, and per-
haps fifteen feet wide. But here was
ri To
scooped out with Its biggest shovel or
split with its mightiest battleax. Six
hundred feet deep is it, and the brook
Cherith is river, which when in full
force is silver wedge, splitting the
mountains into precipices. The feath-
cred descendants Of ElIjah's ravens still
wing their way across this ravine, but
ere not like the crows we supposed them
TO be. They are as large as eagles, and
one of them could carry in its beak
and clinched claw at once enough
food for half-dozen Elijahs.
No thanks to the ravens; they are car
nivorous and would rather have picked
out the eyes of Elijah, whom they found
at the mouth of his cave on the side of
Cherith, waiting for his break fast, hay-
ing drunk his morning beverage from the
rushing stream beneath than have been
his buffers and purveyors. But God
compelled them as He always has COM
PEELED and always will compel black and
cruel and overshadowing provldences to
curry help to His children If they on y
have faith enough to catch the blessing
as it drops from the seeming adversely;
the greatest blessing always coming not
with white wings but black wings.
BLACK WINGS OF CONVICTION
bringing pardon to the sinner. Black
wings Of crucitixion over Calvary, bring
ing redemption, for the world. Black
wings of American revolution, bringing
free institutions to q continent. Black
wings Of American civil war, bringing
unitcaton and solidarity to the repuh-
lie. Black wings of the judgment day,
bringing resurrection to an entombed
human race. And in the last day, when
all your life and mine will be summed
up, we will find that the greatest bless
ings we ever received came on the wings
OF the black ravens of disaster. Bless
God for trouble! Bless God for sicknessl
Bless God for persecution Bless God
for poverty! You never heard of any
man or woman of great use to the world
who had not had lots of trouble.
The diamond must be cut.
The wheat must be threshed.
The black ravens must fly. Who
are these nearest the thronel "These
are they who come out of great tribula-
ton and had their robes washed and
made white in blood Of the Lamb"
But look! Look what at 4 O'Clock in
the afternoon bursts upon our vision-the
plain of Jericho and the valley of Jordan
and the Dead sea. We have come to q
place where the horses not so much walk
Is slide upon their launches, and we all
iismount, for the steep descent is simply
terrific, though princess Of Wallachia,
who fell here and was dangerously in
ured. after recovery, spent large
amount of money in trying to make the |
'oad passable. Down and down! till we |
Jaw the white tents pitched for US by our |
nuleteers amid the ruins of ancient |
Jericho, which fell at the sound of poor |
music played on ''ram's horn," that |
ancient instrument which, taken from |
he head of the leader of the flock of |
heep, is perforated and prepared to be |
fingered by the musical performer, aud |
blown upon when pressed to the lips. As |
n another sermon have fully described |
hat scene, will only say that every day
or seven days the ministers Of religion
vent round the city of Jericho blowing
Ipon those rams horns, and on the
eventh day without the roll of war
hariot or the stroke of cutapult OF the
wing of a ballista, crash! crashl crash!
7ent the walls of that
MAGNIFICENT CAPITAL.
On the evening OF December the 9Th,
re walked amid the brick and mortar Of
hat shattered city, and l said to myself:
Ill this done by poor music blest of God,
or it was not harp or flute, or a
tapping cymbal, or an organ played, at
be sound of which the city surrendered
D destruction. but rude instrum emit
laking rude music blest OF God, to the
emolition of that wicked place which
ad for centuries dehed the Almighty.
nd said If all this was by the blessing of
cd on poor music, what mightier things
ould be done by the blessing of God on
God music, skillful music, Gospel mu-
70. II all the good that has already been
one by music were subtracted from the
orld, / believe three fourths of its re-
gion would be gone. The lullabys of
iothers which keep sounding on, though
be lips that sang them forty years ago
ecame ashes, the old hymns in log
abin churches and country meeting
ouses, and psalms in Rouse 3 version in
cotch kinks, the anthem in English