Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-07-16
Observation-Disclosures
REV. DR.. TALMAGE ON TIE LAUGH
TER OF TIE BI8LE./

S8rah , anu bsttio hc lhs-i-
riment of Dissipation The Laugh of Tri-
umph and the Laugh of scorn-SItepti-
cism, Exuitation and Triumph.
BROOKLYN, July 15.-Rcv. Dr.. Tai
mage, who is now in Australia OIL his
hound the world journey, has selected
rs the subject for his sermon through
the press today Laughter, tho text
being taken from Psalm cxxvi, .,
''Then was our mouth filed with laugh
ter" and Psalm ii, 4, ''He that stitch
in the heavens shall laugh.
Thirty-e eight times does the Bible
make reference to this confguration of
lhe features and quick expulsion of
breath which we call laughter. Some
times it is born of the sunshine and
sometimes the midnight. Sometimes it
stirs the sympathy of angels and some
times the cachinnation of devils. All
healthy people laugh. Whether it pleases
the Lord or displeases him, that de-
ponds upon when we laugh and at what
we laugh. Ny theme today is the laugh
ter of the Bible--namely, Sarah's laugh,
or that of skepticism; David's laugh, or
that of spiritual exultation; the FOOLS
laugh, or that of sinful merriment;
Gods laugh, Or that of infinite condem-
nation; heavens laugh, Or that of eter-
nal triumph.
Various Kinds of Laughter.
Scene, an oriental tent. The occu-
pants, old Abraham and Sarah, per-
haps wrinkled and decrepit. Their three
guests are three angels, the Lord Al
mighty one of them. In return for the
hospitality shown by the old people
God promises Sarah that she shall be-
core the ancestress Of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Sarah laughs in the face Of God.
She does not believe it. She is alright
ed at what she has done. She denies it.
She says, ST did not laugh" Then God
retorted with an emphasis that silenced
all disputaticn, ''But thou didst laugh. -
My friends, the laugh of skepticism in
all ages is only the echo of Sarah's
laughter. God says he will accomplish
thing, and men say it cannot be done.
A great multitude laugh at the miracles.
They say they are contrary to the laws
of nature. What is law of nature? It
is Gods way Of doing thing. You Or
dinarily cross q river at one ferry. To
morrow you change for one day, and
yOu ~ GiClOSS SiuOlHSI LILLY. Ou uISNttC
the rule. Have you not the right to
change it? You ordinarily come in at
that door of the church. Suppose that
next Sabbath you come in at the other
door. 1t is habit you have. Have you
not right to change your habit? A law
of nature IS Gods habit-h;s way Of
doing things. IF he makes the law, has
he not a right to change it at any time
he wants to change it?
Alas! for the folly of those who laugh
at God when he says. 81 will Go e
thing" they responding, ''You can't
do it," God says that the Bible is true
it is all true. Bishop Colenso laughs,
Herbert Spencer laughs, Stuart Mill
laughs, great German universities
laugh, Harvard laughs-softly. A great
many Of the learned institutions, with
long rows Of professors seated on the
fence between Christianity and infidel
ity, laugh softly. They say, eve didn't
laugh That was Sarah's trick. God
thunders from the heavens, ''But thou
didst laughp' The garden of Eden was
only fable. There never was any ark
built, Or if it was built it was too small
to have two of every kind. The pillar
of fire by night was only the northern
lights, the 10 plaques of Egypt on! ~ g.
brilliant specimen of jugglery. The sea
parted because the wind blew violently
a great while from one direction. The
sun and moon did not put themselves
out of the way for Joshua. Jacobs lad
der was only horizontal and picturesque
clouds The destroying angel shifting the
frstborn in Egypt was only cholera in
fo no lot o.
the whale, by positive measurement, too
small to swallow a prophet. The story
of the immaculate conception a shock
to all decency. The lame, the dumb,
the blind. the halt, cured by mere hu
man surgery. The resurrection OF
Christ's friend only beautiful tableau,
Christ and Lazarus and Mary and Mar
tina acting their parts well. My Friends
there is not a doctrine or statement Of
Gods holy word that has not been de-
rided by the skepticism of the day.
Sxeptics and the Bible.
take up this book of King James
translation. I consider it q perfect Bible,
but here are skeptics who want it torn
to pieces. And now, with this Bible i'll
my hand, let me tear out all those por-
tions which the skepticism Of this day
demands shall be torn out. What shall
go first? "Well," says some one in the
audience, "take out all that about the
creation and about the first settlement
of the world Away goes Genesis.
''Now, says some one, ''take out all
that about the miraculous guidance of
the children Of Israel in the wilderness. -
Away goes Exodus. "Now," says some
one else in the audience, ''there are
things in Deuteronomy and Kings that
are not fit to be read Away go Deu-
teronomy and the Kings. Now" says
some one. "the book of Job is a fable