Matthew 5

Matthew 5:1-16

Parallels: Galatians 49

Christ begins his sermons on the mount with the beatitudes and general exhortations to exemplary piety. Mat. V. 1—16.

A N D seeing the multitudes, he went up into a moun- A ND [Jesus,] in his circuit through Galilee, seeing the vast multitudes which flocked around him from all parts, thought it proper to inform them more largely than he had hitherto done concerning the nature of his doctrine and the design of his appearance; that he might correct those false notions of the Messiah’s kingdomᵃ which so generally prevailed,

ᵃ That he might correct those false notions of the Messiah’s kingdom.] In order to enter into the beauty of this discourse it is necessary to consider it as addressed not merely to the apostles (who are not yet chosen under that character,) but to his disciples in general, and to vast numbers of people who, affected with the sight or fame of his miracles, were now assembled around him; probably expecting that he would immediately declare himself the Messiah, and full of those false notions of

Christ begins his sermon on the mount.

and which would prove so pernicious to those who were governed by them. He therefore went up to a mountain, b that he might be the better heard by the crowds which surrounded him; and when, according to the custom of the Jewish rabbies in their sermons, he was set down to teach them, they that were already his disciples, and others that were disposed to receive information, came near to him. And opening his mouth, c with an air of great solemnity, to intimate the importance of what he was going to deliver, he taught them the most suitable and excellent lessons. And as happiness was the great end to which the wisest philosophers undertook to conduct their hearers, our Lord began his discourse with several weighty, though uncommon, remarks as to the surest method of obtaining it: saying,

You naturally congratulate the rich and the great; and expect, under the reign of the Messiah, to be advanced to wealth, and dignity, and power: but happy d are the poor in spirit, e

is kingdom which so generally prevailed. Mr. Blair, in his excellent discourses on this chapter, has shewn (I think beyond 1 others) how directly the beginning of his sermon is levelled against these prejudices. He has also observed (as it is very necessary to do) what a beautiful correspondence there is between the characters described in these beatitudes, and the blessings connected with them.

b Went up to a mountain.] It does not appear in what part of Galilee this mountain was situated; and (if the cure of the eper, which Christ performed at his descending from it, was wrought in the connes of some other city, and not of Capernaum) there is no reason to suppose, as most expositors do, that it was in the neighbourhood of Capernaum; (see Mat. viii. 1, 2; and note b on Luke v. 12; sect. xliv.) Mr. Maundrel says, that what is now called The Mount of the Beatitudes is a little to the north of mount Tabor (Trav. p. 115;) and if this be its true situation it must be at some considerable distance from Capernaum. I shall elsewhere give some hints of the reasons which have led me to conclude that this discourse was different from, and previous to, that which Luke has given us in the sixth chapter of his gospel,

ver. 20; &c. though many of the sentiments and expressions are the same; (see note a on Luke vi. 20. sect. liii.)

c Opening his mouth.] I do not take the expression of opening his mouth to be always a pleonasm; the manner in which it is used elsewhere may sufficiently prove the contrary; compare Judg. xi. 35, 36. Job iii. 1; xxxiii. 2; and Acts viii. 35; x 34. And thus the ancient Greek and Roman writers used it, as Elsner proves, Observ. Vol. I. p. 20, 21.

d Happy.] I have here used the work happy rather than blessed, as more exactly answering to a request, as the other does to whereupon; and I the rather chose to render it thus because our Lord seems to intimate by it, not only that the dispositions here recommended would be the way to future blessedness, but that they would immediately be attended with the truest happiness, and the most noble pleasures.

e The poor in spirit.] Though I cannot think, with Mr. Joseph Mede (p. 25,) that this chiefly refers to a disposition to part with their possessions for charitable purposes; or confine it, with Grotins and Baxter, to a disposition to bear poverty with resolution, submission, and cheerfulness: yet I doubt not but the latter of these is

the penitent, the meek, and the rig teous.

those humble souls that, deeply conscious of their ignorance and guilt, can quietly resign to Divine teachings and Divine disposals, and accommodate themselves to the lowest circumstances which Providence shall appoint them; or howsoever they may be despised and trampled on by men, theirs is the kingdom of heaven; hey will be most likely to embrace the gospel, and they alone will be entitled to its most important blessings for time and eternity.

You admire the gay and jovial part of mankind, and please yourselves with the hopes of joy and festivity: but I say unto you, Happy are the men of a more serious temper, and especially they that now mourn under a penitent sense of their sins; for they shall ere long be comforted with the discoveries of God’s forgiving love, and be cheered with the reviving rays of his everlasting favour.

You imagine that military courage and martial exploits are to introduce the kingdom now to be erected, and to raise men to distinguished stations in it: but I rather say, Happy are the men who are meek and gentle under injuries and provocations, and are cautious in offering but patient in bearing them; for they shall weather many a storm which would bear down the rugged and obstinate, and at length (as the Psalmist expresses it, Psal. xxxvii. 11) “shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace,” which can only have its seat in such gentle bosoms.

Happy are they that, instead of desiring insatiably the possessions of others, and endeavouring to obtain them by violence or deceit, eagerly hunger and thirst after righteousness, and make

comprehended in that humility which is here expressed by poverty of spirit; which is a temper that indeed is absolutely necessary in order to our being cordially reconciled to the gospel method of salvation.

The, that mourn under a penitent sense of their sins.] It seems proper to restrain it within these limits, since there is a sorrow of the world which ends in death, 2 Cor. vii. 10; and though mourning for the the calamities of life be often allowable and commendable, yet it is so natural an

affection, and sometimes in its degree so sinful, that one can hardly suppose on Lord here pronounced a blessing upon it in such general terms.

That hunger and thirst after righteousness.] The very pious and judicious writer I mentioned above, in note 2, has take a great deal of pains to prove that these words are chiefly designed to recommend a love of justice towards our fellow creatures; and is for rendering xōfæa Sævālat, they shall be fed to the full, while

Happy are the merciful and the pure in heart

it the delightful business of life to improve in all the branches of virtue and goodness; for they shall never be disappointed in these pious pursuits, but be abundantly satisfied with the righteousness they seek (compare Prov. xxi. 21,) and be competently supplied with every necessary inferior good. (See Mat. vi. 33.)

Far from training you up to delight in scenes of desolation and slaughter, I rather declare, Happy are the merciful and compassionate, that feel the sorrows of others as their own, and with tender sympathy hasten to relieve them; for they shall obtain that mercy from God which the best and happiest of mankind need, and on which they continually and entirely depend.

