The New York herald., 1879-02-24

own place in our own church and make the most of
it, rolling stone gathers in the church
any more than in the world" The text of the sermon
was taken from Micah. vi. s"He hath showed thee
man. what is good; and what doth the LORD re-
quire OF thee but TO do Justly and TO love mercy and
to walk humbly with thy God Referring first to the
services of the preceding Sabbath Dr. Hall said that
while the occasion had been of solemn JOY TO
him and. he trusted. to all the communicates in the
church, yet there was always an element of sadness
introduced by the absence of those who ought to
make public profession OF their fath but who did
not. No Christian should despair Of these however,
but it should be remembered that God continu-
ally pleading. my son. give me thy heart" Atten-
tion drawn to the obligations assumed by those
who say. "God is my God" Various suggestions had
been publicly made the preacher said of the neces-
siy for preaching morality TO protesting Christians
but while wise man should always be ready to hear
suggestions, no matter from whom they might come
yet there to suppose that the standard
of morality among Christians any lower than it
had been. II one should take the pains to visit the
various prisons of the country he would find that
church members were very Insignificant minority
among their inmates. Attention was frequently
called by the press to the trials for various crimes of
clergy men, and one Western newspaper had complied
list showing fifty such cases within year. Yet the
press generally had treated the question with great
fairness and had pointed out that the proportion of
clergymen convicted of crime less than i'll any
other profession. II it true that profession OF
Christianity was ground for suspicion there would
be no hypocrites, for people would not care to
counterfeit trade mark that was considered fraudu
lent. 1t WAS true that unworthy people had adopted
the label but the presumption all over the land was
very strong that processing Christian was an hon.
orable. upright man. God tells what to do as
circumstances under which the words of the text
supposed to have been uttered, saying that they
were reply to the petulant remonstrance Of the
people against serving God The people said, "How
shall come before God?" and recounted the cere-
monies prescribed though they grievous
burden. The prophet rejons, NAY, but. man.
God is good" There is in receiving His word
in this spirit. We to be just toward each other
in our judgments of one another and III our est-
nation of the motives and characters of men. BY
neglecting refusing to do this great injustice
may be done. We are to be just in our words about
others. rash condemnation of another man once
spoken may do incalcuable and irremediable mis-
chief. We should be careful about condemning
others, especially in relation to their past history
In family matters required to do Justly. Has
man the right to do what he likes in his own fam
lily? Certainly not. There claims Of equity there
which must be regarded, and injustice i'll the house
hold may destroy the family.
RELIGION IN BUSINESS.
We to do justly in professions, no matter
what the customs OF the profession may be- In
business life bound to act on principles Of
s2 No mater what the 70 pc sy of & gain BY
one, don't see how man is to get forward If he
acts thus. Well, then. don't get forward. But, he
that is the reason few men succeed. 1t has been
estimated that out Of the men who embark in busi
@ aon oonnSea M
honesty is the best policy, Tor the man who is hon
est merely on that principle is not honest in the
sight of God But say be honest because God ap-
proves honesty.
The second command in the text is. "Love mercy"
We thus find that two things are inculcated which
are characteristic Of God-justice and mercy. Man
is made in the image of God, aud it is the function
of religion to restore that image The text does not
say, DO justly and act mercfully but " Do justly and
love mercy" There should be about mcrciful
deeds the grace of spontaneity. God loyeth cheer
full givcr. The church is q compound body; it is q
family with many members and ust live together
and work together that we may finally, we hope.
be blessed together. Because we SO linked to-
gether there opportunities for the love of mercy
There are weaknesses that We must regard in their
most favorable light There are dangers that to
be pointed out in warning. There are friendships to
be formed. One of the advantages of liberal educa
tion is that by its means strongly marked idiosyn-
craces and ntolerant habits of thought are rubbed
off, but there is tar greater opportunity for this in
church membership. There is also field for the
love of mercy in our dealings with the world around
us. We may do much merciful work in many differ
ent ways. Among these ways are the employment of
the pecuniary means we may have and our personal
There are many claims on us that man is bound
to look around for principles 10 guide him in his
ber that as between things that are far of and those
that near u.s. it is best to choose those that
near. AS between those that picturesque and
mantle. and those that plain and practical, it is
best to choose the plain. AS between those which
to be done in the sight of man and those which
only to be seen by the eye of God it is best to
choose the latter.
HOW ALLEGED CHARITIES ARE SUPPORTED
We should especially remember these principles in
this city, which Is full OF alleged charitable instu
tions, OF them fanciful in their objects and
supported by public money, and some OF them sup
ported by money whecdled from the public by
means OF ost.ntatious public amusements. We
should do good because the Lord would have us,
III order that we may derive, perhaps, merely
sensuous enjoyment. The love OF mercy implies
the hatred OF evil. An incident was told in the
papers last week which WAS at some pains to verify
In neighboring city gentleman applied for the sup
preston OF certain socacd theatre. on the ground
that by its means his young son had been totally
ruined. The Mayor of the city said, 'Sir, sorry
for the boy. but am not sorry for you. Years ago
introduced into the Legislature bill for the sup
preston OF this kind OF resorts and partly by
OF your vote it defeated tolerance of evil in
stitutons brings always evil fruit.
By the third part OF the text we commanded to
walk humbly with God. We not to be crouching
humbly like slaves He has raised us up to sit with
His Son and we are to walk upright We to walk
with God as Enoch and Moses did, in fellowship and
but we must walk humbly, for are
feeble and need continual help. noticed last Sun
arms for baptism. the strangeness of the place and
the pageant alarmed it, and its mouth opened to cry
But the mothers hand rested the little ones hand
and the cry was stilled. As one whom his mother
is the true OF God comfored when
he is terrified by perils around hum. He has but to
say, II want to go above" and by the communion
with his God he is strengthened. We have not to
make the means of our salvation. God has given
thom to us, and all have to do is to use them.
There are. ever ingenious and sanguine who |
think they have discovered perpetual motion, but |
there is no such thing for the creature for perpetual
motion implies perpetual friction. SO we are not
in the Christian life to go aone for there is
perpetual friction. God says, without me ye can
do nothing" But, II do all things through
Christ who strengtheneth me-" These things you
must keep in mind II you would do God requires
OF you. May He bless you forever
CENTRAL NJ. Z. CHURCH.