Skip to main content

Full text of "An exposition of the Ten Commandments"

See other formats 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  1894. 
Accessions  No.^  'YO  JS^.     'Class  No. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/expositionoftencOOhopkrich 


'#-• 


%' 


AN 


EXPOSITION 


TEI  COMMANDIEITS 


BY  THE  RT.  REV.  EZEKIBL  HOPKINS,  D.  D., 

SUCCESSIVELY  BISHOP  OF  RAPHOE  AND  DERRY,  WHO  DIED  IN  LONDONj 
A.D.  1690. 


REVISED  AND   SIjIflBSii^^BEIDGED. 


^\ 


\> 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 

AMERICAN    TRACT    SOCIETY, 

150  NASSAU-STREET,  NEW-YORK. 


-^ 


b-> 


/> 


In  the  present  edition  this  work  has  been  revised,  with  changes  in 
obsolete  or  defective  forms  of  expression,  and  ilie  omission  of  some  pas- 
sages having  a  more  immediate  reference  to  the  Government  or  Church 
of  KnfflanJ. 


^ 


NOTICE  OF  BISHOP  HOPKINS. 


Ezekiel  Hopkins  was  born  at  Sanford,  county  of  Devon, 
England,  about  tbe  year  1633,  where  his  father  was  many  years 
a  laborious  minister.  He  was  educated  at  Oxford,  where  he 
was  some  time  chaplain  of  Magdalen  College.  From  Oxford  he 
went  to  London,  where  he  was  assistant  to  Dr.  WilHam  Spur- 
stow  till  the  act  of  uniformity.  After  this  he  was  preacher  at 
St.  Edmunds,  Lombard-street,  and  subsequently  was  chosen 
minister  of  St.  Mary  Arches,  in  Exeter,  where  he  was  much  ad- 
mired. From  Exeter  he  was  transferred  to  the  deanery  of  Ra- 
phoe,  Ireland,  and  from  the  deanery  was  promoted  to  the  bishop- 
ric, which  he  occupied  about  ten  years,  when  he  was  transfer- 
red to  the  bishopric  of  Derry.  Here  he  continued  about  seven 
years,  till  the  papists  got  the  sword  into  their  hands,  when  he 
fled  for  his  life  to  England,  and  became  minister  of  St.  Mary, 
Aldermanbury,  in  London,  1689,  where  he  died,  about  seven 
months  only  after  his  establishment  there. 

As  di  preacher,  Bishop  Hopkins  was  esteemed  one  of  the  first 
of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  being  much  admired  and  followed 
after  in  all  the  places  where  he  preached. 

As  a  writer,  he  was  eminent  above  most  authors  for  the  com- 
bination of  clear  statements  of  doctrinal  and  practical  truth, 
with  an  eloquent  apphcation  of  it  to  the  heart  and  conscience.  ^ 
Scarcely  any  other  writer  has,  within  an  equal  compass,  so  ably 
discussed,  and  applied  with  such  energy  the  whole  range  of 
christian  truth.  His  works  are  published  in  four  volumes,  edited 
by  the  late  Rev.  Josiah  Pratt,  of  London,  who  in  his  dedication 
\l   the   volumes   to    William   Wilberforce,    Esq.    says,  "  That 


4  NOTICE    OP    BISHOP    HOPKINS. 

author  is  of  special  value  whose  works  supply,  within  a  mod**- 
rate  compass»  the  most  complete  refutation  of  whatever  can  be 
urged  against  true  religion,  by  exhibiting  her  in  her  most  beauti- 
ful proportions.  Such  an  author  is  Bishop  Hopkins."  His  works 
embrace  the  following  subjects :  Vanity  of  the  World,  Exposi- 
tions of  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Ten  Commandments,  Dis- 
courses on  the  Law,  Discourses  concerning  Sin,  The  Doctrine 
of  the  Two  Covenants,  Doctrine  of  the  Two  Sacraments,  The 
All-Sufficiency  of  Christ  to  save  Sinners,  Excellency  of  Heaven  • 
ly  Treasures,  Practical  Christianity,  Assurance  of  Heaven  and 
Salvation  a  principal  motive  to  serve  God  with  fear,  On  Glori- 
fying God  in  his  Attributes,  Almost  Christian,  Conscience,  Great 
Duty  of  Mortification,  Death  Disanned,  Miscellaneous  Sermons. 
As  a  divine^  Bishop  Hopkins  was  one  of  the  sound  theologians 
to  which  the  Reformation  gave  birth,  and  he  unequivocally  and 
openly  held  and  inculcated  the  pure  doctrines  of  the  Reformers, 
opposed  as  they  are  to  the  pride  and  passions  of  unsanctified 
men.  On  the  difficult  questions  concerning  the  grace  of  God  and 
the  obligation  of  man,  he  adopted  those  views  which  most  natu- 
rally reconcile  with  one  another  the  declarations  and  exhortations 
of  Scripture.  Few  writers  have  entered  so  unequivocally  into 
the  extent  of  man'?  responsibility,  and  at  the  same  time  so  strong- 
ly insisted  on  the  sovereignty,  and  so  graphically  described  the 
operations  of  the  grace  of  God. 


CONTENTS. 


Pagk, 

Introduction     .       *.      • «►  7 

The  time  of  the  delivery  of  the  Ten  Commandments  9 

The  Reason 10 

The  Manner 11 

Are  they  abrogated  ? 19 

General  Rules  for  rightly  understanding  them          .  29 

Their  order 48 

Preface  to  the  Commandments 50 

FIRST    TABLE. 

The  First  Commandment 58 

Requires  the  love,  fear,  and  praise  of  God      .         .  61 

Forbids  Atheism — proofs  of  the  being  of  God      .  68 

Ignorance  of  the  true  God        ....  92 

Profaning  his  name,  attributes,  time,  ordinances  101 

Idolatry 120 

The  Second  Commandment 126 

The  Prohibition,  As  to  the  worship  of  God,  exter- 
nal and  internal             ....  127 

As  to  the  sins  here  forbidden — Superstition      .  139 
The  threatening,  Visiting  the  iniquities  of  the  fa- 
thers upon  the  children         .         .         .  148 
The  Third  Commandment       .         .         .         .         .         .165 

Profaning  the  name  of  God — Oaths    .         .         .  166 
The  folly  of  this  sin — Directions    .         .         .         .186 

The  Fourth  Commandment 192 

Primitive  Institution  of  the  Sabbath       .         :         .  195 

Its  morality  and  perpetual  obligation           .         .  196 

Change  to  the  first  day  of  the  week       .         .         .  201 

The  manner  in  which  it  is  to  be  observed            .  204 


6  CONTENTS. 

SECOND    TABLE. 

•  PAGE 

Introdnction  to  the  Second  Table            .         .         .  225 

The  Fifth  Commandment 228 

Duties  of  parents  and  cMldren        ....  233 

Magistrates  and  those  subject  to  them          .  251 

Husbands  and  wives       .....  261 

Masters  and  servants           .                  .         .  279 

Ministers  and  their  people       ....  301 
Superiors  and  inferiors,  or  those  who  differ  in 
the  gifts  of  God's  grdce,  or  his  common 

bounty 316 

The  promise,  That  thy  days  may  be  long          .  328 

[The-^ixth  Commandment 332 

Tfe^  sin  of  murder 333 

Causes  and  occasions  leading  to  it           .         .         .  345 

Rules  for  restraining  and  governing  anger            .  352 

The  Seventh  Commandment 359 

The  sin  forbidden      ......  359 

Its  heinousness       .         .         .         .         .         .         .365 

Cautions  and  directions 370 

The  Eighth  Commandment      ......  373 

Of  theft  in  general 376 

Many  kinds  of  theft 379 

The  duties  here  required            .         .         .         .  389 

The  Ninth  Commandment 395 

The  value  of  a  good  name          ....  397 

The  sin  of  lying 399 

Aggravations  of  this  sin 406 

The  sin  of  slander — rules  and  directions  .         .409 

The  Tenth  Commandment 430 

The  sin  of  concupiscence 431 

The  whole  practically  applied            .         .         .  437 


EXPOSITION 

OP 

THE    COMMANDMENTS 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


Two  things  in  general  are  required  to  perfect  a  chris- 
tian ;  the  one  a  clear  and  distinct  knowledge  of  his  duty, 
the  other,  a  conscientious  practice  of  it,  correspondent  to 
his  knowledge ;  and  both  are  equally  necessary.  For,  as  we 
can  have  no  solid  or  well-grounded  hope  of  eternal  salva 
tion,  without  obedience ;  so  we  can  have  no  sure  established 
rule  for  our  obedience,  vdthout  knowledge.  Therefore,  out 
work  and  office  is,  not  only  to  exhort,  but  to  instruct; 
not  only  to  excite  the  affections,  but  to  inform  the  judg 
ment :  we  must  as  well  illuminate  as  warm. 

Knowledge,  indeed,  may  be  found  vnthout  practice; 
and  our  age  abounds  with  speculative  christians,  whose 
religion  is  but  like  the  rickets,  that  makes  them  grow 
large  in  the  head,  but  narrow  in  the  breast ;  whose 
brains  are  replenished  with  notions,  but  their  hearts  strait- 
ened towards  God,  and  their  lives  black  and  deforaied.  I 
confess,  indeed,  their  knowledge  may  be  beneficial  to 
others ;  yet,  where  it  is  thus  overborne  by  unruly  lusts, 
and  contradicted  by  a  licentious  conversation,  to  them- 
selves it  is  most  fatal :  like  a  light  shut  up  in  a  lantern, 
which  may  serve  to  guide  others,  but  only  soots,  and  at 
last  bums  that  which  contained  it. 

But,  although  knowledge  may  be  without  practice,  yet 


8  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

the  practice  of  godliness  cannot  be  without  knowledge. 
For,  if  we  know  not  the  limits  of  sin  and  duty,  what  is  re- 
quired and  what  is  forbidden,  it  cannot  be  supposed  but 
that,  in  this  corrupted  state  of  our  natures,  we  shall  una- 
voidably run  into  many  heinous  miscarriages. 

Therefore,  that  we  might  be  informed  what  we  ought 
to  do  and  what  to  avoid,  it  hath  pleased  God,  the  great 
Governor  and  righteous  Judge  of  all,  to  prescribe  laws 
for  the  regulating  of  our  actions  ;  and,  that  we  might  not 
be  ignorant  what  they  are,  he  hath  openly  promulgated 
them  in  his  word.  For  when  we  had  miserably  defaced 
the  law  of  nature  originally  written  in  our  hearts,  bo  that 
many  of  its  commands  were  no  longer  legible,  it  seemed 
good  to  his  infinite  wisdom  and  mercy  to  transcribe  and 
copy  out  that  law  in  the  sacred  tables  of  the  Scriptures ; 
and  to  superadd  many  positive  precepts  and  injunctions 
not  before  imposed.  Hence  the  Bible  is  the  statute-book 
of  God's  kingdom,  wherein  is  comprised  the  whole  body 
of  the  heavenly  law,  the  perfect  rules  of  a  holy  life,  and 
the  sure  promises  of  a  glorious  one. 

And  the  Decalogue,  or  Ten  Commandments,  is  a 
summary,  or  brief  epitome  of  the  law,  vmtten  by  the 
immediate  finger  of  God,  and  contracted  into  an  abridg- 
ment not  only  to  ease  our  memories  but  to  gain  our 
veneration;  for  sententious  commands  best  befit  ma- 
jesty. And,  indeed,  if  we  consider  the  paucity  of  the  ex- 
pressions, and  yet  the  copiousness  and  variety  of  the  mat- 
ter contained  in  them,  we  must  needs  acknowledge  not 
only  their  authority  to  be  divine,  but  likewise  the  skill 
and  art  in  reducing  the  wliole  duty  of  man  to  so  brief  a 
compendium.  The  words  are  but  few,  called  therefore 
the   Words    of  the  Covenant,  or   the   Ten    Words     Ex, 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  9 

34:28;  but  the  sense  and  matter  contained  in  them  is 
vast  and  infinite  :  the  rest  of  Scripture  is  but  a  commen- 
tary upon  them,  either  exhorting  us  to  obedience  by  ar- 
guments, or  alluring  us  to  it  by  promises  ;  warning  us 
against  transgression  by  threatenings,  or  exciting  us  to  the 
one,  and  restraining  us  from  the  other,  by  examples  re- 
corded in  the  historical  part  of  it. 

But  before  I  speak  of  the  Commandments  themselves, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  premise  something  concerning,  1. 
the  /me,  2.  the  reason^  and  3.  the  manner  of  their  deli- 
very ;  4.  how  far  the  laws  given  by  Moses  are  abrogated; 
5.  some  rules  for  rightly  understanding  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments ;  and  6.  a  few  words  respecting  their  order 

I.  The  TIME.  According  to  the  best  chronology  it 
was  about  2,460  years  after  the  creation,  220  after  Israel's 
descent  into  Egypt,  and  the  third  month  after  their  de- 
parture out  of  Egypt,  Exod.  19  :  1  ;  before  the  birth  of 
Christ  almost  1,500  years,  and  therefore  above  3,000  be- 
fore our  days.  God  now  first  selected  to  himself  a  national 
church  ;  and  therefore  it  seemed  expedient  to  his  wisdom 
to  prescribe  them  laws  and  rules,  how  to  order  both  their 
demeanor  and  his  worship.  Before  this  the  law  of  nature 
was  the  rule ;  but  because  it  was  blotted  and  razed  by 
the  first  transgression,  it  was  supplied  in  many  particulars 
by  traditions  delivered  down  from  one  to  another.  And 
those  of  the  patriarchs  who,  according  to  the  precepts 
of  this  law,  endeavored  to  please  God,  were  accepted 
of  him,  and  frequently  obtained  especial  revelations,  either 
by  dreams  or  visions,  or  heavenly  voices,  concerning  those 
things  wherein  they  were  more  particularly  to  obey  his 

1* 


10  TUE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

will.  Then,  too,  God  made  no  distinction  of  people  or 
nations ;  but,  as  it  is  since  tlie  wall  of  partition  is  broken 
down,  and  the  Jewish  economy  abrogated  by  the  death  of 
Christ,  so  was  it  before,  that,  in  every  nation,  he  that 
feared  God  and  wrought  righteousness  was  accepted  of 
him.    Acts,  10  :  35. 

II.  The  REASON.  This  was  because  the  world  was  now 
so  totally  degenerated  into  vile  superstitions  and  idola- 
tries, that  the  knowledge  and  fear  of  the  true  God  was 
scarcely  to  be  found  but  only  in  the  family  and  posterity 
of  Abraham ;  and  even  among  them  we  have  reason  to 
suspect  a  great  decay  and  corruption,  especially  in  their 
long  abode  among  the  idolatrous  Egyptians ;  yea,  the 
Scripture  expressly  charges  them  with  it.  Josh.  24  :  14 ; 
Ezek.  20  :  7,  8  ;  and  probably  they  took  the  pattern  of 
their  golden  calf  from  the  Egyptian  Apis.  God,  there- 
fore, justly  rejects  all  the  rest  of  the  world ;  but,  being 
mindful  of  his  promise  to  their  father,  the  father  of  the 
faithful,  he  appropriates  this  people  to  himself  as  his  pe- 
culiar inheritance.  And  hecause  it  was  manifest  by  ex- 
perience that  neither  the  law  of  nature  nor  oral  tradition 
was  sufficient  to  preserve  alive  the  knowledge  and  wor- 
ship of  the  true  God,  but  the  whole  earth  was  become 
wicked  and  idolatrous ;  therefore  that  this  people  whom 
God  had  now  taken  to  himself  might  have  all  possible  ad- 
vantages to  continue  in  his  fear  and  service,  and  that  they 
might  not  degenerate  as  the  rest  of  the  world  had  done, 
he  himself  proclaims  to  them  that  law  by  which  he  would 
govern  them,  vmtes  it  on  tables  of  stone,  commits  these 
into  the  hands  of  Moses,  whom  he  had  constituted  his 
lieutenant,  and  commands  them  to  be  laid  up  in  the  ark 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  II 

as  a  perpetual  monument  of  his  authority  and  their  duty. 
How  wretchedly  depraved  are  our  natures,  when  even 
that  which  is  the  very  light  and  law  of  them  is  so  oblite- 
rated and  defaced  that  God  would  rather  entrust  its  pre- 
servation to  stones  than  to  us,  and  thought  it  more  secure 
when  engraven  on  senseless  tables,  than  when  vmtten  on 
our  hearts ! 

III.  The  MANNER  in  which  this  law  was  delivered  is  de- 
scribed to  have  been  very  terrible  and  astonishing.  God  de- 
signed it  so,  on  purpose  to  possess  the  people  with  the 
greater  reverence  of  it,  and  to  awaken  in  their  souls  a  due 
respect  to  those  old  despised  dictates  of  their  nature,  when 
they  should  see  the  same  laws  revived  and  invigorated  with 
so  much  circumstance  and  terror ;  for,  indeed,  the  Deca- 
logue is  not  so  much  the  enacting  of  any  new  law,  as  a  revi- 
ving of  the  old  by  a  more  solemn  proclamation.  And  mark 
the  circumstances  of  majesty  and  solemnity  in  the  action: 

1.  The  'jicojjJe  were  commanded  to  prejjare  themselves 
two  days  together ^  hy  a  typical  cleansing  of  themselves 
from  all  external  and  hodily  follutions  hefore  they  were  to 
stand  in  the  presence  of  God.  So  we  find  it  enjoined  : 
they  were  to  be  sanctified,  and  to  wash  their  clothes,  and 
he  ready  against  the  third  day,  when  tJie  Lord  would  come 
down  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people,  upon  Mount  Sinai. 
Exod.  19  :  10,  11.    This  teaches  us, — 

That  we  ought  to  be  seriously  prepared  when  we  come 
to  wait  before  God  in  his  ordinances,  and  to  receive  a  law 
at  his  mouth. 

The  dispensation  of  the  Gospel  is  not  indeed  such  a 
ministry  of  terror  as  that  of  the  Law  was.  God  doth  not 
now  speak  to  us  immediately  by  his  own  voice — which 


12  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

they  that  heard  it  were  not  able  to  endure  :  he  doth  not 
pronounce  his  law  in  thunder,  nor  wrap  it  up  in  flame  and 
smoke ;  but  he  speaks  to  us  in  a  still  voice,  by  men  like 
ourselves  ;  and  conveys  the  rich  treasure  of  his  will  to  us  in 
earthen  vessels  of  the  same  mould  and  frailty  with  our- 
selves. He  treats  with  us  by  his  messengers  and  ambas- 
sadors ;  whose  errand,  though  it  be  delivered  with  less 
teiTor,  yet  ought  not  to  be  received  with  less  reverence ; 
for  it  is  God  himself  who  speaks  to  us  in  them  and  by 
them ;  and  every  word  of  truth  which  they  deliver  in  his 
name  and  by  his  authority,  ought  to  be  received  with  as 
much  prostrate  veneration  and  affection  as  though  God 
did  himself  speak  it  immediately  firom  heaven. 

Think,  then,  how  solicitous  the  Israelites  were  in  fitting 
themselves  for  that  groEit  and  dreadful  day  of  hearing  the 
law ;  a  day  more  great  and  dreadful  than  ever  any  shall 
be  except  that  of  judging  men  according  to  the  law. 
Think  how  their  hearts  throbbed  and  thrilled  when  they 
heard  the  clang  of  the  heavenly  trumpets  blended  with 
loud  and  terrible  thunder,  both  giving  a  signal  of  the  near 
approach  of  God.  Think,  if  you  can,  what  thoughts  they 
had,  when  they  saw  the  mountain  burning  with  fire  and 
enveloped  with  clouds  and  smoke,  out  of  which  on  every 
side  shot  fearful  lightnings.  Think  how  they  trembled 
when  they  saw  the  mountain  tremble  and  totter  under  the 
weight  and  greatness  of  God  descending  upon  it.  And 
bring  with  you  the  same  affections — if  not  so  terrified,  yet 
as  much  overawed — whensoever  you  come  to  wait  upon 
his  holy  ordinances ;  for  it  is  the  same  God  that  speaks  to 
you  ;  and  he  speaks  the  same  things  as  then  he  did  :  not 
indeed  with  such  amazing  circumstances,  yet  with  the 
very  same  authority  and  majesty. 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  13 

Were  God  now  to  come  down  among  you  in  his  tem- 
Dle  majesty,  or  should  a  thick  cloud  fill  this  place  and 
lightnings  flash  out  of  it ;  should  you  hear  the  thunder  of 
his  voice,  1  am  the  Lord  :  iJiou  sJialt  have  no  other  go de 
before  me ;  certainly  such  a  dreadful  glory  would  make 
your  hearts  tremble  within  you  and  the  very  earth  trem- 
ble under  you.  And  could  you  then  give  way  to  sloth 
and  drowsiness]  Could  your  hearts  run  gadding  after 
vanities  and  trifles  %  Or  could  any  earthly  object  divert 
your  thoughts  and  affections  fi'om  so  terrible  a  glory? 
Believe  it  then ;  God  is  as  really  present  here  as  when  he 
thus  manifested  himself  to  the  Israelites;  and  present 
upon  the  very  same  occasion  too.  He  is  now  delivering 
his  law  to  us ;  pronouncing  his  high  and  sovereign  com- 
mands :  and  if  he  so  far  consults  our  weakness  as  not  to 
do  it  in  such  an  astonishing  manner ;  yet  far  be  that  disin- 
genuousness  from  us,  that  we  should  be  either  the  less 
careful  to  prepare  for  or  the  less  reverent  in  attending  on 
the  declarations  of  his  high  will  and  pleasure,  though  he 
makes  them  known  to  us  by  men  of  the  same  temper 
with  ourselves. 

And  if  the  Israelites  were  to  sanctify  and  prepare  them- 
selves ta  appear  before  God  at  Mount  Sinai,  how  much 
more  ought  we  to  sanctify  ourselves  that  we  may  be  meet 
to  appear  before  God  in  heaven  !  That  glory  which  God 
manifested  when  he  delivered  the  law  is  not  comparable 
to  the  infinite  glory  which  he  always  reveals  to  the  saints 
in  heaven :  and  yet  if  the  people  of  the  Jews  were  not 
allowed  to  see  God,  though  veiled  with  a  cloud  and  thick 
darkness,  without  being  first  carefully  prepared  for  such  a 
glorious  discovery ;  how  much  more  carefully  ought  we  to 
prepare  ourselves,  to  wash  our   filthy  garments,  and  to 


14  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

cleanse  our  souls  from  all  defilements  both  of  flesh  and 
sph'it,  that  we  may  bo  prepared  to  stand  before  God,  and 
see  him  there  where  he  darts  forth  the  full  rays  of  his 
brightness,  and  causeth  his  glory  for  ever  to  appear  with- 
out any  check  or  restraint,  without  any  cloud  or  veil. 

2.  The  mount  on  which  God  appeared  was  to  he  fenced 
and  railed  in  !  This  was  with  a  strict  prohibition  that 
none  should  presume  to  pass  the  bounds  there  set,  nor 
approach  to  touch  the  holy  mount,  under  the  penalty  of 
death.  So  we  have  it  Exod.  19  :  12,  which  intimates  the 
due  distance  we  ought  to  keep  from  God ;  and  teaches  us 
to  observe  all  that  reverence  and  respect  which  belong  to 
him  as  being  infinitely  our  superior.  Certainly  the  very 
places  where  God  manifests  himself,  at  least  while  he 
doth  so,  are  venerable  and  awful :  therefore,  when  God 
revealed  himself  to  Jacob  in  a  dream,  and  gave  him  the 
representation  of  a  ladder  reaching  from  earth  to  heaven — 
angels  on  every  round  of  it,  and  God  on  the  top — we  find 
with  what  awe  he  reflects  upon  it,  in  his  waking  thoughts  : 
"^.Surely  the  Lord  is  in  this  place,  and  I  knew  it  not.  And 
he  was  afraid,  and  said.  How  dreadful  is  this  place  !  this 
is  none  other  but  the  house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate 
of  heaven."  Gen.  28  :  16,  17. 

This  setting  bounds  and  limits  to  the  mount,  signified 
also,  as  in  a  type,  the  strictness  and  exactness  of  the  law 
of  God.  His  law  is  our  boundary,  a  boundary  set  on 
purpose  to  keep  us  from  rushing  in  upon  his  neck,  and 
upon  the  thick  bosses  of  his  buckler :  and  that  soul  that 
shall  presume  so  to  break  these  bounds  and  commit  a 
trespass  on  the  Almighty,  shall  surely  die  the  death ;  even 
that  eternal  death  which  he  hath  threatered  against  all 
violators  of  his  law. 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  15 

3.  God  appeared  to  pronounce  Ms  law  in  thunders,  and 
lightnings,  and  earthquakes,  and  fire,  arid  darkness  :  these 
were  the  introduction  to  it ;  and  so  dreadful  ^vere  they 
that  they  caused  not  only  the  people  to  remove  and  stand 
afar  off,  as  not  able  to  endure  such  terrible  majesty,  Exod. 
20  :  18,  but  even  affrighted  Moses  himself,  who  was  to  be 
Internuncius  Dei,  "  the  messenger  and  herald  of  God." 
This  we  find  intimated,  Exod.  19  :  19,  "  When  the  voice 
of  the  trumpet  sounded  long,  and  waxed  louder  and  loud- 
er, Moses  spake."  What  he  said  is  not  mentioned ;  but 
probably  he  then  spake  those  words  recorded  by  the 
Apostle,  "  So  teiTible  was  the  sight,  that  Moses  said,  I 
exceedingly  fear  and  quake."  Heb.  12  :  21. 

This  dreadful  appearance  of  God  in  the  delivering  of 
the  law  served  to  affect  them  with  a  reverent  esteem  of 
those  commands  which  he  should  impose  upon  them ;  for, 
certainly,  unless  they  were  most  grossly  stupid,  they  must 
think  those  things  to  be  of  vast  concern  which  were  at- 
tended with  such  a  train  of  amazing  circumstances ;  and 
it  is  natural  for  men  to  be  awed  by  pomp  and  solemnity, 
the  majesty  of  the  commander  adding  a  kind  of  authority 
to  the  command. 

Again,  it  served  to  put  them  in  mind,  as  it  should  us 
also,  that  if  God  were  so  terrible  only  in  delivering  the 
law,  how  much  more  terrible  he  will  be  when  he  shall 
come  to  judge  us  for  transgressing  the  law. 

Indeed  the  whole  apparatus  of  this  day  seems  to  be 
typical  of  the  Last  Day :  only  (as  is  true  of  all  types)  it 
shall  be  far  outdone  by  its  antitype.  Here  were  voices, 
and  fire,  and  smoke,  and  the  noise  of  a  trumpet;  and 
these  struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  people,  who 
came  only  to  receive  the  law :  but,  oh,  think  what  con 


16  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

stemation  will  seize  the  hearts  of  sinners,  when  "the 
Lord  shall  descend  from  heaven,"  at  the  last  day,  "  with 
a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the 
trump  of  God,"  as  the  apostle  describes  it,  1  Thess. 
4  :  16  ;  when,  not  a  mountain  only,  but  the  whole  world 
shall  be  burning ;  heaven  and  earth  all  on  a  light  flame 
about  them ;  when  they  shall  hear  the  terrible  voice  of 
the  Majesty  on  high  calling  to  them,  "  Awake,  ye  dead, 
and  come  to  judgment :"  when  the  earth  shall  be  univer- 
sally shaken,  and  the  dead  shaken  out  of  their  graves  : 
when  whole  crowds  of  naked  nations  shall  throng  and 
cluster  about  the  Great  Tribunal,  not  to  receive  a  law  but 
a  sentence,  a  sentence  that  shall  determine  their  final  and 
eternal  estate !  Certainly  if  the  giving  of  the  law  were  so 
full  of  terror,  much  more  teiTible  shall  be  our  being 
judged  according  to  that  law. 

4.  When  God  himself  had,  with  his  dread  voice,  spoken 
to  them  these  ten  words,  their  affright  and  astonishment 
was  so  great  that  they  entreated  Moses  to  he  a  mediator^ 
or  interpreter  between  God  and  them :  they  said  to  Moses, 
"  Speak  thou  with  us,  and  we  will  hear ;  but  let  not  God 
speak  with  us,  lest  we  die."  Exod.  20  :  19. 

This  may  intimate  how  the  law,  as  dispensed  to  us  only 
from  God,  is  in  itself  the  ministration  of  death  and  con- 
demnation ;  but,  as  delivered  by  a  Mediator,  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  Moses  here  was  a  type,  it  may  be 
the  means  of  our  obtaining  eternal  life,  not  fur,  but  through 
our  obedience  to  it. 

Therefore  the  law  is  said  to  be  "  ordained  by  angels, 
in  the  hand  of  a  mediator;"  Gal.  3  :  19 ;  that  is,  it  was 
solemnly  dispensed  by  the  ministry  of  angels,  and  then 
delivered  into  the  hand  of  Moses,  to.be   by  hira  com- 


VttE    INTRODUCTION.  17 

municated  to  the  people;  which  intimates  how  the  se- 
verity and  terrors  of  the  law  were  intended  to  drive  us  to 
Christ,  as  here  they  drove  the  Israelites  to  Moses,  the 
type^f  Christ ;  from  whose  mouth  the  law  spake  not  so 
dreadfully  as  it  did  from  God's. 

5.  Upon  this  intercession  and  request  of  the  people, 
Moses  is  called  up  into  the  mount,  and  the  law  deposited 
in  his  hands,  engraven  in  two  tables  of  stone,  by  the 
finger  and  impression  of  God  himself:  the  most  sacred 
relic  the  world  ever  enjoyed ;  but  at  length  lost,  together 
with  the  ark  that  contained  it,  in  the  frequent  removes 
and  captivities  of  that  people. 

This,  too,  may  intimate  how  our  hearts  are  naturally  so 
hard  and  stony,  that  it  is  only  the  finger  of  God  that  can 
make  any  impression  of  his  laws  upon  them.  The  ark 
was  a  famous  type  of  Christ :  and  the  keeping  of  the 
tables  of  the  law  in  the  ark,  what  doth  it  mean,  but  to 
prefigure  to  us  how  the  law  was  to  be  kept  and  observed 
in  him  who  fulfilled  all  righteousness  %  And  when  God 
again  writes  his  laws  on  our  hearts,  we  also  keep  them  in 
Christ  our  ark,  whose  complete  obedience  supplies  all 
our  imperfections  and  defects. 

6.  Whereas  this  law  of  the  Ten  Commandments  was 
twice  written  hy  God  himself,  once  before  and  again  after 
the  tables  were  in  a  holy  zeal  broken  by  Moses  :  this  also 
may  intimate  the  twice  writing  of  the  law  on  the  hearts 
of  men ;  first,  by  the  creating  finger  of  God,  when  he 
made  us  perfectly  like  himself;  and  then  again,  by  his 
regenerating  power,  when  he  creates  us  anew  in  Christ 
Jesus,  giving  us  a  new  impression,  and  as  it  were  setting 
us  forth  in  a  new  edition,  but  yet  containing  the  same  for 
substance  as  when  we  came  forth  at  first  out  of  the  crea- 


18  '  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

ting  hand  of  God  :  for  regeneration  and  the  new  birth  ifi 
but  a  re&toring  us  to  the  image  of  God,  which  we  defaced 
hj  our  fall  in  Adam  ;  and,  as  it  were,  a  new  stamping  )f 
those  characters  of  himself  in  righteousness  and  loiow- 
ledge,  which  were  obliterated. 

7.  When  Moses  came  down  from  the  mount  after  his 
long  converse  with  God,  Jiis  face  slione  with  such  a  divine 
and  heavenly  lustre  that  the  Israelites  were  dazzled  with  the 
brightness,  and  could  not  steadfastly  look  upon  him  :  there- 
fore he  was  forced  to  put  a  veil  over  his  face,  to  allay  and 
temper  those  beams  which  the  reflection  of  God's  face  and 
presence  had  cast  upon  him ;  but  this  veil  he  laid  aside 
when  he  turned  into  the  tabernacle  to  speak  with  God. 
Exod.  34  :  29,  &c. 

The  significancy  of  this  the  Apostle  expressly  gives  us, 
2  Cor.  3  :  13-15,  that  there  was  a  veil  on  the  heart  of  the 
Jews,  so  that  they  could  not  see  to  the  end  of  the  law, 
which  is  Christ  Jesus,  who  was  the  end  of  the  ceremonial 
law,  in  that  he  put  an  end  to  it  in  its  abrogation ;  and 
who  is  the  end  of  the  moral  law,  because  in  him  it  attains 
its  end,  which  is  by  convincing  us  of  our  own  weakness 
and  inability  to  perform  it,  to  lead  us  to  Christ,  by  whose 
righteousness  alone,  and  not  by  the  works  of  the  law,  we 
are  to  expect  justification  before  God.  Yet  there  was  so 
thick  a  veil  cast  over  the  law,  that  the  Jews  could  not 
look  through  it  upon  the  glory  that  shone  in  Christ,  of 
whom  Moses  was  still  the  type  :  but,  when  they  shall 
turn  to  the  Lord  this  veil  shall  be  taken  away ;  and  then 
shall  they  discern  the  significancy  of  all  those  ritual  ob- 
servances, and  perceive  spiritual  things  after  a  more  sub- 
lime and  spiritual  manner. 

Thus  I  have  shown  the  time,  the  reason  and  the  man 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  19 

Tier  of  the  deliveiy  of  this  epitome  of  the  law  in  the  Ten 
Commandments  ;  wherein  are  deUneated  and  shadowed 
out  many  excellent  gospel  truths. 

IV.  And  now  if  any  one  ask,  "  What  need  all  this  long 
discourse  about  the  law  ]  Is  it  not  fully  abrogated  by  the 
coming  of  Christ  1  Shall  we  be  again  brought  under  that 
heavy  yoke  of  bondage,  which  neither  we  nor  our  fathers 
were  able  to  bear  ]  Doth  not  the  Scripture  frequently  tes- 
tify that  we  are  not  now  under  the  law,  but  under  gi'ace  ] 
that  Christ  was  made  under  the  law,  to  free  those  who 
were  under  the  law  1  and,  therefore,  to  terrify  and  over- 
awe men's  consciences  by  the  authority  of  the  law ;  what 
is  it  but  to  make  the  Gospel  a  legal  dispensation,  unworthy 
of  that  christian  liberty  into  which  our  Savior  hath  vindi- 
cated us,  who  has  by  his  obedience  fulfilled  the  law,  and 
by  his  death  abolished  it  ]" 

To  this  I  answer  :  Far  be  it  from  every  christian  to  in- 
dulge himself  in  any  licentiousness,  from  such  a  corrupt 
and  rotten  notion  of  the  law's  abrogation  ;  for,  so  far  is  it 
from  being  abolished  by  the  coming  of  Christ,  that  he 
himself  expressly  tells  us,  he  came  not  to  destroy  the  latv, 
but  to  fulfil  it,  Mat.  5:17;  that  is,  either  to  perform  or 
else  to  perfect  and  fill  up  the  law ;  and,  v.  18,  he  avers  that 
"  till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in 
no  wise  pass  from  the  law  till  all  be  fulfilled,^  that  is,  till 
the  consummation  and  fulfilling  of  all  things ;  and  then 
the  law  which  was  our  rule  .on  earth  shall  become  our  na- 
ture in  heaven. 

When  therefore  St.  Paul  spealcs,  as  he  frequently  does, 
of  the  abrogation  and  disannulling  of  the  law,  we  must 
carefiilly  discern  and  distinguish  both  what  is  taught  us 


^0  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

respecting  the  law,  and  what  is  tauglit  us  respecting  the 
abrogation  of  the  law,  or  any  part  of  it. 

The  law,  which  God  delivered  by  Moses,  was  of  three 
kinds :   Ceremonial,  Judicial,  and  Moral. 

The  Ceremonial  Law  was  wholly  taken  up  in  enjoining 
those  observances  of  sacrifices  and  offerings,  and  various 
methods  of  purification  and  cleansmg,  which  were  typical 
of  Christ,  and  that  sacrifice  of  his,  which  alone  was  able 
to  take  away  isin. 

The  Judicial  Law  consisted  of  those  constitutions  which 
God  prescribed  the  Jews  for  their  civil  government,  and 
was  the  standing  law  of  their  nation.  For  their  state  was 
a  theocracy ;  and,  as  in  other  commonwealths  the  chief 
magistrates  give  laws  to  the  people,  so  in  this,  the  laws 
for  their  religion  and  for  their  civil  government  were  both 
immediately  fi:om  God.  By  this  law  were  to  be  tried  and 
determined  all  actions  and  suits  between  party  and  party : 
as  in  all  other  nations,  there  are  particular  laws  and  sta- 
tutes for  the  decision  of  controversies  that  may  arise 
among  them. 

But  the  ikZbraZ  Law  is  a  body  of  precepts,  which  carry 
a  universal  and  natural  equity  in  them  ;  being  so  con- 
formable to  the  light  of  reason  and  the  dictates  of  every 
man's  conscience,  that  as  soon  as  ever  they  are  declared 
and  understood,  they  must  needs  be  subscribed  to  as  just 
and  right. 

These  are  the  three  sorts  of  laws  which  commonly  go 
under  the  name  of  the  Law  of. Moses  :  all  of  which  had  re- 
spect, either  to  those  things  which  prefigured  the  Messias 
to  come,  or  to  those  which  concerned  their  political  and 
civil  government  as  a  distinct  nation  from  others,  or  to 
such  natural  virtues  and  duties  of  piety  towards  God  and 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  21 

righteousness  towards  men,  as  were  common  to  them 
with  all  the  rest  of  mankind. 

And  now  as  to  the  abrogation  or  continued  obligation 
of  these  several  laws,  I  desire  you  heedfully  to  attend  to 
the  following  propositions. 

1.  The  CEREMONIAL  LAW  is,  OS  to  the  JewSf  properly  ah- 
't'ogated^  and  its  obligation  and  authority  utterly  taken 
away  and  repealed ;  for  so  the  apostle  is  to  be  under- 
stood, when,  in  his  epistles,  he  so  often  speaks  of  the  ab- 
rogation and  disannulling  of  the  law :  he  speaks,  I  say, 
of  the  ceremonial  law  and  Aaronical  observances  ;  which, 
indeed,  were  so  fulfilled  by  Christ  as  to  be  abolished.  For 
this  law  was  given  to  be  only  an  adumbration  or  faint  repre- 
sentation of  Christ.  As  in  the  night,  while  the  sun  is  in 
the  other  hemisphere,  yet  we  see  its  light  in  the  planets 
and  moons  which  shine  with  a  borrowed  and  derived 
brightness;  but  when  the  sun  is  risen  and  displays  its 
beams  abroad,  it  drowns  and  extinguishes  all  those  petty 
lights  ;  so,  while  Christ  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  was  yet 
in  the  other  hemisphere  of  time,  before  he  was  risen  with 
healing  under  his  wings,  the  Jews  saw  some  glimmering 
of  his  light  in  their  ceremonies  and  observances;  but, 
now  that  the  day  of  the  Gospel  is  fully  sprung,  and  that 
light  which  before  was  but  blooming  is  fully  spread,  those 
dimmer  lights  are  quite  drovvnied  and  extinguished  in  his 
clear  rays,  and  an  utter  end  is  put  to  all  those  rites  and  cere- 
monies which  both  intimated,  and  in  a  kind  supplie(J  the  ab- 
sence of  the  substance.  So  that,  to  maintain  now  a  necessity 
of  legal  sacrifices,  and  purifyings,  and  sprinklings,  is  no  less 
than  to  evacuate  the  death  of  Christ;  and  to  deny  the  shed- 
ding of  that  blood  that  alone  can  purify  us  from  all  pollutions : 
which  is  but  to  catch  at  the  shadow  and  lose  the  substance. 


22  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

And  as  to  us,  wlio  ure  the  posterity  and  descendants 
of  the  Gentiles,  it  is  more  proper  to  affirm  that  the  cere- 
monial laio  icas  never  in  force,  than  that  it  is  truly  ab- 
rogated ;  for  the  ceremonial  law  was  national  to  the 
Jews,  and,  in  a  sort,  peculiar  to  them  only ;  neither  did 
God  intend  that  the  observance  of  it  should  be  imposed 
upon  any  other  people,  as  a  thing  necessary  for  their 
future  happiness,  even  though  they  should  be  proselyted. 
And  this  appears,  both  because  God  expressly  com- 
mands all  those  who  were  to  be  subject  to  the  ceremo- 
nial law,  that  they  should  appear  at  Jerusalem,  thrice 
in  the  year,  before  the  Lord,  Exod.  34  :  23,  24,  which 
would  have  been  impossible  for  those  in  countries  far 
remote  from  Jerusalem ;  and  because  all  their  sacrifices 
and  oblations,  in  which  consisted  the  chiefest  part  of  the 
r^eremonial  worship,  were  to  be  offei'ed  up  only  at  Je- 
rusalem ;  which  would  have  been  alike  impossible,  if  this 
command  of  sacrificing  had  been  intended  by  God  to  be 
obligatory  on  all  the  world.  Therefore,  doubtless,  that 
command,  even  whilst  it  was  in  force,  obliged  none  but 
the  Jewish  nation. 

We  find  also  that,  even  before  Christ's  coming,  the 
Jews  themselves  did  not  impose  the  observance  of  the 
ceremonial  law  alike  upon  all  proselytes ;  but  their  pro- 
selytes were  of  two  sorts.  Some,  indeed,  as  the  Prose- 
lyti  Legis,  became  perfect  Jews  in  religion,  lived  among 
them,  and  engaged  themselves  to  the  full  observance  of  the 
whole  law ;  yet  some,  called  Proselyti  Fortce,  were  only 
so  far  converted  as  to  acknowledge  and  worship  the  only 
true  God,  but  obliged  not  themselves  to  the  perfomiance 
of  what  the  Levitical  law  required.  These  the  Jews  ad- 
nitted  into  participation  of  the  same  common  hope  and 


THE   INTRODUCTION.  23 

salvation  with  themselves,  when  they  professed  their  faith 
in  God  the  Creator,  and  their  obedience  to  the  law  of  na- 
ture, together  with  the  seven  traditional  precepts  of  Noah  * 

For  the  farther  clearing  of  this  matter,  moreover,  we 
must  know,  that,  in  the  very  beginning  of  the  church, 
there  arose  great  dissension  between  the  believing  Jews 
and  the  believing  Gentiles,  concerning  the  necessity  of 
obsei-ving  the  Levitical  law.  For  we  find.  Acts,  15  :  5, 
that  certain  of  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees  which  believed, 
affiraied  that  it  was  needful  to  ckcumcise  the  Gentiles, 
and  to  command  them  to  keep  the  law  of  Moses  :  which 
yet  was  greater  rigor  than  was  fonnerly  used  to  tho  pro- 
selyte party. 

To  determine  this  question,  the  apostles  and  eldere 
meeting  in  a  council  at  Jerusalem,  decided  in  brief;  That 
the  believing  Jews  might  still,  without  offence,  observe 
the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  law :  though  the  necessity 
of  them  were  now  abrogated,  the  use  of  them  might,  for 
a  season,  be  lawfully  continued :  "  dead  "  they  were  ; 
but,  hitherto,  not  **  deadly :"  they  were  expired ;  yet 
some  time  was  thought  expedient  for  their  decent  burial. 
Hence  we  find  St.  Paul  himself,  who  so  earnestly  in  all 
his  epistles  opposes  the  observance  of  the  ceremonial  law, 
yet  submits  to  the  use  of  those  rites,  Acts,  21  :  26,  and 
16  :  3,  by  which  he  evidently  declares  that  those  believers 
who  were  of  that  nation,  though  they  were  freed  from  the 


•  These  precepts  were:  1.  The  administration  of  justice  upon 
offenders.  2,  Renouncing  of  idolatry.  3.  Worshipping  the  true 
God,  and  keeping  the  Sabbath.  4.  Abstaining  from  murder.  5. 
Prom  fornication.  6.  From  robbery.  7.  From  eating  of  blood, 
or  any  member  of  a  beast  taken  from  it  alive. 


24  THE    TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 

necessity,  yet  they  might  lawfully,  as  yet,  observe  the 
Aaronical  constitutions ;  especially,  when,  to  avoid  giving 
offence,  it  might  be  expedient  so  to  do.  So  tender  a  thing 
is  the  peace  of  the  church ! 

But  then,  concerning  the  Gentiles  ;  although,  before 
the  coming  of  Christ,  they  might  become  perfect  prose- 
lytes to  the  whole  law  of  Moses,  and  receive  the  seal  of 
circumcision,  as  many  of  them  did  :  yet,  after  the  evan- 
gelical doctrine  was  consummate,  and  the  Apostles  sent 
into  all  the  world  to  preach  it  to  every  creature,  they,  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  determine,  in  that  first  council  of  the 
church,  that  the  Gentiles  should  by  no  means  be  bur- 
dened with  any  of  those  impositions,  that  they  should 
not  subject  themselves  to  the  dogmatizing  commands  of 
false  teachers,  who  required  them  to  be  circumcised  and 
to  keep  the  ceremonial  law ;  but  that  they  be  required 
only  to  abstain  "from  meat  offered  to  idols,  and  from 
blood,  and  from  things  strangled,  and  from  fornication," 
that  is,  as  judicious  Mr.  Hooker  very  probably  interprets 
it,  fi'om  incestuous  marriages  within  prohibited  degi^ees. 
And  all  those  commands,  laid  upon  them  by  the  apostles, 
are  the  very  precepts  of  Noah.  But  circumcision  and 
other  obsei'vances  of  the  ceremonial  law  they  were  not 
obliged  to :  yea,  they  were  obliged  not  to  observe  them, 
as  being  subversions  of  their  souls.  Acts,  15  :  24.  And 
therefore  we  find  that  the  same  holy  apostle,  who  him- 
self circumcised  Timothy  because  he  was  the  son  of  a 
Jewess,  when  he  writes  to  the  Gentiles,  tells  them  ex- 
pressly, that  if  they  be  circumcised  Christ  shall  profit 
them  nothing.  Gal.  5  :  2. 

Thus  we  see  how  far  and  in  what  sense  the  ceremo- 
nial law  is  abrogated. 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  25 

2.  As  to  the  JUDICIAL  law,  and  those  precepts  which 
were  given  to  the  Jews  for  the  government  of  their  ci- 
vil state,  that  law  is  not  at  aH  abrogated. 

Not  to  us,  for  it  was  never  intended  to  oblige  uo.  Nei- 
ther, indeed,  is  it  at  all  necessary  that  the  laws  of  every 
nation  should  be  conformed  to  the  laws  which  the  Jews 
lived  under ;  for,  doubtless,  each  state  has  its  liberty  to 
frame  such  constitutions  as  may  best  serve  to  obtain  the 
ends  of  government. 

Neither  is  the  judicial  law  abrogated  to  the  Jews  :  for 
though  now,  in  their  scattered  state,  the  laws  cease  to  be 
of  force,  because  the  Jews  cease  to  be  a  body  politic ;  yet, 
were  their  dispersion  again  collected  into  one  republic, 
most  probably  the  same  national  laws  would  bind  them 
nOw,  as  did  in  former  times,  when  they  were  a  happy  and 
flourishino^  kinordom. 

3.  Concerning  the  moral  law,  of  which  I  am  now  to 
treat  more  especially,  that  is  partly  abrogated  and  partly 
not :  abrogated,  as  to  some  of  its  circumstances  j  but  not 
as  to  any  thing  of  its  substance,  authority  and  obligation. 

(1.)  The  Moral  Law  is  abrogated  to  believers,  as  it  was 
a  Covenant  of  Works. 

For  God,  in  man's  first  creation,  wi'ote  this  law  in  his 
heart ;  and  added  this  sanction  to  it,  Iftliou  doest  this,  thou 
shalt  live  ;  if  not,  thou  shalt  die  the  death.  Now,  all  man- 
kind sinning  in  Adam,  and  thereby  contracting  an  utter 
impotency  of  obeying  that  law,  that  we  might  not  all  pe- 
rish accordmg  to  the  rigorous  sentence  of  it,  God  was 
graciously  pleased  to  enter  into  another  covenant  with  us ; 
promising  a  Savior  to  repair  our  lost  condition,  and  eter- 
nal life  upon  the  easier  terms  of  faith  and  evangelical  obe- 
dience. Indeed,  all  those,  who  either  never  heard  of  Jesus 

Conimitndraents.  2 


26  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

Christ,  or  who  reject  him,  are  still  under  the  law  as  a 
covenant,  and  therefore  their  estate  is  most  wretched  and 
deplorable ;  for,  being  transgressors  of  the  law,  there  re- 
maineth  nothing  for  them  but  a  certain  fearfiil  looking- 
for  of  wrath  and  fiery  indignation  to  devour  them  as  the 
adversaries  of  God.  But  those  who  are  true  believers  are 
under  a  better  covenant,  even  the  Covenant  of  Grace ; 
wherein  God  hath  promised  to  them  eternal  life,  upon 
condition  of  their  faith;  and  they  may,  with  full  assurance 
of  hope,  to  their  unspeakable  joy  and  comfort,  expect  the 
performance  of  it.  Therefore, 

(2.)  To  believers  the  Moral  Law  is  also  abrogated  as 
to  its  condemning  power. 

Though  it  sentenceth  every  sinner  to  death,  and  curseth 
every  one  who  continueth  not  in  all  things  written  therein 
to  do  them ;  yet,  through  the  intervention  of  Christ's  sa- 
tisfaction and  obedience,  the  sins  of  a  believer  are  gra- 
ciously pardoned,  and  the  curse  abolished,  it  being  dis- 
charged wholly  upon  Christ,  and  received  all  into  his 
body  on  the  cross.  Gal.  3  :  13.  **  Christ  hath  redeemed 
us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us ;" 
so  that  we  may  thei'efore  triumphantly  exult  with  the 
apostle,  Rom.  8:1,  "  There  is  now  no  condemnation  to 
them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus." 

In  these  two  respects  believers  are  indeed  freed  from 
the  moral  law ;  as  it  hath  the  obligation  of  a  covenant,  and 
as  it  hath  a  power  of  condemnation. 

(3.)  But,  as  it  hath  a  power  of  obliging  the  conscience 
as  a  standing  rule  for  our  obedience,  it  remains  still  in  its 
full  vigor  and  authority. 

It  still  directs  us  what  we  ought  to  do ;  binds  the  con- 
science to  the  performance  of  it ;  brings  guilt  upon  the 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  27 

soul,  if  we  transgress  it ;  and  reduces  us  to  the  necessity 
either  of  bitter  repentance,  or  of  eternal  condemnation . 
for,  in  this  sense,  heaven  and  earth  shall  sooner  pass  away 
than  one  jot  or  tittle  shall  pass  from  the  law. 

Therefore  Antinomianism  is  to  be  abominated,  which 
derogates  from  the  value  and  validity  of  the  law,  and  con- 
tends that  it  is  to  all  purposes  extinct  to  believers,  even 
as  to  its  preceptive  and  regulating  power;  and  that  no 
other  obligation  to  duty  lies  upon  them  who  are  in  Christ 
Jesus,  but  only  from  the  law  of  gratitude :  that  God  re- 
quires not  obedience  from  them  upon  sO  low  and  sordid 
an  account  as  the  fear  of  his  wrrath  and  dread  severity ; 
but  all  is  to  flow  only  from  the  principle  of  love  and  the 
sweet  temper  of  a  gratefril  arid  ingenuous  spirit. 

This  is  a  most  pestilent  doctrine,  which  plucks  down 
the  fence  of  the  law,  and  opens  a  gap  for  all  manner  of 
licentiousness  and  libertinism  to  rush  in  upon  the  chris- 
tian world ;  for,  seeing  that  the  Moral  Law  is  no  other 
than  the  Law  of  Nature  written  upon  man's  heart  at  the 
first,  some  positives  only  being  superadded;  upon  the 
same  account  as  we  are  men,  upon  the  Same  we  owe  obe- 
dience to  the  dictates  of  it. 

And,  indeed,  we  may  find  every  part  of  this  law  en- 
forced in  the  Gospel;  charged  upon  us  with  the  same 
threatenings,  and  recommended  to  us  by  the  same  pro- 
raises  ;  and  all  intei*preted  to  us  by  our  Savior  himself,  to 
the  greatest  advantage  of  strictness  and  severity.  We 
find  the  same  rules  for  our  actioris,  the  same  duties  re 
quired,  the  same  sins  forbidden  in  the  Gospel  as  in 
the  law.      •  '  ' 

Only,  in  the  Gospel  we  have  these  mitigations,  which 
were  not  in  the  Covenant  of  Works : 


28  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

That  God  accepts  of  our  obedience,  if  it  be  sincere,  in 
earnest  desires  and  endeavors.  Although  we  cannot  at- 
tain that  perfect  exactness  and  spotless  purity  which  the 
law  requires,  yet  we  are  accepted  through  Christ,  accord- 
ing to  what  we  have,  and  not  according  to  what  we  have 
not,  if  so  be  we  indulge  not  ourselves  in  a  wilful  sloth 
and  contempt  of  the  law. 

That  the  Gospel  admits  of  repentance  after  our  falls, 
and  restores  us  again  to  the  favor  of  God,  upon  our  true 
humiliation  :  while  the  law,  as  a  Covenant  of  Works,  left 
no  room  for  repentance,  but  required  perfect  obedience 
without  the  least  failure ;  and,  in  case  of  non-performance, 
notliing  was  to  be  expected  but  the  execution  of  that 
death  which  it  threatened. 

Yet,  withal,  a  higher  degree  of  obedience  is  now  re- 
quired from  us  under  the  dispensation  of  the  Gospel  than 
was  expected  under  the  more  obscure  and  shadowy  ex- 
hibitions of  gospel-grace  by  legal  types  and  figures.  We 
confess  that  the  Israelites,  before  the  coming  of  Christ, 
were  no  more  under  a  Covenant  of  Works  than  we  are 
now ;  but  yet  the  Covenant  of  Grace  was  more  darkly  ad- 
ministered to  them :  and  therefore,  we  having  now  re- 
ceived both  a  clearer  light  to  discover  what  is  our  duty, 
and  a  more  plentiful  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  enable 
us  to  perform  it,  and  better  promises,  more  express  and 
significant  testimonies  of  God's  acceptance,  and  more  full 
assurance  of  our  own  reward,  it  lies  upon  us,  and  we  are 
under  obligation,  having  all  these  helps  and  advanta- 
ges above  them,  to  endeavor  that  our  holiness  and  obedi- 
ence should  be  much  superior  to  theirs ;  and  that  we  should 
serve  God  with  more  readiness  and  alacrity,  since  now  by 
Jesus  Christ  oui-  yoke  is  made  easy  and  our  burden  light 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  29 

So  that  you  see  we  are  far  from  being  released  from 
our  obligation  to  obedience ;  but  rather,  that  obligation  is 
made  the  stricter  by  Christ's  coming  into  the  world :  and 
every  transgression  against  the  Moral  Law  is  enhanced  to 
an  excess  of  sin  and  guilt,  not  only  by  the  authority  of 
God's  injunction,  which  still  continues  inviolable;  but 
likewise  from  the  sanction  of  our  Mediator  and  Redeemer 
who  hath  invigorated  the  precepts  of  the  law  by  his  ex- 
press command,  and  promised  us  the  assistance  of  his 
Spirit  to  obseiTe  and  perform  them. 

V.  But  before  I  come  particularly  to  treat  of  the  words 
of  the  Decalogue,  I  think  it  requisite  to  propound  some 

GENERAL  RULES  FOR  THE  RIGHT  UNDERSTANDING  AND  EX- 
POUNDING OP  THE  COMMANDMENTS,  which  will  be  of  great 
use  to  us  for  our  right  apprehending  the  full  latitude  and 
extent  of  them. 

The  Psalmist  tells  us,  the  commandments  of  God  are 
exceeding  hroad,  Psalm  119  :  96.  And  so  indeed  they  are 
in  the  comprehensiveness  of  their  injunctions,  extend- 
ing their  authority  over  all  the  actions  of  our  lives ;  but 
they  ai-e  also  exceeding  strait,  as  to  any  toleration  or  in- 
dulgence given  to  the  unruly  lusts  and  appetites  of  men. 

Now  that  we  may  conceive  somewhat  of  this  breadth  and 
reach  of  the  law  of  God,  observe  these  following  rules  : 

1.  All  those  precepts  which  are  dispersed  in  the  holy 
ScriptureSy  and  which  concern  the  regulating  of  our  lives 
and  actions,  although  not  found  expressly  mentioned  in  the 
Decalogue,  may  yet  very  aptly  he  reduced  under  one  oj 
these  ten  commands. 

There  is  no  duty  required  nor  sin  forbidden  by  God 
but  it  falls  under  one,  at  least,  of  these  Ten  Words,  and 


30  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS 

sometimes  under  more  than  one ;  and  therefore,  to  the 
right  and  genuine  interpretation  of  this  law  we  must 
take  in  whatsoever  the  prophets,  apostles,  or  our  Lord 
himself  hath  taught,  as  comments  and  expositions  upoii 
it ;  for  the  Decalogue  is  a  compendium  of  all  they  have 
taught  concerning  moral  worship  and  justice. 

Yea,  our  Savior  epitomizes  this  very  epitome  itself, 
and  reduces  these  ten  words  to  two :  love  to  God,  which 
comprehendeth  all  the  duties  of  the  first  table ;  and  love  to 
our  neighbor f  which  comprehendeth  all  the  duties  of  the 
second  table  :  and  he  tells  us,  that  "  upon  these  two  hang 
all  the  law  and  the  prophets,"  Mat.  22  :  37-40.  And  cer- 
tainly, a  due  love  of  God  and  of  our  neighbor  will  make 
us  careful  to  perform  all  the  duties  of  religion  to  the  one, 
and  of  justice  to  the  other ;  and  keep  us  from  attempting 
any  violation  to  his  honor,  or  violence  to  their  right :  there- 
fore the  Apostle  tells  us  that  "  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
law,"  Rom.  13  :  10 ;  and,  1  Tim.  1 :  5,  that  "  the  end  of 
the  commandment  is  charity,"  or  love :  the  end,  that  is 
the  completion  or  the  consummation  of  the  commandment, 
is  love,  both  to  God  and  to  one  another.  But  con- 
cerning this  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  more  largely 
hereafter. 

2.  Since  most  of  the  commandments  are  delivered  in 
negative  or  prohibiting  terms,  and  only  the  fourth  and 
fifth  in  affirmative  or  enjoining,  we  may  observe  this 
rule :  that  the  affirmative  commands  include  the  prohibition 
of  the  contrary  sin  ;  and  the  negative  commands  include 
the  injunction  of  the  contrary  duty. 

That  the  contrary  to  what  is  forbidden  must  be  com- 
manded, and  the  contrary  to  what  is  commanded  be  for- 
bidden, is  manifest.    As,  for  instance,  God  in  the  third 


THE   INTRODUGJION.  31 

Commandment  forbids  the  taking  of  his  name  in  vain  : 
therefore,  by  consequence,  the  hallowing  and  sanctifying 
his  name  is  therein  commanded.  The  fourth  requires  the 
sanctifying  of  the  Sabbath-day  :  therefore  it  surely  follows 
that  the  profanation  of  it  is  thereby  forbidden.  The  Mi\ 
commands  us  to  honor  our  parents  :  therefore  it  forbids  us 
to  be  disobedient  or  injurious  to  them.  And  so  of  the  rest. 

3.  Observe,  also,  that  every  negative  command  hinds 
alwai/&  and  to  every  moment  of  time ;  hut  the  affirmative 
yrecci)Zs,  though  they  hind  always^  yet  they  do  not  hind  to 
every  moment ;  that  is.  sLs  to  the  habit  of  obedience,  they 
do ;   but  not  as  to  the  acts. 

To  make  this  plain  by  instance. 

The  first  commandment,  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other 
gods  before  me,"  bindeth  always,  and  to  every  moment 
of  time ;  so  that  he  is  guilty  of  idolatry  whosoever  shall 
at  any  time  set  up  any  other  god  to  worship  besides  the 
Lord  Jehovah.  But  the  affirmative  precept,  which  is  in- 
cluded in  this  negative,  namely,  to  worship,  to  love,  to  in- 
voke, to  depend  on  God,  though  it  obligeth  us  always^ 
(for  we  must  never  act  contrary  hereunto,)  and  likewise 
obligeth  us  to  every  moment  of  time,  in  respect  to  the 
hahits  of  divine  love,  and  faith,  and  worship  ;  yet  it  doth  not 
oblige  us  to  every  moment  in  respect  of  the  acts  of  these 
habits ;  for  it  is  impossible  to  be  always  actually  praying, 
praising,  and  worshipping  God,  neither  is  it  required,  for 
this  would  make  one  duty  shock  and  interfere  with  another. 

So,  likewise,  the  fourth  commandment,  which  is  affir- 
mative,  "Remember  that  thou  keep  holy  the  Sabbath- 
day,"  obligeth  always  ;  and  whosoever  at  any  time  pro- 
fanes the  Sabbath,  is  guilty  of  the  violation  of  this  law 
but  it  doth  not,  it  cannot  oblige  to  every  moment  of  time.. 


32  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

siiice  this  day  only  makes  its  weekly  returns,  and  every 
parcel  of  time  is  not  a  Sabbath-day. 

So,  likewise,  the  fifth  commandment  is  positive,  "  Honor 
thy  father  and  thy  mother,"  and  binds  always ;  sothatwesin 
if  at  any  time  we  are  refi-actory  and  disobedient  unto  their 
lawful  commands  :  but  it  doth  not  oblige  to  the  acts  of  honor 
and  reverence  in  eveiy  moment  of  time,  for  that  is  impos- 
sible ;  or  were  it  not,  it  would  be  but  mimical  and  ridiculous. 

But  now  the  negative  precepts  oblige  us  to  every  mo- 
ment of  time ;  and  whosoever  ceaseth  the  observance  of 
them  for  any  one  moment,  is  thereby  involved  in  sin,  and 
becomes  guilty,  and  a  transgressor  before  God :  such  are, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in 
vain:  Thou  shalt  not  kill:  Thou  shalt  not  steal:  Thou 
shalt  not  commit  adultery,"  &c.  Now  there  is  no  mo- 
ment of  time  whatsoever  that  can  render  the  non-obser- 
vance of  these  commands  allowable,  nor  are  there  any 
circumstances  that  can  excuse  it  from  guilt.  Whosoever 
profanes  the  name  of  God  by  rash  swearing  or  trivial  or 
impertinent  uttering  of  it,  whosoever  sheds  innocent 
blood,  whosoever  purloins  from  another  what  is  rightly 
his,  whosoever  is  guilty  of  any  uncleanness  ;  let  it  be  at 
what  time,  in  what  place,  after  what  manner  soever,  let 
it  be  done  passionately  or  deliberately,  whether  he  be 
tempted  to  it  or  not ;  yet  he  is  a  transgi'essor  of  the 
law,  and  liable  to  that  curse  and  death  which  God  hath 
txireatened  to  inflict  upon  every  soul  of  man  that  doetn 
evil.  Whereas,  in  the  affirmative  precepts,  there  are 
some  times  and  seasons  to  which  we  are  not  bound,  so  as 
actually  to  perform  the  duties  enjoined  us.  This  I  sup- 
pose is  clear,  and  without  exception. 

4.  Obsei-ve  this  rule  also  :  that  tJie  same  frer.ept  which 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  ,  33 

forbids  the  external  and  outward  acts  of  sin,  forbids  like- 
wise the  inward  desires  and  motions  of  sin  in  the  heart  ; 
and  the  same  precept  which  requires  the  extcriial  dcts  oj 
duty,  requires  likewise  those  holy  affections  of  the  soul  ihut 
are  suitahle  thereunto. 

As,  for  instance,  the  same  command  that  requires  me 
to  worship  God,  exacts  from  me  not  only  the  outward 
service  of  the  lip  or  of  the  knee,  but  much  more  the  in- 
ward reverence  and  affection  of  my  soul :  that  I  shoujd 
prostrate,  not  my  body  only,  but  my  vei*y  heart  at  his  feet ; 
fearing  him  as  the  great  God,  and  loving  him  as  the 
greatest  good,  and  with  all  the  tenderness  and  deamess  of 
a  ravished  soul  cleaving  to  him  and  clasping  about  him  as 
my  only  joy  and  happiness.  Therefore,  those  are  highly 
guilty  of  the  violation  of  this  command  who  worship  God 
only  with  their  bodies,  when  their  hearts  are  far  estranged 
from  him ;  offering  up  only  the  shell  and  husk  of  a  duty, 
when  the  pith  and  substance  which  should  fill  it  is  given 
either  to  the  world  or  to  their  lusts :  such  as  these  are 
guilty  of  idolatry  even  in  serving  and  worshipping  the 
true  God;  for  they  set  up  their  idols  in  their  hearts 
when  they  come  to  inquire  of  him,  as  the  prophet  com- 
plains, Ezek.  14:7.  So,  likewise,  that  positive  command, 
"Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,"  not  only  requires 
from  us  the  external  acts  of  obedience  to  all  the  lawfid 
commands  of  our  parents  and  magistrates,  and  those 
whom  God  hath  set  in  authority  over  us  ;  but  requires 
farther,  an  inward  love,  veneration  and  esteem  for  them 
in  our  hearts.  For,  though  men  can  take  no  farther  cog- 
nizance of  us  than  by  our  overt-acts ;  and  if  those  be  re- 
gular, they  are  likewdse  satisfactory  to  all  human  laws : 
yet  this  is  not  sufficient  satisfaction  to  the  law  of  God, 


34   -  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

for  God  is  the  discemer  and  judge  of  the  heart  and  soul ; 
and  his  law  hath  this  special  prerogative  above  all  others, 
that  it  can  yvixh  authority  prescribe  to  ovir  very  thoughts, 
desires  and  affections.  -     '  '  -         -  ' 

And  then,  as  for  negative  commands,  they  forbid  not 
only  the  external  acts  of  sin  but  the  inward  motions  of 
lust,  sinful  desires,  and  evil  concupiscence.  Thus  we  find 
it  at  large.  Mat.  5,  where  our  Savior  makes  it  a  great 
part  of  his  object  in  his  sermon  on  the  mount,  to  clear 
and  vindicate  the  moral  law  from  the  corrupt  glosses  and 
interpretations  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees ;  and  to 
show  that  the  authority  of  the  law  reached  to  prohibit, 
not  only  sinful  actions,  as  that  corrupt  generation  thought, 
but  sinful  affections  tool  v.  21,  "Ye  have  heard  that  it 
was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  Thou  shalt  not  kill ;  and 
whosoever  shall  kill  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment." 
Here  they  stopped  in  the  very  bark  and  rind  of  the  com- 
mand, and  thought  it  no  offence,  though  they  suffered 
their  hearts  to  bum  with  wrath,  and  malice,  and  revenge, 
so  long  as  they  pent  it  up  there,  and  did  not  suffer  it 
to  break  forth  into  bloody  murder.  But  what  saith  our 
Savior,  v.  22  1  "  But  I  say  unto  you,  that  whosoever  is 
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."  You 
see  here,  that  not  only  the  horrid  sin  of  murder  is  forbid- 
den by  the  law,  but  all  the  incentives  to  it  and  degrees 
of  it ;  as  anger  conceived  inwardly  in  the  heart,  or  ex- 
pressed outwardly  in  words. 

I  cannot  pass  this. place  without  giving  you  some  light 
for  the  right  understanding  of  it.  ,(.:■ 


THE    mtRODUCTION.  35 

Here  are  three  degrees  of  sin  short  of  murder;  yet 
all  forbidden  by  the  same  precept  which  forbids  that. 
Causeless  anger  against  thy  brother ;  calling  him  Raca ; 
and  calling  him,  Thou  fool :  whereof  the  one  still  exceeds 
the  other  in  guilt,  Raca  signifies  a  simple  witless  fellow, 
commonly  used  to  upbraid  such  as  were  weak  and  igno- 
rant. Thou  fooly  signifies  one  that  is  not  only  ignorant, 
out  wicked  and  ungodly,  as  the  Scripture  frequently  useth 
the  word  in  that  sense,  which  is  a  far  gi'eater  reproach 
than  merely  to  call  him  weak  or  silly.  Now,  according 
to  these  three  degrees  of  sins  our  Savior  proportions 
three  degress  of  punishment  to  be  inflicted  on  those  that 
are  guilty  of  them,  each  severer  than  the  other.  Causeless 
anger  shall  bring  them  in  danger  of  the  judgment;  Raca, 
in  danger  of  the  council ;  and  Thou  Fool,  in  danger  of  hell 
fire  :  that  is,  they  shall  make  them  liable  to  the  punish- 
ments inflicted  by  these. 

But,  to  understand  the  full  scope  and  meaning  of  our 
Sivior  in  these  allusions,  we  must  have  recourse  to  the 
history  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth ;  and  there  we  find 
that  they  had  two  courts  of  judicature,  the  lesser  and  the 
greater  sanhedrim. 

The  lesser  consisted  of  twenty-three  persons ;  and  was 
erected,  not  only  in  Jerusalem,  but  in  every  considerable 
city  among  the  Jews  where  there  were  six  score  house- 
holders. These  had  authority  to  inflict  capital  punish- 
ments on  malefactors ;  but  yet,  as  the  highest  crimes  fell 
not  under  their  cognizance,  so  neither  were  the  severest 
punishments  under  their  award.  And  this  consistoiy  our 
Savior  calls  here  the  Judgment;  and  tells  us,  that  who- 
soever is  angry  with  his  brother  without  a  cause,  shall  be 
liable*  to  a  punishment  correspondent  to  that  which  this 


3t»  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

Baiihediim  was  empowered  to  inflict ;  still  applying  tem- 
porals to  spirituals,  that  is,  he  shall  be  liable  to  eternal 
death,  though  not  so  severely  executed  as  it  would  be  for 
crimes  of  a  more  heinous  nature.       ,     "  .  ..  c  -  "■■ 

Their  greater  sanhedrim  was  their  supreme  court  ox 
judicature,  and  consisted  of  seventy  elders,  besides  their 
chief  speaker  or  moderator.  You  will  find  their  first  in- 
stitution to  have  been  by  divine  authority.  Num.  11  :  16. 
They  sat  only  in  Jerusalem.  Their  sentence  was  decisive 
and  determining,  from  which  there  lay  no  appeal.  They 
were  to  judge  of  all  harder  matters  which  could  not  be 
determined  by  other  courts:  as  causes  concerning  a 
whole  tribe  or  the  whole  nation;  causes  of  war  and 
peace  j  causes  concerning  the  high-priest,  and  the  mission 
and  authority  of  prophets  that  spake  unto  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord :  and  this  may  be  the  occasion  of  that 
speech  of  our  Savior,  "  It  cannot  be  that  a  prophet  perish 
out  of  Jerusalem,"  Luke,  13  :  33,  because  in  Jerusalem 
alone  was  this  sanhedrim  constituted  which  was  to  judge 
of  the  prophets  whether  they  were  true  or  false.  This 
sanhedrim  our  Savior  here  calls  the  Council.  And  they 
had  power,  not  only  of  life  and  death,  as  the  other  had  ; 
but  likewise  of  inflicting  death  in  a  more  severe  and 
tormenting  manner  than  the  other:  and  therefore  our 
Savior  saith.  Whosoever  shall  call  his  brother  Racay  a 
vain  witless  fellow,  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  council. 
Wherein  he  still  brings  the  degrees  of  punishment 
among  the  Jews  to  allude  to  the  punishment  of  sins  in 
hell :  and  so  the  meaning  is,  that  as  he  who  shall  cause- 
lessly be  angry  with  his  brother  exposeth  himself  to  the 
danger  of  eternal  death ;  so  he  that  shall  suffer  his  anger 
to  break  forth  into  any  reproachful  or  reviling  lang\iage, 


-  ^  THE    INTRODUCTION.  '  ^7 

althougli  his  taunts  be  not  very  bitter  nor  biting,  only  u. 
call  bim  a  weak  silly  person,  yet  hereby  he  incurs  the 
danger  of  a  severer  sentence,  and  execution  of  it  upon 
him  for  ever. 

But  the  severest  sentence  which  this  sanhedrim  could 
pronounce  against  the  greatest  malefactors  was  that  they 
should  be  burnt  alive  with  fire.  This  execution  was 
always  performed  in  the  Valley  of  Hinnom,  joining  to 
Jerusalem :  which  being  a  place  wherein  were  frequent 
fires  made,  both  in  idolatrous  times  for  the  sacrificing  of 
tiieir  children  to  Moloch,  and  in  their  purer  times  for  con- 
suming the  filth  of  their  city,  and  that  which  was  as  bad, 
their  malefactors ;  it  is  not  unfrequent  in  the  Scripture  to 
denote  hell  by  this  Tophet,  this  valley  of  Hinnom ;  which, 
for  its  continual  fires,  was  a  lively  type  and  representation 
of  it :  yea,  the  very  scripture  name  for  hell,  Gehenna^ 
seems  to  be  derived  from  the  valley  of  Hinnom.  Now, 
as  burning  of  malefactors  in  Gehenna,  or  the^  valley  of 
Hinnom,  was  among  the  Jews  one  of  their  highest  and 
severest  punishments,  and  never  inflicted  but  where  the 
crime  was  very  gross  and  flagitious ;  so,  saith  our  Savior, 
he  that  saith  to  his  brother.  Thou  fool ^  shall  be  in  danger 
of  Gehenna,  of  hell-fire ;  that  is,  of  a  severer  punishment 
in  the  true  hell  than  those  who  were  either  causelessly 
angry  or  expressed  their  anger  in  more  tolerable  re- 
proaches ;  although  even  they  also  shall,  wdthout  repent- 
ance, be  eternally  punished. 

So  that  the  sense  of  our   Savior  in  all  this   allusion 

seems  to  be  this  :  that  whereas  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees 

had  restrained  that  command,  Tliou  shalt  not  kill,  only  to 

actual  murder,  as  if  nothing  else  were  forbidden  besides 

"open  violen<?e  and  blood;  our  Savior,  contrariwise,  teach- 


38  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

eth,  that  not  only  that  furious  and  barbarous  sin  of  mur- 
der, but  also  rash  and  causeless  anger,  though  it  only  boil 
in  the  heart,  much  more  if  it  cast  forth  its  foam  at  the 
mouth  in  reviling  speeches,  falls  under  that  prohibition, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  kill."  All  these  degrees  deserve  to  be 
punished  w^ith  eternal  death ;  but,  as  among  the  Jews, 
some  were  punished  with  lighter,  others  with  more  griev- 
ous penalties,  so  shall  it  be  at  the  Great  Judgment: 
anger  in  our  hearts  shall  be  condemned  with  eternal  pun- 
ishment; but,  if  it  break  forth  into  reviling  expressions 
the  condemnation  shall  be  more  intolerable,  and  by  so 
much  more,  by  how  much  the  reproaches  are  more  bitter 
and  sarcastical. 

