prompter to kind actions, than the principle itself abiding in us. For so it follows:-" For this, thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;" and again, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."

Let us, however, take the instances here specified.

1. And first, "for this-thou shalt not commit adultery." Certainly, if the wife of Potiphar had, in any true sense of the word, loved-not her husband, but even Joseph-she could not have tried to tempt him; and it was because he did love her with a real good-will, as well as feared God, that he did not yield. For, had he done so, he must, in order to the gratification of a selfish and wicked appetite in himself, have made her even more the child of hell than she was before. And, probably, the apostle put this instance first, because that class of crimes which are prohibited under the general head of the seventh commandment, and which our Saviour extends even to the looking upon a woman with sinful desire, are crimes usually committed under profession and pretence of love. But it is

he would have us consider-altogether pretence, and gross hypocrisy for, undoubtedly, it is as much a contradiction to say that the seducer loves-that is, affects the true interests of the object he betrays, as to say, that love led Cain to kill his brother. No one can love the poor creature whom, knowingly, he defiles and degrades, and brings to shame and guilt, and very probably to the worst extremes of wretchedness, as well as infamy, in this world, and to everlasting misery in the world to come.

One commendation, therefore, of christian love, it is, that so far as it prevails, it delivers the world from all the misery arising from this class of "fleshly lusts which war against the soul." Under its influence, we never should have heard of half the horrible histories which Holy Scripture records, to show what is in man, and how far he is from God. We should not have read of the disgraces of Samson, and David, and Solomon; of the three and twenty thousand of Israel who fell in one day in the wilderness; or of the slaughter at one time of nearly the whole tribe of Benjamin. All this had been prevented; and in the same way everything like it might be prevented now; by obedience, that is, to the apostolic precept-" see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently."* And if so, pre

* 1 Pet. i. 22.

paration would, in the same degree, be made for taking away the stumbling-block of iniquity which prevents the effectual entrance of Christ and his Gospel into our own souls, and for meeting him with joy in judgment. At all events, into heaven "no unclean thing can enter.' And it must be ever borne in mind, that it is with reference to the subject before us that our Lord speaks so strongly: "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: and if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body be cast into hell."*

said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, whosoever shall be angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."* Now, suppose we had all habitually kept the commandment in this true length and breadth of it-which yet, if we had always loved our brother as ourselves, we could not but have done-how much more should we have lived to God's glory than we have done! How much less should we have tempted one another! How much evil would have been avoided which, at one time, we never thought to have committed! How much more benefit should we have had of religious ordinances! How much freer had we been to entertain the Gospel! How much less should we have had, finally, to answer for! Well says apostle, therefore, "owe no man anything, but to love one another:" and worthy of everlasting remembrance is our Lord's admonition which he subjoins to his interpretation of the commandment: "Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift be

the

fore the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence until thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

3. Thirdly. If a man loved his neighbour as himself, he could no more injure him in his property than in his life. "For this," says the apostle, "thou shalt not steal." Clearly, there would not only be an end at once of forgery and highway robbery, but just as completely of all overreaching and taking advantage of our neighbour's ignorance; of all oppression under colour of the law; of the scant measure, which is abominable; and of the bag "of deceitful weights." There would be instant restitution, if wrong had inadvertently been done: "just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin," should we have. There would be no more begging under false pretences, and no one would endeavour to get rich by lying any more. For, certainly, no man likes to be robbed or cheated himself. He expects to have what he has contracted for; and is probably as angry when he discovers himself

* Matt. v. 23-26.