Indulge not a thought of those licentious gratifications which are often mingled with victory and are accounted as the pleasures of the great: happy are the men that not only abstain from these gross enormities, but are concerned that they may be pure in heart too,ʰ avoiding every irregular desire and mortifying every unruly passion: this resolute self-denial shall be the source of nobler and more lasting pleasure; for they shall see God,ⁱ and thus purified and refined shall enjoy him in his ordinances now, and dwell with him for ever in heaven.

those who are violent and rapacious as young lions, may lack and suffer hunger; Psal. xxxiv. 10. But the phrase of hungering and thirsting after righteousness must surely be expressive of much more than merely a steady care to treat all mankind equitably, and to avoid what would be injurious and oppressive; and we may rather understand it as a just and beautiful description of holy ardour of soul, in pursuit of the most eminent attainments in universal goodness, which will end in complete satisfaction, as the necessary consequence of perfect holiness in a future state. These different views of the future blessedness sufficiently indicate our Lord from the charge of tawings, though we should suppose (as, after all that Mr. Blair has said to the contrary, I think we must) that our Lord leads the minds of his disciples upwards in almost each of these beatitudes.

h Happy are the pure in heart.] Mr. Blair opposes this may refer to the expectation

they had of possessing themselves of beautiful captives in those wars by which they fancied that the Messiah’s kingdom would be raised and established. The large seragios of eastern princes and great men which, by a very mistaken taste, were regarded as matters of state and grandeur, gave too much countenance to such a wild and extravagant notion: but as the hint is at most but obliquely intimated, I thought it convenient to touch upon it only in a very transient and general manner.

i For they shall see God.] Elsner has illustrated this text by shewing, that the Pagans thought a good man might see their deities in some circumstances, when to the wicked they were invisible. (Elm. Observ. Vol. I. p. 22, 23.) But this, in their theology, might be intended to subserve some fraudulent views from which the nature of Christianity is most abhorrent. The remark, however, may in some degree shew how natural the thought is in the words before us.

are the persecuted for righteousness sake.

I come not, as you may fondly suppose, to lead you forward to the field of battle, or to teach you to propagate religion by the sword; but, on the contrary, I declare unto you, Happy are the eacemakers, who not only avoid contention, but labour to extinguish it wherever it prevails; or though mistaken men may ascribe such a gentle disposition to cowardice and meanness of spirit, they shall have the honour to be called the children of the God of peace, and be owned by him in that dear relation, as they resemble him in the benevolence of their characters.

Instead of these pomps and pleasures, these victories and triumphs (in expectation of which you may now be crowding around me,) my followers must prepare themselves for the severity of suffering: but happy are they that are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, and courageously endure the greatest extremities for the testimony of their consciences: their richest treasure is beyond the reach of their most inveterate enemies; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and they shall reign with God in everlasting glory.

And, on these principles, happy are ye, my sincere disciples and faithful friends, when men shall injuriously reproach you, and persecute you, and shall falsely say every thing that is evil and scandalous of you for my sake, and because of your professed relation to me. Be not discouraged under all this load of infamy and oppression; but rather rejoice, and triumphantly exult, because your reward in heaven [will be] proportionably great and distinguished: for this has in all ages been the portion and the proof of the most eminent saints; and you particularly know from the sacred records, that it was thus they persecuted the prophets of their own nation.

k The children of the God of peace.] So God is often called, Rom. xvi. 20; 2 Cor. xiii. 11; Phil. iv. 9; and Heb. xiii. 20. (Compare Ecclus. iv. 10.) To be called God’s children, signifies to be really so, and to have a right to that name conferred upon us by a Divine adoption; see 1 John iii. 1; and John i. 12.

l Triumphantly exult.] Of the emphatical

signification of the word ἀγαλαιστία, so note f on Luke i. 14. p. 33.

m Thus they persecuted the prophets of their own nation.] This is abundantly evident from the known histories of Moses Samuel, David, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, &c. See 2 Chron. xxxv 15, 16; Mat. xxiii. 29—35; Acts xii. 51 52; and Heb. xi. 36, 37.

Christ’s disciples are the salt of the earth and light

who were long before you the ambassadors from God to them; and as you nows hare in the tribulation of those holy men, you shall ere long share in their glory.

Let it be, in the mean time, your care to imitate their piety and zeal, as remembering that you, my disciples, are to be, as it were, the salt of the earth, the means of preventing or curing the growth of that corruption which prevails in it, and of seasoning men’s minds with wisdom and grace: but it would be most unhappy for yourselves, as well as for them, if you should be destitute of those blessed principles; for if the salt be grown insipid, with what can it possibly be seasoned? It is no farther of any avail or significancy at all; but, as an useless thing, is left to be thrown out of doors and to be trampled on by men as the common dirt of the streets: thus worthless and contemptible will you, my disciples, be, even in the most eminent stations, if you lose your character for real and vital religion.

And therefore, that this may not be the case with you, consider the distinguished circumstances in which you are placed: you are, like the sun, to be the light of the world; and how conspicuous and bright should you appear under that character! Even a city that, like yonder town, is situated on a mountain, cannot be hid, but will attract men’s eyes from a considerable distance. Neither do men light so much as a

n If the salt be grown insipid.] Mr. Le Clerc sinks the meaning of this noble passage very low, when he supposes our Lord only intends to compare his disciples to salt ashes used in manuring the ground, (see Luke xiv. 34, 35.) That passage, in which Livy calls Greece Sal Gentium, the salt of all the nations, on account of those intellectual improvements they learned from thence, might easily have suggested a much nobler sense, which the paraphrase expresses. The word μαρτυρία has a peculiar beauty and strength here, and might literally be rendered, if it be infatuated, or rown foolish, alluding to the common figure in which sense and spirit are expressed by salt; but I thought the metaphor too strong to be literally retained in the version, and therefore contented myself with a distant imitation, as we call a flat lifeless discourse insipid. Compare Job vi. 6, and Col. iv. 6. o A city that, like yonder town, is situated on a mountain.] Mr. Maundrel tells us that there is a city called Sapiat, supposed to be the ancient Bethulia, which, standing on a high hill, might easily be seen from the mountain on which Christ made this discourse; and probably supposes him might point to that here, as afterwards he did to the birds and the lilies: Mat. vi. 2—28. (Maundr. Travels, p. 115.) Man writers have justly observed, that our Lord, like Socrates, takes his similies from the most obvious things, familiarly known to his hearers, and often before their eyes, even while he was speaking; a though most largely illustrated by Sir Isaac Newton on the Pro hecies, p. 148, 149.

ions on the beatitudes pronounced by Christ.

common lamp, and put it under a bushel, and s conceal it there; but they rather set it on a x stand, and it giveth light to all that are in the h house. How much less will it become you, v whom I have compared to the sun, p to hide or to suppress your rays? On the contrary, let 1 it be your care that your light may so shine before men, that they may continually see your good works in every circumstance and relation of life, and may thereby be engaged to glorify your Father who is in heaven; not only praising him for sending such a religion into the world, but also themselves embracing your faith, and imitating your holy example.

