Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1860-03-06
A Lecture to- YOUNG Men.

A Lecture to Young Men.
DELIVERED AT THE SECOND PREssYTRRIAX
CHURCH, SUNDAY NIGHT LAST.
The Rev. Samuel Wilson, formerly n
Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church
in this city, but now q Professor in the
Western Theological Seminary, ut Pitts
burg, Pa, delivered sermon to young
men, at his former Church, on Sunday
night last, of which the following is nm
imperfect abstract.
THE TEx7-De not deceived. God Is not mocked:
for whatsoever man soweth that rhall he also reap
Galatians eth chapter and 9TH verse. Lssa
We are all under natural law. No one
doubts this, no one denies it. Ynunt our
selves as much as we please, about our
manhood and independence, we are never
theless the subjects of law. The proudest
potentate on earth can no more take arsen-
ic with impunity, than the meanest of his
subjects can. Now the author OF natural
law is also the author of moral law
Shall he punish so summarily ana con-
dgnly the offender in one of his govern
meuts and let the offender in the other go
| free? II would be strange If he should.
Two or three particulars, however, are
to be observed here. Punishment may be
long delayed, nevertheless it comes in due
time. Sin and its consequences arc as in
scperably united as cause and effect
God has Joined them together and no
power on earth or under the earth can put
them asunder Retribution may turry
forever. Justice may seem to tarry, but
Justice is not dead, it only sleepeth,
Though hand join in hand, the wicked
shall not go unpublished" No alliances
that can be formed will succeed in thwart-
ing the ends of justice. Aud though long
delayed, the punishment will be all the
more dreadful when it does come. The
explosion of magazine by slow match
is as terrific as though it had been ignitcd
by brand hurled into the heart of it.
RS all question Of time.
Agnin "a sinful 80 etioR, Eaay- be attend
ed by no evil consequences at the time of
! its commission, but may, on the other
hand, be attended with pleasurable seusa-
tions, The immediate effect of intOxi-
eating drinks, for instance, is a delightful
exhileration of spirit, and grateful obl-
WON of all care or sorrow, and a very
complacept opinion of ones self-aud
general satisfaction with all the rest of the
world The remote effects are all tile
h0rrid furies that dog the steps of the
drunkard to the very grave. The imme-
diate effect of a game of cards il nm
agreeable excitement, and an easy killing
of an idle hour. The remote consequences
are bankruptcy of character and estate,
and deplorable wreck of human hopes.
Revenge, which, like hungry wolf, drinks
the last drop of its victims blood, is only
the precursor of a remorse that will gnnw
the very vitals. The law remains the
same. The sweetness of the sin will only
make the consequence the more bitter.
Again These consequences thus delayed
often overtake the offender all ut once and
of a sudden. Each step the sinner takes,
he rouses a tiger by the way side, which
bsbi, basb and % Ri ioR II It's Ses essosistss late in an am
! least thinking of it, they will spring upon
him, tear him to pieces, and there will be
none to deliver. Awful consequences are
Gaily going forward, and are lying in am
bush awaiting their victim, and they will
be all the more dreadful when they do
come. Fire long pent up burns all the
more fiercely when once it has worked its
way to the open mir. The storm that has
long been gathering its strength, has long
been marshnlling its forces in the sky, is
all the more terrific when it does burst
with lightnings and. thunder on the aston
ished earth. If impenitent and unpardon-
cd therefor, our punishment is inevitable
and sure. No power or ingenuity can
avert it, God himself can not auert il, for
God can NOT deny him'seT or compromise The
dignity of his ldtc.
Now is there any rule by which these
punishments are to be distributed or are
! they inflicted at hazard. For an answer
twe come to the text, and VIC get from it
two trutbs-the one expressed, the other
implied. They arc:
Men shall reap in kind the same rs they
sow.
In quantity they shall reap more than
they sow.
And first;
Men shall reap the same kind as they
SOW.
This is well understood in the natural
world Does the farmer sow tares with
the expectation of reaping wheat? Does
the vine dresser plant thorns and expect to
gather grapes? Does the horticulturist
| sow thistles and expect to plant roses
| The same law obtains in the natural
world. The natural and moral govern
ments are not only alike, not only analo-
gous, not only parallel, but they are
piece-parts of one great whole-the same
laws run through both of them.
We are not guessing at this. Let at
tend the proofs.
Iremark in the first place that this is
the theory of the Bible. We find it in the
oldest book in the world the book of Job,
| "They that plough iniquity and SOW wick
edness reap the same" Eliphaz, the Tenn
ante, said he had observed this. "He that
sowcth iniquity shall reap vanity" said
| Solomon. "They have sowu the wind and
they shall reap the whirlwind," says Ho-
! sea. And the law was the same in the
! Apostles day, as is seen in the words of
our text. 1t is great eternal principle,