Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-08-04

enjoy = NFIGiUx BSsIsE tJuu my ~
Now. you make the religion OF Christ
sepulchral . and hearselike. and yon
make 1t repulsive. say plant the rose o.
Sharon along the church walks ana
%colurnblne 10 Chamber over the church Wai,
and have a smile on the lip. and have tns
mouth filled with holy laughter. lnefeais
no man In the worid, except the Christian.
that has a right TO feel Al untranmsled slee-
He is promised everything i. to be for the
best here. and he Is on the way &c a delight
which will take all the professions vi:h palm
branches and all the orchestras harpei AMI
cymbaled and trunpeied 10 express. sob"
you say. II have SO much trouble Hays
you more trouble than Paul hadf VIVA. does
he say? '~.Sorrowtul. yet ALWAYS rejoicing.
Poor. yet making many rich. Having MOTH
Ing. vet possessing all things" The m@rrlest
laugh I th!nk have ever heari has been In
the slckroom OF Gods dear chiliren. When
Theo.iosius was put UPON the rack, he SUI
ferei very great torture at tho first.
Somebody asked him how ha endured all
that pain on the rack. He replied when
I was first put on the rack. I suffered . great
deal, but very soon \ young man In white
stood by my side, AMI with a soft nni con-
Portable handkerchief he w!pei the sweat
from my brow. and my pains were relieved.
1t was a punishment for me TO get from tho
rack, because when the pain was all 9one
the angel was gone" On. rejoics evermore:
You know how II is In the arny-an army in
encampment. II to-day news CONES that
our side has had q defeat. and tomorrow
ing we have had another defeat. It demoral-
ICES all the host. But IL the news comes OF
victory to-day and victory tomorrow thee
whole army Is impassionet for tn. contest.
Now. In the kingdom o! our Lord Jesus
Christ report fewer defeats tells US the vic
tories-victory over sin AMI death and hell.
Rejoice evermore, and again | say %rejOic". |
believe. there Is more religion in Il laugh
than In a croan. Anybody can groan, but
TO laugh In the midst OF b%anishment and
persecution and indescribable trial, that re-
CURED a David. q Daniel. a 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 ut simile. When he makes a
comparison, we all catch it. What Is the
laughter OF n fool like? He says. ut is tho
cracking OF thorns under q pot" The ket-
tie is swung, a bunch OF brambies Is put I'M
der it, and the torch is applied to it, and
there is a great noise, and "A big blaze. and a
sputter and a quick extinguishment. Then
il Is darker than 1t was before. Fools laugh
ter. The most miserable thing on earth is a
bad mans fun. There they are-ten men in
a barroorn. They have at home wives,
mothers, daughters. The impure Jest starts
ut one corner OF the barroom, and crackle,
rrackle, crackle it goes oil around. In 500
such outlaws there is not one item OF happt-
ness. They NIL feel bsmeanei II 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 merriment that springs out Of the
defects OF Others -caricature Of q Lame foot,
or q curved spine, or Il bin eye. or u deaf
ear-Iill be met with the jul i9ment OF God,
either upon you or upon your children.
Twenty years ago | knew a man who was
particularly skillful in Initiating the lame
ness OF a neighhor. Not long ago a son of
the very defect which his father had
mimicked years before. l do not say it was
a judgment OF God. 1 leave you to make
your own inference. So all merriment born
Of dissipation, that which starts at the
counter OF the drinking restaurant or the
wineglRss In the home circle, tho a Hin
simper, the meaningless joke, the s%aturhalian
gibberish. the paroxysln OF mirth about moth.
ing which you sometimes see In the fashion
able clubroom or the exquisite parIor al
twelve o'clock at night, are the cracking oil
thorns unde q pot. Such laughter ADD such
sin end In death. When was a lad, q book
came out entitled, "Dow Juniors Paten,
'1A 'A0Aos Aht oAA u I'll VIZ
laugh. ali over the country. that book did.
1t was a caricature o fthe Christian mtnistr nv,
and Of the word OF God. and OF the day oil
Judgment. Oh, we had a great laugh! The
commentary on the whole thing Is that the
author OF that book died In poverty. shame.
debauchery, kicked out OF society and cursed
OF Almighty God. The laughter OF suct
men is the echo Of their own damnation.
The next laughter that I shall mention q,
being in the Bible Is the laugh OF Go Is con-
demnation, II that stitch In the heaven.
shall laugh" Again. The Lord will laugh
Mt him" Again, ~ will laugh at his cala,n.
ity." With such demonstration will God
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 Is so schemed against By men
Suddenly a pin drops out Of the machinery
OF wickedness or O secret is revealed, and
the foundation begins to rock. Finally tn
whole thing Is demolished. What Is tn,
matter? l will tell you what the matter Is
That crash Of ruin Is only the reverberatior
OF Gods laughter. In the money marke
there are a great many good men and
great many fraudulent men. A %fraudulen
man there says, II mean to have my mil
lion" He goes to work reckless OF hon
esty, and he gets his first 500, 900. H
gets after awhile his 5000. 900. After awhil
he gets his $500. 00O. Now" he says. :.
have only ono more move to make, and
shall have my million" He gathers up al
his resources. He makes that one las
grand move. be fails and loses all, and h
has not enough money Of his own left to pa
the cost OF the ear to his home. People can
not understand this spasmodic revulsion
Some said 1t was Il sudden turn in Erie Rail
way stock. or in Western Union. or in I'LL
nois Central soma said one thing and som
another. They all guessed wrong. vii
tell you what II was. He that sitteth In til
heavens laughed" A man In New York sal
he would be the richest man in the city. Fl
left his honest work rs a mechanic and &C
into the city councils some way and In t.l
years stole els. 900 900 from the city govern
ment. Fifteen million dollars, He held tn
Legislature OF the State OF New York in tn
grip OF his right hand. Suspicious wer
aroused. The grand jury presented Indie,
menss. The whole lani stood aghast. tn
man who expected TO put half the city in hi
vest pocket goes To Blackwells Island. goe
TO Ludlow street jail. breaks prison and zoe
across the sea. Is rearrestet =" -
hack and again renand~i to Jail. Why
that stitch In the heavens laughed"