IMPROVEMENT.

WHAT abundant reason have we to bless God that this large Ver and edifying discourse of our blessed Redeemer is thus particu- 1, 2 arly recorded by the sacred historian. Let every one that hath ars to hear attend to it; for surely never man spake as our Lord ere doth. Let us fix our souls in a posture of humble attenion, that we may receive the law from his mouth.

He opened it with blessings, repeated and most important 3-12 lessings. But on whom are they pronounced? and whom are we taught to think the happiest of mankind? The meek and the umble, the penitent and the merciful, the peaceful and the pure, hose that hunger and thirst after righteousness, those that abour, but faint not, under persecution! Blessed Jesus! how different are thy maxims from those of the children of this world! They call the proud happy, and admire the gay, the rich, he powerful, and the victorious. But let a vain world take its gaudy trifles, and dress up the foolish creatures that pursue them. May our souls share in that happiness which the Son of God came to recommend and to procure! May we obtain mercy of the Lord; may we be owned as his children; may we see his race; and may we inherit his kingdom! With these enjoyments, and these hopes, we will cheerfully welcome the lowest or the most painful circumstances.

Let us awaken and stir up our souls to the cultivation of those amiable virtues which are here recommended to our pursuit; this humility and meekness, this penitent sense of sin, this ardent desire after righteousness, this compassion and purity, this

p How much less will it become you, beautiful passage Mr. Pierce has w whom I have compared to the sun, [c.] shown in his fourth Dissertation. That this is the sense and spirit of this

Christ proceeds, in his sermon on the mount,

peacefulness and fortitude of soul, and, in a word, this universal goodness which becomes us as we sustain the character of the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Verse 13, 14 Is there not reason to lament it, that we answer the character no more? Is there not reason to cry out, with a good man in former times,* “Blessed Jesus! either these are not thy words, or we are not Christians!” Oh, season our hearts more effectually with thy grace! Pour forth that Divine oil on our lamps! Then shall the flame brighten; then shall the ancient honours of thy religion be revived; and multitudes be awakened and animated by the lustre of it to glorify our Father in heaven. Amen.

• Linacer.

Matthew 5:17-26

Our Lord declares his purpose of establishing and vindicating the moral law, and enters on his divine exposition of it. Mat. V. 17—26.

MAT. V. 17.

THAT the great design of our Lord’s appearance might be more fully understood by the multitudes that were now assembled around him, he proceeded in his discourse and said, Suppose not that I am come to dissolve that goodly fabric of holy precepts contained in the sacred writings of the laws, or the prophets; for I solemnly assure you, That I am not come to dissolve, but rather to vindicate and illustrate, to complete and adorn [them,ᵃ] both by my example and discourses, as well as to answer the highest ends of the ceremonial institutions. For verily I say unto you, That as their original is Divine, their honours shall be perpetual; so that

ᵃ To vindicate and illustrate, to complete and adorn them.] I was willing to take the word ἀληθῶσαι in its most extensive sense, as comprehending what Christ has done to answer the end of the ceremonial law, as well as to vindicate and enforce the moral: yet by the connection it seems that the latter was chiefly intended; and this phrase, the law and the prophets, is used in this sense, Mat. xxii. 40. It is strange that any should have questioned whether the precepts of Moses required such spirituality of obedience as Christ here demands. That great command of loving the Lord God with

all the heart, &c. and our neighbour as ourself (Mat. xxii. 37,) must surely comprehend all this. I shall only add, that Vitringa’s interpretation of ἀληθῶσαι, who supposes it here to answer to the Chaldee GEMAR, which signifies to paraphrase, illustrate, open, or explain, seems to me worthy of consideration. (Compare Rom. xv. 19; ἀετληρωμικαὶ τὸ ἱελημῶσιν, I have fully explained the gospel; and Col. iv. 12; ἀετληρωμικαὶ τὸ Ἰηλικαὶ τὸ Θω, completely instructed in the will of God.) See Vitringa. Observ. Sacr. lib. i. dissert. iii. cap. 5. § 3.

vindicate and explain the moral law.

till heaven and earth pass away, and the whole visible frame of nature be disjointed, not one ‘ot or one tittle shall pass or perish from the law,ᵇ till all things which it requires or foretells shall be effected.ᶜ Whoever therefore shall himself transgress or violate one of the least of these commandments which are contained therein; and especially, whoever shall teach other men so to do, whether by his licentious principles or irregular example, he shall be accounted [one of] the least and unworthiest members in the kingdom of heaven, or in the church of the Messiah; and shall soon be entirely cut off from it as unfit for so holy a society: but whosoever shall do them, and teach [them] with that advantage which nothing but the authority of a good example can give, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven, and be treated with distinguished honour and favour in proportion to his zeal in so good a cause. Let this therefore be the care of all that hear me this day: for I say unto you, with all the solemnity that so important an affair requires, That unless your righteousness abound far more than [that] which is apparent in the lives, or even required in the precepts, of the scribes and Pharisees,ᵈ as highly as they are generally esteemed, ye shall be so far from making any illustrious figure, that ye shall not by any means enter into the kingdom of heaven,ᵉ or be owned by the Son of man as truly his subjects.

ᵇ One jot or one tittle.] The word ωία, which we render jot, undoubtedly answers to the Hebrew letter jod, whence the English word here used seems to be derived, and which, being the least letter of their alphabet, might properly be used proverbially on this occasion. Κησία, which we render tittle, properly signifies one of those little ornamental curvatures, or flourishes, which, when Hebrew is elegantly written, are generally used at the beginning and end of a letter, and sometimes at the corners too. I think it might well have been rendered, not the least letter, or stroke, &c. and so much the rather, as jot and tittle, in English, signify much the same.