This,  in  brief,  I  take  to  be  the  true  meaning  of  this 
difficult  speech  of  our  Savior :  the  whole  scope  whereof 
shows,  that  not  only  the  gross  acts  of  sin,  but  also  the 
inward  dispositions  and  corrupt  affections  unto  sin,  and 
every  degree  arid  tendency  towai-ds  it,  are  forbidden  and 
threatened  by  the  holy  law  of  God. 

So,  likewise,  verse  27  of  this  5th  chapter :  "  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."  Here  our  Savior 
brings  inward  concupiscence  to  the  bar ;  and  makes  the 
heart  and  6ye  plead  guilty,  although  shame  or  fear  might 
restrain  grosser  acts. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  same  precept  which  forbids 
the  outward  acts  of  sin,  forbids  likewise  the  inward  de- 
sires and  motions  of  sin  in  the  heart. 

And,  indeed,  there  is  a  gi-eat  deal  of  reason  for  it.  For 
God,  who  is  our  lawgiver,  is  a  spirit.    He  seeth  and  con- 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  39 

verseth  with  our  spirits,  There  is  not  the  least  thought 
that  flits  in  thy  soul,  not  the  least  shadow  of  an  imagina- 
tion cast  upon  thy  fancy,  not  the  stillest  breathing  of  a 
desire  in  thy  heart  but  God  is  privy  to  it :  he  sees  to 
the  very  bottom  of  that  deep  spring  and  source  of 
thoughts  that  is  in  thy  heart :  he  beholds  them  in  their 
causes  and  occasions ;  and  knows  our  thoughts,  as  the 
Psalmist  speaks,  afar  off:  he  beholds  our  souls  more 
clearly  and  distinctly  than  we  can  behold  one  another's 
faces ;  and  therefore  it  is  but  fit  and  i^ational  that  his  laws 
should  reach  as  far  as  his  knowledge ;  and  that  he  should 
prescribe  rules  to  that,  the  irregularity  of  which  he  can 
observe  and  punish.  * 

Hence  it  is  that  the  apostle,  considering  what  an  energy 
the  law  has  upon  that  part  of  man  which  seems  most  free 
and  uncontrolled,  his  mind  and  spirit,  calls  it  a  spiritual 
law :  "  We  know,"  saith  he,  "  that  the  law  is  spiritual,'* 
Rom.  7  :  14 ;  and  that,  because  the  searching  and  con- 
vincing power  of  it  enters  into  our  spirits,  cites  our 
thoughts,  accuses  our  desires,  condemns  our  affections : 
which  no  other  law  in  the  world  besides  this  can  do. 
For  how  justly  ridiculous  would  nxQW  be,  who  should 
command  us  not  to  think  dishonorably  of  them,  not  to 
desire  any  thing  to  their  detriment  and  prejudice;  and 
should  threaten  us  with  punishment  in  case  of  disobe- 
dience ;  but  the  law  of  Qod  comes  into  our  consciences 
with  authority ;  and,  in  the  name  of  the  great  God,  re- 
quires his  peace  to  be  kept  among  our  tumultuous  and 
seditious  affections,  beats  down  their  carnal  weapons, 
and  gives  conscience  a  power  either  to  suppress  all  re- 
bellious insuiTections  against  the  majesty  of  heaven,  or 
else  to  indite,  accuse,  and  torment  men  for  them.    And 


40  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

therefore  "the  Word  of  God  is"  by  the  apostle  said 
to  be  "  quick  and  powerful,  and  sharper  than  any  two- 
edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul 
and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  marrow,  and  is  a  discemer 
of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart."    Heb.  4  :  12. 

It  is  therefore  a  fourth  rule  for  the  right  understanding 
of  the  extent  and  latitude  of  the  commands,  that  the 
same  precept  which  forbids  the  outward  acts  of  sin,  for- 
bids also  the  inward  desires  and  motions  of  sin  in  the 
heart. 

•'  5,  Another  general  rule  is  this :  that  the  command  not 
only  forbids  the  sin  that  is  expressly  mentioned^  hut  all 
occasions  and  inducements  leading  to  that  sin. 

And  therefore  we  may  observe  that  there  are  many 
sins  that  are  not  expressly  forbidden  in  any  one  com- 
mandment, but  yet  are  reductively  forbidden  in  every 
one  towards  the  violation  of  which  they  may  prove  occa- 
sions. And  as  some  one  sin  may  be  an  occasion  to  all 
others,  so  it  may  be  well  said  to  be  forbidden  in  every 
precept  of  the  Decalogue. 

I  shall  instance  only  two  of  this  kind  :  and  they  are — 
familiarity  with  evil  persons,  or  keeping  evil  company  j 
and  the  sin  of  drunkenness. 

As  for  evil  company,  it  is  evident  that  though  it  be  not 
expressly  forbidden  in  any  one  commandment,  yet,  as  it 
is  a  strong  temptation  and  inducement  to  the  violation  of 
all  of  them,  so  it  is  a  sin  against  them  all.  There  are  no 
such  sure  factors  for  the  devil  as  wdcked  company,  who 
will  strive  to  rub  their  vices  upon  as  many  as  they  can 
infect.  And  therefore,  thou,  who  delightest  in  the  com- 
pany either  of  atheists,  or  idolaters,  or  swearers,  or  sab- 
bath-breakei;s,   or  disobedient  rebels,   or   murderers,   or 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  41 

whoremongers,  or  thieves,  or  perjured  persons,  or  cove- 
tous muck- worms,  thou  art  guilty  of  the  breach  of  each  ot 
these  commandments ;  for  thou  runnest  thyself  into  the 
very  snare  of  the  devil,  and  takest  the  same  course  to 
make  thyself  so  which  made  them  such.  And  therefore 
we  are  all  forbidden  to  keep  company  with  such  profane 
and  profligate  wretches  by  the  very  same  commandment 
which  forbids  their  impieties,  whatsoever  they  be. 

And  as  for  drunkenness,  whereas  in  the  apostle's  days, 
even  among  the  heathen  themselves,  shame  so  far  pre- 
vailed upon  vice  and  debauchery,  that  it  left  sobriety  the 
day,  and  took  only  the  night  to  itself,  1  Thess.  5:7; 
yet  now  among  us  christian^  wickedness  is  grown  so  pro- 
fligate that  we  meet  the  drunkard  reeling  and  staggering 
even  at  noon-day,  ready  to  discharge  his  vomit  in  our 
faces  or  our  bosoms. 

Possibly,  some  who  are  besotted  vvdth  this  loathsome 
vice  may  think  it  no  great  wickedness,  because  it  is  not 
expressly  forbidden  in  the  summary  of  the  law ;  and  so 
they  cry  Peace,  peace,  to  themselves,  although  they  go 
on  to  add  drunkenness  to  thirst. 

But  of  this  sin  I  say  that  it  is  not  against  any  one  par- 
ticular commandment  of  the  law,  but  against  all ;  for  since 
the  moral  law  is  the  law  and  rule  of  right  reason,  the 
whole  of  it  must  needs  be  broken  when  reason  itself  is 
perverted  by  riot  and  intemperance,  the  man  turned  out 
of  doors,  and  the  beast  taken  in.  So  that,  indeed,  drunk- 
enness is  not  so  much  any  one  sin,  as  it  is  all.  The  drunk- 
ard hath  put  off"  the  man  and  hath  put  on  the  swine ;  and 
into  such  swine  it  is  that  the  devil  enters,  as  surely  as 
ever  he  entered  into  the  herd  of  the  Gadarenes,  and 
drives  them  furiously  dovni  the  precipices  of  all  manner 


42  THii:    TEN    COMMANDMEI>JTS. 

of  sins-  and  vices,  till  at  length  lie  plungeth  and  drowneth 
them  in  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone. 

Therefore,  whatsoever  is  commanded,  or.  whatsoever  is 
forbidden,  drunkenness  is  forbidden,  as  being  the  greatest 
advantage  the  devil  hath  to  prompt  men  to  those  abomina- 
tions, that,  were  they  in  their  right  senses,  they  would  ab- 
hor and  detest.  Is  he,  think  you,  fit  to  worship  God,  and 
to  take  him  for  his  own  God,  who  is  not  himself  his  own 
man  1  Is  not  he  guilty  of  idolatry  who  makes  Bacchus  his 
deity,  giving  him  the  libations  of  his  vomits,  and  falling 
prostrate  before  him  ]  Can  he  forbear  taking  the  name  of 
God  in  vain  who  hath  taken  the  creatures  of  God  to  his 
bane  ]  whose  tongue  is  set  afloat  with  his  excessive  cups, 
and  whose  mouth  the  devil  taps  to  let  his  blasphemies, 
and  oaths,  and  curses,  and  feai-ful  execrations  run  out  the 
more  fluently  ]  Can  he  keep  holy  the  Sabbath-day  whose 
last  night's  drunkenness  and  excess  rocks  him  asleep 
either  in  his  own  house  or  in  the  house  of  God  ]  Is  he  fit 
to  honor  his  parents  who  dishonoreth  his  own  body]  Can 
he  abstain  from  murder  who  first  takes  the  ready  way  to 
destroy  his  own  body  and  damn  his  own  soul ;  and  then, 
through  the  rage  of  wine,  is  ready  upon  every  slight  pro- 
vocation to  mingle  his  vomit  with  the  blood  of  others  1 
Can  he  keep  himself  from  uncleanness  whose  riotous  ta- 
ble doth  but  prepare  him  for  a  polluted  bed  1  Shall  not 
he  assever  that  which  is  false  whose  reason  is  so  blinded 
by  the  fumes  of  his  intemperance  that  he  knows  no  longer 
the  difference  between  truth  and  falsehood]  And,  finally, 
what  bounds  can  be  set  to  his  concupiscence,  who  by  thus 
blinding  the  eyes  of  his  reason  hath  only  left  him  fancy 
and  appetite,  both  which  the  devil  rules  and  governs  ? 

Thus  you  see  there  are  some  sins  which  though  not  ex 


THE    INTRODUCTION.  .  43 

pressly  forbidden  in  the  Decalogue,  yet  are  virtually  and 
reductively  forbidden,  as  being  the  fomenlers  and  occa- 
sions of  others;  and  among  these,  dmnkenness  especially, 
which  strikes  at  every  law  that  God  hath  enjoined  us,  the 
guilt  whereof  is  universal  as  well  as  the  sin  epidemical. 

6.  Another  rule  for  the  understanding  of  the  Decalogue 
is,  that  ike  commands  of  the  first  table  are  not  to  he  kept 
for  the  sake  of  the  second  ;  hut  the  commands  of  the  second 
are  to  he  kept  for  the  sake  of  the  first. 

The  first  table  commands  those  duties  which  imme- 
diately respect  the  service  and  worship  of  God ;  the  se- 
cond, those  which  respect  our  demeanor  towards  men. 
Now  the  worship  and  service  of  God  is  not  to  be  per- 
formed out  of  respect  to  men ;  but  our  duty  towards 
men  is  to  be  obsei-ved  out  of  respect  to  God.  For  he  that 
worships  God  that  he  might  thereby  recommend  himself 
ta  men,  is  but  a  hypocrite  and  formalist ;  and  he  that  per- 
forms his  duty  towards  men  without  respecting  G  od  in  it, 
is  but  a  mere  civil  moralist.  The  first  table  commands  us 
not  to  worship  idols,  not  to  swear,  not  to  profane  the 
Sabbath.  The  laws  of  the  magistrate  command  the  very 
same ;  and  those  who  are  guilty  of  the  breach  of  them  arer 
liable  to  human  punishments.  But  if  we  abstain  from 
these  sins  solely  because  they  will  expose  us  to  shame  or 
luffering  among  men ;  if  we  worship  G  od  merely  that 
men  may  respect  and  venerate  us,  all  the  pomp  and  os- 
tentation of  our  religion  is  but  hypocrisy,  and  as  such 
shall  have  its  reward ;  for  God  requireth  to  be  served  not 
for  man's  sake,  but  for  his  own. 

The  second  table  prescribes  the  right  ordering  of  our 
conversation  towards  men ;  that  we  should  be  dutiful  and 
obedient  to  our  superiors,  loving  and  kind  to  our  equals, 


44  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

charitable  and  beneficial  to  our  inferiors,  and  just  ana 
righteous  towards  all.  These  duties  are  not  to  be  done 
only  for  man's  sake,  but  for  God's ;  and  those  who  per- 
form them  without  respecting  him  in  them,  lose  both 
their  acceptance  and  reward.  And  therefore  our  Savior 
condemns  that  love  and  beneficence  which  proceeds 
merely   upon   human   and    prudential    accounts.     Matt. 

5  :  46.  "If  ye  love  them  which  love  you,  what  reward 
have  ye?  do  not  even  the  publicans  the  same  V  And  Luke, 

6  :  33,  34,  "If  ye  do  good  to  them  which  do  good  to  you, 
what  thank  have  yel  for  sinners  also  do  even  the  same. 
And  if  ye  lend  to  them  of  whom  ye  hope  to  receive,  what 
thank  have  ye  1  for  sinners  also  lend  to  sinners,  to  receive 
as  much  again." 

We  ought  not  therefore  to  serve  God  for  man's  sake ; 
but  we  ought  to  love  man  for  God's  sake,  and  to  perform 
the  duties  of  the  second  table  out  of  conscience  and  re- 
spect to  God.  We  ought  to  do  this  in  obedience  to  his 
authority;  for  what  we  do  for  men  is  an  acceptable 
w'ork  and  service  when  we  do  it  out  of  a  sincere  principle 
of  obeying  the  will  and  command  of  God.  We  ought  to 
do  it  in  conformity  to  his  example ;  and  this  our  Sa- 
vior urgeth.  Matt.  5  :  45,  "  That  ye  may  be  the  children 
of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven :  for  he  maketh  his  sun 
to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on 
the  just  and  pn  the  unjust."  We  ought  to  do  it,  in  view 
of  a  comfortable  hope  and  expectation  of  his  eternal 
reward.  Luke,  6  :  35.  "  Love  your  enemies,  and  do 
good,  and  your  reward  shall  be  great."  And  this  is  the 
way  to  exalt  morality  to  be  truly  divine;  and  to  make 
whatsoever  we  do  towards  men,  to  be  an  acceptable  ser- 
vice to  God.    By  thig  means  we  interest  him  in  all  th© 


THE    INTiiODUCtlON.  45 

acts  of  our  charity,  justice  ^nd  temperance  ;  and  we  may 
be  assured  that  what  we  thus  do  for  his  sake,  shall  in  the 
end  be  graciously  rewarded  by  his  bounty. 

7.  Another  rule  is,  that  the  commands  of  the  first  tahle, 
so  far  forth  as  they  are  purely  moral,  supersede  our  obe- 
dience to  the  commands  of  the  second  tahle,  when  they  are 
not  both  consistent.  • -,>  "  . '•    •    ,        •     .  • 

As,  for  instance  :  we  are  in  the  second  table  required 
to  obey  our  parents,  and  to  maintain  and  preserve  our 
own  lives  ;  yet,  if  we  are  brought  into  such  circumstances 
as  that  we  must  necessarily  disobey  either  God  or  them — 
either  prostitute  our  souls  to  guilt,  or  our  lives  to  execu- 
tion— in  such  a  case  our  Savior  hath  instructed  us,  Luke, 
14  :  26,  "  If  any  man  come  to  me,  and  hate  not  his  father, 
and  mother,  and  wife,  and  children,  yea,  and  his  own 
life  also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."  Indeed,  a  positive 
hatred  of  these  is  unnatural  and  impious ;  but  the  hatred 
which  our  Savior  here  intends  is  comparative  ;  that  is,  a 
loving  them  less  than  Christ,  less  than  religion  and  piety. 
And  if  the  commands  of  the  one  or  the  concerns  of  the 
other  are  at  any  time  to  be  violated  or  neglected,  it  must 
only  be  when  we  are  sure  that  they  are  incompatible 
with  a  good  conscience  and  true  godliness. 
.  •'  8.  Again,  whereas,  in  the  first  table,  there  is  one  com- 
mand partly  moral  and  natural,  partly  positive  and  insti- 
tuted, and  that  is  our  observation  of  the  Sabbath,  we 
may  observe  that  our  obligation  to  the  duties  of  the  second 
table  often  supersedes  our  obedience  to  that  command  of  the 
first  table. 

It  frequently  happens  that  works  of  necessity  and 
mercy  will  not  permit  us  to  be  employed  in  works  of 
piety,  nor  to  sanctify  the  Sabbath  after  such  a  manner  as 


46  '  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

else  we  ought ;  for  the  Lord  requireth  mercy  rather  than 
sacrifice.  Hosea,  6:6.  And  this  our  Savior  allege th,  Matt. 
9  :  13.  In  which  sense  it  holds  true,  that  "  The  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  Mark,  2  :  27. 
Whatsoever  therefore  is  a  work  of  necessity,  or  a  work 
of  charity  and  mercy,  and  that  not  only  towards  man,  but 
even  towards  bnite  beasts  themselves,  may  lawfully  be 
done  on  the  Sabbath-day,  without  bringing  upon  us  the 
guilt  of  profanation ;  for  that  which  is  purely  moral  in 
the  second  table  doth  in  a  sort  derogate  from  what  is  but 
positive  and  instituted  in  the  first.  .  .       - 

9.  Another  rule  is,  whatsoever  is  forbidden  in  any 
command,  hath  all  the  signs  and  symptoms  of  it,  and 
likeivise  all  the  effects  and  consequents  of  it,  are  forhidden 
in  the  same. 

Thus,  under  the  prohibition  of  idolatry,  falls  the  pro 
hibition  of  feasting  in  the  idol-temples,  and  eating  meats 
sacrificed    to    them,   as  being  too   evident  a  sign  of  otir 
communion  with  them. 

So,  in  the  commands  in  which  pride  is  forbidden, 
(which  are  chiefly  the  first  and  second,  for  a  proud  man 
sets  up  himself  for  his  god,  is  his  own  idol,  and  is  his 
own  idolater,)  in  the  same  are  forbidden  all  the  signs  and 
effects  of  pride ;  as  a  lofty  look  and  a  mincing  gait,  an 
affected  behavior  and  vain  fantastic  apparel,  against 
which  the  prophet  largely  declaims,  Isa.  3:  16-26;  be- 
cause, although  pride  doth  not  formally  consist  in  these 
things,  yet  they  are  signs  and  effects  of  pride,  and  con- 
trary to  that  modesty  and  decency  which  God  requires. 

10.  The  last  rule  is  this:  The  connection  between  the 
commands  is  so  close  and  intimate,  and  they  are  so  linked 
together,  4hat  whosoever  hreaketh  one  of  them  is  guilty 
of  all. 


-      _  THE    INTRODUCTION.  47 

Now  that  bond  which  runs  through  them  and  knits 
them  thus  together,  is  the  authority  and  sovereignty  of 
God  enjoining  their  observance :  so  that  whosoever  fails 
in  his  due  obedience  to  any  one,  doth  virtually  and  inter- 
pretatively  transgress  them  all. 

Thus  we  find  it  expressly  affirmed,  James,  2  :  10, 
"  Whosoever  shall  keep  the  whole  law,  and  yet  offend  in 
one  point,  he  is  guilty  of  all."  Not  as  though  the  vio- 
lation of  one  precept  were  actually  the  violation  of  an- 
other ;  for  many  may  steal,  and  yet  not  actually  murder^ 
many  again  may  murder,  and  yet  not  actually  commit 
adultery :  but  this  place  of  the  apostle  must  be  under- 
stood of  violating  that  authority  which  passeth  through 
them  all,  and  by  which  all  the  commandments  have  their 
sanction.  For  since  the^  authority  of  the  gi-eat  God  is 
one  and  the  same  in  all  these  laws,  he  that  shall  so  far 
disrespect  .this  authority  as  wilfiilly  to  break  one  of  them, 
evidently  declares  that  he  owns  it  not  in  any.  And  al- 
though other  considerations  may  restrain  such  a  one 
from  those  crimes  which  are  forbidden  by  some  com- 
mandments, yet  his  observance  of  them  is  no  part  of 
obedience,  nor  can  it  be  interpreted  to  be  perfoimed  out 
of  conscience  and  respect  towards  God ;  for  were  it  so, 
the  same  authority  which  withheld  him  from  murder,  or 
theft,  or  adultery,  would  likewise  restrain  him  from  lying, 
or  taking  the  name  of  God  in  vain ;  and  he  that  is  guilty 
of  these  offences,  is  likewise  guilty  of  all,  because  the 
same  authority  is  stamped  upon  them  all  alike,  and  is 
alike  violated  in  the  transgression  of  each.  And  this 
very  reason  the  apostle  subjoins  to  his  assertion,  verse  11, 
"  He  that  said,  Do  not  commit  adultery,  said  also,  Do 
not  kill.     Now,  if  thou  commit  no  adultery,  yet  if  thou 


48  THE    TEN    C0MMANDME1^^TS. 

kill,  thou  art  become  a  transgressor  of  the  law:  yea, 
of  the  whole  law,  as  breaking  that  fence  which  God  had 
set  about  his  law,  even  his  sovereign  and  absolute  au- 
thority. ^ 

These  are  the  rules  which  may  direct  your  under- 
standings to  a  right  knowledge  of  the  latitude  and  com- 
prehensiveness of  the  law.  The  application  of  them  to 
23articular  cases  I  must  leave  to  the  judgment  of  christian 
prudence,  except  as  various  illustrative  examples  may  be 
given  in  the  ensuing  treatise. 

VI.  Before  entering  upon  the  consideration  of  the  com- 
mandments in  particular,  it  only  remains  to  speak  briefly 
— and  that  chiefly  because  others  have  spoken  so  much — 
concerning  the  order  of  these  commands. 

The  number  of  them  is  no  way  questioned ;  for  God 
himself  hath  determined  them  to  be  ten^  Exod.  34  :  28 ; 
but  the  method  and  disposition  of  them  is  much  contro- 
verted, and  I  think  with  more  heat  and  contention  than 
the  cause  deserves ;  for  if  all  that  God  hath  spoken  be 
entirely  delivered  to  us,  what  great  concern  is  it  whether 
this  or  that  command  be  reckoned  the  second,  third,  or 
fourth  ?  This  certainly  tends  but  little  to  piety ;  and  we 
had  need  rather  to  employ  our  care  how  to  keep  them, 
than  how  to  reckon  them. 

Therefore,  waiving  all  other  differences,  (as  that  of  He- 
sychius,  making  the  first  command  to  be  this,  "  I  am  the 
Lord  thy  God,"  which  we,  with  good  reason,  affirm  to 
be  only  a  part  of  the  preface; — and  the  leaving  out  of  the 
fourth,  concerning  the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath  ;— 
and^  the  placing  of  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill "  after  "  Thou 


THE    INTRODirCTION.  49 

shalt  not  commit  adultery,  Thou  slialt  not  steal,"  whereas 
we,  according  to  the  Hebrew  verity,  place  it  before ;)  all 
that  I  shall  remark  is,  the  difference  between  the  Papists 
and  us  in  the  enumeration  of  the  Ten  Commandments.. 

They  generally  hold  that  there  are  but  three  commands 
in  the  first  table,  and  therefore  make  seven  in  the  second  : 
and  so,  to  complete  this  number,  they  join  the  first  and 
second  into  one,  and  divide  the  tenth  into  two. 

Concerning  this  division  or  union  we  would  not  be 
much  contentious  wdth  them,  were  there  not  a  sacrile- 
gious and  idolatrous  design  couched  under  it,  as  mani- 
festly there  is  :  for  finding  the  second  commandment  to 
strike  so  directly  at  their  image  worship,  they  think  it 
expedient  to  deny  it  to  be  any  distinct  precept  of  itself; 
and  reckon  it  but  only  an  appendix  or  exposition  of  the 
former,  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me  j'* 
that  so  they  might  with  the  better  color  omit  it ;  as  ge- 
nerally they  have  done  in  all  their  books  of  devotion  and 
of  instruction  for  the  people.  So  that. of  those  few  among 
them  that  can  rehearse  the  Decalogue,  you  shall  find  none 
that  will  repeat,  **  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any 
graven  image :  thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  unto 
them,  nor  serve  them ;"  they  not  knowing  that  any  such 
thing  is  forbidden  them  by  God.  And  yet,  that  they  may 
make  up  the  full  number  of  the  commandments,  they  di- 
vide the  tenth  into  two :  one,  forbidding  the  coveting  of 
our  neighbor's  wife;  and  the  other,  the  coveting  of  any 
oJ.her  of  his  possessions. 

The  only  authority  they  produce  from  antiquity  for 
this  order  of  the  Decalogue,  is  that  of  St.  Austin  :  and  it 
is  true,  he  doth  in  many  places  of  his  works  so  conjoin 
and  divide  them ;  yet  not  fi'om  any  design  of  promoting 

Commandments.  3 


t 


bO  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

idolatry,  or  keeping  the  people  in  ignorauce,  that  th< 
worshipping  of  images  was  forhidden.  But  in  this  par 
ticular  he  went  contrary  to  the  current  of  all  former  an 
l.iquity ;  yea,  contrary  to  the  very  order  of  the  Scripture 
for  whereas  they  say  that  the  ninth  commandment  is 
Thou  shall  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  wife;  and  the  tenth 
Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  house,  7ior  his  servant 
^c.  if  we  consult  Exod.  20  :  17,  we  shall  find  that  the 
command  runs  thus  :  Thou  shalt  "not  covet  thy  neighhor\ 
house,  thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighhor's  wife,  Sfc.  fron 
which  it  certainly  follows  that  they  cannot  make  twc 
precepts,  but  appertain  to  one. — But  enough  of  this  : 
which  I  had  not  mentioned,  had  it  not  been  conceived 
out  of  such  an  impious  design. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  commandments  themselves,  ii 
which  we  have  the  preface  and  the  'precepts,  -        '  . '  .-^ , 


PREFACE    TO   THE   COMMANDMENTS. 
I   AM    THE    Lord    thy    God,  which    have  brougft 

THEE  OUT  OF  THE  LAND  OP  EgYPT,  OUT  OF  THE  HOUSE 
OP  BONDAGE. 

This  preface  caiTies  an  equal  respect  and  reverence  tn 
all  the  commandments ;  and  contains  a  strong  argument 
to  enforce  obedience  to  them.  As  kings  and  princes 
usually  prefix  their  names  and  titles  to  the  laws  and 
edicts  they  set  forth,  to  gain  the  more  attention  and  the 


PREFACE    TO    THE    COMMANl>»jfiNTS.  61 

greater  veneration  to  what  they  publish  ;  so  here  the 
great  God,  the  King  of  kings,  being  about  to  proclaim  a 
law  to  his  people  Israel,  that  he  might  affect  them  with 
the  deeper  reverence  of  his  authority,  and  make  them  the 
more  afraid  to  transgress,  displays  and  blazons  his  name 
and  his  style  before  them— J  am  the  Lord  thy  God^  which 
have  hrought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  out  of 
the  house  of  bondage — that  they  might  learn  to  fear  his 
glorious  and  fearful  name,  the  Lord  thy  God.  So  we 
find  it,  Deut.  28  :  58.  '^^^V 

And  here,  as  all  the  arguments  which  are  most  pre- 
valent and  cogent  are  adapted  to  work  upon  one  of  these 
two  passions  by  which  we  are  swayed  in  all  the  actions 
of  our  lives,  either  our  fear  or  our  love,  so  God  accommo- 
dates himself  to  our  temper  and  proclaims,  first,  his  au- 
thority, to  beget ye«r:  "1  am  the  Lord  thy  God;"  and 
then,  seco7idly,  his  benefits  and  ?nercies,  to  engage  love: 
"  The  Lord  thy  God,  that  brought  thee  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage."  And  both  these 
he  proclaims,  that,  having  so  Strong  an  obligatioii  on  our 
very  natures  as  the  motives  of  love  and  fear,  he  might 
the  more  readily  work  us  to  obedience.  For  what  mo- 
tives can  be  urged  more  enforcing  than  these,  which  are 
drawn  both  from  power  and  goodness  ;  the  one  obliging, 
us  to  subjection,  the  other  to  gratitude  ? 

1.  He  is  the  Lord  God,  the  great  creator,  the  only  pro- 
frietor,  the  absolute  governor  and  disposer  of  all  things ; 
therefore  on  this  account  we  owe  an  awful  observance  to 
all  his  laws  and  injunctions.  It  is  but  fit  and  just  that  we 
should  be  subject  to  him  that  created  us,  and  who  hath 
infinite  power,  for  our  contumacies  and  rebellions,  eter- 
nally to  destroy  us.  ; 


52  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

He  is  the  Lord  God,  the  great  and  glorious  One,  whose 
kingdom  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting,  and  whose  do- 
minion bath  no  bounds,  either  of  time  or  place.  "  Be- 
hold," saith  the  prophet,  "  the  nations  are  as  a  drop  of  a 
bucket,  and  are  counted  but  as  the  small  dust  of  the  ba- 
lance :  behold,  he  taketh  up  the  isles  as  a  very  little 
thing.  All  nations  before  him  are  as  nothing ;  and  they 
are  counted  to  him  less  than  nothing  and  vanity."  Isa. 
40  :  15,  17.  His  voice  shakes  the  heavens,  and  removes 
the  earth  out  of  its  place.  His  way  is  in  the  whirlwind. 
Storms  und  tempests  are  his  harbingers;  and  the  clouds 
are  the  dust  of  his  feet.  The  mountains  quake  at  his 
presence ;  at  his  displeasure  the  hills  melt  away ;  the 
world  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  it  are  dissolved.  His 
fury  is  poured  out  like  fire,  and  the  rocks  are  throvm 
down  by  him.  His  hand  spans  the  heavens,  and  he  holds 
all  the  waters  of  the  sea  in  the  hollow  of  it.  Heaven  is 
the  throne  of  his  glory,  and  the  earth  his  footstool :  his 
pavilion  round  about  himi,  dark  waters  and  thick  clouds 
of  the  sky.  Ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  glorious 
spirits  stand  alway  ministering  before  him :  they  fly  on 
his  errands,  and  are  ready  to  execute  his  sovereign  will 
and  pleasure.  "  Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  gloiious 
m  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders  V  and 
therefore,  who  would  not  fear  thee,  O  King  of  nations  ; 
and  tremble  and  be  astonished,  when  once  thou  ait 
angry? 

"Wilt  thou  then,  O  vile  and  wretched  sinner,  despise 
the  authority  and  majesty  of  the  great  God,  before  whom 
all  the  powers  of  heaven  and  earth  lie  prostrate  ]  Darest 
thou  infringe  his  laws  a^d  violate  his  commands,  who  is 
so  great  and  terrible  a  God  that  he  can  destroy  thee  by 


PREFACE    TO    THE    COMMANDMENTS.  53 

the  very  breath  of  his  nostrils  ?  "By  the  breath  of  his 
nostrils  are  they  consumed."  Job,  4  :  9.  Yea,  he  can 
look  thee  to  death,  "  They  perish  at  the  rebuke  of  thy 
countenance.'*  Psalm  80  :  16.  Art  thou  able  to  contend 
with  this  God  1  Art  thou  a  fit  match  for  the  Almighty  1 
Can  I  ly  heart  endure,  or  thy  hands  be  strong  in  the  day 
when  the  Lord  shall  deal  with  thee,  and  come  to  recom- 
pense vengeance  upon  thee  for  all  thy  transgi-essions  1 
Who  among  you  can  dwell  with  the  devouring  fire  1  who 
among  you  can  dwell  wdth  everlasting  burnings  1 

Certainly,  did  we  but  frequently  thus  ovei-awe  our 
hearts  with  the  serious  consideration  of  the  dread  majesty 
and  supreme  authority  of  the  great  God,  we  should  not 
dare  so  presumptuously  to  provoke  him  as  we  do.  Fear 
is  a  most  excellent  preservative  firom  sin,  and  a  sti'ong 
fence  that  God  hath  set  about  his  law  to  keep  us  from 
breaking  those  bounds  which  he  hath  prescribed  us. 
Therefore  the  wise  man  gives  us  this  advice,  Eccl.  12  :  13, 
"Fear  God  and  keep  his  commandments;"  and  the 
Psalmist,  Ps.  4  ;  4,  "  Stand  in  awe  and  sin  not." 

2.  As  the  authority  of  God  is  set  forth  to  move  us  to 
obedience  by  working  on  our  fear,  so  his  henejits  and 
mercies  are  declared  to  win  us  to  it  from  a  principle  of 
love  and  gratitude:  "The  Lord  thy  God,  who  hath 
brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house 
of  bondage."  And  indeed  this,  though  a  soft,  is  yet  a 
most  powerful  and  effectual  argument. 

Hath  God  surrounded  thee  with  blessings,  and  loaded 
thee  every  day  with  his  -benefits  1  Hast  thou  received  thy 
life,  thy  being  from  him ;  and  so  many  comforts  in  which 
thou  takest  delight,  and  he  allows  thee  so  to  do  %  Hast 
thou  been  delivered    by  his  watchful  providence  from 


64  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

many  deaths  and  dangers;  restored  from  sickness,  or 
preserved  in  health  1  Doth  he  feed  thee  at  his  table,  and 
clothe  thee  out  of  his  wardrobe  1  Nay,  what  is  infinitely 
more,  hath  he  given  thee  his  only  Son,  and  his  Son  given 
thee  his  life  and  most  precious  blood  1  Hath  he  sent  thee 
his  Gospel ;  and  in  it  the  exceeding  great  and  precious 
promises  of  eternal  glory,  a  glory  which  hope  durst  not 
be  bold  enough  to  expect,  iiOr  is  imagination  large  enough 
to  conceive  1  Hath  he  sent  thee  his  Spirit  to  seal  and  ra- 
tify all  these  promises  to  thee  1  Hath  he  crowned  thy 
head  with  many  rich  blessings  here,  and  will  he  crown  it 
with  joy  and  blessedness  hereafter  1  And  canst  thou,  O 
soul,  be  so  unkind  and  disingenuous  as  to  deny  any  thing 
to  that  God  who  hath  denied  nothing  to  thee  1  Canst  thou 
refuse  him  the  only  thing  he  requires  of  thee,  the  only 
testimony  which  thou  canst  give  that  thou  hast  any  sense 
of  his  favor  1  and  especially  considering  he  requires  it 
only  that  he  may  reward  it  with  farther  blessings  1 

Canst  thou  wrong  that  God  who  hath  been  so  kind  and 
gracious  unto  thee,  and  is  continually  doing  thee  good  ] 
Canst  thou  despise  his  precepts,  who  hath  regarded  thy 
prayers'?  Wilt  not  thou  hear  him  speaking  unto  thee, 
who  hath  often  heard  thee  when  thou  hast  cried  unto 
him,  and  hath  helped  and  saved  thee  ?  Certainly,  the 
ingenuousness  of  human  nature  forbids  it :  the  love  of 
God  constraineth  otherwise;  especially  since  he  hath 
required  obedience  from  us  as  the  evidence  and  ex- 
pression of  our  love  to  him:  John,  14:21,  "He  that 
hath  my  commandments,  and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that 
loyeth  me  ;  and  in  2  John,  5:6,  ••  This  is  love,  that  we 
walk  after  his  commandments.'*  And  that,  which  is  a  most 
cogent  motive,  thine  own  interest  and  eternal  concern- 


PREFACE    fO    THE   GOMMAND-MENTS.  6G 

ments  engage  thee'  to  it;  for,  "  what  doth  the  Lord  thy 
God  require  of  thee,  but  to  fear  the  Lord  thy  God — and 
to  love  him — and  to  keep  his  commandments — which  I 
command  thee  this  day  for  thy  good  ?"    Deut.  10  :  12,  13. 

God  might  have  required  from  us  the  very  same  obedi- 
ence which  now  he  doth, '  without  promising  us  any  re- 
ward for  it ;  for  we  owe  him  all  that  we  can  possibly  do, 
as  he  is  the  author  of  our  beings,  and  every  power  and 
faculty  of  our  souls  ought  to  be  employed  for  him  who 
gave  them  unto  us.  But  when  the  gi-eat  God  hath  been 
so  far  pleased  to  condescend  from  his  prerogative  as  to 
command  us  nothing  but  what  hath  already  brought  us 
very  great  advantages,  and  will  for  the  future  hving  us 
far  greater,  when  his  hands  shall  be  as  full  of  blessings  as 
his  niouth  is  of  commands ;  when  he  enjoins  us  a  work 
that  in  itself  is  wages,  and  yet  promiseth  us  wages  for 
doing  that  work ;  when  the  mercies  he  hath  already  given 
us  do  oblige  us,  and  the  mercies  he  hath  promised  yet  to 
give  do  allure  us,  certainly  we  must  needs  be  the  most 
disingenuous  of  all  creatures,  and  the  gi-eatest  enemies  to 
our  own  happiness,  if  these  considerations  do  not  win  us 
to  yield  him  that  obedience  which  redounds  not  at  all  to 
his  profit  and  advantage,  but  to  our  own. 

Thus  you  see  how  God  hath  enforced  the  obser^'ance 
of  his  law  upon  us,  both  by  his  authority  and  by  his 
mercy :  the  one  to  work  upon  our  fear,  the  other  upon 
our  love ;  and  both  to  engage  us  to  obedience. 

Here  it  is  observable,  that,  in  the  rehearsal  of  those 
mercies  which  should  oblige  to  duty,  mention  is  made 
only  of  those  which  seem  to  concern  the  Israelites,  and 
no  other  people  :  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  brought 


5Q  :  '     THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS.    "^  ' 

thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage. 
From  which  some  would  infer  that  the  Decalogue  only 
respects  them ;  and  that  the  commands  then  given  do  not 
at  all  appertain  to  us  any  more  than  the  benefits  com- 
memorated. ;j 'v^i.%^j  ;  ,>vn  u    rmfi-a.'^v 

But  the  answer  is  easy.  For  this  mercy  here  mention 
ed,  of  deliverance  from  E  gypt  and  the  house  of  bondage, 
is  to  be  understood  as  well  typically  as  literally.  If  wc 
understand  it  literally,  it  indeed  refers  only  to  the  people 
of  Israel,  whom  God  brought  out  of  Egypt  with  a  mighty 
hand  and  a  stretched-out  arm,  and  by  such  a  series  of 
miracles  that  they  were  almost  as  ordinary  as  the  common 
effects  of  his  providence,  ^ut  if  we  understand  it  typi- 
cally and  mystically,  it  is'  tme^  that  God  hath  brought 
us  also  out  of  Egypt,  and  out  of  the  house  of  bondage  ; 
and  therefore  the  enforcement  of  the  commandments  on 
this  account  belongs  to  us  christians  as  much  as  it  did 
belong  to  the  church  of  the  Jews ;  for,  if  we  run  up  the 
allegory  to  the  spiritual  sense  of  it,  we  shall  find  a  won- 
derful agi-eement  betwixt  them  and  a  near  representation 
of  our  state  in  the  state  of  the  Israelites.  Let  it  suffice  to 
compare  them  together  only  in  a  few  remarkable  in- 
stances. 

Thus  as  they  were  kept  iri^l)ondage  under  the  rigorous 
tyranny  of  Pharaoh,  who  sought  both  by  policy  and  power 
to  destroy  them ;  so  were  we  kept  in  bondage  under  the 
tyranny  of  the  devil,  of  whom  Pharaoh  was  a  black  type 
and  shadow.  And  as  God  delivered  them  fi-om  his  hand 
by  a  temporal  salvation,  so  hath  he  delivered  us  from  tlie 
power  of  the  devil  by  a  spiritual  salvation ;  redeeming 
us  from  the  slavish  bondage  of  sin  through  the  blood  of 
bis  Son, by  whom  all  our  spiritual  enemies  are  destroyed; 


PREFACE    TO    THE    COMMANDMENTS.  67 

and  conducting  us  through  the  wilderness  of  this  world 
unto  the  promised  Canaan,  that  land  that  floweth  with 
milk  and  honey,  the  seat  of  reftt  and  eternal  joy  and 
fehcity,  even  heaven  itself :  and,  therefore,  if  the  consi- 
deration of  a  temporal  deliverance  were  so  powerful  a 
motive  to  engage  the  Israelites  unto  obedience,  how  much 
more  effectually  should  we  be  obliged  unto  it  whose  de- 
liverance is  far  greater  than  theirs  was ;  for  God  *'  hath 
delivered  us  from  the  power  of  darkness^  and  hath  trans- 
lated us  into  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  Son,"  Col,  1  :  13; 
he  hath  "  delivered  us  from  the  "svrath  to  come,"  1  Thes. 
1  :  10 ;  he  "  hath  fibolished  death,  and  hath  brought  life 
and  immortality  to  light  through  the  Gospel,"  2  Tim. 
1 :  10.  And  therefore  as  our  deliverance  is  spiritual,  so 
ought  our  obedience  to  be  ;  that  being  delivered  from  the 
justice  of  God,  the  condemning  power  of  the  law,  the 
reigning  power  of  sin,  the  sting  of  an  accusing  con- 
science, the  rage  and  malice  of  the  devil,  and  the  intoler' 
able  torments  of  hell,  we  might,  with  all  love  and  thank- 
fulness, cheei-fuUy  serve  that  God  whose  mercy  hath  been 
extended  towards  us  in  those  things  which  are  of  highest 
and  most  precious  concernment. 

Thus  you  see  the  reason  of  this  preface,  **  I  am  the 
Lord  thy  God,  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt;"  and  how  it  is  both  applicable  and  obligatory  to 
us  Christians  as  well  as  to  the  Jews ;  containing  a  decla- 
ration of  God's  authority  to  enforce  and  of  his  mercy  to 
oblige  us  to  the  obedience  of  those  laws  which  he  delivers, 

But  I  come  now  to  the  preccjfts  themselves. 


THE  FIRST  COMMANDMENT. 


TIioii  Shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me. 

This  first  and  chiefest  of  the  ten  commands  is  nega 
tive ;  and  as  all  negatives  depend  upon  and  must  be  mea- 
sured by  the   tnith  of  their  contrary  affinnative,   I  shall 
first  consider  what  duties  are  here  required,   and  then 
what  sins  are  here  forbidden. 

This  command  has  respect  to  2vorship,  and  requires 
four  things  :  >  ,   - 

1.  That  loe  must  have  a  God;  which,  of  course,  is 
against  atheism. 

2.  That  we  must  have  the  Lord  Jehovah  for  our  God  ; 
which  is  against  idolatry. 

3.  That  we  must  have  the  only  true  God,  the  Lord  Jehovah 
alone,  for  our  God  ;  and  this  is  against  polytheism,  or  the 
worshipping  of  many  gods.  It  is  opposed  also  to  Samaii- 
tanism,  or  the  worshipping  of  false  gods  together  with  the 
true,  like  those  Samaritans  spoken  of,  2  Kings,  17  :  33, 
who  feared  the  Lord  and  yet  served  their  own  gods; 
mak'ng  a  strange  medley  in  religion,  and  blending  those 
ching-8  together  that  were  utterly  irreconcilable :  as  if 
they  intended  not  only  to  be  partakers  themselves  with 
devils,  but  to  make  God  so  too ;  which  is  the  greatest 
gratification  that  can  be  given  to  that  proud  and  wicked 
spirit  whose  ambition  it  is  to  emulate  and  rival  God  in 
worship:  for  so  the  apostle  tells  us,  that  those  "things 
which  the  Gentiles  sacrifice,  they  sacrifice  to  devils,  and 
not  to  God,"  1  Cor.  10  :  20.  Thus  to  join  any  other  thing 
with  God  as  the  object  of  our  worship,  is  infinitely  to 
debase  and  disparage  him ;  since  it  intimates  that  some- 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  59 

thing  besifies  God  is  excellent  and  perfect  as  himself. 
Therefore,  in  Zeph.  1 : 5,  God  severely  threatens  to  cut 
off'  and  to  destroy  those  *'  that  worship  and  that  swear 
by  the  Lord,  and  that  swear  by  Malcham." 

4.  It  requires  that  aZZ  owr  services  and  acts  of  worship 
to  the  true  and  only  God  be  performed  with  sincerity  and 
true  devotion.  This  is  implied  in  that  expression  before 
me  or  in  my  sight. 

And  this  is  opposed  both  to  profaneness  on  the  one 
hand  and  hypocrisy  on  the  other.  For,  since  the  most  se- 
cret and  retired  apartments  of  the  heart  are  all  naked  and 
bare  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  our  very  spirits  are  as  it 
were  dissected  and  thus  exposed .  to  his  view  j  it  folio v^^s 
that  to  have  no  other  god  before  him,  denotes  that  our 
serving  and  worshipping  him  ought  to  be  sincere  and 
affectionate. 

It  is  not  enough  to  have  no  other  god  before  men  ;  not 
to  fall  down  prostrate  before  any  visible  idol  set  up  in  a 
temple ;  but  the  law  is  spiritual,  and  searcheth  the  very 
thoughts  and  inward  parts  of  the  soul ;  and  if  there  be 
any  idol  set  up  in  the  heart,  although  it  be  in  the  darkest 
comer  of  it ;  any  secret  lust  or  hidden  sin,  which  is  the 
soul's  idol,  and  keeps  it  from  being  chaste  and  true  to 
Its  God ;  any  crooked  ends  and  sinister  respects  in  the 
worship  of  God;  this  is  to  have  another  god  in  the 
sight  of  Jehovah,  and  before  him. 

Indeed,  we  are  very  apt  to  rest  contented  if  we  can 
but  approve  ourselves  before  men,  and  carry  a  fair  show 
of  religion  and  godliness.  But  consider  how  weak  and 
foolish  this  is  ;  for,  first,  we  deceive  them  with  our  ap- 
pearances ;  and  then  we  deceive  ourselves  with  their 
opinions  of  us.    It  is  not  only  before  men,  whose  sight  is 


60  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS 

terminated  in  the  bark  and  outside  of  things,  that  we 
offer  up  our  services;  but  before  that  God  who  is  the 
searcher  of  the  heart  and  the  trier  of  the  reins,  who 
looks  quite  through  us,  and  judgeth  not  according  to 
outward  appearance,  but  judgeth  righteous  judgment. 
For  us  to  i-egard  men,  and  seek  to  commend  ourselves 
to  them  in  the  service  of  GJ-od,  is  as  great  a  folly  and 
irreverence  as  it  would  be  for  one  who  is  to  treat  with 
a  mighty  prince,  to  regard  and  reverence  only  the  images 
in  the  tapestry  and  hangings.  Alas  !  men  are  but  as  so 
many  blind  images  in  respect  to  God ;  they  cannot  see 
the  heart  nor  the  affections ;  and  those  outward  acts  of 
woi'ship  which  they  do  see  and  commend  without  the 
heart,  are  despised  by  God.  He  requireth  truth  in  the 
inward  parts ;  and  is  not  delighted  with  the  ostentation 
of  performance,  but  with  the  sincerity  of  intention ;  for 
every  one  is  delighted  with  that  which  doth  most  of  all 
declare  some  singular  excellency  that  is  in  himself;  but 
it  is  God's  excellency  and  prerogative  to  contemplate 
the  heart,  to  weigh  and  consider  the  spirits  of  men  • 
and  therefore  he  is  chiefly  delighted  in  the  unfeigned 
desires  and  breathings  of  the  heart  after  him,  because 
by  these  we  own  him  to  be  an  all-knowing  God.  But 
when  we  perform  duties  of  religion  only  to  be  seen  and 
applauded  of  men,  we  make  God  only  our  pretence,  but 
men  our  idols ;  and  set  up  as  many  gods  before  him  as 
we  have  spectators  and  observers. 

Thus  we  see  what  positive  duties  are  required  of  us  in 
this  precept :  that  we  should  worship  a  God,  and  him  the 
true  God,  and  the  true  God  only,  and  that  in  truth  and 
sincerity,  as  doing  all  our  services  before  him.  So  this 
first  command  respects  worship. 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  61 

It  would  be  too  long,  and  indeed  almost  endless,  to  in- 
sist  particularly  on  all  the  duties  included  in  the  true 
and  sincere  worship  of  the  true  and  only  God.  I  shall 
therefore  speak  only  of  the  three  principal,  and  these 
are,  the  love  of  God,  the  fear  of  God,  and  the  invocation 
and  praise  of  God.  In  these  three  especially  doth  con- 
sist the  having  the  Lord  for  our  God.   " 

I.  This  command  requires  of  us  the  most  supreme  and 
endeared  love  of  God. 

Yea,  indeed,  the  love  of  God  is  not  only  the  sum  of 
this  command,  but  of  all  the  commands  of  the  first  table  ; 
and  therefore,  as  I  have  already  said,  when  our  Savior 
would  give  an  abridgment  of  the  law,  he  comprises  all 
the  ten  under  two  great  commands.  Matt.  2^  :  37-39,^ 
**  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  v^dth  all  thy  mind.  This  is  the 
first  and  great  commandment.  And  the  second  is  like 
unto  it.  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  From 
whence  the  apostle  deduces  that  great  conclusion,  Rom. 
13  :  10,  that  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  ihelaid.  It  is  so,  if 
not  formally,  yet  virtually  and  effectively ;  for  it  will 
powerfully  and  sweetly  sway  us  to  yield  a  ready  submis- 
sion and  obedience  to  what  is  required  of  us ;  and  that 
not  only  as  it  is  the  dictate  of  divine  and  sovereign  au- 
thority, but  from  the  free  spontaneous  tendency  of  the 
soul  itself,  which,  when  it  is  once  touched  with  this  ce- 
lestial and  serene  flame,  must  rebel  against  its  own  in- 
clinations as  well  as  against  God^s  commands  if  it  be  not 
carried  out  towards  that  object  in  which  alone  it  can  find 
full  acquiescence  and  satisfaction. 

This  love  of  God  hath  in  it  three  acts  or  degrees  ;  de- 
sire, joy,  and  zeal.  **        •  ;    '    •         • 


62  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

1.  An  earnest  and  panting  Je^iVe  after  God.  **  As  the  hart 
panteth  after  the  water-brooks,  so  panteth  my  soul  after 
thee,  O  God.  My  soul  thirsteth  for  God,  for  the  living 
God  :"  oh,  "  when  shall  I  come  and  appear  before  God  1" 
Psalm  42  :  1,  2.  As  the  poor  imbossed  deer  that  is 
closely  pursued  faints  and  melts  with  the  heat  of  the 
chase,  and  hasteth  to  the  known  river  where  it  was  wont 
to  quench  its  thirst,  to  find  both  safety  and  refreshment 
there,  so  doth  the  holy,  amorous  soul  reach  and  breathe 
after  God.  He  thirsteth  after  the  water-hrooks,  the 
streams  of  his  ordinances,  wherein  God  doth  pour  out  his 
grace  and  his  Spirit  to  refresh  the  longing  desires  of  his 
holy  impatience ;  but,  not  being  satisfied  with  this,  he 
BtUl  makes  up  to  -the  fountain,  and  never  rests  contented 
till  he  hath  engulfed  and  plunged  himself  into  God,  and 
is  swallowed  up  in  beatitude. 

2.  From  the  fruition  of  the  beloved  object  springeth  joy; 
for  joy  is  nothing  else  but  the  r6st  and  acquiescence  of 
desire;  therefore,  according  to  the  measures  of  God's 
communicating  himself  to  our  souls,  such  proportionably 
will  be  the  increase  of  our  joy.  Something  we  enjoy  of 
God  in  this  life,  whilst  we  are  absent  from  him  in  the 
body.  He  is  pleased  to  give  us  transient  glances  of  him- 
self when  he  fills  his  ordinances  and  our  duties  with  his 
Spirit;  and  yet  these  reserved  communications  are  so 
ravishing  that  the  soul  is  often  forced  by  the  agony  of 
sweetness  to  cry  out  with  holy  Simeon,  ''  Now,  Lord,  let 
thy  servant  depart  in  peaces  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy 
salvation."  How  overflowing  then  will  our  joy  be  when 
we  come  to  heaven,  where  our  fi'uition  of  God  shall  bo 
entire  and  eternal !  where  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is, 
and  know  him  as  we  are  known  by  him  !  where  the  un- 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  63 

veiled  glories  of  tlie  Deity  shall  beat  full  upon  us,  and  we 
forever  sun  oui-selves  in  the  smiles  of  God!  Certainly 
the  joy  of  such  a  state  would  be  inore  than  we  could  en- 
dure, but  only  that  God  who  fills  us  will  tlien  likewise 
enlarge  and  support  us. 

3.  If  our  fruition  of  God  be  hindered  and  obstructed, 
our  love  to  him  will  then  express  itself  in  a  holy  ztal. 

Zeal  is  the  indignation  of  the  soul,  and  a  revenge  that 
it  takes  upon  whatsoever  is  an  impediment  to  the  obtain- 
ing of  its  desires.  The  earnest  desire  of  a  tnie  saint  is 
the  enjoyment  of  God  and  the  glory  of  God ;  of  both 
which,  sin  is  the  only  hinderance.  Therefore  a  soul 
that  is  passionate  for  God,  hath  not  so  great  an  in- 
dignation against  any  thing  as  against  sin.  Can  he  en- 
dure to  see  that  God,  whom  he  loves  dearer  than  his  life, 
daily  provoked  and  injured  1  to  hear  his  name  blas- 
phemed ]  to  see  his  ordinances  despised,  his  worship  ne- 
glected, his  servants  abused,  and  the  most  sacred  truths 
of  religion  denied,  and  its  sacred  mysteries  derided  ]  He 
is  the  most  meek  and  patient  man  on  earth  in  his  own 
concerns;  unwilling  to  observe  the  wrgngs  that  are  done 
him,  and  much  more  to  revenge  them  :  but  when  God  is 
injured,  the  dear  object  of  his  love  and  joy,  he  can  no 
longer  refrain :  whatsoever  may  befall  him,  he  rises  up 
to  vindicate  his  honor,  and  thi*usts  himself  between,  to 
receive  those  strokes  that  were  aimed  at  God ;  and  what 
he  cannot  prevent  or  reform,  that  he  bitterly  bewails. 
This  is  true  zeal ;  and  he  that  saith  he  loves  God,  and 
yet  is  not  thus  zealous  for  him,  is  a  liar. 

Try,  therefore,  your  love  to  God  by  these  three  things. 
Are  your  desires  fervent  and  affectionate  after  him  1  Do 
you  find  a  holy  impatience  in  your  spirit  till  you  enjoy 


64  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

him  1  "Will  nothing  else  satisfy  you  but  God  ]  Can  you 
say  that  there  is  none  in  heaven  nor  in  earth  that  you 
desire  in  comparison  with  him  ;  and  if  the  whole  world 
were  thrown  into  your  bosom  for  your  portion,  you  would 
t>luck  it  thence  and  cast  it  at  your  feet,  resolving  that  you 
will  not  be  put  off  with  such  trifles  ]  Do  you  find  a  joy 
springing  and  diffusing  itself  through  your  hearts  when 
you  are  engaged  in  communion  with  him  1  a  sweet  and 
T^otent  dehght,  to  which  all  the  pleasures  of  sin  are  but 
flat  and  insipid  ]  Are  you  jealous  for  the  Lord  of  hosts  1 
Are  your  anger  and  grief  never  so  much  kindled  for  any 
wrongs  that  are  done  unto  yourself,  as  they  are  for  the 
provocations  that  are  daily  committed  against  the  great 
Majesty  of  heaven]  Canst  thou  mourn  and  weep  for 
these  in  secret ;  and  if  thou  hast  power  and  authority  to  do 
it,  punish  and  avenge  them  openly  1  Then  thou  mayest  for 
thy  comfort  conclude  that  certainly  God  hath  kindled  this» 
heavenly  flame  of  love  in  thy  breast ;  a  flame  that  aspires 
heaven- ward,  and  will  at  last  carry  up  thy  soul  with  it, 
and  lodge  it  there,  where  the  desire  of  love  shall  be  satis- 
fied, the  joy  of  love  perfected,  and  the  2eal  of  love  eter- 
nally rewarded. 

So  much  for  the  love  of  God,  the  first  principal  duty 
required  in  this  first  command. 

II.  This  command  requires  also  the  fear  of  God. 

For  certainly  we  cannot  have  the  Lord  for  our  God 
unless  "we  supremely  fear  and  reverence  him.  Yea,  as 
the  love,  so  the  fear  of  God  is  made  the  sum  of  all  the 
commandments,  and  indeed  the  substance  of  all  religion  : 
for,  although  it  be  but  one  pax'ticular  branch  and  member 
of  that  worship  and  service  which  we  owe  to  God,  yet 
it  is  such  a  remarkable  one,  and  hath  such  a  mighty  in- 


FIRST    COWfSTANDMENT.  ^5  ' 

fluence  upon  all  the  rest,  that  oftentimes  in  Scripture  it 
is  put  for  the  whole ;  and  generally,  the  character  of  a 
true  worshipper  and  obedient  servant  of  God  is  given  by 
this  periphrasis,  that  he  is  a  man  Jearing  God. 

Now  the  fear  of  God  is  either  servile  or  Jilial ;  and 
both  are  a  strong  bond  to  duty  and  obedience. 

Those  who  are  actuated  only  by  a  slavish  fear,  will 
beware  how  they  stir  up  the  dread  wrath  and  severe  jus- 
tice of  God  against  themselves  by  any  wilful  neglects  or 
known  transgressions. 

And  how  much  more  those  who  are  actuated  by  a 
principle  of  filial  and  reverential  fear  of  God  ;  who  fear 
as  much  to  oifend  as  to  suffer  for  it ;  and  to  whom  mercy 
and  goodness  prove  as  powerful  motives  of  fear,  as  vnrath 
and  fury !  Yea,  there  is  no  attribute  nor  perfection  in 
God  but  i&  very  justly  the  object  of  our  fear,  for  where 
this  grace  is  true  and  genuine,  it  works  in  us  rather  a  se- 
date awe  and  respect  of  God,  a  profound  reverence  of 
the  soul,  than  any  turbulent  and  tempestuous  passions  of 
affright  and  horror.  And  certainly  if  we  acknowledge 
that  there  is  a  God,  it  is  but  reason  that  we  should  thus 
fear  him  according  to  his  essential  greatness  and  glory ; 
for  take  away  the  fear  of  a  Deity  and  a  supreme  power 
which  is  able  to  reward  and  punish  the  actions  of  men, 
and  you  open  a  floodgate  for  all  villany  and  wickedness 
to  rush  out  and  overflow  the  whole  world.  And  where 
this  restraint  of  fear  is  taken  off  from  the  spirits  of  men, 
all  laws  given  to  curb  their  licentiousness  are  of  no  more 
force  than  fetters  of  air  to  chain  up  madmen  ,•  and  there- 
fore very  fitly  doth  God  enjoin  the  fear  of  himself  in  this 
first  command,  as  that  which  will  season  and  dispose  the 
heart  to  obey  him  in  all  the  rest. 


66  inja  ten  commandments. 

III.  Another  principal  part  of  worship  required  in  this 
first  command  is  the  invocation  of  the  name  of  God  in  our 
'prayers  and  praises. 

The  two  foraier,  love  and  fear,  respect  the  inward 
worship  of  God  in  our  hearts ;  but  this  appertains  to 
his  outward  worship,  for  by  it  ^e  give  express  testi- 
monies that  w«  both  love  and  fear  him.  It  has  respect 
to  our  prayers  and  praises,  and  they  are  the  tribute 
and  homage  of  religion.  By  the,  one  we  acknowledge 
our  dependance  upon  him ;  by  the  other  we  own  all 
our  blessing  and  comforts  to  be  from  him ;  and  to  one 
of  these  two  all  external  worship  may  be  referred.  Cer- 
tainly such  as  neither  ^;r<7y  to  God  nor  praise  him,  can- 
not be  said  to  have  a  God ;  for  they  acknowledge  none, 
but  are  gods  to  themselves.  For  wherefore  do  we  affirm 
that  there  is  a  God,  if  we  make  no  addresses  to  him  1 
If  we  have  recourse  only  to  our  own  power  or  policy  to 
accomplish  our  designs,  and  when  they  succeed  ascribe 
the  success  of  them  only  to  our  own  wisdom  and  con- 
duct, we  make  these  our  idols  and  give  them  the  honor 
which  is  due  to  God  only.  ,  Therefore  the  prophet  speaks 
of  those  who  "  sacrifice  unto  their  net,  and  burn  incense 
unto  their  drag ;  because  by  them  their  portion  is  fat, 
and  their  meat  plenteous."  Hab.  1  :  16.         « 

Now  as  the  love  and  fear  of  God  are  often  used  in 
Scripture  for  his  whole  worship  and  service,  so  likewise 
is  this  invocation  and  praise  of  his  name.  So  we  find  it, 
Gen.  4  :  26,  "then  began  men  to  call  upon  the  name  of 
the  Lord:"  that  is,  (as  many  learned  expositors  under- 
stand it,  although  some  take  it  -another  way,)  then  began 
men  solemnly  and  publicly  to  worship  God  in  their  as- 
semblies ;  and  Jerem.  10  :  25,  "  Pour  out  thy  fury  upon 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  67 

the  heathen  that  know  thee  not,  and  upon  the  families 
that  call  not  on  thy  name  :"  that  is,  those  who  do  not 
worship  nor  serve  thee.  And  the  like  we  may  observe 
in  very  many  other  places. 

One  thing  more  only  I  shall  remark  here;  namely, 
that  as  this  first  command  requires,  in  the  general,-  that 
the  true  God  should  be  truly  worshipped,  so  the  three 
next  following  commands  prescribe  tlie  means  and 
hranches  of  Jds  worship,  and  the  way  and  manner  how 
liQ  would  have  it  perfonned.  The  second  commandment 
requires  us  to  worship  God,  who  is  a  spirit,  without  any 
visible  image  or  representation  of  the  Deity;  for  as  it 
is  impossible  that  there  should  be  any  true  resemblaiice 
made  of  a  spirit,  so  it  is  most  impious  to  give  any  part 
of  divine  honor  and  reverence  unto  dumb  idols  :  which, 
as  to  their  materials,  are  but  the  creatures  of  God :  as 
they  ciTe  statues,  but  the  creatures  of  art ;  and  as  they 
are  images,  but  the  creatures  of  fancy  and  superstition. 
The  third  commandment  requires  that  we  should  never 
mention  the  name  of  the  great  God  slightly  and  imper- 
tinently, but  whensoever  we  have  occasion  to  utter  it 
we  should  do  it  with  all  prostrate  veneration  and  serious 
affection.  The  fourth  prescribes  the  time  which  God 
hath  set  apart  and  sanctified  for  his  solemn  worship.  So 
you  see  each  command  of  the  first  table  is  concerned  in 
giving  rules  for  divine  worship ;  but  the  first,  which  en- 
joins it  in  the  general,  is^  the  ground  and  foundation  of 
the  other  three. 

Thus  nauch  shall  suffice  concerning  the  duties  required 
in  this  first  command,  thou  shalt  have  no  other  godh 

BEFORE    ME. 


68  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

,  •  Next  let  us  se^  what  is  forbidden  in  this  command. 
As  it  requires,  so  it  forbids  four  things.  Thus  it  for- 
bids atheism,  or  the  belief  and  acknowledgment  of  no 
God ;  ignorance  of  the  true  God ;  profaneness,  or  the 
neglect  of  the  worship  and  service  of  God ;  and  idolatry, 
%:v  the  setting  up  and  worshipping  of  false  gods. 
~  I.  Atheism,  or  tJie  acJcnowl edging  of  no  god,  is  for- 
bidden and  coiidemned  by  this  command. 

And  well  may  this  be  reckoned  the  first  sin  forbidden ; 
for  certainly  religion  and  worship  will  be  found  to. be 
one  of  the  most  foppish  vanities  ever  imposed  on  the 
credulous  world,  if  either  there  be  no  God  to  whom  wo 
might  direct  our  devotions;  or  only  a  god  of  Epicurus' 
and  Lucretius*  stamp,  that  sits  unconcerned  in  heaven 
and  loathes  the  fatigue  of  business,  taking  no  thought  nor 
care  of  human  affairs.  For  if  there  be  no  god,  or  only 
such  a  one,  what  difference  is  there  whether  we  pray  or 
blaspheme?  whether  we  lead  holy  and  pious  lives,  or 
let  loose  the  reins  to  all  manner  of  lewdness  and  riot, 
and  wallow  in  all  the  impure  delights  that  vice  and  sen- 
suality can  recommend  to  our  coiTupted  appetites  ]  for 
if  there  be  no  God,  there  can  be  no  future  cognisance 
taken  of  either,  no  rewards  nor  punishments  propor- 
tioned to  either.  Therefore  it  will  be  necessary  here 
to  show  the  folly  and  unreasonableness  of  atheism,  and 
to  convince  men  that  there  is  a  God,  without  which  all 
religion  and  worship  are  but  folly  and  madness. 

Some  perhaps  may  judge  it  altogether  needless  to  in- 
sist upon  such  a  subject  as  this  among  those  who  all  ac- 
knowledge and  worship  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  he  hath  sent.  I  heartily  wish  it  were  both 
unnecessary  and  impertinent ;  but  truly,  if  we  consider 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  69 

that  usually  the  practices  of  men  are  guided  and  influ- 
enced by  their  principles,  we  shall  find  reason  enough  to 
suspect  that  there  are  some  notions  of  speculative  athe- 
ism that  lie  at  the  bottom  of  all  that  practical  atheism 
which  we  may  observe  so  generally  to  prevail  in  the 
world ;  for  any  considerate  person  would  think  it  impos- 
sible that  men  should  so  daringly  rush  into  all  those  pro- 
digious crimes  and  villanies  that  every  where  rage  and 
reign,  were  it  not  that  they  entertain  loose  and  wavering 
apprehensions  of  the  existence  of  a  Deity,  and  encou- 
rage themselves  in  their  vices  by  some  unformed  and 
vague  thoughts  that  perchance  all  those  truths  which  re- 
ligion teaches  concerning  God  and  a  future  state  are 
only  politic  devices  and  fictions. 

Nay,  indeed,  our  age,  has  too  maijiy  who,  not  only  with 
the  fool  say  in  their  hearts,  but  in  desperate  impudence 
even  avow  in  express  words,  yea,  dispute  and  argue  it, 
that  "  there  is  no  God." 

I  shall  therefore  confirm  this  great  and  primary  truth, 
upon  which  depend  all  our  religion  and  all  our  hopes,  by 
some  convincing  and  demonstrative  arguments  which  I 
intend  to  make  as  plain  and  obvious  as  the  matter  will 
permit.  -  r  ,-.vif^'  'Humilr's 

1.  The  univei'sal  consent  of  all  nations  strongly  proves 
the  being  of  a  Deity. 

For  that  which  all  agree  in,  must  needs  be  accounted 
a  dictate  of  nature  ;  and  what  is  such  must  needs  be  ac- 
knowledged to  be  a  maxim  of  truth. 

Next  to  the  report  of  our  senses  we  may  credit  the 
reports  that  nature  and  all  mankind  give  concerning  the 
truth  and  existence  of  things.  Now  if  we  should  impan- 
uel  all  the  nations  of  the  world  upon  this  trial,  not  only 


70  THE    TEN   COMMANDMENTS.  ^ 

the  more  civilized,  where  custom  or  the  authority  of  laws 
might  be  suspected  to  introduce  this  belief,  but  those 
that  are  the  most  rude  and  savage,  they  would  all  with 
one  consent  return  this  verdict,  that  ihtre  is  a  God. 

Nay,  although  one  part  of  mankind  hath  so  strangely 
dissented  from  another  about  all  other  things,  as  concern- 
ing their  laws,  government  and  customs,  yea,  and  manner 
of  worship,  yet  those  that  differ  in  all  things  else,  seem 
only  to  agree  in  these  two ;  human  nature  and  the  belief 
of  a  Deity.  Never  was  there  any  nation  so  wild  and  bar 
barous  that  acknowledged  no  God,*  but  their  great  fault 
and  folly  was  that  they  acknowledged  too  many.  And  it 
is  strange  to  think  that  the  whole  race  of  mankind  in  so 
many  generations  as  have  successively  followed  one  an- 
other since  the  beginning  of  the  world,  (yea,  and  if  there 
were  no  God,  from  all  eternity,)  should  not  have  grown 
wise  enough  to  free  themselves  from  so  troublesome  an 
opinion  as  that  of  the  existence  of  a  God :  ah  opinion 
that  crosses  their  worldly  interests,  contradicts  their  sen- 
sual desil-es,  damps  their  joys,  torments  their  natural  con- 
sciences, and  which  those  who  are  wicked  would  give 
whatsoever  is  dearest  to  them  to  have  utterly  rooted  out 
of  their  minds :  it  is  strange,  I  say,  that  they  should  not 
all  this  while  be  able  to  deliver  themselves  from  the  ty- 
ranny and  fettei's  of  this  fancy,  were  it  only  imposed 
upon  them  by  false  reports  and  surmises. 

How  could  the  world  be  so  easily  drawn  into  such  se- 
veral shapes  and  forms  of  religion,  which  among  the  hea- 
then   are    almost  infinite,  and  among  others  too  various 

*  Nulla  gens  est,  neque  tarn  immansncta  nee  tamfera,  qua;,  eiiamsi 
ignoret  vel  earn  habere  Deum  deceat,  tanjen  habendum  sciat,   Cicero. 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  71 

and  different,  were  there  not  a  natural  inclination  in  the 
souls  of  men  to  embrace  some  religion  or  other,  and  an 
indelible  character  of  a  Deity  imprinted  on  their  minds  1 
Insomuch,  that  in  the  times  of  darkness,  when  the  truth 
was  not  clearly  revealed  to  the  world,  because  they 
knew  neither  the  tine  object  nor  the  right  way  of  wor- 
ship, this  restless  notion  of  a  Deity  put  them  upon  invent- 
ing divers  vile,  uncouth  and  ridiculous  superstitions.  But 
yet  this  is  so  far  from  invalidating,  that  it  strongly  confirms- 
to  us  their  belief  of  a  Deity;  in  that  they  submitted  them- 
selves to  obsei'vances,  not  only  unreasonable,  but  many 
times  barbarous  and  inhuman,  if  they  thought  them  ac- 
ceptable to  the  gods  whom  they  worshipped.  Yea, 
rather  than  they  would  be  without  a  Deity,  they  would 
dig  them  gods  out  of  their  gardens  ;  or  consecrate  dogs 
and  serpents,  and  any  vermin  that  first  met  them  in  the 
morning,  and  had  the  good  luck  thereby  to  creep  into  honor. 

What  then !  is  it  likely  that  the  world  received  this 
notion  first  by  tradition  ;  whereas,  before,  men  generally 
believed  there  was  no  God  1  This  cannot  be  ;  for  would 
they  in  reason  quit  their  former  persuasion  to  receive  this 
new  false  one,  especially  when  it  is  the  only  thing  that 
fills  them  with  fears  and  torments,  and  a  thousand  affrights 
and  horrors  1  Yea,  those  who  would  fain  wear  off*  this 
notion  of  a  God,  and  persuade  themselves  to  be  atheists 
if  they  could,  what  violence  have  they  offered  to  them- 
selves to  do  it !  And  when  they  thought  they  had  pre- 
vailed, yet  this  impression  hath  still  returned  when  they 
have  been  startled  with  thunder,  or  earthquakes,  or  sick- 
ness, and  the  dreadful  apprehensions  of  approaching  death. 

Possibly,  some  few  may  have  been  found  in  the  world, 
who  have  dissented  from  the  rest  of  mankind  in  this  belief 


72  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

of  a  Deity  ;  yet  their  dissent  is  not  sufficient  ground  for 
us  to  conclude,  that  therefore  it  is  not  a  dictate  of  nature. 
For  how  many  are  there  that  violate  the  laws  of  nature, 
and  do  those  things  which  the  innate  light  and  reason  of  a 
man  abhor  and  abominate  !  Yet  none  will  from  thence  in- 
fer that  there  are  no  such  things  as  natural  laws  ;  so 
neither,  though,  some  miglit  have  utterly  razed  out  of 
their  minds  the  notion  and  belief  of  a  God,  will  it  thence 
follow  that  this  belief  of  a  Supreme  Being  is  not  an  im- 
pression of  nature. 

But  suppose  the  number  of  atheists  had  been  never  so 
great,  is  it  not  far  more  probable  that  it  shoul  1  rather  be 
a  dictate  of  nature  that  there  is  a  God,  than  that  there  is 
not ;  since  the  disbelief  of  his  being  would  open  a  wide 
gap  to  all  manner  of  licentiousness,  yea,  and  to  the  bold 
commission  even  of  those  sins  which  are  against  nature 
itself  1  Shall  men  be  thought  to  speak  the  sense  of 
nature,  whose  opinion  so  directly  tends  to  bring  in  sins 
contrary  to  the  light  and  laws  of  nature  1  For,  take  away 
the  belief  of  a  Deity,  and  it  is  as  much  to  be  doubted 
whether  the  refined  discourses  of  .reason,  and  the  con- 
sidera,tion  of  decency,  and  the  intrinsical  rewards  of  vir- 
tue, will  be  of  force  sufficient  to  restrain  men  from  the 
most  enormous  imcf  unnatural  vices.  That,  therefore, 
must  needs  be  a  dictate  of  nature,  which  is  almost  the 
only  thing  which  gives  authority  to  the  law  of  nature ;  and 
such  is  the  belief  of  a  God. 

2.  'Another  convincing  demonstration  of  the  existence 
of  a  Deity,  is  taken  from  the  serious  consideration  and  re- 
view of  the  frame  and  order  of  the  universe;  in  which  there 
are  as  many  wonders  as  there  are  creatures. 

