Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-02-04

nalf nOur OF my leXL is maze immortal
/ The only part of eternity that was ever
measured by earthly tinepiece was meas
ured by the minute hand of my text. Oh,
the half-hoursl They decide everything.
] am not asking what you viii do with the
years or months or days of your life, but
what of the half-hours Tell me the his
tory of your half-hours, and will tell you
the story Of your whole life on earth and
the story Of your whole life in eternity.
The right or wrong things you can think IN
thirty minutes, the right or wrong things
you can say in thirty minutes, the
right or wrong things you can do
in thirty minutes are glorious or bale
fui, inspiring or desperate. Look out for
the fragments OF time. They are
between shoeing horses that made Eiihu
Burritt the learned blacksmith, the half
hours between professional calls as ply
stefan that made Abercrom ole the Christian
philosopher, the half-hours between his
duties as a school-master that made Salmon
p. Chase chief justice, the half-hours be-
tween shoe lasts that made Henry Wilson
vice president OF the United States, the
half-hours between canal boats that made
James A. Garfield president. The half
hour a day for good books or bad books;
the half-hour day for prayer or
Incidence; the haIf-hour day FOR helping
others or blasting others; the half-hour be-
fore you go to business and the half-hour
after your return from business; that
makes the differences between the scholar
and the ignoramus, between the Christian
and the infdel, between the saint and the
demon, between triumph and catastrophe,
between heaven and he'll. The most ire
mendous things of your life and mine were
certain half-ho6rs. The half-hour when in
the parsonage of country minister re-
solved to become Christian then and there
the halT-h01If xvhp1 decided IN hapaTne
a preacher of the Gospel; the half-hour
when first realized that my son was dead;
the balf-hour when | stood on the top OF my
house in Oxford street and saw our church
burn; the half-hour in which entered Je-
rusalem; the half-hour in which 1 assembled
Mount Calvary; the half-hour in which l
stood on Mars Hill; the half-hour in which
the dedicatory prayer of this temple was
made and about ten or fifteen other half
hours are the chief times of my life.
You may forget the name of the exact
years or most Of the important events of
your existence, but those half hours, like
the half hour of my text, will be immortal
I do not query what you will do with the
Twentieth century; / do not query what
you will do with 1892, but what you will do
with the next half hourR Upon that hinges
your destiny. And during that some of you
will receive the Gospel and make complete
surrender, and during that others of you will
make final and fatal rejection of the full and
free and urgent and impassioned offer of life
eternal. Oh, that the next half hour might
be the most glorious thirty minutes of your
earthly existence. Far back in history a
great geographer stood with sailor, look
ing at globe that represented our planet, 4
and he pointed to place on the globe where
he thought there was an undiscovered con-
tinent. The undiscovered continent was
America The geograpner who pointed
vrb he fhO1iubf wa
was Martin Behaim, and the sailor to whom
he showed it was Columbus. This last was
not satisfied until he had picked that gem
out of the sea and set IL in the crown of thesi
worlds geography. oh, We, who have beens
sailing up and down the rough seas of sor-
row and sin, let me point out to you an
other continent, yea, another world, that
you may yourselves find a rapturous world,
and that is the world q half hour of which
we now study. Oh, set sail for it! Here is
the ship and here are the compasses.
In other words, make this half hour, be-
ginning at twenty minutes of twelve by my
watch, the grandest half hour of your life
and become q Christian. Pray for re-
generated spirit. Louis XVI, while walk
ing in the garden at Versailles, met Man
sard. the great architect, and the architect
took off his hat before the king. ''Put on
your hat" said the king, "for the evening
is damp and cold" And Mansard, the
architect, the rest of the evening kept on
his hat The dukes and marquiSes stand
ing with bare heads before the king ex-
pressed their surprise at Mansard, but the
king said: 81 can make duke or a mar
quis, but God only can make a Mansard."
And l say to you, my hearers, God only by
his corvicting and converting grace can
make Christian, but he is ready this half
hour to accomplish it.
Again my text suggests way of study
ing heaven so that we can better under
stand it. The word eternity" that we
handle so much is an unreasonable word.
Knowing that we could rot understand that
word the Bible uses it only once. We say,
For ever and everp' But how long is
"For ever and everl" I am glad that my
text puts under our eye heSven for thirty
minutes. AS when you would see great
picture you put sheet of paper into scroll
and look through it or Join your forefinger
to your thumb and look through the circle
between and the picture becomes more
intense, so this masterpiece of heaven by
st. John IS more impressive when we take |
only thirty minutes of it at one time. Now,
we have something that we can come
nearer to grssping, and it is quiet heaven.
When we discourse about the multitudes
of heaven, it must be almost a nervous
shock to those who have all their lives been
crowded by many people, and who want a |
quiet heaven. For the last thirtv-five |
years L nave Deen mucH OF Inc time IN |
crowds and under public scrutiny and amid |
excitements, and 1 have sometimes thought |
for few weeks after L reach heaven 1 |
would like to go down in some quiet part of |
the realm, with few friends, and for |
little while try comparative solitude. Then, |
there are those whose hearing is so delicate |
that they get no satisfaction when you de- |
scribe the crash of the eternal orchestra, |
and they feel like saying, as good woman |
in Hudson, \. Y, said, after hearing me |
speak of the mighty chorus of heaven: |
THAT must be a great heaven, but what |
will become of my poor head2" Yes, this /
Of my text Is a still experience. |
''There was silence in heaven for half an |
hour" You will find the inhabitants all at |
home. a
Enter the kings palace and take only
glimpse, for we have only thirty minutes
for all heaven. is that Jesus ~ Yes. -
Just under the hair along his forehead is
the mark of wound made by bunch of
twisted brambles, and his foot on the
throne has on the round of his instep an
other mark of wound made by spike,
and a scar on the palm of the right hand,
and a scar on the palm of the left hand.
But, what countenance! What smilel
What a grandeur! What lovelinessl
What an Overwhelming look of kindness
and grace! Why, He looks as if he had re-
1eemed world But core on, for our
time is short. Do you see that row of pal
aces That is the apostolic row. Do you
see that long reach Of architectural glories?
nense structure That is the biggest
house in heaven; that is ''the house of
many mansions"
Do Won see that vraII7 Shade V,o,,r avas