Semi-weekly independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1895-1897, 1896-04-04
Social Diversions.

it." Judges xvi. -: And 1t came 10
pass. when their hearts were merry, that
they said. call for Samson, that he may
make us sport.
There were 1000 people assembled in
the temple of Dagon. They had come to
make sport of eyelesS Samson. They were
all ready for the entertainment. They be
gan To clap and pound, impatient Tor the
amusement To begin, and they cried,
Fetch him out, fetch him OUT Ionder
! see the blind old giant coming. led by
the hand of Il child into the very midst of
the temple At his first appearance there
goes up a shout of laughter and dersion.
The blind old giant pretends he is tired,
and wants 10 rest himself against the pill
lars of the house. SO he says to the lad
who leads him. SHOW me where the main
pillars are.' The lad does SO. Then the
strong man puts his right hand one
pillar and his left hand on another, and,
with the mighticst push that mortal ever
made throws himself forward until the
whole house comes down in thunderous
crash. grinding the audience like grapes
in Il wine press And SO II came to pass,
when their hearts were merry, that they
said. call for Samson. that he may make
us sport. And they called for Samson out
of the prison house, and he made them
sport"
In other words. there are amusements
that are destructive. and bring down dis
aster and death upon the heads OF those
who practice them. While they laugh and
cheer. they die The 5000 who persisted
that day in GAIA are as nothing compared
to the tens of thousands who have been
destroyed by sinful amusements.
Lawful Pleasures.
But my first text implies that there Is Il
lawful use of the world we'll as an un-
lawful abuse of it, and the difference be-
tween the man Christian and the man un-
Christian is that in the former case the
man masters the world. while in the lat
ter case the world masters him. For
whom did God make this grand and beau
tiful world? For whom this wonderful
expenditure of color. this Sracefulness of
line. this mosaic of the ground. this fresco
of the sky. this glowing fruitage of or
chard and vineyard. this full orchestra OF
the tempest. in which the tree branches
flute. and the winds trumpet. and the
thunders drum. and nil the splendors OF
earth and sky come clashing their Gym
balls? For whom did God spring the arch
ed bridge of colors resting upon buttresses
of broken storm cloud! For whom did he
gather the upholstery of fire around the
windows of the setting sun: For all men,
but more especially for his own dear chill
dren.
If you build a large mansion and spread
a great feast after it to celebrate the COM
NIL Of IN <
strangers To come in and occupy the place,
while you thrust your own children in the
kitchen. or the barn, or the fields? Oh,
no. You say, Il am very glad to see
strangers in my mansion, but my own
sons and daughters shall have the first
right there Now, God has built this
grand mansion OF world. and he has
spread a glorious feast in it, and while
those who are strangers To his grace may
come in / think that God especially in
tends To give the advantage 10 his own
children-those who are the sons and
daughters of the Lord Almighty, those
who through grace can look up and say,
Abba, Father" YoN cannot make me
believe that God gives more advantages to
the world than he gives to the church
bought by his own blood. If, therefore,
people of the world have looked with dol
orous sympathy upon those who make
| profession of religion and have said,
Those new converts are going down into
| privation and into hardship; why did they
| not tarry little longer in the world and
have some of its enjoyments and amuse-
ments and recreat tons i say to such
men of the world. You are greatly mis-
| TAKEN" and before | get through | will
| show that those people who stay out of
the kingdom of God have the hardships
and self denials. while those who come in
| have the joys and satisfactions.
In the name Of the King of heaven and
earth l serve Il writ of cjectment upon all
the sinful and polluted who have squatted
on the domain of earthly pleasure as
though it belonged to them. while claim.
i'll behalf of the good and the pure and the
true the eternal Inheritance which God
has given them. Hitherto Christian phi
| lanthropists. clerical and lay. have busted
themselves chiefly in denounsing sinful
recrea tons, but / feel we have no right to
stand before men and women i'll whose
hearts there is n desire for recrea ton
| amounting To positive necessity. denounc
ing this and that and the other thing
| when we do not propose to give them
something better. God helping me and
with reference 10 my last account. ! shall
enter upon a sphere not usual in sermoniz
ing. but IA subject which think ought to
he presented ut this time. propose now
| to lay before you some Of the recreations
| which are not only innocent, but posi-
lively helpful and advantageous.
Influence of Music
| In the first place, L commend, among
indoor recreations, mnsic-vocal and in
| strumcntal Among the first things ere
ated was the bird, SO that the earth might
| have music at the start. This world
| which began with SO sweet a serenade, is
finally to be demolished amidst the ring
! ing blast of the archangcrs trumpet. Sc
| that as there was music ut the start there
| shall be music at the close. While thi.
| heavenly art has often been dragged into
| the uses of superstition and dissipation
| we all know il may be the means of higl
moral culture. Oh. it is grand thing I,
| have our children brought up amidst tn,
sound of cultured voices and amidst tn,
melody of musical instruments.
There is i'm this art an indcscribable fas