South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1916-10-16
SAYS SIN WORST
THING IN WORLD
Rev. o. J. COhee Says All
Other Evils Are InSignifi-
can't in Comparison.

"Sin Is the most terrible thing IN
the world. the greatest OF the many
great problems OF humanity. the
great positive fact in this world be
side which all other evils are
dwarfed into insignifcance." de-
clared Rev. o. j. COhee, pastor Of
the Indiana Avenue Baptist church
in his sermon sunday.
Rev. Cohee said i'm part
The only barrier between man
and God is the barrier Of human sin.
The great real positive evil in life is
human sin II is everywhere. To
deny sin is 10 take from ali the re-
ligiOns OF the world, penitence. prop
itation. salvation. after which there
would be little left. To deny sin is
TO take from life as we know il, the
prisons. the police the courts, the
armies and the navies of the world.
To deny sin is 10 deny temple and
priest. battlefield and martydom. the
prophets and Jesus Christ. No,
friends. il is impossible 10 deny the
fact that sin is an ever present fact
Look where you Will. in the streets
OF Ous cities. anywhere that man
meets with God. or man meets with
man. or i'm your own heart. you can
not escape the fact; that YOU are in
a world Of sin. Every sincere man
finds i'm his own heart the germs Of
all the sins that break out around
him into vice and crime. The sight
Of ones own inward sin incarnate
outwardly in crime and vice should
bring him TO his knees in repentance.
Sin Sad1cns God.
Not only has human sir darkened
earth but Heaven also. not only has
IL saidened the universal heart Of
man Sat the heart Of God also The
measure of the suffering Of the
Christ upon the cross is the measure
of the suffering in the heart Of the
Father over His prodigal chilrren.
IF we all admit the presence OF
sin in the world we next ask. what
is this SIM Sin. then we must say.
is opposition TO God. IT is saving in
all the affairs OF life. Not Thy will.
q God. but mine be done Sin is
the defiance Of God and His holy
law. Sin is that conscious word or
thought or deed that denies and de-
fes the voice and the will Of God ex-
pressed in nature, in revelation, in
conscience and in the laws Of the
state 1t is this relation 10 God that
gives 70 the wrong act its character
as sin. Much OF the sin of the world
has its roots in seIhshness. The wish
TO further my desires, my ambitions.
my plans with complete disregard
for what God would have me do.
Among the poO~ sin manifests it
self i'm intemperance-inte
in eating. in drinking. and in speak
ing. In brutality, i'm low living Among
the rich the manifestation takes the
form OF GOODNESS and indifference
and want of heart
Every Sin Is Punished.
''Is there more to say of sin p Must
we describe il and then close the ac-
COUNT No. We must go on and
say that every sin committed i'm the
body is punished To is a law OF life
that whatsoever man soweth. that
shall ne also reap. If sin were to
go unpublished then God were not
supreme. Every sin that "A man
commits brings its own punishment
in "a sense of guilt. The soul stands
before the bar Of it's own conscience
and is declared guilty Of crime. The
conscience stands like the prophet Of
old saying Thou are the man. Nor
is this punishment altogether secret.
For an outraged soul writes upon the
face OF the sinner. for the world to
read. the record OF his crime. In
the olden times the lepers held IN
their fostering hands. crying. ln-
clean, unclean while today the face
and the lips and the eyes OF the
moral lepers CRY out 20 the world
their warming unclean. unclean. UNI
clean. I'm the olden time they hung
the scarlet letter around the neck of
the Outcast. but today the letter is
branded in the forehead of the fall
en- women Thus does the conscience
OF men avenge transgresslon. Every
deed end thought and act is worked
into the fabric of our souls. IL is
well that We study our faces i'm the
glass and see what is there. of sell
hshness. OF greed of hatred OF lust
or pride. What YOU ind there is part
Of the punishment that is yours for
your SHINING
But there is another punishment