The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1888-05-15

name of God may be on it, That is
one extreme. We goto the other.
| WHAT IS THE CURE
Of this habitp It ist a mighty haNft.
Men have struggled for years to get over
1t. There are men in this house of God
who would give half their fortune to get
rid of it. An aged man was in the de-
lirium.of a fever. He had for many
years lived most upright life and was
honored in all the community but
when he came into the delirium of this
Ifever he was full of imprecation and
profanity, and they acould not under
stand it. After he. came to his right
reason he explained it. He. said:
when was q young man was very
profane. conquered the habit, but I,
had to struggle all through life. You
haven't for forty years heard me say
an improper word, but it has been an
awful struggle. The tiger is chained,
but he is alive yet"
want you. my friends. to dwell upon
THE UsELEssNEss OF IT.
Did a volley Of oaths ever start a'heavy
load?Did they ever extirpate meanness
from customer Did they ever collect
a bad debt? Did they ever cure q tooth
ache? Did they ever stop the twinge of
the rheumatism2 Did they ever help
you forward one step, III the right direc-
tion? Come now, tell me, ye who have
had the most experience in this habit,
how much have you made ont of it?
Five thousand dollars in all your life?
No. One thousandp no. One hun-
dred? No. One dollar2 No. One
cent? No, If the habit 10 so utterly
useless, away with it!
But you say ST have struggled to
overcome the habit a long while, and 1
| gled in your strength, my brother. If
ever man wants God, it is in such a
| crisis Of his history. God alone, by His
i grace, can emancipate you from that
/ trouble. Call upon Him day and night,
that you may be delivered from this
| crime. Remember, also, in the cure Of
this habit, that it arouses Gods indig-
nation. The Bible relterates, from
chapter to chapter, and verse after
verse, the fact that it is accursed for
this life, and that it makes Il man mis-
cradle for eternity. There is not sin
in all the catalogue that is so often per-
emptorily
| PUNISHED IN THIS WORLD
as the sin Of profanity. There is not
city or a village but can give an illus
tration Of a man struck down at the
moment Of imprecation. A couple of
years ago, briefly referring to this in a
sermon, I gave some instances in which
| God had struck swearers dead at the
moment of their profanity. That ser
mon brought to me from many parts of
this land and other lands statements of
similar cases Of instantaneous visitation
from God upon blasphemers. My opin-
ion Is that such cases occur somewhere
every day, but for various reasons they
are not reported.
In Scotland club assembled every
week for purposes of wickedness, and
there was a competition as to which could
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 con-
founded 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 no8 draw it in,
and he died. and the physicians said
'"This is the strangest thing we ever
books like unto it; we can't under
stand 1t. I understand it. He cursed
God and died.
At Catskill, N. Y, a group of men
stood in blacksmith's shop during
violent thunderstorm. There came a
crash Of thunder, and some Of the men
trembled. One man said: "Why, I
don't SEQ what you are afraid of. am
not afraid to go out in front of the shop
and 6efy the Almighty. lam not afraid
| of lightning.' And he laid a wager on
the subject, and he went out, and he
shook his fist at tho heavens, crying,
| ''Strike, if you dare ~ and Instantly lie
fell under q bolt. What destroyed
him? Any mystery abouG it2 Oh, no.
lie CURSED GOD, AND DIED.
Oh, my brother, God will not allow
this nin to go UNPUBLISHED. There arc
sty. 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 tho
leaves Of the book Of Gods remem-
brance. 1t is no exceptional sin. Do
you suppose you could count tho pro-
family Of last Week-the profanities of
office, store, shop, factory? They cursed
God, they cursed His Word, they
cursed His only Begotten Son.
| One morning, On Fulton Street, as 1
was passing along, heard 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 is aggravatedp DO you not
suppose that God knows about it?
| Dionysius used to have a cave in which
his culprits were incarcerated, and he
listened at the top of that cave, and he
could hear every groan, no could hear
every sigh, and he could hear every
whisper Of those who were imprisoned.
| He was a tyrant God is NOT q tvrant q.