The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1886-05-14
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
A Spripg-Tide Theme - rne
Laughter of the Bible"
The Various Phases OF Cachinnatory IN
duIeence, Which are Pleasing or Dis
pleasing to the Lord According :"
the spirit Which Induces 1t.

Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage, in recent
Sunday morning sermon at the Brooklyn
Tabernacle, took for his subject "The
"Iaupbter OF the Bible" taking for his
texts ths following.
Psalms, XVI. ,
He that sttteth In the h, avens shall laugh
Psalms. 4.
DR. Talmage said:
Thirty eight times does the Billie make
reference to this confignration of the Yea
lures and quick expulsion OF the breath
which we call laughter. Sometimes 1T IS
born of the sunshine and sometimes of the
midnight. Sometimes it stirs the sympa-
thies of angels and sometimes the cachin-
nation Of devils. All healthy people laugh.
Whether it pleases the Lord or displeases
Him. that depends upon when we laugh
and at what we laugh. My theme this
morning is the laughter Of the Bible, nance
ly-Sarah's laugh, or that of skepticism;
David's laugh, or that Of spiritual exulta-
ton; the FOOLS laugh, or that Of sipA.i
merriment: Gods laugh, or that OF in
finite condemnation; Heavens laugh, or
that of eternal triumph.
Scene: An oriental tent; the occupants,
old Abraham and Sarah, perhaps wrinkled
and decrepit. Their three guests are three
angels-the Lord Almighty one of them.
In return for the hospitality shown by the
old people God promises Sarah thGt she
shall become the ancestress of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Sarah laughs in the face of
God; che does not believe it. She is
affrighted at what she has done. She de-
MES it. She SAYS: al didn't laugh"
Then God retorted with an emphasis that
silenced all disputation: "But thou didst
laugh" My friends, the laugh of skepti-
cism in all ages is only the echo of Sarah's
laughter. God says he will accomplish
thing, and men say it can not be done. A
great multitude laugh at the miracles.
They say they are contrary to the laws of
nature. What is q law of nature? 1t is
Gods way of doing a thing. Yoa ordi-
narily cross the river by the bridge.
Tomorrow you change for one day and
you 60 across Wall street ferry. You
made the rule. Have you not the right to
change it: 1 ordinarily come in at that
door (pointing to a side entrance of the
church). Suppose next Sabbath / should
come in at the other door: 1t is a habit
have. Have not right to change my
habit. A law Of nature is Gods habit
his way Of doing things. II he makes the
law has he not a right to change it at any
time he wants to change it? Alas for the
folly of those who laugh at God when he
says: 81 will do a thing" they respond
ing, "You can't do it."
God says that the Bible is true-it Is all
true. Bishop Colenso laughs, Herbert
Spencer laughs, John Stuart Mill laughs,
great German universities laugh, Harvard
laughs-softly; q great many Of the
learned institutions Of this country, with
long rows of professors seated ON the fence
between Christianity and infidelity, laugh
softly. They say: ave didn't laugh"
That was Sarah's trick. God thunders
from the heavens: "But thou didst
laugh"
The Garden Of Eden was only . fable.
There never was any ark built-it was too
small to have two Of every kind. The pill
lar of FIRE by night was only the Northern
lights. The ten plaques of Egypt only .
brilliant specimen of jugglery. The sea
parted because the wind blew vio-
lently great while from one
direction. The sun aud moon did not put
themselves out of the way for Joshua.
Jacobs ladder was only horizontal and
picturesque clouds. The destroying angel
shifting the first born in Egypt was only
cholera infantum become epidemic. The
gullet of the whale by positive measure
ment il too small to swallow q prophet. The
lame, the dumb, the blind, the halt, cured
by mere human surgery. The resurrection
of Christ's friend only beautiful tableau,
Christ and Lazarus and Mary and Martha
acting their parts well. My friends. there
10 not . doctrine or statement in Gods
Holy Word that has NOT been deridsd by
the skepticism Of the day.
Oh, what nm awful thing it is to laugh in
Gods face and hurl his revelation back at
him! After awhile the day will come
when they will say they did not laugh.
Then all the hypercriticisms, all the Carl
catures and all the learned sneers in the
quarterly reviews win be brought to judg-
ment; and amid the rocking of everything
beneath and amid the flaming of every
thing above- God will thunder: "But thou
didst laugh" think the most fascinating
laughter at Christianity l ever remember
was Theodore Parker's. He made the word
Of God seem ridiculous, and he laughed on
at our holy religion until he came to die,
and then he said: "My life has been q
failures failure domestically, I have no
children; q failure socially, for am treat
cd in the streets like pirate; = failure
professionally, because know but one min
lister who has adopted my sentimental %
For = quarter Of . century he laughed ut
Christianity, and ever since Christianity
has been laughing at him. Now, it is
mean thing to go into . mans house and
steal his goods, but, / tell you, the most
gigantic burglary ever invented is the
proposition to steal these treasures of our
holy religion. The meanest Laughter ever
uttered IL the laughter Of the skeptic.
The next laughter mentioned in the Bible
10 David's laughter, or the laughter Of
spiritual exultation:. "Then was our
mouth filed with laughter" He got very
much down sometimes, but there are other
chapters where four or Ave times he calls
upon the people to praise and exult. II
! was not . mere twitch Of the lips, II WAS q
j; demonstration that took hold Of his whole
! physical nature. "rhen was our mouth