ᶜ Till all things which it requires or foretells shall be effected: ωία ἀνταγία γινεῖαι.] The translation here given is most literal and comprehensive. The law has its effect

when its sanctions are executed, as well as when its precepts are obeyed.

ᵈ Apparent in the lives, or even required in the precepts of the scribes and Pharisees.] As our Lord levels his following discourse, not so much against the corrupt lives of these Jewish teachers, as against their doctrines, I conclude that the text chiefly refers to the latter: yet since their lives were yet worse than their maxims, it must comprehend the former. They seem, (so far as we can judge by this sermon, and other scriptures) to have taught, that the precepts of the law extended only to the outward actions; that a zeal in the ceremonial parts of religion would excuse moral defects and irregularities, and that some important privileges were inseparably connected with a descent from Abraham, &c.

ᵉ Ye shall not by any means enter into the

Christ’s exposition of the sixth commandment.

To illustrate this, I will now proceed to explain some of those precepts of the law which these Pharisaical teachers have, by their perverse glosses, enervated and dishonoured; and I will begin with the sixth commandment. *You have heard that it was said to the ancients,*ᶠ and particularly to your fathers at mount Sinai, *Thou shalt not kill:*ᵍ and you have been taught that the only design of it was to restrain men from actual murder; and accordingly it has been added, That *whosoever shall unlawfully kill another, shall be obnoxious to the judgment,*ʰ and be capitally punished in the common courts of judicature. *But I say unto you, That it was the design of God in this precept to prohibit extravagant passions and abusive language, as well as the most fatal effects of them in destroying the lives of each other: so that whosoever shall, without just cause,ⁱ be angry with his brother, so as secretly to wish him evil, shall be obnoxious to the judgment, or shall be liable to a worse punishment from God than any that your common courts of judicature can inflict:*ᵏ and whosoever to his secret anger shall add opprobrious and contemptuous words; or, for

ingdom of heaven.] This must greatly surprise Christ’s hearers, if the proverb which has since prevailed were of so ancient a date; for it has been commonly said by the Jews, that “if but two men were to enter into the kingdom of heaven one of them would be a Pharisee and the other a scribe.”

ᶠ You have heard that it was said to the ancients.] Thus are the words segés que següent, to be rendered; see Grotius, and Whitby, in loc.

ᵍ Thou shalt not kill.] I might have rendered, Ou qui, Thou shalt not commit murder, as Dr. Scott has very properly done; but I chose to retain the words of the commandments as they are usually expressed among us, that it might at first hearing be more apparent to every reader, that what follows each is our Lord’s commentary upon it.

ʰ Shall be obnoxious to the judgment.] To understand this, and the following verse, it is necessary to observe, that the Jews had a common court of twenty three men, wherein capital sentences might be passed, on which a malefactor might be strangled or

beheaded; this was called the judgment: but the sanhedrim, or council, was the supreme Jewish court, consisting of seventy two, in which the highest crimes were tried, which they, and they alone, punished with stoning, which was thought a more terrible death than the former. See Grotius’s excellent note on this text, on which the best commentaries upon it since him are little more than transcripts. (See Bishop Hopkins’s Works, p. 65, 66.) As murder was undoubtedly a capital crime, Dr. Lightfoot, and after him, Dr. Whitby, must be mistaken in supposing that judgment here signifies punishment from the immediate hand of God, as in a case which human laws would not reach. See Lightf. Hor. Hebr. and Whitby, on Mat. v. 22.

ⁱ Without just cause.] Though un, without cause, be wanting in some old versions and manuscripts, the sense plainly implies it. See Dr. Whitby, in loc.

ᵏ To a worse punishment from God, &c.] That judgment must here signify punishment from God, is plain, because this cause less anger might be so concealed in the hear as not to admit of conviction before men.

nishment of causeless anger and reproach.

instance, shall say to his brother, Raca, that is, Thou worthless empty fellow,ˡ shall be exposed to yet more terrible effects of the Divine resentment, and be obnoxious to a yet severer punishment, that will as far exceed the former as that inflicted by the sanhedrim, which extends to stoning, does that which follows on the judgment of the inferior courts, which only have the power of the sword, but whosoever, in his unreasonable passion, shall presume to say unto his brother, Thou fool, that is, Thou graceless wicked villain,ᵐ thereby impeaching his moral character, as well as reflecting on his intellectual, shall be obnoxious to the fire of hell, or to a future punishment more dreadful even than that of being burnt alive in the valley of Hinnom,ⁿ from whence you borrow the name of those infernal regions.

Remember therefore to lay aside all your animosities, and to live in peace and love, as ever you would escape God’s wrath and secure his favour. Without this your most expensive sacrifices would be so vain, that I must inculcate it on every one of you as a most necessary caution, If thou art bringing thy gift, however

Raca, that is, thou worthless empty fellow.] Drusius gives the most learned and accurate account of the etymology and import of this word, which seems pretty exactly to answer to COXCOMB in our language.

ᵐ Thou fool, that is, thou graceless wicked villain.] Mr. Blair thinks that μας, thou fool, answers to RAKEHELL; but that being only applied to a debauchee, seems too contracted. Wicked men are so often called fools in the Old Testament, especially in the writings of David and Solomon, that the appellation in the Jewish language, signifies not so much a weak thoughtless creature, as a man deliberately guilty of some heinous crime, or, in one word, a VILLAIN. On this account I cannot but think it wrong that ανοίοι, Luke xxiv. 25, or αφεν, 1 Cor. xv. 36, should, by so harsh a translation as ours, have been confounded with such an infamous word as this.