Certainly  he  must  needs  be  very  blind  and  stupid  that 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  73 

reads  not  God  in  every  creature.  Cast  but  your  eyes  up- 
wards and  contemplate  the  vast  expanse  of  the  heavens, 
which  are  the  canopy  of  the  world,  the  roof  of  this  great 
house,  the  universe,  the  lid  or  cover  put  over  all  the  works 
of  nature.  Behold  how  gloriously  this  canopy  is  studded ! 
How  many  glittering  lights  are  hung  up  in  this  roof  to 
illuminate  our  inferior  world,  and  to  discover  to  our 
eyes  all  visible  objects,  and  to  our  mind  the  invisible 
God  !  Who  hath  gilded  the  rays  of  the  sun,  or  silvered 
the  face  of  the  moon  ]  Wlio  hath  marshalled  the  huge 
host  of  heaven  ;  and  set  the  stars  in  such  array,  that  not 
one  of  them  hath  broken  its  rank  nor  strayed  out  of  its 
course  and  prder  ]  Whose  hand  is  it  that  turns  the  great 
wheels  of  heaven ;  and  makes  them  spin  out  days,  and 
months,  and  years,  and  time,  and  life  to  us  1  Who  hath 
ordered  the  vicissitudes  of  day  and  night,  summer  and 
winter,  that  these  run  not  into  one  another  and  blend 
themselves  and  the  whole  world  in  confiision ;  but  with 
a  perpetual  variety,  observe  their  just  seasons  and  inter- 
changes ]  Do  not  all  these  wonderful  works  proclaim  aloud, 
that  certainly  there  is  a  great  and  glorious  God  who  sits 
enthroned  on  high  ;  and  who  hath  thus  paved  the  bottom 
of  heaven  with  stars,  and  adorned  the  inner  parts  of  it  vsdth 
glories  yet  to  us  unknown  1  Upon  this  very  reflection  the 
psalmist  tells  us,  "  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God, 
and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handy- work."  Psalm  19  : 1. 
But  not  to  carry  the  atheist  up  to  heaven,  let  us  de- 
scend lower,  through  the  vast  ocean  of  liquid  air,  and  there 
observe  how  the  grosser  vapors  are  bound  together  in 
clouds,  which  when  the  drought  and  thirst  of  the  earth 
call  for  refreshment,  dissolve  themselves  into  small 
drops,  and  are  as  it  were  sifted  into  rain.    How  comes 

Coramandmepts.  4 


74  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

it  to  pass,  and  whose  wisdom  and  providence  hath  so 
ordered  it,  that  there  should  not  fall  whole  clouds  and 
cataracts,  but  drops  and  showers  ]  that  they  should  not 
tumble  upon  us,  but  distil  1  an  effect  so  wonderful  that 
there  is  scarce  any  other  work  of  nature  that  the  Scripture 
more  frequently  ascribes  to  God,  as  a  demonstration  of  his 
power  and  government,  than  that  he  sendeth  rain  upon 
the  earth.  Yea,  and  these  clouds,  how  often  are  they 
charged  with  thunder  and  lightnings ;  as  though  it  were 
so  ordered  of  purpose,  that  if  their  contexture  cannot  con- 
vince, yet  their  terror  might  affright  the  atheist !  Who  can 
give  any  satisfactory  account  how  that  artillery  came  there 
planted  ]  or  how  those  terrors  of  mankind  are  there  ge- 
nerated 1  Let  the  atheist  tell  me  how  it  comes  to  pass 
that  such  contraries  meet  together  in  one ;  and  that  the 
same  cloud  should  be  both  a  fountain  of  water  and  yet 
a  furnace  of  fire,  a  wonder  the  prophet  ascribeth  parti- 
cularly to  God's  almighty  providence,  Jer.  10:  13,  "He 
maketh  lightnings  with  rain;"  and  accounteth  it  such 
a  remarkable  instance  of  the  divine  operation  that  he 
repeateth  it  again,  chap.  51  :  16. 

If  we  descend  into  the  lowest  story  of  this  great 
building,  the  earth,  what  a  shop  of  wonders  shall  we  find 
there  !  That  the  whole  mass  and  globe  of  it  should  hang 
pendulous  in  the  air,  without  any  thing  to  support  it ;  and 
whereas  small  bodies  of  little  weight  fall  through  the  air, 
yet  tliat  this  great  and  ponderous  body  should  be  fixed 
for  ever  in  its  place,  having  no  foundation,  no  support  but 
that  air  which  every  mote  and  fly  doth  easily  cut  through ; 
that  this  round  ball  of  earth  should  be  inhabited  on  every 
part ;  that  the  feet  of  other  men  should  be  opposite  to 
ours,  and  yet  they  walk  as  erect  and  be  as  much  upon  the 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  75 

face  of  the  earth  as  we  are ;  that  the  middle  point  of  the 
earth  should  be  the  lowest  part  of  it  and  of  the  universe, 
and  whatsoever  is  beyond  that  be  upwards  :  these  and  many 
others  are  such  unaccountable  mysteries  to  our  compre- 
hension, and  yet  are  found  so  infallibly  certain  by  expe- 
rience and  manifold  proofs,  that  he  must  be  an  atheist  out 
of  mere  spite,  who  shall  seriously  consider  them  and  not 
be  induced  by  that  consideration  to  adore  the  infinite 
power  and  wisdom  of  their  Author. 

It  would  be  too  long  to  instance  in  the  various  sorts  of 
creatures  that  we  behold,  how  artificially  they  are  framed, 
what  an  excellent  configuration  there  may  be  observed  in 
their  several  parts,  what  subserviency  of  one  to  another, 
and  how  all  are  suited  to  the  offices  of  nature ;  what  secret 
channels  and  conveyances  for  life  and  spirits,  what  springs 
of  various  motions  are  included  even  in  the  small  body  of  a 
fly  or  of  a  mite.  Certainly  there  is  not  the  least  thing  that 
an  atheist  can  cast  his  eye  upon  but  it  confutes  him ;  but 
especially,  if  he  shall  seriously  consider  the  wonderful 
structure  of  a  human  body,  the  excellent  contrivance  and 
use  of  all  the  parts,  he  cannot  but,  after  he  hath  admired 
the  artifice  of  the  work,  admire  also  the  infinite  wisdom 
of  the  Maker,  and  cry  out  with  holy  David,  "I  am  fear- 
fully and  wonderfully  made — and  curiously  wrought  in 
the  lowest  parts  of  the  earth."  Psalm  139  :  14,  15.  Yea, 
not  only  a  David,  but  Galen,  a  heathen^  one  who  it  is 
thought  was  not  over-credulous  in  matters  of  religion ; 
yet  when  he  had  minutely  inspected  the  many  wonders 
and  miracles  that  are  contained  in  the  frame  of  our  body, 
he  could  not  forbear  composing  a  hymn  to  the  praise  of 
our  all-wdse  Creator. 

And  therefore,  as  lord  Bacon  observes,  (Essay  of  Atho- 


76  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

ism,)  God  never  wrought  a  miracle  to  convince  an  atheist, 
because  his  ordinary  works  may  convince  him  ;  and  un- 
less men  will  he  wilfully  and  stubbornly  blind,  they  must 
needs  subscribe  to  that  of  St.  Paul,  Acts,  14 :  17,  God 
hath  "  not  left  himself  without  witness,  in  that  he  doeth 
good,  and  giveth  us  rain  from  heaven,  and  fruitful  seasons, 
filling  our  hearts  with  food  and  gladness  ;"  and,  Rom,  1  : 
20,  "  The  invisible  things  of  God  are  clearly  seen  from  the 
creation  of  the  world,  being  understood  by  the  things  that 
are  made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  godhead  :  so  that 
they  are  without  excuse."  When  we  see  footsteps  evident- 
ly imprinted  on  the  earth,  shall  we  not  easily  collect  that 
certainly  some  one  hath  passed  that  way  1  When  we  see 
a  stately  fabric  built  according  to  all  the  rules  of  art,  and 
adorned  with  all  the  riches  and  beauty  that  magnificence 
can  expend  upon  it,  must  we  not  presently  conclude  that 
certainly  there  was  some  skilful  architect  that  built  iti 
Truly  every  creature  is  quoddam  vestigium  Dei,  some 
sign  or  evidence  of  Deity:  we  may  observe  his  foot- 
steps in  it ;  and  see  how  his  attributes,  his  wisdom,  his 
goodness  and  his  power  have  passed  along  that  way. 
And  the  whole  world  is  a  stately  fabric ;  a  house  that 
God  hath  erected  for  himself:  the  magnificence  and  splen- 
dor of  it  are  suitable  to  the  state  of  the  great  King :  it  is 
his  palace,  built  for  the  house  of  his  kingdom  and  the 
honor  of  his  majesty :  and  we  may  easily  conclude  that  so 
excellent  a  structure  must  have  an  excellent  architect, 
and  that  the  builder  and  maker  of  it  is  God. 

Now  that  which  makes  some  proud  spirits  backward 
to  acknowledge  God  in  the  works  of  nature  is,  that  they 
think  they  can,  by  their  reason  alone,  give  a  plausible  ac- 
count of  those  effects  and  tihenomena  which  we  see  in 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  77 

the  world,  by  deducing  them  from  second  and  natural 
causes.  And  therefore  many  of  those  who  are  of  an  inqui- 
sitive and  searching  genius,  when  they  find  such  effects 
depend  upon  and  flow  from  such  and  such  natural  causes, 
applaud  themselves  in  the  discovery ;  and  look  no  further 
nor  higher,  but  neglect  the  first  and  chief  cause  of  all, 
even  God. 

Hence  some  have  thought  that  reason  and  philosophy 
are  great  enemies  to  reli^on,  and  patrons  of  atheism ;  but, 
in  truth,  it  is  far  otherwise ;  and  the  atheist  hath  not  a 
more  smart  and  keen  adversary,  since  he  will  not  submit 
his  cause  to  be  tiied  by  Scripture,  than  true  reason  and 
profound  philosophy. 

But  if  any,  who  seem  to  be  knowing  and  learned  men, 
are  less  inclined  to  the  belief  of  a  Deity,  it  is  not  their 
learning  but  their  ignorance  that  makes  them  so.  The  same 
lord  Bacon  has  well  observed,  that  a  little  philosophy  in- 
clines a  man's  mind  to  atheism,  but  depth  in  philosophy 
brings  it  about  again  to  religion.  And  I  dare  challenge 
the  most  learned  men  in  the  world  to  give  a  satisfac- 
tory account  of  the  most  common  appearances  in  nature 
without  resolving  them  at  last  into  the  will  and  dis- 
posal of  the  God  of  Nature.  If  I  should  ask  them  what 
makes  the  grass  green,  or  a  stone  to  fall  downwards,  or 
the  fire  to  aspire  upwards,  or  the  sun  to  enlighten  and 
warm  the  world  ]  What  answer  can  they  give,  but  that  it 
is  the  property  of  their  natures ;  or  what  is  altogether  as 
insignificant  and  unintelligible  1  But,  if  I  should  question 
farther,  how  came  their  natures  to  be  distinguished  with 
such  properties  1  they  must  either  here  be  silent,  or  con- 
fess  a  First  Cause,  which  endowed  their  natures  with 
such  properties  and  actions  j  for,  although  a  man  may,  for 


?'8  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

some  few  successions  of  causes  and  effects,  find  one  to 
depend  upon  another,  yet  they  must  all,  at  last,  be  re- 
solved into  and  terminate  in  God.  . 

3.  Unless  the  being  of  a  God  be  presupposed,  no  tote- 
rahle  account  can  he  given  of  the  heing  of  any  thing. 

We  see  innumerable  beings  in  the  world,  different 
from  each  other  both  in  kind  and  particulars.  Now  what 
rational  account  can  the  atheist  give  how  these  things 
came  to  have  a  being  ]  There  are  but  two  ways  imagin- 
able :  either  that  the  world  was  formed  by  chance ;  or 
else,  that  it  had  its  being  from  all  eternity.  And  ac- 
cordingly, as  if  it  were  still  fatal  for  them  to  encounter 
the  same  inconsistencies  for  which  they  disavow  religion, 
atheists  are  divided  into  two  sects. 

(1.)  One  is  the  Epicurean  atheist,  who  affirms  that  the 
world  indeed  had  once  a  beginning,  but  it  was  merely  by 
chance :  for,  there  having  been  from  all  eternity  infinite 
particles  of  matter  moving  to  and  fro  in  an  infinite  space ; 
these  at  last,  meeting  casually,  linked  one  in  another,  and 
so,  by  mere-  chance,  formed  this  world  which  we  now  see. 
A  fancy  so  grossly  ridiculous,  that,  were  it  not  now  again 
taken  up  by  some  who  pretend  to  be  great  lights  in  rea- 
son and  philosophy,  I  would  not  condescend  so  much  as 
to  mention  it. 

But,  as  Cicero  saith,  both  judiciously  and  ingeniously, 
as  soon  shall  they  persuade  me  that  an  innumerable  com- 
pany of  loose  and  disordered  letters,  being  often  shaken 
together  and  afterwards  thrown  out  upon  the  ground, 
should  fall  into  such  exquisite  order  as  to  frame  a  most 
ingenious  and  heroic  poem ;  as  that  atoms,  straying  to  and 
fro  at  random,  should  ever  casually  meet  together  to 
make  a  world  consisting  of  heaven,  and  of  air,  and  sea, 


I 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  79 

and  earth,  and  so  many  sorts  and  species  of  living  crea- 
tures, in  the  frame  and  structure  of  which  we  see  such 
wonderful  and  inimitable  skill. 

Had  Archimedes'  or  Posidonius'  sphere,  in  which  wer*^ 
imitated  all  the  motions  and  changes  of  the  sun,  moon 
and  planets,  been  presented  to  the  most  ignomnt  or  illite- 
rate nations  under  heaven,  they  could  not  be  so  grossly 
stupid  as  to  think  such  a  pie6e  a  work  of  mere  chance, 
and  not  of  accurate  art  and  study.  And  shall  any  doubt, 
when  he  sees,  in  the  gi*eat  machine  of  the  world,  the  same 
and  many  other  phenomena  exhibited  in  a  more  perfect 
manner  than  they  can  be  represented  in  any  such  type, 
whether  it  be  a  work  of  uncertain  chance,  or  the  product 
of  a  most  perfect  mind  and  comprehensive  understanding  1 
For,  certainly,  if  a  strong  and  mastering  reason  be  te- 
quired  only  to  imitate  the  works  of  nature;  much  more, 
tlien,  to  produce  them.   Cic.  de  Nat.  Deor.  lib.  ii.  37,  34. 

And  why  had  not  those  atoms,  that  could  thus  fortui- 
tously fi-ame  a  world,  why  had  they  not  built  houses  too, 
and  cities,  and  woven  us  garments ;  that  so,  by  very  good 
chance,  we  might  have  found  these  necessaries  ready  pro- 
vided to  our  hands,  and  been  saved  the  trouble  and  labor 
of  making  theml  Did  ever  any  atoms  fall  into  such  exact 
order,  and  knit  so  artificially  together,  as  to  frame  a  clock, 
or  a  watch,  or  any  other  piece  of  ingenious  mechanism  1 
And  will  the  atheist  then  be  so  silly  as  to  believe  that 
these  little  dusts  of  being  should,  by  mere  hazard,  meet 
and  join  together  to  frame  the  whole  world ;  and  bestow 
such  various  forms  and  motions  upon  creatures  as  we 
daily  see  and  admire  1  Look  but  upon  the  most  contemp- 
tible worm  that  crawls,  we  shall  find  it  a  far  more  excel- 
lent piece  of  mechanism,  a  far  more  curious  engine,  than 


80  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

any  that  ever  the  art  or  wit  of  man  could  frame.  And 
shall  chance  make  tliese,  yea,  creatures  of  a  more  wonder- 
ful contexture,  which  yet  could  never  make  a  watch,  or  a 
clock,  or  any  of  those  engines  which  we  have  contrived 
for  the  use  and  service  of  life  1 

And  what  will  they  say  to  the  accurate  operations  of 
sense  and  reason*?  Is  it  possible  that  one  small  dust 
should  see  or  feel  another  ]  and,  if  not  one,  then  not  ten 
thousand  put  together.  Shall  their  configuration  give  them 
this  faculty,  which  their  being  and  substance  doth  not  1 
Which  I  shall  then  believe,  when  I  shall  be  convinced 
that  a  statue,  carved  the  most  exquisitely  that  art  can  per- 
form, can  any  more  see,  or  taste,  or  feel,  than  it  could 
whilst  it  was  rude  and  unformed  wood. 

But,  suppose  that  sense  could  be  caused  by  mere  mat- 
ter put  in  motion ;  yet,  what  shall  we  say  to  the  refined 
speculations  and  profound  discourses  of  reason]  Is  it 
likely,  or  indeed  possible,  that  little  corpuscles  should  re- 
flect and  argue  ]  that  atoms  should  make  syllogisms,  or 
draw  up  parties  between  pro  and  con  ]  Or  will  the  atheist 
grant  that  there  is  no  other  difference  between  himself 
and  a  mere  senseless  block  but  only  configuration  of 
parts  1  and  that  when  he  disputes  most  subtilely  for  his 
cause,  all  his  reasons  and  arguments  are  but  a  little  dust 
that  flies  up  and  down  in  his  brains  1  That  the  agitation 
of  material  particles  should  produce  any  sprightly  acts  of 
wit  and  discourse,  is  so  monstrously  abhorrent  to  true  rea- 
son, that  I  doubt  I  shall  never  be  persuaded  to  believe  it,  un- 
til some  cunning  man  convince  me  that  the  highway  too  is 
in  a  deep  speculation,  and  teeming  with  some  notable  dis- 
course, whensoever  the  dust  is  stirred  and  flies  about  in  it. 

And  yet,  forsooth,  men  must  now-a-days  be  atheists 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  81 

that  they  may  be  rational ;  and  think  it  a  high  demonstra- 
tion of  their  parts  and  ingenuity  to  doubt  of  a  Deity,  and 
call  all  religion  into  question.  Whereas,  were  there  any 
thing  in  the  belief  of  a  God  and  the  most  mysterious  points 
of  our  religion  half  so  absurd  and  ridiculous  as  there  is  in 
atheism,  I  should  most  readily  explode  it  and  count  it  al- 
together unworthy  to  be  entertained  by  any  man  that  is 
ingenuous  and  rational. 

(2.)  Hence  the  other  sect  of  atheists  alluded  to,  the 
Aristotelian,  being  pressed  with  the  huge  and  mon- 
strous absurdities  of  this  way  of  giving  an  account  of 
the  appearances  of  nature,  hold  that  the  world  is  from 
eteraity,  and  never  had  any  beginning  at  all.    But, 

It  is  altogether  unreasonable  to  deny  a  God,  and  yet 
gi-ant  that  very  thing  for  which  alone  they  deny  him.  The 
only  reason  that  tempts  atheists  to  deny  a  Deity,  is  be^^ 
cause  they  cannot  conceive  a  Being  infinite  and  eternal. 
But  when  they  yield  the  world  to  be  so,  what  do  they 
else  but  run  into  the  same  inconveniency  which  they 
would  avoid ;  and,  that  they  may  not  grant  one  eternal 
being,  gi-ant  innumerable  %  So  fatal  it  is  for  en'or  to  be 
inconsitent  with  itself  and  to  confound  its  own  principles. 

If  the  world  be  eternal,  there  must  of  necessity  have 
been  passed  an  infinite  succession  of  ages.  Now,  our  un- 
derstanding is  as  much  non-plussed  to  conceive  this,  as  it 
is  to  conceive  an  Infinite  Being  that  should  create  the 
world ;  for,  if  the  world  had  no  beginning,  then  an  infinite 
number  of  days  and  years,  yea,  of  millions  of  years  and 
generations  of  men  are  already  actually  passed  and  gone. 
And  if  they  are  passed,  then  they  are  come  to  an  end ;  and 
so  we  shall  have  both  a  number  that  is  actually  infinite,  and 
likewise  something  infinite  and  eternal  that  is  come  to  an 

4* 

X 


82  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

end :  a  very  proper  consequence  for  one  that  avoids  the 
belief  of  a  Deity  because  he  vrould  be  rational  and  cannot 
conceive  a  being  that  is  infinite  ! 

If  there  have  already  been  infinite  successions  of  gene- 
rations in  the  world,  certainly  those  w^hich  are  yet  to 
come  will  make  them  more;  and  so  we  shall  find  a  num- 
ber greater  than  that  which  is  allowed  to  be  actually  infi- 
nite. Or  if,  to  avoid  this  contradiction,  the  atheist  should 
affirm  that  the  generations  to  Abraham  and  the  genera- 
tions to  David  were  both  equal  because  both  infinite,  he 
will  thereby  fall  into  two  other  gross  contradictions  :  the 
one,  that  a  number  added  to  a  number  should  make  no 
addition ;  the  other,  that  since  the  generations  to  Abraham 
were  but  a  part  of  the  generations  to  David,  the  part 
should  be  equal  to  the  whole. 

There  is  no  one  moment  in  succession  which  was  not 
once  present;  and  consequently,  imagine  a  duration  as 
long  as  you  please,  yet  in  it  of  necessity  there  must  be 
some  one  moment  which,  when  it  was  present,  all  the  rest 
were  future ;  and  if  all  the  rest  were  future,  this  moment 
was  then  the  beginning.  So  that  it  is  impossible  there 
should  be  a  successive  duration  without  a  beginning,  and 
therefore  impossible  it  should  be  from  eternity. 

In  all  the  revolutions  of  generation  and  corruption  that 
can  be  imagined,  yet  the  life  of  animals  must  necessarily 
be  hefore  their  death :  for  none  can  die  till  he  hath  lived ; 
and  none  can  live  but  he  must  pass  some  time  before  he 
dies.  There  was  therefore  a  time  before  any  animal  died : 
consequently  their  corruption  and  death  were  not  from 
eternity  :  neither  before  their  death  had  they  lived  on  in- 
finite time,  but  only  some  few  days  or  years ;  and  there- 
fore their  generation  and  life  were  not  from  eternity. 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT* 

These  things  I  do  but  cursorily  mention,  to  give  you  a 
taste  of  the  folly  and  unreasonableness  of  atheism ;  nor 
perhaps,  would  it  be  proper  to  insist  on  them  at  large : 
but  by  these  few  arguments  you  may  see  how  unreason 
able  it  is  for  an  atheist  to  boggle  at  the  belief  of  a  Deity ; 
whereas,  let  him  lay  down  whatsoever  principles  he  will, 
he  shall  find  his  reason  more  puzzled  and  entangled  by 
these  absurdities  that  will  necessarily  follow  upon  them, 
than  he  shall  by  any  difficulties  that  are  consequent  upon 
the  belief  of  a  God  :  which  belief  unless  we  entertain,  we 
can  give  no  tolerable  account  at  all  of  the  various  beings 
that  are  in  the  world,  for  neither  are  they  eternal,  neither, 
have  they  happened  by  chance,  as  I  have  demonstrated. 

It  is  therefore  absolutely  necessary  that  there  be  some 
First  Cause  of  all  things  which  we  behold,  which  is  not 
itself  caused,  nor  produced  by  any  other :  for  if  every 
thing  were  caused  by  some  pre-existent  being,  then  there 
never  was  a  being  before  which  there  was  not  another; 
and  so  this  gross  absurdity  will  follow.  That  before  there 
was  a  being,  there  was  a  being :  a  fit  consequence  for 
atheists,  who  pretend  only  to  rational  speculations,  to 
swallow!  Therefore  we  must  necessarily  rest  in  some 
First  Cause,  from  which  all  other  things  have  their  origin, 
and  which  is  itself  caused  by  none  :  and  that  is  the  great 
God,  whom  we  adore ;  the  great  Creator  and  Governor 
both  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  of  all  things  visible  and 
invisible. 

And  here  I  would  add  the  argument  of  Bradwardine, 
which  perhaps  it  would  shrewdly  puzzle  the  metaphysics 
of  an  atheist  to  answer,  namely  :  It  is  possible  that  there 
should  be  such  a  being  as  should  exist  necessarily  ;  since 
it  is  no  more  a  contradiction  to  exist  necessarily  than  to 


84  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

exist  contingently,  and  a  far  higher  and  more  absolute 
perfection.  But  if  it  be  possible  that  there  might  be  such 
a  being,  then  it  is  certain  that  there  is ;  because  necessity 
of  existence  is  included  in  the  very  essential  conception 
of  it,  or  else  this  contradiction  would  follow,  that  it  is 
possible  for  that  not  to  be,  which  yet  is  necessary  to  be. 
This  being,  therefore,  must  needs  be  eternal,  indepen- 
dent, and  self-sufficient ;  and  that  is  the  God  whom  we 
adore,     De  Causa  Dei. 

4.  But,  to  leave  these  more  abstruse  and  scholastic  no- 
tions. If  there  be  no  God,  then  neither  have  there  been 
any  miracles  2)Grformed  in  the  world,  nor  any  prophecies 
or  predictions  oj" future  events. 

(1.)  There  can  be  no  miracles  performed  without  a  di- 
vine and  infinite  power. 

For,  certainly,  if  there  be  no  being  above  nature,  there 
can  be  no  effects  either  above  or  contrary  to  the  course  ^f 
nature  ;  for  nature,  when  it  is  left  to  itself,  cannot  act 
contrary  to  its  own  laws. 

Now  that  there  have  been  miraculous  works  performed 
the  atheist  cannot  deny,  unless  he  will  deny  the  ti'uth  of 
all  records,  and  think  it  reasonable  to  make  all  faith  and 
credit  among  mankind  a  sacrifice  to  his  opiniativeness. 
.  AH  heathen  authors,  as  well  as  the  Scriptures,  give  abun- 
dant testimony  to  this  ;  and  although  they  deny  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Scripture,  yet  there  is  no  reason  why  they 
should  disbelieve  it  when  it  only  relates  matter  of  fact.  In 
this  behalf  we  desire  they  would  give  it  as  much  credit  as 
they  give  to  the  histories  of  Livy  or  Tacitus,  or  any  othei 
author  of  approved  honesty.  And  certainly  it  is  but  rea- 
sonable to  credit  the  consonant  depositions  of  several 
plain  men,  who  all  profess  themselves  to  have  been  eye- 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  85 

witnesses  of  those  things  which  they  write.  Yea,  the 
Jews  and  heathens  who  lived  in  those  very  times,  and 
were  most  inveterate  and  cankered  enemies  against  the 
name  of  Christ,  would  have  given  whatsoever  was  dear- 
est to  them  in  the  world,  could  they  have  proved  any  for- 
gery in  those  miracles,  or  deceit  in  the  relators  of  them  : 
but  the  evidence  w£is  so  clear  that  they  were  forced  to 
confess,  even  in  spite  of  their  own  malice,  that  such 
strange  works  were  done  and  really  effected;  and  yet 
their  spleen  against  the  truth  was  such  that  they  imputed 
them  only  to  the  power  of  magic  and  the  operation  of  evil 
spirits.  But  will  our  atheist  do  so  too  ]  If  so,  he  must 
needs  acknowledge  a  God,  by  acknowledging  a  devil ;  if 
not,  he  hath  as  little  reason  to  believe  any  thing  in  the 
world  which  he  himself  hath  not  seen,  as  to  believe  the 
truth  of  those  reports  which  we  have  received  from  un- 
doubted hands,  delivered  to  us  by  the  unquestionable  tes- 
timony of  those  who  have  known  and  seen  what  they 
have  reported. 

Therefore,  if  ever  there  have  been  any  such  extraordi- 
nary effects  as  restoring  sight  to  the  blind,  and  feet  to  the 
lame,  and  life  itself  to  the  dead,  and  that  by  no  other  ap- 
plication than  only  a  word's  speaking,  there  must  certain- 
ly be  a  God.  For  these  things  are  not  within  the  power 
of  second  causes,  being  so  conti'ary  to  the  course  of  nature, 
and  therefore  must  be  ascribed  to  a  Supreme  Deity,  an  in- 
finite power,  who  is  the  author  and  great  controller  of 
nature. 

(2.)  As  there  could  have  been  no  miracles  performed, 
so  neither  could  there  be  any  prophecies  or  predictions 
made  of  contingent  events,  unless  we  acknowledge  a  God 
who,  in  his  infinite  wisdom  and  counsel,  foresees  whatso- 


86  THE    TK^N    COMMANDMENTS. 

ever  shall  come  to  pass,  and  "  revealeth  his  seci'et  unto 
his  servants  the  prophets."    Amos,  3  :  7. 

We  have  many  prophecies  recorded  w^hich  have  alrea- 
dy had  their  undoubted  fulfilment.  Not  to  instance  all,  I 
shall  only  mention  two.  The  one  is  the  prophecy  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  concerning  the  final  destruction  of  Je- 
rusalem, Matt.  24  :  2,  which  received  its  full  accomplish- 
ment about  forty  years  after  they  had  crucified  the  Lord 
of  life  and  glory.  And  the  other,  the  prediction  concerning 
Cyrus,  that  he  should  rebuild  Jerusalem,  after  it  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  Babylonians,  Isa.  44  :  28 ;  and,  to  make 
this  prophecy  the  more  remarkable,  it  is  said,  chap. 
45  :  4,  that  for  Israel's  sake  God  had  called  him  by  his 
name.  This  was  a  famous  and  very  particular  prophecy 
of  a  person  named  near  two  hundred  years  before  he  was 
born ;  and  those  things  distinctly  foretold  of  him  which 
he  should  afterwards  perform.  The  like  we  have,  1 
Kings,  13  :  2,  where  the  prophet  declaims  against  the 
idolatrous  altar  and  worship  of  Bethel,  and  foretells  that 
Josiah  should  destroy  it — calling  him  by  his  very  name, 
three  hundred  and  forty  years  before  he  was  born :  "0 
altar,  altar !  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Behold,  a  child  shall  be 
bora  unto  the  house  of  David,  Josiah  by  name  ;  and  up- 
on thee  shall  he  offer  the  priests  of  the  high  places  that 
burn  incense  upon  thee,  and  men's  bones  shall  be  burnt 
upon  thee  ;"  which  we  read  was  exactly  fulfilled  by 
the  same  Josiah,  2  Kings,  23  :  20,  for  "he  slew  all 
the  priests  of  the  high  places  which  were  there  upon 
the  altars,  and  burnt  men's  bones  upon  them."  Now  let 
any  atheist  give  a  rational  account  how  these  future  con- 
tingencies could  be  thus  certainly  and  circumstantially 
foreknovvni  and  predicted,  were  there  not  "  a  God  in  hea- 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  87 

ven  tliat  revealeth  secrets."  Dan.  2  :  28.  They  could  not 
certainly  see  such  free  and  contingent  events  in  the  stars, 
especially  so  long  before  they  were  to  be  produced ;  or, 
i£  they  might,  yet  certainly  they  could  not  read  names 
there,  nor  spell  the  constellations  into  words  and  sylla- 
bles. There  is,  therefore,  a  God  who  giveth  knowledge, 
and  declai'eth  things  to  come,  according  as  it  pleaseth 
him  to  illuminate  the  minds  of  his  servants  the  prophets, 
to  whom  and  by  whom  he  spake. 

5.  The  fifth  and  last  demonstration  of  the  being  of  a 
God  is  this.  There  is  a  conscience  in7nan;  therefore  there 
is  a  God  in  heaven. 

Conscience  could  have  no  power  at  all  unless  it  were 
given  it  from  above.  How  comes  it  to  pass  that  wicked 
wretches  are  still  haunted  with  pale  fears  and  ghastly  hor- 
rors ;  that  they  are  sometimes  a  teiTor  to  themselves  and 
to  all  that  are  about  them]  They  would,  if  possible, 
abandon  themselves  and  run  away  from  their  own  being, 
but  only  that  they  have  a  witness  and  a  judge  within 
them  of  all  their  crimes  and  impieties,  and  feel  such  secret 
stings  and  unseen  whips  lashing  their  souls,  that  the  tor- 
tures they  endure  and  inflict  on  themselves  make  them 
sometimes  weary  of  their  lives,  and  put  them  upon  the 
desperate  course  of  choking  both  themselves  and  their 
consciences  too  with  a  halter.  Whence,  I  say,  should 
this  proceed,  were  there  not  a  God,  a  just  and  holy  Deity 
whom  conscience  reveres  ?  These  torments  and  reo-rets 
do  not  always  proceed  from  fear  of  shame  or  punishment 
from  men.  No ;  but  conscience  hath  a  power  to  put 
them  upon  the  rack  for  their  most  secret  sins,  which  no 
eye  ever  saw,  no  heart  ever  knew  but  their  own.  Yea, 
and  it  forceth  them  sometimes  themselves  to  confess  and 


88  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

divulge  their  own  infamy,  and  voluntarily  to  deliver  up 
themselves  to  human  justice.  And  vrhence  is  this,  but 
only  from  that  secret  influence  of  a  Supreme  Being,  that 
hath  an  awe  and  authority  over  conscience,  and  makes  it 
review  the  sins  of  a  man's  life  with  horror,  because  it 
knows  that  the  just  and  holy  God  will  at  last  review  them 
with  vengeance. 

So  we  find  that  those  who  in  their  prosperity  have 
lived  most  regardless  of  a  Deity,  yet  when  their  con- 
science hath  been  awakened  by  dangers,  or  sickness,  or 
any  surprising  event,  the  apprehensions  of  a  God  have 
then  strongly  returned  upon  them,  and  filled  them  with 
amazement  and  confusion.  Thus  Suetonius,  the  historian, 
reports  of  the  mad,  wicked  emperor,  Caligula,  who  made 
an  open  mock  and  scorn  of  religion,  that  when  it  thun- 
dered he  would  creep  under  his  bed  to  hide  himself  from 
the  vengeance  of  that  Jupiter  whom  at  other  times  he 
would  not  spare  to  deride  and  threaten.  And  therefore, 
certainly,  if  there  be  any  such  thing  as  natural  conscience 
in  all  men,  it  will  necessarily  follow  that  there  must  be  a 
God ;  for,  were  there  no  God  there  would  be  no  con- 
science. 

Thus  I  have  given  you  these  several  rational  demon- 
strations that  there  is  such  a  supreme  and  infinite  being 
as  a  Deity.  Many  others  might  be  added ;  but  these  I 
account  sufficient  to  convince  any  atheist,  who  will  indeed 
be  swayed  by  that  reason  which  he  so  much  deifies  and 
adores,  that  there  is  another  God  besides  and  above  reason. 

Well,  then,  what  remains  but  that,  as  we  have  evinced 
the  folly  and  unreasonableness  of  speculative  atheism,  so 
we  condemn  the  impiety  of  practical  atheism — the  pro- 
faneness  and  irreligion  of  those,  that,  as  the  apostle  speaks, 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  89 

live  "  without  God  in  the  world ;"  that  live  as  though 
there  were  no  God,  nor  devil,  nor  heaven,  nor  hell,  nor 
future  state,  nor  any  distribution  of  rewards  in  it. 

Indeed,  every  wicked  man  is,  in  this  sense,  an  atheist ; 
and  such  the  apostle  hath  condemned.  Tit.  1 :  16.  "  They 
profess  that  they  know  God,  but  in  works  they  deny  him, 
being  abominable,  and  disobedient,  and  unto  every  good 
work  reprobate."  Pid  they  really  and  cordially  believe 
that  there  is  a  just  and  holy  God  that  takes  notice  of  all 
their  actions  ;  a  great  and  teri'ible  Majesty  who  will  call 
them  to  a  strict  account  for  all  their  cogitations,  all  their 
discourses,  and  all  their  works ;  an  almighty  God,  who 
hath  prepared  wrath  and  vengeance  to  inflict  on  all  those 
who  despise  his  authority  and  transgi'ess  his  law  ;  would 
they  darq  to  profane  his  glorious  and  reverend  name  by 
impertinently  using  it  in  their  trivial  talk?  would  they 
dare  to  rend  and  tear  it  by  their  oaths  and  blasphemies, 
and  hellish  execrations  and  curses  ]  Did  they  believe  that 
he  hath  prepared  "  Tophet  of  old,"  that  "  the  pile  thereof 
is  fire  and  much  wood,"  and  that  all  the  wicked  of  the 
world  shall  be  cast  into  it,  and  there  be  made  an  ever- 
lasting bumt-sacrifice  to  the  incensed  wrath  of  the  great 
God ;  did  men  believe  the  horrors  and  torments,  the 
woes  and  anguish  of  the  damned  in  hell,  which  are  as  far 
from  being  utterable  as  they  are  from  being  tolerable ; 
did  they  but  as  certainly  believe  these  things,  as  it  is  cer- 
tain that,  if  they  believe  them  not,  they  shall  eternally 
feel  them,  would  they  dare  still  venture  on  to  treasure  up 
to  themselves  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath  ]  Would 
swearing,  and  lying,  and  stealing,  and  drunkenness,  and 
uncleanness  so  generally  reign  among  us  as  they  do  ? 

Indeed,   we   persuade  ourselves   that   we   do   believe 


90  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

these  tilings :  we  profess  that  there  is  a  God,  and  that 
God  infinitely  holy  and  infinitely  just ;  and  that  he  will 
recompense  tribulation,  anguish,  and  wrath  upon  every 
soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil.  But,  alas,  this  is  only  a  ver- 
bal belief,  contradicted  and  borne  down  by  a  practical 
atheism !  The  little  influence  that  the  belief  of  a  holy  and 
just  God  hath  upon  us,  to  regulate  our  actions  and  to 
cause  us  to  walk  in  a  holy  awe  and  dread  of  liis  Divine 
Majesty,  clearly  evinceth  that  we  may  possibly  fancy 
these  things,  but  do  not  believe  them ;  for,  if  thou  didst 
seriously  and  heartily  believe  that  there  is  a  great  and  a 
jealous  God,  who  hath  said  "  Vengeance  is  mine,  I  wdll 
repay,"  what  is  there  in  the  world  that  could  persuade 
thee  to  offend  him  1 

Possibly,  though  thou  believest  that  there  is  a  God,  yet 
thou  art  not  fully  persuaded  that  he  is  so  holy  or  so  just 
as  his  word  declares  him  to  be  :  not  so  holy  in  hating  thy 
sins,  nor  so  just  in  punishing  them. 

But  if  thou  reliest  on  this  confidence,  yet  know  that 
this  is  only  to  hope  in  his  mercy  in  spite  of  his  truth.  He 
hath  sworn  that  he  will  take  vengeance  on  all  impenitent 
wretches,  and  "  wound  the  hairy  scalp  of  such  a  one  as 
goetli  on  still  in  his  trespasses."  Ps.  68  :  21.  And  God 
will  be  true  to  his  threatenings  as  well  as  to  his  promises, 
although  thou,  and  ten  thousand  others  like  thyself,  eter- 
nally perish. 

Nay,  if  thou  believest  there  is  a  God,  and  yet  thinkest 
that  this  God  will  spare  thee,  though  thou  go  on  in  the 
presumption  of  thy  heart  to  add  iniquity  unto  sin,  tiiou 
art  far  worse  thari  an  atheist ;  for  it  is  better  to  have  no 
opinion  of  God  at  all,  than  to  have  such  an  opinion  as  is 
unworthy  of  him  j  for  the  one  is  but  infidelity,  the  other 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  91 

is  contumely.  Even  Plutarch,  a  heathen,  could  say 
that  it  were  far  less  injurious  to  him  if  any  should  deny 
that  there  is  such  a  man  in  the  world  as  Plutarch,  than  if 
he  should  grant  that  such  a  one  indeed  there  is,  but  that 
he  is  faithless,  inconstant,  cruel,  or  revengeful.  So  it  is 
not  so  heinous  an  affront  against  the  Divine  Majesty  to 
deny  that  there  is  any  such  Supreme  Being,  as  to  ac- 
knowledge that  there  is  indeed  a  God,  but  that  this  God 
is  not  either  infinitely  holy  in  hating  thy  sins,  or  infinitely 
true  to  his  threatenings,  or  infinitely  just  in  punishing 
men's  impenitency  and  disobedience.  This  is  a  degree  of 
impiety  worse  than  atheism ;  and  yet  of  this  are  all  un- 
godly sinners  guilty.  ^  ■ 
Know  then,  O  sinner,  and  tremble,  that  there  is  a  God 
who  sees  and  observes  all  thy  actions ;  who  writes  them 
down  in  the  book  of  his  remembrance,  and  will  call  thee 
to  a  strict  account  for  them.  God  will  then  judge  thee 
out  of  thine  own  mouth,  thou  wicked  servant.  Thou  be- 
lievest  that  there  is  a  God ;  why  dost  thou  not  then  fear 
and  serve  him  1  Thou  believest  that  there  is  a  heaven 
and  a  hell,  and  an  eternity  to  come ;  why  then  dost  thou 
not  live  answerably  to  this  belief?  Either  blot  it  out  of 
your  creed,  and  avow  that  you  do  not  believe  in  God  the 
Father  Almighty,  or  else  live  as  those  should  do  who 
own  so  great  and  terrible,  so  pure  and  holy  a  God.  For  a 
speculative  atheist  to  be  profane  and  wicked  is  but  conso- 
nant to  his  principles ;  for  wherefore  should  not  he  gi*a- 
tify  all  his  lusts  and  sensual  desires,  whose  only  hope  is 
in  this  life,  and  who  doth  not  look  upon  himself  as  ac- 
countable for  any  thing  hereafter  1  But  for  thee,  who  ac- 
knowledgest  a  Deity,  to  live  as  without  God  in  the  world, 
to  break  his  laws,  to  slight  his  promises,  to  despise  his 


92  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

threatenings,  is  the  greatest  and  most  desperate  madness  : 
thou  showest  thyself  hereby  to  be  worse  not  only  than  an 
atheist,  but  worse  than  a  devil ;  for  the  very  devils  be- 
lieve and  tremble ;  and  yet  thou,  who  professest  thyself 
to  believe,  dost  not  tremble. 

If  therefore  we  would  not  be  inexcusable,  since  we 
know  God  let  us  glorify  him  as  God,  yielding  all  holy 
obedience  to  his  laws,  and  humble  submission  to  his  will ; 
conforming  ourselves  to  his  purity,  depending  upon  his 
power  and  providence,  and  trusting  in  his  infinite  mercy 
and  goodness,  till  we,  at  last,  amve  unto  that  state  of 
perfect  bliss  and  felicity  where  we  shall  fully  know  the 
ineffable  mystery  of  the  Deity,  see  him  that  is  now  invi- 
sible, and  live  there  as  much  by  sense  and  sight  as  here 
we  do  by  faith  and  expectation. 

Thus  much  for  the  first  sin  forbidden  in  this  first  com- 
mandment, which  is  atheism. 

II.  The  second  sin  forbidden  is,  ignorance  of  the 
TRUE  God. 

For  this  precept,  which  requires  us  to  have  the  Lord 
Jehovah  for  our  God,  as  well  includes  the  having-  of  him 
in  our  understandings,  by  knowing  him  aright,  as  in  our 
wills  and  affections,  by  loving,  fearing,  and  worshipping 
him.  The  right  worship  of  God  must,  of  necessity,  pre- 
suppose the  knowledge  of  the  object  to  which  we  direct 
that  worship  ;  or,  otherwise,  we  do  but  erect  an  altar  to 
the  Unknown  God,  and  all  our  adoration  is  but  supersti- 
tion; yea,  and  we  ourselves  are  but  idolaters,  although 
we  worship  the  true  Deity ;  for  all  that  service  which  is 
not  directed  to  the  Supreme  Essence,  whom  we  conceive 
to  be  the  infinitely  and  eternally  holy,  just,  merciful  and 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  93 

glorious  beyond  what  we  can  conceive,  is  not  tendered  to 
the  true  God,  but  to  an  idol  of  our  own  making,  shaped 
out  in  the  ignorance  and  blindness  of  our  minds.  And 
therefore  our  Savior  Christ  lays  this  as  a  black  brand 
upon  the  Samaritan  worship,  John,  4  :  22,  "Ye  \ror- 
ship  ye  know  not  what;"  and  that  because  with  other 
gods  they  worshipped  the  true  God  under  a  confused 
notion  of  "  the  God  of  the  land,"  without  any  di^inct 
knowledge  of  his  nature,  will,  and  attributes.  2  Kings, 
17:26. 

It  hath  been  a  proverbial  speech,  that  ignorance  is  the 
mother  of  devotion ;  but  certainly  such  a  blind  mother 
must  needs  bring  forth  a  blind  and  deformed  daughter,  a 
devotion  more  rightly  called  superstition  than  devotion, 
a  devotion  shaped  only  by  the  fancy,  and  imposed  by  ir- 
rational fear  or  humor. 

Now  because  the  being  and  existence  of  a  Deity  is  a 
notion  so  common  and  natural  to  mankind,  as  I  have 
already  demonstrated — and  we  are  strongly  inclined  to 
the  worship  of  a  God — it  will  be  necessary  rightly  to 
know  that  God,  to  whom  this  homage  of  our  souls  and 
all  our  affection  and  veneration  is  due ;  for,  while  we  re- 
main ignorant  of  this,  it  is  impossible  but  that  we  should 
be  idolaters,  giving  that  which  is  due  to  God  alone  to 
some  vain  created  fiction  of  our  ovvti  deluded  under- 
standings. 

Idolatry,  therefore,  is  a  sin  more  common  among  us 
than  we  imagine  ;  for  as  many  ignorant  persons  as  there 
are,  so  many  idolaters  there  are,  who,  though  they  fall 
not  dovni  before  stocks  and  stones,  yet  form  in  their 
minds  uncouth  ideas  and  strange  images  of  God,  that  no 
more   represent   his    infinite   perfections    and    excelien- 


94'  THE    TEN    COlilMANDMENTS. 

cies  than  those  dumb  idols   that   the  heathens  worship. 

In  prosecution  of  this  general  view  I  shall  lay  down 
these  following  propositions  : 

1.  It  is  very  hard  and  difficult  to  have  right  and  genuine 
conce2)tions  of  the  Divine  Majesty,  when  we  address  our- 
selves to  him  to  worship  him. 

I  think  I  may  here  appeal  to  the  common  experience 
of  christians,  whether  the  most  difficult  part  of  tlieu' 
duties  be  not  rightly  to  apprehend  the  object  of  them. 
Our  fancy  is  bold  and  busy,  and  still  ready  to  make  too 
much  use  of  its  pencil,  and  to  delineate  a  God  in  some 
shape  or  other,  before  whom  we  present  our  services  :  so 
that  when  we  should  be  wholly  intent  upon  our  adoration 
we  must  necessarily  be  engaged  in  reformation,  to  pull 
down  and  break  in  pieces  those  false  images  that  we  had 
set  up  ;  and  yet  as  soon  as  we  have  done  this  our  imagi- 
nation falls  to  work  again,  makes  new  pictures  of  a  God, 
and  sets  them  full  before  our  eyes  as  so  many  idols  for  us 
to  worship.  And  though  both  reason  and  religion  endea- 
vor to  correct  these  bold  attempts  of  fancy,  yet  it  is  a 
mighty  distraction  in  our  duty  to  be  then  disputing  the 
object  when  we  should  be  adoring  it. 

I  shall  instance  this  in  one  duty  only,  and  that  is  prayer. 
How  few  are  there  that  do  not  fashion  God  in  some 
bodily  shape  when  they  come  to  pray  to  him !  We  are 
too  apt  to  figure  out  his  limbs,  and  to  conceive  him  a  man 
like  ourselves.  All  the  proportions  that  fancy  hath  to  draw 
with  are  coi-poreal ;  and  whensoever  we  frame  a  notion  of 
angels,  or  God,  or  any  spiritual  substance,  we  do  it  by 
sensible  resemblances.  But  this  is  infinitely  derogatory 
to  God,  who  is  a  spirit,  and  therefore  cannot  be  repre- 
sented in  any  form  without  a  vast  incongruity ;  and  he  is 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  95 

the  Father  of  Spirits,  infinitely  more  spiritual  than  spirits 
themselves,  in  comparison  with  whom  angels  and  the  souls 
of  men  are  but  drossy  and  feculent  beings,  and  therefore 
cannot  be  worshipped  under  any  form  without  idolatiy  ; 
for  that  is  not  God  which  we  can  shape  and  mould  in 
our  imaginations. 

We  read  how  jealous  God  is  lest  any  resemblance 
should  be  made  of  him.  "  Take  ye  therefore  good  heed 
unto  yourselves  (for  ye  saw  no  manner  of  similitude  on 
the  day  that  the  Lord  spake  unto  you  in  Horeb  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  fire,)  lest  ye  corrupt  yourselves,  and  make 
you  a  graven  image,  the  similitude  of  any  figure."  Deut. 
4  :  15,  16.  And  certainly  if  the  erecting  of  a  visible  image 
of  God  be  gross  idolatry,  it  is  no  less  than  a  mental  and 
spiritual  idolatry  to  frame  an  invisible  image  of  God  in 
our  fancy  and  conceptions. 

Therefore,  although  the  Scripture  frequently  ascribes 
to  God  the  members  and  lineaments  of  a  man,  as  (yes, 
mouth,  ears,  hands,  feet,  &c.  yet  we  must  not  be  so  stu- 
pidly ignorant  as  to  believe  that  these  are  properly  apper- 
taining to  the  divine  essence,  (which  was  the  old  exploded 
heresy  of  the  Anthropomorphitge ;)  but  these  descriptions 
are  given  us  only  in  condescension  to  our  weaknesses  and 
infirmities,  and  though  they  are  spoken  after  the  manner 
of  men,  yet  they  must  be  understood  alter  such  a  manner 
as  becomes  the  majesty  of  the  divine  nature.  And  by 
such  expressions  the  Scripture  only  means,  that  all  those 
powers  and  faculties  which  are  in  us  are  likewise  to  be 
found,  although  in  an  infinite  and  transcendent  eminency, 
in  the  being  of  God.  He  heai-s  and  sees,  and  is  able  to 
effect  whatsoever  he  pleaseth,  and  that  without  any  con- 
figuration of  parts-  or  organs,  which  are  utterly  repugnant 


96  THE    T^N   COMMANDMENTS. 

to  the  simplicity  and  spirituality  of  his  essence.  And 
therefore  to  shape  and  fashion  out  such  a  God  in  our 
thoughts  when  we  pray  unto  him,  is  but  to  make  and 
worship  an  idol ;  and  unless  faith  and  religion  demolish 
such  images  which  we  set  up  in  our  fancy,  the  worship 
which  we  direct  to  them  is  hardly  to  be  esteemed  the 
worship  of  the  true  God,  but  rather  worshipping  the 
work  of  our  own  making  and  a  creature  of  our  own 
imagination. 

And  yet,  unless  we  do  represent  God  to  ourselves  when 
we  worship  him,  it  is  very  hard,  if  not  altogether  impossi- 
ble to  keep  up  the  intentness  of  our  spirit  and  to  hinder 
our  mind  from  straying.    Therefore, 

2.  The  right  way  to  attain  to  a  true  notion  and  a  sound 
understanding  of  the  Divine  Nature,  is  by  a  serious  consi- 
deration of  Ms  attributes,  for  these  are  his  very  nature ; 
and  when  we  know  them  we  know  as  much  of  God  as 
can  be  known  by  us  in  this  our  weak  and  imperfect 
state. 

These  attributes  of  the  Divine  Nature  are  manifold ; 
and  commonly  are  distinguished  into  negative,  relative, 
and  positive.  I  shall  enumerate  only  the  chief  of  them, 
simplicity,  eternity,  unchangeableness,  immensity,  domi- 
nion, all-sufiiciency,  holiness,  truth,  omnipotence,  omnis- 
cience, justice,  and  mercy.  Of  these  the  principal,  and 
those  which  most  respect  us,  are  mercy  and  justice  :  all 
the  others  are  declared  in  order  to  illustrate  these.  For 
the  glory  of  these  hath  God  created  the  world  and  all 
things  in  it,  especially  those  two  capital  kinds  of  creatures, 
angels  and  men.  For  these  hath  he  permitted  sin,  which 
is  so  odious  and  detestable  to  his  infinite  purity.  For 
these  hath  he  sent  his  Son  into  the  world  to  taste  of  leath 


\ 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  97 

for  every  man.  For  these  hath  he  proclaimed  his  law  and 
declared  his  Gospel  j  the  threatenings  of  the  one  and  the 
promises  of  the  other.  For  these  hath  he  appointed  a  day 
and  will  erect  a  tribunal  of  judgment,  that  he  may  make 
the  glory  of  his  mercy  and  of  his  justice  conspicuous : 
his  justice,  in  the  eternal  damnation  of  impenitent  wretch- 
es, who  are  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  by  their  own  sins  for 
destruction;  his  mercy,  in  the  salvation  of  penitent  and 
believing  souls,  who  are  vessels  of  mercy  fitted  by  his 
grace  for  eternal  glory.  All  his  other  attributes,  I  say, 
serve  to  illustrate  these  two ;  and  as  we  conjoin  them 
either  to  mercy  or  justice,  so  they  are  most  enforcing 
motives,  either  of  hope  or  fear.  It  is  a  mighty  support  to 
our  hope,  when  we  reflect  upon  the  mercy  of  God,  ac- 
companied with  the  attributes  of  eternity,  immutability, 
truth,  and  omnipotence ;  and  again  it  will  affect  us  with 
a  profound  fear  and  dread  of  this  great  and  glorious  God, 
to  consider  that  the  same  attributes  attend  on  his  justice ; 
so  that  both  are  almighty,  the  one  to  save,  the  other  to 
destroy. 

If  then  we  would  conceive  aright  of  God  when  we 
come  to  worship  him,  let  us  not  frame  any  idea  of  him  in 
our  imaginations,  for  all  such  representations  are  false  and 
foolish;  but  let  us  labor  to  possess  our  hearts  v^th  an 
awful  esteem  of  his  attributes  ;  and  when  we  have,  with 
all  possible  reverence,  collected  our  thoughts  and  fixed 
them  upon  the  contemplation  of  Infinite  Justice,  Infinite 
Mercy,  Infinite  Truth,  Infinite  Power,  and  the  rest,  let 
us  then  fall  prostrate  and  adore,  for  this  is  oui*  God. 
So  the  apostle  tells  us,  1  John,  4  :  8,  God  is  Love :  not 
only  loving,  but  love  itself  in  the  abstract.  And,  1  John, 
1  :  5,   God  u  Light. 


98  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

3.  All  the  knowledge  we  have  Or  can  have  of  God 
here,  is  collected  from  what  he  hath  been  pleased  to  dis- 
cover of  himself,  either  in  his  works  or  i?i  his  word.  We 
have  but  two  books  to  instruct  us ;  the  book  of  the  crea- 
tion and  the  book  of  the  Scriptures. 

From  the  works  of  creation  and  providence  we  raaj 
come  to  know  much  of  God ;  even  his  eternal  being  and 
godhead:  and  the  lectures  which  are  read  out  of  this 
book  are  so  convincing  and  demonstrative  of  many  of  the 
glorious  attributes  of  God,  that  the  apostle  tells  us  the 
very  heathen  themselves  were  left  without  excuse  because 
they  did  not  worship  him  as  God,  when  by  the  things 
which  they  saw  they  knew  him  to  be  God.    Rom.  1:21. 

But  to  us  God  hath  vouchsafed  more  clear  and  lively 
discoveries  of  himself;  declaring  to  us  those  attributes 
by  his  word,  the  knowledge  of  which  we  could  never 
have  attained  by  his  works  alone.  Therefore  the.  Scrip- 
tures are  called  the  lively  oracles  of  God,  Acts,  7  :  38  ; 
and  they  are  the  glass  wherein,  with  open  face,  we  be- 
hold tJie  gJori/  of  the  Lord.   2  Cor.  3  :  18. 

4.  When  we  have  improved  and  strengthened  our  un- 
derstandings in  the  highest  degree,  it  will  still  be  utterly 
impossible  for  us  to  know  God  as  he  is  in  himself.  He  dwell- 
eth  in  that  light  to  which  no  mortal  eye  can  approach.  He 
hides  and  veils  himself  with  light  and  glory.  It  is  his  sole 
privilege  and  prerogative,  as  to  love,  so  to  know  himself; 
for  nothing  better  can  be  loved,  nothing  greater  can  be 
knowp.  God  is  incomprehensible  to  all  his  creatures,  but 
is  comprehended  by  himself;  and  that  ever-blessed  Es- 
sence, which  is  infinite  to  all  others,  is  yet  finite  to  its  own 
view  and  measure. 

All  the  discoveries  we  receive  of  God  ai'e  not  so  much 


FIRST    COlMMANDMENT.  99 

to  satisfy  an  inquisitive  curiosity  as  to  excite  pious  affec- 
tions and  devotion  ;  for  reason,  w^hich  is  the  eye  of  the  in- 
tellectual soul,  glimmers  and  is  dazzled  w^hen  it  attempts 
to  look  steadfastly  on  him  who  is  "  the  Father  of  Lights  ;" 
and  its  weakness  is  such,  that  that  light  which  makes  it  see 
doth  also  strike  it  blind.  Yea,  our  faith,  which  is  a  strong- 
er eye  than  that  of  reason,  and  given  us  that  we  might  see 
"  him  who  is  invisible,"  yet  here  in  this  life  it  hath  so 
much  dust  and  ashes  in  it  that  it  discerns  but  imperfectly, 
and  receives  the  discoveries  of  a  Deity  refracted  through 
the  glass  of  the  Scriptures,  so  allayed  and  attempered, 
that  though  they  are  not  most  expressive  of  his  glory,  yet 
they  ar\^  fittest  for  our  capacity. 

The  full  manifestation  of  his  brightness  is  reserved  for 
heaven.  This  beatifical  vision  is  the  happiness  and  per- 
fection of  saints  and  angels  on  whom  the  Godliead  dis- 
plays itself  in  its  clearest  rays.^  There  we  shall  see  him 
as  he  is,  and  know  him  as  we  are  known  by  him.  Here 
we  could  not  subsist,  if  G  od  should  let  down  upon  us 
the  full  beams  of  his  excessive  light  and  glory. 

Hence  we  read  in  Scripture  what  dreadful  apprehen- 
sions the  best  of  God's  saints  have  had,  after  some  extra- 
ordinary discoveries  that  God  had  made  of  himself  to 
them.  Thus  Isaiah  cries  out,  chap.  6:5,  "  Wo  is  me  !  for 
I  am  undone ;  because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips — for 
mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King,  the  Lord  of  hosts."  And 
wlien  our  Savior  Christ  put  forth  his  divine  power  only 
in  the  working  of  a  miracle,  the  glory  of  it  was  so  terrible 
and  insupportable,  even  to  holy  Peter,  that  he  cries  out, 
*'  Depart  from  me ;  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord." 
Luke,  5:8. 

Though  God  be  the  very  life  of  our  souls,  and  the  ma* 


100  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

nifestations  of  his  love  and  favor  better  than  life  itself,  yet 
such  is  our  limited  state  here  in  this  world,  that  we  can- 
not see  God  and  live.  Frail  nature  is  too  weak  to  con- 
tain its  own  happiness,  until  heaven  and  eternal  glory- 
enlarge  it ;  and  then  it  shall  see  those  inconceivable  mys- 
teries of  the  Trinity  in  Unity,  the  hypostatical  union  of 
the  human  nature  with  the  divine :  then  it  shall  view  and 
surround  the  incomprehensible  God,  and  be  able  to  bear 
the  unchecked  rays  of  the  Deity  beating  full  upon  it.  In 
the  mean  time  we  must  humbly  content  ourselves  with 
those  imperfect  discoveries  that  God  is  pleased  to  allow 
us ;  still  breathing  after  that  state  where  we  shall  enjoy 
perfect  vision ;  and,  in  it,  an  entire  satisfaction  and  hap- 
piness. 

"  Let  us  then  most  earnestly  covet  the  knowledge  of 
God^  and  endeavor  to  make  ourselves  here,  as  like  to 
what  we  hope  to  be  hereafter,  as  the  frailty  of  human 
condition  will  permit.  This  is  the  chief  glory  of  a  rilan ; 
one  of  the  highest  ornaments  and  perfections  of  a  rational 
soul ;  that  which  doth,  in  some  sort,  repair  the  decays  of 
a  fallen  state,  and  renew  those  primitive  characters  which 
ignorance  and  error  have  obliterated  in  our  souls.  And, 
indeed,  without  the  knowledge  of  God,  we  can  never  be 
brought  to  love  him,  to  trust  and  confide  in  him,  nor  to 
serve  him  as  we  ought.  And,  though  there  may  be  a 
great  deal  of  zeal  in  ignorant  persons,  yet  zeal  without 
knowledge  is  but  a  religious  frenzy ;  it  is  religion  fright- 
ed out  of  its  wits.  A  man  that  knows  not  the  bounds  of 
81H  and  duty,  is  a  fit  subject  for  the  devil  to  work  upon, 
who  will  be  sure  so  to  manage  him,  that  he  shall  do  a 
great  deal  of  mischief  very  honestly  and  with  very  good 
intenti(^n3. 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  101 

III.  A  third  heinous  violation  of  this  first  command  is 

by  PROFANENESS. 

Profaneness  may  be  taken  either  in  a  more  large  and 
general,  or  in  a  more  proper  and  restrained  sense. 

If  we  take  it  properly,  it  signifies  only  the  neglect  or 
despising  of  spiritual  things  ;  for,  in  a  strict  acceptation, 
he  is  a  profane  person  who  either  slights  the  duties  o£ 
God's  service,  or  the  privileges  of  God's  servants. 

But,  in  the  larger  and  more  common  sense  of  the  word, 
every  ungodly  sinner  who  gives  up  himself  to  work  wick- 
edness, and  lives  in  a  course  of  infamous  and  flagitious 
crimes,  is  a  profane  person.  Indeed,  he  is  profane  in  the 
highest  degree,  who  not  only  neglects  the  more  spiritual 
duties  of  religion,  but  the  natural  duties  of  moral  honesty, 
temperance  and  sobriety;  for,  as  there  are  but  two 
things  which  practically  make  an  excellent  and  accom- 
plished christian,  namely,  religion  and  virtue,  the  one  di- 
recting our  worship  towards  God,  the  other  our  conver- 
sation towards  men ;  so,  on  the  contrary,  the  despising 
of  religion  and  the  neglect  of  virtue  make  up  that  con- 
summate and  accomplished  profaneness  which  we  see  so 
common  and  prevalent  in  the  world. 

But,  concerning  the  wickednesses  which  usually  meet 
together,  and  are  concerned  in  this  sort  of  profane  per- 
sons, I  shall  not  now  speak,  reserving  them  to  be  treated 
in  their  proper  place,  when  I  come  to  insist  on  those 
commands  which  each  of  their  sins  transgresseth. 

At  present,  I  shall  notice  that  only  which  is  properly 
called  profaneness,  and  speak  of  it  as  a  distinct  sin,  dis- 
tinctly prohibited  in  this  precept.  And  here  I  shall  first 
give  you  some  account  of  the  name,  and  then  of  the 
tliinof. 


102  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

The  word  j/rqfane  is  supposed  to  have  its  etymology 
from  j)rocul  afano,  which  signifies  *•  far  from  the  temple."* 

Now  because  their  temples  were  the  usual  places 
wherein  they  solemnly  worshipped,  therefore  the  word 
profane  is  transferred  to  denote  those  who  neglect  and 
put  far  from  them  the  worship  of  God.  And  so,  accord- 
ing to  this  sense  of  the  word,  many  others,  besides  lewd 
and  debauched  wretches,  will  be  found  to  be  profane. 
For,  not  only  those  who  let  loose  the  reins  to  all  manner 
of  villanies,  but  even  those  whose  morality  is  unblame- 
able,  and  perhaps  exemplary ;  who  lead  a  sober  and  ra- 
tional life,  and  scorn  a  vicious  action  as  a  baseness  below 
the  nature  and  unworthy  the  spirit  of  a  man ;  yet  such 
grave,  prudent,  and  honest  persons  do,  too  many  of 
them,  especially,  in  these  our  days,  deserve  the  censure 
and  black  brand  of  being  profane.  And  therefore,  that 
we  may  the  better  judge  who  are  the  profane,  and  on 
whom  that  imputation  justly  lies,  let  us  consider  what 
the  sin  of  profaneness  is,  and  what  are  the  true  and  pro- 
per characters  of  a  profane  person. 

1.    What  profaneness  is. 

In  general,  profaneness  is  the  slighting  tmd  negleding 
of  things  holy  and  sacred;  undervaluing  and  condemning 
those  things  that  are  spiritual  and  excellent.  And  who- 
soever is  guilty  of  this,  let  his  outward  demeanor  in  the 
world  be  as  fair  and  plausible  as  morality  or  hypocrisy 
can  adorn  it,  yet  he  is  a  profane  person  ;  and  heinously 
violates  this  first  command,  which  enjoins  us  to  worship, 
reverence,  and  honor  the  most  high  God,  whom  we  pro- 
fess to  own.    Now  spiritual  and  sacred  things  are, 

(1.)  God  himself^  in  his  nature  and  essence,  whom  we 
*  So  Macrob.  Saturnal.  lib.  iii.  cap.  3. 


I 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  103 

profane  whensoever  we  entertain  any  blasphemous  or 
unworthy  thoughts  of  him  derogatory  to  his  infinite  per- 
fections. 

(2.)  God,  in  his  name,  which  we  profane  when,  in 
our  trivial  and  impertinent  discourses,  we  rashly  bolt  out 
that  great  and  terrible  name  at  which  all  the  powers  of 
heaven  and  hell  tremble.  And  how  much  more  do  we 
profane  it  by  oaths  and  execrations,  which  are  now 
grown  the  famihar  dialect  of  so  many,  and  are  looked  on 
only  as  a  grace  and  ornament  of  speaking!  Scarce  can 
we  hear  any  discourse  from  them  but  these  flowers  are 
sprinkled  among  it;  and  the  name  of  God  must  be 
brought  in,  either  as  an  expletive  or  an  oath.  And  what 
doth  sadly  forebode  the  growing  profaneness  of  the  next 
age,  how  many  children  are  taught,  or  suffered,  to  call 
upon  God  in  their  play,  before  they  are  taught  to  call 
upon  him  in  their  prayers  ! 

(3.)  God,  in  his  attributes,  which  we  profane  when 
our  affections  or  actions  are  opposite  or  unsuitable  to 
them.  We  profane  his  holiness  by  our  impurity;  his 
omnipotence  by  our  despondency;  his  omniscience  by 
our  hypocrisy  ;  his  mercy  by  our  despair ;  his  justice  by 
our  presumption ;  his  wisdom  by  our  sinful  policy ;  his 
truth,  by  our  security  notwithstanding  his  threatenings, 
and  our  slothfulness  notwithstanding  his  promises.  And 
in  this  sense,  every  sin  that  we  commit  is  a  kind  of  pro- 
faneness, as  it  manifests  a  contempt  of  the  infinite  per- 
fections and  excellencies  of  the  Deity ;  for  there  is  no 
man  whose  heart  is  possessed  with  a  reverential  and  due 
esteem  of  the  great  God,  that  can  be  induced  by  any 
temptations  to  sin  against  him  and  provoke  him.  Every 
sin  is  a  slighting  of  God,  either  a  slighting  of  his  justice, 


104  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

or  mercy,  or  holiness,  or  power,  or  all  of  them;  for 
what  doest  thou  else  when  thou  sinnest,  but  prefer  some 
base  pleasure  or  some  sordid  advantage  before  the  great 
God  of  heaven  1  The  devil  represents  the  delights  of 
sin  or  the  profits  of  the  world  to  thee,  to  entice  thee ; 
but  thy  conscience  represents  to  thee  the  everlasting 
wrath  of  the  great  God  if  thou  conser  '-jest,  his  justice 
ready  to  sentence  thee  to  everlasting  t  jrments,  and  his 
power  armed  to  inflict  them  :  now  if  thou  yieldest,  what 
dost  thou  but  vilify  and  de  ^.pise  the  Almighty  God ;  as  if 
his  dread  power  and  severe  justice  were  not  so  consider- 
able as  to  outweigh  either  the  impure  pleasures  of  a  vile 
lust,  or  the  sordid  gain  and  advantage  of  a  little  transi- 
tory pelf  ] 

Nay,  couldst  thou  by  one  act  of  sin  make  all  the  trea- 
sures and  delights  of  the  whole  world  tributary  to  thee ; 
should  the  devil  take  thee  when  he  tempts,  as  he  took 
Christ,  and  show  thee  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and 
the  glory  of  them,  and  promise  to  instate  it  all  upon  thee 
— yet,  to  prefer  the  whole  world  before  the  authority  of 
God,  who  hath  strictly  forbidden  thee  to  think  any  thing 
in  it  worth  the  venturing  upon  his  displeasure  and  the 
hazarding  his  wrath  and  vengeance,  is  a  most  notorious 
slighting  and  contemning  the  great  God,  and  argues  a 
profane  spirit :  how  much  more  then,  when  we  sin  against 
God  for  nothing,  and  defy  his  vnrath  and  justice  without 
being  provoked  to  it  by  any  temptation !  We  find  how 
heinously  God  takes  it,  and  speaks  of  it  as  a  mighty  affront 
and  indignity,  that  our  Lord  Christ  should  be  so  under- 
valued as  to  be  sold  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver ;  for  it 
argued  not  only  treason  but  contempt.  Zech.  11:13. 
"  A  goodly  price  that  I  was  prized  at  of  them."  And  yet, 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  105 

ti-uly,  Judas  was  a  very  thrifty  sinner  in  comparison 
with  many  among  us,  who  not  only  betray  Christ  to  the 
mocks  and  injuries  of  others,  but  crucify  him  daily,  and 
put  him  to  an  open  shame  for  far  less. 

Yea,  there  are  many  that  would  not  suffer  so  much  as 
a  hair  of  their  heads  to  be  twitched  off  for  that  for  which 
they  will  not  stick  to  lie,  and  swear,  and  blaspheme. 
What  should  tempt  the  impious  buffoon  to  deride  reli- 
gion, travest  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  turn  whatsoever 
is  sacred  and  venerable  into  burlesque  and  drollery,  but 
only  that  he  may  gain  a  little  gi'inning  and  sneering  ap- 
plause to  his  wit  from  a  company  of  mad  fools  like  him- 
self ?  or  what  should  tempt  the  cheap  swearer  to  open 
his  black  throat  as  wide  as  hell,  and  to  belch  out  his  blas- 
phemies against  heaven  and  the  God  of  heaven,  but  only 
that  he  fancies  that  a  well-mouthed  oath  vdll  make  his 
speech  the  more  stately  and  genteel  1  And  are  these  mat- 
ters of  such  consequence  as  to  be  called  or  accounted 
temptations  1  Certainly  there  can  be  nothing  else  in  these 
sins  besides  a  mere  mad  humor  of  sinning ;  which  de- 
clares a  most  wretched  contempt  of  God  when  we  do 
that  for  nothing  which  his  soul  hates  and  his  law  forbids, 
and  a  most  profane  spirit  in  making  that  common  and 
trivial  which  is  infinitely  holy  and  sacred. 

Thus  you  see  how  God  is  profaned  in  his  nature,  in  his 
name,  and  in  his  attributes.    He  is  profaned  alsOi, J^^  .j^^,  ?v'  ..' 

(4.)  In  the  time  he  hath  set  apart  and  consecrated  Jbr 
his  own  worship  and  service.  This  we  profane  when  we 
employ  any  part  of  it  in  the  unnecessary  affairs  of  this 
life,  but  much  more  in  the  service  of  sin.  This  is  a  sacri- 
legious robbing  God  of  what  is  dedicated  entirely  to  him; 
and   that  either  by  his  immediate  appointment,   as  the 

5*  -  --■     ''    . 


106  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 


Sabbath,  or  by  the  appointment  of  those  whom  God  hath 
set  over  us,  and  intrusted  not  only  to  preserve  our  rights 
and  property,  but  also  his  worship  inviolate,  as  special 
days  of  joy  or  mourning,  thanksgiving  or  humiliation. 

(5.)  In  the  ordinances  of  Jesus  Christ.  These  we  pro- 
fane when  we  either  neglect  them,  or  are  remiss  and 
careless  in  our  attendance  on  them.  But  of  this  I  shall 
speak  more  anon. 

Thus  I  have  shown  you  what  profaneness  is.  It  is  a 
slighting  and  despising  of  spiritual  and  sacred  things : 
such  as  are  holy  originally,  as  God,  his  name  and  attri- 
butes; and  such  as  are  holy  by  institution,  as  his  Sabbaths 
and  ordinances.    But  we  were  to  consider, 

2.  What  are  the  true  and  proper  characteristics  of  a 
profarie  person  ;  and  this,  thai  we  may  the  better  look 
into  our  own  hearts  and  lives,  and  both  obsers^e  and  cor- 
rect that  profaneness  which  resides  there. 

(1.)  He  then  is  a  profane  person  who  thinks  and  speaks 
dightly  of  religion. 

Religion  is  the  highest  perfection  of  human  nature.  By 
it  man  differs  more  from  brute  beasts  than  he  doth  by 
his  reason.  For  brute  creatures  have  some  notable  re- 
semblance and  hints  of  reason ;  but  none  at  all  of  reli- 
gion :  they  glorify  God  as  all  the  works  of  the  creation 
do,  by  showing  forth  in  their  frame  and  production  hia 
infinite  attributes,  but  they  cannot  adore  nor  worship 
him.  This  is  a  pre-eminence  peculiar  to  the  most  perfect 
pieces  of  the  creation,  men  and  angels.  For  as  it  is  a 
perfection  of  the  Deity  to  be  the  object  of  worship,  to 
whom  all  adoration  both  in  heaven  and  earth  ought  to  be 
directed,  so  it  is  the  perfection  of  rational  creatures  to 
ascribe  honor,  and  glory,  and  praise,  and  worship  to  Him 


FIRST    COMMANDMENf.  107 

who  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb  for  ever 
and  ever.  And  therefore  they  who  despise  religion,  de- 
spise that  which  is  their  own  chiefest  excellency,  and 
profane  that  which  is  the  very  crowti  of  their  nature 
and  being. 

But  alas,  have  we  not  many  such  profane  persons 
among  us,  who  deride  piety  and  make  a  scoff  of  reli- 
gion; who  look  upon  it  only  as  a  politic  invention  to 
keep  the  rude  and  ignorant  vulgar  in  awe1 

Yea,  and  those  who  take  up  their  religion,  not  by 
choice,  but  merely  by  chance ;  either  as  a  patrimony  left 
them  by  their  fathers,  or  as  a  received  custom  of  the 
country  wherein  they  were  bom :  never ,  troubling  them- 
selves to  examine  the  reasonableness  and  certainty  of  it. 
These  likewise  are  profane-spirited  men,  who  do  not 
believe  religion  to  be  a  matter  of  such  concern  as  to 
require  their  exactest  study  and  industry  in  searching 
into  its  grounds  and  principles,  but  think  that  any  may 
suffice,  whatsoever  it  be. 

Again,  those  who  secretly  despise  the  holiness  and 
strictness  of  others,  and  think  they  are  too  precise  and 
make  needless  ado  to  get  to  heaven.  But  indeed  they 
are  not  too  precise ;  but  these  are  too  profane  who  thus 
contemn  religion  as  unnecessary  and  superfluous. 

(2.)  He  is  a  profane  person  who  neglects  the  public 
worship  and  service  of  God  when  he  hath  opportunity  and 
ability  to  frequent  it. 

