The Sermons of Henry Ward Beecher - 1869 Author:Henry Ward Beecher 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: of reputation lost comes. Sometimes there are distinct memories that return. But often there is only the cloudy haze, the vague and general sense of trouble, tro... more »uble, trouble. And men frequently bemoan themselves, complain, and wonder why their way is so beset. Oh! hear them talk about a selfish world. Selfish they have been. Hear them talk about misfortunes. Misfortunes? Retribution! Hear them talk about God's penalty of some, and neglect of others. God has not neglected you. He is after you with a whip of scorpions, as your sins deserve. Men's sins find them out. And though you put as far as between Palestine and Assyria between you and them; though your sins slumber for years and years, they will have a resurrection on earth. I do not believe that any man commits in this world any sin-' against the fundamental laws of his body, or against the laws of human society, by which men are knit together in faith and love, and goes uupunished, even in this world. It does not touch the question of the other. This is a primary and lower and organized arrangement, quite independent of divine and arbitrary penalties in the life to come. It is not safe, therefore, for those who have choice in this matter to trifle with right or wrong. Men are afraid to commit vices, because they are afraid of losing their places ; that is, something visible. They are afraid to commit crimes, because they are afraid of the law, and are afraid of disgrace. But ah ! sins are dangerous things, and they are dangerous in this world, too. Vices are dangerous, and crimes are dangerous, and so are sins dangerous; and no man can afford to make them his enemies, and populate the future down into which he is going all unarmed and unaware with these dread forms of avenging sins. When men have been living a wicked life...« less