ⁿ Burnt alive in the valley of Hinnom.] Though it is so well known to the learned, I must beg leave to remind my English reader that the valley of Hinnom or Tophet had been the scene of those detestable

sacrifices in which children were burnt alive to Molech (compare 2 Kings xxiii. 10; 2 Chron. xxviii. 3; and Jer. xix. 2—5; xxxii. 35,) and was afterwards defiled by Josiah, 2 Kings xxiii. 10, and made a receptacle for the filth of the city, where fires were kept continually burning to consume it: and it is probable that if any criminals were executed on the statute, Lev. xx. 14, or xxi. 9, this accursed and horrible place might be the spot of ground on which they were consumed. However that were, it seemed, both with regard to its former and latter state, a fit emblem of hell itself (see Isa. xxx. 33, and Jer. xix. 11—13,) which, in the Syriac language, takes its name from thence, and was commonly called Gehenna by the Jews; (see Light. Hor. Hebr. in loc. and Preface to his Harm. of the New Test.) It must here signify degree of future punishment, as much more dreadful than that incurred in the former case, as burning alive was more terrible than stoning: for I apprehend the punishment of each degree of anger and fury here mentioned is to be referred to the invisible world, or else our Lord’s words would not be generally true.

costly and free, even to the very altar, and there recollectest that thy brother has any just cause of [complaint] against thee, do not content thyself with a secret, and it may be a treacherous purpose, that thou wilt hereafter accommodate the affair, but bring it to an immediate issue; And, leaving thy gift there, in the hand of those that are ministering before the altar, go away, and first make it thy care to be reconciled to thy brother, by an acknowledgment of thy fault, and by a readiness to make him any reasonable satisfaction; and then come and offer thy gift, which thou mayest then cheerfully hope God will accept at thine hands. And it will be prudence as well as humanity to apply this advice to suits at law, if you are so unhappy as to be engaged in them: my counsel then to each of you is, That thou shouldest make it thine endeavour to come to a friendly agreement with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the way going with him to a magistrate; lest the adversary should deliver thee to be tried before the judge; and the judge deciding the cause against thee, deliver thee to the officer of the court, to keep thee in custody till payment be made; and thou not having enough by thee to discharge an account inflamed with so many additional articles of expense, shouldest be cast into prison: Verily I say unto thee, Thy antagonist, when he has got thee at such an advantage, will be more rigorous in his demands than before; and thou shalt not by any means come out from thence, till thou hast discharged

• If thou art bringing thy gift, however costly and free.] Δωρε, a gift, implies that it was a free will offering; which adds great strength to the sentence, beyond what it would have had if the word had been υσιν, sacrifice.

• First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.] It is observable that Philo (de Sacrif. p. 844,) explaining the law of the trespass offering, tells us, “That when a man had injured his brother, and repenting of his fault, voluntarily acknowledged it (in which case both restitution and sacrifice were required,) he was first to make restitution, and then to come into the temple presenting his sacrifice, and asking pardon.” This is a very just and a natural account of the matter, and adds a great illustration to this text; especially when it is considered that our Lord supposes in this case not a trespass offering but a voluntary gift presented before the altar; and yet declares that this will not be accepted while there is a consciousness having wronged a brother and not made him reparation.

• Come to a friendly agreement with thine adversary.] The word αἴλις properly signifies a person who is going to law with another. I have rendered ιστι υσιν, come to a friendly agreement, because the original seems to imply not only peace but benevolence.

Reflections on the strict regard due to the law.

thou hast paid the the very last farthing of thy debt. And surely, if by impenitent wickedness thou makest thy-self the prisoner of the Divine justice,† thy case will be yet more deplorable and hopeless. $^(sect. xxxviii)$ Mat. V. 26

IMPROVEMENT.

LET us seriously consider and often recollect the purposes of 17 Christ’s appearance: he came not to destroy the law and the prophets, or to dissolve men’s obligation to observe them: but rather to enforce as well as to fulfil them. How fatally shall we pervert the purposes of his coming, if we regard him as the minister of sin? How ungratefully shall we abuse the merciful constitution of his gospel should we take encouragement from thence to violate his law? Dangerous as well as ungrateful abuse indeed! For God’s eye will be watchful over its honours, and his hand exerted to maintain them; so that heaven and earth shall pass away before it shall fail of its accomplishment in being 18 either obeyed or avenged on the impenitent sinner. May it be our constant care to keep it ourselves, and to teach others to observe it! May we teach it by our lives as well as our lips; and let our daily conversation demonstrate how practicable and 19 how amiable its precepts are! So shall we be great in the kingdom of heaven, in the pursuit of which we may give full scope to the noblest ambition of which human nature is capable.

Let our hearts own and feel the spiritual sense of God’s law, 20 that we may rise to a more sincere and more extensive righteousness than that of the scribes and Pharisees. May we delight in it after the inward man, and learn to regulate our thoughts and our passions, as well as our external behaviour, by it!

Especially let us avoid all the malignant and ill natured 21, 22 passions, all thoughts of rash and immoderate anger, all words of contumely and reproach. If we would maintain communion with the God of love, let love govern in our hearts; and when we come to present our devotions to him, let us lift up holy hands 23 without wrath, as well as without doubting (1 Tim. ii. 8,) so may we promise ourselves a gracious welcome; so shall we carry away the most valuable blessings!

But are none of us strangers to this blessed state? are none of us obnoxious to the Divine displeasure? If we are so, with what

† If thou makest thyself the prisoner of the Divine justice.] This thought is a natural reflection on what was said before; but it is rather intimated than expressed in our Lord’s words, which so naturally lead to the sense given in the paraphrase, that to those who are unacquainted with the Popish manner of managing controversies, it might seem surprising they should ever be urged in favour of purgatory. The vanity and inconsistency of it is well exposed by Bishop Burnet on the Articles, p. 169, and Limborch, Theolog. lib. vi. cap. 10. § 22.

Christ’s exposition of the seventh commandment.

a holy solicitude of soul should we labour to make up the controversy and come to an agreement, while we are yet in the way with this awful adversary! lest we be immediately hurried before the tribunal of the righteous Judge of all the world, and be delivered into the hands of justice, to be reserved in everlasting chains beyond the possibility of redemption.

Lord, we were all the debtors, and, in one sense, the prisoners of thy justice; and of ourselves we are most incapable, not only of paying the uttermost farthing, but even of discharging the least part of the debt! We bless thee for that generous Surety who has undertaken and discharged it for us; and by the price of whose atoning blood we are delivered from the chains of darkness, and are translated into the glorious liberty of thy children.

Matthew 5:27

Our Lord proceeds in his exposition of the law, strictly prohibiting uncleanness, divorce, contention, and revenge; and urging the contrary virtues. Mat. V. 27, to the end.

MAT. V. 27.

JESUS proceeded in his sermon to the seventh commandment, and observed, You have often heard that it was said to the ancients, Thou shalt not commit adultery; and that law has been explained as if it related only to the

grossest acts of uncleanness: But I say unto you, That it extends not only to unchaste actions and words, but even to looks and the very thoughts of the heart; for whosoever shall gaze on a woman to lust after her, and thus cherish and indulge the secret workings of irregular desire in his mind, has already committed that adultery with her in his heart which this commandment was designed to forbid, and thereby rendered himself, in the sight of God, guilty of the breach of it.

