The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-05-05

service where am going to-night?" and, raj
living all his energies, and his face shining
like heaven. he said: "Tell them to be Of
good cheer" "Oh.n says some one, II have
so many troubles, and 80 many sicknesses.
and 50 ras many that deerDe wan ana
worse than Paul had it. Driven out perse-
cuted. tried, spit upon, slain. Yet, hear him
say: 'sSorrowful yet rejoicing. poor yet max
ing many rich having nothing yet possessing
all things" Why, sometimes, my friends,
there is more religion in a laugh than in a
groan Anybody can groan, but to laugh in
the midst of trial and persecution and suffer-
ing, it takes David, a Daniel, Paul, a
mo lern heroine to do that
The next laugh of the Bible that shall
mention is the fools laugh, or the expression
of sinful merriment Solomon was very
quick at simle and when he makes COM
parison everybody catches it right away.
Solomon, what is a fools laugh like? He an
swers: 'sThe cracking of thorns under
pot" The kettle is swung, a bunch Of
brambles is put under it, torch is applied,
there is a great blaze and big noise
ment, and it is darker than it was before. A
fools laughter. The most miserable thing on
earth is bad mans fun. Ten men in bar
room and an impure joke starts at one end Of
the barroom. and crackle. crackle, crackle it
goes all around. In 500 such outlaws not one
element of happiness. They all feel bemeaned,
for they have wives, mothers, daughters at
home. have not any faith in either mans
Christian ;:: cha character ;+,o or .o,,s common on
laughs at an impure joke. Men
sation. If you love to tell or love to hear
impure jokes it is because YOU are depraved.
Yet there are men who call themselves gen.
tlemen who indulge in impure conversation,
and laugh at impure jokes; and have been
told that in womanlv circles there are
those who call themselves la1ies, yet who
tell impure stories, or laugh at them
when they are told. They are
half harlots, incipient Magdalens-
under powerful temptation they would
become waits of the street. Beware
of man or womr who tells or laughs at an
impure joke. 1t is the fools laughter, ''the
cracking Of thorns under pot" So also all
merriment that is made at the frailties, at
the misfortunes, of others. The caricature of
a lame foot, or curved spine, or blind eye
or a deaf ear. God will write it
out in Judgment either to you or
your chill lren. Twenty years ago
saw man very skillfully mimic his neigh
boris lame foot. He did it with wonderful
ohl1is 4NOo 1cuS oSO, VI; oull VI uI1oU ohAll
mimic hal his leg amputate for the veryin-
trinity that the father had caricatured in the
neighbor years ago. do not say it was
judgment Of God. You can say what you
please. But say beware, look out how you
caricature the infi1mities of Others It is the
fools laughter. So is also all the emerriment that
is aroused from dissipation. that starts from
the drinking restaurant or from the wine cup
of the social circle, the simpering and the sat-
urnine gibberish, the laughter at nothing
which you sometimes hear after the wine has
taken its effect in the social circle or in the
club room. 1t is all the laughter of the fool.
When was lad a book was published
called ''Dow Junior's Sermons. Ithad large
circulation; it made everybody laugh: it was
considered very witty and funny thing.
had copy presented to ME in my childhood.
read it, The whole book was a caricature
of the church, of the ministry, Of
the Bible AMI of the Day of Judgment Oh, how
the world laughed at it. The commentary of
book not long ago died in poverty, shame,
debauch. Kicked out Of decent society and
under the curse of Almighty God.
l charge on the young people Of this
congregation, in the presence Of Almighty
God, have nothing to do with these styles Of
mirth that have been speaking of. 1t de-
spoils the character If your lips are not
pure it is because your heart is rotten.
The next laughter of the Bible that speak
says: He that stteth in the heavens shall
laugh" Itsays in another place: 'The Lord
shall laugh" In another place it says: Il
will laugh at your calamity" With that
demonstration God meets greatsins and wick
edness Here is a man building up his vii
lainies. 1t seems as if he has beaten
the Lord because of his successful schemes.
| can show you men in Brooklyn and New
York now who are going right
to be successful But wait. After awhile
the pin will get out of the machinery Of
wickednesss or the fatal secret will be told
and everything will go into demolition. The
crash of the ruin will be the reverbera-
tion of the wra:h of Gods indi 5nation Wall
street is great place for good men and for
bad men. There are no better men in the
world than you will find in Wall street and
no worse men. A fraudulent man of
that street says: 81 mean to get million a
dollars and don't care how l get them"
Reckless of all the laws of honesty, he goes
ahead and he gets his 100000. He goes on
and he gets his S2OO, 900. He gees on until hs
gets his S5OO, 900. Now" he says, II have
but one more stroke to make and then I'll
have my million" He gathers together all his
resources. He risks everything on one grand
throw. He loses. He fails. He has not act
ually enough money of his own to pay his car
fare home. What is the matter? You say,
great stir in Erie railway stocks, "or, ''great
stir in Western Union," or, "great stir in
Illinois Central" )" or you charge it to this
speculator or that speculator. They all
guess and they guess wrong. I will tell
you what was the matter. He that
sitteth in the Heavens laughed. A man
in New York, years ago, resolved to be the
wealthiest man in the city. He left his hon
est work as a chairnaker, went into politics,
got elected to the city councils and in ten
years stole from the city government Sl5,-
of New York in the grip of his right hand.
After while suspicion was aroused. The
Grand Jury brought in an indictment.
The whole land stood aghast: That
man who expected to put half of New York
in his vest pocket gees to Ludlow Street Jail,
goes to Blackwells Island, escaping prison
crosses the ocean, is rearrested, comes back,
is reimprisoned and dies there. Why? He
that sitteth in the heavens laughed. Rome
was great empire. She had Horace and
Virgil among her poets; she had Augustus and
Con stantine among her emperors. But why
the defaced Pantheon! why the broken walls
Of the Coliseums why the forum turned into
cattle market! Why the architectural skele-
tons Of her acqueducts? What is that thun-
der? You say it is the battering rams coming
against her walls. No. What is hatquiveringl
You say it is the tramp of hostile legions,
No. The quivering and the roaring are
the outburst of the unimpotent laughter of a
of defied and insulted Heaven. Rome defed
God and He laughed her down; Thebes defied
God and He laughed her down; Babylon de-
fed God end He laughed her down. Oh,
there is great difference between
Gods smile and Gods laugh The smile, it
is eternal beatitude, it is the bells of heaven
striking a wedding peal The smile of God,
it is the 18th of May, the apple orchards in
full bloom. God smiled when David sang.