The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-08-25
THE LONELINESS OF SIN.

THE LONELINESS OF SIN.
In Gods word there is one prevail
ing thought about sir: that it entails
enlargement from God 10 begin with,
and sooner OF later abandonment to
self. When we fall into the outer dark
ness we do not 90 in bands and com
panies-each man must fall By him
self. From Cain the wanderar to the
prOdigal son, from Gehazi to Judas,
from David to Jonah, all lament their
estrangement, and wakeu to a feeling
of distance from home. | choose Judas
from among them all, because never q
man fell from closer communion 70
more appalling estraDgement CT deeper
abandonment, to more iaal and utter
loneliness. When we trace sin behind
the circumstances we find It's origin in
selhshness, in 8 deliberate putting Of
self Gu throne. Aud 1t only needs
one act Of sin to send goa ioao the far
eff country; one selfish thought ban
ishes you out OF the supper-room into
the night. Men have sought to ex-
plain Judas sin by ascribing 1t TO an
honest desire to force Christ into opp0-
sition, but that was only done by
Peters sword; or they say that he was
suffering from disappointment because
the national wish for a king was not
gratifed; but the others must also have
been disappointed, and they remained
loyal nevertheless. No dark portents
hung over Judas birth, no powerful
ambition gOadad him onward; but on
one ordinary day one of those deeds
Was done that light up character like
a lamp. 1t is often a minor sin
ayarice, spite, or jealous disappOint-
ment-that drives man into a posi-
tion of criticism; and in that incident
about the box of ointment judas plain
ly showed himself to be in the grasp of
self, and treading the path that was
leading him farther aud farther away
from his Master.
Any sin yon commit against your
neighbor makes you less capable of
understanding and loving him. Take
the sin of anger, for instance: be unjust
to your child or friend, and you have
made it harder for yourself to come
near to them afterward; for you are
burning the ends of the finer feelings
of your soul. 1t may seem nothing to
you to be cross and oppres5 those at
home so long as you are genial and
generous abroad; but all the time you
are scOrching your finer sensibilities
and lessening your capacity for true
friendship. There are those, too, who
seek for fame, and are always in the
crowd; but there are the most awful
sOlitudes, and no one is more lonely
than the hunter after praise. Impurity
is avenged by loneliness; and that is felt
first in the prayer-chamber; for it is
empty, and the sinner is met by the
sense of abandonment when he is least
able to bear it. 1t is insufferable, and
not t. be long borne. Either self must
break, or the nan seeks relief in the
fellowship of the world. Many adopt
the latter course, but they must con
fess themselves cheated, for they have
not found relief. Henceforth they can
give their whole heart to no man, to
no woman; in the centre of their being
they are alone and wretehed The
plague spot grows, and is a source of
constant shame within them. Back,
further back, they are driven, and the
desert Of their inner life grows greater
every day
No more terrible prison awaits the
sinner tuan The chamber Of a guilty
memory. From 10 lie may behold
pleasant prospects of peace, and even
lean out OF .,s windows TO breathe in
LAe freshness Of his chiidren's hearts.
but thaJ is all Dislrusy and impauence
spring iIou know edge Of our own
selves, and sin has power to kill the
souls organs Of communion and re-
sponse, making US practically moral
paralytics. We do not know what
tragedies men carry with their souls,
under exteriors as fair as any here.
Sin, no doubt, to many men seems an
entrance to good fellowship. But did
you not feel-yOu who have trodden
this pathway-that, as you fell, door
seemed to shut somewhere behind you?
Remember that the habits of sin make