, 1886-04-25

mentz" For a quarter OF n century Ire
laughed at Christianity, and ever since
Christianity has been laughing at him. Now,
it is a mean thing to go into a mans hou'e
and steal his goods; but | tell you the most
gigantic huiylnry ever invented Is the prop
osition to steal these treasures Of our holy re-
ligion. The meanest laughter ever uttered
Is the laughter Of the skeptIc.
The next laughter mentioned In the Bible
IL David's laughter, or the laughter OF spirit
ual civilizations: "Than was our mouth filled
with laughter" He got very much down
sometimes, but there are other chapters
where, for four or five times, he calls upon
the people to praise and exult IL was not a
mere twitch Of the lips, 1t was n demonstra-
ton that took hold Of his whole physical
nature. ''Tben was our mouth filed with
laughter My friends, this world will never
DO converted to God until Christians cry less
and laugh and sing more The horrors
Rre n poor bait. II people are TO be per-
suaded TO adopt our holy religion, IL will be
because they have made up their minds It Is
n happy religion They don't like a morbid
Christianity know there arr morbid
people who enjoy a funeral They come
early to see the friends take leave OF the
CORPSE, and they steal a ride to the cemetery;
but all healthy people enjoys wedding better
than they do a burial. Now, you make the
religion Of Christ sepulchral and hearse-like.
and you make 1t repulsive.
Isay plant the rose of Sharon along the
church walks, and columbine to Chamber
over the church wall; and have a smile on
the lip and have the mouth filed with holy
laughter. There is no man in the world ex-
cept the Christian that-has a right to feel an
untrammeled glee. He is promised every
thing /, 10 be for the best here, and he Is on
the way to a delight which will take all the
r,rnroaat,na xltl, ,.1,n bran,haa .xI Ill a..
orchestras, harped and cymbaled and trum-
peted, TO express. 20" you say, II have
so much troublei' Have you more trouble
than Paul a What does he sayi ''Sor-
rowful, yet always rejoicing. Poor, yet
making many rich. Having nothing, yet
possessing all things.H The merriest laugh /
think | ever heard has been in the sick room
OF Gods dear children. When Theodosius
was put upon the rack he suffered very great
torture at the first. Somebody asked him
how he endured all that pain on the rack
He replied; when I was first put upon the
rack I suffered a great deal; but very soon n
young man In white stood by my side and
with a soft and comfortable handkerchief
he wiped the sweat from my brow and my
pains were relieved; Il was a punish
ment for mo to get from the rack, be-
cause when the pain was all gone the angel
was gone" Oh, rejoice evermorei You
know how 1t is in the army-an army in en-
campment- II to-day news comes that oa
side has had u defeat, II demoralizes all the
host But II the news comes Of victory to-
day and victory tomorrow, the whole army
Is impassioned for the contest Now, In the
kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ report
fewer defeats; tell us the victories-victory
over sin and death and he'll. Rojoice ever
more, and again, | say. rejoice. l believe
there Is more religion In a laugh than In a
gfoaiL Anybody can groan, but to laugh In
the midst of Punishment and persecution and
indescribable trial, that requires a David, a
Daniel, "a Paul, a modern heroine.
The next laughter mentioned in the Bible
that | shall speak OF, is the fools laughter or
the expression OF sinful merriment Solomon
was very quick Mt simile; when no makes a
comparison we all catch It. What is the
laughter OF a fool lfkei He says: at Is the
csackling OF thorns under a pot The kettle
Is swung, a bunch Of brambles is put under
1t, and the torch ! is applied to 1t, and there IS
a great noise and a big blaze and sputter and
n quick extinguishment; then IL is darker
than it was before, Fools laughter. The
most miserable thing on earth Is a
bad mans fun. There they are-ten men
in a barroom; they have at nome
wives. mothers, daughters. The impure
Jest starts at one corner OF the bar
fOpul hnl tIhchltt tIhCkit, CTackltt II goes
all around In five hundred such outlaws
there is not one item OF happiness They all
feel bemeaned II they have any conscience
left. Have nothing to do with mon or women
who tell immoral stories | have no conf
dence either in their Christian character or
their morality.
So all merriment that springs out Of the
defects Of others-caricature of a lame foot
or a curved spine or a blind eye or a deaf
ear-will be met with the judgments OF God
either upon you or your children Twenty
years ago. in this city. | knew a man who
was particularly skilful In initiating
the lamencss Of a neighbor. Not long ago
"a son Of the skillful mimic had his
log nmputated for the very defect which his
father had mimicked years before. l do not
say II was a Judgment OF God; I leave you to
make your own Inference SO all merriment
born OF dissipation, that which starts at the
counters OF the drinking restaurant, or from
the wine glnss in the home circle, the maud
lin Simper, the meaningless joke, the satur-
nalian gibberish, the paroxysm Of mirth
about nothing, that you sometimes see in
the IA shionable club room or in the exquisite
parlor at i2 O'Clock at night, are the crack
ling Of thorns under a pot Such laughter
and such SIN end in death. When / was
a lad a book came out entitled Don Jour's
Patent Sermons II made a great stir, a
very wide laugh all over the country, that
book did. II was a caricature OF the Chris
tian ministry and Of the word Of God and OF
the day OF Judgment Oh, we had IA great
laugh The commentary on the whole thing
is that not long ago the author OF that book
died in poverty, shame, ~dehauchery, kicked
out OF society and cursed Of almighty God.
The laughter OF such men Is the echo OF their
own damnation-
The next laughter that | shall mention as
being in the Bible Is the laugh OF Gods con-
dcmnationi ''He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh Again, This Lord viii laugh
at him. Again, II win laugh at his
calamity" With such demonstration win
God greet every kind OF great sin and wick
edness- But men build up v~illainies higher
and higher. Good men almost pity God be
cause He is 30 schemed against by men. Sud.
denly a pin drops out OF ths machinery OF
wickedness. or a secret Is revealed, and the
foundation begins 10 rock. and finally the
whole thing Is I'd demolished. What y the mat
teri | will tell you what the matter is. The
crash OF ruin is only the reverbcration Of
Gods laughter.
On Wall street there are a great many
good men and a great many fraudulent men
A fraudulent man there says; IL mean TO
have my million He goes to work reck-
less OF honesty and he gets his first 800
0O0 He gets after awhile his $500, COO. After
awhile be gets his 10000 NOW he says,
II have only one more move to make and
| shall have my million He gathers
up all his resources; he makes
that one last grand move, he
fails and loses all and he has rot enough
money left to pay the cost OF the SIR to his
home. People cannot understand this spas
modlc revulsion- Some said II was a sudden
turn IN Erie railway stock or In Westefn Union