The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1915-02-11

/ (lfaalGk- kU2o1llJ thee. but 10 do
justly, and to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy
God?' Micah 6:S.l He said in part:
Is it possible that the true religion of
! the Bible demands nothing more of us
than is expressed ia this text? What
about the Jewish Law What about
its sin-offering, its burnt-ofering. its
thank-offerings? What about the Ten
/ Commandments? What about the d.
gest of those commandments approved
| by our Lord Jesus-"Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
with all thy mind, with all thy being,
with all thy strength; and thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself"? What
about church attendance? What about
our responsibility to our families, to
the church. to the poor? What about
Bible study TO know Gods will? What
about our responsibility for the heath
en-! What about Baptism and the
Lords Supper?
Indirectly all the matters covered by
our questions, and many more, are in
Guided incidentally in the provisions of
our text. Sometimes Il whole sermon
is preached in few words. No one
will dispute the reasonableness of the
Divine requirement as stated in our
text. Our Creator could not justly or
with self-respect ask less than this of
His creatures who would enjoy His
favor. The interests of all demand
that these principles should be requir
ed of every creature permitted the en-
joyment of Divine favor to the extent
of eternal life. Whoever fails to come
up to these conditions would thus evil
dence his unworthiness of life eternal.
His prolonged existence would merely
be a prospecting of sin and Il menace to
happiness and righteousness.
Let us see the scope of this Divine
requirement, whose justice we have al
ready acknowledged. We note the nat
ural division Of our text into three
parts: a. Doing justly O. Loving mer
cy; 90 Walking humbly.
The requirement of justice in all our
dealings with our fellows commends
itself to every rational mind. Justice
includes the whole Law Of God A
brief statement of that Law, which
had our Lords approval. reads. Thou |
shalt love the Lord thy God with all |
thy heart, all thy miIri all thy being
aud all thy strength; and thou shalt |
love thy neighbor as myself On /
these two propositions hang all the
Law and the Prophets.
1t is but Just that we should recog
nize our Creator as first, that we I
should glorify the one who gave US |
our being and all the blessings that /
come herewith. that we should be /
obedient TO His righteous require
ments. which make for our own hap (
piness fand that Of others. 1t is also
but right that we should recognize the
rights Of others as we would have
them recognize our rights The Golden
Rule is the barest Of justice. Not a
hairs breadth less would come within
the requirements OF our text-Do just
~ Come, then. let us reason together
How many of us do justly in all Of
llfe's affairs-in our relationship to our
God ana to our neighbor?
Begin Justice at Home.
Let each one crlticise his words and
his deeds toward his parents, his chill
1ren his brothers, his sisters, toward
toward wife. In all our re-
Of life do we treat those
who are 50 near and dear 10 us nc
cording 10 the standards Of Justice
according 10 the Golden RnIet DO we
do toward them az we would have
them do toward us? II not, after max
lng a beginning with the Lord. strig
ing 10 render 10 Him our homage and
obedience. let MS closely scrutinize ev-
Fry word. every act, Of the home life.
and see 60 what extent these can BE-
Improved upon anu made more nearly
Just The majority Of people. we feei
sure viii be surprised 10 know how
unjust they have been toward those
who ere of the very nearest aud dear
~ ~ tlesliIy relationships
Follow the matter up. and consider
he justice or injustice Of your words
lna deeds In daily life with your
icighliors and associates DO y0u iil-
speak to them 10 the same
words and with the same tone and
,esture that you would approve i
hey were 10 your place and you Va
helrsy IN business matters DO you