And  alas,  how  many  such  there  are  who  yet  think  .'t 
foul  scorn  to  have  this  black  name  fixed  upon  themj 
yea,  and  are  the  readiest  in  the  world  to  brand  others 
with  it  that  are  not  of  their  way  and  sentiments  !  But 
let  them  be  who  they  will  that  despise  and  forsake  the 


108  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

solemn  assemblies,  they  do  thus  despise  and  forsake  God. 

Now  these  are  of  two  sorts :  some  absent  themselves 
out  of  a  wretched  sloth  and  contempt  of  the  word  and 
^  ordinances  of  Jesus  Christ  j  others  out  of  a  pretended 
dissatisfaction  and  scruple  of  conscience.  Both  are  pro- 
fane ;  but  the  one  strangely  mingles  profaneness  and  hy- 
pocrisy, and  the  other  is  profane  out  of  ignorance  or 
atheism. 

Some  are  negligently  ^^ro/a?^e.  These  absent  them- 
selves from  the  ordinances  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  so- 
lemn worship  of  God  through  mere  sloth  and'  reckless 
contempt.  And  how  many  there  are  of  this  sort,  the 
thinness  of  many  congregations  doth  too  evidently  de- 
clare. If  we  should  search  for  them,  should  we  not  find 
theih  sleeping  in  bed,  or  idly  lolling  about  the  house,  or 
walking  or  riding  abroad  for  pleasure  %  spending  their 
time  in  vain  chat,  eating  and  drinking,  and  sacrificing  to 
their  god,  their  belly,  while  they  should  be  worshipping 
the  great  God  of  heaven.  Possibly,  a  fair  day,  or  want 
of  other  diversion,  may  sometimes  bring  them  to  church, 
yet  this  is  so  seldom  that  we  may  well  suspect  they 
come,  not  indeed  for  custom's  sake,  but  rather  out  of  no- 
velty than  devotion.  But  if  it  prove  a  wet  or  lowering 
day,  these  tender  people,  whom  neither  rain  nor  cold  can 
prejudice  at  a  fair  or  market,  dare  not  stir  out  of  their 
doors,  nor  step  over  their  own  threshold  to  go  into  God's 
house,  lest  they  should  hazard  their  health  instead  of 
gaining  their  salvation.  What  shall  I  say  to  such  brutes 
and  heathens,  who  not  only  deny  the  power,  but  the  very 
form  of  godliness  %  Some  of  them  may  perhaps  read 
what  I  here  present,  and  may  my  word,  nay,  not  mine, 
but  the  word  of  the  living  God  strike  them !     God  will 


I 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  109 

pour  out  his  wrath  "upon  the  heathen,   and  upon  the 
families  that  call  not  on  his  name." 

But  some  again  are  humorsomely  projane  ;  and  these 
are  they  who  withdraw  themselves  from  the  public  woi 
ship  of  God  merely  upon  pretended  scruple  and  dissa- 
lisfaction  as  to  the  mode  of  worship  practiced  by  those 
with  whom  they  might  most,  naturally  be  expected  to 
worship.  Concerning  such,  I  think  it  is  no  uncharitable- 
ness  to  say,  t]iat  where  scruple  at  the  administration  of 
ordinances  is  only  pretended  to  color  contempt  of  the 
ordinances,  there  religion  is  only  made  a  mask  and  vizor 
for  hypocrisy.  And  I  would  beseech  them  to  account  of 
all  who  preach  the  ti-uth  in  Christ,  that  they  are  minis- 
ters of  Christ,  and  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God, 
although  all  do  not  observe  the  same  form  of  worship ; 
and  if  they  cannot  deny  that  they  are  such  with  whom 
they  might  be  expected  to  worship,  will  they  deny  them 
audience  when  they  come  as  amb*assadors  from  the  great 
Kiiig  of  heaven,  to  deliver  his  message  to  them  in  his 
name  1  Do  not  all  who  truly  preach  Christ,  preach  the 
same  truths,  and  exhort  to  the  practice  of  the  same  ho- 
liness 1  Do  they  not  administer  the  same  ordinances, 
wherei^  are  represented  to  all  believing  partakers  the 
benefits  of  the  death  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  % 

(3.)  He  is  also  a  profane  person  who  neglects  the  pex'- 
formance  of  religious  duties  in  private.  .^  ^.^  j 

Every  house  ought  to  be  a  temple  dedicated  to  God, 
nnd  every  master  a  priest,  who  should  offer  unto  God 
the  daily  sacrifices  of  prayer  and  praise.  But,  alas,  how 
many  profane  persons  have  we,  and  how  many  profane 
families,  who  scarce  ever  make  mention  of  God  but  in  an 
oath,  nor  ever  call  upon  his  name  but  when  they  impre- 


110  THE  TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

culc  some  curse  upon  others  !  How  many  who  wholly 
neglect  the  duty  of  prayer,  and  think  they  sufficiently 
discharge  their  trust  if  they  provide  for  the  temporal  sub 
sistence  of  their  families,  though  they  utterly  neglect  the 
care  of  their  souls  and  their  spiritual  concerns  !  Such  pro 
fa  .13  families  as  these  God  ranks  with  infidels  and  hea- 
thens, and  devotes  them  to  the  same  common  destruction. 
Jer.  10  :  25. 

Nor  ought  our  family  duties  to  be  more  seldom  per- 
formed by  us  than  morning  and  evening.  In  the  morning, 
prayer  is  the  key  that  opens  to  us  the  treasury  of  God's 
mercies  and  blessings ;  in  the  evening,  it  is  the  key  that 
shuts  us  up'under  his  protection  and  safeguard.  God  is 
the  great  Lord  of  the  whole  family  both  in  heaven  and 
earth  :  other  masters  are  but,  under  him,  intmsted  to  see 
that  those  who  belong  to  their  charge  perform  their  du- 
ties both  to  him  and  themselves.  One  of  the  greatest  ser- 
vices we  can  do  for  God,  is  to  pray  unto  him  and  praise 
him.  And  how  unjust  and  tyrannical  is  it  for  a  master  of 
a  family  to  exact  service  to  himself,  when  he  takes  no 
care  to  do  service  to  his  great  Lord  and  Master,  to  whom 
it  is  infinitely  more  due  ! 

Neither  is  there  any  excuse  that  can  prevail  to  take  off 
your  obligation  from  this  duty. 

Not  that  thou  art  ignorant,  and  knowest  ncrt  Tibw' ;  o 
pray;  for  many  are  the  helps  that  God  hath  afforded 
thee.  Do  but  bring  breath  and  holy  affections;  others 
have  already  brought  to  thy  hands  words  and  expressions 
proper  enough  for  the  concerns  of  most  families.  And 
besides,  use  and  common  practice  vdll  facilitate  this  duty ; 
and,  by  an  incessant  conscientious  performance  of  it,  thou 
wilt,  through  the  promised  assistance  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  Ill 

be  soon  able  to  suit  thy  affections  with  pertinent  expres- 
sions and  to  present  both  in  a  becoming  manner  unto  the 
throne  of  grace. 

Not  the  multipHcity  and  encumbrance  of  thine  affairs. 
For  the  more  and  the  weightier  they  are,  the  more  need 
hast  thou  to  ask  counsel  and  direction  of  God,  and  to 
beg  his  blessing  upon  thee  in  them,  without  which  thou 
wilt  but  labor  in  the  fire  and  weary  thyself  for  very  vanity. 

Not  thy  bashfulness  and  modesty.  For  will  it  not  be  a 
far  greater  shame  to  thee,  that  those  whom  thou  goveni- 
est  and  perhaps  overawest  even  by  thy  rash  and  unreason- 
able passions,  should  be  able  to  overawe  thee  from  so  ex- 
cellent and  necessary  a  duty  1  Be  ashamed  to  sin  before 
them ;  be  ashamed  to  talk  loosely,  to  profane  the  name  of 
God,  to  be  intemperate  or  unjust  before  them,  to  defile 
it  thy  mouth  and  their  ears  with  unclean  and  scurrilous  dis- 
course ;  be  ashamed  to  neglect  thy  duty ;  but  be  not 
ashamed  to  pray,  for  our  Savior  hath  told  us,  Mark,  8  : 
38,  that  "  whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of  him  in  this 
adulterous  and  sinful  generation,  of  him  also  shall  the 
Son  of  Man  be  ashamed,  when  he  cometh  in  the  glory  of 
his  Father,  with  the  holy  angels." 

And  therefore,  since  there  is  no  just  reason  why  thou 
shouldst  refrain  prayer  from  the  Almighty,  whosoever  thou 
art  that  doest  so,  be  thy  conversation  in  all  other  respects 
never  so  blameless  (which  yet  it  is  not  very  probable  that 
it  should  be  when  thou  beggest  not  grace  from  God  to  di- 
rect it,)  thou  art  a  profane  person ;  and  declarest  thyself 
to  be  so,  by  the  neglect  of  the  most  holy  and  spiritual  of  aH 
those  duties  wherein  we  are  to  draw  nigh  unto  God. 

(4.)  He  is  a  profane  person  that  performs  holy  duties 
tlightly  and  superficially. 


112  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

All  our  duties  ought  to  be  warmed  with  zeal,  winged 
with  affection,  and  shot  up  to  heaven  from  the  whole  bent 
of  the  soul.  Our  whole  hearts  must  go  into  them,  and  the 
strength  and  vigor  of  our  spirits  must  diffuse  themselves 
into  every  part  of  them  to  animate   and  quicken  them. 

Hence  the  apostle  commands  us,  Rom.  12  :  11,  to  be 
"  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord."  Sacrifices,  which 
under  the  Jewish  economy  were  the  greatest  part  of 
God's  solemn  worship,  were  commanded  to  be  offered  up 
with  fire;  and  no  other  fire  could  sanctify  them  but  that 
miraculously  sent  down  from  heaven,  or  from  the  pre 
sence  of  God  in  the  sanctuary,  which  was  ever  after  kept 
burning  for  that  very  use.  Lev.  9  :  24  ;  6  :  9.  So,  truly,  all 
our  christian  sacrifices  both  of  praise  and  of  prayer  must 
be  offered  up  to  God  with  fire ;  and  that  fire  which  alone 
can  sanctify  them,  must  be  darted  dovni  from  heaven :  the 
celestial  flame  of  zeal  and  love  which  comes  down  from 
heaven  and  hath  a  natural  tendency  to  ascend  thither 
again,  and  to  carry  up  our  hearts  and  souls  upon  its  wings 
with  it. 

But  indeed  too  often  our  duties  are — 

Offered  up  loith  strange  unhallowed  fire.  They  are  fired 
by  some  unruly  passion  of  hatred,  or  self-love,  or  pride  and 
vain-glory.  Like  those  choleric  disciples  that  presently 
would  command  fire  to  come  down  from  heaven  to  con- 
sume those  who  had  affronted  them  by  refusing  to  give 
them  entertainment,  only  that  God  by  such  a  severe  mi- 
racle might  vindicate  their  reputation  and  revenge  the 
contumely  that  was  done  them.  But  this  is  a  fire  kindled 
from  beneath,  and  therefore  our  Savior  himself  sharply 
checks  their  furious  zeal,  "  Ye  know  not  what  manner  of 
spirit  ye  are  of."  Luke,  9  :  b^i.    And  certainly,  whenso- 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  113 

ever  we  pray  thus  in  the  bitterness  of  our  spirits,  devot- 
ing our  enemies  to  destruction,  and-that  because  they  are 
ours  rather  than  God's  ;  v^hen  we  pour  out  a  great  deal  of 
gall  mingled  with  our  petitions  ;  such  a  prayer  cannot  be 
from  the  dove-like  spirit  of  God,  which  is  meek  and  gentle, 
and  makes  those  so  who  are  led  and  inspii'ed  by  him.  Every 
party  and  persuasion  of  men  is  very  ready  boldly  to  pre- 
scribe unto  God  those  ways  and  methods  by  which  he 
ought  to  be  glorified  ;  and  if  any  shall  but  question  their 
principles  or  oppose  their  rasii  and  unwarrantable  pro- 
ceedings, their  touchy  zeal  is  straight  kindled,  and  nothing 
less  than  solemn  prayers  must  be  made  to  devote  such  a 
one  to  ruin  and  destruction,  as  an  enemy  to  God  and  to 
religion.  Here  is  fire  indeed  !  but  it  is  wild-fire  kindled 
from  beneath  ;  the  fiiel  of  it  is  faction,  popularity,  pride, 
contention,  and  vain-glory;  and  it  sends  forth  a  great 
deal  of  smoke  from  corrupt  and  inordinate  passions. 

Again,  if  there  be  none  of  the  former  incentives  to  heat 
them,  then  our  duties  are  commonly  very  cold  and 
heartless. 

Our  prayers  are  dull  and  yawning,  and  drop  over  our 
lips  without  any  spirit  or  life  in  them  :  how  often  do  we 
beg  God  to  hear  us  when  we  scarce  hear  ourselves  !  and 
to  grant  us  an  answer  when  we  scarce  know  what  it  is 
that  we  have  asked  !  We  make  our  requests  so  coldly  and 
indifferently,  as  if  we  only  begged  a  denial. 

So  likewise  in  our  hearing  of  the  word,  we  bring  with 
us  very  slight  and  profane  spirits  to  those  holy  and  lively 
oracles.  What  else  mean  the  vagrancy  and  wanderings  of 
oiir  thoughts  ;  our  lazy  and  unbeseeming  postures,  which 
would  be  counted  rude  and  unmannerly  to  be  used  in  the 
presence  of  some  of  those  that  are  with  us  in  our  Wor- 


114  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

ship,  were  they  any  where  else  but  in  the  church  ?  What 
means  our  weariness ;  our  watching  every  sand  that 
runs  ;  our  despising  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel ; '  our 
prizing  the  sound  of  words  more  than  the  weight  of 
things  ;  but  especially  our  indulged  sloth  and  drowsiness  1 
a  sin  that  I  have  observed  is  too  common.  What,  cannot 
you  watch  with  God  one  hour  ]  Do  we  speak  poppy  and 
opium  to  you  1  Or  do  you  expect  that  God  will  now  re- 
veal himself  to  you  in  dreams  1  Have  ye  not  houses,  have 
ye  not  beds  to  sleep  in ;  or  do  you  despise  the  church  of 
Christ  ]  Certainly  God  requires  our  most  wakeful  and  vi- 
gilant attention  when  he  delivers  to  us  the  most  important 
things  of  his  law  and  of  our  salvation.  These,  and  many 
other  things,  which  to  particularize  would  perhaps  be  to 
descend  below  the  majesty  of  this  work,  do  too  evidently 
declare  that  the  precious  truths  of  the  Gospel  are  grown 
vile  among  us  ;  that  we  have  taken  a  surfeit  of  this  hea- 
venly manna,  this  bread  of  life,  and  now  begin  to  loathe  it. 
Beware  lest  this  surfeit  bring  after  it  a  famine. 

It  plainly  argues  much  profaneness  in  our  spirits  when^ 
we  bring  only  our  outward  man,  our  dull  and  heavy  car- 
casses to  attend  upon  God,  while  our  hearts  and  minds  are 
straying  and  wandering  from  him.  This  is  a  sign  that  we 
despise  God,  and  account  any  thing  good  enough,  the 
lame  and  the  blind,  to  be  offered  to  him.  Against  such 
God  hath  thundered  out  a  most  dreadful  curse,  Mai. 
1:14,  **  Cursed  be  the  deceiver,  who  hath  in  his  flock  a 
male,  and  voweth  and  sacrificeth  unto  the  Lord  a  corrupt 
thing ;  for  I  am  a  great  King,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
and  my  name  is  dreadful."  Thou,  who  sufferest  thy 
thoughts,  or  thine  eyes  which  are  the  index  of  them,  to 
rove  in  prayer,  or  to  be  sealed  up  with  sleep  in  hearing, 


f^IRST    COMMANDMENT.  115 

thou  despisest  the  gi-eat  God  before  whom  thou  appear- 
est,  and  thinkest  it  enough  if  thou  affordest  knu  thy  bodily 
presence,  although  thy  heart  be  with  the  eyes  of  the  fool 
in  the  ends  of  the  earth ;  for  such  a  service  is  but  mock- 
ery, and  it  is  less  reproachful  to  tender  God  no  service 
than  to  perform  it  slightly  and  ceremoniously  :  the  one  is 
disobedience,  but  the  other  is  contempt. 

(5.)  He  is  a  profane  person  that  performs  holy  duties 
for  worldly  ends  and  advantage. 

For  what  greater  contempt  of  God  can  there  be  than 
to  make  his  service  truckle  under  the  base  and  low  de- 
signs of  this  present  life  1  This  is  to  make  religion  tribu- 
tary to  interest,  and  God  himself  a  homage  to  mammv»n. 
And  this  all  hypocrites  are  guilty  of:  though  they  mask 
their  designs  with  specious  pretences,  and  draw  the  veil 
of  religion  over  their  sordid  and  wicked  contrivances  ; 
yet  they  cry  out,  with  Jehu,  "  Come,  see  my  zeal  for 
the  Lord,"  when  he  drove  on  so  furiously  only  for  the 
kingdom. 

Indeed,  a  hypocrite,  though  he  be  not  commonly  so 
esteemed,  is  the  most  profane  wretch  that  lives.  The 
gross,  profligate  sinner  offers  not  half  so  much  indignity 
to  religion  as  he  doth.    For, 

The  hypocrite  calls  in  God  to  he  an  accomplice  and  par- 
taker with  him  in  his  crimes  ;  and  so  makes  God  to  be  the 
patron  of  sin,  who  will  be  the  judge  and  condemnor  of 
sinners. 

All  his  injustice,  rapine  and  rebellion  are  colored  over 
with  the  fair  pretence  of  the  glory  of  God,  the  interest 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  the  advancement  of  the  power 
of  godliness,  reformation  of  idolatry  and  superstition,  &c. 
9nd  there  is  no  act  of  fraud  or  violence,  faction  or  sedi- 


116  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

tion  but  he  thinks  it  justified  and  hallowed  by  these  glo- 
rious  names :  which  is  nothing  else  but  to  rob  men  and 
make  God  the  receiver,  who  is  the  detester,  and  will  be 
the  punisher  of  such  crimes.  Now  the  open  and  flagi- 
tious wretch,  although  he  hates  God  as  much  as  the  hypo- 
crite, yet  he  doth  not  so  much  deride  him  :  his  wicked- 
nesses are  plain  and  avowed,  and  every  one  may  see 
from  whence  they  proceed  and  whither  they  tend;  that 
they  come  from  hell,  and  directly  tend  thither  :  religion 
is  not  at  all  concerned  to  color  but  only  to  condemn 
them.  And  judge  ye  which  doth  most  despise  God  and 
godliness ;  he  who  professeth  it  not  at  all,  or  he  who  pro- 
fesseth  it  only  that  he  may  abuse  and  abase  it,  and  make 
it  subservient  to  vile  and  sordid  ends  infinitely  unwor- 
thy of  it. 

Again,  the  wound  religion  receives  from  hypocrites  is  far 
more  dangerous  and  incurable  than  that  inflicted  on  it  by 
the  open  and  scandalous  sinner. 

For  religion  is  never  brought  into  question  by  the  enor- 
mous vices  of  an  infamous  person  ;  all  see  and  all  abhoi 
his  sin.  But  when  a  man  shall  have  his  mouth  full  of 
piety  and  his  hands  full  of  wickedness,  when  he  shall 
speak  scripture  and  live  devilism,  profess  strictly  and 
walk  loosely,  this  lays  a  grievous  stumbling-block  in  the 
way  of  others  ;  and  tempts  them  to  think  that  all  religion 
is  but  mockery,  and  that  the  professors  of  it  are  but  hypo- 
crites ;  and  so  imbitters  their  hearts  against  it  as  a  so- 
lemn cheat  put  upon  the  credulous  world.  Certainly  such 
men  are  the  causes  of  all  that  contempt  which  is  cast 
upon  the  ways  and  ordinances  of  G  od ;  and  their  secret 
profaneness  hath  given  occasion  to  the  gross  and  open 
profaneness  that  now  abounds  .  in   the   world,    and  the 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  117 

hypocrisy  of  former  years  hath  too  fatally  introduced  the 
atheism  of  these. 

Nay,  a  hypocrite  must  needs  be  an  atheist ;  and  in  his 
heart  deny  many  of  God's  glorious  attributes,  but  espe 
cially  his  omniscience ;  and  say  within  himself^  as  those, 
Psalm  73:  11,  "How  doth  God  know,  and  is  there 
knowledge  in  the  Most  High  ?"  For  did  they  but  believe 
that  God  looks  through  all  their  disguises ;  and  tbat  his 
eye,  which  is  light  unto  itself,  pierceth  into  their  very 
souls  :  did  they  but  seriously  consider  that  all  things  are 
naked  and  open  before  him ;  that  he  knows  our  thoughts 
afar  off,  and  is  privy  to  our  closest  designs,  they  would 
not  certainly  be  either  so  daringly  wicked  or  so  childishly 
foolish  as  to  plot  upon  God,  and  seek  to  deceive  and 
delude  Omniscience. 

This  profaneness  of  the  hypocrite,  in  seeking  temporal 
things  by  spiritual  pretences,  is  much  more  abominable 
than  the  profaneness  of  others  who  seek  them  by  unjust 
and  unlawful  means  ;  for  the  one  only  makes  impiety,  but 
the  other  piety  itself  an  instmment  of  his  vile  and  sordid 
profit,  than  which  there  cannot  be  a  greater  scorn  and 
contempt  put  upon  religion. 

(6.)  He  is  a  profane  person  who  makes  what  God  hath 
sanctified  common  a7id  unhallowed. 

And  have  we  not  many  such  profane  persons  among 
us  1  Many  that  abuse  the  holy  and  reverend  name  of 
God,  which  ought  to  be  had  in  the  highest  esteem  and 
veneration,  about  light  and  frivolous  matters  ]  who  only 
make  mention  of  him  in  their  idle  chat,  but  are  mute  and 
dumb  when  any  thing  should  be  spoken  to  his  praise  ] 
Many  that  profane  his  Sabbaths ;  and  although  God  hath 
liberally  allowed  them  six  days  for  the  affairs  of  earth. 


118  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

yet  will  not  spare  the  seventh  for  the  affairs  of  heaven, 
but  injpiously  inva^de  what  he  hath  set  apart  and  conse- 
crated for  himself  and  his  own  immediate  worship  and 
service  ]  Many  that  never  speak  scripture  but  when 
they  abuse  it ;  making  the  Bible  their  jest-book,  and 
prostituting  those  phrases  and  expressions  which  God 
hath  sanctified  to  convey  unto  us  the  knowledge  of  him- 
self and  eternal  life,  to  the  laughter  and  mirth  of  their 
loose  companions  1  So  that  those  very  words  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  inspired  into  the  penmen  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptui"e§  for  the  edification  of  the  church,  the  devil 
inspires  into  these  wretches  for  their  own  damnation  and 
the  damnation  of  those  that  have  pleasure  in  such  horrid 
profaneness. 

(7.)  He  is  a  profane  person  who  despiseth  spiritual  pri- 
vileges and  enjoyments. 

Upon  this  very  account  the  Scripture  sets  that  black 
and  indelible  brand  upon  Esau:  "Lest  there  be  any 
profane  person  among  you,  as  Esau,  who  for  one  morsel 
of  meat  sold  his  birthright."  Heb.  12  :  16.  And  why  is 
Esau  stigmatized  as  profane  for  selling  his  birthright,  but 
because  in  those  first  ages  of  the  world  the  first-born  or 
eldest  of  the  family  was  a  priest,  and  that  sacred  function 
by  right  of  primogeniture  belonged  unto  him  1  and  there- 
fore we  read  that  the  tribe  of  Levi  were  taken  by  God  to 
be  his  priests  and  ministers,  in  exchange  for  the  first- 
born. Now,  to  slight  and  undervalue  an  office  so  holy 
and  sacred,  a  privilege  so  eminent,  a  dignity  so  sublime 
and  spiritual — to  part  with  it  only  for  the  satisfying  of 
his  hunger — was  a  sign  of  a  profane  spirit ;  in  preferring 
the  god,  his  belly,  before  the  God  of  heaven ;  and  for 
ever  renouncing  his  right  of  sacrificing  to  the  true  God, 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.        V  r'"       "         H^ 

only  that  he  might  sacrifice  one  pleasant  morsel  to  his 
impatient  appetite. 

And  certainly,  if  it  were  so  profane  in  Esau  to  slight 
and  contemn  the  priesthood  in  himself,  they  are  also  pro- 
fane who  vilify  it  in  others,  and  make  those  the  objects 
of  their  lowest  scorn  and  contempt  whose  office  it  is  to 
stand  and  minister  before  God  and  Christ.  Certainly,  if  a 
'dishonor  done  to  an  ambassador  reflects  upon  the  prince  that 
sent  him,  will  not  Christ  account  it  as  an  affront  and  injury 
done  to  him,  when  you  affront  and  injure  those  his  messen- 
gers and  ambassadors  whom  he  hath  sent  to  treat  with  you 
in  his  name,  and  about  the  concerns  of  his  kingdom  ] 

But,  not  to  speak  more  of  this,  lest  we  should  be  thoughl 
to  plead  for  ourselves ;  are  not  those  profane  who  despise 
and  contemn  the  high  privileges  and  dignity  of  the  chil- 
dren of  God  ]  who  despise  those  whom  God  so  highly 
honors  as  to  adopt  them  into  his  own  family,  to  admit 
them  into  near  communion  and  endearment  with  himself, 
to  make  them  his  own  sons,  and  give  them  th^  privilege 
of  heirs  of  eternal  glcry  T  Doubtless,  he  who  despiseth 
him  that  is  begotten,  despiseth  him  likewise  that  beget- 
teth ;  and  the  common  disrespect  which  is  shown  to  the 
sei'vants  and  children  of  God,  argues  a  secret  contempt 
of  him  who  is  their  Master  and  their  Father. 

-Now  lay  these  things  to  your  own  hearts,  and  bring 
them  home  to  your  owoi  consciences,  and  see  whether  you 
are  in  none  of  these  particulars  guilty  of  profaneness.  Do 
none  of  you  think  slightly  of  religion ;  accounting  it  either 
a  politic  design  or  a  needless  preciseness  ]  Are  none  of 
you  negligent  in  the  public  worship  and  service  of  God, 
nor  yet  in  private  and  family  duties ;  or,  if  you  perform 
them,  is  it  not  very  carelessly  and  formally ;  or,  if  you 


120  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

Beem  zealous  in  them,  is  not  your  zeal  excited  by  some 
temporal  advantages,  and  low,  base,  worldly  ends  and  de- 
signs ]  Do  you  not  make  that  common  and  unhallowed 
which  God  hath  made  holy  ;  either  by  abusing  his  name, 
polluting  his  Sabbaths,  or  vilifying  his  word  in  your  ordi- 
nary raillery  ]  And  lastly,  do  none  of  you  despise  spiritual 
privileges  and  enjoyments,  and  those  likewise  who  are  in 
vested  with  them  ]  If  so,  how  fair  and  specious  soever 
your  lives  and  actions  may  be,  although  you  may  think 
the  rude  debauched  sinner  at  a  vast  distance  from  your- 
selves, and  account  him  the  only  profane  person ;  yet,  cer- 
tainly, this  black  style  belongs  as  properly  to  you ;  and 
you  are  profane  violators  of  this  first  command,  which 
requires  you  to  take  the  Lord  for  your  God,  and  accord- 
ingly to  honor  and  reverence  him  and  whatsoever  apper- 
tains to  him. 

IV.  The  fourth  and  last  breach  of  this  command  is  by 
Idolatry  :  Thou  sTialt  have  no  other  gods  before  mej 
which  they  are  guilty  of  who  set  up  any  other  god  be- 
sides the  Lord  Jehovah. 

Idolatry,  according  to  its  etymology  and  use,  signifies  a 
serving  of  images  or  idols.  Now,  an  idol,  though  it  pro- 
perly signifies  an  artificial  effigy  or  resemblance  made  to 
represent  any  thing  or  person  ;  yet,  in  divinity,  it  signifies 
any  thing  besides  the  true  God,  unto  vdiich  we  ascribe 
divine  honor  and  worship. 

And,  as  an  idol  is  twofold ;  one  internal,  in  the  fiction 
and  imagination  of  the  mind ;  another,  external  and  visible, 
either  the  work  of  men's  hands,  as  statues  and  images,  or 
else  the  work  of  God's  hands,  as  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars, 
or  any  other  creature  :  so  there  is  a  twofold  idolatry  ;  the 


FIRST   COMMANDWTBNT.  121 

one  internal,  when  in  our  minds  and  affections  we  honor 
and  venerate  that  as 'God  which  indeed  is  not  so,  but  is 
either  a  creature  of  the  true  God,  or  a  fiction  of  a  deluded 
fancy ;  the  other  external^  which  we  are  then  guilty  of, 
when  we  express  the  inward  veneration  of  our  souls  by 
outward  act«  of  adoration.  As>  for  instance,  whosoever 
shall  believe  the  consecrated  bread  in  the  sacrament  to  be 
transubstantiated  and  changed  into  the  true  and  proper 
body  of  Jesus  Christ,  and,  upon  this  belief,  shall  in  his 
mind  revere  and  honor  it  as  his  God,  as  the  papists  do,  he 
is  guilty  of  internal  idolatry  :  but  if,  to  this  internal  vene- 
ration he  add  any  external  rites  of  worship,  as  prostra- 
tion, invocation,  &c.  he  is  then  likewise  guilty  of  extern 
nal  idolatry. 

It  is  the  former  of  these  two  kinds  of  idolatry  which  is 
here  prohibited  in  this  first  commandment,  Tkou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  before  me  :  that  is,  thou  shalt  not  give 
to  any  thing,  either  in  heaven  or  earth,  that  inward 
heart-worship  of  affiance,  love,  fear,  veneration,  and  de- 
pendance,  which  is  due  only  to  the  true  God,  the  Lord 
Jehovah. 

The  imperate  acts,  or  outward  expressions  of  this  in- 
ward worship,  are  that  which  we  call  external  idolatry, 
which  is  specially  forbidden  in  the  second  commandment  • 
of  which  I  shall  treat  in  its  place  and  ordei'. 

Now  concerning  this  internal  idolatry^  obsen^e  these 
following  propositions : 

1:  Whosoever  acknowledgeth,  and  in  his  heart  worship- 
peth  another  God,  different  from  that  God  who  hath  rer 
vcaled  hirnsejf  to  us  in  his  holy  Scriptures,  is  guilty  of' 
this  internal  idolatry,  and  the  breach  of  this  first  com- 
mandment. 

Commandments. 


128  THfi    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

'  And  therefore,  not  only  are  those  idolaters  who  wor- 
ship the  devil ;  or  those  that  have  recourse  to  diabo- 
lical arts  and  charms ;  or  those  who  worship  men,  whose 
vices  were  their  apotheosis,  and  their  crimes  their  con- 
secration ;  as  Bacchus,  and  Venus,  and  others  of  the 
heathenish  gods ;  or  those  who  worshipped  men  famous 
for  their  virtues,  as  the  heathens  did  their  heroes,  and 
the  papists  do  their  saints;  or  those  who  worship  any 
of  the  creatures  of  God,  as  the  host  of  heaven,  fire  a^  the 
Persians,  or  water  as  the  Egyptians,  or  the  creatures  of 
art,  as  statues  and  images,  as  if  possessed  and  animated 
by  their  deities ;  in  which  respect  Trismegistus  called  im- 
ages the  bbdies  of  the  gods  ;*  (and  with  the  same  madness 
are  the  papists  possessed,  who  are  persuaded  that  God, 
and  Christ,  and  the  saints  dwell  in  certain  images  made 
to  represent  them,  and  by  those  images  give  answers  to 
their  votaries,  and  perform  many  wonderful  and  miracu- 
lous works ;  whereas,  if  there  be  any  spirit  that  possess- 
eth  them,  as  perhaps  there  may,  we  have  reason  to  be- 
lieve that,  since  their  worship  of  them  is  the  very  same 
with  the  heathens,  those  spirits  are  likewise  the  same, 
viz.  not  God,  nor  saints,  but  devils  and  damned  spirits  ;) 
I  say,  not  only  these  are  idolaters  and  transgressors 
of  this  first  command,  but  those  also  who  compound  a 
God  partly  out  of  the  figment  of  their  own  erroneous 
minis,  and  partly  out  of  his  own  infinite  attributes  :  and 
thus  are  all  Arians,  Socinians  and  Antitrinitarians  guilty 
of  idolatry;  for  they  acknowledge  one  infinite  and  eter- 
na^  Being,  but,  denying  the  persons  of  the  Son  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  they  worship  an  idol,  and  not  the  true  God, 

•  Aug.  de  Civ,  Dei.  1.  viii.  Cr  23. 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  123 

for  the  only  true  God  is  the  Father,  the  Son,  iand  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

2.  Whosoever  acknowledgeth,  and  in  his  heart  wor- 
shippeth  more  gods  than  the  only  Lord  Jehovah,  is  guilty 
of  idolatry,  and  the  violation  of  this  first  commandment. 

Thus  v\^as  the  idolatry  of  those  nations  which  the  king 
of  Assyria  planted  in  Israel,  after  he  had  carried  away 
the  ten  tribes  into  captivity;  for  it  is  said  "  that  they 
feared  the  Lord,  and  served  their  own  gods,"  2  Kings, 
17  :  33.  And  upon  this  account  also  aie  all  Arians  and 
Socinians,  who  deny  the  natural  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ, 
justly  charged  with  idolatry;  for  since  they  say  that 
Christ  is  God,  and  worship  him  as  God,  and  yet  deny  that 
he  is  of  the  same  nature  and  substance  with  the  Lord 
Jehovah,  they  must  of  necessity  make  more  gods  than 
one,  and  those  of  a  diverse  essence  and  being;  and  there- 
fore they  are  not  only  guilty  of  blasphemy,  but  idolatry : 
of  blasphemy,  in  robbing  Christ  of  his  eternal  Sonship 
and  the  Divine  nature ;  of  idolatry,  in  attributing  divine 
honor  and  worship  unto  him  whom  they  believe  to  be 
but  a  creature,  and  not  God  by  nature. 

3.  Whosoever  doth  ascribe  or  render  to  any  creature 
that  which  is  proper  and  due  only  unto  God,  is  an  idolater, 
and  guilty  of  the  transgression  of  this  first  commandpaent. 

Now  this  attributing  of  the  divine  properties  to  crea- 
tures is  either  explicit  or  implied;  explicit,  when  we 
avow  the  attributes  of  the  divine  nature  to  be  in  those 
things  which  are  not  capable  of  them,  as  those  who  hold 
the  body  of  Christ  to  be  omnipresent ;  implied,  when  wo 
render  unto  any  creature  that  inward  worship,  esteem 
and  affection  which  is  due  only  to  the  infinite  perfections 
of  the  Deity;  .  -  \ 


124  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

And   although   our   reformed  religion   be   very   well 
purged  from  the  former  idolatry,  yet  certainly  the  pro 
fessors  of  it  are  not  well  purged  from  this  latter  idolatry ; 
for,  even  among  Protestants   themselves,  we  shall  find 
very  many  that  are  in  this  sense  idolaters.  For, 

(1.)  Whosoever  cliiefly  and  supremely  loves  any  area 
tiere,  is  an  idolater;  because  our  chiefest  love  is  due  only 
to  God. 

Hence  the  covetous  person  is  expressly  called  an  idola- 
ter ;  and  covetousness,  idolatry.  Col.  3:5.  "  Mortify  your" 
earthly  "  members ;  uncleanness,  evil  concupiscence,  and 
covetousness,  which  is  idolatry."  Likewise  the  sensual 
epicure  is  an  idolater ;  his  helly,  saith  the  apostle,  is  his 
god.  Phil.  3  :  19.  The  proud  person  is  an  idolater;  for 
he  loves  himself  supremely,  sets  up  himself  for  his 
own  idol,  and  falls  prostrate  before  that  image  which  he 
hath  portrayed  of  his  own  perfections,  in  his  own  fancy 
and  imagination.  And  generally  all  who  love  and  ad- 
mire any  thing  above  God,  or  esteem  any  thing  so  dear 
that  they  would  not  willingly  part  with  it  for  his  sake, 
have  set  up  another  god  before  him,  to  which  they  give 
that  service  and  respect  which  is  due  only  to  the  great 
God  of  heaven. 

(2.)  Whosoever  puts  his  trust  a?td  confidence  in  any  creature 
more  than  i?i  God,  is  guilty  of  this  inward  heart-idolatry. 

As  when  we  depend  on  interest,  or  power,  or  policy 
for  our  safeguard  and  success,  more  than  on  that  God 
who  is  able  both  with  and  without  created  helps  and 
means  to  relieve  ^s.  And  that  we  do  so,  appears  when 
we  are  secure  and  confident  in  the  enjoyment  of  such 
created  comforts  and  supports,  but  altogether  diffident 
and  dejected  when  we  are  deprived  of  them ;  for  since 


FIRST    COMMANDMENT.  125 

God  is  always  the  same,  we  should  likewise  have  the 
same  courage  and  spirit,  did  we  place  our  whole  trust 
in  him. 

(3.)  He  is  an  idolater,  and  a  very  gross  one,  who  sets 
,iip  any  creature  in  his  hearty  whether  saint  or  angels  to 
pray  to  it,  and  to  betake  himself  to  it  as  a  refuge  in  hi% 
straits  and  necessities. 

For  invocation  properly  belongs  to  God  alone,  as  an 
act  of  worship  which  he  hath  challenged  to  himself,  and 
the  highest  glory  that  we  can  give  to  his  Divine  Majesty. 
And  therefore  he  hath  commanded  us.  Psalm  50  :  15, 
"  Call  upon  me,"  not  upon  any  saint  or  angel,  "  in  the 
time  of  trouble,  and  I  vdll  deliver  thee."  And  therefore 
papists  are  most  gross  and  stupid  idolaters,  who  direct 
their  petitions,  not  to  God,  but  to  saints  and  angels : 
which  is  nothing  else  but  to  advance  them  into  his  throne, 
and  to  ascribe  to  them  his  infinite  perfections;  for  prayer 
and  adoration  suppose  the  object  of  it  to  be  omnipresent 
and  omnipotent;  omnipresent  to  hear,  and  omnipotent  to 
save,  or  else  they  are  in  vain. 


N 


/^ 


THE  SECOND  COMMANDMENT. 

•*Tliou  slialt  not  make  unto  tliee  any  graven  image,  or  any 
likeness  of  any  tiling  wliicti  is  inkeaven  above,  or  tliat 
is  in  tlie  eartli  beneatti,  or  tbat  is  in  the  irvater  under  tlie 
earth.*  Tlion  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  to  them,  nor 
serve  them  ;  for  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am  a  Jealous  God, 
visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children 
unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate 
me :  and  show^ing  mercy  unto  thousands  of  them  that 
love  me,  and  keep  my  commandments." 

Idolatry  is  twofold,  either  spiritual  and  internal,  re- 
siding in  the  affections  and  disposition  of  the  soul ;  or 
more  gross  and  external,  consisting  in  a  visible  adoration 
of  any  thing  besides  God.  The  former  is  forbidden  in  the 
First  Commandment,  as  we  have  already  seen ;  and  the 
latter  is  particularly  forbidden  in  this  Second  Command- 
ment,   to   which  our   attention    will   now   be    directed. 

In  this  Commandment  we  have  two  parts  :  the  Pre- 
cept itself,  and  the  Sanction  of  the  precept,  each  of  which 
is  twofold. 

The  precept  runs  negatively  in  two  several  prohibi- 
tions, both  tending  to  the  same  end  and  effect;  the  one 
forbidding  images  to  be  made,  "  Thou  shalt  not  make  to 
thee  any  graven  image,  or  any  likeness  of  any  thing ;"  the 
other  forbidding  them  to  be  worshipped,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
bow  down  thyself  before  them,  nor  serve  them." 

The  sanction  contains  a  severe  comminatio7i  or  threat- 
eriing  against  those  that  shall  presume  to  violate  this 
command:  *'I,  the  Lord  thy  God,  am  a  jealous  God,  vi- 
siting the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  unto 


s 

SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  127 

the  third  and  fourth  generation;"  and  also  for  the  encou- 
ragement of  obedience,  a  gracious  promise,  of  ''showing 
mercy  unto  thousands  that  love  God  and  keep  his  com- 
mandments." 

I  shall  begin  with  the  command,  or  prohibition.  And 
this,  as  I  said,  is  twofold :  Thou  shalt  not  make  images : 
Thou  shalt  not  worship  them.  Not  that  the  carver's  or 
printer's  art,  but  only  the  people's  idolatry — not  that  the 
ingenuity  in  making,  but  the  stupidity  in  worshipping 
those  dumb  representations — is  here  forbidden.  The 
brazen  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  the  cherubim,  and 
other  resemblances  in  the  temple,  ai'e  a  sufficient  proof 
and  evidence  of  this. 

This  prohibition,  therefore,  must  be  interpreted  ac- 
cording to  the  subject  matter  here  spoken  of,  and  that 
being  only  divine  worship,  it  is  plain  that  it  is  not  unlaw- 
ful to  represent  to  the  eye  any  visible  thing  by  an  arti- 
ficial image  of  it,  but  only  when  God  saith.  Thou  shalt 
not  make,  and  Thou  shalt  not  worship,  the  meaning  is, 
Thou  shalt  not  make  any  thing  with  an  intention  of  wor- 
ship ;  and,  Thou  shalt  not  worship  any  thing  which  thou 
or  others  have  made.  But,  concerning  the  prohibition  of 
this  command,  I  shall  speak  more  hereafter. 

For  the  more  fiill  and  clear  understanding  of  this  pre- 
cept, I  must  desire  you  to  recall  to  mind  one  of  those  sev- 
eral general  rules  mentioned  in  the  Introduction  as  help- 
ful to  instruct  you  in  the  due  extent  and  latitude  of  the 
Commandments,  namely,  that  the  negative  commands  all 
include  the  injunction  of  the  contrary  positive  duties :  as, 
when  God  forbids  the  taking  of  his  name  in  vain,  oy 
consequence  he  commands  the  hallo wiug  and  sanctifying 


■     ■  * 

5^8  THE    TEN    COBtMANDMENTS. 

of  liis  name  j  where  he  forbids  murder,  he  commands  all 
lawful  care  and  endeavor  to  preserve  our  own  and  the 
life  of  others ;  where,  in  the  First  Precept,  he  forbids  the 
owning  and  cleaving  to  any  other  god  besides  himself, 
he  enjoins  us  to  acknowledge  him  as  our  God,  to  love, 
fear,  and  hope  in  him  only.  So,  here  in  this  Second 
Command,  where  he  forbids  the  worshipping  of  images, 
by  consequence  he  requires  us  to  worship  him  according 
to  the  rules  he  hath  prescribed  us.  Therefore,  as  under 
the  First  Command  is  comprehended  whatsoever  apper- 
tains to  the  internal  worship  of  God;  so,  under  this 
Second  is  comprehended  whatsoever  appertains  to  the 
external  and  visible  worship  of  God. 

.  Here  I  shall  first  speak  of  the  external  and  visible 
worship  of  God ;  and  then  of  those  sins  which  are  con- 
trary to  it,  and  condemned  in  this  Commandment. 

I.  Concerning  the  worship  op  God  I  shall  lay  down 
the  six  following  propositions  : 

1.  The  true  and  spiritual  worship  of  God  in  general, 
is  an  action  of  a  pious  soul,  wrought  and  excited  in  us  by 
the  Holy  Ghost;  whereby,  with  godly  love  and  fear,  we 
serve  God  acceptably,  according  to  his  will  revealed  in  his 
Word  ;  by  faith  embracing  his  promises,  and  in  obedience 
performing  his  commands ;  to  his  glory,  the  edification  of 
others,  and  our  own  eternal  salvation. 

This  is  the  true  spiritual  worship  of  the  time  God, 
who  is  a  spirit :  and  it  comprehends  in  it,  both  the  in- 
ward worship  of  our  hearts  and  souls,  and  likewise  the 
outward  worship  of  holy  and  religious  performances ;  of 
which  I  am  now  particularly  to  treat. 

2.  Therefore,  this  external  worship  of  God  is  a  sacred 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  129 

action  of  a  pious  soul,  wi-ouglit  and  excited  hy  the  Holy 
Ghost  J  whereby,  with  all  reverence,  we  serve  God  both  in 
words  and  deeds,  according  to  his  revealed  mill,  in  partaking 
of  his  sacraments,  attending  on  his^  ordinances,  and  perform- 
ing those  holy  duties  which  he  hath  required  from  us  ;  to  his 
glory,  the  edification  of  others,  and  our  own  eternal  salvation. 
This  worship  of  God,  although  external,  is  nevertheless 
spiritual ;  for  it  proceeds  from  the  Spirit  of  God  exciting 
our  spirits  to  the  performance  of  it ;  and  is  directed  by  a 
spiritual  rule,  unto  a  spiritual  end,  the  glory  of  God  and 
our  own  salvation. 

3.  The  parts  of  this  external  worship)  are  divers  and 
manifold  ;  lohereof  the  most  p^rincipal  and  essential  are  the 
celebration  of  the  sacraments,  solemn  fi'ayer,  and  solemn 
praise  and  thanksgiving.  , 

But,  besides  these,  there  are  many  other  things  which  be- 
long to  the  service  of  God ;  yea,  as  many  as  there  are 
duties  of  religion  and  piety  :  such  as  a  free,  open,  and  un- 
daunted profession  of  the  truth ;  a  religious  vowing  unto 
God  things  that  are  lawful,  and  in  our  own  power ;  an 
invoking  of  the  testimony  of  God  to  the  truth  of  what  we 
assert,  or  to  the  faithful  discharge  of  what  we  promise, 
when  we  are  duly  called  to  do  ;t  by  lawful  authority ;  a 
diligent  reading  of  the  word  of  God,  and  a  constant  and 
reverent  attendance  on  it  when  it  is  read  and  preached ; 
and  divers  other  duties,  too  numerous  to  be  here  particu- 
'  larly  enumerated :  some  of  which  belong  to  the  proper 
worship  of  God,  immediately  as  parts  of  it ;  others,  medi- 
ately, as  means  and  helps  to  it.  -    /^  ~ 

4.  Although  God  doth  especially  delight  in  the  acts  of 
our  internal  worship,  and  principally  regards  the  esteem 
and  veneration  that  we  have  for  his  great  and  glorious 

6* 


130  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

Majesty  in  our  hearts;  yet  this  alone  suficeth  not,  without 
the  performance  of  those  parts  of  external  worship  and  vis- 
ible acts  of  piety  and,  religion,  which  may  to  the  glory  of 
God  express  the  devout  dispositions  of  our  souls. 

The  inward  acts  of  piety  are  those  of  faith  in  behev- 
ing ;  of  hope,  in  expecting  our  reward ;  of  charity,  in 
loving  both  God  and  our  neighbor ;  of  fear,  in  reverenc- 
ing him  ;  of  patience,  in  a  contented  bearing  whatsoe'vei 
burdens  it  shall  please  the  all-wise  providence  of  God 
to  lay  upon  us ;  and  of  a  cheerful  willingness  to  perform 
all  the  duties  of  obedience  which  he  enjoins  Us.  These 
belong  to  the  internal  worship  and  service  of  God,  and 
are  especially  pleasing  and  acceptable  to  him.  And,  in- 
deed, without  these,  all  outward  acts  of  worship  are  both 
dead  and  unsavory :  for,  as  the  spirit  of  a  man  is  his 
life,  so  the  internal  and  spiritual  piety  of  the  heart,  our 
love,  fear,  and  reverence  of  God,  is  the  life  of  all  our 
duties,  without  which  they  are  but  as  a  dead  carcass  ;  so 
far  from  being  a  sweet-smelling  savor,  that  they  are  noi- 
some and  offensive  to  that  God  to  whom  we  offer  them. 

Of  this  internal  worship  I  have  already  spoken ;  and 
what  we  are  now  to  consider,  is  the  external  worship  of 
God  ;  which  also  he  hath  absolutely  required  as  we  have 
ability  and  opportunity  :  for  though  there  need  be  no  overt 
actions  to  make  the  sincerity  of  our  affections  and  inten- 
tions knovni  to  God ;  yet  it  is  necessary,  for  his  glory 
aipd  a  good  example  to  others,  to  declare  that  to  the 
world,  by  visible  signs  and  expressions,  which  was  be- 
fore known  to  him  in  the  secret  purposes  and  thoughts 
of  our  hearts.    And  here  I  would  remark, 

(1.)  God  hath  no  less  strictly  enjohied  external  worship, 
than  internal. 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  131 

What  can  be  more  external  than  the  ceremonial  part 
of  the  evangelical  law,  the  participation  of  Baptism  and 
the  Lord's  Supper  1  Both  of  which  are  yet  most  expi^ess- 
ly  commanded.  Matt.  28  :  19.  **  Go,  teach  all  nations, 
baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Acts,  2  :  38.  "  Repent,  and  be 
baptized  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ." 
And  for  the  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
see  Luke,  22  :  19.  "  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me :" 
which  command  they  violate,  and  refuse  to  give  the  most 
evident  sign  that  they  are  christians,  who  either  totally 
neglect,  or  else  very  seldom  attend  this  most  holy  and 
spiritual  ordinance. 

(2.)  God  doth  severely  both  threaten  and  punish  such  as 
give  external  worship  unto  any  other  hut  himself. 

How  often  are  the  Israelites  reproved  for  bowing  the 
knee  to  Baal,  for  baking  cakes  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven  ! 
Yea,  and  very  usually  idolatry  is  set  forth  in  Scripture 
by  some  of  those  visible  actions  by  which  some  of  these 
false  worshippers  used  to  express  their  devotion  towards 
their  false  deities,  as  bowing  the  body  to  them.  Josh. 
23  :  16.  "Served  other  gods,  and  bowed  yourselves  to 
them."  Judges,  2  :  12,  17,  &c.  Kissing  the  hand  unto 
them,  in  token  of  reverence.  Job,  31  :  26,  27.  "If I 
beheld  the  sun  when  it  shined,  or  the  moon  walking  in 
brightness  ;  and  my  heart  hath  been  secretly  enticed,  or  my 
mouth  hath  kissed  my  hand,  this  also  were  an  iniquity  to 
be  punished  by  the  judge ;  for  I  should  have  denied  the 
God  that  is  above."  So,  likewise,  bowing  the  knee  to  any 
idol,  and  kissing  it.  Hos.  13  :  2.  "  Let  the  men  that  sacri- 
fice, kiss  the  calves."  And  so,  when  Elijah  complained  of 
the  total  defection  of  the  Israelites  from  the  service  of  the 


132  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

true  God  unto  idolatry,  God,  to  comfoit  and  encourage 
him,  tells  him  that  he  was  not  alone,  but  that  there 
were  "  seven  thousand  in  Israel,  all  the  knees  that  had 
not  bowed  unto  Baal,  and  every  mouth  which  had  not 
kissed  him."  1  Kings,  19  :  18.  And  therefore,  certainly, 
since  he  makes  so  punctual  a  computation  of  those  who  liad 
not  alienated  their  bodily  worship  to  the  service  of  an  idol, 
he  doth  respect  and  accept  those  who  in  faith  and  sin- 
cerity tender  it  to  himself. 

(3.)  God  hath  created  the  whole  man,  both  soul  and 
body,  for  himself,  and  he  sustains  both  in  their  being, 
therefore  he  expects  homage  and  sei'vice  from  both : 
from  the  soul,  as  the  chief  seat  of  worship ;  from  the 
body,  as  the  best  testimony  of  it.  ^    \ 

(4.)  Not  only  our  souls,  but  our  bodies  too  are  redeemed 
by  Christ,  therefore,  both  should  be  employed  in  his 
worship  and  service.  .  .    •'   , 

The  whole  man  is  bought  with  a  price  ;  the  whole  is 
justified  ;  the  whole  is  sanctified.  Yea,  our  very  bodies 
are  said  to  be  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  1  Cor. 
6  :  19.  And  where  should  God  be  worshipped,  or  that 
worship  appear,  if  not  in  his  temple  1  And,  therefore,  on 
account  of  the  purchase  which  Christ  hath  made  of  us 
to  himself,  the  apostle  draws  this  inference  in  the  fore- 
mentioned  place  :  "  Ye  are  not  your  ovni ;  for  ye  are 
bought  with  a  price :  wherefore  glorify  God  in  your  body, 
and  in  your  spirit,  which  are  God's."  ^    ^ 

(5.)  The  body  as  well  as  the  soul  is  likewise  to  partake 
of  the  blessings  of  obedience  ;  and  therefore  it  is  but  rea 
sonable  it  should  partake  of  the  service  of  obedience. 

Many  blessings  are  promised  to  our  outward  man,  here 
in  this  life ;  and  hereafter  it  is  to  be  made  a  glorious  and 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  133 

iTTcorruptible  body,  like  unto  the  glorious  bocly  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ:  it  is  to  be  clothed  with  light  and 
crowned  with  rays ;  never  more  to  suffer  injuries  without 
or  diseases  within  ;  and  therefore  certainly  duty  belongs 
to  it,  siilce  so  many  great  and  unspeakable  privileges  be- 
long to  it. 

Thus  you  see  how  reasonably  God  requires  from  qs 
the  service  not  only  of  the  inward  but  of  the  outward 
man ;  and  therefore  we  are  not  to  slight  that  outward 
reverence  which  is  necessary  to  testify  a  due  sense  of  his 
glorious  presence  when  we  come  before  him :  neither 
must  we  rob  him  of  any  part,  either  of  his  sei-\'ice  or  of 
his  servant,  but  sacrifice  ourselves  entirely  to  him ;  our 
bodies  on  the  altar  of  our  souls,  hearts  and  affections ; 
and  both  soul  and  body  on  that  altar  which  alone  can 
make  both  acceptable,  even  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  So 
much  for  this  fourth  proposition. 

5.  Jill  that  outward  reverence  which,  we  show  towards 
God  in  his  worship  and  service,  must  he  measured  and  esti- 
mated according  to  the  customs  and  usage  of  places  and 
countries;  so  that  what  they  use  as  a  sign  and  expression 
of  honor  to  their  superiors,  they  ought  much  more  to  use 
in  the  presence  of  the  great  God,  the  King  of  kings  and 
Lord  of  lords.  And,  therefore,  uncovering  of  the  head, 
bowing  of  the  body,  an  humble  attitude  and  settled  com- 
posure of  the  whole  man,  which  among  us  are  but  fitting 
signs  of  respect  and  reverence  when  we  appear  in  the 
presence  of  those  who  are  much  our  superiors,  ought 
likevrise  to  be  used  by  us  in  the  presence  of  God,  who  is 
infinitely  such :  not  indeed  that  they  are  essential  parts 
of  worship,  but  signs  and  testimonies  of  it. 

6.  We  ought  not  to  worship  God  with  any  other  external 


134  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

worship  than^  what  he  himself  hath  commanded  and  ap- 
pointed us  in  his  holy  word. 

The  Scripture  hath  set  us  our  bounds  for  worship,  to 
which  we  must  not  add,  and  from  which  we  ought  not  to 
diminish;  for  whosoever  doth  either  the  one  or  the  other, 
must  needs  accuse  the  rule,  either  of  defect  in  things  ne- 
cessary, or  of  superfluity  in  things  unnecessary ;  which  is 
a  high  affront  to  the  wisdom  of  God,  who,  as  he  is  the 
object,  so  he  is  the  prescriber  of  all  that  worship  which 
he  will  accept  and  reward. 

I  well  know  that  this  rule  hath  given  (I  cannot  say 
cause,  but)  occasion  to  many  hot  disputes  about  ecclesias- 
tical rites  and  constitutions  :  some  condemning  whatso- 
ever is  prescribed  or  used  in  the  service  of  God  besides 
things  expressly  commanded  in  Scripture,  as  encroach- 
ments on  the  authority  of  God  and  additions  to  his  wor- 
ship, which  he  requires  to  be  performed  according  to  the 
pattern  in  the  mount  and  the  model  he  hath  delineated 
for  it ;  others  again,  maintaining  the  privilege  and  autho- 
rity of  the  church,  in  ordaining  some  things  for  the  more 
decent  and  reverent  performing  of  the  service  of  God, 
which  are  not  particularly  required  in  the  holy  Scriptures. 
I  shall  not  plunge  myself  into  this  controversy :  only 
give  me  leave  to  say,  and  sadly  to  lament,  that  the  seam- 
less coat  of  Christ  is  rent  in  pieces  among  them,  whilst 
some  think  it  more  decent  to  sew  on  loops  and  fringes  to 
it,  and  others  will  have  none.  And  truly  I  think  our  dif- 
ferences are  of  no  greater  importance  in  themselves, 
though  too  woful  in  their  consequences.  I  shall  clearly 
express  my  sense  of  this  matter  in  a  few  words,  without 
any  reflection  or  bitterness,  and  so  leave  it  to  the  judg- 
ment ^nd  discretion  of  all. 


SEC0NI5»    COMMANDMENT.  '  135 

'  THings  which  belong  to  the  worship  of  God  maybe 
considered  either  as  parts  of  that  worship,  or  only  as 
circumstances  and  modifications  of  it. 

Therefore  whatsoever  is  imposed  on  us  as  a  substantial 
part  of  the  worship  of  God,  if  it  be  not  expressly  requir- 
ed of  us  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  is  to  be  not  only  refus- 
ed but  abominated ;  for  this  is  a  plain  addition  to  what 
God  hath  commanded ;  and  by  it  we  lay  an  imputation 
upon  him  as  though  he  wanted  wisdom  to  ordain  what  is 
necessary  for  his  own  sei-vice. 

Then,  and  then  only,  is  any  constitution  of  man  im 
posed  for  a  part  of  divine  worship,  when  obedience  to  it 
is  urged  upon  us  not  only  from  the  authority  enjoining  it, 
but  also  from  the  necessity  of  the  thing  considered  simply 
and  nakedly  in  its  own  nature.  For  as  it  is  with  God's 
laws,  some  things  are  commanded  because  they  are  good, 
and  some  things  are  good  only  because  they  are  com- 
manded ;  so  it  is  with  laws  and  impositions  of  men  about 
matters  of  religion  and  worship.  Some  things  men  com- 
mand because  they  are  in  themselves  necessary  antece- 
dently to  their  command,  as  enjoined  before  by  God; 
and  therefore  this  is  no  ordinance  or  doctrine  of  man,  but 
of  God,  to  which  the  magistrate,  who  is  the  guardian  of 
both  tables,  doth  well  to  add  the  sanction  of  secular  re- 
wards and  punishments  :  other  things  are  necessary  only 
because  they  are  commanded  by  the  authority  of  those 
to  whom  we  owe  conscientious  obedience  in  things  lawful 
and  indifferent.  But  we  utterly  deny  that  the  imposition 
of  any  such  things  makes  them  any  parts  of  worship,  of 
which  they  are  only  circumstances  ;  or  that  these  obser- 
vances are  necessary  to  us,  or  acceptable  to  God  antece- 
dently to  the  command  of  authority  ;  or  that  the  worship 


136      •  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

of  Grod  would  be  imperfect,  defective,  unacceptable  and  in- 
valid to  the  ends  for  which  it  is  appointed,  were  not  these 
observances  commanded  and  performed. 

Thus  you  see  we  put  a  vast  difference  between  that 
which  is  a  part  of  worship  and  that  which  is  but  a  circum- 
stance of  worship :  if  any  thing  be  commanded  us  by 
men  as  a  part  of  worship  which  is  not  commanded  us  by 
God,  we  ought  not  to  submit  to  it.  And  certainly,  did 
We  but  rightly  weigh  what  is  required  as  a  part  of  wor- 
ship, and  what  only  as  a  circumstance  of  worship,  a 
great  deal  of  heat,  and  contention,  and  uncharitable 
prejudice  would  be  removed  and  prevented.  It  is  true, 
our  Savior,  Matt.  15  : 9,  condemns  the  Scribes  and  Pha- 
risees, that  taught  ybr  doctrines  the  commandments  of  men: 
that  is,  they  taught  those  things  which  were  but  the  tra- 
ditions and  ordinances  of  their  elders,  to  be  in  themselves 
absolutely  necessary  to  the  serving  and  worshipping  of 
God.  But,  certainly,  this  reproof  falls  not  upon  thbse  who, 
though  they  do  enjoin  what  they  judge  fit  for  order,  yet 
do  not  teach  them  for  doctrines,  and  are  so  far  from 
thinking  their  commandments  an  essential  part  of  wor- 
ship, that  they  would  abhor  and  anathematize  all  those 
that  do  so.  Necessary  they  are  to  be  submitted  to  and 
practised,  because  enjoined  by  that  authority  to  which 
God  hath  committed  the  care  of  the  first  table  as  well  as 
the  second  ;  but  not  necessary  in  themselves  as  any  part 
of  the  worship  and  service  of  God,  without  which,  al- 
though they  were  not  imposed  by  men,  it  would  be  unac- 
ceptable to  him. 

And,  now  that  I  have  delivered  my  judgment  without 
bitterness,  give  me  leave  to  make  some  few  lamentations 
in  the  grief  and  bitterness  of  my  soul.    Is  it  not  to  be 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  '  137 

bitterly  lamented,  that  in  a  reformed  and  orthodox 
church  there  should  be  such  schisms,  rents  and  divisions  : 
altar  against  altar,  pulpit  against  pulpit,  and  one  congre- 
gation against  another  1  And  what  is  all  this  contention  and 
separation  for  ]  Oh,  they  will  tell  you  it  is  for  the  purity 
of  religion;  for  the  true  and  sincere  worship  of  God;  that 
they  may  serve  him  purely  without  human  additions  or 
inventions.  Thus  goes  the  cry,  and  well-meaning  souls 
take  it  up  and  join  with  it,  neve?,  examining  the  grounds 
of  it ;  but  conclude  that  those  must  be  in  the  right  who 
complain  of  corruptions  and  pretend  to  a  happy  and  glo- 
rious reformation.  Alas,  my  brethren,  was  there  ever 
any  schism  in  the  world  that  did  not  plead  the  same  1 
Do  not  others  separate  from  their  communion  upon  the 
same  pretences  on  which  they  now  separate  from  ours  1 
And  may  not  the  same  argument  serve  to  crumble  them 
into  infinite  fractions  and  subdivisions  ;  till,  at  last,  we 
come  to  have  almost  as  many  churches  as  men,  and 
scarce  a  man  constant  and  coherent  to  himself? 

Is  it  then  that  we  differ  about  mere  accidents  and 
circumstances  1  I  confess  we  do ;  but  assert,  withal, 
that  these  things  are  not  a  just  cause  of  separation  and 
division. 

If  we  look  back  upon  the  primitive  times,  we  shall  find 
that  almost  every  church  had  its  different  rites  and  obser- 
vances ;  and,  yet,  under  that  diversity  they  maintained 
unity  and  communion.  Yea,  and  at  this  day  the  reform- 
ed churches  observe  different  customs  one  fi'om  another, 
and  yet  they  inviolably  hold  communion  together.  The 
Galilean,  Belgic,  Helvetian  and  German  churches  reject 
us  not,  nor  we  them  ;  although  we  differ  in  rites  and  dis- 
cipline, and  in   those  things  which  are  left  to  the^  pru- 


138  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

dence  of  every  church  to  constitute  as  they  shall  judge 
most  necessary  for  order  and  edification. 

Now,  certainly,  if  these  different  rites  and  observances 
be  no  ground  for  one  national  church  to  separate  from  the 
communion  of  another,  they  can  be  no  ground  for  private 
persons  to  separate  from  the  communion  of  the  church  to 
Vi^hich  they  belong.  Nay,  although  they  might  v^^ith  rea- 
son dislike  many  usages  either  as  frivolous  or  incongru- 
ous, yet  it  becomes  the  temper  and  modesty  of  a  pious 
christian,  in  things  merely  circumstantial,  to  submit  his 
practice  to  the  judgment  of  those  w^ith  whom  and  under 
whose  watch  he  lives  ;  and  not  to  separate  from  the  com- 
munion of  the  church,  to  forsake  its  assemblies,  to  dis- 
own its  administration,  only  because  he  thinks  some 
things  might  be  more  conveniently  ordered,  according  to 
the  model  of  his  own  or  other  men's  apprehensions; 
w^hich,  in  the  folly  and  sad  consequences  of  it,  would  be 
to  act  like  him  who  took  up  a  beetle  and  struck  with  all 
his  force  to  kill  a  fly  that  he  saw  on  his  friend's  forehead. 
What  else  were  this  but  to  rend  the  body  of  Christ  by 
an  angry  contending  about  the  fashion  of  its  garments ; 
and  to  tear  away  its  limbs  by  a  violent  striving  to  strip 
off  those  clothes  which  they  think  indecent  1 

For  my  part,  I  freely  profess  that  were  my  lot  cast 
among  any  of  the  reformed  churches  beyond  the  seas,  I 
would  presently  join  in  their  communion,  and  not  at  all 
scruple  to  conform  myself  to  their  received  customs ; 
although,  perhaps,  in  my  own  private  persuasions  I  may 
judge  some  of  them  to  be  less  serious  atid  less  reverent 
than  those  of  the  church  to  which  I  belong.  I  have  ever 
venerated  the  advice  of  St.  Ambrose  to  St.  Austin  :  "If 
thou  wilt  neither  give  offence  nOr  take  offence,  conform 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  139 

thyself  to  all  the  lawful  customs  of  the  churches  where 
thou  comest."  Aug.  adJan.  Ep.  118. 

But  I  will  not  farther  enlarge  on  this  subject :  only  I  pray 
that  our  wanton  dissensions  about  these  less  important 
matters  may  not  provoke  God  to  deprive  us  of  the  sub- 
stance ^nd  essentials  of  ou^  religion  ;  and  reduce  us  to  a 
condition  wherein  we  should  be  heartily  glad  could  we 
enjoy  the  liberty  of  the  Gospel  and  the  ordinances  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  under  any  form  of  administration.  It 
were  just  with  God  to  extinguish  the  light  of  his  Gospel, 
when  we  use  it  not  to  work  by,  but  all  our  study  and 
strife  is  how  to  snuff  it. — Thus  much  in  general,  touching 
the  esdernal  toorsMp  of  God  required  in  this  commandment. 

^    U.  As  to  the  SINS  forbidden  by  it,  they  are  two  :  con- 
tempt of  the  worship  of  God,  and  superstition  in  per- , 
forming  it. 

Of  the  former  I  have  already  spoken  largely  in  giving 
the  characters  of  a  profane  person.  I  shall  therefore 
here  speak  only  of  superstition. 

Concerning  the  etymology  of  the  word,  both  TuUy  an4 
Lactantius  are  agreed  that  it  is  derived  from  super stites^ 
"  survivors  :"  but  about  the  reason  of  the  notion  they 
much  differ.  Tully  saith,  "  They  were  called  supersti- 
tious who  immoderately  prayed  and  sacrificed  that  their 
children  might  survive  them."  But  Lactantius,  not  con- 
tent with  this  reason,  gives  another  :  "  TJiey  were  called 
superstitious,  not  who  desired  that  their  children  might 
survive  them,  for  all  desire  this,  but  they  who  celebrated 
the  surviving  memory  of  the  dead,  or  who  surviving  their 
parents,  worshipped  theii-  images  as  their  household  gods." 
Cicero  de  Nat.  Deor.  lib.  ii ;  Lactant.  Instit.  lib.  ivc  c.  28. 


140  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

But,  whatever  be  the  etymology  of  the  word,  we  may 
take  this  short  description  of  it:  that  it  is  a  Jiecdless  and 
erroneous  fear  in  matters  of  religion.  And  this  is  two- 
fold, either  negative  or  positive. 

Negative  superstition  is,  when  men  fearfully  abstain 
from  and  abhor  those  things  as  wicked  and  abominable 
which  God  hath  not  forbidden,  and  which  therefore  are 
in  themselves  lawful  and  harmless.  And  they  who  are 
bigoted  with  this  superstition,  will  be  sure  )to  cry  out 
against  all  who  observe  such  things  as  they  condemn,  as 
miserably  seduced  and  superstitious  souls.  Like  Diogenes, 
who  is  said  to  have  trampled  on  Plato's  pride  wdth  far 
greater  pride,  so  these  exclaim  against  superstition  with 
far  greater  superstition.  For  superstition  is  not  either  the 
observing  or  not  observing  of  such  things  ;  but  the  doing 
of  eithpr  vnth  an  erroneous  fear,  lest  God  should  be  dis- 
pleased and  provoked  if  we  did  otherwise.  He  is,  there- 
fore, negatively  superstitious  who  makes  the  not  doing  of 
that  which  is  lawful  and  harmless,  a  matter  of  conscience 
and  of  religion. 

positive  superstition  is  when  men  do  fearfully  observe 
and  perform  those  things  which  either  are  forbidden  or 
at  least  no  where  commanded  by  God.  Or,  if  you  will, 
it  is  a  restless  fear  of  the  mind,  putting  men  upon  acts 
of  religion  which  are  not  due  or  not  convenient. 

This  positive  superstition  shows  itself  two  ways :  some- 
times in  giving  divine  honors  to  that  which  is  not  God ; 
and  sometimes  in  performing  needless  and  superfluous 
services  to  the  true  God.  Both  are  the  effects  of  super- 
stition, though  commonly  known  by  their  proper  names 
— the  one  being  idolatry  and  the  other  will-worship, — 
and  both  are  forbidden  in  this  commandment. 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  141 

1.  Idolatry  is  a  species  of  superstition.      ,      ' 

So  we  find  it  expressly,  Acts,  17  :  16,  compared  with 
verse  22.  In  verse  16,  it  is  said  t^iat  Paul's  "  spirit  was 
stirred  in  him  when  he  saw  the  city  [Athens]  whplly  given 
to  idolatry.''  And  in  verse  22  it  is  said  that  Paul  reprov- 
ed them  as  being  ^o  superstitious.  Therefore,  though  all 
superstition  be  not  idolatry,  yet  all  idolatry  is  superstition  j 
yea,  and  the  blackest  kind  of  it. 

Now  idolatry  is  nothing  else  but  the  giving  of  religious 
worship  to  an  idol.  And  an  idol  is  not  only  an  artificial 
image  or  representation  of  any  thing,  whether  real  or  fic- 
titious, set  up  to  be  worshipped;  but  any  creature  of 
God,  whether  angels  or  men,  sun  or  moon,  or  stars,  &c. 
to  which  we  give  any  religious  honor  and  service,  becomes 
to  us  an  idol.  The  worshipping  of  any  creuture,  whether 
in  heaven  above,  or  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  in  the  water 
under  the  earth,  is  idolatry ;  which  is  particularly  and 
by  name  forbidden  in  this  commandment. 

And  indeed  this  is  a  sin  so  absurd  and  stupid,  that  it  is 
a  wonder  it  should  ever  be  so  bewitching  as  to  inveigle 
the  far  greater  part  of  the  world.  The  prophet  Isaiah 
very  frequently  derides  the  folly  and  madness  of  idolaters : 
especially  chap.  44  :  16,  17.  "  He  bumeth  part  "  of  his 
wooden  god  "in  the  fire ;  he  roasteth  "  his  meat  with  it, 
"  and  is  satisfied  :  he  warmeth  himself;  and  the  residue 
thereof  he  maketh  a  god :  he  falleth  do^vn  unto  it,  and 
worshippeth  it,  and  prayeth  unto  it,  and  saith.  Deliver 
me,  for  thou  art  my  god."  A  most  gross  and  bestial  stu- 
pidity !  as  if  there  were  more  divinity  in  one  end  of  a 
stick  than  the  other.  And  yet  a  sin  most  strangely  be- 
witching ;  after  which  all  the  heathen  world  ran  a  whor- 
inf^;   and  from  which  all  the  remonstrances  and  threat- 


142  THE   TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 

enings  which  God  makes  to  his  own  people  of  Israel 
could  not  restrain  them.  Yea,  and  so  strangely  besotting 
is  it,  that  a  very  great  part,  even  of  those  who  profess  the 
name  and  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ,  are  most  foully  guilty 
of  it :  I  mean  the  papists ;  who,  to  hide  their  shame 
in  this  particular  from  the  notice  of  the  people,  have 
covered  it  with  a  greater ;  and  thought  fit  rather  to  ex- 
punge this  second  commandment  than  to  leave  their 
image-worship  to  be  censured  and  condemned  by  it. 
For,  in  all  their  catechisms  and  books  of  devotion  which 
they  have  published  for  the  use  of  the  vulgar,  they  have 
sacrilegiously  omitted  this  second  commandment ;  as 
fearing  that  the  evidence  of  it  would  convict  and  con- 
demn them  of  idolatry  in  the  consciences  of  the  most  ig- 
norant and  illiterate  that  should  but  hear  it  rehearsed. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  consider  who  may  be  justly 
condemned  of  idolatry,  in  the  violation  of  this  precept. 

(1.)  He  is  an  idolater  that  prays  to  any  saint  or  angel; 
for  in  doing  this  he  ascribes  that  to  the  creature  which  is 
an  honor  due  only  to  God  the  Creator.  Our  faith  and 
our  invocation  ought  to  be  terminated  in  the  same  object. 
Rom.  10:14.  "  How  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they 
have  not  believed  ]"  Therefore,  if  we  cannot,  without  blas- 
phemy, say  that  we  believe  in  such  a  saint  or  angel ;  nei- 
ther can  we,  without  idolatry,  pray  to  that  saint  or  angel. 

(2.)  But  the  most  execrable  idolatry  is  that  of  entering 
into  league  and  correspondence  with  the  devil;  to  consult 
and  invoke  hina  ;  and  by  any  wicked  arts  implore  or  make 
use  of  his  help  and  assistance.  Of  this  are  those  guilty  in 
the  highest  degree  who  enter  into  any  express  compact 
with  the  devil ;  which  is  always  ratified  with  some  ho- 
mage of  worship  given  to  him.    And  in  a  secondary  and 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  143 

lower  degree  are  those  guilty  of  it  who  apply  themselves 
to  seek  help  from  such  forlorn  wretches  as  use  tradition- 
ary charms  and  incantations,  or  any  vain  observances  to 
free  them  from  pains  and  diseases,  or  other  troubles  that 
molest  them.  For  all  those  things  which  have  not  a  na- 
tural efficiency  to  produce  that  effect  for  which  they  are 
used,  may  very  reasonably  be  suspected  to  Imve  been 
agreed  on  formerly  between  the  devil  and  some  of  his 
especial  servants,  and  that  all  the  virtue  they  retain  is  , 
only  from  that  compact ;  which  as  it  was  explicit  in  those 
that  made  it,  so  it  is  implicit  in  those  that  use  them  ;  for 
they  still  act  in  the  power  of  that  first  stipulation  and 
agreement. 

