Sermons (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE IMMORALITY OF THE TRAFFIC IN ARDENT SPIRIT. Migah VI. 8. He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God? 1 his inquiry was originally intended by the prophet to convince those who relied on their costly sacrifices, of the utter folly of their hopes of acceptance with God, if, with the observance of divine institutions they did not connect a life of pure and exemplary morality. The sum total of the divine requirements will be found included in these three things, doing justly loving mercy, and walking humbly with God. Whatever violates, or is inconsistent with any one of them, is immoral and mischievous. True morality is always, and in all respects productive of good -- the means tif happiness to the individual and to society. Immorality in its nature tends to destroy the peae of him that perpetrates it, and to subvert the public good. All the commandments of God are for good -- for good to individuals, families., communities, nations, and the world at large. Any thing that proves injurious to individual, domestic, social, national or the general welfare, can claim no approbation or sanction from God. He and His constitutions are benevolent. Whatever is mischievous and hurtful in these respects, is opposed to His character and government, and therefore immoral. These positions will be denied by none, whatever may be their theory on the subject of moral obligation. It is not designed here to investigate these theories, nor to discuss the precise nature of moral obligation -- whether it arises from considerations of utility, of expediency, of interest, of sympathy, or of the command of God. It is a fact that obligation is felt. There is a fixed an...