The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-07-05
SIN UNMASKED,
Dr. Talmage breaches in His
Usually Mastery Manner
Out West.

And Points Out to Kansas Sin
ners the Way that Leads
to Salvation
WINFIELD, Kansas.-Dr. Talmage preached
here to-day, taking for his text: John xv.,
~: But now they have no cloak for their
sin. 81
sin is always disguised. Decked, and
CLOSED, and psrfumed, and masked, it gains
admittance in places from which it would
otherwise be repelled. As silently as when
Ut glided into Eden and as plausibly as when
~ talked to Christ at the top Of the temple,
IT now addresses men. Could people look
upon sin as it exhalation from the pit,
the putrefaction OF infinite capacities, the
CHASTITY, loathsome, .Godsmitten monster
that uprooted Eden and killed Christ, and
would push the entire race into darkness and
spain-the internal charm would be broken.
Before our first parents transgressed, ain ap-
peared to them the sweetness of fruit and the
becoming az gods. To Absalom it was the
pleasure of sitting upon q throne. To men
now, sin is laughter, and permission to lux
urious qualification. Jesus Christ in my
text suggests o fact which everybody ought
to know, and that is that sin, to hidei it's de-
formity and shame, is accustomed to wear
ing q cloak, and the Savior also sets forth the
truth that God can see straight through all
such ~wrappings and thicknesses. 1 want
now to speak ofseveral kinds of cloaks with
which men expect to cover up their iniquiti 9,
for the fashion in regard to these garments
are constantly changing. and every day be-
holds some new style of wearing them, and,
ifyou will tarry q little while, Twill show
you fyeSr six oil the patterns of cloaks.
First, / remark that there are those, who
being honored with official power, expect to
make that o successful cloak for their sin.
There Is o a~ncredness in Office. God Himself
is king, and all who l.old authority in the
world serve under Him. That community
has committed q monstrous wrong, who has
elevated to this dignity persons unqualified
either in their ignorance or their immortality.
Nations who elevate to posts OF authority
those not qualified to fll them will feel the
reaction. Solomon expressed this thought
when he said: "Woe unto thee, o land, when
thy king is q child and thy princes drink in
the morning" While positions Of trust
may be disgraced by the character of those
who I'll them, l believe God would have us
respectful to the Offices, though we have nj
q admiration for their occupants. Yet this
dignity, which office c~onfers, can be no
apology for transgression. N~ebuchadnezzar
and Ahab and Herod, in the day of judg.
ment, must stand On tho level with the
herdsmen that kept their fiocks. and the
fishermen Of Galilee. Pope and king and
governor must give an account to God.
and be judged by the same law as that which
judges the beggar and the slave. Sin is all
the more obnoxious when it IL imperial and
lordly. You cannot make pride or injustice
shazzar's decanter's could not keep the mys-
FERROUS finger from writing on the wall.
Ahab's sin literally hurled him from the
throne to the dogs. The imperial vestments
of wicked Jehoram could not keep Jehu's ar
row from striking through his heart, Jeze-
bels quecnly pretension could not save her
from being thu own over the wall. No barri-
cade Of thrones can arrest Gods Justice in it's
unerring march. No splendor or thickness of
Official robes can be q sufficient cloak of sin,
Henry Will, Louis XIV, Catherine ofRussia,
Mary Of England-did their crowns save
them? No ruler ever sat SO high that the
King of kings was not above him. All vic
tors shall bow before him who on the white
horsegoeth forth conquering andIto conquer.
Again: Elegance of manners cannot sue
cessfully hide iniquity ron the eye of God.
That model, gentlemanly apostle Paul,
writes to us: "Be courteous" That man
can neither be q respectable wording nor a
consistent Christian who lacks good manners.
He is shut out from refined circles, and he
certainly ought to be hindered from entering
the church. We cannot overlook hat IN q
man which we could hardly excuse in q bear.
One OF the first effects OF the grace of God
upon an Individual is to make him q gentle
d Gruffness, a~wkwardness, im~p!acabili-
IN, clannishness, are fruits of the devil; while
III nnr%1onoaa and mooknAaa are fruifR of the