Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1880-04-22
@eadiua fpr the Sabbath.
CONDUCTED By
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
rOrlginal.1
MOCKING AT SIN.

lOrgnaI.j
MOCKING AT SIN.
Sin has been we'll defined to be ''any want
of conformity unto or transgression of the law
of God" The essence, 50 to speak, of sin
consists in disobedence to Gods law. All
sin is disobedience and all disObedience is sin.
Disobedience may consist in doing what God
commands not to be done, or it may consist III
not doing what God commands to be done.
The former is said to be sin of commission
the latter is denominated a sin of omission.
In the sight of God, both are equally heinous;
but SO far rs society is concerned, sins of COM
mission appear to be the more fragrant.
TO characterize some acts of disObedience as
sins of omission, and others as sins of COM
mission, is of no practical utility, because Who
ever neglectS to do what God commands, is
sure to do what God forbids to be done. In
other words, those who do not love God, hate
him; and those who do not serve God, render
homage to some false god
To sin is easy. 1t requires no effort, either
of body OF mind. No capital is required to
violate all the precepts of the moral law The
beggar, who has no home, and no means of Sc
curing one, is capable of rebelling against the
God that made him. The greatest difficulty
every human being has to encounter in this
world is to refrain from SHINING Those who
set the Lord always before their faces would
do good, but evil is always present Thegood
that they would do they do not, and the evil
that they would not do that they do. One of
the characteristics Of the true child of God is,
not that he does not sin, but that he sincerely
desires not to sin and strives to live Cody in
Christ Jesus
| 1t is Characteristic of the unregencrate man
that he looks upon sin as a little thing. God
is not in any of his thoughts. He may be
punctual in the discharge of his duties to his
fellow men. He may be truthful, strictly hon
est in all his dealings with his fellow men, kind
and sociable, but still he is unconcerned about
rendering an obedience to God. Not only so,
but the multitude of worldlymen make mock
of sin. They not only break Gods law, but
have pleasure in all those who trample his pre-
cepts under their feet.
In the Bible we are told that 'fools make a
mock at sim" A fool is one whois either des-
titute of sense, or makes bad use of his sense.
Whoever makes mock at sin merits the name
''foOl." He puts his sense to bad use because
he does not reflect that whoever sins conspires
against the greatest and best of all beings.
One of the elementary principles of all sin is
ingratitude, and this is al indication of both
ignorance and degradation. Ingratitude sinks
the human below the brute.
To sin isan evidence of mental arrangement,
because it attempts to accomplish an impossi-
bility. Sin is isrebellion, and rebellion is all at
tempt to- alter the law and change the ruler.
What stronger evidence could be given of men-
tai and moral insanity than is presented by a
human being attempting to dethrone God?
The world would stand amazed at the man
who would attempt to drag the sun from his
place in the universe. Such an individual
would he ajudged Il fit subject for lunatic asy-
lum His folly would be manifest and no one
would hesitate to pronounce such al individual
fool To remove the sun from his place in the
physical universe would be an easy task COM
pared with changing the moral law or dethron-
ing the Almighty. Hence rebellion against
God is folly in the extreme. 1t is vain at
tempt to accomplish an impossibility.
Ouly lOOlS llldht a oll uCCttuoO NClC
it possible for sinners to succeed in their re-
hellious devices they would bring upon the
world series of calamities which no finite
mind can estimate. Suppose the law which
governs and controls the material world were
changed or suspended, no one dare say what
would be the consequence. Suppose the silent
but powerful law of gravitatiOn was suspended
for one moment, what would be the result?
The whole system of worlds would be thrown
into confusion and every living thing dashed
into fragments. The universe would be wrap
ped in wild ruin. This earth upon which we
live, the sum- the moon and the emyriads of stars
which deck the blue vault of the sky would be
affected in a way which no mathematician
can calculate. In the twinklng of an eye the
blood would cease to flow in our veins, and all
the animal organs cease to perform their func-
tions. The rocks would rend, the oceans
empty out their waters, and the earth itselffy
in countless millions of atoms.
But what are these results compared with
those which would take place were the moral
law suspended and God dethroned? Nothing,
and less than nothing. He that mocks at sin
is fool, because he does not consider that if
sinners succeed they accomplish the inevitable
ruin of all things. What has the soul to sus-
tain it but the moral government of God?
What foundation is there for hope but in the
fact that the Lord reigns in righteousness?
s'STAND-BYs' AND "STAND-OFFs'-"The
Stand-bys'' of our churches need good word
now and then. They will continue to come
and work whether they are commended ornot.