The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-04-09

ldCU ltldl lb II dNCuISetl lOI NulS ne dUl tudI
it makes "a man miserable for eternity
! There is not sin in all the catalogue that
is so often peremptorily aud suddenly
punished in this world as the sin of pro-
family There is not a city or a village but
can give an illustration Of a man struck
down at the moment of imprecation. A
couple of years ago, briefly referring TO this
in sermon, | gave some instances in which
God had struck swearers dead at the
moment of their profanity, That sermon
brought to me from many parts of this
land and other lands statements of similar
cases of instantaneous visitation from God
upon blasphemers. My opinion is that such
cases occur somewhere every day, but for
various reasons they are not reported.
In Scotland a club assembled every week
for purposes of wickedness, and there
was composition as TO which could use the
most horrld oath, and the man who sue
ceeded was to be President of the club
The competition went on. A man uttered
an oath which confounded all his comrades,
and he was made President of the club
His tongue began to swell, and it protruded
from the mouth, and he could not draw it
in, and he died, and the physicians said:
This is the strangest thing we ever saw;
we never saw any account in the books like
unto it; we can't understand it.' | under
stand it. He cursed God and died.
AT Catskill, N. Y, group of men stood
in blacksmith's shop during a violent
thunder storm. There came crash of
thunder and some of the mon trembled
One man said: "Why, don't see what you
are afraid of. | am not afraid to go out in
front of the shop and defy the Almighty. !
am not afraid of lightning" And he laid
wager on the subject, and he went out, and
he shook his fist at the heavens, CRYING:
"Strike, if you dareT and instantly he fell
under bolt. What destroyed him. Any
mystery about itl Oh, no. He cursed God
and died
Oh, my brother, God will not allow this
sin to go unpunished. There are styles of
writing with manifold sheets, so that man
writing on one leaf writes clear through
ten, fifteen, or twenty sheets, and so every
profanity we utter goes right down through
the leaves of the book of Gods remem-
brance. 1t is no exceptional sin. Do you
suppose YOU could count the prOfanities of
last week-the profanities of office, store,
shop, factorya They cursed God they
cursed His word; they cursed His only be-
gotten Son.
One morning, on Fulton street, as | was
passing along, heard man swear by the
name of Jesus My hair lifted. NY blood
ran cold. My breath caught. My foot
halted. Do you not suppose that God is ag-
gravateds Do you not suppose that God
knows about ita Dionysius used to have a
cave in watch his culprits were incarcer-
ated, and he listened at 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 impris-
oned. He was a tyrant. God is not a
tyrant; but he bends over this world and
he hears everything-every voice of praise
every voice Of imprecation. 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
Listenl Listen "All blasphemers shall
have their place in the lake which burneth
with fire and crimstone, which is the second
death" And if, according to the theory of
some man commits in the next world the
sins which he committed in this world-if
unpardoned, unregenerated-think of a
mans going on curslng in the name of God
to all eternityl
The habit grows. You start with
small oath, you will come to the large oath.
| saw a man die with an oath between his
teeth. Voltaire only gradually came to his
tremendous imprecation but the habit
grew on him until in the last moment, sup
posing Christ stood at the bed, he exclaimed:
"Crush that wretchl Crush that wretch!n
Oh, my brother, you begin to swear and
there is nothing impossible for you in the
wrong direction.
Who is this God whose name you are
using in swearingl Who is hes Is he a
tyrants Has he pursued you all your life
longs Has he starved you, frozen you,
tyrannized over you9 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 imprecations viii
you ever thrust him back by an oath!
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 50 dlshOnor his
name! Why. he was the lamb whose blood
simmered 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 againi 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
Christi Let it speak now. Not one Not
one. Oh, | am glad TO know. that all these
vices Of the community, and these crimes
of our city will be gone. Society is going
to be bettered. The world by the power Of
Christ'g gospel is going TO be saved, and this
crime, this iniquty, and all the other
iniquities will vanish before the rising OF
the sun OF righteousno upo the nation.
There was one day in New England
memorable for storm and darkness. !
hardly ever saw such an evening. The
clouds which had been gathering all day
unlimbered their batteries. The Bousa-
tonic which flows quietly, save as the pad
dies of pleasure parties rattle the oar locks,
was lashed into foam, ana the waves hardly
knew where TO lay themselves.
OH what time it was The hills Jared
under the rumbling Of Gods chariots.
Binding sheets Of rain drove the cattle TO
the bars, or beat against the windoW pano
as though TO dash 1t in. The grain fields
threw their crowns Of gold at the feet Of
the storm king. Whom night came in it
was double night. Its mantle was torn
with the lightniDgs, and into its locks were
| twisted the leaves OF uprooted oaks and the
shreds Of canvas torn from the masts of the
beached shipping 1t was such a night as
makes you thank God for shelter. and open
the door to let In the spaniel bowling out
side with terror.
We went to sleep under the full blast OF
heavens great orchestra, the forests with
upifted voices, in chorus that filed the
mountains, praising the Lord. We woke