(3.)  Whosoever  bows  down  his  body  in  religious  adora- 
tion of  any  image,  or  other  creature,  is  guilty  of  idolatry  / 
and  doth  most  expressly  transgress  the  very  letter  of  this 
command,  "  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  before  them,  nor 
worship  them." 

And  here  is  but  a  vain  refuge,  to  which  the  Papists  be- 
take themselves  when  they  excuse  themselves  from  being 
guilty  of  idolatry,  because,  although  they  worship  images, 
yet  they  worship  the  true  God  by  them.  For,  in  fact,  they 
worship  the  images  of  very  many  creatures,  both  men  and 
angels  ;  nor  is  their  evasion  concerning  latreidouleia,  and 
uperdouleia,^nj other  than  a  vain  and  frivolous  distinction* 

And  whereas  they  pretend  to  worship  the  true  God 
by  an  image,  we  reply,  that  it  is  most  impious  to  at- 
tempt to  represent  God  by  any  visible  resemblance  ;  and 
therefore  much  more  to  worship  him,  could  he  be  so  repre- 
sented. For  God,  who  is  infinite,  cannot  be  circumscribed 
by  lines  and  lineaments ;  and,  being  invisible,  cannot  be 
resembled.    Hence  he  again  and  again  inculcates  it  up- 


144  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

on  the  Israelites,  that  when  he  delivered  the  law  to 
theni,  he  appeared  not  in  any  shape,  that  they  might  not 
audaciously  attempt  to  delineate  him,  and  so  be  enticed 
to  idolatry.  **  Ye  heard  the  voice  of  words,  but  saw  no. 
similitude  ;  only  ye  heard  a  voice."  Dent.  4  :  12.  **  Tctke 
ye  therefore  good  heed  unto  yourselves,  (for  ye  saw*  no 
manner  of  similitude  on  the  day  that  the  Lord  spake  unto 
you  in  Horeb  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,)  lest  ye  cor- 
rupt yourselves,  and  make  you  a  graven  image,  the  si- 
militude of  any  figure."  v.  15.  When  therefore  the 
Papists  plead  that  they  worship  the  only  true  God  by 
images,  this  is  no  better  than  to  excuse. one  horrid  sin 
by  the  commission  of  another.  ^    .:- 

To  worsJiip  the  true  cmd  only  God  hy  an  image,  is  gross 
idolatry.  This  the  Papists  deny,  and  place  idolatry  in 
the  worshipping  of  images  set  up  to  represent  false  and 
fictitious  gods ;  or  else  in  worshipping  them  with  a  be- 
lief that  they  themselves  are  gods. 

But  if  this  be  so,  then  upon  the  same  account  the  Israel- 
ites were  not  idolaters  in  worshipping  the  golden  calf. 
They  were  not  so  brutish  as  to  believe  that  calf  itself  to 
be  their  God.  Nay,  it  is  most  evident  that  they  intended  to 
worship  the  true  God  under  that  representation.  See 
Exod.  32  :  4.  "  These  he  thy  gods,  O  Israel,  which  hr ought 
thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt."  They  could  not  be  so 
stupid  as  to  think  that  that  very  calf  which  they  them- 
selves had  made,  had  delivered  them  from  Egypt ;  but 
they  pretended  to  worship  the  true  God  who  had  given 
them  that  great  deliverance,  under  this  hieroglyphic  sign 
and  resemblance  :  which  appears,  verse  5.  ''Aaron  made 
proclamation^  and  said.  To-morrow  is  a  feast  to  the 
Lord  :"  in  the  original  it  is  Jehovah,  the  proper  and  iu- 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  145 

communicable  name  of  the  true  God.  And  yet,  that 
this  worship  of  theirs,  although  thus  professedly  directed 
to  the  true  God,  was  hoiTid  idolatry,  the  Scripture 
abundantly  testifies.  "  Oh,  this  people  have  sinned  a  great 
sin."  verse  31.  "Neither  be  ye  idolaters,  as  were  some 
of  them ;  as  it  is  vsrritten,  The  people  sat  down  to  eat  and 
drink,  and  rose  up  to  play."  1  Cor.  10  :  7.  "They  made 
a  calf  in  those  days,  and  offered  sacrifice  unto  the  idol." 
Acts,  7  ;  41. 

And  how  was  it  with  Micah  and  his  mother  1  They 
were  certainly  guilty  of  idolatry  in  making  and  worship- 
ping their  images  ;  and,  yet,  that  their  images  were  made 
to  be  symbolical  representations  of  the  true  God,  and 
erected  to  this  very  purpose  that  he  might  be  wor- 
shipped by  them,  appears  clearly  fi'om  the  history. 
Judges,  17  :  3.  "I  had  wholly  dedicated,"  saith  she,  "  the 
silver  unto  the  Lord,  (Jehovah,  Heb.)  for  my  son  to 
make  a  graven  image  and  a  molten  image."  Which 
when  he  had  done,  he  hired  a  Levite  to  be  his  priest. 
And,  in  confidence  of  the  reward  of  so  much  piety,  he 
concludes,  v.  13,  that  certainly  now  the  Lord  Jehovah 
would  bless  him,  and  do  him  good.  Nothing  can  be 
clearer  than  that  all  this  worship  was  professedly  offer- 
ed by  him  to  the  time  and  only  God ;  yet,  be  i  g  per- 
formed by  images,  it  was  no  better  than  rank  idolutj  y. 

And  fiirther.  If  the  Papists,  in  worshippiJig  the  true 
God  by  images,  be  not  idolaters ;  then  neither  was  Jero- 
boam, who  made  Israel  to  sin,  an  idolater,  in  setting  up  his 
calves  at  Dan  and  Bethel.  For  whoever  rationally  consid- 
ers the  occasion  and  political  grounds  of  this  innovation 
must  conclude  that  Jeroboam  intended  not  to  introduce 
a  new  God,  which  would  have  made  the  people  to  fall 

Commandments.  7 


146  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

faster  from  him  than  tyranny  and  oppression  did  from 
Rehoboam ;  but  only  to  set  up  some  visible  signs  and  re- 
presentations of  the  true  God ;  and  to  persuade  the  peo- 
ple that  they  need  not  go  to  Jerusalem  to  seek  his  pre- 
sence and  to  offer  their  gifts  and  sacrifices,  for  the  same 
God  was  as  much  present  with  them  in  those  figures  as 
he  was  at  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  between  the  cheru- 
bims,*  And  therefore  we  find  that  the  idolatry  of  Jero- 
boam is  distinguished  from  the  idolatry  of  those  who 
worshipped  Baal  and  other  false  gods  :  see  1  Kings,  16  : 
31,  where  God  speaks  concerning  Ahab,  "as  if  it  had 
been  a  light  thing  for  him  to  walk  in  the  sins  of  Jeroboam 
the  son  of  Nebat,  he  went  and  served  Baal,  and  worship- 
ped him." 

Nay,  once  more,  although  some  among  the  heathen 
might  be  so  grossly  stupid  as  to  suppose  the  images 
themselves  to  be  gods,  and  so  to  worship  them ;  yet  their 
wise  and  learned  philosophers  were  far  enough  from 
such  a  senseless  error :  yea,  they  were  forced  to  use  aS 
many  distinctions  and  subtle  evasions  concerning  their 
worshipping  of  images  as  now  the  papists  do ;  and  truly 
most  of  those  the  papists  use  are  the  very  same,  and  seem 
but  borrowed  out  of  the  schools  of  the  heathen. 

But  especially  do  the  philosophers  insist  on  this :  that 
they  venerated  not  their  statues,  as  they  were  made  of 
such  or  such  materials,  but  only  as  they  were  the  houses 
and  bodies  of  God,  where  his  presence  resided,  and  by 
which  his  power  was  manifested :  that  they  worshipped 
not  the  visible  sign,  but  the  invisible  Deity  by  it.f 

*  Joseph.  Antiq.  Jud.  lib.  8.  c.  3. 

t  Non  hoc  visibile  colo  ;  sed  numen,  quod  in  illis  invisihiliter  habitat* 
Ki  qui  videhantur  sibi  purgatioris  esse  religionis,  dicebant :  Nee  «• 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  147 

And  what  do  papists  say  more  than  this,  viz.  that  they 
worship  the  images  of  God,  not  as  if  they  were  themselves 
God,  but  only  as  they  are  the  visible  signs  and  symbols  of 
the  divine  presence  :  and  so  all  their  worship  is  directed 
unto  God  through  them. 

In  respect  to  idolatry,  therefore,  I  profess  I  can  find  no 
difference  at  all  between  heathens  and  papists  :  for,  as  the 
more  learned  papists  do  profess  that  they  worship  the 
true  God  by  the  image,  so  likewise  did  the  more  learned 
heathens.*  And,  for  the  ignorant  and  vulgar  papists,  I  am 
very  apt  to  suspect  that  they  do,  as  the  ignorant  heathen, 
terminate  and  limit  their  worship  in  the  very  images  be- 
fore which  they  fall  prostrate ;  esteeming^  them  to  have 
divine  power  and  virtue  of  their  own  :  for  they  are  most 
grossly  blinded  and  infatuated  in  this  their  image-worship, 
and  may  as  well  take  a  stone  or  a  block  to  be  a  God  as 
the  great  dragon  to  be  a  saint,  as  the  poor  woman  did, 
who  offered  one  candle  to  St.  Michael  and  another  to  his 
dragon,  that  is,  the  devil.f  And  therefore,  certainly,  if  the 
heathen  world  were  ever  guilty  of  idolatry,  so  is  now  the 
Popish  Church ;  their  worship,  and  all  the  reasons  of  it, 
being  so  exactly  parallel. — Thus  much  concerning  the 
first  branch  o!  superstition,  which  is  idolatry. 

2.  The  second  is  will-worship,  of  which  I  shall  speak 

mulachrum,  nee  dcemonium  colo  ;  sed,  per  effigiem  corporalem,  ejus  rei 
signum  intueor  quant  colere  debeo.    Amob.  lib.  vi. 

*  Dio  Chrysostoni.  Orat.  12  de  Prima  Dei  Notitia. — T«f  yap  ufxH  ttuvth 
VilTTl®^  TAVTA  iiytt  T»?  Ss^f  ctAXst  ^iuv  rtVst9«^stTJt  AcLl  etydKfjidir u.. 
Celsus  :  Orig.  Cont.  Cels.  lib.  vii.  Where  he  likewise  proves  that  it  is 
lawful  to  make  images  of  God,  because,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  chris- 
tians themselves,  God  made  man  according  to  his  own  image:  the  very 
argument  urged  by  the  Papists,  and  made  use  of  by  the  Second  Council  ol 
Nice. 

t  Estienne  Apol.  pour  Herodote. 


148  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

but    very    little,,  having     already     anticipated     myself. 

Will-worsliip  is  nothing  else  but  the  inventing  and  as- 
cribing any  other  w^orship  to  God  besides  what  he  hath 
been  pleased  to  command  and  institute. 

God  will  not  be  worshipped  according  to  our  fancies, 
but  according  to  his  own  appointment ;  for  as  we  must 
have  no  other  God  besides  the  true,  so  that  God  must 
have  no  other  service  performed  to  him  besides  what  him- 
self hath  required  and  prescribed :  for  this  were  to  impute 
folly  and  weakness  to  him,  as  if,  indeed,  he  would  have 
servants,  but  knew  not  what  service  to  enjoin  them.  Thus 
we  have  finished  the  prohibition,  "  Thou  shalt  not  make 

UNTO  thee  any  graven  IMAGE,"   &C. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  sanction  of  this  precept ;  con 
sisting,  first,  of  a  severe  and  fearful  threatening  against 
all  those  who  should  presume  to  violate  it :  For  I  the  Lord 
thy  God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the 
fatJicrs  upon  the  children^  unto  the  third  and  fourth  gene- 
ration of  them  that  hate  me;  and,  next,  of  a  gracious  j^ro- 
mise  of  mercy  to  the  careful  and  conscientious  observers 
of  this  precept :  showing  mercy  unto  thousands  of  them 
that  love  me,  and  keep  my  commandments. 

In  the  threatening  we  have  these  several  particulars : 
Who  it  is  that  denounces  it :  "  I,  the  Lord  thy  God." 
What  it  is  that  he  denounces  and  threatens :  "To  visit 
the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children."  The  per- 
sons against  whom  this  threatening  is  directed  :  **  Those 
that  hate  him;"  and  the  duration  and  continuance  of  that 
vengeance  which  he  will  take  upon  them  :  It  shall  be  to 
"  the  third  and  fourth  generation."  His  wrath  shall  ex- 
tend to  their  children,  and  their  children's  children. 


SECQJSJD    COMMANDMENT.  149 

I.  Let  us  consider  who  it  is  that  denounceth  this 
threatening:  "I,  the  Lord  thy  God,  am  a  jealous  God :" 
so  most  read  the  words  as  our  English  translation  renders 
them.  But  others  no  less  rightly  read  them  thus  :  For  I, 
the  Lord  thy  God,  am  strong  and  jealous ;  for  the  word 
El,  which  is  here  used,  signifies  the  mighty  God. 

And  according  to  this  acceptation,  the  words  contain  in 
them  a  description  of  God. 

1.  By  ^25  relation  to  us:  The  Lord  thy  God;  a  God 
who  hath  separated  thee  from  all  people  of  the  earth,  to 
be  his  peculiar  treasure ;  who  hath  brought  thee  near  unto 
himself,  even  into  the  bond  of  the  covenant ;  who  hath 
betrothed  thee  in  righteousness,  and  is  not  only  thy  Maker, 
but  thy  Hushand,  as  the  prophet  speaks.  Isaiah,  54  :  5. 

This  God  it  is  who  commands  thee  faithfully  to  per- 
form the  marriage-vow  that  is  between  thee  and  him, 
and  not  to  go  a  whoring  after  the  vanities  of  the  gentiles, 
nor  to  expose  thy  shame  and  nakedness  before  any  false 
or  idol-god ;  for  idolatry  is  spiritual  adultery,  and  is  most 
frequently  set  forth  under  that  name  and  notion  in  the 
holy  Scriptures. 

2.  Thy  God  is  described  by  the  mightiness  of  his  power. 
He  is  £Z  kana,  a  strong  and  jealous  God ;  able  to  revenge 
any  dishonor  that  is  done  him  by  thy  unchaste  lewdness. 

3.  He  is  described  by  that  violent  passion  which  in 
men  is  called  jealousy  :  I,  the  Lord  thy  God,  am  strong 
and  jealous. 

Jealousy  is  an  affection  or  passion  of  the  mind,  by 
which  we  are  stirred  up  and  provoked  against  whatsoever 
hinders  the  enjoyment  of  that  which  we  love  and  desire. 
The  cause  and  origin  of  it  is  love ;  the  effect  of  it  is 
revenge. 


150  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

Now  God,  to  deter  the  Israelites  from  idolatry,  sets 
forth  himself  as  a  strong  and  jealous  God,  that  they  might 
be  assured  not  to  escape  punishment ;  for  he  is  strong, 
and  therefore  can  inflict  it ;  and  he  is  jealous,  and  there- 
fore will  inflict  it  if  they  shall  dare  to  abuse  and  injure 
that  love  which  he  nath  placed  upon  them 

This  jealousy  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  God,  as  if  theie 
were  properly  any  such  weak  and  disturbing  passion  in 
him ;  but  only  by  way  of  accommodation  and  similitude, 
speaking  after  the  manner  of  men.  So  is  it  to  be  under- 
stood, when  God  is  said  to  be  angry,  to  be  grieved,  to  re- 
pent, &;c.  that  is,  his  actions  towards  Us  are  like  the  actions 
of  one  that  is  angry,  or  grieved,  or  repents  :  although  the 
infinite  serenity  of  the  Divine  essence  is  not  liable  to  be 
discomposed  or  ruflSed  by  the  tempests  of  any  such  like 
passions  as  are  incident  to  us  mutable  creatures. 

Now  the  reason  why  God  calls  himself  here  a  jealous 
God  you  will  find  in  these  following  characteristics  of 
jealousy : 

(1.)  Jealousy  is  distrustful  and  suspicious.  It  dares  not 
rely  upon  the  truth  and  fidelity  of  the  person  of  whom 
we  are  jealous,  but  is  full  of  misgiving  doubts  and  fears. 
And  so  God  (although,  in  propriety  of  speech,  he  can 
doubt  nothing,  nor  fear  any  thing,  yet)  is  pleased  to  ex- 
press his  jealousy  by  such  language  as  intimates  distrust 
and  diffidence.  And  therefore,  when  the  Israelites  made 
that  solemn  promise  to  the  Lord,  Deut.  5  :  27,  "  All  that 
the  Lord  our  God  shall  speak  unto  us,  we  will  hear  it 
and  do  it,"  God  returns  answer  as  one  that  doubted  the 
real  performance  of  so  fair  a  promise,  ver.  28,  29,  "  I 
have  heard  the  voice  of  the  words  of  this  people — they 
have  well  said  all  that  they  have  spoken.    O  that  there 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  ^«-^lL.. 

were  such  a  heart  in  them,  that  they  would  fcafrnfeVana  " 
keep  all  my  commandments  always,  that  it  might  pe  weH" . 
with  them  and  with  their  children  for  ever !" 

(2.)  Jealousy  is  searching  and  inquisitive.  It  is  hard 
to  escape  the  discoveiy  of  a  jealous  eye;  which  is  still 
prying  and  seeking  after  that  which  it  would  be  loth 
to  find.  So  the  eye  of  the  all-seeing  and  all-knowing  God 
is  continually  upon  us  :  he  critically  observes  every  look 
and  every  kind  of  glance  that  we  cast  upon  ourselves : 
not  the  least  motion  of  our  hearts,  not  the  least  twinkling 
of  our  thoughts  can  escape  his  notice  and  censure.  And, 
of  all  sins,  there  is  none  that  God  doth  more  jealously  ob- 
serve than  that  of  idolatry ;  for  this  is  the  violation  of  that 
marriage-faith  which  we  have  plighted  to  him.  There- 
fore we  find  that  the  idolatrous  Israelites,  as  though  they 
were  conscious  of  the  great  abuse  they  offered  to  their 
Maker ^  their  Husband^  (as  the  prophet  styles  God,  Isa. 
54  :  5,)  sought  out  dark  and  obscure  groves  to  act  their 
vdckedness  in ;  that,  although  they  were  not  chaste,  yet 
they  might  seem  to  be  cautious.  But  in  vain  is  it  to 
draw  the  curtains  of  a  thin  shade  about  them :  a  few  leaves 
could  not  cover  their  shame  nor  their  nakedness  from 
Him  who  is  all  eye  every  where,  and  whose  eye  is  every 
where  light  to  itself:  "  God  is  light,  and  in  him  is  no 
darkness  at  all."  1  John,  1:5.  It  is  not  possible  to  con- 
ceal firom  him  the  prostitution  of  an  unchaste  and  impu- 
dent idolatry.  And  therefore  saith  the  Psalmist,  "If  we 
have  forgotten  the  name  of  our  God,  or  stretched  forth 
our  hands  to  a  false  god  j  shall  not  God  search  this  out  1 
for  he  knoweth  the  secrets  of  the  heart,"  Psalm  44  :  20,  21. 

(3.)  Jealousy,  as  it  is  searching  and  inquisitive,  so  it  is 
angry  and  revengeful.    Solomon   calls  it  "the  rage  of  a 


152  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

man,"  Pro  v.  6  :  34,  *'  therefore  he  will  not  spare  in  the 
day  of  vengeance."  And,  Cant.  8:6,"  Jealousy  is  cruel  as 
ihe  grave  ;  the  coals  thereof  are  as  coals  of  fire,  w^hich 
have  a  most  vehement  flame."  For  as  love  is  the  most  sofl 
and  tender  affection  of  human  nature,  so  jealousy,  which 
is  the  sowering  of  love  and  turning  it  into  vinegar,  is  the 
most  wild  and  furious. 

God  is  pleased  to  style  himself  a  jealous  God  to  ex 
press  the  heat  of  his  wrath  and  indignation  against  sin- 
ners. So  Deut.  ^9  :  20,  "  The  Lord  will  not  spare  him, 
but  the  anger  of  the  Lord  and  his  jealousy  shall  smoke 
against  that  man,  and  all  the  curses  that  are  written  in 
this  book  shall  lie  upon  him,  and  the  Lord  shall  blot  out 
his  name  from  under  heaven."  See  what  dreadful  effects 
this  smoking  jealousy  hath  when  it  breaks  forth  into  a 
flame,  Zeph.  1 :  18.  "  Neither  their  silver  nor  their  gold 
shall  be  able  to  deliver  them  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's 
wrath ;  but  the  whole  land  shall  be  devoured  by  the  fire 
of  his  jealousy,  for  he  shall  make  even  a  speedy  riddance 
of  all  them  that  dwell  in  the  land." 

And  of  the  signal  revenge  this  devouring  jealousy  of  the 
Almighty  God  hath  taken  upon  sinners  the  whole  world 
is  full  of  sad  instances.  This  fire  hath  kindled  the  eteraal 
and  unquenchable  flames  of  hell.  When  the  proud  and 
rebellious  angels  aspired  to  be  gods,  God  turned  them 
into  devils,  and  these  devils  into  hell ;  for  his  jealousy 
could  not  endure  to  have  rivals  in  his  glory.  All  the  ruins 
and  calamities  that  have  ever  happened  to  persons  or 
nations  are  but  the  effects  of  God's  jealousy  against  sin. 
And  of  all  other  sins  his  jealousy  takes  most  remarkable 
vengeance  against  idolatry,  for  this  is  spiritual  whoredom, 
a  provocation  which  the  jealous  God  can  least  enduie. 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  153 

See  Deut.  32  :  16,  ]7,  19,  '*  They  provoked  him  to  jea- 
lousy with  strange  gods.  They  sacrificed  unto  devils,  not 
to  God ;  to  gods  whom  they  knew  not,  to  new  gods  that 
came  newly  up.  And  when  the  Lord  saw  it  he  abhon-ed 
them,  because  of  the  provoking  of  his  sons  and  of  his 
daughters."  And  verse  21,  "  They  have  moved  me  to 
jealousy  with  that  which  is  not  God  :  they  have  provoked 
me  to  anger  with  their  vanities.  A  fire  is  kindled  in  mine 
anger,  and  shall  burn  unto  the  lowest  hell,  and  shall  con- 
sume the  earth  with  her  increase,  and  set  on  fire  the  foun- 
dations of  the  mountains."  And  so  in  the  following  vers- 
es God  exaggerates  thpse  sore  and  heavy  judgments 
which  he  would  bring  upon  them  in  the  fuiy  of  his  jea- 
lousy, because  of  this  heinous  sin  of  idolatry.  Thus  we 
have  seen  in  what  respects  God  is  said  to  be  a  jealous  God. 
What  remains  now  but  that  expostulation  of  the  apos- 
tle, 1  Cor.  10  :  22,  "Do  we  provoke  the  Lord  to  jealousy  1 
Are  we  stronger  than  he  ?"  We,  who  are  but  as  dust  be- 
fore the  whirlwind,  and  as  dry  stubble  before  the  con- 
suming fire,  shall  we  dare  by  our  sins  to  affront  and  chal- 
lenge that  God  who  hath  said,  "  Vengeance  is  mine,  and 
I  will  repay"  it]  And  yet  such  is  the  madness  of  every 
desperate  sinner,  that  he  rushes  upon  God's  neck  and 
upon  the  thick  bosses  of  his  buckler  ;  and  daily  provokes 
him  who  is  infinitely  able  to  destroy  both  body  and  soul 
in  hell-fire.  Indeed  jealousy  of  itself,  without  powei  to 
wreak  vengeance,  is  but  a  weak  and  contemptible  pas- 
sion ;  but  when  it  is  armed  with  Almighty  strength  it  is 
justly  terrible.  Now  the  Lord  thy  God  is  (Hebrew)  a  strong 
and  jealous  God.  Every  sin  thou  committest  is  a  horrid 
wrong  done  unto  him ;  and  a  violation  of  that  faith  which 
thou  owest  him.    He  hath  wooed  thy  affections,  sought 

7* 


154  THE  TEN   COMMANDMENTS, 

thy  consent,  and  yet  thou  perfidiously  followest  other 
lovers,  and  givest  thy  heart  unto  the  world  and  the  devil, 
which  are  God's  greatest  co-rivals.  The  highest  indignity 
that  can  be  done  against  love  is  to  contemn  and  slight  it, 
and  to  embrace  those  who  are  far  more  base  and  sordid  : 
h  jw  notoriously  then  dost  thou  affront  God,  when  thou 
despisest  his  love  and  thy  own  faith,  to  cast  thyself  into 
the  embraces  of  every  vile  lust  which  now  pollutes  thy 
soul  and  will  hereafter  damn  it !  O  foolish  and  unkind 
that  thou  art,  to  neglect  the  love  of  the  great  King  of 
heaven  and  earth,  and  to  make  choice  of  the  devil,  who  is 
but  the  slave  of  God,  and  solicits  thee  only  to  make  thee 
his  slave  !  Yet  might  it  avail  somewhat  if  thou  couldst 
defend  thyself,  and  maintain  thy  choice  against  the  jea- 
lousy and  wrath  of  the  great  God  whom  thou  thus  des- 
pisest and  provokest :  but  assure  thyself  his  wrath  and 
his  jealousy  will  smoke  against  thee;  yea,  kindle  upon 
thee,  till  it  hath  burned  thee  down  to  the  lowest  hell :  and 
that  day  is  coming  wherein  he  will  expose  thy  nakedness 
and  thy  shame  before  men  and  angels,  and  upbraid  thee 
with  the  folly  as  well  as  wickedness  of  thy  choice  ;  and 
then  condemn  thee  to  be  an  eternal  companion  with  those 
devils  whom  thou  hast  preferred  before  himself.  Believe 
it,  it  is  a  sad  and  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
living  God  ;  for  he  is  "  a  jealous  God,"  and  "  a  consuming 
fire,"  as  Moses  speaks,  Deut.  4  :  24. 

II.    The   next  particular   is,    what    judgment    this 

STRONG    AND    JEALOUS  GoD    THREATENS    TO    INFLICT  :    and 

that  is  to  "visit  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the 
children." 

Visiting  is  a  figurative  expression :  in  the  general,  God 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  155 

is  said  to  visit,  when,  after  a  long  space  of  time,  in  wliich 
he  seemed  to  have  forgotten  or  taken  no  notice  of  men, 
he  declares  by  his  providence  that  he  hath  still  observed 
their  ways  and  doings.    ' 

And  this  word  visiting  vii3.y  be  taken  either  in  a  good 
or  in  an  evil  part.  In  a  good  part,  when  God  bestows 
gi'eat  mercies  and  salvation  upon  his  people,  he  is  said  to 
visit  them  :  and  thus  it  is  frequently  used  in  the  Scrip- 
ture. Exod.  3:16;  Luke,  1  :  68,  28,  &c.  In  an  evil  part, 
God  is  said  to  visit,  when  he  rewards  those  sins  at  which 
he  seemed  to  connive  with  deserved  punishments.  So 
Psalm  89  :  32,  "  I  will  visit  their  transgression  with  the 
rod,  and  their  iniquity  with  stripes."  And  Jer.  5  :  9, 
"  Shall  I  not  visit  for  these  things  %  saith  the  Lord :  and 
shall  not  my  soul  be  avenged  on  such  a  nation  as  this  ]" 

And  in  this  sense  is  the  word  to  be  taken  here  :  Visit- 
ing the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  y  that  is, 
punishing  the  fathers'  iniquity  in  their  children  and  pos- 
terity. And  thus  we  have  it  interpreted,  Jer.  32  :  18. 
*'  Thou  recompensest  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  into  the 
bosom  of  their  children  after  them." 

Now  here  arise  two  important  inquiries  to  be  resolved  : 
v\^hether  it  be  just  with  God,  and  consistent  with  the  di- 
vine veracity,  to  punish  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon  the 
children  ;  and  whether  God  doth  always  observe  this  me- 
thod of  revenging  the  fathers'  crimes  upon  their  poste- 
rity and  offspring. 

As  to  the  former  inquiiy  there  seems  to  be  some 
difficulty  in  reconciling  Scripture  to  itself  in  this  par- 
ticular, and  in  reconciling  such  a  proceeding  to  justice 
and  equity. 

For  sometimes  the  Scriptures  do  expressly  mention  the 


156  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

punishment  of  parents'  sins  to  be  inflicted  on  theii  chil 
dren.  Exod.  34  :  7 ;  Jer.  32  :  18,  &c.  And  when  Goa 
commands  Saul  utterly  to  destroy  Amalek,  he  gives  this 
reason  of  his  injunction,  1  Sam.  15  :  2,  **  I  remember 
that  which  Amalek  did  to  Israel,  how  he  laid  wait  for  him 
in  the  way  when  he  came  up  from  Egypt."  And  yet 
almost  four  hundred  years  were  passed  between  the 
journey  of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt  and  the  issuing  of 
this  command :  so  that  none  of  those  Amalekites  who  op- 
posed them  in  their  way  could  then  have  been  alive  to 
bear  the  punishment  of  that  offence.  Yea,  and  our  Savior 
threatens  the  Jews  of  his  time.  Mat.  23  :  35,  "  That  upon 
them  should  come  all  the  righteous  blood  shed  upon  the 
earth,  from  the  blood  of  righteous  Abel  unto  the  blood  of 
Zacharias  son  of  Barachias,  whom  they  slew  between  the 
temple  and  the  altar."  That  is,  the  sins  of  the  progeni- 
tors, from  the  beginning  of  the  world  unto  that  very  age 
when  they  murdered  Zachary,  the  father  of  John  the 
Baptist,  in  the  court  of  the  temple,  shall  be  punished  in 
this  generation.  Vide  Baron.  Annal.  An.  1,  Sect.  52,  &c. 
And  yet  again  we  read  as  expressly,  Ezek.  18 :  20, 
"  The  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die.  The  son  shall  not 
bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father,  neither  shall  the  father 
bear  the  iniquity  of  the  son ;  the  righteousness  of  the 
righteous  shall  be  upon  him,  and  the  iniquity  of  the  wick- 
ed shall  be  upon  him."  And  again,  Jer.  31  :  29,  30,  "  In 
those  days  they  shall  say  no  more,  the  fathers  have  eaten 
a  sour  grape,  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge. 
But  every  one  shall  die  for  his  own  iniquity."  And  in- 
deed this  seems  most  agreeable  to  the  rules  of  justice, 
that  the  innocent  should  not  be  punished  for  the  sms  ot 
the  nocent  and  guilty. 


SECOND    COMMANDBfENT.  157 

To  solve  this  difficulty  therefore,  and  reconcile  this 
seeming  contradiction,  I  shall  premise  some  distinctions  ; 
and  then  draw  fi'om  them  some  conclusions  satisfactory 
to  the  question  propounded. 

Punishments  are  either  temporal — such  as  befall  in  this 
present  life ;  or  else  eternal — such  as  are  reserved  to  be 
inflicted  on  all  impenitent  and  disobedient  sinners  in  the 
world  to  come. 

Again,  children  may  be  considered  either  as  imitating 
the  crimes  and  transgressions  of  their  parents,  or  as  re- 
penting of  them,  and  reforming  from  them,  and  so  not 
walking  in  their  fathers'  steps,  but  in  the  ways  of  God's 
commandments.  , 

1.  Certain  it  is,  God  never  visits  the  iniquity  of  the 
fathers  upon  repenting  and  reforming  children  with  eter- 
nal punishment.  And  in  this  sense  it  is  everlastingly 
true,  that  "  the  son  shall  not  bear  the  iniquity  of  his 
father  ,•"  but  "  the  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die ;"  and 
**  every  man  shall  bear  his  own  burthen." 

But  some  may  say,  "  Are  we  not  made  liable  even  to 
eternal  death  by  the  sin  of  another  ]  Hath  not  the  sin  of 
our  first  father  brought  condemnation  upon  all  his  pos- 
terity ]  And  therefore  how  is  it  true  that  the  son  sjball 
not,  in  this  respect,  bear  the  iniquity  of  his  father  1" 

To  this  I  answer.  It  is  not  his  sin,  considered  per- 
sonally as  his,  that  hath  made  us  obnoxious  unto  eternal 
death ;  but  it  was  our  sin  as  well  as  his  ;  for  in  him  we 
all  sinned  and  fell.  Adam  was  our  federal  head  and  com- 
mon representative,  and  his  sin  was  legally  ours ;  even  as 
his  obedience  would  have  been,  had  he  persevered  in  it. 
But  now  the  case  of  Adam  is  singular  and  much  different 
from  that  of  intermediate  parents.    They,  indeed,  are  our 


158  THE  TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

natural  heads ;  but  not  our  federal  heads,  as  Adam  was. 
Their  actions  are  only  their  own,  and  not  ours,  and  have 
no  influence  at  all  upon  the  determining  of  our  eternal 
state  and  condition ;  and  therefore  we  shall  not  be  ac- 
countable to  God  at  the  last  day  for  what  they  have  done, 
but  only  for  what  we  ourselves  have  done  in  the  body, 
whether  it  be  good  or  evil.    Yet, 

2.  If  the  children  imitate  the  wicJcedness  and  crimes  of 
their  fathers ,  it  is  but  just  and  righteous  with  God  to  punish 
them  with  eternal  death  and  damnation  for  them.  It  is  but 
fit  that  they  should  inherit  their  fathers'  damnation,  who 
inherit  their  fathers'  transgressions.  But  in  this  case  it 
must  be  observed  that  God  punisheth  them,  not  because 
they  are  their  fathers'  sins,  but  because  they  are  their  own. 

3.  God  may,  and  often  doth,  visit  the  iniquity  of  the  fa- 
thers upon,  the  children  with  temporal  punishments,  whethei 
the  children  imitate  the  offences  of  the  fathers  or  reform 
from  them. 

And  these  temporal  punishments  are  many  times  very 
sore  and  heavy :  languishing  diseases ;  racking  and  tor- 
menting pains  ;  loss  of  estate,  sometimes  ravished  from 
them  by  violence,  sometimes  melting  away  insensibly. 
The  fathbr,  possibly  by  his  unjust  oppression  and  extor- 
tion, entails  a  curse  upon  his  estate  ;  which,  like  a  canker, 
eats  it  out  and  consumes  it  in  his  son's  days;  so  that  no- 
thing is  left  in  his  hands  but  shame  and  poverty ;  al- 
though, perhaps,  he  might  never  know  the  sins  for  which 
God  blasts  him.  Yea,  we  find  that  God  doth  inflict  tem- 
poral death  on  the  child  for  the  offence  of  the  parent : 
thus,  2  Samuel,  12  :  14,  in  Nathan's  message  to  David, 
"  Because  by  this  deed  thou  hast  given  great  occasion 
to  the  enemies  of  the  Lord  to  blaspheme,  the  child  also 
that  is  bom  unto  thee  shall  surely  die." 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT..  159 

Thus  God  doth  very  frequently  inflict  temporaV punish- 
ments upon  the  children  for  the  fathers'  transgressions. 

Nor  is  it  at  all  hard  to  reconcile  this  with  the  measures 
of  justice  and  equity,  because  of  the  near  relation  which 
they  bear  to  their  parents  :  for  certainly  it  is  just  with 
God  to  punish  a  sinner  in  all  that  is  related  to  him.  Chil- 
dren are  part  of  their  parenjts ;  yea,  their  parents  live  and 
survive  in  them ;  and  therefore  certainly  God,  in  punish- 
ing them,  may  justly  strike  what  part  of  them  he  pleaseth. 
And  this  even  Plutarch,  a  heathen,  could  observe  :  speak- 
ing how  God  often  inflicted  grievous  judgments  on  the 
posterity  of  lewd  and  wicked  men,  he  tells  us :  "  It  is 
nothing  strange  and  absurd  for  those  who  are  theirs  to 
suffer  what  belongs  to  them."    De  Sero  Punitis. 

But  then  another  question  is,  Whether  God  doth  al- 
ways observe  this  method  of  revenging  the  offences  of  fa- 
thers upon  their  children  in  temporal  punishments. 

To  which  I  answer,  no,  he  doth  not.  Neither  doth  this 
threatening  in  the  commandment  oblige  him  to  do  it, 
but  only  shows  what  their  sins  deserve,  and  what  he 
might  justly  do  if  he  pleased  to  use  his  power  and  pre- 
rogative. Hence  we  read  of  the  children  of  wicked  pa- 
rents who  yet  were  both  pious  and  prosperous :  such 
were  Hezekiali  and  Josiah,  the  one  the  son  of  Ahaz,  the 
other  of  Amon.  But  most  commonly  we  may  observe 
in  *the  course  of  Divine  providence,  that  this  posterity 
of  wicked  parents  pay  off*  their  fathers'  scores  to  divine 
Justice  in  the  temporal  evils  and  calamities  that  are 
brought  upon  them.  Yet,  if  they  themselves  be  pious 
and  holy,  this  may  be  for  their  comfort,  that  whatever 
afflictions  ihey  lie  under  shall  be  for  their  benefit  and  ad- 
vantage ;  and  they  are  not  punishments  to  them,  but  only 


160  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

fatherly  corrections  and  chastisements  :  for  the  very  things 
which  they  suffer  may  be  intended  by  God  as  a  punish- 
ment to  their  ancestors,  but  a  fatherly  correction  to  them- 
selves ;  and  what  to  the  one  is  threatened  as  a  curse,  to 
the  other  may  prove  a  blessing  and  an  advantage,  as  it 
gives  them  occasion  of  exercising  more  grace,  and  so  of 
receiving  the  greater  glory. 

Suffer  me  to  close  up  this  with  one  or  two  practical  mC' 
ditations. 

1.  If  it  be  the  usual  method  of  Divine  Providence  to 
visit  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  see  then 
what  great  reason  parents  have  to  beware  that  they  do  not 
lay  up  a  stock  of  plagues  and  curses  for  their  posterity  ; 
nor  clog  the  estate  which  they  leave  them,  with  so  many 
debts  to  be  paid  to  the  justice  of  God  as  will  certainly  undo 
them. 

Thou  who,  by  fraud  and  cozenage,  heapest  together 
ill-gotten  wealth,  thinkest  perhaps  of  leaving  so  many  hun- 
dreds or  thousands  to  thy  children ;  but  considerest  not 
withal  how  many  curses  thou  puttest  into  the  bag,  curses 
that,  in  time,  will  rot  and  eat  out  the  very  bottom  of  it. 
Thou  who,  by  this  or  by  any  other  way  of  wickedness, 
either  swearing,  or  drunkenness,  or  uncleanness,  provokest 
the  holy  and  the  jealous  God,  doth  it  nothing  grieve  thee 
to  think  that  thy  sins  shall  be  punished  upon  thy  poor 
children's  back  1  Possibly  thou  art  so  fondly  tender  of 
them  that  thou  art  loth  to  chastise  them  when  they  really 
deserve  it  for  their  own  faults ;  yet  art  thou  so  cruel  to 
them  as  to  abandon  them  over  to  the  justice  of  God,  to 
be  severely  scourged  for  faults  which  are  not  their  own, 
but  thine.  Whose  heart  would  not  yearn,  and  whose 
Dowels  would  not  be  turned  within  him,  to  go  into  a  hos- 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  161 

pital  and  there  view  over  all  those  scenes  of  human 
misery  and  wretchedness  which  are  presented  to  us ;  the 
blind,  the  lame,  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  the  maimed^  the  dis- 
tracted, the  ulcerated  and  loathsome  leper,  and  those  se- 
veral maps  of  man's  woes  and  torments  that  are  there  ex- 
hibited] Think  then  with  thyself,  ''This  is  the  inheri- 
tance, this  is  the  portion  bequeathed  them  by  their  ac- 
cursed parents  :"  and  as  thou  wouldst  have  thine  own 
children  to  be  made  the  same  sad  spectacles  of  Divine 
wrath  and  vengeance,  so  go  and  sin  them  into  the  same 
condition.  Certainly  wolves  and  tigers  are  more  merci- 
ful to  their  offspring  than  wretched  man  !  It  is  thou  thy- 
self, O  cruel  man !  who  hast  crippled,  and  maimed,  and 
tormented,  and  beggared  and  undone  thine  own  children : 
and  perhaps  every  sin  thou  committest  either  murders 
or  tortures  a  poor  helpless  infant,  one  whose  greatest 
misery  it  is  that  ever  he  was  bom  of  thee.  I  beseech 
you,  christians,  think  seriously  of  this  thing;  and  as  ever 
you  would  wish  well  to  those  dear  pledges  which  are  as 
your  own  bowels,  so  beware  how  ever  you  provoke  the 
holy  and  jealous  God  by  any  known  and  wilful  sin; 
who  will  be  sure  to  repay  it  home,  either  in  your  own 
persons  by  his  immediate  judgments  on  yourselves,  or 
that  which  will  go  as  near  the  heart  of  every  tender  and 
compassionate  parent,  by  his  sore  judgments  on  thy  poor 
children  and  posterity. 

2.  See  here  what  great  reason  thouhast  to  render  thanks 
and  praise  to  God  that  thou  art  born  of  godly  and  pious 
parents  ;  such  as  treasure  not  up  wrath  for  thee^hut  prayers. 

Possibly  they  were  but  poor  and  low  iii  the  world ;  but 
yet  they  have  bequeathed  thee  a  rich  patrimony ;  and 
made   God  executor,  who  will  faithfully  discharge   his 


162  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

trust  if  thou  discharge  thy  duty,  and  give  thee  a  blessing 
possibly  in  this  life,  but  certainly  in  the  life  to  come.  Let 
others  boast  their  blood  and  their  parentage,  and  reckon 
up  a  long  row  of  monuments  and  ancestors  :  if  they  have 
been  wicked,  lewd  and  ungodly,  but  thine  virtuous  and 
the  sincere  servants  of  God,  they  possibly  may  be  the  last 
of  their  family,  and  thou  the  first  of  thine  :  howsoever 
know  that  it  is  far  more  noble  to  be  born  of  those  that 
have  been  born  of  God,  than  to  be  the  grandchildren  of 
the  devil.  Thou  hast  better  blood  running  in  thy  veins, 
even  the  blood  of  them  whom  Christ  hath  judged  worthy 
to  be  redeemed  and  washed  with  his  own  blood,  whose 
names  are  written  in  heaven  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life  : 
a  greater  honor  and  dignity  than  if  they  were  written  in 
the  worm-eaten  pages  of  idle  heraldry.  And  if  thou  fol- 
lowest  their  good  examples,  thy  relations  and  portion  too 
are  greater  and  richer,  for  thou  hast  God  for  thy  father, 
Christ  for  thy  brother,  and  the  whole  heaven  of  stars  for 
thine  inheritance. — Thus  much  for  the  second  particular, 
what  is  threatened  in  the  commandment :  viz.  "  visiting 
the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children.''  I  shall  be 
more  brief  in  the  two  remaining. 

III.  Let  us  consider  the  persons  against  whom  this 
threatening  is  denounced.  "  Visiting  the  iniquity  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children  of  those  that  hate  me."  And 
who  those  are  is  explained  in  the  antithesis  subjoined  : 
"  Keeping  mercy  for  thousands  of  those  that  love  me 
and  keep  my  commandments." 

If  then  those  that  keep  God's  commandments  are 
lovers  of  God,  (which  our  Savior  expressly  affirms,  John 
14  :  21,  "  He  that  hath  my  commandments,  and  keepeth 


SECOND    COMMANDMENT.  163 

them,  he  H  is  that  loveth  me  ;")  by  direct  consequence  it 
"follows,  that  those  who  transgress  the  commandments  of 
God  are  liaters  of  God.  And  what  worse  can  be  said  of 
the  very  devil  himself?  Let  them  pretend  never  so  fair, 
and  speak  words  full  of  respect  and  reverence,  yet  bring 
them  to  this  trial,  do  they  observe  and  keep  the  com- 
mandments of  God  1  If  not,  they  are  haters  of  God 
and  goodness. 

And  indeed  it  is  impossible  that  those  who  are  dis- 
obedient and  rebellious  should  love  God.  For  can  they 
love  him  who  hath  required  from  them  what  they  do  so 
extremely  loath]  Can  they  love  him  whom  they  must 
needs  apprehend  to  be  armed  with  wrath  and  vengeai.ce 
to  punish  and  torment  them  everlastingly  for  their  sins  1 
Can  they  love  him  who,  if  they  have  any  conscience  in 
them,  they  must  needs  know,  hates  them  with  a  perfect 
hatred,  and  will  be  avenged  on  them  in  their  eternal  ruin 
and  destruction  1  Certainly,  if  we  love  God  because  he 
first  loved  us,  these  cannot  but  hate  him  to  whom  their 
ovm  consciences  must  needs  attest  that  God  hates  both 
them  and  their  ways. 

IV.  Consider  the  duration  and  continuance  of  that  ven- 
geance which  God  will  take  upon  those  who  thus  hate  him. 

On  their  own  persons  he  will  revenge  himself  eternally, 
and  be  ever  satisfying  his  wronged  justice  in  their  insuf- 
ferable torments  ;  but  on  their  posterity  he  will  be  aveng 
ed  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation. 

And  yet,  even  in  this  very  threatening,  there  is  mercy 
contained.  Mercy  it  is  that  such  a  wicked  and  accursed 
race  are  not  cut  off,  and  cast  out  of  his  sight  and  grace 
for  ever ;  and  that,  where  once  the  wrath  of  G  od  hath 


164  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

seized  on  any  family,  it  doth  not  bum  down  and  consume 
the  whole  before  it ;  but  he  graciously  stops  its  course, 
and  gives  not  way  to  all  his  fury.  And,  in  this,  mercy 
glorifies  itself  against  judgment ;  in  that  he  showeth  mer- 
cy unto  thousands^  but  visiteth  iniquity  only  unto  the  third, 
2Jidi  fourth  generation. 


THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT, 


*'  TIiou  slialt  not  take  the  name  of  tlie  Lord  tliy  God  in 
vain  ;  for  tlie  liord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless  that  tak- 
eth  hig  name  in  -vain." 

It  is  well  known  that  all  the  precepts  of  the  law  re- 
spect either  those  duties  which  we  owe  immediately  to 
God,  or  those  which  we  owe  immediately  to  man.  The 
former  constitute  the  First,  the  latter  the  Second  Table. 

The  commands  of  the  First  Table  are  prescribed  to 
regulate  our  worship  of  God ;  which  is  either  internal 
and  more  spiritual,  or  external  and  more  visible. 

The  internal  worship  of  God,  with  the  humblest  vene- 
ration of  our  souls  and  most  sincere  affections  of  our 
hearts,  is  required  in  the  First  Commandment ;  as  I  have 
already  shown. 

The  external,  which  we  also  entered  upon  in  the  Second, 
we  are  to  consider  still  further  here  in  the  Third.  And 
it  consists  of  three  parts :  Prostration  of  the  body  ; 
'profession  of  the  mouth;  and  the  observance  of  prefixed 
titne.  Each  of  these  hath  a  particular  command  to  en- 
join them.  The  first  is  required  in  the  Second  Command- 
ment, of  which  I  have  spoken.  The  second,  profession 
of  the  mouth,  comes  next  to  be  considered.  And  to  guide 
and  regulate  this,  we  have  our  rule  prescribed  in  this 
third  precept  of  this  table  :  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name 
of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain,  &c. 


166  THE    TEN   COMMANDMENTS, 

In  these  words  we  have  both  a  prohibition^  "  Thou 
shalt  not  take,"  &c.  and  a  commination  or  threatening^ 
**  For  the  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless,"  &c. 

In  the  prohibition  two  things  are  to  be  inquired  into  : 
What  is  meant  by  the  name  of  God,  and  what  it  is  to  take 
God's  name  in  vain.    Let  us  first  inquire, 

What  is  meant  by  the  name  of  God.  This  hath  sun- 
dry acceptations  in  the  Scripture. 

Sometimes  it  is  taken  for  the  nature  and  heing  of  the 
Deity  itself.  Nor  is  it  an  unusual  figure  to  put  name  for 
the  thing  or  person  that  is  expressed  by  it.  As,  Rev.  3  : 
4,  "  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in  Sardis,  that  have  not 
.defiled  their  garments,  and  they  shall  walk  with  me  in 
white  :"  that  is,  thou  hast  a  few  persons  in  Sardis.  So, 
likewise,  we  may  observe  it  to  be  frequently  used  when 
the  Scripture  speaks  of  God  and  Christ.  Psalm  20  :  1, 
'*  The  name  of  the  God  of  Jacob  defend  thee  :"  that  is, 
let  the  God  of  Jacob  himself,  who  is  the  only  true  and 
almighty  potentate,  be  thy  shield  and  thy  defence.  Psalm 
135  :  3,  "  Sing  praises  unto  his  name  :"  that  is,  offer 
your  returns  of  thanks  and  praises  unto  that  God  from 
whom  you  have  received  your  mercies  and  salvation.  So, 
Psalm  115  :  1,  "  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but 
unto  thy  name  give  glory :"  that  is,  let  the  glory  which 
is  due  unto  thee  be  entirely  ascribed  unto  thyself  And 
so  concerning  Christ,  Luke,  24  :  47,  "  Repentance  and 
remission  of  sins  are  to  be  preached  to  all  nations  in  his 
name :  that  is,  through  him  ;  and  John,  1  :  12,  "  He  gave 
power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  to  as  many  as  believed 
in  his  name  :"  that  is,  to  as  many  as  believed  in  him.  And 
thus  it  is  used  in  innumerable  places. 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT.  167 

Agai7i :  Sometimes  the  name  of  God  is-  taken  for  the 
whole  system  of  divine  and  heavenly  doctrine  revealed  to 
us  in  the  Scriptures. 

Thus  the  Psalmist,  "  I  will  declare  thy  name  unto  my 
brethren,"  Psalm  22  :  22,  which  the  Apostle  cites  as 
spoken  in  the  person  of  Christ,  Heb.  2  :  12 ;  and  the 
meaning  is,  that  Christ  should  declare  and  make  known 
to  the  world  a  true  spiritual  doctrine  and  way  of  worship, 
and  teach  them  a  religion  which  should  both  perfect  their 
reason  and  save  their  souls.  And,  as  a  testimony  of  the 
accomplishment  of  this  prophecy,  our  Savior  himself  tells 
us,  John,  17  :  6,  "I  have  manifested  thy  name  unto  the 
men  which  thou  gavest  me."  And  ver.  26,  "  I  have  de- 
clared unto  them  thy  name,  and  will  declare  it ;"  that  is, 
1  have  instructed  them  in  the  true  religion  and  right  wor- 
ship of  the  great  God.  And  so  it  is  taken  likewise,  Micah, 
4:5,  "  All  people  will  walk  every  one  in  the  name  of  his 
god ;  and  we  will  walk  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God 
for  ever  and  ever :"  that  is,  we  will  walk  in  that  way  of 
worship  and  religion  which  is  appointed  and  approved 
by  the  Lord  our  God. 

And  once  more:  The  name  of  God  is  taken  for  that 
whereby  God  is  called^  and  by  which  his  nature  ahd  per- 
factions  are  made  known  to  men. 

For  names  are  imposed  to  this  veiy  intent,  that  they 
might  declare  what  the  thing  is  to  which  the  name  be- 
longs. Thus,  when  God  had  created  Adam  and  made  him 
the  lord  of  this  visible  world,  he  caused  the  beasts  of  the 
field  and  the  fowls  of  the  air  to  pass  before  him,  both  to 
do  homage  to  their  new  sovereign  and  likewise  to  receive 
names  from  him ;  which,  according  to  the  perfection  of 


168  THE    TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 

nig  kr.icwledge,  did  then  aptly  serve  to  express  their  seve- 
ral natures,  and  were  not  only  names  but  definitions  too. 
And  so,  when  we  read  of  the  names  of  G  od  in  Scripture, 
they  all  signify  some  expressions  of  his  infinite  essence, 
in  which  he  is  pleased  to  spell  out  himself  unto  us,  some- 
times by  one  perfection  and  sometimes  by  another. 

Now  these  names  of  God  are  either  his  titles  or  his 
attributes,  concemiiig  which  I  have  fonnerly  treated  at 
large  in  expounding  the  first  petition  of  the  Lord's  prayer, 
Hallowed  he  thy  name;  and  therefore  I  shall  here  only 
mention  them,  and  so  proceed. 

1 .  His  titles  are  his  name.  , 

And  these  are  some  of  them  absolute  :  as  those  glorious 
titles  of  Jah,  Jehovah,  God,  I  am.  I  s.^Tiat'k  sent  thee, 
saith  God  to  Moses.  And  these  are  names  altogether  in- 
comprehensible and  stupendous. 

Others  are  relative,  and  have  respect  to  us.  So  his 
name  of  Creator  denotes  his  infinite  power  in  giving  be 
ing  to  all  things.  Lord  and  King  signify  his  dominion 
and  authority  in  disposing  and  governing  all  that  he  hath 
made.  Father  signifies  his  care  and  goodness  in  provid- 
ing for  us  his  offspring  :  Redeemer,  his  mercy  in  delivering 
us  from  temporal  evils  and  calamities,  but  especially  from 
eternal  death  and  destruction. 

These,  and  other  such-like  titles,  God  assumes  to  him- 
self, to  express  in  some  measure,  as  we  are  able  to  bear, 
what  he  is  in  himself. 

2.  His  attributes  also  are  his  name. 

Some  of  these  are  incommunicable  ;  as  his  eternity,  im- 
mensity, immutability,  simplicity,  &c.  whicb  are  so  pro- 
per to  the  divine  nature  that  they  belong  to  no  created 
oeing. 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT.  169 

Others  are  communicable :  as  his  mercy,  goodness,  ho-, 
liness  and  truth.  These  are  communicable,  because  some 
rays  of  them  may  be  found  in  created  beings :  but  yet,  in 
the  infinite  degree  and  excellency  which  they  have  in  God, 
they  are  incommunicable,  and  proper  only  to  the  Deity. 
Therefore,  though  angels  or  men  may  be  said  to  be  holy, 
or  just,  or  good,  yet  none  of  them  are  so  originally:  none 
are  so,  infinitely  and  unchangeably ;  none  are  so,  simply 
and  in  the  abstract,  but  only  God  himself. 

These  then  are  the  names  op  God.  And  here  in  the 
text.  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God 
in  vain,  we  must  understand  it  concerning  the  name  of 
God  in  this  last  acceptation ;  that  is,  for  any  name  of  his 
whereby  he  is  pleased  to  reveal  himself  unto  us,  whether 
it  appertain  to  his  titles  or  to  his  attributes :  neither  of 
these  must  be  taken  in  vain. 

But  we  must  now  consider  what  it  is  to  take  the 
NAME  OP  God  in  vain.  And,  first,  to  take  the  name  of  God 
is  no  other  than  briefly  to  make  use  of  it  either  as  the  ob- 
ject of  our  thoughts  or  the  subject  of  our  discourse.  And 
so  we  find  this  phrase  used.  Psalm  16  :  4,  "I  will  not 
take  up  their  names  into  my  lips."  And  Psalm  50  :  16, 
"  What  hast  thou  to  do — that  thou  shouldst  take  my  co- 
venant in  thy  mouth  1"  that  is,  that  thou  shouldst  speak, 
or  make  mention  of  it.  So  that,  to  take  God's  name,  is  to 
speak  or  mention  it. 

And  now,  as  to  taking  God^s  name  in  vain,  we  do  so 
when  we  use  it  vdthout  propounding  to  ourselves  a  due 
end ;  or  without  due  consideration  and  reverence ;  or  in 
an  undue  and  unlawful  action. 

CommanrlinpTifs.  8 


170  THE    TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 

I.  When  we  use  it  without  propounding  to  our- 
selves  A  due   end. 

The  end  characterizes  the  action :  if  the  end  be  vain, 
the  action  must  be  so  too.  There  are  but  two  ends  that 
can  justify  and  warrant  the  use  of  any  of  God's  names— 
either  his  titles  or  his  attributes — and  they  are,  the  glo- 
ry of  God,  and  the  edification  of  ourselves  and  others. 
Whatsoever  is  besides  these  is  light  and  frivolous,  and 
can  be  no  good  ground  to  us  to  make  any  mention  of  his 
great  and  terrible  name,  which  is  so  full  of  glory  and  ma- 
jesty, that  it  should  never  be  uttered  but  where  the  sub- 
ject of  our  discourse  is  serious  and  weighty. 

I  will  not  now  speak  of  those  who  vend  the  holy  and 
reverend  name  of  God  with  oaths  and  blasphemies ;  a  sin 
by  so  much  the  more  heinous  and  abominable,  by  how 
much  less  temptation  there  is  to  it,  either  of  pleasure  or 
profit.  This  is  an  iniquity  to  he  punished  by  the  judge. 
And,  would  to  God  laws  were  put  in  severe  execution  to 
cramp  the  black  tongues  of  all  such  profane  wretches, 
whose  number  so  abounds  and  swarms  that  we  can  no 
where  walk  the  streets  without  being  assaulted  with 
whole  volleys  of  oaths  and  curses. 

But  for  others  who  are  of  more  blameless  conversation, 
may  it  not  be  observed  how  their  discourse  and  familiar 
tattle  are  filled  up  with  the  name  of  God  and  Lord?  I 
beseech  you,  consider  what  end  do  you  propound  to  your 
selves  in  thus  using  the  great  and  terrible  name  of  God  ? 
Are  all  your  discourses  so  serious  as  to  bear  the  bur- 
den of  that  great  name  '?  Are  they  all  immediately  direct- 
ed to  the  advancement  of  his  glory  1  Or  do  they  all  pro- 
mote the  benefit  and  welfare  of  those  who  hear  them  1 
If  so,  then  indeed  the  name  of  God  can  never  be  more 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT.  171 

seasonably  used.  But  if  you  make  the  name  of  the  highest 
Lord  serve  only  to  express  some  small  wonderment,  or 
that  of  the  great  God  only  an  expletive  to  fill  up  a  gap  in 
your  speeches,  certainly  these  are  such  low  and  mean 
ends  that  God  will  not  hold  thee  guiltless.  He  accounts 
himself  contemned  when  you  mention  his  name  to  such 
idle  purposes,  and  will  revenge  the  dishonor  that  you  do 
him  by  it. 

II.  The  name  of  God  is  taken  in  vain,  when  we  use 

IT    WITHOUT    DUE    CONSIDERATION    AND    REVERENCE. 

Whensoever  we  make  mention  of  him  we  ought  serious- 
ly to  ponder  his  infinite  greatness  and  glory,  and  to  bow 
our  hearts  in  the  deepest  prostration  before  that  name  to 
which  all  the  powers  in  heaven  and  earth  bow  down  with 
most  humble  veneration. 

But  is  it  possible  for  those  who  speak  of  God  promis- 
cuously and  at  random,  is  it  possible  that  they  should 
utter  his  name  with  reverence,  when  all  the  rest  of  the 
discourse  is  nothing  but  froth  and  levity  ]  Nay,  if  they  be 
reproved  for  it,  will  they  not  allege  for  their  excuse  that 
which  is  their  very  sin,  that  they  did  not  consider  it  1  And 
what !  will  you  dare  to  bolt  out  the  great  name  of  the 
great  God  without  cojisidering  it  ?  Is  that  a  name  to  be 
sported  with  and  to  be  tossed  to  and  fro  upon  every  light 
and  vain  tongue  1  The  tongue  of  man  is  called  his  glory, 
Psalm  57  : 8,  "  Awake  up,  my  glory."  And  shall  the 
glory  of  man  be  the  dishonor  of  God  ]  Shall  that,  which 
was  created  to  be  a  principal  instrument  of  magnifying 
and  exalting  God's  name,  run  it  over  without  affection  or 
reverence  1 

Those  things  which  we  most  of  all  contemn  and  ^ie 


172  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

spise  we  use  as  by-words,  and  lay  no  great  stress  nor 
sense  upon  them.  And  truly  when  we  speak  of  God, 
without  considering  how  great,  how  glorious  and  excel- 
lent a  being  he  is — ^how  holy,  just  and  powerful — we  do 
but  make  him  a  by-word ;  which  is  the  highest  contempt 
and  indignity  that  can  be  cast  upon  him. 

And  therefore  the  best  means  that  can  be  used  to  secure 
us  from  the  wicked  habit  many  have  of  taking  God's  name 
in  vain,  is  seriously  to  consider  whose  name  it  is,  even  the 
name  of  the  great  God,  who  is  present  with  thee,  and 
hears  thee  pronounce  it ;  that  God,  to  whom  the  greatest 
and  most  glorious  things  compared,  are  base  and  vile  no- 
things ;  that  God,  who  is  jealous  of  his  honor  and  will 
dreadfully  revenge  himself  upon  the  contemners  of  it. 
And  if  thou  hast  but  wrought  these  considerations  into 
thy  heart,  and  habituated  them  to  thy  thoughts,  thou  wilt 
for  ever  be  afraid  to  speak  of  his  majesty  vainly  and  ir- 
reverently. 

III.  The  name  of  God  is  taken  in  vain,    when  we 

USE    IT     TO    AN     UNDUE     AND    UNLAWFUL    END  ;     especially 

when  it  is  brought  to  confirm  a  falsehood,  either  in  perju- 
ry or  heresy  ;  which  is  a  most  horrid  impiety. 

Therefore  it  is  observed  that  the  same  word  which  is 
here  rendered  vain,  signifies  also  false  or  deceitful.  So 
that  this  precept.  Thou  shall  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord 
thy  God  in  vain,  may  be  rendered  also.  Thou  shalt  not 
take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  falsehood.  Not  that 
this  is  the  only  unlawful  way  of  using  it,  but  that  this  is 
the  chief  and  most  notorious  abusing  of  it.  And  indeed 
what  greater  sin  can  there  be  than  to  bring  God  to  be  a 
witness  to  our  lie  1    to  make  him,   who  is  truth  itself, 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT.  173 

attest  that  which  is  falsehood  and  deceit  1  Therefore  Agur 
prays  against  pinching  poverty  as  well  as  superfluous 
liches  :  "  Lest,"  saith  he,  "I  be  poor,  and  steal,  and  take 
the  name  of  my  God  in  vain."  Prov.  30  :  9.  That  is,  lest 
poverty  compel  me  to  steal,  and  fear  of  shame  or  punish- 
ment tempt  me  to  swear  by  the  name  of  the  great  God 
that  I  have  not  done  it.  This  indeed  is  to  take  God's 
name  in  vain  in  the  worst  and  highest  sense. 

Suffer  me  now  to  close  this  part  of  our  subject  with 
some  practical  application  to  your  consciences. 

1.  Let  your  minds  be  convinced  of  the  greatness  and 
heinousness  of  this  sin,  and  he  deeply  humbled  that  you 
have  been  guilty  of  it. 

I  well  know  that  the  commonness  not  only  of  God's 
mercies  towards  us,  but  of  our  sins  against  him,  takes  off 
much  from  our  observation,  and  abates  them  both  in  our 
estimate.  And  because  this  is  so  common  a  sin,  our  ears 
are  so  beaten  to  it  that  we  too  little  regard  it.  Possibly, 
should  we  hear  a  devil  incarnate  belch  out  some  direful 
oath,  we  should  start  and  tremble  at  it ;  but  when  we 
hear  the  name  of  the  great  God,  and  our  only  Lord,  slip 
along  in  some  trifling  and  impertinent  discourse,  this  per- 
haps we  take  no  notice  of,  and  the  commonness  of  the 
sin  hath  almost  stifled  all  reproofs. 

I  beseech  you,  therefore,  to  consider, 

1.  That  we  are  not  to  weigh  sins  by  the  opinion  of  men ^ 
but  by  the  censure  and  se?itence  of  God. 

He  hath  no  more  allowed  you  to  take  his  name  in  vain, 
than  he  hath  to  blaspheme  it.  The  irreverent  using  of  it  is 
as  expressly  forbidden,  as  the  abjuring  and  cursing  of  it. 
And  when  the  law  of  G  od  hath  not  given  us  liberty,  it  is 


174  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

most  intolerable  presumption  that  we  should  dare  to  take 
liberties  ourselves. 

2.  Consider,  also,  thou  that  sportest  away  the  name  of 
God  in  thy  ordinaiy  prattle,  wJiat  wilt  thou  have  to  rely 
upon  in  thy  greatest  distresses  1 

The  Wise  Man  tells  us,  "  The  name  of  the  Lord  is  a 
strong  tower;  the  righteous  runneth  unto  it,  and  is  saved." 
Prov.  18  :  10.  But,  alas,  what  comfort  canst  thou  find  in 
the  name  of  God  in  thy  greatest  necessities,  since  it  is 
the. same  name  that  thou  hast  used  and  worn  out  before 
in  the  meanest  and  most  trivial  concerns]  Thou  hast 
already  talked  away  the  strength  and  virtue  of  it,  and 
wilt  hardly  find  more  support  from  it  in  thy  tribulation 
than  thou  gavest  reverence  to  it  in  thy  conversation.  Let  us 
then  be  more  cautious  than  to  spend  so  excellent  a  re- 
medy against  all  fears,  and  sorrows,  and  afflictions,  vainly 
and  unprofitably.  **  Thy  name,"  saith  the  spouse,  "  is  as 
ointment  poured  forth."  Cant.  1:3.  But  certainly,  if,  up- 
on every  slight  occasion,  we  break  the  box  and  expose 
the  name  of  God  to  common  air,  it  will  in  time  lose  its 
fragrance  and  virtue ;  and  when  we  have  most  need  of  it, 
we  shall  find  no  refreshment,  no  comfort  in  it. 

3.  This  common  and  irreverent  using  of  the  name  of 
God  will  insensibly  overspread  us  with  a  spirit  of  profane- 
ness.  We  shall  by  degrees  arrive  to  a  plain  contempt  of 
God,  when  we  thus  hourly  and  unnecessarily  talie  his 
name  into  our  mouths. 

For  what  else  is  this,  but  to  make  ourselves  rude  and 
familiar  with  that  infinite  Majesty,  towards  whom  the 
profoundest  testimonies  of  respect  and  reverence  must 
fall  infinitely  short  of  expressing  our  due  distance  %  But 
by   using  his   name  vulgarly   and  promiscuously,  what 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT.  175 

do  we  else  but  make  it  our  sport,  and  blow  it  up  and 
down  with  every  idle  breath,  as  children  do  bubbles  in 
the  air  ?  ' 

4.  Again :  canst  thou,  in  duty,  easily  compose  thyself  to 
reverence  the  holy  and  dreadful  name  of  God,  when  thou 
hast  thus  accustomed  thyself  to  name  him  without  any 
veneration  or  respect  in  thy  common  discourse  1 

Certainly  it  is  the  hardest  thing  imaginable  to  make 
the  heart  fall  down  prostrate  before  that  God  whom  thou 
invokest  in  prayer,  when  once  thou  art  used  to  invoke 
him  slightly  in  thy  ordinary  converse. 

Let  me  therefore  beseech  you,  reader,  as  you  regard 
his  glory,  of  which  he  is  jealous,  that  whensoever  you 
speak  of  God,  or  but  mention  his  name,  you  will  do  it  with 
a  holy  awe  and  dread  of  his  Divine  Majesty  ;  that  you  will 
seriously  consider  that  that  name,  to  which  every  knee 
bows,  both  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  on  earth,  and 
things  under  the  earth,  whether  they  be  angels  or  devils, 
requires  from  you  more  respect  and  honor  than  to  be 
idly  blurted  out  with  every  rash  and  foolish  expression. 

And  you  who  are  masters  of  families  and  have  children 
and  sei-vants  committed  to  your  care,  beware  that,  if  they 
are  addicted  to  it,  you  stop  this  growing  sin  in  them  be- 
times. It  is  the  sin  and  shame  of  parents  that  they  suf- 
fer little  ones  to  lisp  the  name  of  God  irreverently,  and 
to  learn  the  first  syllables  and  rudiments  of  oaths  and 
curses  before  they  can  well  speak  :  whereby  they  lay  a 
deep  foundation  for  their  future  impiety,  and  thereby 
bring  the  guilt  of  the  next  generation  upon  us,  who,  by 
indulging  them  in  these  young  sins,  do  but  introduce 
those  habits  of  wickedness  in  them  which  perhaps  can 
never  afterwards  be  rooted  out. 


176  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

TV.  But  there  is  also  another  kind  of  taking  the  name 
of  God  in  vain,  and  that  is  in  our  duties  and  holy  per- 
formances. 

One  way  this  is  done,  is  when  in  our  prayers  we  ask 
those  things  of  God  which  are  unlawful  or  unwarrantable. 
As  when  we  pray  on  the  behalf  of  our  lusts,  to  obtair 
provision  to  fiilfil  them :  "  Ye  ask  amiss,  that  ye  may 
consume  it  upon  your  lusts."  James,  4  : 3.  When  we 
pray  out  of  envy,  malice  and  revenge,  that  God  would 
make  himself  a  party  in  our  unreasonable  and  angry 
quarrels  j  such  prayers  as  these  are  vain ;  for  what  we 
thus  desire  either  shall  not  be  granted  unto  us,  or,  if  it 
be,  shall  be  granted  unto  us  in  wrath. 

Another  way  is,  when  we  perform  holy  duties  slightly 
and  without  affection :  whenever  we  do  this  we  then  like- 
wise take  the  name  of  God  in  vain.  Therefore,  all  hypo- 
critical services,  all  heartless  repetitions  are  vain,  and 
God's  name  is  not  sanctified  but  abused  in  them.  For, 
whatever  we  do  in  such  a  manner  as  we  may  be  certain 
God  will  not  accept  it,  is  done  in  vain.  God  wdll  accept 
of  no  performance  which  is  not  accompanied  with  the 
heart,  and  filled  with  most  devout  affections ;  and  there- 
fore they  are  perfonned  in  vain,  and  to  no  other  effect 
but  to  increase  our  guilt  and  our  condemnation.  Such  in- 
vocations are  but  scoffings  of  God ;  and  all  the  motions 
of  our  lips,  vdthout  the  correspondent  motion  of  our 
hearts,  is  no  better  than  making  mouths  at  God. 

V.  Beware  also  especially  of  another  kind  of  profaning 
the  name  of  God  and  taking  it  in  vain,  which  is  of  a  far 
higher  and  more  heinous  nature ;  and  that  is,  by  unlaw- 
ful OATHS  AND    EXECRATIONS. 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT.  177 

An  oath,  in  the  general,  is  a  confirmation  of  our  speech 
es,  by  calling  in  God  to  witness  and  attest  the  truth  of 
them;  called  therefore  by  TuUy,  a  religious  affirmation 
De  Offic.  1.  iii.  It  is  of  two  kinds,  assertory  and  pro- 
missory :  the  former,  when  we  assert  that  such  a  thing 
either  hath  been  or  is,  the  latter,  when  we  engage  that 
for  the  future  it  shall  be,  and  be  performed  by  us,  which 
oath  we  do  sufficiently  and  with  a  good  conscience  keep, 
if  we  use  our  utmost  endeavors  to  accomplish  what  we 
have  thus  sworn,  although  the  effect  may  be  impeded  by 
many  invincible  obstacles  intervening. 

Now  because  an  unjustifiable  scrupulousness  hath  seized 
on  some  persons,  who  think  that  every  oath  is  unlawful, 
and  the  taking  of  the  holy  and  reverent  name  of  God  in 
vain,  and  so  a  violation  of  this  commandment ;  I  shall 
therefore  briefly  allude  to  that  much  controverted  ques- 
tion. Whether  at  any  time  or  in  any  circumstances  it  he 
lawful  for  a  christian  to  assume  the  name  of  God  in  an 
oath ;  and  then  I  shall  proceed  to  show  what  oaths  art 
unlawful  and  execrable  si?is. 

For  the  first,  I  assert, 

1,  That  an  oath  is  so  far  from  being  always  sinful^  that 
it  is  sometimes  a  duty,  yea,  an  act  of  religion  and  part  of 
the  service  and  worship  of  God ;  and,  therefore,  not  only 
lawful  but  necessary. 

This  we  find,  Deut.  6  :  13,  "  Thou  shalt  fear  the  Lord 
thy  God,  and  serve  him,  and  shalt  swear  by  his  name." 
Yea,  the  psalmist  mentions  it  as  a  matter  of  exultation, 
as  if  some  notable  service  were  done  by  it  unto  God : 
"  Every  one  that  sweareth  by  him  shall  glory."  Psalm 
63  :  11.  And  if  we  consult  the  approved  examples  of  holy 
men  in  Scripture,  we  shall  firequently  find  them  either  ex 
.    8-^ 


178  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

acting  oaths  from  others,  or  else  themselves  invoking  the 
testimony  of  the  most  high  God  to  confirm  the  truth  of 
what  they  speak.  The  places  are  too  numerous  to  be 
cited,  and  too  well  known  to  need  it. 

But  because  the  great  objection  against  these  is,  that 
ihey  are  only  authorities  produced  out  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  we  are  now  obliged  by  the  precepts  of  a  su- 
perior Lawgiver,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  therefore  I  say 
in  answer,  that  the  objection  argues  too  great  a  vilifying 
and  contempt  of  those  sacred  oracles  which  were  given 
to  the  church  by  the  hand  of  Moses ;  and  that  things  of  a 
moral  nature,  as  an  oath  is,  cannot  in  one  age  of  the 
world  be  a  duty,  and  in  another  a  sin,  when  it  is  attended 
with  the  same  circumstances. 

And  yet  further,  for  their  satisfaction,  let  us  see  what 
is  spoken  concerning  oaths  in  the  New  Testament,  or  in 
the  Old  relating  to  it.  In  the  Old  we  have  a  prophecy  of 
what  should  be  hereafter  in  the  times  of  the  Gospel :  Isa. 
45  :  23,  "  I  have  sworn  by  myself,  the  word  is  gone  out 
of  my  mouth  in  righteousness,  and  shall  not  return,  That 
unto  me  every  knee  shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  shall 
swear."  And  again,  Jer.  12  :  16,  "  And  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  if  they  will  diligently  learn  the  ways  of  my  people, 
to  swear  by  my  name — then  shall  they  be  built  in  the  midst 
of  my  people."  But  yet,  if  neither  of  these  will  suffice, 
let  us  see  some  more  immediate  confirmation  of  this  out 
of  the  New  Testament  itself.  We  find  St.  Paul  himself 
more  that  once  attesting  the  truth  of  those  grave  and 
weighty  matters  which  he  delivers  in  his  Epistles,  by 
calling  God  to  witness,  which  is  the  very  form  and  na- 
ture of  an  oath  :  so  2  Cor.  1 :  23,  "  I  call  God  for  a  re- 
ccwd  upon  my  soul,  that,  to  spare  you  I  came  not  as  y^t 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT.  179 

unto  Corinth;"  and  so  again,  Phil.  1:8,  "God  is  my 
record,  how  greatly  I  long  after  you  all ;"  and  what  other 
than  a  kind  of  oath  is  that  vehement  asseveration  of  the 
same  Apostle,  1  Cor.  15:  31,  "I  protest  by  your  re- 
joicing, which  I  have  in  Christ  Jesus,  I  die  daily."  And 
again,  Rom.  9  :  1,  "  I  say  the  truth  in  Christ,  I  lie  not." 
And  if  you  would  yet  have  an  example  somewhat  more 
perfect,  we  may  see  it  in  the  practice  of  a  holy  angel  t 
Kev.  10  :  5,  6,  "  The  angel  stood  upon  the  sea  and  upon 
the  earth,  and  lifted  up  his  hand  to  heaven,  and  sware  by 
Him  that  liveth  for  ever  and  ever,  who  created  heaven — 
and  the  earth,  and  the  things  in  them — that  there  should 
be  time.no  longer."  So  that  you  do  abundantly  see,  by 
all  these  instances,  that  it  is  not  simply  and  universally 
unlawful  to  assume  the  holy  name  of  God  in  an  oath, 
and  to  call  him  in  to  be  a  witness  to  the  truth  of  what 
we  affinn. 