MAT. V. 27.

YE have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery.

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

a Whosoever shall gaze on a woman: o βλεπων γυναικα.] There are several other places where the word βλεπω signifies to look on an object with great attention, or to fix the eye upon it. See Mat. vii. 3; xviii. 10; Luke vii. 44; viii. 18; Acts i. 9; iii. 4; 1 Cor. iii. 10; x. 12; Phil. iii. 2; and Rev. xvii. 8.

b Committed adultery with her in his heart.] In the first edition I had rendered it debauched her, because it is plain

γυναικω must extend to single as well as married persons; but, on the animadversion of a learned friend, I am convinced that the spirit of our Lord’s meaning is best expressed by retaining the word used in the seventh commandment, and giving the passage such a turn as I have now given it in the paraphrase, which does not at all limit the sense. But to render γυναικα a married woman, would be a limitation, I think, not to be justified,

e most beloved lusts are to be mort: e .

You will think me severe in requiring you so strictly to mortify all the irregular propensities of nature, but you will find it, on the whole, as much for your interest as it is to part with a gangrened member to prevent the death of the whole body; yea indeed it is infinitely more so. And if, therefore, thy right eye offend or ensnare thee, or any thing dear as thy right eye would be the necessary occasion of leading thee into sin, pluck it out with inexorable resolution, and cast it far from thee with abhorrence: for it is advantageous to thee, that one of thy members should perish, rather than thy whole body should be thrown into hell; which yet must be the fatal consequence of indulging the most favourite lust. Yea, if thy right hand offend or insnare thee, though it be so useful and necessary a part, do not spare it, but immediately cut it off, and cast it from thee; for I renew the declaration, That it is highly advantageous to thee, that any one of thy members should perish, rather than thy whole body should be thrown into hell, to be the companion of thy guilty soul there in everlasting horror and misery.

It has been said, (Deut. xxiv. 1,) Whoever would dismiss his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce: and this precept, which was indeed intended to prevent the frequency of such dismissions, by making it so solemn and irrevocable a thing, has perversely been interpreted as a warrant for having recourse to it upon every trifling occasion. But such a practice is directly contrary to the original design of marriage, and highly injurious to the common good of mankind: I therefore think it necessary to restrain so dangerous a liberty, and say unto you,

e Offend or insnare thee.] It is well known that this is the force of the word eueueue, which most literally signifies to be a stumbling block in a person’s way, or an occasion of his fall; and so implies much more than merely to displease. I mention this remark, obvious as it is, because the sense of so many texts depends on attending to it. See Rom. xi. 9; xiv. 13—21; xvi. 17; 1 Cor. viii. 13; Gal. v. 11; and Rev. ii. 14.

d If thy right hand offend or insnare thee.]

The greatest part of Christ’s auditors were poor people who lived by their daily labour; and to these the loss of a right hand would be a much greater calamity than that of a right eye: so that there is a gradation and force in this passage beyond what has generally been observed.

e Rather than thy whole body should be thrown into hell.] This plainly implied the doctrine of a resurrection, though Christ had not yet expressly taught it.

p

Divorces only lawful in the case of whor

That whosoever shall dismiss his wife, except it be on the account of whoredom,ᶜ causeth her, by a second marriage, to commit adultery, or at least exposeth her to great danger of doing it; and whoever shall marry her that is thus unlawfully dismissed,ᵈ committeth adultery, since the bond of the former marriage does in the account of God remain undissolved.

Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients (Lev. xix. 12; Deut. xxiii. 21,) Thou shalt not perjure or forswear thyself, but shalt diligently perform unto the Lord thine oaths and vows: and this has been expounded as extending merely to those oaths in which the name of God is expressly used, and only prohibiting the violation of such, but tolerating the use of them, even on slight occasions, so it be not in confirmation of a falsehood. But I say unto you, Swear not at all in your common discourse with each other,ʰ even so much as by the creatures; either by heaven,ⁱ for it is the throne of the glorious and holy God; Or by the earth, for it is under his dominion, and subject to him as his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is

ᶠ On the account of whoredom.] It is very evident that ἔσθαιναι, as here used, must have a more ambiguous and larger sense than the English word fornication, which generally answers to it; and must be understood here of adultery.

ᵍ Shall marry her that is unlawfully dismissed.] Mr. Blair (in the third volume of his Sermons, p. 111, 112,) explains this clause as intended to forbid women divorced or adultery to marry, which he thinks an additional punishment inflicted on persons guilty of so enormous a crime, and a wise provision for preventing bad women from committing adultery in hopes of opening their way to another more agreeable marriage. But I prefer the sense here given, because it makes this latter clause more correspondent to the former, and prevents the necessity of supposing μοιχίω to be used in two different senses so near together.

ʰ Swear not at all in your common discourse with each other.] The opposition between this verse and the 37th limits the prohibition to this sense; and, waving that, it would be necessary to interpret it as a restrictive rather than an universal precept, and to consider it as more particu-

larly levelled at the common practice of the Jews, who reckoned swearing by the creatures to be far more excusable than swearing by the name of God, and made but little scruple of the frequent use of it. For that all swearing is not here condemned as a thing absolutely evil, is fully evident from other passages of scripture, and of necessity must be allowed to vindicate the conduct of Christ and his apostles. Compare Mark viii. 12; Mat. xxvi. 64; Rom. i. 9; ix. 1; Gal. i. 20; 2 Cor. i. 18; and Heb. vi. 16.

ⁱ Either by heaven.] Though I allow, with the learned Heinsius, that the words μὴ οἶσσαι οἶσαι may be rendered By no means swear, either by heaven, earth, or the like; yet it will not follow that the words only forbid swearing by creatures, since ver. 37 forbids whatever is more than yea or nay. So that it is absolutely necessary to have recourse to some other solution of this prohibition as well as of that in Jam. v. 12, where any other oath is forbidden; and nothing is more natural and easy than to understand it in both places as a prohibition of the use of oaths in common conversation.

mon swearing must be carefully avoided.

the city of the Great King of Israel and of the universe: Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou art so far from having an absolute power over it, that thou canst not make the colour of one hair of it white or black: so that these oaths by the creatures, if they have any sense at all, are an implicit appeal to God. But I charge you to avoid the customary use of all such oaths, as well as of those in which the name of God is directly expressed; and let your conversation be all plain and simple: when you affirm say Yes, yes; and when you deny, No, no: for if you conduct yourselves as you ought, this will be sufficient to gain you credit; and you may be assured that whatever is more than these cometh from the evil one, who artfully contrives, by the habitual use of swearing even by the creatures, to lessen your reverence for the solemnity of an oath, and to lead you at length to take the name of God in vain, even by perjury itself.

