Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1890-12-15
PASTOR AND PEOPLE
A sermon by the Rev. DR. william :
o1" sIN-BHATIs Trgp


al the Presbyterian Church last night he
said
"sin is not only the wrong thing done.
bat the right thing left undone L,
makes Us guilty and therefore liable TO
punishment, and il also makes US vile
and therefore most degraded in the sight
Of God. II is not only our acts. but our
words and thoughts that are affected by
It II ia not here and there one who has
sinned, but all have sinned and come
short Of the glory of God Ii and its
consequences are found in the palace
and In the hut. II affects the thoughts.
words and acts Of the wicked man, and
colors and taints the hottest acts Of the
good man None are free from sin.
The christian feels as Chrysostom. an
early father of the church expressed it.
To sin is human, to persist in sin is
devilish' lie feels, too, that the moral
nature is like the physical nature, weak
est where il has once given way.
Says one Sin startles man-that Is
the first step; then il becomes pleasing;
then It becomes easy; then delightful,
then frequent. then habitual, then con
firmed, then the man is impenitent, then
obstinate. then resolves never to repent
and then Is lost"
When we think of the dreadful crimes
committed, we cannot think that sin is a
trifie. II is said that there are six times
as many murders In the United States as
In England Elevea persons committed
suicide in one day In Paris. Two hun
bred and eighty-nine pupils in the
schools of Prussia committed suicide in
six years. The history of crime, in our
own and other lands, is dreadful in the
extreme. Our daily newspapers have a
sickening record OF murders and suicides
and other crimes every day. This Is
what sin is doing, and nothing mole
dreadful can be thought of than what
actually takes place every day.
Then when we think OF the degreda.
tion that sin causes, We cannot think
that sin Is a tri1e. Two of the daily pa,
pers In Baltimore presented disgusting
pictures OF the degradation sin is caus-
ing, one in describing Sabbath morning
breakfast prepared for the tramps and
vicious of that city, and the other in tell.
ing us about the immoralities of the
stage. II half that is said of the degrad
ing influence Of the stage is true, / do
m ~ xsovdor that tha franuant attendant
is seldom found In Gods house. If the
pictures seen on our streets are only q
faint representation of what takes place
on the stage. they are not helpful to
purity of thought or of character. So
corrupt has the stage became that thea
ire going audiences in New York, Bos-
ton, Philadelphia and other cities, have
cried out against some of the plays and
refuse to witness them. Then see the
degradation that attends intemperance.
In certain prison there Is not a sober
woman among the four hundred inmates,
and not sober man among the five hun
bred men incarceratied there. The deg
relation that sin produces is greater than
we can conceive Then when we think
OF the suffering caused by sin, we cannot
thhlksthat sin is q trifle. Sin has had
sometliag to do with all the pain we
bear, Whether Of the body, of the mind,
or of the soulSSI How terrible is the pain
OF the body in ssse forms of disease
How terrible is tEss mental anguish
brought on by sorrow, oS%regret and re-
morse. How inndursble Sc. the pangs
Of conscience, when a man has had a
view, clear and correct of his sim What
pain we have for others when they are
going astray, as for instance parent for
his children A girl was murdered in
Boston. and her body was kept several
days for Identification. Hundreds of
mothers came in those few days, we are
told, to view the remains, thinking ii
might be their own missing daughters
In the pocket Of suicide was found q
paper with the following written upon il
Il have done this myself. Don't tell
anyone. 1t is all through drink" When
the facts became known through the
newspapers, there were 246 letters from
246 families. each of whom had a prodi-
gal son who. il was feared, might be the
suicide. What suffering ain brings
upon the individual, ana what sufferings
upon relatives and friends. What suf-
fering fer time and eternity