Milford chronicle., 1888-04-13

the books like unto it; we can't understand
it, / understand it. He cursed God and
died
At Catskill, n. Y, group of men stood
in blacksmith's shop during violent tllun-
der storm. There came crash Of thunder,
and some Of the men trembled. One man
said: ''Why, don't see what you are afraid
of. I am not afraid to go out in front Of
the shop and defy the Almighty. am not
afraid Of lightning And he laid a wager
ON the subject, and he went out, and he
shook his fist at the heavens, crying: "Strike
If you daren And instantly he fell under a
bolt. What destroyed hini Any mystery
about it, Oh, no. He cursed God and died.
Oh, my brother, God will not allow this
sin to 60 unpunished. There are styles OF
writing with manifold sheets, so that man
writing on one leaf writes clear through ton,
fifteen or twenty sheets, and so every pro
family we utter goes right down through the
leaves Of the book Of Gods remembrance. 1t
is no exceptional sin. Do you suppose you
could count the profanities of last week-the
profanities of Office, store, shop, factOryl
They cursed God, they cursed his word, they
cursed his only begotton son.
On morning, ON Fulton street, as / was
passing along, heard q man swear by the
name Of Jesus. Ny hair lifted. Ny blood
ran cold. Ny breath caught Ny foot
halted. Do you not suppose that God is ag-
gravatedl Do you not suppose that God
knows about iti Dionysius used to have
cave in which his culprits were incaTcerated,
and he listened ut the top Of that cave, and
he could hear every groan, he could hear
every sigh, and he could hear every whisper
of those who were imprisoned He was
tyrant. God is not tyrant, but he bends
over this world and he hears everything
every voice of praise, every voice Of impre-
cation He hears it all. The oaths seem to
die ON the air, but they have eternal echo.
They come back from the ages to come.
Listen! Listen "All blasphemers shall
have their place in the lake which burneth
with fire and birthstone, which is the second
death" And if, according to the theory Of
some, a man commits in the next world the
sins which he committed in this world-if
unpardoned, unrcgenerated-think Of a
mans going on cursing in the name Of Goa
to all eternity
The habit grows You start with a small
oath, you will come to the large oath. saw
a man die with an oath between his teeth
Voitaire only gradually came to his tremcn-
dous impTecations; but the habit grew on him
until in the last moment, supposing Christ
stood at the bed, he exclaimed: ''Crush that
wrotch Crush that wretchln Oh, my
brother, you begin to swear and there is
nothing impossible for you in the wrong di-
rectiOn.
Who is this God whose name YOU are
using in swearing. Who is he2 Is he a
tyrant! Has he pursued you all your life
longl Has he starved you, frozen you,
tyrannized over you! No He has loved
you, he has sheltered you, he watched you
last night, he will watch you tonight He
wants to love you, wants to help you, wants
to save you, wants to comfort you. He was
your fathers God and your mothers God.
He has housed them from the blast, and he
wants to shelter you viii you spit in his
face by an imprecationl Win you ever
thrust him back by an oathl
Who is this Jesus whose name heard in
the imprecation! Has he pursued you all
your life longl What vile thing has he done
to you that you should so dishonor his namel
Why, he was the Lamb whose blood sim
mered in the fires Of sacrifice for you. He is
the brother that took off his crown that YOU
might put it on. He has pursued you all
your life long with mercy. He wants you
to love him, wants you TO serve him. He
comes with streaming eyes and broken heart
and blistered feet to save You. On the craft
of our doomed humanity he pushed out into
the sea to take you off the wreck
Where is the hand that will ever be lifted
in imprecation agains Let that hand, now
blood tipped, be lifted that may see it. Not
one. Where is the voice that will ever be
uttered in dishonOring the name Of that
Christ! Let it speak now. Not one. Not
one. Oh, l am glad to know that all these
vices of the community, and these crimes of
our city viii be gone. Society is going to be
bettered The world by the power of Christs
gospel is going to be saved, and this crime,
this iniquity, and all the other iniquities will
vanish before the rising of the sun of right
eousness upon the nation.
There was one day in New England memor-
able for storm and darkness. l hardly ever
saw such an evening. The clouds which had
been gathering all day unlimberod their bat
tories. The Housatonic, which flows quietly,
save as the paddles Of pleasure parties rattle
the oar locks, was lashed into foam, and the
waves hardly knew where to lay themselves
Oh! what time it wasl The hills Jared
under the rumbling of Gods chariots. Blind
ing sheets of rain drove the cattle to the
bars, or beat against the window pane as
though to dash it in. The grain fields threw
their crowns of gold at the feet OF the storm
king. When night came in it was a double
night. It's mantle was torn with the light
nings, and into its locks were twisted the
leaves of uprooted oaks and the shreds of
canvas torn from the masts of the beached
shipping Il was such a night as makes you
thank God for shelter, and open the door to
let in the spaniel bowling outside with terror
We went to sleep under the full blast of
heavens great orchestra, the forests with up
lifted voices, in chorus that filled the noun
tains praising the Lord. We woke not until
the fingers Of the sunny morn NtOuched ouT
eyelids. We looked out the window and th,
Housatonic slept as quiet as an infants
dreasr Pillars Of clouds set against tie sk,
looked like the castles Of the blost built r.
heavenly hiegyrchs on tie beach Of the azar
sea. All til, trees sparlSled as though there
had been some great grief in heaven, and
each leaf had been God appointed 70 catch an
angels tear. 1t seemed as if our Father had
looked upon the earth, His wayward child,
and stopped to her tear wet cheek and kissed
it. So will the darkness of sin and crime
leave our world before the dawn Of the morn
ing. The light shall gild the city spire ano
Mobile and all between. And one end rest
ing ON the Atlantic coast and the other rest
ing on the Pacific beach, God will spring
great rainbow arch Of peace, in token Of ever
lasting covenant that the world shall never
more see a deluge of crime.
''But,n says some one, preaching against
the evils OF society will accomplish nothing.
Do you not see that the evils go right Onf
answer, we are not at all discouraged.
1t seemed Insignificant for Moses toGtretch
his hand over the Red sea. What power
could that have over the watersl But the
east wind blew all night; the waters gath
cred into two glittering palisades ON either
side. Tie billows reared as Gods hand
pulled back upon their crystal bits. Wheel
into line, oh Israeli march, march, Pearls
crash under their feet. The shout of hosts
mounting the beach answers the shout Of
hosts mid sea, until, as the last line of the
Israelites have gained the beach, the shields
clang and the cymbals clap, and as the wa
ters whelm the pursuing foe the swift fin
gered winds on the white keys Of the foam
play the grand march of Israel delivered,
and the awful dirge Of Egyptian overthrow.
So we 20 forth: and stretch out the hand of