You have heard that it has been said in the law (Deut. xix. 21,) An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: and this statute, which was only intended to direct judges as to the penalties to be inflicted in case of violent and barbarous assaults, has been interpreted as encouraging a rigorous severe revenge of every injury a man might receive. But I say unto you, That when you meet with ill usage in the world, you do not immediately set yourselves against the injurious person in a posture of hostile oppo-

k Cometh from the evil one.] Ex re wrongu scir will properly bear this version; and some copies read διαδοχη, cometh from the devil. I would observe that whether his version or the common one be admitted, he clause before us contains a demonstration that ver. 34 is to be explained with the limitation proposed; for it is evident that oaths were in some cases not only allowed, but required by the Mosaic law; (see Exod. xxii. 11; Lev. v. 1; Numb. v. 19, 21; and Deut. xxix. 12, 14.) So that if Christ’s prohibition had here referred to swearing in solemn and judicial cases, he would in these words have charged the Divine law with establishing an immorality, which it is most absurd to suppose; and I cannot but wonder that so obvious and decisive a thou art should not

have been more insisted upon in this c troversy.

l Do not set yourselves against the injurious person.] So the phrase αἰγίππαι τ wrongu may exactly be rendered; (compare 2 Tim. iii. 8.) Had our Lord mean to intimate that we should rather suffer ourselves to be murdered, and our families to be ruined, than resist the villain that attempts it, he would have laid down so strange a precept in the strongest terms: and it is very unreasonable to infer it from this passage, which speaks of so trifling an injury as a slap on the face, or suing a man for the value of a waistcoat or cloak. If i be asked whether we are universally forbidden to resist on these occasions? I answer we are; unless we be in our consciences convinced, that in present cir-

Injuries to be en ure without revenge.

sition, and with a resolution to return evil for evil; but, where the damage is not great, chuse rather to pass it by, though possibly it might on that account be repeated, than to enter into a rigorous prosecution of the offender. On these principles, if any man strike thee on thy right cheek, patiently turn the other to him also.ᵃ And if any one be resolved to sue thee at law, and take away thy vest, permit him to take thy mantle too;ᵇ for the loss of both would be but a trifle in comparison of those vexations, snares, and expenses, which would probably attend the continuance of the suit. And if any press thee to go with him one mile, obliging thee and thy carriages to attend him on a public account,ᶜ rather go with him two more, than disturb the peace by a forcible opposition; for in many such cases as these it will be more for your own comfort, as well as the credit of your profession, to submit than contend.

When thou seest any one in real necessity, and hast it in the power of thine hand to do it, give to him that asketh thee thy charity;ᵈ and do not

ances, to stand on our defence will re for the public good; and in those his particular precept is superseded general law of universal benevo-

But I apprehend these expres- intimate that, on the whole, it will ally be for the best to wave rigorous utions on such slight occasions.

urn the other to him also.] This is a bial phrase, to express a meek sub- n to injuries and affronts. See Isa. nd Lam. iii. 30.

thy mantle too.] Vest and mantle exactly answer to χίοω and μαιίον boat and cloak (compare John xix. 23; e Casaubon, in loc.) and are parts of under different names still retained bary, Egypt, and the Levant. See Shaw’s Travels, p. 289-292. The le being much larger than the vest, probably be more valuable; and as luld be natural for a robber on the ay to take the outer garment first, I n this manner of expressing it as a rgument for retaining our translation was, and rendering it sue thee at law, than take it in a more general way flying to strive or contend; though I

know it has sometin tion, as Lud. Cappellu

ᵒ Press thee to go v word press seems bes inal αἰγασμα, which derived from the na who were commissio by the Persian empe: one of their provinces (Compare Mat. xxvi Jēws the disciples of excused from such advises his disciples exemption. See Lig

P Give to him that ity, τα αἰλυῖι σε δίδι. refer this to σονημα, i it, Give to the injuriou eth thee; and has a course upon it in that ly unnecessary to limi on this interpretation, coincide with verse 4 it be taken it must ac tions, or it will not with such precepts care of our families (a natural justice and oc

he gospel teaches us to love our enemies.

urn away, with a severe denial, him that would borrow of thee,⁹ for in some cases a seasonable loan may be as valuable a kindness as a gift.

By such condescensions and favours you will generally gain the friendship of those with whom you converse; but if any should be so base, as, notwithstanding all, to persist in using you ill, do not indulge to sentiments of revenge. I know you have heard that it was said to our fathers, Thou shalt love thy neighbour (Lev. xix. 18;) and from thence, though in direct contradiction to many other scriptures (Exod. xxiii. 45; Lev. xix. 17; and Prov. xxv. 21,) some have argued as if it had been added, Thou shalt hate thine enemy; and the precepts for destroying the Canaanites (Deut. vii. 16, and the like,) have been abused to countenance such an addition.⁷ But instead of favouring this pernicious maxim, I say unto you, love your enemies, and whatsoever you may suffer by them, while you abhor their sinful practices, shew a concern for the true welfare of their persons; bless them that in the bitterest manner curse you (whether by profane execrations in their common discourse, or by unjust anathemas in their ecclesiastical assemblies,) be ready to do good to them that hate you; and pray for the conversion of them that insult you,⁸ and persecute you: That you may thus

amazing, therefore, that any who do not think themselves obliged by the literal sense of this precept, to give or lend to every idle importunate creature whatever he asks, should insist on a rigorous interpretation of the preceding passage, from ver. 34 to 41.

⁹ Do not turn away him that would borrow of thee.] Τὸν ὀνεῖν ἀπὸ σὺ ἐγνωμοῦν μὴ ἀνεξάρῃ, is thus most literally rendered.