The  grand  objection  that  lies  against  this,  is  taken 
from  two  places  of  Scripture.  One  is.  Matt.  5  :  34-37, 
**  But  I  say  unto  you,  swear  not  at  all :  neither  by  hea- 
ven, for  it  is  God's  throne,  nor  by  the  earth,  for  it  is 
his  footstool :  neither  by  Jerusalem,  for  it  is  the  city  of 
the  great  King.  Neither  shalt  thou  swear  by  thy  head, 
because  thou  canst  not  make  one  hair  white  or  black. 
But  let  your  communication  be,  yea,  yea ;  and  nay,  nay : 
for -whatsoever  is  more  than  these,  cometh  of  evil."  Can 
any  thing  be  more  express  against  all  manner  of  oaths 
than  this ;  where  we  have  a  cautious  enumeration  of 
many  of  them  which  were  most  vulgar  and  common  ] 

The  other  place  is  James,  5  :  12.  ''  But  above  all 
things,  my  brethren,  swear  not ;  neither  by  heaven,  neither 
^y  (th.e  «arth,  neither  by  any  otfe/©r  oath;  but  let  your  yea 


180  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

be  yea,  and  your  nay  nay,  lest  ye  fall  into  condemna- 
tion." Can  any  thing  be  more  express,  or  more  com- 
manding than  this,  "above  all  things,  my  brethren]" 
and,  "lest  you  fall  into  condemnation?" 

But,  for  answer  to  this,  we  must  know  that  our  Savior 
and  his  Apostle  do  not  here  simply  and  absolutely  con- 
demn all  oaths,  but  only  that  common  and  profuse  swear- 
ing which  the  scribes  and  pharisees  taught  con^uptly  to 
be  no  sin.  For  in  this  point  of  oaths  they  had  divulged 
among  the  people  three  false  traditions. 

One  was,  that  it  was  lawful  for  them  to  swear  common- 
ly, and  without  restraint,  by  any  creature.  Another  was, 
that  there  was  no  binding  oath  wherein  the  name  of  G  od 
was  not  expressly  used;  and  therefore,  though  they 
should  swear  by  creatures,  yet  they  were  not  perjured, 
although  they  should  not  perform  what  they  thus  uttered, 
except  some  few  cases,  wherein  interest  made  them  con- 
scientious. This  we  have.  Matt.  23  :  16,  18,  "  Wo  unto 
you,  ye  blind  guides  !  which  say,  whosoever  shall  swear 
by  the  temple,  it  is  nothing.  And  whosoever  shall  swear 
by  the  altar,  it  is  nothing."  That  is,  they  taught  that  such 
an  oath  was  not  obligatory,  because  it  was  only  by  crea- 
tures. And  yet,  even  here,  they  excepted  such  oaths  as 
were  conceived  and  uttered  by  the  gold  of  the  temple,  or 
the  gifts  on  the  altar,  out  of  a  politic  covetousness,  that 
by  so  great  a  reverence  shown  to  the  gifts  that  were  of- 
fered the  people  might  be  induced  to  offer  more  freely, 
and  by  that  means  their  share  of  them  might  be  the  larger. 

A  third  false  doctrine  that  they  taught  was,  that  common 
swearing  was  no  sin,  although  it  were  by  the  great  God, 
if  what  they  sware  were  true.  And  by  this  they  gave 
scope  and  liberty  to  confirm  all  that  they  said  with  an 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT.  181 

oath,  if  they  only  took  care  to  utter  nothing  that  was  false. 

Against  these  three  corrupt  traditions  are  our  Savior's 
and  the  apostle's  words  directed. 

(1.)  For  it  is  perjui-y  to  violate  an  oath  conceived  by 
creatures,  and  that  because  of  the  near  relation  that  all 
creatures  have  to  God,  the  great  Creator.  This  reason  our 
Savior  mentions  in  the  fore-named  place :  "  Swear  not — 
by  heaven,  for  it  is  God's  throne ;  nor  by  the  earth,  for 
it  is  his  footstool ;  nor  by  Jerusalem,  for  it  is  the  city  of 
the  great  King."  And,  more  expressly,  Matt.  23  :  21,  22, 
**  He  that  shall  swear  by  heaven,  SAveareth  by  the  throne 
of  God,  and  by  him  that  sitteth  thereon,"  even  as  he  who 
"  shall  swear  by  the  temple,  sweareth  by  it,  and  by  him  that 
dwelleth  therein."  And  so,  by  the  same  proportion  of  rea- 
son, whoever  shall  swear  by  any  creature  doth  also  vir- 
tually swear  by  the  Almighty  Creator  of  it ;  and  therefore 
it  is  as  much  perjuiy  to  falsify  an  oath  made  by  any  crea- 
ture as  if  it  were  made  by  the  great  God  himself;  because 
creatures  are  all  of  and  from  God.  And, 

(2.)  Although  it  be  perjury  to  falsify  an  oath  taken  by 
any  creature,  yet  it  is  a  sin  likewise,  and  utterly  unlaw- 
ful, to  make  any  such  oath,  insomuch  as  it  is  an  idola- 
ti'ous  ascribing  of  religious  worship  unto  the  creature 
which  is  due  to  God  only.  And  in  this  sense,  especially, 
I  understand  these  words  of  our  Savior,  Swear  not  at  all; 
that  is,  not  hy  any  creature.  And  this,  the  following  enu- 
meration of  heaven,  and  earth,  and  Jerusalem,  and  their 
head,  which  were  the  usual  forms  of  their  oaths,  and  by 
which  our  Savior  forbids  them  to  swear,  doth  clearly 
prove  to  be  his  true  meaning. 

(3.)  These  places  teach  that  it  is  a  sin  to  swear  at  any 
time,  or  by  any  thing,  although  the  great  God  himself,  un- 


182  THE    TEN    COaiMANDMENTS. 

necessarily  and  arbitrarily:  therefore  swear  not  at  all 
unless  some  just  reason  and  cogent  necessity  constrain 
you  to  call  in  so  great  a  testimony  to  confirm  the  truth 
of  what  you  speak;  for  common  and  daily  swearing  is  a 
iiigh  contempt  and  irreverence  shown  to  the  majesty  of 
that  God  whom  we  bring  in  to  attest  to  every  trifle  and 
frivolous  thing  we  utter. 

And  this  I  take  to  be  the  true  sense  and  meaning  of 
these  places  of  Scripture ;  and  that  they  do  not  simply 
and  absolutely  condemn  all  manner  of  oaths,  but  the  cor- 
rupt doctrine  of  the  scribes  and  pharisees,  and  the  cor- 
rupt practice  of  their  disciples,  who  thought  it  no  sin  to 
swear  familiarly  if  they  did  not  swear  falsely.  So  that  the 
meaning  of  Swear  not  at  all,  is,  swear  not  unnecessarily 
and  voluntarily. 

2.  To  make  an  oath  lawful  it  must  have  these  three 
qualifications  mentioned  by  the  prpphet,  Jer.  4:2.  "  Thou 
shalt  swear,  The  Lord  liveth,  in  truth,  in  judgment,  and 
in  righteousness.''^ 

A  warrantable  oath  must  be  accompanied  wdth  truth. 
For  it  is  taken  in  the  name  of  the  God  of  truth.  Isaiah, 
69  :  15.  He  that  swear eth  in  the  earth  shall  swear  by  the 
God  of  truth.  Therefore  it  behoves  him  to  consider  whe- 
ther what  he  deposeth  be  truth  or  not.  Yea,  moreover, 
we  must  be  fully  certain  that  the  thing  is  as  we  attest  it ; 
for  a  man  may  be  guilty  of  perjury  in  swearing  that  which 
is  true,  if  he  either  believe  it  otherwise,  or  be  doubtful  of  it. 
Hence  he  that  is  called  to  give  his  oath  must  look  to  these 
two  things :  that  his  words  agree  with  his  mind,  and  that 
the  thing  agrees  with  his  words.  H«  who  fails  in  the  second 
is  a  false  swearer :  he  who  fails  in  the  first  ie  a  fors'ipear- 
er  ;  and  in  both  is  a  perjured  person. 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT.  183 

A  lawful  oath  must  be  taken  in  judgment ;  discreetly 
and  deliberately ;  advising  and  pondering  with  ourselves 
before  we  swear.  And  here  we  must  consider  both  the 
mattery  whether  that  be  right  and  good;  and  the  endsy 
whether  they  are  duly  propounded  by  us.  Now  there  are 
but  two  ends  that  can  wairant  an  oath :  one  is  the  benefit 
of  ourselves  or  others,  the  other  is  the  glory  of  God.  And 
whosoever  shall  swear  without  a  due  consideration  of 
these  ends,  and  a  holy  and  sincere  desire  to  accomplish 
them  by  his  oath,  he  swears  rashly  and  unwarrantably. 

A  lawful  oath  must  be  taken  in  righteousness  ond.  justice. 
Hence  it  is  very  wicked  to  bind  ourselves  by  an  oath  or 
vow  to  do  things  that  are  either  impossible  or  sinful. 

1.  The  matter  of  a  just  oath  ought  to  be  possible.  Thus 
we  see  how  cautious  Abraham's  servant  ^was  when  his 
master  made  him  swear  to  take  a  wife  for  hie  son  Isaac 
of  his  kindred,  Gen.  24  :  5.  Peradventiire  the  woman  will 
not  be  willing  to  follow  me  unto  this  land.  And  so  should 
we,  in  all  our  promissory  oaths,  caution  and  limit  them 
with  those  reasonable  exceptions,  of  as  far  as  We  know, 
and  can  lawfully  endeavor. 

2.  The  matter  of  a  just  oath  must  be  not  only  possi 
ble  but  lawful  and  honest  too.  For  if  it  be  unlawrCul  we 
are  necessarily  ensnared  in  sin  :  for  either  we  must  violate 
God's  command  or  our  own  oath.  Thus  it  was  a  most 
wicked  oath  in  the  Jews  who  combined  together  against 
Paul,  and  bound  themselves  under  a  curse  that  they 
would  neither  eat  nor  drink  till  they  had  killed  him.  And 
so  every  oath  which  engageth  men  to  sedition,  disturb- 
ance of  goveniraent,  and  rebellion,  is  in  itself  an  unlaw- 
ful oath,  and  obligeth  them  to  nothing  but  to  repent  of  it 
and  renounce  it. 


184  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

According  to  these  three  qualifications  therefore  must 
every  oath  be  regulated,  else  it  is  not  a  lawful  oath,  but  a 
horrid  contempt  of  God  and  taking  of  his  name  in  vain. 

But,  to  speak  no  more  concerning  lawful  oaths,  let 
us  now  consider  those  which  arp  but  too  common  among 
us  :  I  mean  unlawful  and  sinful  oaths. 

Two  things  make  an  oath  unlawful :  falsehood  and 
rashness. 

1.  When  it  is  falsehood. 

This,  indeed,  is  a  most  desperate  sin,  to  vouch  a  lie 
upon  God's  credit,  and  to  father  a  falsehood  upon  him 
who  is  the  God  of  truth,  yea,  truth  itself.  This  manifests 
the  highest  contempt  of  God,  when  we  call  him  to  witness 
that  which  the  devil  prompted  us  to  speak.  Should  not 
we  ourselves  take  it  for  a  high  affront  and  indignity,  to 
be  made  vouchers  of  other  men's  lies  to  put  off  their 
falsehoods "?  How  much  more,  then,  is  it  a  most  hellish 
wickedness  committed  against  the  great  God,  to  assert  a 
kiiown  lie  and  then  call  in  God  to  attest  it  for  a  truth! 
which  is  no  other  but  to  father  a  brat  of  the  devil,  who  is 
a  liar  and  the  father  of  lies,  upon  God,  who  hates  liars, 
and  hath  appointed  severe  torments  for  them.  See  how 
dreadfully  God  is  incensed  by  this  sin,  Jer.  7  :  9,  15,  16, 
where  he  speaks  of  it  as  almost  an  unpardonable  offence : 
"  Will  ye  steal,  and  murder — and  swear  falsely  1  There- 
fore I  will  cast  you  out  of  my  sight,  as  I  cast  out  your 
brethren.  Pray  not  thou  for  this  people ;  neither  lift  up  a 
cry  nor  prayer  for  them ;  neither  make  intercession  to  me, 
for  I  will  not  hear  thee."  And  so,  Zech.  5  :  4,  speaking 
of  the  curse  that  should  go  forth  over  the  face  of  the  whole 
earth  :  "  I  will  bring  it  forth,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  and 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT.  185 

it  shall  enter  into  the  house  of  the  thief,  and  into  the  house 
of  him  that  sweareth  falsely  by  my  name ;  and  it  shall  re- 
main in  the  midst  of  his  house,  and  it  shall  consume  it, 
with  the  timber  thereof,  and  with  the  stones  thereof." 

2.  As  false  swearing  is  a  notorious  profaning  of  the 
name  of  God,  so  likewise  is  rask  swearing  in  our  com- 
mon and  ordinary  discourse. 

This  is  a  sin  that  greatly  abounds  and  prevails,  and 
often  we  may  see  the  very  soot  of  hell  hang  about  men's 
lips.  Nay,  this  is  the  sin  not  only  of  more  lewd  and  pro- 
fligate wretches,  who  mouth  their  oaths  with  sound  and 
cadence ;  but  of  those,  too,  who  would  be  thought  to  be 
of  better  character.  And  indeed  all  oaths  which  are  con- 
ceived by  any  other  thing  besides  the  great  God,  how 
modest  soever  they  may  be  in  their  sound,  yet  are  more 
impious  in  effect  than  those  louder  ones  which  immedi- 
ately call  God  himself  to  witness ;  and  therefore  the  pro- 
phet speaks  of  it  as  a  most  heinous  and  almost  unpardon- 
able sin,  Jer.  5:7,  "  How  shall  I  pardon  thee  for  this  % 
Thy  children  have  forsaken  me,  and  sworn  by  them  that 
are  no  gods."  For  since  an  oath  is  sacred,  and  a  part 
of  divine  worship,  those  that  swear  by  any  created  thing, 
as  i}iiQ\£  faith,  and  truth,  and  conscience,  are  guilty  not  only 
of  V?iin  swearing,  but  of  idolatiy  too. 

But  some  will  say.  What  so  great  evil  can  there  he  in 
an  oath  so  long  as  it  is  truth  which  they  assert  hy  it?  This 
I  know  is  the  common  reply  and  excuse  of  those  who  are 
guilty  of  this  sin  and  reproved  for  it.    To  this  I  answer, 

1.  Although  what  they  speak  may  be  true,  yet  it  is  a 
most  provoking  sin  so  far  to  debase  the  holy  and  reverend 
name  of  God  as  to  bring  it  to  attest  every  trivial  and  im- 


186  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

pertinent  thing  they  utter ;  and  if  they  swear  by  any  crea- 
ture, it  is  by  so  much  the  worse.  No  oath  is  in  itself  sim- 
ply good  and  voluntarily  to  be  used,  but  only  as  medi- 
cines are,  in  case  of  necessity.  But  to  use  oaths  ordinari- 
ly and  indifferently  without  being  constrained  by  any  co- 
gent necessity,  or  called  to  it  by  any  lawful  authority,  is 
such  a .  sin  as  wears  off  all  reverence  and  dread  of  the 
great  God ;  and  we  have  very  great  cause  to  suspect  that 
where  his  name  is  so  much  upon  the  tongue  there  his  fear 
is  but  little  in  the  heart. 

2.  Though  thou  swearest  what  is  true,  yet  customary 
swearing  to  truths  will  insensibly  bring  thee  to  swear 
falsehoods.  For  when  once  thou  art  habituated  to  it,  an 
oath  will  be  more  ready  to  thee  than  a  truth ;  and  so  when 
thou  rashly  boltest  out  somewhat  that  is  either  doubtful 
or  false,  thou  wilt  seal  it  up  and  confirm  it  with  an  oath 
before  thou  hast  had  time  to  consider  what  thou  hast  said 
or  what  thou  art  swearing ;  for  those  who  accustom  them- 
selves to  this  vice  lose  the  observation  of  it  in  the  fre- 
quency ;  and  if  you  reprove  them  for  swearing,  they  will 
be  ready  to  swear  again  that  they  did  not  swear.  And 
therefore  it  is  well  observed  by  Augustine,  "  We  ought  to 
forbear  swearing  that  which  is  truth,  for  by  the  custom 
of  swearing  men  oftentimes  fall  into  perjury,  and  axe  al- 
ways in  danger  of  it." 

But  now  further  to  dehort  you  from  this  sin  of  common 

swearing,  consider, 

1.  It  is  a  sin  which  hath  very  little  or  no  temptation  to 
commit  it. 

The  two  great  baits  by  which  the  devil  allunes  men  to 

A'ickedness,  are  profit  and  pleasure. 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT.  187 

But  this  common  rash  swearing  is  the  most  unprofitable, 
barren  sin  in  the  world.  What  fruits  brings  it  forth,  but 
only  the  abhorrence  and  detestation  of  all  serious  per- 
sons, and  the  tremendous  judgment  of  Grod  ?  The  swear- 
er gains  nothing  by  it  at  present,  but  only  the  reputation 
of  being  a  devil  incarnate;  and,  for  the  future,  his  gains 
shall  be  only  the  torments  of  those  devils  and  damned 
spirits  whose  language  he  hath  learned  and  speaks.  He 
that  sows  the  wind  of  an  oath,  shall  reap  the  whirlwind 
of  God's  fury. 

Again:  what  pleasure  is  there  in  it?  Which  of  his 
senses  doth  it  please  and  gratify"?  "  Were  I  an  epicure," 
saith  one,  **  I  would  hate  swearing."  Were  tten  resolved 
to  give  themselves  up  to  all  manner  of  sensual  delights, 
yet  there  is  so  Httle  that  can  be  strained  from  this  com- 
mon sin,  that  certainly  unless  they  intend  to  do  the  devil 
a  pleasure  rather  than  themselves,  they  would  never  set 
their  black  mouths  against  heaven,  nor  blaspheme  the 
great  God  who  sits  enthroned  there. 

Ask  them  why  they  indulge  themselves  in  such  a  pro- 
voking sin  :  some  cannot  forbear  out  of  mere  custom  ;  and 
others  are  pleased  with  the  lofty  sound  and  genteel  phrase 
of  an  oath,  and  count  it  a  special  grace  and  ornament 
of  speaking.  And,  what !  Are  these  temptations  ?  Are 
these  such  strong  and  mighty  provocations  that  you  can- 
not forbear  ]  Shall  the  holy  name  of  the  great  God  be 
torn  in  pieces  by  you,  only  to  patch  and  fill  up  the  rents 
of  your  idle  talk  %  If  this  be  the  motive  and  inducement 
that  makes  you  commit  so  great  a  sin,  as  commonly  there 
is  no  other,  know  that  you  perish  as  fools  perish,  and 
sell  your  souls  to  damnation  and  eternal  perdition  for 
very  nothing. 


188  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

Others,  perhaps,  will  plead  for  their  excuse,  that  they 
never  use  to  swear  but  when  they  are  vexed  and  put  into 
a  passion.  But  what  a  madness  is  this,  when  men  anger 
thee,  to  strike  at  God,  and  to  provoke  him  far  more  than 
others  can  provoke  thee  !  If  thou  art  never  so  highly  in- 
censed, why  shouldst  thou  throw  thy  poisonous  foam  in 
God's  face  %  Hast  thou  no  other  way  of  venting  thy  pas- 
sion, but  to  fly  in  God's  face  and  to  revenge  thyself  on 
him  when  men  have  injured  thee  %  Certainly  thy  passion 
can  be  no  more  a  temptation  to  do  this,  than  it  would  be 
to  stab  thy  father  because  thine  enemy  hath  struck  thee. 

2.  It  is  a  most  foolish  sin,  because  it  contradicts  the 
very  end  for  which  they  commit  it. 

The  common  swearer  perhaps  thinks  that  he  shall  be 
much  the  sooner  believed  for  his  oaths ;  whereas,  with  all 
serious  and  judicious  persons,  there  is  nothing  that  doth 
more  lighten  the  credit  of  his  speeches  than  his  rash 
binding  and  confirming  the  truth  of  them  by  swearing. 
For  what  reason  have  I  to  think  that  man  speaks  truth 
who  doth  so  far  suspect  himself  as  to  think  what  he  re- 
lates is  not  credible  unless  he  swear  to  it ;  and  certain- 
ly, he  that  owes  God  no  more  respect  than  to  violate  tho 
sanctity  and  reverence  of  his  name  upon  every  trifling 
occasion,  cannot  easily  be  thought  to  owe  the  truth  so 
much  respect  as  not  to  violate  it ;  especially  considering 
that  there  are  far  stronger  temptations  unto  lying  than 
unto  swearing. 

3.  Consider  that  the  devil  is  the  author  and  father,  not 
of  lying  only,  hut  of  swearing  also.  "Let  your  yea  be  yea, 
and  your  nay,  nay,"  saith  our  Savior ;  "  for  whatsoever 
is  more  than  these,. cometh  of  evil,"  Mat.  5  :  37,  ek  ton 
ponerou  esti,  that  is,  cometh  of  the  evil  one,  who  is  still 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT. 


189 


prompting  the  swearer  and  putting  oaths  upon  the  tip  of 
his  tongue.  '  - 

And  now  to  conclude  this  subject,  I  shall  give  you  some 
rules  and  directions,  by  the  observance  of  which  you  may 
avoid  this  too  common  sin. 

1.  Beware  of  the  first  rudiments  and  beginnings  of  baths. 

And  such  are  a  company  of  idle  words  frequently  used 
in  the  mouths  of  many,  which  formerly  were  bloody  oaths, 
but  are  now  worn  to  rags  and  disguised  into  imperfect 
sounds  and  nonsense.  Few  that  speak  them  know  what 
they  mean ;  but  if  they  did,  certainly  they  would  tremble 
at  such  execrable  words  that  hide  and  dissemble  the 
most  horrid  oaths  that  can  be  uttered :  some  of  them 
being  blasphemous,  as  those  that  are  conceived  by  the 
limbs  of  God ;  and  others  being  idolatrous,  as  those  which 
are  conceived  by  creatures ;  as  in  that  ordinary  by- word 
of  "  Marry,"  which  is  no  less  than  swearing  by  the  Virgin 
Mary.  And  it  is  a  notable  artifice  of  the  devil  to  bring 
such  foolish  and  masked  words  into  common  use,  that 
both  they  may  swear  that  use  them,  although  they  know 
it  not,  and  that,  by  using  themselves  to  unknown  oaths, 
they  may  be  brought  in  time  to  take  up  those  that  are 
known. 

So  also  all  vehement  asseverations  have  in  them  some- 
what of  the  nature  and  are  dangerous  beginnings  of 
oaths ;  and  those  who  accustom  themselves  to  them  will 
in  time  think  them  not  forcible  enough  to  confirm  their 
speeches,  and  so  be  brought  to  attest  them  by  oaths. 
Make  nothing,  therefore,  the  pawn  and  pledge  of  a  truth, 
but  speak  it  out  simply  and  nakedly  as  it  is  in  itself;  and 
this  will  sooner  conciliate  belief  than  the  most  strong 


190  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

and  binding  asseverations  that  thou  canst  invent.  This 
sin  of  swearing  is  strangely  growing  and  thriving  ;  for,  by 
a  customary  using  of  asseverations,  we  shall  insensibly 
upon  every  occasion  be  tripping  upon  an  oath;  and  a 
custom  of  swearing  will  at  length  bring  in  perjury ;  and 
a  custom  of  perjury,  blasphemy ;  and  make  them  deny 
that  God  by  whom  they  have  so  often  forsworn  them- 
selves, and  yet  gone  unpunished.  Beware,  therefore,  that 
you  allow  not  yourselves  any  form  of  asseveration; 
but  let  your  yea  be  yea,  and  your  nay,  nay :  proceed  no 
further,  for  Christ  hath  allowed  you  no  more. 

2.  Subdue,  as  much  as  you  can,  all  inordinate  passion 
and  anger. 

For  anger  is,  usually,  the  cause  and  provocation  of 
oaths  and  blasphemies.  Anger  is  a  fire  in  the  heart;  and 
swearing  is  the  smoke  of  this  fire,  that  breaks  forth  at  the 
mouth  ;  and  those  who  are  violently  hurried  with  this 
passion  usually  find  nothing  so  ready  at  hand  as  an  oath ; 
which,  if  they  cannot  be  revenged  on  him  whom  they  con- 
ceit to  have  done  them  the  injury,  they  fling  against  hea- 
ven itself,  and  thereby  seem  to  take  an  impious  revenge 
upon  the  Almighty  God. 

3.  Labor  to  possess  thy  heart,  and  overawe  it  with  the 
most  serious  considerations  and  apprehensions  of  the  great- 
ness and  majesty  of  God. 

This  will  be  a  good  preservative  to  keep  thee  from 
abusing  and  profaning  his  name  in  common  and  rash 
swearing.  Is  he  the  great  and  terrible  God  of  heaven 
and  earth  ]  and  shall  I  put  such  indignity  upon  him  as 
to  Call  him  from  his  throne  to  witness  every  vanity  and 
trifle  that  I  utter  1  Would  I  serve  any  mortal  man  so, 
whom  I  respect  1  or  would  not  he  account  it  an  affront 


THIRD    COMMANDMENT.  19] 

and  injury  done  him  1  How  much  more,  then,  will  tht 
great  God  be  provoked,  who  is  so  great  and  glorious 
that  it  tires  the  conceptions  of  angels  to  apprehend  his 
majesty  !  How  much  more  will  he  be  provoked  to  have  his 
name,  which  he  hath  commanded  to  be  sacred  and  re- 
verend, daily  rubbed  and  worn  out  between  those  lips 
that  talk  so  many  light,  foolish  and  impertinent  vanities  ! 
There  are  several  other  violations  of  this  Third  Com- 
mandment :  as  hlaspliemy^  rash  vows,  unnecessary  lots, 
&c.  which  being  chiefly  to  be  condemned  upon  the 
same  account  as  swearing  and  a  vain  irreverent  invoking 
the  name  of  God,  I  shall  not  here  treat  of  particularly,  but 
leave  the  sin  and  guilt  of  them  to  be  estimated  in  connec- 
tion with  a  due  consideration  of  the  several  circumstances 
that  attend  them.  Indeed  the  great  positive  duty  required 
in  this  command,  is,  the  reverencing  and  sanctifying  the 
name  of  God  whensoever  we  make  mention  of  him,  or 
of  any  thing  that  relates  unto  him.  But  because  I  have 
in  a  former  treatise*  spoken  concerning  that  subject,  I 
shall  therefore  wave  it  at  present,  and  here  close  the  ex- 
position of  this  Third  Commandment. 

*  On  the  Second  Petition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer 


THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 


^(Remember  tlie  Sabbatli-day^,  to  keep  it  lioly.  Six  days 
sbalt  thou  labor,  and  do  all  tby  work.  But  the  seventh 
day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  liord  thy  God :  in  it  thou  shalt 
not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter, 
nor  thy  man-servant,  nor  thy  maid-servant,  nor  thy 
stranger  that  is  w^ithin  thy  gates.  For  in  six  days  the 
liord  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that  in 
them  is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day  ;  wherefore  the  Lord 
blessed  the  Sabbath-day,  and  hallow^cd  it." 

We  are  now  arrived  to  the  Fourth  and  last  Command- 
ment of  the  First  Table,  and  with  the  exposition  of  this 
I  shall  finish  the  consideration  of  those  duties  which  im- 
mediately concern  the  worship  and  service  of  God. 

We  have  already  observed,  as  a  great  deal  of  wisdom 
and  excellency  in  the  matter  of  each  command,  so  a  great 
deal  of  heavenly  art  in  the  method  and  digestion  of  them. 
And,  upon  serious  reflection  on  both,  we  may  very  well 
conclude  that  they  are  as  well  the  contrivance  of  the  di- 
vine understanding  as  the  engraving  of  his  finger. 

The  first  requires  that  which  is  first  and  principally  to 
be  regarded,  the  inward  veneration  of  the  true  God,  in 
the  dearest  love  and  highest  esteem  and  choicest  affec- 
tions of  a  pious  soul. 

The  second  enjoins  the  external  expression  of  this  re- 
verence, in  the  prostration  of  the  body  and  other  acts  of 
nsible  worship.  For  although  God  chiefly  regards  the 
heart  and  the  frame  and  disposition  of  the  inward  man, 
yet  he  neglects  not  to  observe  the  due  composure  of  the 
body  as  a  testimony  of  the  soul's  sincerity. 

And  as  this  requires  us  to  honor  the  majesty  of  God  in 


r  FOURTlJ   COMMANDMENT.  193 

our  gestures,  so  the  third  requires  us  to  glorify  the  holy 
and  reverend  name  of  God  in  all  our  speeches  and  dis- 
courses :  never  to  make  mention  of  it  but  vdth  that  pre- 
possession of  holy  awe  and  dread  that  might  compose  us 
into  all  possible  gravity  and  seriousness. 

And  because  every  thing  is  beautiful  in  its  season, 
therefore  w^e  have  subjoined  to  all  these  a  particular  com- 
mand concerning  the  time  wherein  God  prescribes  all 
these  to  be  more  especially  tendered  unto  him.  And  this 
is  the  precept  which  we  have  now  under  consideration  : 
Remember  the  Sabbath-day,  to  keep  it  holy. 

In  these  words  we  have  a  command^  and  the  enforce- 
ment ot  it. 

The  command  is,  to  sanctify  the  Sabbath.  And  hero 
this  is  justly  observable :  that,  whereas  all  the  i-est  are 
simply  either  positive  or  negative,  this  is  both.  Remember 
to  keep  it  holy :  and,  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work.  As 
if  God  took  an  especial  care  to  fence  us  in  on  all  sides 
to  the  observance  of  this  precept.  . 

The  enforcement  also  is  more  particular,  and  vdth  great- 
er care  and  instance  than  we  find  in  any  other  command. 
For  God  hath  here  condescended  to  use  three  cogent  ar- 
guments to  press  the  observance  of  this  law  upon  us. 

The  first  is  taken  from  his  own  example,  whom  cer- 
tainly it  is  our  glory  as  well  as  our  duty  to  imitate  in  all 
things  in  which  he  hath  propounded  himself  to  be  our 
pattern  :  The  Lord  rested  the  seventh  day,  and  theiefore 
rest  ye  also. 

The  second,  from  that  bountiful  and  liberal  portion  of 
time  that  he  hath  allowed  us  for  the  affairs  and  business 
of  this  present  life  :  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor,  and  do  all 
thy  work  ;  and  therefore  it  is  but  fit  and  equitable  that 

Commandments.  C) 


194  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

the  seventh  should  be  given  to  God,  w^ho  hath  so  freely 
given  the  rest  to  thee. 

The  third,  from  the  dedication  of  this  day  to  his  own 
immediate  worship  and  service :  The  Lord  blessed  the 
Sabbath-day,  and  hallowed  it.  So  that  it  is  no  less  a  sin 
than  sacrilege,  and  stealing  of  that  which  is  holy,  to  purloin 
any  part  of  that  time  which  God  hath  thus  consecrated  to 
himself,  and  to  employ  it  about  either  sinful  or  secular 
actions. 

I  shall  begin  with  the  command,  Remebiber  the  Sab-  * 

BATH-DAY,    TO    KEEP    IT    HOLY. 

The  word  Sabbath  signifies  rest  and  cessation  from  la- 
bor, and  is  applied  to  several  things. 

Thus  it  signifies  the  temporal  Sabbath,  or  the  recur- 
ring seventh  day  or  year,  which  we  are  now  treating  of. 
And  because  this  was  the  principal  day  of  the  weekj 
therefore  we  find  that  the  whole  week  is  denominated 
from  it  a  Sabbatli.  Luke,  10  :  12  ;  Mat.  28  :  1. 

It  signifies  also  a  spiritual  rest,  a  rest  from  the  slavery 
and  drudgery  of  sin,  and  those  sordid  labors  which  the 
devil,  our  grievous  taskmaster,  exacts  of  us.  And  of  this 
spiritual  Sabbath  the  temporal  one  is  a  sign  and  type.  So 
Exod.  31  :  13,  "■  My  Sabbaths  ye  shall  keep  ;  for  it  is  a 
sign  between  me  and  you,  that  ye  may  know  that  I  am 
the  Lord  that  doth  sanctify  you." 

Again  :  it  is  used  likewise  to  signify  the  eternal  rest  of 
the  blessed  in  heaven,  v/here  they  rest  from  all  their  la- 
bors and  from  all  their  soitows,  in  the  full  fruition  of  the 
ever-blessed  God  and  of  all  blessedness  in  him.  So  the 
apostle,  Heb.  4:9,  "  There  remaineth  a  rest  unto  the 
people  of  God.'*   The  word  is  trctSCATta-iuot,  there  remain- 


FOURTH    COMMANDMENT.  195 

«th  a  SahbatJi,  or  the  celebration  of  a  Sahhatli,  unto  the 
people  of  God. 

It  is  only  of  the  first  of  these,  the  temporal  Sabbath j 
that  I  am  now  speaking. 

And  here  neither  shall  I  speak  of  the  Sabbath  of  years ^ 
when  the  land  was  every  seventh  year  to  rest  from  the 
labor  of  tillage  and  husbandly,  as  we  find,  Lev.  25  :  4, 
"  The  seventh  year  shall  be  a  Sabbath  of  rest  unto  the 
land;''  nor  yet. of  the  greater  Sabbath  of  the  jubilee,  ob- 
served every  fiftieth  year,  at  the  period  of  seven  sabbati- 
cal years,  wherein  all  possessions  and  inheritances  which 
had  been  sold  or  mortgaged  were  again  to  return  to  the 
first  owneirs,  which  Sabbath  you  have  described.  Lev- 
25  :  8,  &c.  But  I  shall  only  treat  of  the  Sabbath  of  days^ 
which  this  commandment  doth  principally  respect. 

And  the  general  heads  upon  which  I  shall  proceed  are 
these  four :  its  primitive  institution ;  its  morality  and  per- 
petual obligation  ;  its  change  from  the  last  to  the  first  day 
of  the  week ;  and  the  manner  how  God  hath  required  it 
to  be  sanctified  by  us.     ~  ^ 

I.  Its  primitive  institution. 

When  the  Sabbath  was  instituted  there  is  some  differ- 
ence between  learned  men. 

Some  date  it  late,  and  refer  its  beginning  to  the  promul- 
gation of  the  law,  or  at  farthest  to  the  sending  of  manna 
to  the  Israelites.  And  they  ground  their  assertion  on  this  : 
that  before  that  time  we  read  not  in  all  the  history  of  the 
patriarchs  and  first  ages  of  the  world  of  any  Sabbath  that 
was  observed  and  sanctified  by  the  holy  fathers  who  then 
lived,  which  doubtless  they  would  not  have  neglected  had 
any  such  command  been  given  them. 


196  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

Others,  who  I  believe  concur  with  the  truth,  date  its 
original  as  high  as  the  creation  of  the  world ;  grounding 
their  opinion  upon  that  unanswerable  testimony,  Gen. 
2:2,  3,  "  On  the  seventh  day  God  ended  his  work, 
which  he  had  made ;  and  God  blessed  the  seventh  day, 
and  sanctified  it."  Now,  that  there  cannot  in  these  words 
be  understood  any  prolepsis,  or  anticipation,  declaring 
that  as  done  then  which  was  done  many  ages  after,  ap- 
pears plainly,  because  God  is  said  to  sanctify  the  Sabbath 
then,  when  he  rested :  but  he  rested  precisely  on  the  sev- 
enth day  after  the  creation;  therefore  that  very  seventh 
day  did  God  sanctify,  and  made  it  the  beginning  of  all 
ensuing  Sabbaths.  So  that  you  see  the  Sabbath  is  but  one 
day  younger  than  man  ;  ordained  for  him  in  the  state  of 
his  uprightness  and  innocence,  that  his  faculties  being 
then  holy  and  excellent,  he  might  employ  them,  especially 
on  that  day,  in  the  singular  and  most  spiritual  worship  of 
God  his  Creator.  And  although  we  find  no  more  mention 
of  the  Sabbath  until  Moses  had  conducted  the  children  of 
Israel  into  the  wilderness,  which  was  about  two  thousand 
four  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  creation ;  yet  it  is 
not  to  be  supposed  that  among  the  people  of  God,  who 
were  very  cai-eful,  as  in  observing  the  law  of  God  them- 
selves, so  in  delivering  it  likewise  to  their  posterity,  that 
the  observance  of  this  law  or  of  this  day  utterly  failed; 
but  it  was  doubtless  continued  among  those  that  feared 
God,  till  it  was  again  invigorated  with  new  authority  by 
the  promulgation  of  it  from  Mount  Sinai — Thus  much  for 
the  institution. 

II.  The  MORALITY  of  the  Sabbath.  Concerning  this 
there  is  a  greater  controversy,  and  of  far  greater  moment. 


FOURTH    COMMANDMENT.  ,'  197 

Some  loose  spirits  contend  that  it  is  wholly  ceremo7iial, 
and  so  was  utterly  abolished  at  the  coming  of  Christ ;  and 
therefore  they  will  not  be  under  the  restriction  of  tV-cir 
liberty  in  observing  any  days  or  times.  Others  again  make 
it  wholly  moral ;  and  affirm  that  the  observance  of  the 
very  seventh  day  from  the  creation  is  a  law  of  nature  and 
of  perpetual  obligation ;  and  therefore  think  themselves 
bound  to  keep  the  Jewish  Sabbath. 

That  I  may  clearly  state  this  obscure  and  difficult 
question,  I  shall  only  premise,  that  those  things  are  said 
to  be  moral  and  of  the  law  of  nature  which  are  in  them- 
selves rational  and  fit  to  be  done,  although  there  were  no 
express  command  to  enjoin  them.  So  that  where  th6re  is 
a  great  equity  in  the  thing  itself,  enough  to  sway  a  ra- 
tional and  honest  man  to  the  doing  of  it,  that  is  to  be  ac- 
counted moral  and  authorized  by  the  law  of  nature.  That 
is  of  positive  right  which  is  observed  only  because  it  is 
commanded,  and  hath  no  intrinsical  goodness  or  reason  in 
itself  to  commend  it  to  our  practice,  but  obligeth  only 
upon  the  injunction  and  authority  of  another.  As  for  in- 
stance :  it  is  naturally  good  to  obey  our  parents,  to  ab- 
stain from  murder,  theft,  adultery,  &c.  to  do  to  others  as 
we  would  be  content  to  be  dealt  with ;  these  things  we 
are  obliged  to  by  the  very  light  of  reason  and  the  princi- 
ples of  nature,  although  there  had  been  no  written  law  of 
God  to  impose  them.  But  then  there  were  other  things  to 
which  God  obliged  some  of  his  people,  that  had  nothing 
to  commend  them  besides  the  authority  of  his  command ; 
and  such  were  the  various  ceremonies  under  the  law ; 
yea,  and  in  innocence  itself,  the  prohibition  given  to  Ad- 
am not  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and 
evil.    The  farmer  sort  are  moral  and  natural  commands : 


398  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

the  latter  positive  and  instituted.    The  former  are  com- 
manded, because  good ;  the  latter  are  good,  because  cora 
manded. 

1.  Certain  it  is  that  a  convenient  portion  of  our  time  is 
due  to  tilt  service  and  worship  of  God  hy  natural  and  moral 
Hght.  For  certainly  it  is  but  fit  and  just  that  he  should 
have  a  large  share  of  our  life  and  time,  vv^ho  hath  given  us 
life  and  time  here  upon  earth,  and  hath  created  us  to  this 
very  end,  that  we  might  serve  and  glorify  him.  Yea,  had 
it  been  propounded  to  ourselves  how  much  we  would 
have  allowed  for  God,  could  we,  without  shame  and  blush- 
ing, have  set  apart  less  time  for  his  service  from  whom 
we  have  all,  than  himself  hath  done  ]  Tliis  I  think  is  by 
•all  agreed  to. 

2.  The  law  of  nature  doth  not  dictate  to  us  any  pai 
ticular  stated  days  to  he  set  apart  for  the  worship  of  God, 
one  more  than  another:  indeed  there  is  no  evident  na- 
tural reason  why  this  day  more  than  that;  why  every 
seventh  day  rather  than  every  sixth,  or  fifth,  or  fourth ; 
for  all  days  being  in  their  own  nature  alike,  reason  can 
find  no  advantage  to  prefer  one  day  before  another.  But 
that  which  is  obligatory  by  the  law  of  nature,  ought  to 
be  plain  and  evident  to  all  men,  or  else  evidently  de- 
ducible  from  some  natural  principles.  Now,  if  we  lay 
aside  the  positive  command  of  God,  there  is  no  one  day 
in  itself  better  than  another ;  and  therefore  there  is  a  me- 
mento prefixed  to  the  command,  Remember  that  thou  heejp 
holy  tlie  Sahhath-day,  which  is  not  added  to  any  other 
precept  •  intimating  to  us  that  the  observance  of  a  special 
day  is  not  a  dictate  of  nature,  but  only  an  imposition  of 
God,  which  he  requires  us  to  remember  and  bear  in  mind. 

3.  That  the  seventh  day  should  be  especially  consecrated 


rOURTH   COMMANDMENT.  199 

to  the  service  and  worship  of  God  is  from  his  positive  will 
and  commandj  and  therefore  is  as  binding  and  forcible  as 
if  it  weie  a  law  of  nature  engraven  on  our  hearts  j  un- 
less the  same  authority  alter  it  that  did  first  enjoin  it. 
For  this  being  a  positive  law,  is  therefore  good  and  neces- 
sary, because  commanded.  And  if  it  had  not  been  re- 
vealed to  us,  we  should  never  have  been  obliged  to  this 
observance,  nor  made  obnoxious  to  punishment  for  fail- 
ing in  it.    Yet  again, 

4.  This  declaration  ^f  the  will  of  God  concerning  the 
sanctijication  of  the  Sahbath  is  attended  with  a  moral  rea- 
son ;  and  therefore  is  not  merely  and  barely  positive,  as 
ceremonial  laws  are.  The  reason  is,  that  God  rested  on 
the  seventh  day ;  and  therefore  we  ought  so  to  do. 
Now,  although  this  reason  carries  not  such  a  natural  evi- 
dence in  it  as  to  have  obliged  us  unless  it  had  been  re- 
vealed; yet,  being  revealed,  we  may  discern  a  certain 
aptitude  and  fitness  in  it  to  oblige  us  to  the  observance  of 
the  seventh  day  rather  than  any  other ;  since  piety  and 
religion  require  that  we  should  imitate  God  in  those 
things  wherein  he  would  have  us  imitate  him.  So  that  T 
account  this  command  to  be  moral-positive :  moral,  in 
that  it  requires  a  due  portion  of  our  time  to  be  dedicated 
to  the  service  and  worship  of  God :  positive,  in  that  it  pre- 
scribes the  seventh  day  for  that  especial  service  which 
the  light  and  law  of  nature  did  not  prefix ;  and  mixed 
of  both,  in  that  it  gives  a  reason  of  this  prescription,  which 
hath  somewhat  of  natural  equity  in  it,  but  yet  such  as 
could  not  have  been  discovered  without  special  and  divine 
revelation. 

Now,  because  the  observance  of  a  Sabbath  hath  thus 
much  x)f  morality  and  of  the  law  of  nature  in  it,  it  is 


200  THE    TElsr    COMMANDMENTS. 

most  certain  that  we  are  bound  to  keep  a  Sahhat/i  as  mucli 
as  the  Jews  were  :  although  not  to  the  circumstance  of  the 
duty.    For, 

(1.)  T/iis  command  was  obligatory,  eve7i  in  paradise  it- 
self, in  the  state  of  innocency;  and  therefore  contains 
nothing  in  it  unworthy  the  state  of  a  christian.  It  is  no 
ceremonial  command,  nor  to  be  reckoned  amongst  those 
tilings  which  were  typical,  and  prefigured  Christ  to  come 
in  the  flesh,  and  therefore,  neither  was  it  abolished  at  his 
coming;  but  still  there  lies  a  strict  and  indispensable  obli- 
gation upon  us  to  observe  a  Sabbath  holy  unto  the  Lord. 

(2.)  The  reasons  of  this  command  are  all  moral  and 
perpetual ;  and  therefore  such  is  the  obligation  of  it  to  us 
christians.  The  equity  is  the  same  to  us  that  it  was  to 
thehi ;  namely,  that  we  should  allow  one  day  in  seven  to 
the  worship  of  that  God  who  so  liberally  allows  us  six  for 
our  ordinary  affairs :  the  ease  and  refreshment  of  our  bo- 
dies from  the  labors  of  our  callings  is  as  necesary  as  then 
it  was ;  and  we  are  still  as  much  obliged  with  thankful- 
ness to  remember  and  meditate  upon  the  great  mercy  of 
our  creation  as  they  were.  And,  therefore,  if  these  were 
sufficient  reasons  why  the  Jews  should  observe  a  particu- 
lar Sabbath,  they  are  still  as  forcible  and  cogent  with  us. 
Again,  '     '  '.-'      ~      >     '  •  >     . 

(3.)  Our  Savior,  foretelling  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem, bids  his  disciples  ^^ pray  that  their  flight  might  not 
he  in  the  winter,  nor  on  the  Sahhath-day^  Mat.,  24  :  20: 
And  yet  the  destruction  of  that  city  happened  about  forty 
years  after  the  death  of  Christ ;  and  therefore,  certainly 
those  who  were  his  disciples  lay  under  an  obligation  of 
observing  a  Sabbath-day;  because  our  Savior  intimates 
that  it  would  prove  a  heavy  addition  to  their  affliction  if 


FOURTH    COMMANDMENT.  201 

they  should  be  forced  to  take  their  flight  on  the  Sabbath, 
when  they  ought  and  desired  to  be  employed  in  the  spirit- 
ual exercise  of  devotion  an<J  holy  duties  proper  to  that  day. 
But  although  the  sanctifying  of  a  Sabbath  be  thus  obli- 
gatory to  christians,  yet  it  is  not  the  same  Sabbath-day 
to  the  observance  of  which  the  Jews  and  the  people  of 
God,  before  Christ's  coming  into  the  world  were  bound. 
But  it  is,  with  good  ground  and  upon  good  authority, 
changed  fi"om  the  last  to  the  first  day  of  the  week ;  from 
Saturday  to  Sunday ;  called  now  the  Lord's  day,  because 
it  was  that  day  of  the  week  on  which  our  Lord  and 
Savior  rose  from  the  dead :  in  memory  of  which,  and  in  a 
thankful  acknowledgment  of  the  great  mercy  of  our  re- 
demption fully  completed  by  his  resurrection,  the  Sab 
bath  has  been  translated  to  this  day ;  and  is  now  rightly 
celebrated  on  this  day  by  all  the  churches  of  Christ 
throughout  the  world.  ,  i 

III.  This  CHANGE  of  the  Sabbath  is  the  third  head 
which  I  promised  to  speak  of. 

As  the  first  institution  of  the  Sabbath  was  by  divine 
authority ;  so  likewise  is  the  change  of  it.  For  as  God 
rested  from  his  labor  on  the  last  day  of  the  week ;  so 
Christ  rested  from  all  his  labor,  sorrows  and  afflictions  on 
this  day,  in  which  he  fully  completed  the  work  of  our  re- 
demption, and  manifested  it  to  be  perfected  by  his  resur- 
rection from  the  dead.  Therefore,  as  the  Jewish  Sahhath 
was  sanctified  because  of  the  finishing  of  the  work  of  cre- 
ation; so  was  the  christian  Sabbath  because  of  the  finish- 
ing of  the  work  of  redemption  ;  which  is  of  far  greater  im- 
portance, and  therefore  deserves  more  to  be  celebrated 
tlian  the  other.    Christ  sanctified  this  day  by  his  resun'ec- 

9* 


202  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

tion ; ,  and  the  Apostles  confirmed  the  obsiervance  of  it, 
both  by  their  writings  and  uniform  practice;  and  it  hath 
Buch  an  inviolable  stamp  of  divinity  upon  it,  that  now  it  is 
no  more  alterable  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

Nor  is  it  needful  that  an  express  command  of  Christ 
should  be  brought  for  this  change  out  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. It  is  sufficient,  if,  by  necessary  consequence,  it  may 
be  deduced  from  Scripture.    And  yet, 

1.  We  have  express  places  of  the  Scripture  thus  far ^ 
that  the  first  day  of  the  week  is  mentianed  as  the  stated 
time  for  christians  to  meet  together,  to  preach,  to  hear,  to 
break  bread  in  the  Lord's  supper,  and  to  perform  other 
duties  of  religion.  So,  Acts,  20  :  7j  "Upon  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  when  the  disciples  came  together  to 
break  bread,  Paul  preached  unto  them :"  which  plain 
ly  declares  that  the  solemn  meetings  and  assemblies 
of  christians  were  then  on  this  day;  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath beginning  to  wear  out,  and  the  christian  Sab- 
bath, or  the  Lord's  day,  coming  into  its  place  and 
stead. 

Again:  The  public  collections  for  the  poorer  saints 
were  ordained  by  the  apostle  to  be  made  on  this  day. 
"  Now  concerning  the  collection  for  the  saints— upon  the 
first  day  of  the  week  lel^  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in 
store,  as  God  hath  prospered  him."  1  Coi.  16  :  1,  2.  And 
this  very  rule  and  custom  the  apostle  says  he  had  before 
established  in  the  church  of  the  Galatians.  And  why 
should  this  day  be  chosen  for  their  collections,  but  only 
because  the  assemblies  of  christians  Were  held  on  this 
day;  and  so  gave  a  better  conveniency  to  gather  their 
chai*ity  than  at  any  other  time  % 

Again ;  St    John  saith  of  himself,  that  he  was  in  the 


Ij-OURTU    COMMANDMENT.  203 

Spirit  on  the  Lord's  day ;  Rev.  1 :  10;  which  is  no  other  but 
Uiis  our  christian  Sabbath  that  hath  received  this  title  and 
denomination  from  our  Lord  Christ.  For  what  some  say, 
that  St.  John  by  the  Lord's  day  means  no  more  than  the 
day  of  the  Lord's  appearing  to  him  and  reveaHng  those 
many  mysterious  visions,  is  vain  and  scarce  agreeable  to 
the  sense  and  gravity  of  Scripture  expression.  It  sig- 
nifies, tlierefore,  this  day ;  wherein  the  apostle  being,  in  all 
likelihood,  taken  up  with  spiritual  meditations,  God  was 
pleased  to  gratify  him  with  the  revelation  of  those  great 
things  which  were  afterwards  to  take  their  effect  and  ac- 
complishment. 

Put  the  force  of  these  Scriptures  together,  and  they 
will  certainly  amount  to  the  full  proof  of  the  institution  of 
this  first  day  Sabbath.  It  is  called  the  Lord's  day :  it  was 
appointed  and  used  for  the  assemblies  of  the  saints ;  for 
the  preaching  and  hearing  of  the  word,  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Lord's  supper ;  for  the  collection  of  alms 
for  the  relief  of  the  poor  ;  and  this  not  in  one  church  only, 
but  in  other  churches  of  the  saints  ;  and  that  likewise  not 
at  some  solemn  times  only,  but  weekly.  Put  these  to- 
gether, and  what  more  plain  and  evident  proof  can  a  thing 
of  this  nature  admit  of?  :.      . 

2.  A  second  argument  to  prove  this  change  is,  tJie  con- 
stant and  uninterrupted  practice  of  the  church  in  all  ages^ 
from  the  time  of  man' s  redemption  by  the  death  and  resur- 
rection of  Christ  to  this  very  present  day. 

Christ  himself  began  the  sanctification  of  it  by  his 
resun-ection ;  on  the  same  day  he  appeared  to  his  dis- 
ciples ;  and  he  himself  infomis  them  of  his  resurrection, 
John,  20  :  19. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  practice  of  the  Apostles ; 


204  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

and  for  the  practice  of  the  primitive  church  immediately 
after  the  Apostles,  all  ecclesiastical  histories  with  one  con- 
sent testify  that  the  solemn  assemblies  of  christians  were 
held  on  this  day :  which  unvaried  custom  and  observance 
of  the  church  of  Christ  ought  to  be  of  great  weight  with 
all  solid  and  serious  christians.  And  if  we  add  to  this 
likewise  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  most  holy  and  spi- 
ritual men,  who  are  generally  found  to  be  the  most  strict 
observers  of  the  Lord's  day;  and  lastly,  the  great  bless- 
ing that  God  hath  poured  out  upon  his  people  in  the  plen- 
tiful effusion  of  his  grace  and  Spirit  on  them  in  his  holy 
ordinances  celebrated  on  this  day;  it  will  be  past  all 
question  that  "this  is  the  day  that  the  Lord  hath  made '' 
for  himself,  and  therefore  "  let  us  be  glad  and  rejoice 
therein." 

We  have  thus  considered  the  institution,  morality  and 
cliange  of  the  Sabbath. 

IV.  It  remains  now  only  to  consider  the  sanctipica 

TION    OF    THE    SaBBATH. 

In  treating  this  I  shall  observe  the  same  method  as 
above,  and  satisfy  myself  in  laying  down  positively  what 
Scripture  and  reason  dictate,  without  engaging  in  those 
tedious  disputes  about  it  which  might  make  this  dis- 
course both  unpleasing  and  unprofitable. 

This  commandment  speaks  of  a  twofold  sanctijication 
of  this  day ;  the  one,  which  it  hath  already  received  from 
God;  the  other,  which  it  ought  to  receive  from  man; 
and  the  former  is  given  as  a  reason  of  and  motive  for  the 
latter. 

1.  God  hath  sanctified  the  Sahbath-day.     • 

So  we  have  it,  verse  11,  "  Tlie  Lord  blessed  the  seventh 


FOURTH    COMMANDMENT.  205 

day  and  hallowed  it ;  where  these  two  words  blessed  and 
hallowed  are  only  exegetical  one  of  the  other,  and  carry- 
in  them  the  same  sense  common  to  both. 

Now  God  blessed  and  hallowed  the  Sabbath-day,  not 
by  infusing  any  inherent  quality  of  holiness  into  it ;  for 
neither  days,  nor  places,  nor  any  inanimate  things  are 
subjects  capable  of  real  holiness ;  but,  by  separating  that 
day  from  others,  bestowing  a  higher  dignity  and  privilege 
upon  it,  as  the  day  whereon  both  himself  chose  to  rest 
from  the  works  of  creation,  and  the  day  whereon  he  re- 
quires that  we  also  should  rest  from  the  works  of  our  or- 
dmary  vocations. 

For,  to  hallaw  and  sanctify,  is  to  set  any  thing  apart 
from  profane  and  common  to  sacred  and  spiritual  uses. 
God  therefore  sanctified  the  Sabbath,  when  he  selected  it 
out  of  the  course  of  other  days,  and  set  it  apart  from  the 
common  employments  and  services  of  life ;  ordaining 
that  the  spiritual  concernments  of  his  glory  and  our  sal- 
vation .should  be  therein  especially  transacted.  And  this 
is  the  blessing  which  God  hath  conferred  upon  this  day ; 
for  what  other  benefit  is  a  day  capable  of,  but  only  that 
when  the  other  six  days,  like  the  unregarded  vulgar  of 
the  year,  were  to  be  employed  in  the  low  and  sordid 
drudgery  of  earthly  affairs ;  this  seventh  day  God  hath 
raised  from  the  dunghill  and  set  upon  the  throne,  ap- 
pointing it,  according  to  Ignatius'  phrase,  ten  basilida,  ten 
upaton  ton  emeron,  "  The  prince  and  sovereign  of  days  :'* 
exempting  it  from  all  servile  works  ;  and  designing  it  for 
such  spiritual  and  celestial  employments,  that  were  it  ob- 
served according  to  God's'  command,  eternity  itself  would 
not  have  much  advantage  above  it,  but  only  that  it  is 
longer.    So  that  in  the  ring  and  circle  of  the  week  the 


206  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

Sabbath  is  the  jewel,  the  most  excellent  and  precious  of 
days. 

Again :  God  hath  blessed  and  sanctified  it,  not  only  in 
this  relative  but  also  in  an  eiFective  sense,  as  he  hath  ap- 
pointed it  to  he  the  day  whereon  he  doth  es^pecially  bless  and 
sanctify  us.  Yea,  and  possibly  he  makes  the  means  of 
our  sanctification  to  be  more  effectual  on  this  day  than 
when  they  are  dispensed  on  any  other  common  days. 
God  doth  then  especially  give  out  plentiful  effusions  of 
his  Spirit,  fills  his  ordinances  with  his  grace  and  presence; 
and  we  may  with  a  more  confident  faith  expect  a  great- 
er portion  of  spiritual  blessings  fi-om  him  when  both  the 
ordinances  and  the  day  too  are  his,  than  when,  though 
the  ordinances  be  his,  yet  the  day  is  ours.  In  this  sense 
God  may  be  said  to  bless  and  sanctify  the  Sabbath-day> 
because  he  blesseth  and  sanctifieth  us  on  that  day.  As  the 
Psalmist  most  elegantly  and  in  a  high  strain  of  poetry 
saith  that  God  **  crowneth  the  year  with  his  goodness," 
Psalm  65  :  11 ;  not  that  the  plenty  and  fruitfulness.of  the 
year  is  any  blessing  unto  it ;  but  it  is  a  blessing  unto  men,' 
whose  hearts  God  then  filleth  with  food  and  gladness.  In 
both  these  senses  God  may  be  said  to  bless  and  sanctify 
the  Sabbath. 

2.  As  God  sanctified  the  Sabbath,  so  man  is  command- 
ed to  sanctify  it  also  ;  verse  8,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath- 
day  to  keep  it  holy."  We  sanctify  and  hallow  a  day  when 
we  observe  it  holy  to  the  Lord ;  sequestering  ourselves 
from  common  affairs  to  those  spiritual  exercises  which  he 
hath  required  us  to  be  conversant  about  on  that  day.  God 
sanctifies  it  by  consecration^  we  sanctify  it  by  devotion.  He 
hath  set  it  apart  for  his  worship,  and  on  it  we  ought  to 
set  ourselvep  apart  for  his  worship,  and  to  be  taken  up 


FOURTH    COMMANDMENT.  207 

only  wath  those  things  which  he  hath  either  allowed  or 
prescribed  us.  And  therefore  God  doth  lay  an  especial 
claim  to  this  day.  For  although  he  be  the  Supreme  Lord 
of  all,  and  doth  dispense  and  as  it  were  draw  out  the 
thread  of  time,  and  days,  and  years  for  us,  out  of  the  infi- 
nite bottom  of  his  eternity,  yet  he  doth  not  so  particu- 
larly challenge  any  part  of  it  to  himself  as  he  doth  this 
seventh  day.  Whence  it  is  said,  verse  10,  The  seventh  day 
is  the  Sahbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God.  The  six  foregoing 
days  of  the  week  are  thine,  and  thou  mayest  dispose  of 
them  in  the  honest  works  of  thy  calling,  as  prudence  and 
convenience  shall  direct ;  but  this  day  God  challengeth  to 
himself,  as  his  peculiar  portion  of  our  time,  because  he 
hath  ordained  it  for  his  worship  and  service,  and  there- 
fore it  is  called  his.  And  when  we  devote  ourselves  to  his 
service  aiid  worship,  meditating  on  his  excellency,  magni- 
fying and  praising  his  mercy,  and  invoking  his  holy  name, 
we  then  hallow  this  day,  and  give  unto  God  that  which 
is  God's. 

Thus  you  see  what  it  is  to  sanctify  the  Sabbath ;  both 
as  God  hath  done  it  by  dedication,  and  as  man  ought  to 
do  it  by  observance. 

But  the  great  question  is  in  what  manner  the  Sab- 
bath ought  to  be  sanctified  and  kept  holy :  whether  we 
are  bound  to  the  same  strict  and  rigorous  observance  of 
our  christian  Sabbath  as  the  Jews  were  of  theirs  under 
the  economy  of  Moses. 

And  on  this  I  observe  in  general,  that  as  our  Sabbath 
is  not  the  very  same  with  theirs,  but  only  the  same  ana- 
logically, bearing  a  fit  proportion  to  it ;  so  likewise  our 
eanctification  of  the  Lord's  day,  (for  thus  I  would  rather 


20S  THE  TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

call  it  than  the  Sabbath)  is  not,  in  all  particulars,  the  same 
that  was  required  from  the  Jews,  but  bears  a  proportion 
to  it  in  those  things  which  are  not  ceremonial  nor  burden- 
some to  our  christian  Jiberty.  •         . 

But  more  particularly  :  the  sanctifying  of  this  day  con- 
sists partly  in  abstaining  from  those  things  whereby  it 
would  be  profaned ;  and  partly  in  the  performance  of 
those  things  which  are  required  of  us,  and  tend  to  pro- 
mote the  sanctity  and  holiness  of  it.  And, 

1.  Here  I  shall  lay  down  this  :  that,  in  order  to  our  due 
sanctifying  of  the  Sabbath,  we  ought  to  abstain f torn  the  com- 
mon and  servile  works  of  our  ordinary  callings  and  vocations. 

So  we  have  it  expressly,  verse  10,  In  it  thou  shalt  not 
do  any  work.  And  this  God  prohibits,  not  that  rest  and 
cessation  is  in  itself  acceptable  to  him,  or  any  part  of  his 
worship  and  service,  but  only  because  earthly  employ- 
ments are  an  impediment  and  distraction  to  that  heavenly 
frame  of  spirit  which  we  ought  to  maintain  in  all  the 
parts  and  duties  of  this  day.  The  works  of  our  callings 
arc  not  evil  in  themselves,  but  lawful  and  good ;  and  such 
wherein  on  other  days  we  serve  God,  and  whereon  we 
may  expect  a  blessing  from  him  j  but  yet  our  mind  is  so 
narrow  and  stinted,  that  we  cannot  at  once  attend  them 
and  the  service  of  God  with  the  zeal  and  fei-vor  that  he 
i-equires  j  and  therefore,  that  we  may  be  wholly  employ- 
ed in  his  work,  he  hath  taken  us  off  from  our  own. 

This  prohibition  of  working  on  the  Sabbath  is  strongly 
enforced  by  the  concession  of  six  days  for  our  ordinary 
labor:  a  concession,  I  call  it,  considering  the  indulgence 
granted  to  us.  But  yet  it  is  not  merely  a  concession,  but 
a  command  too  :  Six  days  shalt  thou  lahor,  and  do  all  thv 
work  J  hut  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sahhath  of  the  Lord.  The' 


FOURTH    COMMANDMENT.  209 

exceptive  particle  hut^  intimates  that  none  of  that  work 
which  is  lawful  to  be  done  on  ordinary  days  ought  to  be 
jperformed  by  us  on  the  Sabbath. 

I  know  it  is  a  question  whether  these  words  *'■  Six  days 
fihalt  thou  labor,"  be  a  precept  or  a  permission  only.  To 
me  they  seem  preceptive,  requiring  us  diligently  to  attend 
that  vocation  and  state  of  life  in  which  the  Divine  provi- 
dence hath  set  us,  and  to  perform  the  offices  of  it  with 
care  and  conscience ;  for  it  is  said  thou  shalt  labor,  not 
only  thou  mayest  labor.  And  those  who  contend  that  the 
words  merely  signify  a  permission  of  the  daily  works  of 
our  callings,  open  too  wdde  a  gap  for  sloth  and  idleness  to 
creep  in,  vvdthout  violating  any  commandment,  or  being 
censured  and  condemned  as  sin. 

But  I  shall  not  trouble  you  with  the  disputes  about  this. 
Only  let  me  notice  the  weakness  and  inconsequence  of 
one  inference  commorily  drawn  from  it:  that  if  it  be  a 
divine  precept  that  we  ought  six  days  to  labor,  then  we 
cannot  by  any  constitution  whatsoever  be  taken  off  from 
the  lawftd  works  of  our  callings,  nor  be  obliged  religious- 
ly to  observe  any  other  days  besides  the  Sabbath;  for 
God's  laws  do  not  contradict  themselves,  and  whereinso- 
ever human  laws  contradict  the  divine,  they  are  of  no  force 
nor  validity. 

But  this  argument  fails  in  its  deduction.  For  the  com 
mand,  "  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor,"  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood absolutely  and  unlimitedly^  but  with  a  just  restraint 
and  exception :  that  is.  Thou  shalt  labor  six  days  ordina- 
rily, unless  any  of  them  be  set  apai-t,  either  by  thine 
own  private  devotion  or  by  public  authority,  for  the  im- 
mediate worship  and  service  of  God. 

And  that  this  is  of  necessity  to  be  so  understood,  ap 


210  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

pearsi  if  we  consider  how  many  days  in  the  week  God 
himself  dedicated  in  those  feasts  which  he  commanded  the 
Jews  strictly  to  observe,  notwithstanding  that  they  were 
enjoined  six  days'  labor.  Besides  every  new  moon,  there 
was  the  passover,  in  remembrance  of  their  deliverance 
from  the  bondage  of  Egypt,  and  a  type  of  Christ,  who, 
as  a  lamb  without  spot,  was  offered  up  to  God  for  us. 
Then  the  pentecost  or  the  feast  of  weeks,  fifty  days  after 
the  passover ;  a  memorial  that  the  law  was  given  to  them 
from  Mount  ^inai  fifty  days  after  their  departure  out  of 
Egypt;  typifying  likewise  the  sending  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  inspire  the  apostles  with  heavenly  truth,  and  to  enable 
them  to  preach  the  Gospel,  which  is  the  law  of  Jesus 
Christ,  which  was  accordingly  fulfilled  fifty  days  after 
Christ  our  great  Passover  was  sacrificed  for  us.  Then, 
thirdly,  the  feast  of  atonement  or  expiation,  which  was 
celebrated  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh  month,  where- 
on the  high-priest  was  solemnly  to  confess  unto  God  both 
his  own  sins  and  the  sins  of  the  people,  and  to  make 
atonement  for  them ;  typifying  thereby  the  full  expiation 
and  atonement  of  our  sins  made  by  our  High-priest  Jesus 
Christ.  And  lastly,  there  was  ordained  likewise  the  feast 
of  tabernacles,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  same  month ; 
and  this  was  to  last  not  only  one  day,  but  a  whole  week 
together,  and  was  instituted  to  be  a  memorial  to  them  of 
their  journey  through  the  wilderness,  wherein  for  forty 
years  they  lived  in  tents  and  tabernacles.  All  these  feasts 
we  find  appointed  by  God  himself,  and  imposed  upon  the 
Israelites.  Lev.  23. 

And  not  only  did  they  account  themselves  obliged  to 
keep  these  days  holy  which  were  enjoined  by  the  divine 
command,  but  those  also  which  were  appointed  by  human 


PDURTU  xjommandMent.  213 

authority.  Such  were  the  feast  of  purim,  to  be  kept  two 
days  successively,  in  remembrance  of  their  deUverance 
from  the  malicious  and  bloody  designs  of  Haman,  Esther, 
9:21;  and  the  feast  of  the  dedication  of  the  temple,  first  ob- 
served at  the  rebuilding  of  their  temple  after  their  return 
from  the  Babylonish  captivity,  as  you  may  read,  Ezra, 
6  :  16 ;  and  from  that  time  perpetuated  unto  the  days  of 
our  Savior  Christ ;  who,  though  it  were  but  of  human  and 
ecclesiastical  institution,  yet  was  pleased  to  honor  that  so- 
lemnity vsdth  his  presence.  John,  10  :  22.  Besides,  we 
frequently  read  of  fasts,  both  personal  and  national,  ap- 
pointed upon  some  emergent  occasions,  to  appease  and 
divert  the  wrath  of  God  ;  as  the  fast  of  the  fifth  and  the 
seventh  month  for  seventy  years  together.  Zech.  7  :  5. 
And  the  like  to  these,  without  doubt,  either  our  own  pri-- 
vate  devotion  or  the  public  authority  of  the  nation  may, 
in  the  like  circumstances,  impose  on  us  without  violating 
this  command  of  six  days*  labor. 

But  although  this  six  days*  labor  was  not  so  strictly  re- 
quired as  not  sometimes  to  admit  the  intervention  of  a 
holy  rest,  yet  the  seventh  day's  rest  was  so  exactly  to  be 
observed  as  not  to  admit  any  bodily  labor  or  secular  em- 
ployment- God  would  not  have  this  holy  rest  disturbed 
by  the  tumultuous  affairs  and  business  of  life  ;  and  we  find 
this  command  strictly  enforced  by  the  double  sanction 
both  of  a  promise  and  threatening,  Jer.  17,  from  verse  24 
to  the  end :  "  If  ye  diligently  hearken  unto  me,  saith  the 
Lord,  to  bring  in  no  burden  through  the  gates  of  this  city 
on  the  Sabbath-day,  but  hallow  the  Sabbath-day,  to  do  no 
work  therein;  then  shall  there  enter  into  the  gates  of  this 
city,  kings  and  princes  sitting  upon  the  throne  of  David— 
and  this  city  shall  remain  for  ever.     But  if  you  will  not 


312  THE    TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 

hearken  unto  me  to  hallow  the  Sabbath-day — then  will  I 
kindle  a  fire  in  the  gates  thereof,  and  it  shall  devour  the 
palaces  of  Jerusalem,  and  it  shall  not  be  quenched."  Yea, 
God  was  so  accurate  about  this,  that  he  descends  to  a  par- 
ticular prohibition  of  several  sorts  of  work  which  he 
would  not  have  to  be  done'on  the  Sabbath-day.  On  that 
day  the  Israelites  were  not  to  gather  manna,  Exod.  16  %' 
26  ;  nor  to  gather  in  their  harvest,  Exod.  34  :  21 ;  nor  to 
buy  or  sell,  Neh.  10  :  31 ;  nor  to  tread  the  wine-press, 
Neh.  13  :  15;  nor  so  much  as  to  gather  sticks,  Numb. 
15  :  32 ;  nor  to  go  from  their  places  of  abode  to  provide 
themselves  food,  Exod.  16  :  29  ;  yea,  so  strictly  were  they 
tied  to  the  observance  of  this  Sabbath,  that  they  might 
not  so  much  as  kindle  a  fire,  Exod.  35  :  3,  "  Ye  shall  kin- 
dle no  fire  throughout  your  habitations  on  the  Sabbath- 
day."  Unto  all  these  prohibitions  from  God  the  Jews 
added  many  superstitious  and  ridiculous  ones  of  their 
own,  not  grave  enough  to  be  here  mentioned ;  whereby 
they  made  that  burden  which  was  before  heavy,  to  be  al- 
together insupportable  by  their  foolish  and  vain  traditions. 
.  Now  the  great  question  is.  How  far  these  prohibitions 
concern  us,  and  whether  we  are  obliged  to  the  punctual  ob- 
servance of  them,  as  the  Jews  were. 

To  this  I  answer  in  the  negative,  that  we  are  not,  for 
we  are  bound  to  nothing  by  the  law  of  Moses,  but  only 
what  was  of  moral  and  natural  right  in  that  law.  As  for 
other  ordinances  which  were  positive,  we  are  set  free  from, 
them  by  that  liberty  which  Jesus  Christ  hath  purchased 
for  and  confeiTed  upon  his  church.  We  do  not  celebrate 
the  Lord*s  day  itself  upon  any  obligation  laid  upon  us  by 
the  letter  of  this  fourth  commandment,  (for  that  expressly 
enjoins  the  seventh  day  from  the  creation,  whereas  ours  is 


FOURTH    COMMANDMENT.  213 

the  eighth,)  but  only  from  the  analogy  and  proportion  of 
moral  reason,  which  requires  that  a  due  and  convenient 
portion  of  our  time  should  be  separated  to  the  service  and 
worship  of  God.  But  for  the  fixing  of  the  very  day,  why 
it  should  be  this  rather  than  any  other,  we  acknowledge 
It  to  proceed  from  the  consecration  of  it  by  our  Savior's 
resurrection,  the  institution  of  the  apostles,  and  the  con- 
sequent practice  of  the  universal  church  of  Christ  in  all 
ages,  as  I  have  already  declared.  And  therefore  should 
we  as  scrupulously  and  nicely  observe  it  in  all  circumr 
stances  as  the  Jews  did  their  Sabbath,  possibly  it  would 
not  be  a  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath,  but  a  fond  and 
groundless  superstition.  /  dv^.i. 

The  Lord's  day  is  therefore  to  be  observed  only  in 
things  that  are  in  themselves  moral  and  rational.  Nor  will 
this  give  any  scope  to  the  libertinism  of  those  who  would 
wrillingly  indulge  themselves  either  in  worldly  affairs  or 
loose  recreations  on  this  day.  For  it  is  moral  and  rational 
that  the  whole  of  that  day  which  is  set  apart  for  the  wor- 
ship of  God  should  be  employed  in  his  worship.  This 
likewise  is  moral  and  of  spiritual  obligation,  that  we  do 
not  our  own  pleasure  nor  speak  our  own  words  on  his  holy 
day,  as  the  prophet  expresseth  it,  Isaiah,  58  :  13. 

This  obligeth  us  christians  as  well  as  the  Jews.  For  if 
a  day  be  dedicated  to  God,  certainly  every  part  and  par- 
cel of  it  belongs  to  him,  and  we  ought  to  rest  from  all  our 
worldly  employments  that  might  steal  away  our  thoughts 
and  affections  from  God,  or  indispose  us  to  his  spiritual 
worship  and  service. 

