The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1896-04-02
A MULTITUDE OF SINS
YET CHARITY WILL COVER THE MOST
OF THEM.

Chur,h, Albania.
TEXT For charity covereth a multitude Of
tns.-I Peter ~, 8.
Few things are more prolific of evil
than a misconception and perversion Of
the word of God. Some of the most
direful eorruptions in religion, htera
ture, commerce and politics are trace
able to it. No passage in the sacred
Scriptures has been more frequently
misinterpreted and misused than the
one which we are about to consider.
The revised version reads, Love
covereth the multitude of sins " Every |
person who is acquainted with the Greek |
language Knows that this is better |
translation. The word which in the old |
version is rendered charity" means
iove--love in its most comprehensive |
sense Charity is only one expression of
love. The love Of which we are about
to speak belts the globe. While it re-
CARDS especially "the household of
faith, " IL is concerned for the welfare
Of all men III all things.
OF AL the spiritual treasures love is
the greatest. Without it knowledge,
prophecy, faith and hope are worthless
1t is the mother Of all the virtues. The
man who is dominated by it will have
all the graces that distinguish and adorn
true Christian character. He is par
taker of the divine nature, for God is
love- Love is not only pre-eminent in
power and beaNty, but'also in duration.
It is eternal. 1t is like the brazen cross
on some cathedral tower, which shines
like star of evening when all beneath
is obscured by the gathering gloom of
night. OF all the elements Of Christian
character and life it is the most prac-
tiUal. 1t is always manifesting itself in
undertakings for the betterment of the
worlds condition.
The Counterfeits.
It has its counterfeits. There is SEN
timentalism which expends itself in.
rhapsody and sometimes in tears. In
that there is not even the shadowy ghost
of love. The men and women who keep
their emotions stirred by reading ficti.
tious stories of human poverty and suf
fering, but who never darken the door
of pauper's hut or connect themselves
with any organized effort to relieve the
needy and wretched, are only senti.
mental dreamers. Among the worlds
helpers they count for nothing. Love is
ever pouring itself out on some altar Of
sacrifice. 1t is ever lifting some burden
from human shoulders. 1t is ever shin
ing upon somebody's darkness, or heal
ing somebody's wounds, or fighting
somebody's battles It is ever going
about doing good, wondering at every
step at the blindness and folly Of those
who look for happiness in a life of self
seeking.
1t will be interesting and profitable
for us to consider how love acts in COW
ering a multitude of sins. Let it be un-
derstood that the sins of which the apos-
tie here speaks are not the sins of the
man who loves, but of those upon whom
he bestows his love. The old heresy,
that man may offset his bad deeds by
few good deeds, is founded upon false
conception Of this passage. Men have
been taught to believe that they can
cover their own sins by acts Of charity.
While many of us subscribe to creeds in
which this doctrine is rejected and de-
nounced, thousands of us practically in
dorse it. A man who for 40 years has
made and sold whisky, and whom God
will hold responsible for large share of
the poverty, wretchedness and crime Of
our country, gives $50, 900 to the en-
dowment fund of an orphans society.
In making that gift he believes that 1t
will be accepted by righteous God as
an Offset for the guilt he has incurred
in debauching and destroying human
lives and in promoting every species of
lawlessness and crime. In this satanic
delusion he is confirmed by the manner
in which the newspapers applaud and
magnify him and by the complimentary
terms in which the Christian men and
women, intrusted with the care Of the
institution, accept his charity.
Paying and Praying.
Icovet the opportunity of representing
q benevolent institution in receiving
such a gift from such a man. In accept
ing it would try to illustrate that love
which is ever ready to help condemned
sinner to see himself as God sees him.
Iwould tell him that if his gift was q
thousandfold larger it would not relieve
him of his awful responsibility an6
guilt and that the only possible escape
for him from punishment is in prompt
remuneration of his diabolical vocation
and open penitential confession of hi
guilt, and sincere acceptance OF Jesui
Christ as his Redeemer and Master. Ii
doing this would expose to thousands
of deluded men dangerous heresy ant
emphasize to the joy Of all saints, anC
to the glory of God, an essential trutl
of our blessed Christianity.
am president of board OF missions
and If such man would choose me al
his medium for conveying such gift t
our needy treasury, the terms in which
would accept the contribution nigh
horrify the political newspapers, bu
they would gladden. the heart OF all Low
ers of purity and rectitude.
Still more serious are the fruits o.
this delusion in the very bosom Of thu
church. AS a rule the paying member
of a church are the praying members
The man who is sincerely pious--spir
itually minded and circumspect in hi
department before the world-bear
cheerfully his just proportion of the ex
penses of his church. Any man wh'
claims to be pious and refuses to do thi
is canting hypocrite.
Deadly Delusions.
But all the paying members are no
praying members. The weakness and in
efficiency of many churches are explained
q Al -.