⁷ The precepts for destroying the Canaanites have been abused, [cf.] These precepts were of a peculiar nature; and that in particular, Deut. xxiii. 6, Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever, relates to avoiding throughout all generations any association with the Moabites; which was an everlasting brand of infamy set upon them for the affront which, in the matter of Peor, they had offered to God himself, under whose conduct the Israelites were. But though it forbids any national alliance with them, it seems that the settlement of Ruth in Israel when she em-

braced the Jewish religion (Ruth i. 16,) and the permission given to the Moabites to live as tributaries under David after the conquest of their country (2 Sam. viii. 2,) were not at all inconsistent with this law.

⁸ That insult you; ἐπῆσαι ἐγώσῃ. As this word, according to the judgment of Erasmus, Beza, and several other able critics, is derived from Agn, the name of Mars, it may perhaps strictly answer to dragooning in our modern language: but as it is plainly used by St. Peter to express abusive language (1 Pet. iii. 16,) I chose to render it insult, which may be applied either to injurious words or actions. To traduce does by no means express the force of the idea. Nor can I think, with the learned Elsner (Vol. I. p. 30, 31,) that this clause is to be interpreted chiefly of malicious prosecutions in judicial courts though that be a sort of insult and persecution, undoubtedly comprehended among many others, and often expressed by the Greek words here used.

Christians are to imitate their heavenly Fa

approve yourselves to be the children of your heavenly Father; for, with the most diffusive kindness and beneficence, he causeth his sun to arise on the evil and on the good, and showereth down rain on the just and the unjust; so that his enemies share in his providential bounties, and subsist on his daily care.

Let it be therefore your concern to imitate this extensive goodness: for if you only love them that love you, what reward have ye? or what extraordinary praise can ye expect? Do not even the most infamous and scandalous sinners, such as the very publicans, do the same? And if ye salute and embrace your brethren only, or those of the same sect, party, and interest, with yourselves what extraordinary thing do you practise more than the rest of mankind, though your advantages are so much greater than theirs? Do not even the heathens and publicans do so? And will not common humanity teach even the very worst of men civility to those that treat them with respect, and excite them to some sentiments of gratitude to their friends and benefactors?

You who stand in so near a relation to God as my professed disciples, should far excel them: if be ye therefore, in these instances of undeserved and forfeited goodness, and in all other respects, as far as frail mortality will admit, perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect; whose name

ye salute and embrace your brethren The word ἀσπασκέβει alludes to the of saluting by embracing. And Christ cautions against confining egards to brethren, he may perhaps ely glance at those prejudices different sects had against each and intimate that he would not have lowers imbibe that narrow spirit. to God the hint had been more atd to among the unhappy subdivisions hich his church has been crumbled; at we might at least advance so far rdially to embrace our brethren in , of whatever party or denomination re!

these instances of undeserved and ed goodness.] The love to friends, ed by the scribes and Pharisees, was

very imperfect: we more complete reser loving enemies. Our wards expressed it in by saying, Be ye mer also is merciful, Luke able he used a gre pression here, to remi tions to imitate the D moral perfections.

× Perfect, even as y perfect.] Many author Elsner, in his note o not only that the hea thet of πέλεια, or perf gods, especially the e of their writers descri ness to enemies, as a tals make the nearest

Reflections on the love we should bear to our enemies.

you will most effectually honour, and whose favour you will most happily secure, by a care to imitate him to the utmost in all the moral perfections of his nature. (Compare Eph. iv. 31, 32; v. 1.)

IMPROVEMENT.

ALAS! how may we blush to call God our Father, while we resemble him so little! And what reason is there, on a survey of these directions of our Lord, to acknowledge our deficiencies and our faults! Let us review the many advantages we enjoy as Christians, and the engagements we are under in the particular circumstances in which Divine Providence has placed us; and blush to think that we do so little more than others, perhaps, in many instances, falling short even of the virtues of heathens.

Let us particularly be instructed by these lessons of our Divine Master to recompense good for evil: lessons which come with peculiar grace from his mouth, as he was himself the kindest friend to his most inveterate enemies, and bore and forgave more than any but himself could possibly do.

Let us, who are his disciples, abhor contention and revenge. Let us not prosecute every little injury to the utmost, nor govern ourselves by those false maxims of prudence and honour, which pride and selflove have introduced on the ruins of real Christianity. Let us not, even in the most legal methods, seek the punishment of those who have wronged us, except in circumstances in which we are in our conscience persuaded it will, on the whole, be greater charity to animadvert on the offence than to pass it by; and even then let us act in a calm and dispassionate manner, pitying and loving the persons of the injurious, even while, for the sake of society, we prosecute their crimes.

If this be our duty towards our enemies, how inexcusable are we if we are cold and insensible to our friends! And how much worse than publicans themselves, if we do not love them that love us, and do good to those from whom we have received it. Happy

perfection. These words conclude Christ’s excellent vindication of the law from the corrupt glosses of the Jewish teachers. I know it has been objected to it that, considering the many figurative expressions used in it, we might as easily trace out the duties recommended by the light of reason alone, as adjust the sense of such obscure and hyperbolical precepts. But if it were really so (which I cannot grant,) it is to be remembered, that the chief design of the

gospel is not to inform us what is justice, humanity, and charity, in particular cases (which a view of present circumstances can alone discover) but to awaken a regard to the known, though neglected, dictates of natural religion on these heads; and this may be most effectually done by such animated and sprightly exhortations as these, especially when considered as coming from a Person whose authority and love concur to demand our attention and obedience.

Reflections on the mortification of our dearest lusts.

is that Christian to whom the God of nature hath given a heart xxxix. so turned to sentiments of benevolence that, in all these instances, — love is a law unto itself!

Verse 27, 28 Yet let us remember, that the whole of our duty is not comprehended in these social regards. The great Author of our being, who hath endowed us with rational faculties, justly requires that we assert their empire over the meaner powers of appetite and passion. We see that he forbids not only gross enormities, as adultery (which, though so unaccountably spared by the laws of many Christian countries, the heathens themselves have condemned as a capital crime, and which some of the most barbarous nations have esteemed infamous,) but the unchastity of the eye, and of the heart. Let us then earnestly pray that God would create in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us (Psal. li. 10;) and let us maintain a most resolute guard over our senses and our thoughts, remembering that there is no other alternative, but that the dearest of our lusts must be mortified and subdued, or our whole persons be cast into hell.

Elevate our affections, O Lord, to nobler objects than those which are suited merely to animal nature; Teach us to keep under the body, and bring it into subjection (1 Cor. ix. 27,) that we may not finally be cast away from thy presence, and fall into that dreadful state where every drop of sinful pleasure will be recompensed with full vials of misery and despair!