Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-04-30
.TALMAGE's SERMON. '
snring-Tide Theme - "The
laughter of the Bible"
,.u,ou. Phases Of Cachinnatory In.
1u.,ce. which are Pleading or Dis
leasing to the Lord According to
the Spirit Which Induces 1t.

r. Dewitt Talmage, in a recent
,ov morning sermon at the Brooklyn
eurnacle. took for his subject 1.-THE
l,ahter of the Bible" taking for his
.a,ts the following:
o,sn was our mouth filled with laughter.
psalms, xxvi.2
,s that sltteth in the heav n shall laugh.
Psalms, s.
DR.. Talmage said:
thirty eight times does the Bible make
xofsrence to this confguration of the fea-
.vrs. and quick expulsion of the breath
.shich we call laughter. Sometimes it is
harm of the sunshine and sometimes of the
n,ilnicht. Sometimes it stirs the sympa-
.hias 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
lv-Sarah's laugh, or that of skepticism;
nsvid's laugh, or that of spiritual exulta-
,;on. the FOOLS laugh, or that of sinful
m%e,riment; 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
sngels-the Lord Almighty one of them.
In return for the hospitality shown by the
old people God promises Sarah that she
shall become, the ancestress of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Sarah laughs in the face of
.ho Ioao MT ho1;ov> 81 CT. =
afrighted at what she has done. She de.
MES it. She says: II didn't laugh"
Then God retorted with an emphasis that
slenced 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 a
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 a law of nature? 1t is
Gods way of doing a thing. You ordi.
nsrily cross the river by the bridge.
Tomorrow you change for one day and
you go across Wall street ferry. You
made the rule. Have you not the right to
change it? I ordinarily come in at that
door (pointing to a side entrance of the
church,. Suppose rext Sabbath I should
come in at the other door? 1t is q habit I
have. Have l not a right to change my
habit? A law Of nature is Gods habit
his way of doing things. If 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; a great many of the
learned institutions Of this country, with
long rows of professors seated on the fence
between Christianity and inidelity, laugh
softly. They say: w didn't laugh"
That was Sarah's trick. God thunders
from the heavens: "But thou did st
laugh"
The Garden of Eden was only a 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 a
brilliant specimen of jugglery. The sea
parted because the wind blew vio-
lentfy a great while from one
direction. The sun and 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
mentis too small toswallow a prophet. The
lame, the dumb, the blind, the halt, cured
by mere human surgery. The resurrection
OF Christ's friend only a beautiful tableau,
Christ and Lazarus and Mary and Martha
acting their parts we'll. My friends, there
Is not a doctrine or statement in Gods
molly Word that has not been derided by
the skepticism of the day.
Oh, what's an awful thing it is to laugh in
GODS face and hurl his revelation back at
nm: After awhile the day will come
when they will say they did not laugh.
lhen all the hyrercriticisms, all the carl
catures and oil the learned sneers in the
quarterly reviews will be brought to judg-
meht; and amid the rocking of everything
beneath and amid the flaming of every
thlng above, God will thunder: "But thou
"last laugh" l think the most fascinating
iaushter at Christianity l ever remember
was Theodore Parker's. Hemade the word
VI GOD seem ridiculous, and he laughed on
al our holy religion until he cam to die,
ana then he said: "My life has been a
ia1lufe-a failure domestica]ly, I have no
en''aren; a failure socially, for l am treat
gu IN the streets like a pirate; a failure
Occasionally because l know but one min
,sler who has adopted my sentiments"
rof a quarter Of a century he laughed at
Shfstlanity, IL ever since Christianity
n"s been laughing at him. Now, it is
mean thing to go into a mans house and
s:ea' ms goods, but, 1 tell you, the most
s'sahtlc burglary ever invented is the
opposition to steal these treasures of Dur
noly religion. The meanest laughter ever
'''ereo Is the laughter of the skeptic.
me next laughter mentioned in the Bible
% David's laughter, or the laughter Of
spiritual exultation: "Then was our
mouth hlied with laughter" He got very
nuen down sometimes, but there are other
sAapters where four or five times he calls
"pon the people to praise and exult. 1t
+" NOT a mere twitch of the lips, it was a
demonstration that took hold of his whole
nmyslcal nature. ''Then was our mouth
nieu with laughter" My friends, this