Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-02-11


cept that you stayed away so long" My
nearer, forgiveness mas been ready for you
good while. With more than mothers
tenderness God will take you back They
are waiting for you up in the palace. Neb-
uchadnezZar was the son of Nabopolassar
who ruled before him, and you are the child
of Kingi
The next thought that presses into my
mind from the contemplation OF this incl
dent IS that conviction IS not conversion.
Who is this monarch that makes the boast
about Babyion2 The very man who, under
the revelation of dreams that Daniel made
from heaven, deeply humbled himself,
while he confessed that God is a God of
Gods and a Lord of Lords, yet, behold that
that humbling and arousing which he be-
fore felt did not result in a radical change
There is no mistake more frequent than of
supposing conviction q synonym for con-
version. Conviction is merely a sight of
sin; conversion is a view of pardon. Con-
viction is merely alarm; conversion is con-
fdence. Conviction is dissatisfaction with
depravity; conversion is turning away
from it. Conviction is a sword wound;
conversion is the healing. Conviction is
the fever of thirst; conversion is the slalz-
ing of that thirst Conviction is the pain
conversion is the medicine that cures it.
Thousands have experienced the former
and never experienced the latter.
There are multitudes who think that as
soon as q man is serious he is fit for profess
sion of religion. What if man should
only think seriously of being q merchant;
would that make him merchant What if
q man should only think seriously OF being
d lawyer; would that make him LAWYER?
What if man should only think seriously
of being a Christian; would that make him
q Christian? Felix was convicted but not
converted The iailer was convicted before
he got out of bed, out not converted until at
the advice of Paul he believed in Christ.
Are you convicted but not converted2 1 tell
you what you make me think Of kYou have
made up your mind for proper considera-
ton to deed away a properly. You have
drawn the deed. The seal is affixed oppo-
site where you are to write your name.
The commissioner of deeds is present to
witness. You have your pen in hand
There is ink in the pen There is only one
thing for you to do, and that is TO sign
your name. Suppose you stop now With
out signing your name, what does it all
amount to! Nothing. So you have re-
solved TO give yourself up to COD. You
propose to sign off to him your body, your
mind, your soul
You have all things necessary for the
transfer The angels of God are here to
witness the eternal transfer Why do you
not now with your viii complete the work?
Halt where you are, and all goes for moth
ing. Sign your name to this spiritual
transfer. Professor Arago, the mathema-
tician, got wofully discouraged in his work
and was about to give up, when he saw
some words on the paper which had been
used to stiffen the cover of his book, and
the words being indistinct he dampened
the cover until he could take it OF and saw
the words plainly and he found they were
words of advice given by D'Alembert to a
student, and the words were, go on, sir;
go on" oh We who are convicted $50 onr'
You must take one more step, or all the
steps you have taken Will amount to moth
ing. Go on
Learn also from my subject that pride is
the precursor of overthrow. Pride is a
commander well plumed and caparisoned,
but it leads forth dark and frowning host.
pride goeth before destruction, and
naughty spirit before fall" The arrows
from the Almighty's culver are apt to strike
man when on the wing. Goliath shakes
his great spear in defiance, but the smooth
stones from the brook make him stagger
and fall like an OK under a butchers blud-
geon. He who is down cannot fall. Vessels
scudding under bare poles do not feel the
force Of the storm. What are those three
sleds that have just gone into the yard OF q
miserable hotel in Warsaw, Poland, on the
cold night Of December the 10th, 1872?
Who are they, who from these sleds have
and the servant is trying to build
Napoleon, with six attendants, on retreat
from Moscow. The fire amid the green
wood has gone out and the emperor is
walking the floor TO keep from freezing.
Then bounding into his sled, the Their
mometer twenty-siX degrees below zero, he
disappears in the darkness. He who
little before had an army under his com
mand, together with troops offered by other
nations, in all 1,1S1,C coo men, now retreatinS
through that December night with three
sleds, and those of his army not dead under
the snow, reduced for food TO a handful of
seasoned with gunpowder for
lack of salt, and a mouthful of horseAesh. |
From what q height to what depth |
NebuchadneZzar in the palace, Nebuchad- |
nezzar forSaken in the fields.
Again learn from the misfortune Of the |
king Of Babylon what terrible thing is the |
loss of reason. There is no calamity that |
can possibly befan US in this world so great |
rs the arrangement of intellect-to have the |
body of man and yet to fall even below |
Inc instinct of brute. IN this world of sad |
sights, the saddest is the idiots stare. In |
his world of awful sounds, the most awful |
IS themaniaC's laugh. a vessel on the rocks, |
when hundreds 90 down never to rise, and |
other hundreds drag their mangled and |
bodies up the wintry beach. is |
nothing compared TO the laundering of intel /
ects full Of vast hopes and attachments and /
hose who were epileptic, falling into the |
ire, or maniacs cutting themselves among
.he tOmbS. We are accustomed to be more
yrateful for physical health than for the
proper working of our mind.
We sre apt to take it for granted that the
Intellect which has served US so well will
always be faithful. We forget that an en-
yine with such tremendous power, when
he wheels have such vastness OF circle and |
,uch swiftness of motion and the least I'M
,ediment might put it out of gear, could
Dnly be kept in proper balance by a Divine |
his train of immortal faculties How
TRANCE it is that our memory, on whose
shoulders all the successes and misfortunes
md occurrences of a lifetime are placed.
hoUld not oftener break down, and that
he scales of judgment, which have been
Weighing SO much and so long, should not
ose their adjustment, and that fancy,
which holds 4 dangerous wand, should not
ometimes maliciously wave it, bringing
nto the heart forebo6ings and hallucina-
ions the most appalling.
Is it not strange that the expectations of
his intellect should not be dashed to pieces
N its disappointmentsl Though so deli
ately attuned, this instrument of untold
plays on, though fear shocks il,
nd veXationS rack 1t, and sorrow and Joy
nd loss and gain in quick succession beat
ut of it their dirge, or draw from it their
nthem. At morning and at night, when in
our prayer you rehearse the objects of
our thanksgiving, next TO your salvation
Y Jesus Christ, praise the Lord for the |
OF your reason.
How many fine intellectS are being de- |