to do justly and to love mercy, and to
walk humbly with thy God?' And lest thou shouldest mistake in the
least the meaning of these words, He hath showed thee all this, and
more, by a living example fairer than all the sons of men, and
through lips full of grace, in the blessed life and blessed death of
His Son Jesus Christ, the brightness of His glory, and the express
image of His person. To this, at least, we have already attained.
Let us walk by this rule, let us all mind this same thing, and if in
anything else we are differently minded, God in His own good time
will reveal even that to us.

Is not this enough, my friends? Then why should we bite and tear
each other about that which is over and above this? If any man
believes this, and acts on it, let us hail him as a brother. After
all, let our differences be what they will, have we not one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all,
and through all, and in us all? If this is not bond enough between
man and man, what bond would we have? Oh, my friends, when we
consider this our little life, how full of ignorance it is and
darkness; within us, rebellion, inconstancy, confusion, daily sins
and shortcomings; and without us, disappointment, fear of
loneliness, loss of friends, loss of all which makes life worth
having,--who are we that we should deny proudly one single tie which
binds us to any other human being? Who are we that we should refuse
one hand stretched out to grasp our own? Who are we that we should
say, 'Stand back, for I am holier than thou?' Who are we that we
should judge another? to his own master let him stand or fall--'yea,
and he shall stand,' says the Apostle, 'for God is able to make him
stand.'

Think of those last words, my friends, they are strong and
startling; but we must not shrink from them. They tell us that God
may be as near those whom we heap with hard names, as He is near to
us; that He may intend that they should triumph, not over us, but
with us over evil. And if God be with them, who dare be against
them? Shall we be more dainty than God? And therefore I have never
been able to hear, without a shudder, words which I have heard, and
from really Christian men too: 'I can wish well to a pious man of a
different denomination from mine; I can honour and admire the fruits
of God's Spirit in him; but I cannot co-operate with him.' When I
hear such language from really good men, I confess I