before us, let us now endeavour to lay open the sixth commandment for examination, Thou shalt do no murder.' And it may be best understood and remembered when distributed under these three heads:

First. The disposition of heart.

Secondly. The speech.

Thirdly. The conduct it requires of us towards one another. And, first, of the disposition of heart it enjoins us to bear one towards another. Thou shalt do no murder; that is, regarding the disposition of the heart, thou shalt neither bear an envious, revengeful, nor cruel temper of mind towards any of thy brethren; but exercise over them a complacential, meek, and compassionate disposition.

First. Thou shalt not bear an envious, but thou shalt bear a complacential spirit towards others.-Envy, strictly speaking, is that inward hatred of another for some good thing he has, which we have not, but wish for. Hence, according to the same strictness of speech, there is this difference to be observed between envy and jealousy (though they be both daughters of the same mother, pride), that hatred of those who have what we have not, but wish to have, is envy; hatred of those who, though they have not yet, seem in the way to have beyond us, is jealousy. But notwithstanding this be true in exact propriety of words, yet these two are to be understood in the Scripture to fall under the word envy, as indeed they do also in our common language. For the fact and nature of jealousy, you may find many instances of it in Scripture, such as Saul's hatred of David lest he should go beyond him in military reputation; and Haman's hatred of Mordecai, because he was advancing in the favour of King Ahasuerus; and Herod's and the chief priests" hatred of Christ, lest he should take from them their worldly greatness. But what need of Scripture-instances, when the world is every day so full of them; and when with our wretched hearts it is crime enough to incur dislike, that any are coming near us in the thing for which we are distinguished? Whose heart has not known jealousy; a secret rising of dislike, which, if unrestrained, has settled into hatred against those we feared were overtaking us? Indeed it cannot be otherwise, while we are proud of that, whatever it be, which distinguishes us; whe

ther it be station, or wealth, or knowledge, or skill in a profession, or strength, or beauty, or even dress, or (saddest of all) even gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. And then for hatred of those who go beyond us in anything; what a fearful instance have we thereof in Cain towards his own brother Abel! And what had poor Abel done? Just nothing, but that he was the better man of the two. That was fault enough with Cain's proud heart. His countenance fell, it is said; that is, envy might be seen in his countenance towards his brother; he could not endure the sight of him. And what was the issue? Why first he murders himself, as I may say, with spite and vexation; and then took an opportunity, when they were in the field together, to rise up against and slay his brother. And what is all envy but murder in the heart? And who is free from it? He knows little of himself who has not seen that his natural heart is ready enough to wish those, who stand in his way, out of his way at any rate. Horrid iniquity of fallen man! What indeed is man, that he should be clean; and he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?'* That inoffensive child Joseph, what was his fault? His father was fond of him; and therefore his brethren must hate him; envy lies rankling in their hearts, till they cast off all pity. Such is the real character of nature unrestrained, hateful to hating one another. † This envy is a raging sin in the world. The effects of it are not always alike terrible; but the thing itself is beyond measure sinful; yet that man is stark blind who thinks he has never had any inclinations and stirrings of envy in his heart; and he has been a godly man indeed who has at no time in any degree indulged them. Such are jealousy and envy, the daughters of pride; you may easily know by their features that their father is no other than the devil.

and

But, should you be able to say you are free concerning envy, you may not therefore think you are quit of the demands of this law upon this head; for it not only forbids that malignant spirit, but it does not permit you to be indifferent about the prosperity of your neighbour in soul and body; it requires you to rejoice in it; and that it is plain you do not, if you are only indifferent whether it goes well or ill with your neighbour. God has made Job. xv. 14. + Titus iii. 3.

us members one of another; all one by nature, and he expects we should all be so by grace; and therefore his will is, that we all love one another; which doubtless we do not, if the prosperity of others gives us no pleasure. The main thing he would have us rejoice in concerning others is the prosperity of their souls, that with regard to godliness and glory they are in a thriving condition; and also that our joy over them should be in proportion to the measure of grace and godliness we see in them; and so, of course, the closer we see any walking after Christ, the better we should be pleased, and the more complacency we should take in them; yea, when we see them much more distinguished Christians than ourselves. This the law requires. Judge you for yourselves whether you have not come short of it. But then also it reaches to the temporal conditions of our neighbours; we must not regard their worldly prosperity with an envious eye; but must rejoice therein as far as there is ground for doing so, that is, as far as we see grace along with prosperity to use it to God's glory for otherwise prosperity is indeed a curse from God, and such a thing therefore as he who loves his neighbour's soul cannot rejoice in.-As we may not bear an envious, so neither,

