The Forrest City times., 1888-04-14

ever, case Whatever he the cause of it, pro faulty Is on the increasc, and f YOU do not know it it is because your ears have been hardened bv the din of lmTecations 90 that yOu are moi stirred and moved as you ought to be by profanitics in these cities which ate enough tO bring hurricane ot fire like that which consumed Solow.
 Do you know that this trivial use oi Gods name results in ueJurY Do You know that peorlc who take the name Of God on their lips in rcekicssucss and thougntlessrcss are fostering the crime of perinryi Make tue name of God a foot ball in the community, and it has DO power when in courtroom and fla legislative assembly, it ls employed iu solemn adiugatlonl See the way sometimes ihc7 adm mister the oath; "S'help you God kiss the ho1kW Smuggling. which Is al- ways a violation of the oath, becomes iu some circles a grand joke. You say 10 a Inan, "HoN is it possible for you to sell these goods so very cheap, l can't understand it.n "AhW he replies with a twinkle of the eye. "thc Custom House tariff Of these goods isn't as much as 1t might be. An oath does not mean as much as it would were the name ot God iu reverence and iu solcmuity. Why l. it that so often jurors render unaccountable vcrdicts and judges Clye unaccuuutahle charEes, and useless railroad schemes pass in our State capitals, and there gre most unjust changes made in tarlffs-tariG lifted from one thing and put upon anotherf
 What Is an oathf Anything solemuf Anything that calls upon the Almighty Anything that marks an event in mans history Oh, mol 1t Is kissing the bnakl There Is no habit, I tell you plainly -aud l talk to hundreds and thousands of men to-day who will thank me for my uttcrance-l tell you, my brothcr-I talk to you not professionally but just as ouc brother talks tO another on some vcrv important theme-l tell you there is no habit that so dep!etcs mans nature as the habit of profanity. You might as well try 10 raise vineyards and orchards on the sides of belching Stromboli as to raise any thing good on a heart from which there pours out the scora of profanity. You may swear yourself down, you cannot swear Your- self up When the MOhammedan finds piece of paper he cGnnot read he puts il as- side very cautiously for fear the name of God may te on 1t. That Is one extreme. We go to the other Now what is the cure of this habit It Ia a mighty habit Men have struggled Tor years to get over It There are men iu this house of God whowould give haii thel, fortune io @et r.3 Cf f. An aged man who was Iu the delirium of a fever. He had for many years lived most upright life and was houorcd m all the community; but when he came into the delirlum of this fever he was full Of imperfection and profanity, and they could not understand t. After he came to his right reason he explained it He said "Nhen was q y0nng man l was very pro- fame. l co uquercd the habit but l had to struggle all through life. You haven't for forty years heard me say au improper word, but it has been an awful struggle. The tiger is chained, but he !s alive yet"
 If you would get rid Of this habit, want you, my friends, to dwell upon the useless ness Of it Did a volley of oaths ever start heavy loads Did they ever exaspirate mean ness from eustomeri Did they ever collect bad debt' Did they ever cure toOihaehes Did they ever stop the twlnge Of the fheumatsmi Did they ever help you forward one step in the right direetloni Come now tell me, yc who have had the most ex- nor anF in made out of iti Five thousand dollars fin all your lfci No. One thousandt No One hundredi N. One dollar. No One ceDti No. If the habit be so utterly useless, away with il.
 But you say; 'I have struggled to over come the habit A long while, and have not been successful" You struggled in your own strength, my brother If ever a man wants God, 1t is in such crisis of his history. God alone by His grace can cmancipate you from that trouble. Gall upon Hun day and night that you may be delivered from this crime Remember also in the cure of this habit that it arouses Gods indignation. The Bible ret- crates from chapter to chapter, and verse after verse, the fact that il is accursed for this life and that it makes man miserable for eternity There is not sin in all the catalogue that is so often peremptorilF and suddenly punished in this world as the sin of profanity. There ia not a city or village but can give m illustration of a man struck down Y years ags briefly referring to this In sermon, l gave some instances in which God had struck swearers dead al the moment of their profanity That sermon brought to me from many parts of this land and other lands statements of similar eases 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
 pf 4xie nd there was competition ss to which coull use the most hOrrid oath, and the man who succeeded was to be president Of the club. The competition went on A man uttered an oath which confounded aE his comrades, and he was made president of the club. His tongue began 10 swell, and 1t pro- iruded from the mouth, and he could not draw 1t in, and he died, and the physician said; This is the strangest thing We ever saw: we never saw any account in the books like unto it; we can't understand itn l un- stand it. He cursed God and died
 At Catskil \. Y, a group or men stood in a blacksmith shop during a violent thunder storm. There came a crash Of thunder and some of the men trembled. One man said {: "Mhv, don't see what you are afraid ot l am not afraid 10 go out in front of the shop and defy the Almighty. am not afraid of lightning.n And he laid a wager on the sub ject, and he went out and shook his fist at the heavens, crying: Strike, if you darel'
 
 stroyed himi Any mystery about itf on, no He cursed God and died
 Oh. my bro her, God will not allow this sin to go unpunished. There are styles of writ ing with manifold sheets, SO that a man writ ing on one leaf writes clear through ten, ht- teen or twenty sheets, and so every profanity we utter goes right down through the leaves of the book of Gods remembrance. It is no exceptional sin. Do you suppose you could count the prOfanlties of last weel6-the pro g.f ats Ghg cursed God, they cursed His word, they CUTS ed His only begotten Son.
 One morning on Fulton Street, as l was passing along, l heara man swear by the name of Jesus. My hair lifted. My blood ran cold. My breath caught. My foot halted. Do you not suppose that God s aggravatedl Do you not suppose that God knows about itl D onysius used to have a cave in which his culprits were incarcera- ted 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 imprisoned. He was A tyrant God is not tyrant; but he bends over this world and He hears everything every voice Of praise-eyerY voice ot impreea' tion He hears it all. The oaths seem to die ou the air, but they have eternal echo. They come back from the ages to come.
 Iistenl l. stenl All blasphemers shall have their place In Inc lake which burneth with fire and birthstone, which Is tbe second
 
 some, a man commits in the next world the sins which he committed in this world-ii unpardoned, unregeuerated-think Of Il man going on cursing in the name of God 10 all eternity
 The habit grows You start with a small oath, you will come tO the large oath. l saw a man die with an oath between his teeth. Noitaire only gradually came 10 hls tremeu- dous imprecation; but the habit grew on bim until in the last moment, supposing Christ stood at the bed, he exclaimed: Crush that wretch Crush that wretchl" Oh, my broth err yon begin 10 swear and there Is nothing imposs ble for yon in the wrong direction.
 Who is this God whose name you are using in swearing. Who is Het Is He a tyrauti Has He pursued YOU all your life longf Has He starved you, frozen you, tyrannized over youl No. He has loved ou, He has shel- tered you, He watched you last night. He will watch you tonight He wants to love you, wants 10 help you, wants to save you, wants 10 comfort you. He was your fathers God and your mothers God. He has housed them from the blast. and He wants to shelter YOU. Win you spit in his face by imprecationl Will you ever trhust Him back by an oath, Who Is this Jesus whose name heard in