The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1894-07-21

the sickroom Of Gnd's dear children. When
Theodosius was put upon the rack, he suf-
fered very great torture at the iirst
Somebody asked him how he endured all
that pain on the rack. He replied "when
was first put on the rack, I suffered n great
deal but very soon a young man ip whito
stood by my side, aud with soft aud COM
Portable handkerchief he wiped the sweat
from my brow, and my pains were relieved.
1t was u punishment for me to get from the
rack, because when tho pain was all gone
the ange! was gone" oh. rejoice evermorel
You know how II Is In the army--an army In
encampment. II to-day news comes that
our side has had a defeat, and TO o-morrow
another portion OF tho tidlngs comes, say
ing we have had another defeat, It demoral-
'Zes al the host. But " tho news comes of
victory to-day and victory Tomorrow tho
whole army is impassonei for the contest.
Now, In the kingdom OF our Lord Jesus
Christ report fewer defeats tells us the VIC
tortes-victory over sin and death and hell
Rejoice evermore, and again say rejoice. [
believe there Is more religion in Il laugh
than In yroan. Anybody can groan, but
to laugh I'm the midst OF banishment and
persecution and indescribable trial, that re-
guired David, Daniel, Paul, a modern
heroine.
The next laughter mentioned IN the Bible
that shall speak OF Is the FOOLS laughter, or
the expression OF sinful merrIment. solomon
was very quick at simile. When he makes q
comparison, we all catch It. What is the
laughter OF fool like2 He says, "It Is the
cracking OF thorns under pot" The ket-
tie Is swung, bunch of brambles is put un-
der II, and the torch is applied to II, and
there Is great noise, and big blaze, and
sputtor and quick extinguishmept. Then
II Is darker than It was before. Fools laugh
ter. Tho most miserable thing on earth is n
bad mans fun. There they are-ten men in
barroom. They have at home wives,
mothers, daughters. The impure Jest starts
ut one corner Of the barroom, aud crackle.
crackle, crackle II goes all arovud In 500
such OUTLAWS there is not one item OF happi-
ness. They all feel bemeaned ~ they have
any conscience left. Have nothing to do
with men or women who tell immoral stories.
have no confidence either in their Chris
tian character or their morality.
so all morrIment that springs out OF the
defects OF tothers-caricature of a lame foot
or curved spine, or u blind eye. or deaf
car-will be met with the Judgment OF God.
euher upon you or upon your children
Twenty years ago l knew q man who was
particularly sklllful in initiating the lame
ness OF neighhor. Not long ago n son OF
the skillful mimic had his leg amputated for
the very defect which his father had
mtmtcked years before. l do not say Il was
Judgment OF God. / leave YOU to msLs
your own Inference. SO all merriment born
Of dissipation, that which starts at tho
wineglass I'm the home circle, the mau llin
slmper, the meaningless joke, the saturnalian
gibbcrish, the paroSysm OF mirth about noth-
ing which you sometimes see I'm the fashion
able clubroom or the exquisite parlor mt
twelve oclocS at night, are the cra,S ling OF
thorns under pot. Such laughter AID such
sin end In death. When I was lad. n book
came out entitled, dow Juniors Patent
Sermons IL made n great stir, u very wide
laugh, all over the country. ths: book did.
IL was caricature oithe Christian ministry
and OF the word OF God, and Of the day of
judgment. Oh, we had great laugh The
commentary on the whole thing IL that the
author OF that book died In poverty, shame.
debauchery, kicked out OF society and cursed
OF Almighty God. The laughter OF such
men is the echo OF their own damnation.
The next laughter that | shall mention n,
being in the Bible Is the laugh OF 60 is con-
domination, "He that sitteth In the heavens
shall laugh" Again. ''The Lord will laugh
at him" Again, al will laugh at his calan-
ity." With such demonstration will Col
greet every kind OF great sin and wicked
ness. But men build UP villainies higher
and higher. Good men almost pity God be-
cause He IL so schemed against by men.
Suddenly pin drops out OF the machinery
OF wickedness or u secret Is revealed, and
the foundation begins to rock. Finally the
whole thing Is demolished. What Is tn,
matter2 / will tell you what the matter Is
That crash OF ruin ia only the reverberat.nn
OF Gods laughter. In the money market
there are great many good men and n
great many fraudulent men. A fraudulent
man there says, "I mean to have my mill
lion" He goes to work reckless OF hon.
esty, and he gets his first $1,000 He
gets after awhile his 1900. 900. After awhile
he gets his $500, 900. Now" he says, az
have only one more move to make, and
shall have my million" He gathers up all
his resources. He makes that one last
grand move, he fails and loses all, and he
has not enough money OF his own LETT TO pay
not understand this spasmodic revulsion.
Some said II was sudden turn In Erie Rail-
way stock. or In Western Union, or In I'LL
nois Central some said one thing and some
another. They all guessed wrong. l will
tell you what Il WAS. 'Hs that sitteth I'm the
heavens laughed" man In New York said
he would be the richest man in the city. He
left his hone,s work as mechanic and got
into the city councils some way and In ten
years stole Sl5 200, 900 from the city govern
ment. Fifteen million dollars, He held the
lie. .slature OF the State OF New York In the
grip OF his right hand Suspicious were
aroused. The grand jury presented indict-
ments. The whole land stood aghast. The
man who expected TO put half the city In his
vest pocket goes to Blackwelrs Island, goes
TO Ludlow street Jail, breaks prison AMI goes
Rcrgss IL" sea Is r"arrestei ~ -"'.-r,
back md again remandel 10 jail WhYT
'He that sitieth In the heavens laughed"
Rome wasa great empire. She hgd Horace
and Virgil among her poets shp had Augu &
tus and Constantine among her em0,rorI
But what mean the defaccd Pantheon. an
the Forum turned into cattle market, an /
the broken walled Coliseum and the arch
tectural skeleton OF her great nqus Iurts
What was that thunder2 cob" YOU say.
THAT was the roar OF the hattcring ram.
against her walls" No. What was that
qulverP "Oh, you say. "Ihat was the tramp
OF hostile leyions.' No. Tho quiver an
tho roar were the outburst OF onnipotent
laughter from the dcfei and insultei heay
ans. Rome dened God. and He lau CHE her
down. Thebes dehei Go !. and Hs laugheI !
her down. Ninevsh icaed God. anil IIn
laughed her down. Babylon defied Go |.
and He laughed her down. There is u gr.at
difference between Gods laugh AMI HIS
smile. His smile II eternal beatitu H.. HH
smiled when David sang. aud Miriam .iappe
the cymsals, md Hannah made garments
for her son. and Pau, preached, AMI John
kindled with apocslyptic vlsisa. aI,j when
any man has anything to doSWn itoas II
well. HIS smile Why. Il Is ttezl5tlf y, NJ ~.
the apple orchards IN full BLOC n;it - iorn-
ing breaking on rippling se.Istdt 9heayen
at high noon, all the bells beIttpSft1r mar
riage peal. But His laughterTtnNit never
fall on us! IL is condemfrni9ib for OUT
sin II is wasting away.
We may let the satirist laugh NJ VA, an
all our companions may laugh at us, and We
may be made the target for tho merriment
OF earth and hell, but Col for1i, that W,