Download or read book Miscellaneous Sermons (Classic Reprint) written by Sydney Smith and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-12-15 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Miscellaneous Sermons First. The greatest of all follies is a mockery of God by insincere repentance, by that fluctuation between sin, and Sorrow, resolution and infringement, - by that endless circle of penitence, and crime, which they tread, who know virtue only by its labours, and extract nothing from guilt but re morse. The first stage of repentance is in every man's power, and almost in every man's practice. If sighs and tears could purchase the kingdom of Heaven, and a sad face expiate a wicked life, hardness of heart would indeed be weakness of understanding: but, though God is merciful, he is not fallible, nor will he take the odour of sacrifices, or the incense of words, in the lieu of a solid, laborious virtue. In the Christian religion there is no compensation, no arrange ment, no shifting, no fluctuation, no dalliance with duties, no deference to darling vices: if the eye offends us, we must pluck it out; if the hand is sinful, we must cut it ofiz - Better to merit heaven by every suffering, than eternal punishment by every gratification. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.