The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1894-07-25

Gods face end hull his Revelation back
at BIN. Alter awhile The day viii come
when they viii ssg they nd uot laugh.
Then al lie hypartrj;icisn2s, ali the
caricatures aQd ali he leaned sneer8
In the qua terly reviews will be brought
to iudgmeDt, and amid the rock
iug of everything. beneath, sud amid the
flaming Of everything 0hJve, God will
thunder, But thou didSt laQgb!" |
think the most fascinating laughter at
Christianity ever remember las 9 man
in New Eaelaud. He made the word Of
God sesra ridiculous, and hc laughed Oh
al our holy religion uu9il he came 10 die
and then he said. my ltG has been 4
fa;l8re-c failure domestica}lY-I have
40 chii&rsp; failure socially, for l am
treated OF tie streets Ike q pirate; g
failure professionally because l know
Int one minister that ha9 adopted my
sentimen:s." For quarter ct centu-
ry he laughed 81 Christianity, and ever
since Christianity has been laughing at
him. Now, il l. 6 mcaN thjDg 70 90 into
a mans huus2 and afsNi h:s :,OoGs, hut
tell you thc most gigantic burglary
ever io ge0tcd is thc proposition to steal
thesS treasures Of our holy reilglin.
The ue2nest laugh ever UJs"red ~ tba
laugh Of the skepiic.
The next laughter mentioned IN the
Bible is David's Laughter, or the express
sion OF spiritual eXultatiOn. Then W2S
our mouth filed with laughter" He got
very much down sometimes, but there
are other chapters where for four times
he calls upon the people to praise and ez-
! ult. 1t was not mere twitch OF the
| lips. It was 8 demonstration that TOOK
hold of his whole physical nature.
"Then was cur mouth filed with laugh
ter" Ny friends, this world will never
be converted to God until Christians cry
| less and laugh and sing more. The
horrors are q poor bait. If people are
to be persuaded TO adopt our holy re-
| ligion, It will be because they have made
up their minds 1t is happy religion.
| They don't ike q m0rbld st!anitY.
| know there are morbid people who
epioy a funeral. They come early to
see the the friends take leave OF the
CORPSE, and they steal a ride 10 the
cemetery, but all healthy people enjoy
a wedding better than they do burial.
Now, YOU make the religion OF Chllst
seuulchral and hearselike, ard you make
it repulsive. ! say plant the rose OF
| Sharon along the church walks and col,
umbine to Chamber over the church wall
and have a smile on tie lip and have
the mouth filed with holy laughter.
There is no man in the world, except
| the Christian, that hasa right to teeI an
untrammeled glee. He is promised eY'
erything to be for the best here, and he
Is on the way 10 delight which will
take all the PROFESSIONS with palm
branches, and all the orchestras harpad
and cymbalIed and trumpeted to expreHs
"Oh,n you say, 81 have 50 much
trouble.'' Have you more than Paul
had? What does he say? "SorroWtu!,
yet always rejoicing. Poor, ret making
many rich. Having nothing, yet pos
sesssing all things" The merriest laugh
l think ever heard has been IN the SICK
room of Gods dear children.
When Theodosius was put upon the
rack, be suffered very great torture at
the first. Somebody asked him how ne
endured all that PAIN on the rack. He
replied. "Whep l was first put on the
rack, suffered great deal, bat vafy
soon q youog man in white stood by my
side, and with soft and comfortable
handkerchief be wiped the sweat from
my brow, and my pains were relieved.
| 1t was q punishment for me to get from
the rack, because when the pain was all
gone the angel was gone" Oh, rel joice
| evermore. You know how it's IN the
armY-an army n epcampment. II
today news comes chat our side has had
defeat, and tomorrow another portion
of the tidings cones, saying we have had
| another defeat, it demorali2es all the
host. But if the news comes Of victory
today and victory tomorrow the whole
army is impassioned for the contest.
Now, in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus
Christ report fewer defeats. Tell us
the vlctories-victory over sin and death
and hell. Rejoice evermore, and again
say rejoice. believe there IS more
religion ii laugh than in groan.
Anybody can groau, but to laugh in the
midet of banishment and persecution and
indescrlbable trial, that required a David
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 mer-
rlment. Solomon was very quick al
simile. When he makes a comparison,
We all catch it. What is the laughter
of fool like? He says, ''1t is the crack
! Ing of thorns under 3 pot" The ket.
| tie is swung, bunch Of brambles is put
under it, and the torch is applied to it,
and there is 8 great noise, and BIG
blaze, and sputter, and quick extin-
guishment. Then it is darker than il
was before. Fools laughter.
The most miserable thing on earth Is
q bad mans fun. There they are-lO
men il a barroom, they have at home
wives, mothers, daughters. The impure
| Jest starts at one corner Of the barroom
and crackle, crackle, Crackle, it goes al
around. In 500 such outlaws there is
uot one item Of happiness. They all
teel bemeaned, if they have any con
science left. Have nothing TO do viii
men or women who tell immoral stories.
have 20 confidence either in their
Christian character or morality. So al
merimeDt that springs out Of the defects
of other3-caricatur Of a lalna foot, or
a curved spine, Or a blind eye, or deaf
ear-will be met with the judgments OF
God either upon you Or upon your chill
dren.
Twenty years ago 1 knew man who
was particularly skilltul in initiating the
Iameness of q peighbor. Not long ago
q son Of the skilltul mimic had his leg
amputated for the very defect which bis
father had mimicked years before. l do
not say it was judgment of God. !
leave you to make your own inference.
So all merriment born of dissipation,
| that which starts at the counter OF the
drinking restaurant or from the wine
| glass in the homo circle, the msudlln
simper, the meaningless joke, the satur-
nalian gibberish, the paroxysm ofmirth
about nothing which you sometimes see