Secondly, may we bear a revengeful temper towards any of our neighbours, but must be disposed in meekness of spirit toward all and every one of them. Here, whatever many may think of the littleness of such things, all causeless anger, and all that resentment which lies upon the heart concerning those we are displeased with, and most of all when it settles into malicious hatred against them, with wishes and contrivances of revenge in any sort or way; all these, being in their very nature selfish and devilish, are peremptorily condemned by this commandment. Christ explains it in this very manner himself, in order to show us the abundance of our guilt; I say unto you, Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause (upon any selfish consideration) shall be in danger of the judgment.'* And if so seemingly light a thing as hasty rash anger, which quickly passes away perhaps, makes us liable to the curse of the law, what shall we think of the matter when the injury really or supposedly received fixes an allowed distance, disgust, and resentment on the

• Matt. v. 22.

heart, at last settles into downright malice, and brings forth wishes and contrivances of retaliation? You may see the whole of this in its true light in the conduct of Jacob's two sons, Simeon and Levi, towards the Shechemites, because of the injury done their sister Dinah.* First they fell into rash anger; it is said, 'When the sons of Jacob heard of it, the men were grieved, and they were very wroth.' Wroth! you will say; why should they not? was there not a cause? No, not for such an anger as theirs, which was not so much for the dishonour done to God as for the affront put on themselves, as you may see by the last verse of the chapter, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot? There in the words our sister lay the grief; the honour of the family was stained; this shows plainly enough of what temper chiefly their anger was. And, O! with what a furious look and vehement tone, I warrant you, they spoke these words to their father! But it did not stop here. Their anger rested in their bosom, and settled in a fixed resentment; the scandal lay upon their minds, they could by no means reconcile themselves to put up the wrong: and, under this spirit, no one about them, I dare say, could have a good word or a kind look from them. At length Shechem's love to their sister gave them a fair opportunity of revenge. This was sweet to them. And now they could dissemble friendship, and lie, and make a cloak of religion to bring about their purpose; till, all things having answered their black designs, they took their swords, and without remorse or pity slew not only Shechem, but old Hamor his father, with all the males they could lay their hands upon. And then their brethren fell in also, and carried off, like a company of plunderers and robbers, all they could get. You see here a terrible instance of rash anger, of the horrid effects it will produce, and the great sin of not leaving vengeance unto God. How far anything like this may have been our case, whether we have not been often guilty of rash and sinful anger, whether anger has not settled into resentment, and we have not meditated and taken revenge as far at least as the fear of punishment and the restraint of the laws of the land would permit us, I must leave every one to inquire for himself.-But lest any may think they have little or no blame on this head, because they are not

• Gen. xxxiv. 2.

of this hot passionate humour, and love to be quiet, and so for the sake of their own ease make no stir upon every trifle, we must consider that, by this commandment, those dispositions of mind towards others, which are the direct contraries to this angry, furious, revengeful spirit, and which fall under the general word meekness, are enjoined upon us.

As, First, We must bear a kind and courteous temper of heart towards others, as being members of ourselves; we and they being of one blood, and having the same Father; for which reason a man of strife and debate, and that strikes with the fist of wickedness,' is said, by the Prophet Isaiah, to hide himself from his own flesh.'* This temper is set out by St. Peter as that great ornament in wives which God makes much account of in them but it is as true of their husbands, and of all men, as of them, that The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great price.'+

Secondly. A disposition to construe everything in the best. part. To hope all things, even the best we can, and to see everything in the most favourable light respecting all men, enemies as well as friends, is what this commandment requires of us. And surely it is but an ill token of true affection and love if we be waiting as it were to find fault, greedy to swallow the least accusation against another, ready to believe it, and forward to make the worst of it. This shows a malicious and revengeful spirit.

Thirdly. Another part of this meekness is a forgiving temper. Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you;'‡ as much as to say, “No man can receive such injuries from another as himself hath offered to and been. forgiven by God; and therefore God expects you should lay aside all of you all thoughts of revenge, and forgive one another from your hearts." And let us remember there is no limitation to this command because of the greatness of the injury done us. Whatever it be, we must forgive it, and be ready in the sincerity of our hearts to return good for it, as if it had never been offered. He that cannot bring his heart to this, to forgive his enemy, and do him good, is a transgressor of this commandment, and liable to the fearful judgment of God for the same; as you † 1 Pet. iii. 4. ↑ Ephes. iv. 32.

* Isaiah lviii. 4. 7.