Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1901-02-15
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JACOB IN BIBLE.
"An Evil Beast Hath Devonr-
ed Hum"

be gainsayed, not only is it in man,
the highest order of Gods creative
power in this universe, bat we find
1t also In the lower animals, as
well as in the vegetable and mineral
world. In the popular sense, sin
and evil are SYNONYMOUS expl essions,
but they do not always express the
same quality. There may be evil in
man and beast and numberleA other
things without sin. The lion, if you
get within his leach, will crush you
and finally kill you. Can we attach
any sin to that animal for so doingi
Not in the least, but there is evil in
the beast somewhere The rattle.
snake, when it strikes you, will give
almost unbearable pain, but does any
person ever say the rattlesnake sins?
But there is evil in it somewhere, or
it is evil disposed. There areplantsin
the vegetable kingdom, which, if you
eat of will certainly kill us. The
plant cannot sin, but there is evil in
it somewhere. There are mineral
substances, which if ground into
powder and partaken of, will destroy
life very quickly, but there is no SIN
in them, but there is evil, for it will
destroy life before the natural time.
Who will say there is no evil in in
toxicating liquors? In ten thousand
homes, at this moment, there are
sorrowing fathers aud weeping
mothers, grieving. because one or
more of their offspring has been de-
voured by the evil beast of liquor,
and it would be infinitely more bear
able, if lion or q rattlesnake had
taken their lives rather than the de
vouring beast which turks in strong
drink, and yet this evil has been do
ing its death dealing work for nearly
six thousand years. If the govern
ment of this great country had even
backbone enough to cripple this evil,
by extracting the. burrowing teeth,
and sickle shaped claws OF this de-
vouring beast, they would earn the
the gratitude of a million and more
of suffering people, and we would
have no necessi ty for any more of
the amusing but yet law breaking
methods which hrYe lately taken
place in Kansas by MRS. Nation aud
others. Whatsoever will take from
man his good sense and convert him
into brute is one of the most hellish
evils on the face of the earth, and
yet there is no sin In the grain from
which these liquors are made.
In this state of existance there is
natural and moral evil. Natural evil
is anything which causes pain, trouble
or destroys happiness, and these
evils are not responsible tor any of
their results, consequently there is
no sin attached to them. In men
there are moral evils, the results of
which we are responsible. for, so long
as we cultivate. cherish and practice
them in our lives. All wickedness
is sin,a crimes are sirs. all violations
of law and right are sins, and are
the natural fruit of the cultivated
evils which are in our natures. Man
is not responsible for any evils which
be may inherit, but mis- responsibility
and Gin commences when he practises
these evils. Again temptation to sin
is an evil, but there is no sin in being
tempted, for our Savior was tempted
in all points like as we are and yet
without sin. Whether at any time
previous to the commence ment of his
ministry there was liability or tenden
>cy to sin is not.f for discussion in this
paper, but even on the supposjtion
of such condition, there could be
be no sin, because evil was never
cultivated No life, so far as we
know. outside of the life of Christ,
has been absolutely and uniformly
sinless before God; but the Creator
foreseeing, that evil would be in bis
world, provided remedy, whereby
we may escape the worst consequen
ces Of evil aud sin- He also knew thai
before his fallen creatures would ge
far along on LIES journey, the ten
dency and inclination to cultivat,
evil would be greater than the incli-
nation to practice goodness. TIL,
remedy counteracts all evil and sil
of every kind, and it consists first il
converting grace, secondly. power t,