Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-06-28

CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
[OriglnaII.
REPENTANCE.

There are, perhaps, no two things about
which people in Christian countries hear
more than they do about sin and repentance.
1t would be, perhaps, safe to say that there
are no two things about which people have
more confused ideas than they have about
sin and repentance. The latter always pre-
supposes the existence of the former. Where
there is no sin there can be no repentance.
In order that we may have clear and correct
ideas Of repentance, we must first obtain a
clear and correct knowledge of sin. This
knowledge of sin must not simply be theO-
retical, it must also be experimental
In it's proper sense, sin is violation of law.
| Every violation of the moral law is sin, and
all sin is violation Of the moral law. Re
pentance includes three things Scriptural
knowledge of sin, a holy sorrow on account
of sin, and an actual turning away from sin.
The knowledge of sin is derived from two
sources. Our moral instincts teach us that
we are sinners. The knowledge derived
from this source is very defective in many
respects. This arises from the destructive
effect which sin has had upon our moral ma
lures. The understanding is darkened, the
sensibilities are deadened and the will is
perverted. We at present are only the
wreck of what we once were-only the de-
caying ruins of once grand building. The
edge of sin is the Bible. The information
derived from this source concerning sin is
minute, specific and full. Man is every
where in the Bible described as sinner,
and sin is described as that thing which
God hates.
Repentance is properly turning from sin
unto God. 1t may be regarded as gift of
God and also as an exercise of the human
soul. God, in the operations of his marvel
Gus grace, bestows the power to turn away
from sin unto him, and the individual upon
whom this power is bestowed exercises it..
God, by his Holy Spirit, changes the sim
ner's heart; and the sinner. whose heart is
changed turns to God.
This turning of the sinner from his sins to
God always consists Of two things-a sense
of the moral filth and hatefulness of his sins
and knowledge and acceptance of the mer-
cy which is offered to penitent sinners by
God, through Jesus Christ, in the gospel.
The differences between repentance and
reformation are many and great. In repen-
tance the sinner turns from sin unto the SER
vice of God; in reformation the sinner only
ceases to practice sin in its enOrmities. In
repentance the sinner hates sin, but in refor-
nation he still continues to love sin ardent
ly, although he may not practice it so noto-
riously as formerly. In repentance, the sin
ner fOrSakeS SIN because IL is haCe1ul 10 IOu
as we'll as ruinous to himself; in reformation
the sinner desists from SHINING, only because
he sees sin will soon be his ruin. In repen-
tance, the heart as we'll as the feet turns away
from sin, while in reformation it is only the
feet that turn away. Repentance is all of
reformation and great deal more. There
certainly is such a thing as reformation with
out repentance; but genuine heart repen-
tance is always accompanied with thor
ough reformation of the life. Reformation
so much resembles repentance, that we are
constantly liable to mistake it for repent
ance. The force of circumstances often COM
pei men to reform. They cease to sin, but
they do not learn to do we'll.
Although sorrow for sin is one Of the ele-
ments of repentance we are not to conclude
that all sorrow for sin is certain evidence
of true repentance. No man was ever more
intensely sorry for his sin than was Judas
Iscariot, yet he went out and hanged him
self. Usually, men are deeply mortified
when they learn that their crimes are made
public. 1t is not their sin that causes their
sorrow. About this they care nothing.
The thing which grieves them so is the fact
that their sins have been made public, and
they have thereby been degraded in the eyes
of their fellow men. 1t is men, not God,
that they fear.