The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1905-02-20

comes about. Whoever defiles the
conscience darkens it. Every time you
act out of harmony with your con-
science, when pure, defiles it. Sin is
the defiler of the conscience. I may
not be able to tell you why it does SO,
but I know it is a fact The con-
science is like a glass, SO long as it is
clear and clean, ones view is un-
impaired, but when dust, dirt, or lint
has gathered the vision is impaired.
1t may be so completely defiled as to
make true judgments impossible. In
the process Of the defilement sin may
be considered in three ways.
I'm the first place there is the single
act Each sin, no matter how small,
plays its part. / would not have you
understand me as saying that the first
sin makes you incapable of any judg-
ment at all or even that it may be
perceptibly impaired. 1t may not end
in ruin. think it will not. You may
overcome it. Indeed it is possible
that you defile the conscience many
times and yet finally redeem yourself.
But each time makes the succeeding
more easily fallen into. For instance
call to mind the Apostle Peter. He
denied Christ. 1t was blushingly and
tremblingly done. But it served the
purpose to make him holder and more
easily tempted the second time. BY
the time tue third temptation came he
was able, without blush, to add bias
phemy to his denial. He was able to
overcome even this. But where he
succeeded thousands fail.
In the second place there is the
more difficult for man to master than
nabit. Once the conscience has
formed the regular habit of a certain
judgment some extraordinary effort
will be required to set it right. From
simply questioning the thing we go on
until we conclude it is alright and
from that position to the place where
we never even think about the right Or
wrong of the deed. The reason for
the gradual decline is aptly described
by Goldsmith in Vicar Of Wakefield:
Conscience is a coward, and those
faults it has not the strength to pre-
vent it seldom has justice to accuse
I'm the third place every sin, when
We have come to love it, makes it i'm
possible to form a true judgment and
in this way the conscience becomes
darkened. One can scarcely make
true judgment if it shall be to con-
denim himself.
Let me take up a particular case
or two. Let one indulge in liquor a
little now and then until ne comes to
degraded state. He is not prepared to
judge between the right and wrong of
COR take the covetous man. The
love of money is mis- master. How
much easier it will be to him to OBJ
tain it unjustly. His conscience does
not serve him properly. Suppose he
has been taking brides from time to
time and is now called upon to pass
judgment upon bride taking. He has
been teaching himself that it is al
right, and now he believes it.
Again take the case Of the woman
of India who throws her babe into
the river Nile to be devoured by the
crocodiles. Was she honest? Yes.
Was her competence satisfied? Ger
tainly. Was she right? No. Then
what is the matter. Little by little she
had ben taught to think Of that which
is wrong as if it were right. Her
pertinency of the warning: Take heed
therefore that the light that is within
thee be not Darkness 1t has been
clearly shown that a conscience is
at times an unreliable guide. But
this is worth little to us unless some
remedy can be suggested.
Here lies one of the needs of the
Christian religion. 1t is a standard
of final appeal for the conscience. By
constantly appealing to it and COM
pairing our judgments to it's teachings
we are able to adjust and reajust our
judgments so that they may be sure.
And so it comes about that Jesus says:
I am the light of the world Light of
the world how? Why as one that
points out true points of view, lays
before us true principles and rules of
Judgements. No wonder then that we
must lay aside every human authori-
| ty of whatever name. No wonder we
| find that it is only those who are ig-
| norant of human nature-of psychol-
ogy, no matter how much they may