But  yet  this  extends  not  to  those  small  punctilios  of 
gathering  sticks,  kindling  a  fire  and  preparing  food  for  our- 
selves, for  these  things  doubtless  may  be  done  without  being 


214  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

any  moral  impediments  to  our  piety  and  devotion  on  this 
day.    Yea,  they  may  be  moral  helps  and  furtherances  to  it. 

For  notwithstanding  this  rest  and  cessation  from  labor 
which  is  required  on  the  Lord's  day,  yet  three  sorts  of 
works  may  and  ought  to  be  performed  on  that  day,  how 
great  soever  our  bodily  labor  may  be  in  doing  them.  And 
these  are  works  of  piety,  works  of  necessity,  and  works 
of  charity.        '■^- "  •'-  '-^  , .        - 

(1.)  Works  o£  piety  are  to  be  performed  on  the  Lord's 
day;  yea,  on  this  day  especially,  as  being  the  proper 
work  of  the  day.       "^^  '}^  .  ^ 

And  such  are  not  only  those  which  consist  in  the  inter- 
nal operations  of  the  soul,  as  heavenly  meditations  and 
spiritual  affections ;  but  such  also  as  consist  in  the  ex- 
ternal actions  of  the  body,  as  oral  prayer,  reading  the 
Scriptures,  and  preaching  the  word.  Yea,  on  this  day 
are  ministers  chiefly  employed  in  their  bodily  labor  and 
spending  of  their  spirits  :  yet  it  is  far  from  being  a  profa- 
nation of  the  Lord's  day ;  for  holy  works  are  most  proper 
for  holy  days.  And  not  only  are  such  works  to  be  per- 
s formed  on  the  Lord's  day,  but  they  were  enjoined  also 
on  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  Therefore  saith  our  Savior, 
Mat.  12  :  5,  "  Have  ye  not  read  in  the  law,  how  that  on 
the  Sabbath-days  the  priests  in  the  temple  profane  the 
Sabbath,  and  yet  are  blameless  ?"  This  word,  therefore,  of 
profaning  the  Sabbath,  is  not  to  be  understood  as  if  they 
did  what  was  unlawful  to  be  done  on  that  day ;  but 
only  of  the  hard  labor  they  had  in  killing  and  jlaying,  and 
dividing  and  boiling  and  burning  the  sacrifices  in  the 
temple  ;  which,  had  they  not  been  instituted  parts  of  God's 
worship,  had  been  jh-ofanations  of  the  Sabbath ;  but, 
being  commanded  by  God,  were  so  far  from  being  profa- 


FOURTH    COMMANDMENT.  215 

nations,  that  they  were  a  sanctification  of  that  day,  and 
therefore  the  priests  were  blameless.  On  this  account 
likewise  were  Sabbath-days'  journeys  permitted  to  the 
JeAvs :  which  though  they  were  not  actions  of  piety  in 
themselves,  yet  were  they  actions  tending  towards  piety, 
that  those  who  were  remote  from  the  places  of  worship 
might  assemble  themselves  together  to  hear  the  Scrip- 
tures read  and  expounded  to  them.  This  appears,  2 
Kings,  4  :  23,  where  the  husband  of  the  Shunamitish  wo- 
man expostulates  with  her  :  **  Wherefore  wilt  thou  go  to 
.  the  prophet  to-day  1  It  is  neither  new  moon  nor  Sabbath." 
Whence  it  may  be  clearly  collected,  that  they  were  per- 
mitted to  travel  a  certain  space  to  attend  upon  the  wor- 
ship and  service  of  God.  This  Sabbath-day's  journey 
some  limit  to  a  mile  ;  others  to  two,  the  distance  of  the 
utmost  part  of  the  camp  of  Israel  from  the  tabernacle  of 
■the  congregation.  But  with  very  good  reason  it  may  be 
thought  that  the  Sabbath-day's  journey  was  any  distance 
from  the  place  of  their  abode  to  the  next  synagogue  ; 
which  commonly  not  being  above  a  mile  or  two,  that  dis- 
tance was  called  a  Sabbath-day's  journey. 

So  that  it  appears  that  works  of  piety,  or  works  imme- 
diately tending  to  piety,  may  lawfully  be  performed  with 
the  strictest  observance  of  the  Lord's  day. 

(2.)  Not  only  works  of  piety,  but  works  of  necessity  and 
of  great  convenience  may  also  be  done  on  the  Lord's  day. 

And  they  are  such  without  which  we  cannot  subsist,  or 
not  well  subsist;  therefore  we  may  quench  a  ra,ging  fire, 
prevent  any  great  and  notable  damage  that  would  happen 
either  to  our  persons  or  estates,  fight  for  our  own  de- 
fence or  the  defence  of  our  country,  without  being  guilty 
of  the  violation  of  this  day :  concerning  the  last  of  which 


216  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

iistory  informs  us  that  the  Jews  were  so  scrupulous  as 
to  suffer  themselves  to  be  assaulted  and  slain  by  their 
enemies,  rather  than  they  would  on  this  day  lift  up  a  wea- 
pon to  repel  them,  till  Matthias  persuaded  them  out  of 
this  superstition.  1  Maccabees,  2 :  40.  And  not  only 
those  works  which  are  of  absolute  necessity,  but  those 
likewise  which  are  of  great  conveniency  may  lawfully  be 
done  on  the  Lord's  day,  such  as  kindling  a  fire,  prepar- 
ing food,  and  many  other  particulars  too  numerous  to 
be  mentioned.  We  find  our  Savior  defending  his  disciples 
against  the  exceptions  of  the  pharisees  for  plucking  the 
ears  of  corn,  rubbing  them  in  their  hands,  and  eating 
them  on  the  Sabbath-day.  Mat.  12  :  1,  &c.  Only  let  us 
take  this  caution,  that  we  neglect  not  the  doing  of  those 
things  till  the  Lord's  day,  which  might  well  he  done  before, 
and  then  plead  necessity  or  convenience  for  it ;  for  if  the 
necessity  or  convenience  were  such  as  might  have  been 
foreseen,  our  christian  prudence  and  piety  ought  to  have 
provided  for  it  before  this  holy  day ;  so  that  we  might 
wholly  attend  on  the  immediate  service  of  God  in  it  with 
as  few  avocations  and  impediments  as  are  possible. 

(3.)  Another  sort  of  works  that  may  and  ought  to  be 
done  on  the  Lord's  day,  are  the  works  of  charity  and 
mercy.  '  •. .    ■   •••■•-.■   ''.:■:...       r, 

Foi  indeed  this  day  is  instituted  for  a  memorial  of 
God's  great  mercy  towards  us  ;  therefore  in  it  we  are 
obliged  to  show  charity  and  mercy  :  charity  towards  men, 
and  mercy  to  the  very  beasts  themselves.  Hence,  although 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  was  so  strictly  enjoined  the 
Jews,  yet  was  it  to  give  place  to  the  works  of  mercy 
whensoever  a  poor  beast  did  but  stand  in  need  of  it.  So 
Mat.  12  :  11,  "  What  man  shall  there  be  among  you,  that 


FOURTH    COMMANDMENT.  217 

shall  have  one  sheep,  and  if  it  fall  into  a  pit  on  the  Sab- 
bath-day, will  not  lay  hold  on  it  and  lift  it  out  ?"  And  so 
again,  Luke,  13  :  15,  "Doth  not  each  one  of  you  on  the 
Sabbath  loose  his  ox  or  his  ass  from  the  stall  and  load 
him  away  to  watering  ]"  Yea,  and  this  the  very  heathens 
observed  on  their  festivals ;  when  other  works  were  for- 
bidden, yet  works  of  mercy  were  expressly  allowed,  and 
by  name  the  helping  of  an  ox  out  of  a  pit.*  Works  ot 
mercy  therefore  are  to  be  done  even  to  beasts  themselves, 
whatsoever  labor  may  be  required  to  do  them  ;  and  how 
much  more  then  works  of  charity  to  men  like  ourselves  ! 
which  charity  is  to  be  shown  either  to  their  souls  or  theii 
bodies ;  for  both  many  times  are  extremely  miserable 
To  their  souls,  in  instructing,  advising,  exhorting,  reprov- 
ing, comforting  and  counselling,  and  praying  for  them ; 
and  if  in  any  thing  they  have  offended  us,  freely  forgiving 
them :  this  indeed  is  a  work  of  charity  proper  for  the 
Lord's  day,  a  work  highly  acceptable  to  God,  and  the 
best  way  that  can  be  to  sanctify  it.  Neither  are  we  to 
forbear  any  work  of  charity  to  their  bodies  and  outward 
man  ;  hence  our  Savior  severely  rebukes  the  superstitious 
hypocrisy  of  the  pharisees,  who  murmured  against  him  as 
a  Sabbath-breaker  because  he  had  healed  some  of  theii 
infirmities  on  the  Sabbath-day.  Luke,  13  :  14-lG.  "The 
ruler  of  the  synagogue  said  unto  the  people  with  in- 
dignation, because  that  Jesus  had  healed  on  the  Sab- 
bath-day, there  are  six  days  in  which  men  ought  to  work  i 
in  them  therefore  come  and  be  healed,  and  not  on  the 
Sabbath-day."  See  how  our  Lord  takes  him  up.  *^  Thou 
hypocrite !  doth  not  each  one  of  you,  on  the  Sabbath, 

■*  Macrob.  Saturn,  lib.  1.  cap.  16. 
GommandmeTrta.  ,  1 0 


218  .  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

loose  his  ox  ?  &c.  And  ought  not  this  woman,  who  is  a 
daughter  of  Abraham,  to  be  loosed  from  this  bond  on  the 
Sabbath-day  V  And  so  again.  Mat.  12  :  10,  Christ  healeth 
a  man  that  had  a  withered  hand,  and  justifieth  this  work 
of  charity  to  this  man  by  their  works  of  mercy  to  their 
beasts;  and  asserts,  verse  12,  "  It  is  lawful  to  do  well  on 
the  Sabbath-days."  Yea,  he  appeals  to  their  very  con- 
sciences in  this,  whether  a  benefit  done  to  a  poor  helpless 
creature  could  be  counted  a  breach  and  violation  of  the 
Sabbath,  Mark,  3  :  4,  "Is  it  lawful  to  do  good  on  the 
Sabbath-days,  or  to  do  evil  ]  to  save  life,  or  to  kill  ?" 
Certainly  it  is  a  right  Sabbath-day's  work  to  do  good  ; 
and  to  put  ourselves  to  any  work  and  labor  that  may  tend 
to  the  saving  of  life  or  easing  of  pain,  or  healing  the 
diseases  and  sickness  of  our  brother.  And  our  Savior 
hath  told  us,  Mark,  2  :  27,  **  That  the  Sabbath  was  made 
for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  The  strict  and 
punctual  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  to  give  place 
whensoever  the  exigence  or  good  of  our  neighbor  doth 
require  it ;  for  God  prefers  mercy  before  sacrifice.         -  • 

Thus  you  see  what  rest  is  required  from  us  on  the 
Lord's  day,  and  what  works  may  be  done  on  it  without 
any  violation  of  the  law  or  profanation  of  the  day.  And 
this  is  the  first  thing  in  order  to  our  sanctifying  the  Sab- 
oath,  to  rest  from  the  common  and  servile  works  of  our 
ordinary  callings  and  vocations.   But, 

2.  Another  thing  in  which  the  sanctification  of  the  Sab- 
Datli  doth  especially  consist,  is  a  diligent  and  conscientious 
attendance  upon  all  the  ordinances  of  God  and  the  duties  of 
his  worship  appointed  to  he  performed  on  this  day,  and  that 
whether  in  public,  or  in  private,  or  in  secret. 

(1.)  Consider  what  duties  you  are  to  be  engaged  in  in  tlie 


FOURTH    COMMANDMENT.  219 

public  and  solemn  worship  of  God  on  this  day  y  for  in  them 
a  great  and  principal  part  of  the  sanctification  of  it  doth 
consist.  '  •  ,  ^ 

This  I  mention,  in  the  first  place,  as  of  prime  import- 
ance. For  certainly  as  long  as,  through  the  mercy  of  God, 
we  have  the  public  and  free  dispensation  of  the  Gospel, 
we  ought  not  to  slight  or  turn  our  backs  upon  this  visible 
communion  of  the  church ;  but  to  honor  and  own  the 
freedom  of  the  Gospel  by  our  constant  attendance  on  the 
dispensation  of  it ;  lest,  despising  the  mercy  of  God  in 
giving  them  to  us  so  publicly,  we  provoke  him,  at  length, 
most  justly  to  necessitate  us  to  those  retirements  which 
now  so  very  many,  out  of  sloth  or  faction,  do  so  much  af- 
fect. I  pray  God  that  this  prove  not  the  sad  and  direful 
consequence  of  the  contempt  that  is  cast  upon  public 
worship  by  some  persons,  whose  only  study  and  business 
it  is  to  divide  Christ,  and  make  rents  and  schisms  in  his 
body  the  church. 

The  public  duties  which  are  necessary  to  the  right  sanc- 
tifying of  the  Lord's  day  are  these  : 

Affectionate  prayer ^  in  joining  with  the  minister,  who  is 
our  inouth  to  God^  as  well  as  God's  mouth  to  us. 

For  as  he  is  intrusted  to  deliver  his  sovereign  will  and 
commands,  so  likewise  is  he  to  present  our  requests  to 
the  throne  of  his  grace.  We  ought  heedfuUy  to  attend  to 
every  petition,  to  dart  it  up  to  heaven  with  our  most 
earnest  desires,  and  to  close  and  seal  it  up  with  oui 
atfectionate  Amen,  so  be  it.  For  though  it  be  the  minister 
alone  that  speaks,  yet  it  is  not  the  minister  alone  that 
prays,  but  the  whole  congregation  by  him,  and  with  him  ; 
and  whatsoever  petition  is  not  accompanied  with  thy  most 
sincere  and  cordial  affections,  it  is  as  much  mocking  of 


220  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

God  as  if  thine  own  mouth  had  uttered  it  without  the 
concurrence  of  thy  heart,  which  is  most  gross  hypocrisy. 
Consider  what  promises  are  made  to  particular  christians 
when  they  pray  singly  and  By  themselves  :  "  Whatsoever 
ye  shall  ask  the  Father  in  my  name,  he  will  grant  it 
you."  John,  15  :  16,  and  16  :  23.  What  great  preva- 
lency  then  must  the  united  prayers  of  the  saints  have, 
when  they  join  interests,  and  put  all  the  favor  that  each 
of  them  hath  at  the  throne  of  gi-ace  into  one  common 
stock !  When  we  come  to  public  prayer,  we  are  not  to 
come  as  auditors  but  as  actors :  we  have  our  part  in  it, 
and  every  petition  that  is  spread  before  God  ought  to  be 
breathed  from  out  very  hearts  and  souls ;  which  if  we 
affectionately  perform,  we  may  have  good  assurance  that 
what  is  ratified  by  so  many  votes  and  suffrages  here  on 
earth  shall  likewise  be  confirmed  in  heaven.  For  our 
Savior  hath  told  us,  Matt.  18  :  19,  that  "  if  two  shall  agree 
together  on  earth  as  touching  any  thing  that  they  shall 
ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  by  his  Father  which  is  in 
heaven." 

Our  reverent  and  attentive  hearing  of  the  word  of  God, 
either  read  or  preached,  is  another  public  duty  necessary 
to  the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath. 

This  was  observed  also  in  the  times  of  the  law,  before 
Christ's  coming  into  the  world.  Acts,  15:21,  "  Mosea 
of  old  time  hath  in  every  city  them  that  preach  him,  be- 
ing read  in  the  synagogues  every  Sabbath-day."  Their 
synagogues  were  built  for  this  very  purpose;  and  as 
their  temple  was  the  great  place  of  their  legal  and  cere- 
monial worship,  so  these  were  for  their  moral  and  natu- 
ral worship.  In  the  temple  they  chiefly  sacrificed ;  and 
hi  their  synagogues  they  prayed,  read,  and  heard.    And 


FOURTH    COMMANDMENT.  '  221 

every  town,  and  almost  every  village,  had  one  erected  in 
it,  as  now  our  churches  are,  where  the  people  on  the 
Sabbath  day  assembled  together,  and  had  some  portion  of 
the  law  read  and  expounded  to  them.  Much  more  ought 
we  to  give  our  attendance  on  this  holy  ordinance,  now  in 
the  times  of  the  Gospel,  since  a  greater  measure  of 
spiritual  knowledge  is  required  from  us,  and  the  myste- 
ries of  salvation  are  more  clearly  declared  to  us.,  And 
shall  not  that  tongue  wither  and  that  mouth  be  silenc- 
ed which  shall  dare  to  utter  any  thing  in  contempt 
and  vilifying  of  this  holy  ordinance !  For  such  excellent 
things  are  spoken  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  as  ^*  the 
power  of  God,"  1  Cor.  1  :  IS ;  the  salvation  of  those  who 
believe,  v.  21  ;  the  sweet  savor  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  2 
Cor.  2  :  14  ;  that  certainly  whosoever  disparageth  it,  rejects 
against  himself  the  counsel  of  God,  and  neglects  the  only 
appointed  means  for  the  begetting  of  faith,  and  so  for 
the  obtaining  of  eternal  salvation;  for  **  faith  cometh 
by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God."  Rom. 
10  :  17. 

Another  public  duty  pertaining  to  the  sanctifying  of 
the  Lord's  day,  is  singing  of  psalms. 

For  this  day  being  a  festival  unto  God,  a  day  of  spiritual 
joy  and  gladness,  how  can  we  better  testify  our  joy  than 
by  our  melody  1  "Is  any  man  meiTy  ]"  saith  St.  James, 
chap.  5  :  13,  "  let  him  sing  psalms."  And  therefore,  let 
men  object  to  this  as  they  please,  yet  certainly  it  is  a 
most  heavenly  and  spiritual  duty.  The  holy  angels  and 
the  spirits  of  just  men  in  heaven  ar6  said  to  sing  eternal 
hallelujahs  unto  the  great  King ;  and  if  our  Sabbath  be 
typical  of  heaven,  and  the  work  of  the  Sabbath  represents 
to  us  the  everlasting  work  of  these  blessed  spirits,  how 


S22  THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

can.  it  be  better  done  than  when  we  are  singing  forth  the 

praises  of  Him  that  sits  upon  the  throne,  and  of  the  Lamb 

our  Redeemer  ?    This  is  to  join  with  the  heavenly  choir 

in  their  heavenly  work  ;   and  to  observe  a  Sabbath  here, 

as  like  that  eternal  Sabbath  there,   as  the  imperfection 

of  earth   can   resemble   the    glory    and   imperfection  of 

heaven.       .  h  r;  \:::^    r;A.>    :-%     - 
.f-      .  . 

Another  public  duty  belonging  to  the  sanctifying  of  the 
Lord's  day,  is  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  espe- 
cially that  of  the  hordes  supper. 

And  therefore  it  is  mentioned,  Acts,  20  :  7,  "Upon 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  disciples  came  togeth- 
er to  break  bread,"  that  is,  to  partake  of  the  holy  com- 
munion of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  *'  Paul  preached 
unto  them:"  which  intimates  that  the  primary  intent 
of  their  assemblies  was  to  receive  the  Lord's  supper ; 
and  that  upon  occasion  of  this  the  Apostle  instructed 
them  by  preaching.  It  is  most  evident  by  all  the  records 
of  the  church,  that  it  was  the  apostolic  and  primitive 
custom  to  partake  of  this  most  holy  ordinance  every 
Lord's  dayi  and  that  their  meetings  were  chiefly  design- 
ed for  this ;  to  which  were  annexed  prayer  and  preach- 
ing. I  am  afraid,  sirs,  that  one  of  the  great  sins  of  our 
age  is  not  only  the  neglect  and  contempt  of  this  ordinance 
by  some,  but  the  seldom  celebrating  it  by  all.  The  apos- 
tle, where  he  speaks  of  this  holy  institution,  intimates 
that  it  should  be  frequently  dispensed  and  participated,  I 
Cor.  11  :  26,  "As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink 
this  cup."  Let  us  consider,  then,  what  dishonor  they  re- 
flect on  Christ,  who,  although  this  ordinance  be  too  seldom 
administered,  yet  either  totally  withdraw  themselves  from 
it,  or  very  rarely  partake  of  it.    I  shall  no  longer  insist 


FOURTH    COMMANDMENT.  223 

on  this,  but  leave  it  to  God  and  your  own  consciences. 

Thus  much  concerning  the  sanctification  of  the  Lord's 
day  in  the  public  duties  of  his  worship  and  service. 

But  what !  hast  thou  no  Sabbath-work  to  do  after  thou 
retumest  from  the  congregation  and  public  assemblies  ? 
Yes,  certainly,  the  day  is  not  done  when  the  public  as- 
sembly disperses :  the  whole  of  it  is  holy  to  the  Lord. 
Therefore, 

When  you  return  every  one  to  your  families,  there  are 
private  and  family  duties  to  be  performed. 

Walks  and  visits  are  not  to  be  the  evening-work  of  the 
Sabbath;  but  holy  and  spiritual  conferences  are  then 
proper,  either  to  bring  to  your  remembrance  the  truths 
you  before  have  heard,  or  to  engage  your  own  hearts,  or 
the  hearts  of  others,  to  admire  and  magnify  God  for  all 
his  great  wonders  of  providence  and  redemption.  Indeed, 
if  a  walk  be  thus  improved,  it  may  be  a  walk  to  heaven. 
So  we  find  the  two  disciples,  who  on  this  day  were  walk- 
ing to  Emmaus,  how  they  entertained  themselves  and 
shortened  their  way  with  spiritual  and  holy  discourse. 
Luke,  24  :  13,  15.  But  they  who  have  families  to  look 
after,  will  be  best  employed  in  sec  ing  that  those  who  are 
under  their  charge  spend  the  vacant  time  of  the  Sabbath 
in  holy  exercises  ;  either  reading  the  Scripture,  or  giving 
an  account  of  what  truths  they  have  been  taught,  or  join- 
ing with  them  in  praise  and  prayer  to  G  od ;  or,  indeed, 
in  all  of  these,  in  their  several  courses  and  order,  till 
night  calls  for  repose,  and  delivers  them  over,  with  a 
sweet  seasoning  and  blessing,  to  the  labor  and  employ- 
ments of  the  ensuing  day  and  week.   And, 

If  there  be  any  spare  time  from  these  public  and  pru 
vate  duties,  then  sanctify  it  by  entering  into  thy  closet, 


224  '  THE    tEiV    COMMANDMENTS. 

and  there  unbosom  thy  soul  before  God  in  secret  prayer, 
spread  thy  requests  before  hhn,  lay  open  thy  wants  and 
desires.  And  though,  perhaps,  thou  art  not  gifted  to  word 
a  prayer,  yet  sigh  and  groan  out  a  prayer ;  for  thy  God 
hears  thee,  and  he  understands  the  language  of  sighs,  and 
knows  the  meaning  of  his  Spirit  in  the  inarticulate  gi'oans 
of  his  children.  Here  likewise  in  secret  meditate  on 
what  thou  hast  heard;  admire  the  glory  of  God  in  his 
works,  the  goodness  of  God  in  his  providences,  the  in- 
finite mercy  of  God  in  his  promises.  Certainly,  medita- 
tion is  one  great  duty  of  a  Sabbath,  without  which,  to 
hear  the  word  of  God  only,  is  but  to  swallow  our  meat 
without  chewing  it.  It  is  meditation  that  makes  it  fit 
for  nourishment ;  this  sucks  the  juice  and  sweetness  out 
of  it,  incorporates  it  into  us,  and  turns  it  into  life  and 
substance. 

Thus  if  we  endeavor  to  sanctify  the  Lord's  day,  the 
Lord  will  sanctify  his  day  and  his  ordinances  to  us,  and 
by  them  convey  so  much  joy  and  comfort  into  our  souls 
that  they  shall  be  a  temporary  heaven  unto  us,  and  fit  us 
for  that  eternal  Sabbath,  where  w«  shall  continually  give 
praise  and  glory  unto  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  tlironej 
and  to  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever. 


^4 


INTRODUCTION 


TO 


THE    SECOND    TABLE 


The  whole  sum  of  practical  religion  consists  either  in 
those  duties  which  immediately  concern  the  worship  and 
service  of  God,  or  those  which  immediately  concern  oui 
converse  with  and  demeanor  towards  men.  Both  are  com- 
pendiously prescribed  in  the  Decalogue  :  the  former  in  the 
first,  the  latter  in  the  second  table  of  the  law. 

I  have  already  finished  the  exposition  of  the  four  pre- 
cepts of  the  first  table,  and  have  discoursed  both  concern- 
ing the  internal  and  also  the  external  worship  of  God. 

It  remains  now  to  consider  the  duties  and  precepts  of 
the  Second  Table;  all  which  concern  man  as  their  primary 
and  immediate  object.  .        '      - 

But  here,  by  the  way,  let  us  observe  the  distance  that 
God  puts  between  himself  and  us.  We  are,  as  it  were, 
set  at  another  table  from  him,  as  being  infinitely  inferior  to 
his  great  and  glorious  majesty. 

First,  he  prescribes  what  concerns  himself;  and  then 
what  concerns  us  :  which  teacheth  us, 

1.  That  in  all  our  actions,  wJieiher  civil  or  sacred^  God 

ought  principally  to  be  regarded — ^his  glory  ought  to  be  our 
10* 


226  iNfRODUCTION  TO  THE  SECOND  TABLE. 

highest  aim  and  end.  This  we  are  to  seek  in  the  first 
place ;  and,  for  the  sake  and  interest  of  this,  we  are  to  pro- 
mote as  far  as  possible  the  good  and  benefit  of  men.  This, 
therefore,  condemns  those  who  disturb  and  pervert  the  or- 
der of  the  law ;  and  instead  of  serving  men  out  of  respect 
to  God,  serve  God  merely  out  of  respeet  to  men. 

2.  This  teacheth  us  to  observe  our  due  distance  from  God. 
lie  challengeth  all  possible  reverence  from  us,  insomuch 
that  he  will  not  permit  so  great  a  disparagement  to  his 
honor  as  to  have  his  concerns  intermingled  and  blended 
with  ours,  no,  not  in  the  same  table.  And  this  checks  the 
rashness  of  those  who  dare  to  rush  in  upon  God  with 
that  insolence  which  is  too  common  among  some  brain- 
sick people,  who  think  that  communion  with  God  consists 
in  a  familiar  rudeness,  and  that  they  never  draw  near 
enough  to  him  unless  they  run  upon  his  very  neck.  But 
this  only  by  the  way. 

In  this  Second  Table  are  contained  six  precepts,  all  en- 
joining our  duty  towards  man ;  who  may  be  considered 
either  as  our  superior,  our  equal,  or  our  inferior.  Our  du- 
ty towards  our  superiors  and  inferiors  is  prescribed  in  the 
first  of  these  six,  and  our  duty  towards  our  equals  in  the 
other  five,  all  which  respect  our  neighbor,  either  in  his 
person  or  in  the  exterior  gifts  of  wealth  and  credit. 

His  person  is  to  be  considered,  either  naturally  or  mys- 
tically. Naturally,  as  he  is  in  himself  and  his  own  person  • 
and  so  the  sixth  commandment  provides  for  his  secu- 
rity.  Thou  shall  not  kill.    Mystically,  as  he  is  in  the  state 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE   SECOND  TABLE.  227 

of  marriage,  which  of  two  makes  one  flesh;  and  so  care  is 
taken  for  him  in  the  seventh  commandment,  Thou  sJialt 
not  commit  adultery.  -  .  ' 

If  we  considet  him  in  respect  to  his  external  gifts  of 
wealth  and  good  name,  we  shall  find  that  the  first  is  fenced 
about  and  secured  by  t^e  eighth  commandment.  Thou 
shall  not  steal.  And  his  credit  and  good  name  is  Secured 
by  the  ninth,  Thou  shalt  not  hear  false  witness  against 
ihy  neiglibor. 

And,  because  the  violation  of  these  laws  by  outward 
and  flagitious  acts  proceeds  from  the  latent  wickedness 
and  concupiscence  of  the  heart,  therefore  God,  who  is  a 
Spirit,  and  whose  law  and  authority  can  reach  even  to  the 
soul  and  spirit,  hath  not  only  prohibited  the  gross  perpe- 
tration of  these  crimes,  but  hath  strictly  forbidden  the  in- 
ward and  secret  intention  of  them,  charging  us  not  to  har- 
bor so  much  as  a  thought  or  desire  towards  them  j  and 
this  we  have  in  the  tenth  commandment.  Thou  shall 
not  covet. 

In  the  due  performance  of  all  these  consists  the  ob- 
servance of  that  second  great  command,  Mat.  22  :  39, 
Thou  shalt  love  thy  neiglibor  as  thyself. 


u.,^     y 


'■^:^'fii\*^*' 


mir-  •     ■ '.  />.,h;  .V  ■.vii 


THE  FIFTH  COMMANDMENT. 


"Honor  tliy  father  and  thy  mother,  that  thy  days  may  b« 
long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth 
tUee."  t        .      -         -  '  . 

This  command  respects  the  mutual  duties  of  superiors 
and  inferiors :  and  here  we  have  a  precept  and  a  promise. 
The  precept  is,  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother;  tlie 
promise,  That  thy  days  may  he  long  in  the  land  which  the 
Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee. 

Here  we  may,  as  formerly  we  have  done,  observe  a 
ray  of  the  infinite  wisdom  of  God  in  the  order  and  method 
of  this  commandment.  For  after  he  had  prescribed  laws 
for  his  own  honor,  his  next  care  is  for  the  honor  of  our  pa- 
rents ;  because  they  are,  next  under  God,  the  authors  and 
original  of  our  life  and  being. 

God,  indeed,  is  properly  and  primarily  our  Father ;  and 
of  him  is  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth  wa/weJ, 
that  is,  of  him  they  are  and  subsist:  "In  him  we"  all 
"live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being."  Earthly  parents 
do  but  convey  to  us  that  being  which  God  had  beforehand 
laid  up  in  store  for  us. 

Hence,  when  our  Savior  bids  us  "  call  no  man  father 
upon  the  earth ;  for  one  is  our  Father,  which  is  in  heaven," 
Mat.  23  :  9,  this  must  not  be  understood  as  though  we 
ought  not  to  give  the  name  and  title  o^  father  to  those 
who  are  our  earthly  parents,  the  "fathers  of  our  flesh," 
as  the  apostle  styles  them,  Heb.  12 :  9  j  but  only  that  their 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENTi  "  ,  22S; 

paternity  is  not  so  original  nor  so  absolute  as  Good's,  who 
is  "tlie  Father  of  our  spirits:"  who  not  only  forms  the 
mass  of  our  bodies  by  his  secret  and  wonderful  power 
and  skill,  but  creates  our  souls,  and  by  his  breath  kin- 
dles in  us  such  sparks  of  ethereal  fire  as  shall  never  be 
quenched  nor  extinct  to  all  eternity.  And  therefore,  though 
we  owe  to  the  fathers  of  our  flesh  honor  and  reverence,  as 
they  are  the  instruments  of  our  being ;  yet  we  owe  much 
more,  even  unlimited  and  boundless  respect  and  obedience 
to  God,  who  is  the  prime  cause  and  author  of  them. 

But  this  word  father  hath  also  another  sense  in  our 
Savior's  speech.  For  the  Jews  were  wont  to  call  their 
doctors  and  instructors  by  the  name  of  fathers ;  and  gave 
up  themselves,  without  hesitation  or  contradiction,  to  be- 
lieve and  follow  their  dictates. 

When  our  Savior  bids  us  call  no  man  father  on  earth, 
his  meaning  is,  that  we  must  not  so  bind  ourselves  either 
to  the  commands  or  doctrines  of  any  man,  as  to  prejudice 
the  authority  which  God,  the  great  and  universal  Pa- 
rent of  all  things,  challengeth  over  us ;  but  our  obedi- 
ence to  their  injunctions,  and  our  belief  of  their  instruc- 
tions, ought  to  be  cautioned  with  a  subordination  to  the 
commands  and  notices  of  the  Divine  will :  yet  we  may  call 
and  honor  others  as  fathers,  by  yielding  them  a  secondary 
respect,  subservient  to  the  honor  and  glory  of  God. 

This  command  of  honoring  our  parents  is  very  large 
and  comprehensive,  and  is  not  to  be  limited  only  to  the 
gi'ammatical  signification  of  the  word,  but  extends  itself 
to  all  that  are  our  superiors.  And  that  appears,  because 
honor  belongs  principally  only  to  God ;  but,  secondanly, 
and  by  way  of  derivation,  to  those  also  whom  God,  ihe 
great  King,  hath  dignified,  and  made  as  it  were  nobles  in 


230  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

his  kingdom.  For  as  the  king  is  the  fountain  of  honor 
within  his  dominions ;  so  God,  who  is  the  universal  mo 
naj-ch  of  all  the  worlds  is  the  true  fountain  of  honor  among 
mankind,  ennobling  some  above  others  by  titles  and  pre- 
eminence which  he  bestows  upon  them ;  and  all  such  su- 
periors whom  he  hath  been  pleased  thus  to  raise,  are  to  be 
honored  by  us  as  omv  fathers. 

Hence  our  governors  and  magistrates  are  our  fathers ^ 
and  are  so  to  be  accounted  and  reverenced  by  us.  Indeed, 
they  are  patres  patria,  "  the  fathers  of  their  country;"  for 
all  government  being  at  the  first  domestic  and  paternal, 
the  father  or  chief  of  the  family  having  power  of  life  and 
death  over  his  children,  necessity  at  last  taught  them  to 
devolve  both  the  care  and  the  authority  of  this  charge  on 
some  selected  persons,  to  whom  they  committed  the  go- 
vernment both  of  themselves  and  theirs :  so  that  magis- 
trates succeeding  in  the  place  and  office  of  parents,  are 
now  the  public  fathers,  having  the  same  power  de- 
volved on  them  which  formerly  resided  in  the  fathers  of 
families.  Hence  we  read  that  common  and  successive 
name  of  the  kings  of  the  Philistines,  Ahimelech;  which 
signifies,  the  king,  my  father. 

The  master  of  a  private  family  is  likewise  a  father ; 
and  that  not  only  with  respect  to  his  children,  but  to  his 
very  servants.  Hence  we  find  Naaman  is  called  father  by 
his  servants  :  "  My  father,  if  the  prophet  had  bid  thee  do 
some  great  thing."  2  Kings,  5  :  13. 

A  teacher  in  any  art,  science  or  invention,  is  also 
dialled  a  father.  Tims,  Gen.  4  :  20,  21,  Jabal  is  said  to  be 
**  the  father  of  such  as  dwell  in  tents  ;"  and  Jubal  to  be 
>'  the  father  of  all  such  as  handle  the  harp  and  organ." 

So  likewise  a  superior  in  wisdom  and  counsel  is  called 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  '  231 

a,  futher.    So   Joseph  in  his  speech,    Gen.  45  :  8,  says, 
**  God  hath  made  me  a  father  to  Pharaoh." 

Ministers  of  the  Gospel  have  hkewise  the  honorable 
title  of  fathers  conferred  upon  them.  And  that  both  be- 
cause indeed  they  are  superior  to  the^people  in  things  ap- 
pertaining to  God,  having  the  dispensation  of  the  grace  of 
the  Gospel  committed  to  them  ;  and  because,  through  the 
concurrence  of  the  Spirit's  operation  with  their  ministry, 
they  beget  souls  unto  Jesus  Christ.  Thus  Paul  tells  the 
church,  1  Cor.  4  :  15,  that  he  vtras  their  father,  having 
"  begotten  them  through  the  Gospel."  And  therefore  we 
have  great  reason  to  magnify  our  office,  in  the  execution 
and  performance  of  which  we  ought  to  demean  ourselves 
as  fathers,  with  all  gravity  and  authority ;  and  to  let  those 
knoWj  whose  affronts  and  scorn  tend  to  the  vilifying  both 
of  our  persons  and  functions,  that  they  despise  not  us  only, 
but  Jesus  Christ  who  hath  sent  us,  and  the  eternal  Father 
who  hath  sent  him.  So  he  himself  hath  told  us,  Luke, 
10  :  16,  "  He  that  despiseth  you,  despiseth  me  ;  and  he 
that  despiseth  me,  despiseth  him  that  sent  me." 

Superiors  in  any  gift  of  Divine  Providence,  whether  of 
riches,  or  of  age,  or  of  knowledge,  and  the  like,  are  to  be 
reverenced  and  honored  by  us  as  fathers.  So,  1  Tim. 
5  :  1,  2,  **  The  elders  entreat  as  fathers,  and  the  elder 
women  as  mothers." 

Thus  you  see  how  large  and  copious  this  word  father 
is,  taking  in  many  other  relations  and  states  of  men  be- 
sides those  to  whom  it  is  now  commonly  applied. 

Here  then,  in  opening  to  you  the  sura  of  this  com- 
mandment, I  shall  endeavor  to  show  what  are  the  mutual 
and  reciprocal  duties  of  these  several  relation?  which  I 
have  now  stated. 


23^  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

1.  Of  natural  parents  and  their  children  ; 

2.  Of  magistrates  supreme  and  subordinate,  and  those 
subject  to  them ; 

3.  Of  husband  and  wife,  for  there  likewise  is  a  supe- 
riority resident  in  the  one  and  obedience  due  from  the 
other ; 

'     4.  Of  masters  and  servants  ;  •>  ' ->y  ■■ 

5.  Of  ministers,  and  the  people  committed  to  their 
charge  ;  and, 

^  6.  The  duties  of  those  who  have  a  superiority,  either  in 
the  gifts  of  God's  grace  or  of  his  bounty,  towards  thoso 
that  are  inferior  to  them,  and  theirs  reciprocally  towards 
those  that  excel. 

All  these  are  here  included,  and  honor  is  required  to  be 
given  them  accordingly  by  virtue  of  this  command. 

I  know  that,  as  there  is  nothing  wherein  the  truth  and 
power  of  godliness,  and  the  very  life  of  religion  is  more 
concerned  than  a  conscientious  performance  of  relative 
duties;  so  there  is  nothing  that  grates  more  upon  the 
spirits  of  men  than  to  be  put  in  mind  of  and  reproved 
about  these  duties  which  are  of  such  common  and  daily 
occurrence  in  the  whole  course  of  our  lives.  Yet,  I  be- 
seech you,  lay  your  prejudices  and  affections  under  the 
authority  of  God's  word,  and  be  persuaded  to  believe 
these  things  to  be  exceeding  weighty  and  momentous, 
how  plain  soever  they  may  be,  which  not  only  the  h'ght 
and  law  of  nature  dictates  to  us,  but  the  Spirit  of  God 
hath  been  pleased  frequently  to  recommend  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  yea,  more  frequently  and  more  expressly 
than  any  other  duties  whatsoever. 


FIFTH  COMMANDMENT.  233 

I  begin    with    the   mutual    duties  of    tauents   and 

CHILDREN/  .^        -      '  ,^^^A^-:  -V      '^>>    : 

And  here  I  shall  speak  first  of  the  honor  due  to  parents 
from  their  children;  and  then  of  what  parents  are  obliged 
to  do  for  their  children. 

I.  For  Reformer  of  these  the  command  saith,  Honor 
thy  father  and  thy  mother.  And  this  honor  to  parents  con« 
sists  in  these  four  things,  reverence,  obedience,  retribution 
and  imitation. 

X.  Children  are  to  reverericc  their  parents.  / 
«■  Heverence  is  nothing  but  a  love  connected  with  awe; 
a  fearfiilness  to  offend,  out  of  the  respect  we  bear  them. 
It  is  not  such  a  fear  as  terrifies  and  drives  Us  from  the 
presence  and  company  of  those  whom  we  dread,  for  that 
is  slavish  and  tormenting;  but  a  genuine,  sw^eet  and 
obliging  fear;  a  fearful  esteem  and  veneration;  a  fear 
that  will  eno^ao^e  us  to  attend  on  them,  to  observe  and 
imitate  them,  and  to  abstain  from  doing  any  thing  that 
might  grieve  or  trouble  them. 

This  reverence  which  we  owe  our  parents  is  wont 
to  express  itself  outwardly  by  two  things,  speech  and 
gestures. 

Our  speech  must  be  full  of  respect  and  honor  to  our 
parents  ;  giving  them  the  highest  titles  that  their  quality 
and  condition  will  admit.  Our  language  should  likewise  be 
humble  and  submissive.  Talkativeness  is  an  argument  of 
disrespect ;  and  by  the  answers  of  the  lips  the  heart  is 
tried  and  sounded.  Therefore  we  find  how  mildly  and  re- 
verently Jonathan  speaks  to  his  father  Saul :  although  he 
were  then  pleading  for  his  David,  and  managing  the  con- 
cern of  his  friend's  life,  which  was  fai-  dearer  to  him  than 


234  '  .         THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

his  own ;  yet  see  with  what  modesty  he  urgeth  it,  1  Sam. 
19  :  4,  5,  "  Let  not  the  king  sin  against  his  servant,  against 
David ;  for  he  did  put  his  life  in  his  hand,  and  slew  the 
Philistine."  And  God  blessed  a  speech  so  well  tempered, 
and  so  full  of  soft  and  melting  oratory,  with  success. 
Yea,  we  find  an  instance  of  a  disobedient  son  in  the  para- 
ble of  our  Savior,  Mat.  21,  who,  though  he  obeyed  not 
the  commands  of  his  father,  yet  thought  it  too  shameful  a 
crime  not  to  give  him  good  words  and  reverend  titles  : 
verse  30,  **  I  go,  sir."  And  certainly  it  is  but  fit  and  meet 
that  we  should  give  them  the  best  and  the  most  obliging 
language  who  have  taught  us  to  speak,  and  please  them 
with  our  words  who  have  instructed  us  how  to  form  them. 
Yea,  that  rude  and  boisterous  language  which  many  of 
the  son^  of  Belial  use  towards  their  parents,  is  so  odious 
and  detestable  to  God  that  he  hath  in  his  law  threaten- 
ed to  punish  it  with  the  same  punishment  as  blasphemy 
against  himself,  Exod.  21:17,  "  He  that  curseth  his  fa- 
ther or  his  mother  shall  surely  be  put  to  death;"  and, 
Prov.  20  ;  20,  **  He  that  curseth  his  father  or  his  mother, 
his  lamp  shall  be  put  out  in  obscure  darkness." 

,We  nlust  likewise  show  our  parents  reverence  in  our 
gestures,  and  deport  ourselves  with  all  lowliness  and  mo- 
desty  before  them,  in  bowing  the  body  and  showing  all 
other  external  signs  of  respect.  So  we  find.  Gen,  48  :  12, 
that  Joseph,  as  highly  exalted  as  he  was  in  the  court  of 
Pharaoh,  when  he  brought  out  his  sons  to  receive  the 
blessing  of  Jacob  his  father,  "  he  bowed  himself  with  his 
face  to  the  earth."  And  on  the  contrary,  that  an  ill-con- 
ditioned iook  towards  a  parent  is  severely  threatened: 
Prov.  30  :  17,  "  The  eye  that  mocketh  at  his  father,  and 
despiseth   to  obey  his  mother,   ^he    ravens  of  th^  val- 


FIFTH  commandment:  •  V  23-5 

ley  shall  pick  it  out,  and  the  young  eagles  shall  eat  it." 

2.  But  as  we  must  honor  our  parents  with  reverence,  so 
we  must  especially  with  c»Z>c^u'/«;e,  without  which  all  ex 
ternal  reverence  is  but  mere  formality,  if  not  mere  mock- 
ery. See  that  large  charter  which  God  has  given  to  pa- 
rents. Col.  3  I  20,  **  Children,  obey  your  parents  in  all 
things,  for  this  is  well  pleasing  unto  the  Lord." 

Our  obedience  to  them  may  be  considered  either  as 
active  ov  paissivc;  and  we  are  obliged  by  God's  command 
to  yield  them  both  :  active  obedience,  in  whatsoever  is  not 
contrary  to  the  will  and  law  of  God  ;  passive,  in  whatso- 
ever they  impose  upon  us  that  is  so. 

Hence  we  are  to  obey  our  parents  in  whatsoever  ho- 
nest calling  and  employment  they  will  set  us.  David, 
though  destined  to  a  kingdom,  is  yet  by  his  father  Jesse 
appointed  to  keep  the  sheep.  1  Sam.  16 :  11.  We  ought 
not,  till  at  last  we  are  emancipated  and  set  free  by  their 
consent,  to  enter  into  wedlock  without  their  knowledge  or 
against  their  consent ;  for  we  find  that  godly  fathers  havq 
still  taken  the  care  of  the  disposal  of  their  children  in  this 
affair,  and  the  apostle,  1  Cor.  7  :  36,  37,  declares  that  it 
is  in  the  parents'  power  either  to  marry  their  children  or 
to  keep  them  in  a  single  estate ;  but  yet,  no  question,  so 
as  that  children  have  still  a  negative  vote,  and  ought  not 
to  be  forced  against  their  own  will  and  consent.  Yea, 
so  far  doth  the  authority  of  a  parent  extend,  that  it  reach- 
eth  also  to  the  very  garb  and  apparel  of  their  children,  . 
who  ought  to  conform  themselves  therein  according  to 
tlieir  allowance  and  direction.  Gen.  37  :  3.  '    •' 

But  if  parents  shall  abuse  their  authority,  by  command- 
ing what  is  sinful,  and  what  God  hath  contravened  by  his 
law  and  command  j  yet  children  are  not  hereby  disobliged 


226  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

or  freed  from  obedience,  but  only  directed  to  choose  tne 
passive  part  of  it,  and  to  bear  their  wrath  and  choler,  yea, 
and  their  punishments  too,  with  all  patience  and  submis- 
sion. For,  as  the  apostle  speaks,  Heb.  12  :  10,  they  often- 
times chasten  us  after  their  own  pleasure ;  and  yet  we 
are  to  give  them  reverence.  We  ought  to  bear  with  their 
infirmities,  whether  they  be  natural  or  vicious,  and  en- 
deavor to  hide  and  cover  them  from  others ;  and  there- 
fore we  rea,d  what  a  curse  was  laid  upon  Ham  for  dis- 
closing the  nakedness  of  his  father,  Gen.  9  \2^\  and  in- 
deed it  is  a  cursed  thing  to  expose  the  nakedness  and 
weakness  of  our  parents  to  the  scorn  and  derision  of  others. 

3.  As  we  must  honor  our  parents  by  reverence  and 
obedience,  so  we  must  likewise  by  remuneration  and  retri- 
hution,  requiting  the  benefits  we  have  received  from  them, 
so  far  as  we  are  able  and  they  need.  This  the  apostle  ex- 
pressly enjoins,  1  Tim.  5:4,  "  If  any  widow  have  chil- 
dren or  nephews,  let  them  learn  first  to  show  piety  at 
home  and  to  requite  their  parents:"  that  is,  when  they 
are  fallen  to  poVeity  or  decay,  or  otherwise  require  as- 
sistance from  us,  we  are  obliged  liberally,  according  to  our 
proportion,  to  afford  it.  And  he  affirms  that  this  is  good 
and  acceptable  before  God. 

And  therefore  we  find  our  Savior  sharply  reprehend- 
ing that  unnatural  doctrine  among  the  Scribes  and  Phari- 
sees which  taught  that  children  were  freed  from  obliga- 
tion to  relieve  their  parents:  *' Ye  say,  whosoever  sha,ll 
say  to  his  father  or  his  mother.  It  is  a  gift,  by  whatsoever 
thou  mayest  be  profited  by  me,  and  honor  not  his  father 
or  his  mother,  he  shall  be  free."  Mai.  15  :  5,  6.  This 
place,  as  it  is  obscure  and  intricate,  admits  of  divers  ex 
positions. 


riPTH    COMMANDMENT.    .  237 

Some  say  it  was  the  doctrine  of  the  scribes  and  phari- 
sees,  that  although  a  man  did  not  honor  nor  support  his 
parents,  yet  he  should  be  guiltless  if  he  should  tell  them 
that  he  had  offered  in  the  temple  a  gift  for  his  and  theii, 
good,  and  that  therefore  they  could  require  no  more  re- 
lief from  him. 

Others,  that  it  was  a  solemn  oath  among  the  Jews,  to 
swear  by  the  gift  or  offering  which  was  brought  into  the 
temple,  and  presented  there  as  a  sacrifice  before  God : 
which  oath  was  obligatory  in  the  highest  degree,  whatso- 
ever the  matter  of  it  might  be.  Mat.  23  :  18.  And  the 
scribes  taught,  that  if  a  man  had  sworn  thus  to  his  parents, 
"By  the  gift  thou  shalthave  no  profit  by  me,"  then  he  was 
for  ever  disobliged  or  freed  fi'om  relieving  them,  were  their 
necessities  never  so  great  and  urgent.  And  according  to 
this  exposition  the  words  should  be  thus  translated:  "But 
ye  say,  whosoever  saith  to  his  father  or  mother,  by  the  gift 
if  thou  have  any  profit  by  me,  (where  must  be  understood 
some  curse  or  imprecation  upon  themselves,  which  they 
did  usually  express,  as,  let  me  die,  or  the  like)  then  he  shall 
be  free  from  the  obligation  of  honoring,  (that  is,  of  reliev- 
ing and  maintaining)  his  father  or  mother." 

Whichsoever  interpretation  be  most  consonant  to  the 
corrupt  doctrine  of  the  scribes,  and  the  cori-upt  practice 
3f  the  Jews,  (as  I  suppose  the  latter  is)  our  Savior  con- 
demns it  for  a  most  vile  hypocrisy  ;  making  the  command- 
ments of  God  of  none  effect,  through  their  traditions. 

Certainly  it  is  one  of  the  most  unnatural  sins  in  the 
world,  for  children,  who  have  ability  and  opportunity  to 
relieve  their  necessitous  parents,  to  suffer  them  to  want  a 
livelihood  and  comfortable  subsistence  who  are  the  cause 
and  authors  of  life  and  being  unta  their  children. 


'f^ 


238  THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

4.  But  we  must  honor  our  parents  by  hearkening  to 
their  good  mstructions  and  m^^a/i?^^§•  their  godly  practices. 

So,  Prov.  6  :  20,  **  My  son,  keep  thy  father's  command- 
ment, and  forsake  not  the  law  of  thy  mother."  For  al- 
though good  instruction  be,  for  the  matter  of  it,  always  to 
be  embraced  from  whomsoever  it  shall  proceed,  yet  when 
it  shall  come  from  a  parent  it  obligeth  us  not  only  because 
it  is  good,  but  because  it  is  authoritative.  Neither  are  we 
only  to  hearken  to  their  counsel,  but  also  to  imitate  the 
holy  example  of  our  parents;  and  therefore  it  is  com- 
mended in  Solomon,  that  he  walked  in  the  steps  of  his 
fa,ther  David. 

Suffer  me  only,  in  a  word,  to  set  home  this  upon  the  con- 
sciences of  stubborn  and  disobedient  children.  Consider 
what  your  demeanor  hath  been  toward  your  parents,  to 
whom  you  owe  yourselves,  your  lives,  your  education : 
benefits  that  can  never  be  repaid  them,  although  you 
should  undergo  all  the  hardships  imaginable  to  make  an 
acknowledgment  of  them.  Can  you  imagine  the  cares, 
the  parching  thoughts,  the  perplexing  fears  which  your 
tender  parents  are  continually  distracted  with  for  your 
good  %  And  will  you  so  requite  their  love  as  to  despise 
their  persons,  of  whom  you  yourselves  are  a  part,  and 
make  their  very  bowels  rebel  against  theml  Certainly, 
were  there  any  ingenuousness  of  nature,  or  were  not  the 
principles  of  reason  and  equity  quite  spent  and  extin- 
guished in  you,  the  love  and  solicitude  they  have  express- 
ed for  you  would  again  return  unto  them,  if  not  in  equal 
measures,  yet  in  the  most  ample  and  acceptaole  that  is  pos- 
sible for  you  to  render.  And  if  there  be  any  of  you  who, 
by  your  stubbornness  and  disobedience,  have  brought 
dowm  th^  grey  hairs  of  your  parents  with  sorrow  to  the 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  239 

grave,  consider  seriously  what  an  unnatural  sin  you  have 
been  guilty  of:  and  because  you  cannot  now  beg  pardon 
of  them,  beg  pardon  of  God,  the  great  and  universal  Father 
of  all ;  beg  that  he  would  not  revenge  your  disobedience 
to  your  parents,  by  the  disobedience  of  your  children  to- 
wards you. — Thus  you  have  seen  what  duties  children 
owe  to  their  parents. 

II.  Let  us  now  see  what  are  the  reciprocal  duties  of 
PARENTS  towards  THEIR  CHILDREN;  for  in  all  uucqual  re- 
lations the  superiority  rests  only  in  one  part,  yet  the  duty 
is  divided  between  both. 

The  duty,  therefore,  of  parents  respects  either  the  /<?/»- 
poral  or  spiritual  good  of  their  children,  for  both  are 
given  them  in  charge.  ^ 

1.  As  for  their  temporal  good,  two  duties  are  incum- 
bent on  theta,  p?'Qtection  and  provision.  And  both  of  these 
are  taught  by  the  law  of  nature.  Do  we  not  see,  even 
in  brute  creatures  themselves,  that  a  strong  parental  affec- 
tion makes  them  dare  unequal  dangers,  and  expose  their 
own  lives  to  the  greatest  hazard,  only  to  defend  their 
young  1  We  see  with  what  indefatigable  industry  they 
either  lead  them  to  or  bring  in  to  them  their  food  and 
nourishment,  till  they  have  taught  them  the  art  and  me- 
thod of  providing  for  themselves,  and  living  at  theil*  own 
finding.  And  if  the  instinct  and  impulse  of  nature  be  so 
powerful  in  irrational  creatures,  how  much  more  should  it 
prevail  in  us  in  whom  reason  should  perfect  nature ;  and 
we  be  the  more  careful,  inasmuch  as  the  charge  com- 
mitted to  us  is  more  noble:  it  is  not  a  sparrow  or  a 
chicken  that  we  are  to  look  after,  but  a  man,  a  king  of  the 
universe,  designed  for  great  employments  and  to  gi'eat 
ends,  an  heir  of  the  world ;  and,  if  we  fail  not  in  edu* 


240  THE    TEN    COMMANDMEN^. 

eating  him,  one  who  may  be  an  heir  of  eternal  glory! 

Parents  owe  their  children  protection.  This  their  weak- 
ness and  helplessness  often  call  for.  How  many  diseases 
and  dangers  is  their  feeble  infancy  exposed  to !  and  in 
their  growing  childhood,  want  of  care  and  experience 
runs  them  daily  into  more.  Now  parents  are  to  be  their 
guards,  and  by  their  skill  and  strength  fence  off  those 
Wrongs  and  injuries  that  threaten  them ;  and  in  bo  doing 
they  perform  not  only  a  parental  but  an  angelical  work. 
"  Take  heed  that  ye  despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones  ; 
for  I  say  unto  you,  that  in  heaven  their  angels  do  always 
behold  the  f^ce  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  M  at.  18 : 
10.  And  if  God,  the  great  Father  of  the  whole  family  both 
in  heaven  and  earth,  hath  out  of  his  infinite  tenderness  and 
compassion  appointed  his  holy  angels  to  be  the  guardians 
of  children — if  it  be  so  that  they  who  attend  the  throne  of 
his  -'glorious  Majesty,  should .  likewise  attend  the  cradles, 
and  beds,  and  wandering  steps  of  little  ones — it  is  not  on- 
ly inhuman  for  parents  to  neglect  the  care  of  their  chil- 
dren, but  devilish  to  do  them  hurt,  or  destroy  them  them- 
selves :  the,  too  common  practice  of  many  wretches,  who, 
to  hide  and  cover  their  shame,  either  abandon  or  murder 
the  fruit  of  their  bowels.  ♦  •  .    .         . 

But  as  parents  owe  their  children  protection  from  inci- 
dent evils,  so  likewise  they  owe  them  provision  of  neces- 
saries and  conveniences,  according  to  the  rank  and  degree 
in  which. the  Divine  providence  hath  set  them.  This  the 
Scripture  often  inculcates.  Mat.  7  :  9,  10,  '*  What  man 
is  there  among  you,  whom,  if  his  son  ask  bread,  will  he 
give  him  a  stone  1  or,  if  he  ask  a  fish,  will  he  give  him  a 
scorpion  1"  intimating  that  we  are  bound  to  give  our 
children  what  is  fit  for  the  sustenance  of  that  life  which 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  241 

they  have  received  from  us.  And,  indeed,  they  are  our 
flesh  and  our  bone ;  they  are  ourselves  multiplied.  Now 
nature  teaches  us  to  cherish  and  nourish  our  own  flesh,  as 
the  apostle  speaketh,  Eph.  5  :  29.  Nay,  the  apostle  hath 
laid  this  charge  exceeding  high,  1  Tim.  5  ;  8,  "If  any 
man  provide  not  for  his  own,  especially  for  those  of  his 
own  house,  he  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an 
infidel:"  and  that  because  even  infidels  and  heathens  are 
taught  by  the  light  and  law  of  nature  to  make  provision 
for  their  own.  And  this  provision  is  not  only  for  the  pre- 
sent, but  our  care  is  to  extend  farther,  and  according  to 
our  ability,  bating  the  expenses  of  decency  and  charity, 
we  are  to  take  care  for  their  future  subsistence;  and  if 
we  cannot  leave  them  a  patrimony,  we  are  to  leave  them 
a  trade  and  calling,  whereby,  through  the  blessing  of  God, 
they  may  procure  their  own  livelihood.  So  the  apostle,  2 
Cor.  12  :  14,  "  The  children  ought  not  to  lay  up  for  the 
parents,  but  the  parents  for  the  children."  And  if  we 
must  place  them  out  to  a  vocation,,  we  must  endeavor  with 
all  our  prudence  to  fit  it  to  their  genius  and  inclina- 
tion ;  for  otherwise  it  will  not  be  a  vocation,  but  a  vexa- 
tion to  them  all  their  days  :  still  remembering  that  if  we 
piously  design  any  to  the  work  of  the  Lord,  it  should  be 
those  whom  God  hath  endowed  with  the  greatest  gifts  for 
so  high  a  ministration.  For  it  is  a  sin  very  like  to  that  of 
Jeroboam  who  made  Israel  to  sin,  to  consecrate  priests 
unto  the  Lord  of  the  refuse  and  vilest  of  the  people,  and 
to  think  those  fit  enough  for  the  temple,  who,  through  the 
deformity  of  their  body  or  the  defects  of  their  minds,  are 
not  fit  for  a  shop  or  for  any  other  employment.  So  much 
tor  those  duties  of  parents  which  concern  the  temporal 
good  of  their  children. 

Ten.  Tom.  ^  ^ 


242  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

2.  But  then  they  are  obhged  to  others  of  a  higher  and 
nobler  nature,  which  concern  their  spiritual  good  and 
have  an  influence  on  their  eternal  happiness. 

(1.)  A  great  duty  which  parents  owe  their  children  is 
to  instruct  and  admonish  them,  to  educate  them  in  the  fear 
and  knowledge  of  God.  This  the  apostle  expressly  enjoins, 
Eph.  6  :  4,  Ye  fathers^ bring  up  your  children  "in  the 
nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord."  And  so,  Deut. 
4:9,  Forget  not  "the  things  which  thine  eyes  have 
seen — but  teach  them  thy  sons,  and  thy  sons'  sons."  We 
find  that  God  gives  an  honorable  testimony  concerning 
Abraham,  and  confides  in  him  upon  this  account,  Gen. 
18  :  19,  "  I  know  Abraham,  that  he  will  command  his 
children  and  his  household  after  him,  and  they  shall  keep 
the  way  of  the  Lord,  to  do  justice  and  judgment."  And 
Solomon  extols  his  father  David  for  his  care  in  instructing 
him,  Prov.  4:3,  '^,  "I  was  my  father's  son — and  he 
taught  me  also,  and  said  unto  me,  let  thy  heart  retain  ray 
words ;  keep  my  commandments  and  live." 

This  instruction  must  not  be  nice  and  critical,  but  fami- 
liar and  obvious  ;  teaching  them  such  fundamental  truths 
and  principles  of  christian  doctrine  as  are  of  absolute  ne- 
cessity to  be  known,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  may  be 
most  suitable  to  their  capacity  and  discretion. 

And  if  parents  would  be  but  careful  and  conscientious 
in  the  performance  of  this  duty,  instilling  into  their  minds, 
before  they  are  filled  with  vanity,  the  knowledge  of  God, 
and  of  Christ,  and  of  religion  ;  and  forming  their  wills, 
whilst  they  are  flexible,  to  the  love  of  piety  and  virtue, 
the  next  generation  would  not  generally  see  so  much  de- 
Dauchery  in  youth,  nor  so  much  obduracy  in  old  age,  as  is 
now  every  where  too  apparent.  By  this  means  the  minis- 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  243 

ter's  work  would  be  half  done  to  his  hands.  It  would  be 
needful  only  to  feed  his  flock  with  strong  meat,  and  to 
press  them  only  to  a  vigorous  and  cheerful  performance 
of  those  duties  of  holiness  to  which  their  pious  education 
made  them  before  inclined. 

One  method  of  this '  instruction  is  to  read  to  them  or 
cause  them  to  read  the  Holy  Scriptures^  and  'point  out 
to  them  those  things  therein  which  are  most  agreeable  to 
their  age  and  apprehension.  Thus  Timothy  is  said  from  a 
child  to  have  known  the  Holy  Scriptures.  2  Tim.  3  :  15. 
And  doubtless  he  was  trained  up  in  that  knowledge  by 
the  care  of  his  mother  and  gi^andmother,  whom  the  apos- 
tle honorably  commends,  chap.  1:5.  " 

Another  way  is  to  catechise  and  instruct  them  in  the 
grounds  and  principal  doctrines  of  religion.  Indeed  a  con- 
tinued discourse  is  not  so  informing,  nor  doth  it  fasten  and 
rivet  instruction  into  young  minds  so  well  as  where  it  is 
diversified  by  questions  and  answers.  This  makes  them 
masters  of  their  own  ideas,  and  able  to  wield  and  manage 
them  afterwards  to  their  better  advantage.  And  truly  this 
I  take  to  be  the  very  reason  why  so  many  sit  grossly  igno- 
rant under  many  years'  preaching  of  the  word  to  them, 
scarce  able  to  give  any  tolerable  account  of  the  very  first 
principles  of  the  oracles  of  God,  because  they  were  never 
educated  in  this  way  of  catechising  :  they  were  never  tried 
nor  searched,  nor  the  strength  of  their  memories  and  ca- 
pacities exercised  by  questions.  For  running  and  conti- 
nued discourses  are  like  the  falling  of  rain  upon  a  smooth 
rock,  where  it  trickles  off  as  it  descends ;  but  questions 
and  examinations  are  like  digging  it,  and  ^making  it  fit 
to  retain  what  is  poured  upon  it. 

But  whatsoever  method  you  may  judge  moSt  profitable, 


244  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

yet  certainly  instruction  in  their  tender  years  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  season  them  betimes  with  the  knowledge  of 
the  grounds  of  religion  and  a  love  and  veneration  of  piety, 
which  will  afterwai-ds  have  a  mighty  influence  to  keep 
them  from  being  led  away  either  with  the  errors  or  un- 
godly practices  of  unprincipled  men.  "Train  up  a  child 
in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not 
depart  from  it."  Prov.  22  :  6.  For  when  the  reluctance  of 
corrupted  nature  is  thus  early  mastered,  and  virtue  habi- 
tuated in  them,  as  there  must  be  strong  conviction  and 
almighty  grace  to  break  off  the  long-accustomed  habits  of 
sin,  so  there  must  be  very  powerful  and  prevalent  temp- 
tations that  shall  induce  such  a  one,  whose^  knowledge  of 
God  and  love  of  virtue  have  grown  up  with  him  from  his 
childhood,  to  turn  a  recreant  to  his  former  profession  and 
practice,  and  to  forget  that  before  which  he  can  hardly  re- 
member any  thing  ;  or  if,  through  the  violence  of  tempta- 
tion, he  should  be  hurried  into  any  extravagance  and  ex- 
cess, his  conscience  hath  a  greater  advantage  to  reduce 
him  again  than  it  hath  upon  others  who  are  trained  up  ig- 
nolrantly  and  barbarously.  It  vsdll  still  pursue  him  and  dis- 
turb him  in  his  sins,  and  his  early  notions  of  piety  and  re- 
ligion will  imbitter  the  sweets  which  he  fancied  and  others 
perhaps  find  in  them ;  and  his  conscience  will  never  leave 
crying,  and  clamoring,  and  threatening,  till  it  bring  hira 
back,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  sorrow  in  his  heart,  and 
shame  in  his  face,  to  his  former  regular  and  unblameable 
conversation. 

3.  Another  duty  parents  owe  their  children,  is  to  give 
them  good  examples^  to  set  before  them  the  copies  and  pat' 
tern  of  those  virtues  which  they  teach. 

And  this  indeed  is  the  most  lively  and  the  most  effec- 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  245 

tual  way  to  profit  them.  Thou  who  before  thy  child  blas- 
phemest  the  name  of  God  by  swearing  or  cursing,  thou 
who  abusest  thyself  and  others  by  riot  and  intemperance, 
dost  thou  expect  that  ever  he  should  reverence  that  holy 
and  dreadful  name  which  thou  profanest ;  or  love  that  so 
briety  and  temperance  which  thou  possibly  mayest  com- 
mend to  him  in  words,  but  dost  much  more  forbid  him  by 
thy  deeds  1  For  it  is  the  glory  and  boast  of  children  to  be 
and  to  do  like  their  parents.  And  although  there  be  few 
so  forlornly  wdcked  and  utterly  abandoned  to  vice  but  that 
they  would  have  their  children  love  and  practise  virtue, 
and  may  perhaps  sometimes  exhort  them  thereunto  ;  yet, 
alas,  what  effect  can  empty  words  have  when  they  are  con- 
ti^dicted  and  overborne  by  deeds  ]  When  the  corrupt 
nature  thou  hast  given  them  shall  be  improved  by  the  ill 
examples  thou  daily  givest  them,  what  avail  all  thy  exhor- 
tations and  admonitions,  unless  it  be  to  upbraid  and  re- 
proach thyself,  and  increase  both  thine  own  condemnation 
and  theirs  too  1 

Even  the  heathen  satirist  (Juvenal)  could  say,  "We 
ought  to  reverence  and  stand  in  awe  of  children ;"  that 
they  see  nothing  vicious  or  dishonest  in  us,  not  so  much 
for  the  shame  of  it  as  the  example.  For  there  is  no  pest 
so  contagious  as  vice,  the  least  converse  will  serve  to  rub 
it  upon  others,  especially  parents'  vices  upon  their  chil- 
dren, who,  if  they  think  it  not  obedience  and  a  part  of  duty 
to  imitate  them,  yet  cannot  but  conclude  themselves,  se- 
cure both  jfrom  reproofs  and  corrections. 

The  practice  of  superiors  hath  certainly  a  mighty  influ 
ence  in  forming  the  manners  of  those  who  are  subject  to 
them ;  for  let  them  prescribe  what  rules  and  enact  what 
laws  they  please,  let  their  authority  be  as  great  as  can  be. 


246  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

yet  their  example  will  be  far  gi'eater  than  their  authority ; 
and  inferiors  will  be  encouraged  by  it  boldly  to  transgi'ess 
when  shame  and  consciousness  of  sin  shall  tie  up  the  hands 
of  those  who  should  punish  them.  But  now,  when  a  godly 
parent  shall  not  only,  with  the  most  tender  and  afiection- 
ate  words  that  love  can  dictate,  instruct  his  children  in  the 
ways  of  holiness,  but  walk  before  them  in  those  ways ;  not 
only  by  admonitions  show  it  to  be  most  rational,  but  by 
constant  practice  show  it  to  be  most  pleasant  and  delight  • 
ful ;  certainly  that  nature  must  needs  be  most  deplorably 
vicious  which  can  in  this  case  be  refractory,  and  will  not 
go  whither  both  wind  and  tide  lead  him  ;  whereas  others 
possibly,  who  have  only  the  breath  of  good  instructions, 
are  carried  away  headlong  and  drowned  in  perdition  by 
the  stronger  cun-ent  of  evil  examples. 

4.  If  neither  instructions  nor  good  examples  will  pre- 
vail, then  correction  and  discipline  is  necessary,  and  be- 
comes a  duty,  though  perhaps  it  may  be  as  grievous  to 
the  parent  to  inflict  it  as  it  is  to  the  child  to  suffer  it. 

I  know  there  may  be  and  often  is  excess  in  discipline, 
when  choler  and  passion  prescribe  the  measures  of  pun- 
ishment. This  is  fierce  and  inhuman  tyranny,  and  argues 
such  parents  to  be  devoid  of  natural  affection.  And  this 
immoderate,  ungoverned  correction,  is  so  far  from  profit- 
ing children,  that  it  oftentimes  exasperates  them,  and 
makes  them  the  more  stubborn  and  untractable  ;  or  else 
it  only  dispirits  and  stupifies  them.  And  therefore  the 
apostle  hath  twice  cautioned  parents  against  this  provok- 
ing way  of  discipline.  Eph.  6:4.  "Ye  fathers,  provoke 
not  your  children  to  wrath."  And  again,  Col.  3  :  21. 
"  Fathers,  provoke  not  your  children  to  anger,  lest  they 
be  discouraged." 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  247 

Yet  notwithstanding,  where  age  and  decency  will  allow 
it  and  prudence  doth  require  it,  it  is  sometimes  necessary 
to  use  the  severity  of  discipline. 

And  let  not  a  foolish  fondness  here  interpose,  for  cer- 
tainly God  loves  his  children  with  a  much  more  parental 
affection  than  you  can  love  yours ;  and  yet  he  tells  us. 
Rev.  3  :  19,  "As  many  as  I  love  I  rebuke  and  chasten." 
And  the  apostle  tells  us,  Heb.  12  :  6,  "  Whom  the  Lord 
loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  he 
receiveth."  If  there  be  not  a  due  exercise  of  discipline 
and  correction,  nothing  else  can  be  expected  but  that  our 
children  will  wax  wanton  with  us,  and  next  rebellious 
against  us. 

This  severity  must  be  used  betimes,  before  age  and 
spirit  have  hardened  them  against  the  fear  or  smart  of 
correction.  The  wise  man  hath  told  us.  Pro  v.  13  :  24, 
"  He  that  spareth  his  rod  hateth  his  son,  but  he  that  loveth 
him  chasteneth  him  betimes." 

By  faithful  correction  and  discipline  the  pai'ent  may 
deliver  the  child  Jro?n  greater  sufferings  and  mischiefs  that 
else  will  follow.  Better  the  rod  than  the  tree.  Thou 
mayst,  for  aught  thou  knowest,  redeem  his  life  by  it ;  de- 
liver him  from  the  hand  of  justice  and  the  eternal  wrath 
of  God ;  and  mayst  save  his  soul  from  everlasting  smart 
and  torment.  So,  Prov.  23  :  13,  14,  "  Withhold  not  cor- 
rection from  the  child,  for  if  thou  beatest  him  with  the 
rod  he  shall  not  die.  Thou  shalt  beat  him  with  the  rod, 
and  shalt  deliver  his  soul  from  hell." 

By  this  course  too  thou  shalt  bring  thyself  much  com- 
fort ;  most  likely  in  his  reformation ;  or  if  not  in  that, 
yet  at  least  in  the  consciousness  of  having  performed  thy 
duty  and  done  all  that  lay  in  thy  power  for  his  good.  But 


248  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

what  support  and  comfort  can  that  parent  have,  who, 
when  his  children  grow  lewd  and  debauched,  shall  sadly 
reflect  upon  it  that  it  was  only  his  fondness  and  foolish 
pity  which  ruined  them  1  Take  this  for  certain,  that  as 
many  deserved  stripes  as  you  spare  from  the  child,  you 
do  but  lay  upon  your  own  backs  ;  and  those  whom  you 
have  refused  to  chastise,  God  will  make  severe  scourges 
to  afflict  and  chastise  you. 

5.  There  is  another  and  a  very  principal  duty  which 
respects  both  the  temporal  and  spiritual  good  of  children, 
fervent  and  earnest  prayer  to  God  for  them;  without 
which  all  the  rest  will  be  ineffectual. 

Whenever  therefore  thou  comest  to  the  throne  of 
grace,  bring  these  thy  dear  pledges  on  thy  heart  with 
thee.  E  amestly  implore  of  God  that  he  would  own  them 
and  provide  for  them  as  his  own  children ;  that  he  would 
adopt  them  into  the  family  of  heaven,  make  them  heirs  of 
glory  and  co-heirs  with  Jesus  Christ ;  that  he  would  give 
them  a  convenient  portion  of  good  things  for  this  life,  that 
they  may  serve  him  with  the  more  cheerfulness  and  ala- 
crity, and  a  large  portion  of  spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly 
things  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  at  length  bring  them  to  the 
heavenly  inheritance.  And  know  assuredly  that  the  prayers 
of  parents  are  very  effectual,  and  have  a  kind  of  authority 
in  them  to  imperate  and  obtain  what  they  sue  for. 

This  is  the  benediction  or  blessing  which  holy  fathers 
in  Scripture  have  bestowed  on  their  children,  and  we  find 
that  their  blessing  was  their  destiny.  Thus  Jacob  blessed 
liis  sons  the  patriarchs,  and  as  it  were  divided  among  them 
the  treasures  of  God's  blessings ;  and  God,  the  great  Fa- 
ther, would  not  have  the  blessings  of  a  father  pronounced 
in  vain,  but  ratified  and  fulfilled  them  in  the  success. 


FIFTH    COMMANDMECJT.  249 

And  as  parents'  blessings  have  great  influence  on  their 
children,  so  likewise  have  their  curses ;  therefore  they 
should  beware  what  they  wish  or  pray  against  them.  A 
rash  and  passione^te  curse  is  oftentimes  direfully  fulfilled, 
not  only  to  the  ruin  of  the  children,  but  to  the  sorrow  and 
repentance  of  the  parents  too  late.  We  know  how  deep 
the  curse  of  Noah  stuck  in  Ham  and  all  his  posterity. 
For  the  words  of  a  father  are  weighty  and  authoritative, 
even  with  God  himself;  and  he  will  not  lightly  sufier 
them  to  fall  to  the  ground  when  they  are  spoken  either 
for  or  against  those  over  whom  he  himself  hath  given 
them  power  and  authority. 

