M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1855-04-06
LAY SERMONS---NO. s.
Y,,h.ll A., surely dls.-osn. .s.A
~ sOLOMos SIMPLE.

Ys shall nst surely dis.--oon. 3iA.
That was a barefaced, fiat footed lie.
There was not, is not, and cannot be a
Singls word oi truth in it. 1t was a lie
In the beginning, it was put down in
the bible as lie. and il will remain q
lie, though all the world should believe
II TO be a truth. And yet that foolish
young woman, Mrs. Eve. believed every
word Of it. And her foolish children
grand. children, and great-grand chill
dren, down TO the present outlandish
Renefation, have believed itslso. And
great, grow up men, who ought to know
better, hare believed il, for no other
reason in the world. than because the
grand great.grand mother Of all the liV.
ing, like an old simpleton as she Was,
put little more confidence in the devil
than was either Safe or eGpedient. In
this respect, my beloved fellow sinners,
we have all followed the example Of
Adam, in never pausing TO examine the
matter for ourselves, but doing Just as
the fair daughters of Eve tell us. And
IL follows from this. that the greatest
misfortune that has ever fallen upon the
world, was the introduction OF woman
into it--because. if there had been no
woman TO begin with, there would have
bsen no children, and no nothing. Ia
that case, we could all spend our time
in the saloons, and groceries, aud stay
out sll night. and serve the devil gener.
ally without any to molest or make US
afraid.
But as the matter now stands, we
must get along the best way we can, un.
Ill we can find a world 10 sui us better
Aud the first thing to he done, is, 10
set our faces like flint against all the
inventions Of the old father of lies, and
especially against all the fiat con.
trSdicIions Of the solemn declaration OF
Got--especially when our own expert
snce confirms his utterances.
Ia the absence Of grace to help us
along, our best policy is to exercise our
reason. And there is more Truth than
poetr, in the old maxim that "honesty
ts the best policy" Disinteresled be
nevolence, so far as the unregenerated
are concerned. is entirely out of the
question. Selfshness is the principle
TO which | must appeal, 10 Keep my be.
loved hearers out of difficulty. And it
Is suspected by some, that both the
promises and threatehings of the Bible
are adapted to a general love af happi.
ness and dread Of misery. All worldly.
misled people prefer happiness to mis-.
cry, and every act of their lives is per.
formed expressly with view TO sesur.
ing the one, and a,iding the other. And
still, in great many instances, we com.
nit the egregious error Of doing wrong
for the sake Of securing enjoyment
This accounts for the fact that the world
by which ! mean the people vf the
world-is ten times worse than it ought
10 be, or than would be for its interest.
The people seek for happiness, but com.
nit the erroro of thinking that il can be
secured by violation Of the eternal
laws BY which the universe is governed.
Beloved'-the fact is that no violation
Of the law Of God can escape the penal
ty. This certainty is the criterian BY
which We determine what is right, and
what is wrong. That which promotes
happiness is right--that which causes
misery is wrong. And the only reason
why SO many Of us serve the devil, is.
we are shortsigh.ed, as 10 the conse.
quences Of our ac,ioLs. Be entreated to
do the best you can, as prompted BY your
own seliishness. You have no claims
upon the blessings of heaven, because
you are wicked; and no right 10 ansici.
pate good by your adruitness in escaping
hell lor half Of you don't believe in it..
There is no alternative left, but TO do
oil the good we can on earth, from the
well.founded conviction that in keeping
the commandments, there is a great re.
ward. Amen.