Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-05-07
TALMAGE's SERMON.
snr,pe-Tido Theme - 1.-THE
p laughter Of the Bible"
x,,r,ou. Phases Of Cachinratory In.
u.,ce. which are Pleading OF Dis
,1.s.ins to the Lord According t.
the Spirit Which Induces 1t.

r. Dewitt Talmage, in a recent
cn,d.v morning sermon at the Brooklyn
o,ahe,nacle, took for his subject 1.-THE
nT aurhter of the Bible, i" taking for his
toxts the following:
,,en was our mouth filled with laughter.
Psalms, XVII
He that sltteth in the heav shall laugh.
Psalms T.
DR.. Talmage said:
thirty eight times does the Bible make
reference to this ~configuration of the fea-
t,res and quick expulsion of the breath
which we call laughter. Sometimes it is
horn of the sunshine and sometimes of the
midnight. Sometimes it stirs the sympa-
tbies of angels and sometimes the cachin-
nation of devils. All healthy people laugh.
whether it pleases the Lord or d%ispleases
Him, that depends upon when we laugh
and at what we laugh. My theme this
morning is the laughter of the Bible, name
ly-Sarah's laugh, or that OF skepticism;
David's laugh, or that of spiritual exulta-
ton; the FOOLS laugh, or that of sinful
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 ona 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
God; she does not believe it. She is
-n;,btoA az xvho 4 oho hoo Io~a GI,o IL
MES it. She says: ~ didn't laugh"
Then God retorted with an emphasis that
silenced all d%isputation: 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-
narily 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? l ordinarily come in at that
door (rointing to a side entrance of the
church,. Suppose next Sabbath l should
COME Ill NJ lIo OUAoI uOOls IL Is u udDlU 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 a 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 infdelity, laugh
softly. They say: "We 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. Thu ten plaques of Egypt only a
brilliant specimen of jugglery. The sea
parted because the wind blew vio-
i'huy SiSdL "ul1o " OIlo
direction. The sun and moon did not put
themselves cut 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
outlet of the whale by positive measure
mentistoo small to swallow 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 well. My friends, there
is not a doctrine or statement in Gods
Holy Word hat has not been derided by
the skepticis,n of the day.
On, what an 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 will be brought to judg-
ment; and mid the rocking of everything
beneath and amid the flaming of every
thing above, God will thunder: "But thou
uldst laugh.o l think the most fascinating
laughter at Christianity I ever remember
was Theodore Parkel'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 a
fallure-a failure domestically, I have no
children; a failure socially, for l am treat
ed in the streets like a pirate; a failure
professionally, because l know but one min
lister who has adopted my sentiments"
for a quarter of a century he laughed at
Christianity, and ever since Christianity
mas been laughing at him. Now, it is
d mean thing to go into a mans house and
steal his goods, but, l tell you, the most
gigantic burglary ever invented is the
proposition to steal these treasures of our
hoiy religion. The meanest laughter ever
uttered is the laughter of the skeptic.
The next laughter mentioned in the Bible
IS DaSid's laughter, or the laughter of
spiritual exultation: "Then was our
mouth filed with laughter" He got very
'iuch down sometimes, but there are other
chapters where four or five times he calls
upon the people to praise and exult. 1t
was not a mere twitch of the lips, it was a
demonstration that took hold of his whole
physlcal nature. "TIen was our mouth
i''Ied with laughter" My friends, this
world will never he converted to God until