I  shall  close  this  topic  with  one  word  to  those  who, are 
parents.  Consider  what  a  great  charge  God  hath  intrust- 
ed you  vv^ith.  In  your  hands  are  deposited  the  hope  and 
blessing,  or  else  the  curse  and  plague  of  the  next  age. 
Your  families  are  the  nurseries  both  of  church  and  state, 
and  according  to  the  care  of  them  now,  such  will  their 
fruits  be  hereafter.  Consider,  I  beseech  you,  how  you 
have  managed  this  great  trust.  Are  your  children  like 
olive-branches  round  about  your  table,  each  promising  to 
bring  forth  good  fruit  in  due  season]  Have  you  taken 
care,  by  your  geod  instructions  and  good  examples,  to 
form  the  Lord  Jesus  in  them  %  Have  you  taken  care,  by 
correction  and  discipline,  to  cut  off  all  excrescences  and 
superfluities  of  naughtiness  from  them?  Or  do  they  re- 
main still  sons  of  Belial ;  wild,  rude,  unnurtured,  and  dis- 
obedient ]  Certainly  God  will  require  an  account  of  them 
at  your  hands ;  for  they  are  his,  and  only  left  in  your 
keeping  and  to  your  education.  But  alas,  the  lewd  prac- 
tices and  the  too  ripe  sins  of  youth  do  clearly  convict 
parents  rather  of  having  encouraged  w^ickedness  in  them 
11* 


250  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

than  curbed  it.  And  the  wit  and  forwardness  of  their 
wickedness,  beyond  their  years,  make  it  evident  that  they 
have  but  borrowed  it  from  your  examples.  Beware  lest 
God  punish  you  in  them,  and  punish  them  for  what  they 
have  learnt  of  you,  and  you  in  hell  for  not  better  instruct- 
ing and  admonishing  them. 

And  if  any  of  you  have  reason  sadly  to  complain  of  the 
stubbornness  and  disobedience  of  your  children,  I  be- 
seech you  seriously  to  reflect  upon  the  cause  of  it,  and 
consider  whether  it  may  not  be  justly  imputed  to  thy  want 
of  care  in  their  education,  or  to  the  bad  examples  thou 
hast  given  them ;  or  possibly,  by  their  rebellion  and  undu- 
tifulness  towards  thee,  God  justly  punisheth  thy  rebellion 
and  undutifulness  towards  thy  father.  I  remember  a  story 
of  a  graceless  and  desperate  young  wretch,  who,  being 
thwarted  by  his  aged  father  in  some  of  his  pranks,  invaded 
his  grey  hairs,  and  dragged  him  by  them  along  the 
gi'ound,  to  the  very  threshold  of  his  door.  His  poor  old 
father  suffered  it  silently  till  then ;  but  then,  looking  piti- 
fully upon  him,  he  said,  *'  Son,  forbear  now,  and  let  me 
go  ;  for  I  remember  I  dragged  my  father  to  this  very 
place,  and  there  left  him  :  he  acknowledged  the  righteous 
judgment  of  God  in  so  just  a  requital.  But  whatsoever 
thy  conscience  shall  suggest  to  thee  to  have  been  a  provo- 
cation unto  God  thus  to  punish  thee,  (and  certainly  it  is 
one  of  the  greatest  punishments  that  can  befall  a  man  in 
this  world,)  humbly  crave  pardon  of  him  who  is  thy  Fa- 
ther, and  beg  him  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  turn  the 
hearts  of  the  children  unto  their  fathers,  and  the  hearts  of 
all  unto  himself. 

Thus  we  have  considered  the  duties  of  parents  towards 
their  children,  and  the  duties  of  children  reciprocally 
towards  their  parents. 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  251 

But  I  come  now,  secondly,  to  another  class  of  fathers  to 
whom  we  owe  honor  and  reverence  by  the  obligation  of 
this  command.  And  these  are  F aires  Patrice,  "  the  fathers 
of  their  country,"  the  magistrates  and  goyebnor? 
that  God  hath  set  over  us. 

They  are  his  deputies  and  vicegerents  upon  earth, 
and  the  authority  with  which  they  stand  invested  is  ori- 
ginally in  and  derivatively  from  the  supreme  King  of 
kings,  and  Lord  of  all  lords.  Their  kingdoms  are  but  the 
several  provinces  of  his  universal  empire.  He  hath  given 
them  their  patent  to  be  his  lieutenants  and  viceroys ;  for 
by  him  "  kings  reign  and  princes  decree  justice,"  Prov.  8  : 
15,  not  by  his  permission  only,  but  by  his  ordinance  and 
appointment.  And  whereas  a  great  and  conspicuous  part  of 
the  image  of  God  consists  in  his  sovereignty  and  domin- 
ion, he  hath  so  expressly  stamped  this  image  of  his  upon 
them,  that  for  their  likeness  to  him  in  it  he  gives  them 
the  same  glorious  name  by  which  himself  is  known,  Ps. 
82  :  6,  "I  have  said,  ye  are  gods  j"  and  Exod.  22  :  28, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  revile  the  gods  nor  curse  the  ruler  of 
thy  people."  And  our  Savior  tells  us,  John,  10  :  35, 
that  they  are  called  gods,  because  the  word  of  God  came 
unto  them :  the  word  of  God,  that  is  the  appointment 
and  commission  which  they  have  received  from  God. 

It  is  observable  that  as  other  inferior  creatures  revere 
the  very  countenance  of  a  man  and  those  few  strictures 
of  the  defaced  image  of  God  which  are  still  remaining 
there,  and,  although  they  far  exceed  in  strength,  yet 
they  dare  not,  unless  em-aged,  make  use  of  it  against  their 
natural  though  weaker  lords,  so  also  God  hath  spread 
such  an  awe  upon  the  face  of  authority,  that  a  look  or  a 
word  from  lawful  magistrates  shall  more  daunt  and  terri- 


252  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

fy  than  the  armed  force  of  an  enemy.  There  is  some 
secret  character  that  God  hath  imprinted  on  them  which 
makes  them  venerable;  and  although  their  subjects  as 
far  exceed  them  in  strength  as  they  do  in  number,  yet 
strength  alone  was  never  made  to  command,  but  rather 
to  obey  and  execute ;  and  power  ought  to  be  the  servant 
of  authority. 

\  Nor  hath  God  ordained  magistracy  only  out  of  respect 
to  some  few  whom  he  hath  ennobled,  that  they  might  en- 
loy  a  privilege  and  prerogative  above  the  common  and 
vulgar  sort  of  men ;  but  he  hath  ordained  it  for  the  general 
good  of  mankind.'^  Yea,  and  I  have  often  and  seriously 
thought  that,  next  to  the  invaluable  gift  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  best  and  the  greatest  good  that  God  ever  gave  to  the 
world  was  this  appointment  of  magistracy ;  for  were  it 
not  for  this,  the  whole  world  would  be  turned  into  a  wil- 
derness, and  men  into  savage  beasts,  preying  one  upon 
another.  Did  not  the  fear  of  man  restrain  them  when 
they  have  cast  off  the  fear  of  God,  did  they  not  dread  the 
infliction  of  temporal  punishments  when  they  slight  the 
threatenings  of  eternal,  we  might  be  as  safe  among  lions 
and  tigers  as  among  men,  and  find  better  refuge  and 
better  society  in  solitudes  than  in  cities :  within  would 
be  fears,  without  violence,  and  every  where  tumult, 
uproar,  and  destruction ;  our  dwellings,  our  persons, 
our  possessions,  all  exposed  to  the  fury  of  bloody  and 
merciless  invaders ;  and,  as  the  prophet  speaks,  Hosea, 
4:2,  "  By  swearing,  and  lying,  and  killing,  and  stealing, 
and  committing  adultery,"  they  would  break  out  until 
blood  touched  blood ;  and  there  would  be  no  more  peace 
nor  agreement  on  earth  than  jthere  is  in  hell.  But  the 
all-wise  God,  who  hath  subdued  the  beasts  of  the  earth 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  253 

to  man,  hath  likewise  subdued  man  (who  else  would  be- 
come more  wild  and  brutish  than  they)  unto  man.  So 
that  those  who  stand  not  in  any  awe  of  the  God  of  hea- 
ven, yet  are  awed  by  the  gods  of  the  earth ;  and  those 
whom  the  thoughts  of  hell  and  eternal  wrath  cannot  scare 
from  wickedness,  yet  many  times  are  driven  from  it  by 
the  thoughts  of  a  prison  or  a  gibbet. 

Magistracy,  then,  being  an  institution  of  such  great 
eminency  and  absolute  necessity,  let  us  see  what  are  the 
duties  of  those  who  are  invested  with  it,  towards  those 
under  their  authority ;  and  then  the  duties  of  those  for 
whose  good  they  rule,  reciprocally  towards  them. 

I.    Of  THE     DUTIES    OP    MAGISTRATEg    I    shall   Spcak   but 

briefly,  since  we  are  chiefly  concerned  in  the  knowledge 
and  practice  of  duties  towards  magistrates. 

1.  One  duty  of  magistrates  is  to  appoint  men  of  approved 
ability  and  integrity  to  he  in  authority  under  them.  For, 
since  those  high  in  authority  cannot  be  omnipresent  or 
omniscient,  it  is  therefore  necessary  that  they  should 
hear  with  other  men's  ears,  and  see  with  other  men's 
eyes,  and  act  with  other  men's  hands ;  and  therefore 
they  ought  to  make  choice  of  such  as  are  men  of  known 
fidelity  and  wisdom  to  commit  so  great  a  charge  unto  : 
for,  be  the  fountain  never  so  clear,  yet  the  streams  must 
needs  be  polluted  if  they  run  through  filthy  channels. 
Those  high  in  authority  therefore  should  do  according 
to  the  counsel  of  Jethro,  Exod.  18  :  21,  "Provide  out 
of  all  the  people,  able  men,  such  as  fear  God,  men  of 
truth,  hating  covetousness  ;  and  place  such  as  these  over 
them."  Where  this  course  is  not  taken,  but  those  are 
intrusted  with  command  and  authority  who  either  ne- 
glect the  government  of  the  people  or  oppress  them  in 


S54  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

it,  what  doth  the  prince  but  give  away  the  half  or  more 
of  his  kingdom  ]  for  what  is  not  ruled  is  lost.  Neither 
should  these  subordinate  magistrates  be  too  numerous ; 
for  the  Very  multitude  of  them  may  possibly  be  more 
burdensome  to  the  people  than  helpful  to  the  ruler. 

2.  Magistrates  ought  to  distribute  justice  impartially,  to 
maintain  the  cause  of  the  poor  oppressed,  and  to  restrain  the 
insolence  of  their  proud  oppressors.  This  is  a  truly  royal 
and  princely  virtue,  which  will  prove  not  only  an  orna- 
ment to  the  crown  but  a  safety  to  the  throne.  "  For  the 
throne  is  established  by  righteousness,"  saith  the  wise 
man/Prov.  16 :  12. 

3.  Princes  and  magistrates  ought  to  he  most  exemplary 
for  virtue  and  piety.  The  eyes  of  all  the  people  are  upon 
them,  and  their  actions  have  as  great  an  influence  on 
their  subjects  as  their  laws.  "A  good  prince,"  said  P^- 
terculus,  "  teacheth  his  subjects  to  live  well,  by  living 
well  himself;  and  although  he  be  greatest  in  command, 
is  yet  still  greater  in  example."  Therefore  he  is  doubly 
bound  to  virtuous  actions,  both  by  his  conscience  and  by 
his  condition  :  the  one  as  he  respects  his  own  personal 
good,  the  other  as  he  regards^  the  good  of  his  people,  who 
commonly  take  their  measure  from  their  superiors,  and 
think  imitation  of  their  practices  to  be  a  more  acceptable 
service  than  obedience  to  their  laws. 

But  I  cannot  insist  on  every  particular  duty  of  magis- 
trates, neither  perhaps  would  it  be  here  very  proper. 

In  a  word,  therefore,  they  ought  to  fear  God  above  all; 
to  seek  his  honor  and  glojy  who  hath  raised  them  to  ho- 
nor ;  to  be  prudent  in  their  designs,  courageous  in  their 
performances,  faithful  in  their  promises,^  wise  in  their  coun- 
sels, observant  of  their  own  laws,  careful  of  the  people's 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  .       255 

welfare,  merciful  to  the  oppressed,  favorable  to  the  good, 
ten'ible  to  the  evil,  ^nd  just  tov^^ards  all.  Let  them  re- 
member these  two  things  :  that  they  are  gods,  and  there- 
fore should  rule  and  govern  as  they  judge  God  himself 
would  do  were  he  visible  here  upon  earth ;  and  that  they 
are  men,  and  therefore  must  give  an  account  unto  the 
great  God  of  all  that  trust  which  he  hath  reposed  in  them. 
And  certainly  if  they  be  careful  to  perform  every  part  of 
their  duty,  though  we  may  look  only  at  the  splendor  and 
glory  of  their  state,  yet  the  cares  and  troubles  that  attend 
it  will  be  found  so  great  and  weighty  that  we  shall  find 
all  reason  in  the  world  to  make  the  burden  of  their 
crowns  lighter  by  our  ready  and  cheerful  obedience.  It 
was  well  observed  by  Lord  Verulam,  that  princes  are 
like  the  heavenly  bodies,  which  cause  good  or  evil  times  ; 
and  which  have  much  veneration,  but  no  rest.  Essay  of 
Empire. 

It  is  the  duty  of  all  magistrates,  of  whatever  grade,  to 
see  that  the  laws  be  executed  according  to  their  full  in- 
tent, without  respect  of  persons ;  neither  fearing  to  pun- 
ish the  rich,  nor  sparing  to  punish  the  poor ;  making  no 
difference  between  one  person  and  another  where  the 
cause  makes  none.  For  whoever  are  thus  partial  want  the 
courage  and  firmness  that  ought  to  be  in  a  magistrate; 
and  should  make  him  as  inflexible  as  the  rule  of  justice 
itself;  neither  being  frightened  by  the  power  or  threats 
of  those  who  are  great,  nor  melted  or  softened  with  the 
cries  of  the  mean ;  for  the  Scripture  hath  expressly  forbid- 
den them,  Exod.  23  :  3,  to  **  countenance' a  poor  man  in 
his  cause ;"  and  pity  may  sometimes  as  much  bribe  and 
corrupt  judgment,  as  rewards.  They  ought  to  divest  them- 
selves of  all  passions,  private  interests  and  affections  j  to 


256  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

be  impartial  in  the  execution  of  justice  upon  the  mighti- 
est offender  as  well  as  the  meanest ;  upon  their  dearest 
friends  and  relations  as  well  as  upon  strangers  or  ene- 
mies. This  will  give  strength  and  authority  to  the  laws  ; 
which  else  are  but  cobwebs  made  to  catch  the  smaller 
flies,  while  the  great  and  strong  ones  break  easily  through. 
This  is  the  way  to  conciliate  reverence  and  veneration  to 
the  laws  and  government;  and  by  this  course  "judgment 
shall  run  down  our  streets  as  water,  and  righteousness  as 
a, mighty  stream.'* 

In  brief,  because  I  would  not  too  long  insist  upon  this 
subject,  though  it  be  large  and  various,  let  magistrates,  of 
what  rank  soever  they  be,  seriously  consider  the  weighty 
charge  given  them  by  God  himself,  2  Sam.  23  :  3,  "  The 
God  of  Israel  said,  the  Rock  of  Israel  spake  to  me,  he 
that  ruleth  over  men  must  be  just,  ruling  in  the  fear  of 
God." 

II.  Let  us  consider  the  duties  we  owe  towards  magis- 
trates and  rulers.  These  are  in  general  three  :  lionor,  obe- 
dience, and  prayer  to  God  for  them. 

1.  We  must  honor  and  reverence  them.  This  is  the 
apostle's  command,  1  Pet.  2  :  17,  "  Fear  God :  Honor 
the  king."  We  must  give  to  them  a  threefold  honor ;  in 
our  thoughts,  in  our  words,  and  with  our  substance. 

We  must  honor  and  reverence  them  in  our  thoughts, 
looking  upon  them  as  the  lively  and  visible  images  of  God 
upon  earth.  Indeed  the  Divine  perfections  are  the  highest 
object  of  our  reverence ;  and  therefore  as  you  would  es- 
teem and  honor  any  for  their  wisdom  or  for  their  holiness, 
because  these  are  some  lineaments  and  draughts  of  the 
image  of  God ;  so  you  ought  to  reverenc^  those  to  whom 
the  Almighty  God  hath  communicated  authority ;  for  this 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  257 

also  is  the  image  of  God  in  them.  Yea,  and  though  it 
should  so  happen  that  they  bear  no  other  resemblance  to 
God,  neither  in  his  wisdom,  nor  justice,  nor  holiness,  but 
are  wicked,  cruel,  tyrannicaJ  and  unwise ;  yet  that  pow- 
er and  authority  alone,  with  which  they  stand  invested, 
challengeth  our  respect  and  reverence :  for  in  this  at  least 
they  are  like  unto  God ;  and  whosoever  slighteth  and  de- 
spiseth  them,  slighteth  and  despiseth  one  of  God's  glorious 
attributes  shining  forth  in  them :  we  ought  not  to  harbor  any 
undervaluing  or  ill  thoughts  of  them.  But  where  a  people 
are  so  happy  as  to  be  governed  by  those  magistrates  who 
have  a  whole  constellation  of  Divine  attributes  shining  in 
them ;  magistrates  that  are  just  and  merciful,  wise  and 
holy ;  they  ought  to  give  them  the  greatest  reverence  that 
can  belong  to  creatures,  and  to  esteem  and  respect  them 
next  to  God- himself;  and  although  all  these  should  be 
wanting,  yet  that  power  and  authority  which  God  hath  de- 
legated to  them  is  truly  reverend  and  awful ;  and  the  wise 
man  hath  commanded  us  not  to  curse  the  king,  not  in  our 
thought.  Eccl.  10  :  2. 

(2.)  We  ought  to  honor  and  reverence  them  in  our 
words,  speaking  what  good  of  them  we  know,  and  pru- 
dently concealing  their  vices  or  their  infirmities.  For  to 
what  else  can  it  tend  when  we  blaze  abroad  the  faults  of 
our  rulers,  but  only  to  loosen  the  affections  of  the  people 
from  them  ]  And  how  much  more  horrid  a  wickedness  is 
it  then  falsely  to  calumniate  them,  and  by  little  arts,  and 
suspicious  intimations,  and  half-sentences,  to  insinuate 
politic  jealousies  into  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  to  pos- 
sess them  with  nothing  but  fears  and  sad  apprehensions 
of  what  miseries  and  sufferings  are  coming  upon  them 
through  the  mal-administration  of  affairs,  and  either  the 


258  THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

design  or  neglect  of  their  rulers !  all  which  tends  to  no- 
thing but  to  make  the  people  either  disdain  or  hate  them. 
I  beseech  you,  beware  that  you  do  not,  by  misinterpreta- 
tions, traduce  the  actions  of  your  lawful  rulers,  nor  heark- 
en to  those  who  do ;  whose  words  and  whose  breath  serve 
only  to  blow  up  the  coals  of  civil  dissension,  which,  if 
mercy  prevent  not,  will  break  forth  again  into  a  raging  and 
-devouring  war.  Beware  that  you  suffer  none  of  those  leech- 
es to  fasten  upon  you  whose  very  mouths  will  draw  blood. 
We  have  seen  the  sad  experience  of  it  already ;  and  may 
justly  fear,  when  we  see  them  use  the  same  methods,  that 
they  intend  the  same  effects.  The  apostle  gives  such  a 
black  brand,  2  Pet.  2  :  10,  "  Presumptuous  are  they, 
self-willed,  they  are  not  afraid  to  speak  evil  of  dignities." 
(3.)  We  ought  to  honor  them  with  our  substance  when 
the  necessity  of  their  affairs  and  public  concerns  calls  for 
supply.  And  indeed  this  is  but  a  debt  we  owe  them  ;  for 
we  have  somewhat  of  theirs  in  our  hands,  and  it  is  no 
unjust  demand  for  them  to  require  their  own.  Tributes 
and  public  payments  are  theirs  when  made  so  bylaw; 
for  the  rest  is  ours  no  otherwise  than  by  the  same  law ; 
and  therefore  to  withhold  what  is  thus  legally  bestowed 
on  them  is  no  other  than  theft  and  an  unjust  detaining  of 
what  is  none  of  our  own.  Hence  our  Savior  commands 
us  to  "  render  unto  Caesar  the  things  which  are  Caesar's." 
Mat.  22  :  21.  And  the  apostle,  Rom.  13  :  7,  **  Render  to 
all  their  dues :  tribute,  to  whom  tribute  is  due  ;  custom, 
to  whom  custom ;  fear,  to  whom  fear ;  honor,  to  whom 
honor."  And  although  possibly  sometimes  the  burden  may 
fall  heavy,  yet  we  ought  freely  and  cheerfully  to  con- 
tribute ;  partly  considering  that  such  is  the  privilege  of 
mr  nation  that  nothing  is  imposed  upon  us  by  violence, 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  259 

but  it  is  given  by  ourselves  and  is  our  ovi^n  act ;  and  partly 
that  whatsoever  we  possess  we  owe  the  enjoyment  of  it 
to  the  blessing  of  government. 

2.  Another  general  duty  we  owe  to  magistrates  is  ohe- 
dience.  And  for  this  we  have  as  express  and  frequent 
commands  as  for  any  duty  that  belongs  to  christian  con- 
versation. Rom.  13  :  1,  "Let  every  soul  be  subject  unto 
the  higher  powers.  For  there  is  no  power  but  of  God  ; 
the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God."  1  Pet.  2  :  IS- 
IS, "  Submit  yourselves  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for 
the  Lord's  sakej  whether  it  be  to  the  king  as  supreme, 
or  unto  governors  as  sent  by  him,  for  so  is  the  will  of 
God."  Neither  is  there  any  cause  whatsoever  that  can  ou- 
persede  our  obedience  ;  for  if  their  commands  be  lawful, 
we  are  to  obey  them  by  performing  what  they  require  ;  if 
they  be  never  so  wicked  and  unlawful,  we  are  taobey 
them  by  suffering  what  they  threaten.  But  I  shall  not  now 
further  prosecute  this  topic. 

3.  Another  great  duty  towards  our  rulers  i^  fervent  and 
earnest  prayer  for  them.  So  the  apostle,  1  Tim.  S  ;  1,  "I 
exhort  therefore,  that)  first  of  all,  supplications,  prayers, 
intercessions,  and  giving  of  thanks  be  made  for  all  men  ; 
for  kingg  and  all  that  are  in  authority ;  that  we  may  lead 
a  quiet  and  peaceable  life  in  all  godliness  and  honesty." 
The  charge  laid  on  those  in  authority  is  greater,  and  the 
burdens  pressing  them  are  heavier  than  what  lie  on  other 
men,  and  therefore  they  should  be.  eased  and  helped  by 
our  prayers.  The  account  they  must  render  at  the  last 
day  is  greater ;  their  temptations  are  more  ;  and  there- 
fore they  more  need  our  prayers  than  other  men.  Let  us 
therefore  heartily  perform  this  duty  of  praying  for  those 
whom  God  has  placed  over  usj  a  duty  not  more  benefi- 


260  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

cial  to  them  than  to  ourselves  and  the  whole  nation ;  for, 
if  we  can  prevail  for  a  blessing  upon  our  rulers,  we  our- 
selves shall  certainly  share  in  it.  ^ 

Having  spoken  of  the  mutual  duties  of  parents  and 
children,  of  magistrates  and  subjects,  I  shall  now,  thirdly, 
proceed  to  consider  the  duties  of  husband  and  wife  ; 
for  in  this  relation  also,  though  it  come  nearer  to  an  equa- 
lity than  the  former,  there  is  a  superiority  on  the  man's 
part,  and  subjection  due  to  him  from  the  woman.  ■ 

And  here  whilst  I  am  treating  of  this  subject  I  beseech 
you  give  not  way  to  any  levity  of  mind  or  vanity  of 
thoughts.  Think  it  not  a  light,  jocular  tiling,  as  too  often 
the  marriage-relation  and  the  offices  that  appertain  to  it 
are  accounted ;  for  it  is  matter  of  duty  that  I  am  now 
propounding  to  you ;  and  matter  of  duty  is  no  less  than 
matter  of  life  and  death  eternal.  And  therefore  I  charge 
you  that  you  attend  to  it ;  not  to  get  advantages  of  sport 
and  merriment  one  with  another,  and  to  object  them  to  each 
other  in  a  ludicrous  and  jesting  way,  as  is  every  where 
too  common  a  custom ;  but  attend  to  it  as  a  matter  of  as 
great  seriousness  and  weight  as  any  that  belongs  to  the 
right  ordering  of  your  christian  conversation:  a  matter 
that  presseth  your  consciences  to  the  due  observance  and 
practice  of  it ;  and  if  despised  or  neglected,  will  press 
your  souls  under  guilt  and  sink  them  under  wrath.  And 
certainly  they  who  are  so  vain  as  to  think  the  duties  of 
this  relation  to  be  of  no  great  concern,  must  needs  like- 
wise be  so  impious  as  to  impute  trifling  to  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  Grod,  who  hath  so  frequently  and  with  so  much  earnest- 
ness and  instance  recommended  them  to  us.  There  is 
scarce  any  oije  epistle  wherein  the  apostles  do  not  par- 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  261 

dcularly  insist  on  these  things ;  and  certainly  what  was 
worthy  their  care  to  write  and  teach,  is  worthy  our  care 
to  learn  and  practise. 

The  duties  therefore  of  married  persons  are  either  spe- 
cial or  common  ;  the  special  are  those  which  are  the  duties 
only  of  one  party  to  the  other,  either  of  the  husband  to  the 
wife  or  of  the  wife  to  the  husband;  the  common  are  those 
which  belong  to  both,  and  are  by  both  to  be  mutually  per- 
foitned. 

I.  I  shall  first  cdnsider  the  duties  of  a  husband  to^ 
WARDS  HIS  WIFE.    And  they  are, 

1.  Conjugal  love.  Indeed  love  is  a  beautiful  ornament 
to  all  relations,  but  of  this  it  is  the  foundation  and  first 
principle.  It  is  love  which  ought  at  first  to  tie  the  mar- 
riage-knot ;  and  it  is  love  aldne  that  can  afterwards  make 
it  easy.  No  other  respect  whatsoever  can  keep  it  from 
vmnging  and  galling  us.  And  although  want  of  love  can- 
not dissolve  the  bond,  yet  it  doth  the  joy  and  comfort  of  a 
married  state.  Now,  of  all  the  objects  that  are  allowed  us 
to  love  here  on  earth,  a  wife  is  the  chiefest ;  yea,  to  be 
loved  above  parents,  children,  and  friends,  and  the  dear- 
est of  all  other  relations.  Gen.  2  :  24,  **  Therefore  shall 
a  man  leave  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  shall  cleave 
unto  his  wife."  And  if  you  would  know  the  full  measure 
of  this  love,  the  apostle  hath  prescribed  it,  Eph.  5  :  28, 
"  So  ought  men  to  love  their  wives  as  their  ovm  bodies  ;" 
and  verse  33,  "  Let  every  one  of  you  in  particular  so 
love  his  wife  even  as  himself :"  you  must  be  as  careful 
and  tender  of  their  good  as  of  your  own,  and  resent  any 
injury  done  to  them  as  much  as  if  it  were  done  to  your- 
selves.   And  indeed  there  is  great  reason  for  it  j  for  mar 


262  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

riage  makes  of  two,  one  mystical  person ;  it  doth  but  com- 
pensate our  damage  and  restore  the  rib  to  our  side  again. 
And  therefore  by  marriage  two  are  said  to  be  made  one 
flesli,  Mark,  10  :  8,  "  They  twain  shall  be  one  flesh ;  so 
then  they  are  no  more  twain,  but  one  flesh."  And  there- 
fore all  violence  and  outrage  against  a  wife,  into  which 
the  rude  and  boisterous  fury  of  some  brutish  men  doth 
too  often  break,  is  as  unnatural  as  if  you  should  see  a 
man  beat,  and  wound,  and  gash  himself.  And  certainly 
they  are  mad  and  distracted  passions  which  take  revenge 
on  themselves.  "  No  man  ever  yet  hated  his  own  flesh, 
(that  is,  no  man  acting  rationally  and  as  becomes  a  man,) 
but  loveth  and  cherisheth  it."  Eph.  5  :  29.  So  that  we  are 
to  love  our  wives  with  the  same  tenderness  and  natural- 
ness of  affection  as  our  own  beings,  and  they  should  be  as 
dear  to  us  as  ourselves.  And  if  you  would  have  this  high 
affection  mounted  a  degree  higher,  see  verse  25,  "  Hus- 
bands, love  your  wives,  even  as  Christ  also  loved  the 
church,  and  gave  himself  for  it."  If  a  natural  affection  will 
not  suffice,  behold  here  a  supernatural  one,  and  the  great- 
est instance  of  love  that  ever  was  expressed  or  conceived 
brought  to  be  the  rule  and  pattern  of  ours.  Christ  loved 
the  church,  his  spouse,  although  there  were  many  spots, 
blemishes  and  imperfections  in  her ;  he  loved  her  so  as  to 
leave  his  Father  and  cleave  to  his  wife  ;  he  loved  her  bet- 
ter than  himself  and  his  own  life,  and  shed  his  most  pre- 
cious blood  for  her ;  and  rather  than  the  wrath  of  God 
should  fall  upon  his  beloved  spouse,  he  thrusts  himself 
between  and  receives  those  heavy  blows  on  his  own  per- 
son. So  ought  men  also  to  love  their  wives  ;  so  infinitely, 
if  it  were  possible ;  but,  because  it  is  not  so,  sincerely. 
Therefore, 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  263 

(1.)  They  must 'love  them,  though  they  often  he  tray 
many  weaknesses  and  imperfections :  these  they  ought 
meekly  to  bear  with,  though  they  must  not  countoiance 
nor  encourage  them.  Love  will  cover  a  multitude  of 
faults ;  and  so  long  as  they  are  but  faults  and  not  crimes, 
we  ouo-ht  no  more  to  divorce  our  affections  than  our  per- 
sons from  them.  There  is  indeed  a  touchy  love,  which 
will  cause  great  wrath  for  very  small  offences  ;  but  usually 
such  kind  of  love  turns  into  bitterness  and  exasperation  ; 
therefore  offences  of  this  nature  should  prudently  be 
passed  by  only  with  a  glancing  reproof,  or  with  a  silence 
that  shall  be  more  instructive  than  noise  and  clamor. 
Here  the  apostle  exhorts  husbands,  Col.  3  :  19,  "Hus- 
bands, love  your  wives,  and  be  not  bitter  against  them." 

(2.)  We  should  so  love  them  as  not  to  upbraid  them  with 
the  necessities  or  incumbrances  of  a  married  life,  but  be 
content  to  abridge  ourselves  of  our  former  freedom,  and 
to  forego  our  former  privileges,  either  of  plenty  or  plea- 
sure, which  we  enjoyed  in  a  single  condition,  ^thout  re- 
proaching them  with  it.  Many  fools  there  are  who  fancy 
nothing  but  joys  and  delights  in  a  married  life  ;  but  when 
they  enter  into  it,  and  find  many  unexpected  troubles, 
and  that  they  cannot  live  either  at  so  much  ease  or  with 
so  much  splendor  as  before,  think  to  right  themselves  by 
perpetual  brawls  with  their  wives ;  imputing  the  cause  to 
them,  and  charging  on  them  all  the  burdens  and  inconve- 
niences under  which  they  both  labor  and  of  which  com- 
monly the  woman  hath  the  greater  share.  Now  this  is  not 
to  love  as  Christ  loved  the  church ;  who,  for  her  sake, 
stripped  himself  of  his  glory,  and  voluntarily  humbled 
himself,  first  to  the  dust,  and  then  to  death,  the  cruel  and 
cursed  deatli  of  the  cross. 


264  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

(3.)  We  ought  so  to  love  tliem  as  to  interpose  and  step  tn 
between  them  and  danger,  and  rather  suffer  it  to  fall  on  our- 
selves than  on  them  ;  for  so  Christ  loved  the  church,  and 
gave  himself  for  it ;  redeeming  it  from  the  wrath  of  God 
by  his  own  undergoing  it,  and  delivering  it  from  death  jy 
suffering  death  for  it.  • 

(4'.)  We  ought  so  to  love  them  as  to  endeavor  to  promote 
the  spiritual  good  of  their  souls ;  and  by  good  counsels 
and  instructions  insinuate  into  them  the  love  of  piety  and 
holiness;  that  so,  as  Christ  sanctifieth  the  church  his 
spouse,  Yfe  may  also  sanctify  purs,  and  present  them  unto 
God  without  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing. 

Thus  much  of  the  first  duty,  which  is  love ;  on  which 
I  have  insisted  the  longer,  because  it  comprehends  all 
other  duties  in  it ;  for  where  there  is  this  sincere  and 
conjugal  affection,  although  it  may  have  different  methods 
of  expressing  itself,  according  to  the  different  tempers  of 
men,  yet  it  will  certainly  in  this,  as  in  all  other  cases, 
command  the  whole  train  and  retinue  of  other  affections 
to  wait  upon  it,  and  see  that  nothing  be  wanting  to  the 
good  of  the  object  on  which  it  is  fixed.  I  shall  therefore 
be  the  briefer  in  the  rest. 

2.  Another  duty  of  the  husband  is  provident  care  for  his 
wife.  He  ought,  saith  the  apostle,  "  to  nourish  and  cherish 
her,  as  Christ  doth  the  church."  He  must  therefore  impart 
to  her,  according  to  his  rank  and  ability,  whatsoever  may 
be  for  her  necessity  or  comfort ;  and  not  waste  that  in 
riot  and  excess  among  his  lewd  and  wicked  companions, 
companions  that  the  devil  hath  given  him,  which  ought  to 
be  for  the  support  of  her  whom  God  hath  given  him  for 
his  companion,  and  who  in  the  meanwhile  hath  nothing 
to  feed  on  but  her  sorrows,  nothing  to  drink  but  her  tears 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  265 

See  how  deeply  the  apostle  hath  stigmatized  such  wretch- 
es, 1  Tim.-5  :  8,  "  If  any  man  provide  not  for  his  own, 
and  specially  for  those  of  his  own  house,  he  hath  denied 
the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel." 

3.  Another  duty  husbands  owe  their  wives  is  protection 
from  danger  when  they  are  in  jeopardy: 

See  how  it  was  with  David.  When  the  Amalekites  had 
burnt  Ziklag,  and  with  the  rest  of  the  prey  had  taken 
David's  wives,  he  pursues  them  with  no  more  than  six 
hundred,  men,  though  they  were  a  great  host,  and  rescues 
his  wives  from  their  captivity.  1  Sam.  30  :  18.  And  in- 
deed the  weakness  and  feebleness  of  that  sex,  being  more 
helpless  in  dangers  than  ours,  and  less  able  to  relieve 
themselves,  calls  for  this  ready  aid  and  succor  from  us  ; 
and  he  who  is  so  churlish  as  not  to  afford  it,  is  so  unnatu- 
ral also  as  to  suffer  a  part  of  himself  to  perish.  A  wife  is 
compared  in  Scripture  to  a  fruitful  xnne :  now  a  vine  is 
a  weak  tender  plant  and  requires  support,  and  the  husband 
should  be  as  the  house-side  for  her  stay  and  support.  So 
the  woman  was  at  first  made  of  a  rib  taken  from  under  the 
man's  arm ;  the  office  of  the  arm  is  to  repel  and  keep  off 
injuries;  which  signifies  to  us  that  the  husband  ought 
to  defend  his  wife  from  all  wrongs  and  injuries  to  which 
t  he  may  be  exposed. 

4.  Another  duty  is  i^istruction  and  direction. 
Therefore  the  husband  is  called  her  head,  the  seat  and 

fountain  of  knowledge  and  wisdom,  Eph.  5  :  23,  "  The 
husband  is  the  head  of  the  wife,  even  as  Christ  is  the 
head  of  the  church."  And  therefore  as  all  direction  and 
consolation  is  derived  from  Christ,  so  should  the  husband 
likewise  communicate  knowledge,  and  comfort,  and 
guidance    to   the   wife ;    hence   he  is  called   her  guide. 

Commandments.  12 


266  THE    TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 

Prov.  2  :  17.  And  St.  Peter  requires  of  husbands  tliat  they 
snouid  dwell  with  their  wives  according  to  knowledge,  and 
oe  able  to  advise  and  inform  them  in  all  emergent  cases, 
especially  concerning  God  and  their  souls.  Whence  St. 
Paul  enjoins  wives,  1  Cor.  14  :  35,  that  "  if  they  wil] 
lean:  any  thing,  they  ask  their  husbands  at  home  j"  and 
therefore  much  more  is  it  required  of  the  husband  that  ho 
should  have  laid  up  a  good  stock  of  knowledge,  and  be 
able  to  teach  them ;  lest  such  as  creep  into  houses,  and 
lead  captive  silly  women,  ensnare  their  wives.  For  such 
is  the  subtlety  of  deceivers,  following  therein  the  method 
of  the  Old  Serpent,  that  they  first  begin  with  the  woman, 
and  then  make  use  of  her  to  seduce  the  man  ;  for  heresy, 
as  all  other  sins,  does  first  inveigle  the  affections,  and  then 
by  them  corrupts  the  reason.  And  therefore  the  husband 
should  be  well  grounded  and  principled  with  knowledge, 
that  he  may  keep  his  wife  from  being  led  away  by  the 
crafty  subtlety  of  those  who  lie  in  wait  to  deceive ;  and 
who  by  good  words  and  fair  speeches,  affected  phrases 
and  jingling  expressions  that  have  nothing  in  them  but 
sound  and  error,  pervert  the  hearts  of  the  simple.  But  if, 
as  it  sometimes  happens,  God  hath  endowed  the  wife 
with  a  gi'eater  measure  of  prudence  and  solid  and  sub- 
stantial knowledge  than  the  husband,  it  is  then  his  part  to 
hearken  to  her  advice,  and  to  yield,  not  indeed  to  the  au- 
thority of  the  counsellor  as  she  is  bound  to  do,  but  to  the 
authority  of  the  counsel ;  and  this  she  ought  to  tender  him 
with  all  respect  and  submission,  not  having  power  to  en- 
oin  what  she  knows  td  be  best  and  fittest,  but  only  witJi 
modesty  propounding  it,  and  with  meekness  persuading 
him  to  embrace  it. 

5.  Another  duty  of  the  husbdnd  is  tenderness  and  mild' 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENl  2G7 

ness  toicards  his  wife;  not  causelessly  giieving  her  eithei 
by  speeches  or  actions. 

That  is  a  wretched  family  where  those  who  are  joined 
m  the  same  yoke  spurn  and  kick  at  one  another.  If  th« 
wife  be  careful  in  performing  her  duty,  there  belongs  tc 
her  a  kind  and  loving  acceptation  of  it,  and  praise  and 
commendation  for  it ;  or  if  she  sometimes  should  fail,  she 
ought  not  to  be  rebuked  with  bitterness,  but  with  meek- 
ness, and  in  such  a  way  that  the  reproof  shall  show  more 
of  soiTOw  than  of  anger.  But  perpetual  brawlings  and 
contentions,  besides  that  they  wholly  embitter  this  state  of 
life  and  eat  out  all  the  comfort  of  it,  instead  of  preventing 
offences  for  the  future,  do  usually  provoke  and  exasperate 
to  more,  and  are  perhaps  a  greater  fault  in  the  husband 
than  that  which  he  exclaims  at  in  hi3  wife.  Besides,  it  will 
certainly  indispose  theni  both  to  the  performance  of  those 
duties  which  belong  to  them  in  their  general  and  particu- 
lar callings.  It  will  hinder  their  prayers;  for  how  can 
they  lift  up  their  hands  without  wrath,  as  the  apostle  com- 
mands, 1  Tim.  2  :  8,  when  they  burn  in  choler  one  against 
the  other  ?  How  can  they  pray  to  God  for  blessings  upon 
each  other,  when  they  have  been  cursing  and  reviling  each 
other]  And  as  for  the  duties  of  their  particular  callings, 
do  we  not  see  that  in  those  families  where  this  baneful 
contention  reigns  they  are  commonly  neglected,  and  all 
runs  to  wreck  and  ruin  out  of  a  kind  of  revenge  that  one 
party  thinks  to  take  upon  the  other  :  the  husband  out  of 
discontent  will  not  provide  nor  the  vdfe  manage,  and  so 
nothing  is  cared  for  but  only  how  they  may  quarrel  and 
rail  at  each  other ;  a  misery  that  many  families  fall  in- 
to through  the  indiscreet  heats  and  fierceness  of  the 
husband  upon  every  trivial  offence  of  the  wife,  though 


?68  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

perhaps  it  was  sometimes  untliouglit  of  and  sometimes 
unavoidable. 

G.  Another  duty  of  the  husband  is  to  give  due  respect 
and  honor  to  his  wife. 

Give  *'  honor  unto  the  wife,  as  unto  the  weaker  vessel,"^ 
1  Pet.  3  :  7 ;  for,  being  weak,  she  ought  to  be  used  with 
moie  respect  and  gentleness.  Think  honorably  of  her  as . 
the  person  whom  God  saw  best  and  fittest  for  you  in  all 
the  world ;  and  be  not  tempted,  so  much  as  in  a  thought, 
to  believe  that  any  other  could  have  been  either  so  proper 
or  so  beneficial  to  you.  Speak  honorably  of  her,  not  di 
vulging  any  of  her  failings  and  imperfections  to  her  dis- 
credit, but  giving  her  the  due  praise  of  those  virtues-  and 
graces  that  are  in  her ;  for  he  that  disgraceth  his  wife  dis- 
parageth  himself,  and  every  one  will  censure  him  as  guil- 
ty of  folly  either  in  choosing  or  in  governing  her.  Treat  * 
her  honorably  j  neither  making  thyself  a  sei'vant  to  her 
humor,  for  that  will  dishonor  thee,  nor  making  her  a  slave 
to  thine,  for  that  is  to  dishonor  her ;  but  use  her  as  thy 
bosom-friend,  thy  endeared  companion,  and,  in  every 
thing  but  authority,  equal  to  thyself.     , 

7.  The  last  duty  of  a  husband  is  the  prudent  maintain' 
ing  and  managing  of  his  authority. 

His  authority  over  his  wife  is  God's,  who  hath  intrusted 
him  with  it ;  and  our  Savior  illustrates  his  own  authority 
over  the  church  by  the  authority  of  a  husband  over  his 
wife.  Eph.  5.  And  therefore  it  is  not  basely  to  be  be- 
trayed, nor  to  be  maintained  with  rigor  and  a  tyrannical 
\i;ienee.  But  the  right  and  most  effectual  way  of  keep- 
ing up  this  authority  is  by  prudence  and  gravity,  by  sober- 
ness and  piety,  and  a  staid,  exemplary,  and  strict  life. 
This  will  cause  a  reverent  esteem  and  veneration  in  the 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  26^ 

wife  and  in  the  whole  family ;  whereas  a  humorsome  light- 
ness at  one  time,  and  as  humorsome  severity  at  anothei-, 
will  but  expose  us  to  contempt  for  the  one  and  hatred 
for  the  other.  It  is  a  hard  matter  for  him  to  be  reverenced 
l^  others,  who  doth  not  first  reverence  himself;  for  he 
that  will  prostitute  himself  by  foolish  and  ridiculous  hu' 
mors,  or  by  vile  and  wicked  actions,  either  injustice,  or  in- 
temperance, or  lying,  &c.  it  is  impossible  but  that  he  must 
fall  under  the  scorn  of  his  nearest  relations.  So  Nabal's 
churlishness  and  drunkenness  made  even  wise  Abigail  to 
call  him  fool:  *'  Nabal  is  his  name,  and  folly  is  with  him." 
But  where  there  is  an  excellent  mixture  of  prudence  and 
jriety  together,  the  one  to  be  a  guide  and  the  other  to  be 
an  example,  these  will  make  a  man  truly  reverend,  and 
induce  the  wife  and  the  whole  family  to  esteem  and  to 
imitate  him. — Thus  much  for  the  duties  of  the  husband  to- 
wards the  wife. 

II.  Let  us  next  consider  the  duties  op  the  wife  to- 
wards THE  HUSBAND.    Thcso  are, 

1.  Subjection  and  obedience.  And  this  is  required  from 
them  as  absolutely  and  peremptorily  as  unto  Christ  him- 
self, Eph.  5  :  22,  "Wives,  submit  yourselves  unto  your 
own  husbands,  as  unto  the' Lord."  And  again,  ver.  24, 
**  Therefore,  as  the  church  is  subject  unto  Christ,  so  let 
the  wives  be  to  their  own  husbands  in  every  thing." 

And  not  only  doth  the  apostle  give  authority  and  ccm- 
mand  for  it,  but  he  enforceth  it  by  sundry  reasons. 

(1.)  The  woman  was  made  out  of  the  man,  and  there- 
fore ought  to  be  subject  unto  him.  1  Cor.  11  :  3,  8,  "  The 
head  of  the  woman  is  the  man.  For  the  man  is  not  of  the 
woman,  but  the  woman  of  the  man."    She  is  bone  of  his 


270  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

bone  and  flesh  of  his  flesh,  and  therefore  ought  to  pay  hun 
the  homage  of  obedience  and  subjection  for  those  materi- 
als of  her  being  which  she  first  received  of  him. 

(2.)  Because  the  woman  was  made  for  the  man,  Piid 
therefore  ought  to  be  subject  to  him.  So,  in  the  next 
verse,  "  Neither  was  the  man  created  for  the  woman,  but 
the  woman  for  the  man."  She  owes  her  being  to  the 
man's  necessities  and  convenience ;  and  the  great  end  of 
her  creation,  next  to  the  glory  of  God,  was  that  she  might 
be  helpful  and  profitable  to  man.  Gen.  2  :  18,  "  It  is  not 
good  that  man  should  be  alone  :  I  will  make  him  a  help 
meet  for  him  :"  therefore,  having  received  their  being  for 
the  sake,  of  man,  they  ought  to  be  subject  unto  him. 

(3.)  Another  reason  the  apostle  gives,  is  the  prioriiy  of 
the  man's  creation,  1  Tim.  2  :  12,  13,  "  I  suffer  not  a 
woman  to  usurp  authority  over  the  man.  For  Adam  was 
first  formed,  thein  Eve :"  therefore,  in  the  same  rank  of 
creatures,  it  is  but  fit  that  he  should  be  first  in  dignity 
who  was  first  in  nature.    And, 

(4.)  Because  by  the  occasion  of  the  woman  sin  entered  into 
the  world.  So  verse  14,  "Adam  was  not  deceived  ;  but  the 
woman,  being  deceived,  was  in  the  transgression  :"  there- 
fore it  is  but  fit  and  just  that  she  who  made  all  mankind 
disobedient  against  God,  should  herself  be  made  subject 
and  obedient  to  man.  And  this  sentence  we  find  inflicted 
upon  her  as  a  punishment  for  her  transgression.  Gen.  3  : 
16,  "  Thy  dfesire  shall  be  to  thy  husband,  and  he  shall  rule 
ov(T  thee."  Not  as  though  there  would  have  been  no  sub- 
jection due  from  her  to  man  if  sin  had  not  entered  into  the 
world  by  her  means,  for  the  reasons  before  alleged  do  mani- 
festly prove  the  contrary ;  butthat  now  her  subjection  is  a 
curse ;  and  whereas  before  it  would  have  been  easy  and 


FIFTH    COJIMANDMENT.  271 

pleasing  to  her,  now  it  is  become  burdensome  and  giiev- 
ous  :  man  being  by  sin  made  tijore  humorsome  and  hardei 
to  be  pleased,  and  she  being  made  less  able  and  willing  to 
bear  it,  God  justly  and  righteously  punishing  her  by  impos- 
ing on  her  a  work  which  she  herself  hath  made  irksome  and 
difficult.    And  let  me  add  to  these  reasons  of  the  apostle, 

(5.)  That  the  marCs  titled  imply  superiority  artd  autliori- 
ty  over  the  wife.  Such  as  lord,  \  Pet.  3  :  6,  "Sarah 
obeyed  Abraham,  calling  him  lord."  He  is  likewise  called 
the  head  and  guide  of  his  wife.    1  Cor.  11:3;  Prov.  2  :  17. 

(6.)  The  husband  represents  Christ,  the  wife  the  church, 
and  that  in  this  very  paiticular  of  superiority  and  subjec- 
tion ;  therefore,  "  as  the  church  is  subject  unto  Christ,  so 
let  the  wife  be  to  her  own  husband." 

And  here  I  shall  consider  what  the  apostle  tells  us,  1 
Cor.  11  :  10,  that  the  woman  was  to  have  power  over  her 
head  because  of  the  angels ;  which  place,  especially  the 
latter  clause  of  it,  is  diversely  interpreted.  But  I  think 
all  agree  in  this,  that  this  power  which  women  were  to 
have  over  their  heads,  was  a  veil  or  covering,  which  at 
other  times,  but  most  especially  in  the  congregation,  they 
ought  to  wear  on  their  heads ;  and  which,  in  the  primitive 
times,  covered  not  only  their  heads  but  all  their  face,  as 
a  guard  to  their  modesty  and  a  screen  to  keep  off  loose 
and  wanton  eyes.  And  this  veil  is  called  ^oz^;^/-,  to  signify 
that  they  were  under  the  power  and  authority  of  their 
husbands.  But  the  men  were  uncovered  in  their  assem- 
blies, as  the  apostle  tells  us,  ver.  4,  to  signify  that  they  had 
nothing  over  them,  but  were  superior  to  all  visible  crea- 
tures, and  subject  only  to  God.  This  power,  or  veil,  avo- 
men  were  to  wear  because  of  the  angels;  not  (as  Tertulli- 
an  did  grossly  conceive  fi'om  that  mistaken  text,  Gen.  6 : 2,) 


272  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

to  hide  their  beauty  from  the,  sight  and  inspection  of  an- 
gels (for  what  veil  could  do  that,  or  how  can  angels  be 
affected  with  corporeal  beauty  ])  but  either  by  angels  are 
meant  the  ministers  of  the  church,  before  whom  they  are 
to  sliow  modesty  and  bashfulness,  or  else  perhaps  the  ce- 
lestial angels,  who  are  always  present  and  attending  in 
the  assemblies  and  congregations  of  the  faithful;  and 
therefore  women  should  not  do  any  thing  unbecoming  and 
unseemly  before  them ;  or  lastly,  because  the  angels  them- 
selves do  reverence  Christ  who  is  their  head,  and  in  to- 
ken of  their  subjection  to  him  are  said  to  veil  and  cover 
their  faces,  Isa.  6:2;  and  therefore  women  also,  in  token 
of  their  subjection  to  their  husbands,  who  are  their  heads 
as  Christ  is  of  the  church,  should  likewise  cover  their 
heads  and  faces  with  a  veil.  So  we  find,  Gen.  24  :  65,  that 
when  Rebekah  saw  Isaac  coming  towards  her  "  she  took 
a  veil  and  covered  herself,"  as  a  sign  of  her  subjection 
to  him. 

And  this  subjection  is  recommended  to  them  by  the  ex- 
ample of  holy  women,  to  whose  practice  they  ought  tc 
conform  their  own.  So,  1  Pet.  3:5,  "  Holy  women  who 
trusted  in  God,  being  in  subjection  unto  their  own  hus- 
bands." And  St.  Paul  gives  it  in  charge  to  Titus,  to  ex- 
hort wives  that  they  "  be  discreet,  chaste,  keepers  at  home, 
good,  obedient  to  their  own  husbands."  Tit.  2  :  5.  And 
himself  exhorts  them  to  the  same  duty.  Col.  3  :  18, 
"  Wives,  submit  yourselves  unto  your  own  husbands,  as 
it  is  fit  in  the  Lord." 

These  commands  are  so  many  and  so  express,  that 
there  is  scarce  any  other  duty  which  the  Scripture  doth 
urge  with  so  much  instance  and  earnestness,  with  such 
pressing  reasons  and  enforcing  motives,  as   this  of  tho 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  273 

V.  ives'  obedience.  The  duty  is  frequently  expressed, 
submit  yourselves;  and  the  manner  of  performing  it,  ht 
subject,  as  to  the  Lord :  submit,  in  the  Lord ;  a  phrase 
which  carries  in  it  three  things  :  a  motive,  a  direction,  end 
a  notation. 

The  motive  to  obedience  is,  doing  it ^o  the  Lord.  And 
though,  through  the  fi'oward  and  peevish  humors  of  the 
husband,  they  may  have  no  other  encouragement  to  ob- 
serve and  obey  him  ;  yet  to  the  conscientious  wife  this' 
will  be  encouragement  enough,  that  the  Lord  wiir  accept 
and  reward  her  obedience  :  her  heavenly  husband,  Jesus 
Ghrist,. will  account  it  as  a  service  done  tohim.  For  mar- 
riage being  a  type  of  our  mystical  union  to  Christ,  he  es- 
pecially is  concerned  that  the  duties  of  that  relation  be 
performed  so  as  to  bear  some  proportion  to  that  spiritual 
mystery. 

The  direction  how  to  perform  it  is,  that  it  be  done  an  to 
the  Lord.  She  must  obey  her  husband,  not  only  wdth  a 
design  of  pleasing  him,  but  the  Lord  Christ.  For  were 
it  not  that  God  commands  it  from  them  as  part  of  their 
duty  and  obedience  to  him,  it  might  sometimes  seem  very 
fit  that  humorsome  and  self-willed  men  should  be  crossed  ; 
and  that  those  who  have  no  other  reason  but  their,  will, 
should  fail  of  that  obsei'vance  and  obsequiousness  which 
they  tyrannically  expect.  But  then  consider,  it  is  not  the 
husband  only  that  commands,  but  the  Lord ;  and  the  wife 
must  eye  his  sovereign  authority  through  the  authority  of 
her  husband;  and  then  it  will  appear  that  though  there 
be  no  necessity  in  what  is  required,  yet  there  is  a  necessi- 
ty she  should  perform  what  is  required. 

But  the  words  import  likewise  a  limitation  of  her  obe- 
dience.   The  wife  must  submit  and  obev,  but  2?*  the  Lord, 
12* 


274  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

and  as  to  the  Lord  ;  that  is,  only  in  lawful  things,  where* 
in,  by  her  obedience  to  her  husband,  she  may  not  offend 
against  God. 

Excepting  this,  in  all  other  cases  the  wife  is  absolutely 
bound  to  obey  the  will  and  commands  of  her  husband  to 
the  utmost  of  her  power.  It  is  true,  he  abusethhis  authori- 
ty if  he  command  things  unnecessary  and  unfit;  but  yet, 
neither  her  unwillingness  to  perform  them,  nor  her  judg- 
ing them  inconvenient  to  be  done,  can  excuse  her  or  ex- 
empt her  from  the  obligation  that  lies  upon  her  of  a  ready 
obedience :  nothing  can  do  this  but  the  unlawfulness  or 
impossibility  of  what  is  enjoined.  In  all  other  things,  al- 
though they  be  never  so  contraiy  to  her  humor  and  incli- 
nation, she  is  bound  by  the  law  of  God  and  nature  to 
obey,  and  to  submit,  if  not  her  judgment,  yet  at  least  her 
practice  to  the  will  of  her  husband,  whether  she  think  it 
fit  or  unfit  to  be  done,  so  long  as  it  is  not  unlawfiil :  unless 
she  can  meekly  persuade  her  husband  to  revoke  his  com- 
mand, she  is  obliged  to  perform  it.  Otherwise,  when  the 
apostle  commands  wives  to  be  subject  to  their  husbands 
in  every  thing,  it  would  signify  no  more  than  in  every 
thing  which  they  think  fit ;  and  this,  certainly,  is  no  greater 
a  subjection  than  every  husband  would  readily  yield  to  his 
wife^  and  falls  much  short  of  the  apostle's  intent,  who 
requires  this  subjection  of  the  wife  to  the  husband  in  every 
thing,  as  the  church  is  subject  unto  Christ,  which  certain- 
ly is  not  in  every  thing  she  thinks  fit,  neither  ought  she  to 
take  upon  her  to  judge  or  reject  his  laws,  but  to  fulfil  them 

2.  Another  duty  of  the  wife  towards  her  husband  is 
rcs-pect  and  reference.  Eph.  5  ;  33,  Let  "  the  wife  see  that 
she  reverence  her  husband."  Reverence  consists  m  two 
things,  cj^ec/w.  andyi'^n  ..^^^  .^  :>;■  ■  r    ..  t,.,   >;!"     '  ,\. ..    • 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  275 

(1.)  She  ought  to  cherish  a  high  esteem  of  him,  if  not 
fur  his  gifts  and  graces,  yet  at  least  for  that  relation  in 
which  he  stands  to  her  as  her  lord  and  her  head,  supe- 
rior to  her  by  God's  appointment  and  ordinance.  Yea, 
she  must  look  upon  him  as  that  person  whom  God,  out  of 
all  the  numerous  millions  of  mankind,  hath  particularly 
chosen  and  selected  for  her,  and  one  whoiti  he  saw  fittest- 
and  best  to  be  her  head  and  guide. 

(2.)  Anothel*part  of  reverence  isfiar;  not  a  servile,  slav- 
ish fear,  for  that  is  inconsistent  with  love ;  but  a  respect- 
ful and  loving  fear,  which  will  show  itself  in  two  things : 
'  In  her  care  to  please  Mm  j  endeavoring  to  conform  her 
actions  to  his  inclinations,  so  far  forth  as  they  are  not, repug- 
nant to  the  supreme  duty  which  she  owes  to  God.  1  Cor. 
7  :  34,  "She  that  is  manied  careth  for  the  things  of  this 
world,  how  she  may  please  her  husband;"  and  therefore 
she  will  endeavor  to  comport  herself  in  her  speeches 
and  in  her  gestures  and  in  her  whole  demeanor,  so  as 
may  render  her  most  grateful  and  most  amiable  to  him. 

In  her  joy  in  pleasing  him  and  grief  in  offending  him. 
Indeed,  a  good  wife  should  be  like  a  mirror.  A  mirror, 
you  know,  hath  no  image  of  its  own,  but  receives  its  stamp 
and  image  from  _the  face  that  looks  iiito  it ;  so  should  a 
good  wife  endeavor  to  frame  her  outward  deportment  and 
her  inward  aifections  according  to  her  husband ;  to  rejoice 
when  he  rejoiceth,  to  be  sad  when  he  mourns,  and  to 
grieve  when  he  is  offended.  This  is  that  reverence  which 
wives  owe  to  their  husbands ;  thinking  highly  and  honor- 
ably of  them  for  their  place  sake,  and  endeavoring  to 
avoid  and  shun  whatever  may  offend  them  ;  and  therefore, 
those  who  are  cross  and  vexatious,  and  either  by  clamors 
and  contentious  speeches,  or  by  thwarting  and  peevish  ac- 


276  THE    TEN    CCMMANDxMENTS. 

lions  grieve  and  sadden  the  hearts  of  their  husbands,  let 
them  know  that  they  highly  provoke  the  Lord,  who  hath 
commanded  reverence  and  respect  to  be  paid  to  the  hus- 
band as  his  type,  and  as  part  of  that  reverence  and  respect 
which  is^  due  to  himself. 

3.  Another  duty  of  a  wife  is  helpfulness  to  her  hushand. 
She  ought,  indeed,  to  be  a  help  to  him  in  every  thing. 
To  his  soul ;  in  furthering  his  graces  and  wisely  and  op- 
portui^ely  admonishing  him  to  his  duty  at  least  by  a  holy 
and  blameless  conversation,  so  commending  the  Gospel, 
of  Christ  to  her  husband  that  at  length  he  may  begin  to 
esteem  and  reverence  that  piety  which  hath  so  adorned 
and  qualified  his  wife ;  and  "  what  knowest  thou,  O  wife, 
whether,"  by  such  an  exemplary  life  as  this,  thou  mayest 
"  save  thy  husband  1"  as  the  apostle  speaks,  1  Cor.  7  :  16. 
To  his  hoily ;  by  cherishing  and  being  tender  of  it.  To 
his^ofltZ  name;  by  endeavoring  to  augment  and  preserve 
it ;  reporting  well  of  him,  and  silencing  and  convincing 
any  scandalous  rumours  that  may  be  spread  abroad  con- 
cerning him.  To  his  estate:  if  she  cannot  bring  in  and 
get  any  thing  to  increase  the  stock,  yet  she  ought  prudent- 
ly and  frugally  to  manage  what  her  husband  intrusts  her 
withal,  and  not  to  waste  it  vainly  and  profusely;  for  let 
her  know  that  whatsoever  is  so  spent  or  wasted  is  but 
stolen ;  and  if  she  shall  alienate  any  thing  from  her  hus* 
barid  contrary  to  his  consent,  either  expressly  declared 
or  else  upon  good  grounds  supposed  to  be  tacitly  granted 
and  allowed,  it  is  no  better  than  theft ;  and  therefore 
when  we  read  that  Abigail,  without  the  consent  of  he? 
husband,  took  a  considerable  present  to  bestow  upon  Da 
vid  to  divert  his  ireful  intentions,  it  may  very  well  be  sup 
posed  that  if  Nabal  had  known  as  well  as  she  the  dange 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  277 

wherein  he  stood,  he  would  have  been  as  forwaitl  to  en- 
courage her  to  do  it  as.  she  was  ready  and  willing;  and 
therefore,  here  were  good  grounds  to  suppose  a  tacit  and 
implicit  consent  unto  the  action.  The  husband  is  the  true 
and  only  proprietor  of  all,  and  though  the  wife  hath  a 
right  to  all,  yet  it  is  only  a  right  of  use  and  not  of  do- 
minion :  she  ought  not  to  dispose  of  his  estate,  or  any 
part  of  it,  contrary  to  his  mind  and  consent.  Her  proper 
office  is  providently  and  faithfully  to  manage  the  affairs 
of  the  family  that  are  committed  to  her  oversight  and  care ; 
and  therefore,  in  the  description  of  a  good  wife  given  us 
at  large,  Frov.  31,  from  verse  10  to  the  end.  We  find  the 
whole  of  it  taken  up  in  showing  her  industry  and  care  in 
ordering  the  affslirs  of  the  fkmily. 

4.  Another  duty  of  the  wife  is  modesty;  and  that  both 
in  apparel  and  hehavior. 

(1.)  In  apparel;  that  it  be  according  to  her  place  and 
rank,  not  affecting  gaudiness  or  strange  fashions,  nor  yet 
affecting,  on  the  contrary,  a  singularity  of  obsoleteness 
and  outworn  antiquity ;  for  pride  may  be  equally  shown 
either  way.  The  best  temper  is  for  them  not  to  wear  gar- 
ments to  be  taken  notice  of.  The  apostle  gives  them  this 
rule,  1  Pet.  3  :  3,  4,  Let  not  the  woman's  "  adorning  be 
that  outward  adorning  of  plaiting  the  hair,  and  of  wearing 
of  gold,  or  of  putting  on  of  apparel ;  but  let  it  be  the  hid- 
den man  of  the  heart,  in  that  which  is  not  corruptible, 
even  the  ornament  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  which  is 
in  the  sight  of  God  of  gi'eat  price."  And  so  St.  Paul, 
1  Tim.  2  :  9,  10,  **  I  will  that  women  adorn  themselves  with 
modest  apparel,  with  shamefacedness  and  sobriety;  not 
with  broidered  hair,  or  gold,  or  pearls,  or  costly  array, 
but  (which  becometh  women  professing  godliness)  with 


278  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

good  wox'ks.'"*  This  indeed  is  the  best  ornament,  that 
which  makes  them  lovely  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  that  too 
which  makes  them  esteemed  by  all  sober  and  serious  per- 
sons. Indeed,  I  do  not  think  that  costly  array  is  in  either 
of  these  places  absolutely  forbidden ;  doubtless  gold  and 
jewels  may  lawfully  be  worn  if  we  keep  ourselves  within 
our  rank  and  quality,  and  fashion  Ourselves  to  those  who 
are  most  sober  in  that  rank,  rather  than  to  those  who  are 
most  light  and  vain.  But  the  prohibition  is  to  be  inter- 
preted either  by  the  degree,  that  is,  be  not  excessive  nor 
vain  in  your  apparel,  which  happens  when  the  habit  ex- 
ceeds either  the  quality  or  the  ability  of  those  that  wear 
it ;  or  else  it  is  to  be  interpreted  by  a  comparison  :  let  not 
the  adorning  be  the  outward  adorning  of  wearing  of  gold 
or  of  putting  on  of  apparel;  that  is,  study  not  so  much  how 
to  set  off  yourselves  in  your  garments,  as  how  to  adorn 
yourselves  with  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  with  sobriety, 
modesty  and  good  works,  which  is  the  richest  and  most 
beautiful  robe  you  can  wear. 

(2.)  As  she  must  be  modest  in  her  apparel,  so  she  must 
be  in  her  hehavior  and  deportment.  Her  countenance, 
gestures  and  speeches  must  be  all  fitted  ta  show  the  in- 
ward calmness  and  serenity  of  her  mind ;  and,  therefore, 
imperious,  clamorous  and  turbulent  women  are  a  torment 
and  vexation  to  themselves,  and  more  to  their  husbands. 
"  The  contentions  of  a  wife,"  saith  the  wise  man,  "  are  a 
continual  dropping."  Prov.  19  :  13.  And  it  is  such  a 
dropping  as  will  at  last  eat  and  fret  through  his  very 
heart,  though  it  were  made  of  stone. 

III.    There  are  likewise  common  duties  to  he  performed 

hy  both    THE    HUSBAND    AND    WIFE    MUTUALLY. 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  279 

I  shall  only  name  them  briefly.  Such  are  fervent  prayers 
to  Gody  both  severally  and  together,  that  he  would  be 
pleased  to  pour  down  his  blessings  and  his  gi-aces  on 
them,  and  give  them  wisdom  to  demean  themselves 
towards  each  other  aright;-  conjugal  love;  communion  of 
themselves,  of  their  estates,  of  their  habitations;  a  mu- 
tual bearing  of  one  another's  weaknesses,  with  prudent 
and  pious  endeavors  to  heal  and  remove  them ;  the  nur- 
ture and  education  of  children ;  the  government  of  their 
family  committed  to  their  charge,  for  whom  they  are  to 
provide  not  only  what  is  requisite  for  their  temporal 
good,  but  much  more  for  their  spiritual,  inasmuch  as  their 
souls  are  much  more  worth  than  their  bodies ;  and  there- 
fore they  ought  to  observe  constant  family  duties,  and 
make  choice  of  honest  and  religious  domestics,  and  so  far 
as  in  tliem  lies  keep  out  the  infection  of  evil  company 
from  entering  within  their  doors  as  carefully  as  they 
would  the  plague.  And  whi  .it  they  thus  live  and  thus 
love,  they  have  gocd  reason  to  believe  that,  as  they  are 
joined  in  a  near  relation  each  to  other,  so  they  are  both 
joined  in  a  near  relation  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  is  the 
husband  of  his  church  and  all  the  faithful  in  it ;  and  when 
death  shall  dissolve  their  marriage-union  and  separate 
them  one  from  the  other,  it  is  only  to  bring  theni  to  live 
for  ever  with  that  husband  from  whom  they  can  never  be 
separated  nor  divxjrced. — Thus  much  for  the  duties  of 
husbands  and  wives. 

Let  us  now,  in  the  fourth,  place,  proceed  to  consider 
the  duties  of  another  family  relation,  and  that  is  betweeu 
MASTERS  and  their  servants. 

For  these  also  are  comprehended  undei  this  command- 


280  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

ment,  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother^  since  there  is  a 
confessed  superiority  of  the  one  over  the  other;  and  on 
that  account  servants  have  honored  their  masters  with 
the  style  and  compellation  of  father.  Thus,  2  Kings,  5:13, 
when  those  prudent  servants  sought  to  mitigate  the  rage 
of  proud  Naaman,  who  thought  his^  greatness  too  much 
slighted  Ly  the  prophet,  in  that  he  would  only  cure  and  not 
compliment  him,  they  reverently  call  \nm  father ;  his  ser- 
vants came  near  and  spake  unto  him,  and  said.  My 
father^  Sfc.  - 

And  here  not  to  discourse  of  dominion  and  servitude, 
whether  the  original  and  foundation  of  either  be  in  nature 
and  institution,  nor  of  the  difference  of  servants  by  war, 
purchase  or  compact ;  I  shall  only  speak  of  what  is  more 
immediately  pertinent  to  my  subject,  and  what  may  be 
more  instructive  and  profitable  to  you,  viz.  the  mutual  and 
reciprocal  duties  of  masters  and  servants. 

The  duties  that  equally  concern  them  both  consist,  in 
general,  either  in  the  right  choosing  or  in  the  right  using 
of  one  another. 

I.  I  shall  begin  with  the  servant's  duty,  and  that, 
1.  As  to  the  choice  of  Ms  master.  He  ought,  where  his 
choice  is  left  him  free,  to  choose  a  faithful  master,  such  a 
one  as  fears  God  and  will  be  willing  to  promote  the  spi- 
ritual good  and  salvation  of  his  soul;  with  such  certainly 
he  shall  best  serve,  who  do  themselves '  serve  God  ;  where 
he  shall  have  nothing  but  reasonable  and  lawful  com- 
mands to  obey  and  pious  examples  to  imitate.  Many  poor 
ignorant  souls  have  had  cause  for,  ever  to  bless  God  that 
his  providence  hath  cast  them  into  such  families,  where 
they  have  received  the  first  knowledge  and  the  first  savor 


jnrFTH    COMMANDMENT.  281 

of  godliness.  But  if  the  servant  be  beforehand  knowing 
and  religious,  what  comfort  can  it  be  to  him  to  live  where 
there  is  a  constant  neglect  of  holy  duties  ;  nothing  but 
excess  and  riot,  and  profaneness,  and  abusing  of  the  name 
of  God,  and  scoffing  at  his  service  and  servants  ]  Cer- 
tainly necessity  should  hardly  induce  him,  much  less 
choice  lead  him  to  be  a  servant  in  a  family  whei'e  the 
devii  is  the  master  of  it.  The  Psalmist  sorely  complains 
that  he  was  forced  to  take  up  his  abode  among  wicked 
and  ungodly  men.  Psalm  120  :  5,  **  Wo  is  me  that  I  so- 
journ in  Mesech,  that  I  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Kedar  !" 

And  as  it  cannot  but  be  exceedingly  burdensome  and 
tedious  to  thee,  and  cut  thy  soul  to  the  very  quick,  to  be 
at  the  command  of  those  who  rebel  against  thy  God,  to 
hear  his  holy  name  blasphemed,  his  ways  and  worship 
and  people  derided,  which  are  dearer  to  thee  than  thy 
very  life,  so  is  it  very  dangerous  and  full  of  hazard.  It  is 
hard  to  keep  zeal  and  the  sparks  of  grace  and  divine  love 
alive  when  thoi*  hast  the  greatest  helps  to  it  that  can  be  - 
administered;  how  wilt  thou  then  preserve  them  alive 
when  thou  hast  so  many  quench-coals  about  thee ;  when 
the  floods  <  of  ungodliness  shall  compass  thee  about  and 
sutround  thee^  Either  thou  must  dissemble  thy  piety, 
and  that  is  the  ready  way  to  lose  it,  (for  grace  is  like  fire, 
stifle  and  keep  it  close  and  it  will  certainly  die,)  or  else 
thou  must  put  thyself  upon  the  sore  temptation  of  being 
mocked  and  scorned  for  it.  Thou  knowest  not  how  far  thou 
raayest  forsake  God  and  thy  first  ways  for  compliance 
sake.  It  is  the  hardest  thing  in  the  world  to  be  religious 
alone,  and  to  keep  up  zeal  and  affection  for  God  when 
all  that  we  converse  with  are  wicked  and  ungodly.  Vice 
is    the  most   contagious  plague,  and   it  will  be    a  very 


282  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

great  wonder  if  those  with  whom  thou  familiarly  con- 
versest,  with  whom  thou  eatest  and  drinkest  and  sleepest, 
do  not  at  last  infect  thee.  We  see  holy  Joseph,  by  living 
long  in  the  Egyptian  court,  had  learned  some  of  the 
court  fashions,  and  could  readily  swear  **  by  the  life  of 
Pharaoh." 

Venture  not  thyself  therefore  into  those  families  where 
the  governors  are  either  coiTupt  and  erroneous  in  their 
principles,  or  lewd  and  dissolute  in  their  conversation ;  for 
it  will  be  hard  for  thee  to  swim  against  the  stream  both 
of  example  and  authority ;  or  if  thou  shouldst  be  able  to 
bear  up  against  both,  it  will  cost  thee  more  pains  and 
struggling  (to  do  it  than  all  the  temporal  advantages  thou 
canst  there  reap  will  be  worth  to  thee. 

2.  After  thou  hast  made  thy  choice  and  art  entertained, 
consider  Iww  tJiou  oughtest  to  demean  thyself  towards  thy 
employer. 

And  here  if  by  what  shall  be  said  thy  duty  seem  very- 
hard  to  thee,  yet  it  is  no  harder  than  it  hath  pleased  God 
to  make  it ;  yea,  and  possibly  not  so  hard  as  thy  master's, 
for  he  is  bound  to  give  an  account  for  thee  to  God,  but 
so  art  not  thou  for  him.  Thy  miscarriages  shall  be  severe- 
ly revenged  on  him  if  they  have  been  through  his  default 
of  needful  instruction,  or  of  care  and  discipline ;  but  so 
shall  not  his  upon  thee.  And  therefore  in  this  respect  all 
inferiors  haVe  a  mighty  advantage  to  sweeten  the  lowness 
of  their  condition,  that  they  shall  not  be  punished  for  the 
sins  of  their  superiors,  but  superiors  may  be  for  the  sins  of 
their  inferiors,  yea,  and  sometimes  for  their  due  obedi- 
ence too,  when  they  command  them  things  though  not 
unlawful  yet  unfit ;  for  that  may  be  a  sin  in  a  superior  to 
command,  which  is  a  duty  for  an  inferior  to  obey  when 


I 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT,  283 

commanded ;  and  certainly  in  the  end  his  task  will  be 
found  easiest  who  is  to  obey,  rather  than  his  who  com- 
mands. Here  I  remark, 

(1.;  The  chief  and  comprehensive  duty  of  a  servant  is 
obedience  to  the  commands  of  his  master.  For  this  is  abso- 
lutely enjoined  them,  Col.  3  :  22,  *'■  Servants,  obey  in  all 
things  your  masters  according  to  the  flesh."  And  again, 
Eph.  6:5,  "  Servants,  be  obedient  to  them  that  are  your 
masters  according  to  the  flesh."  In  all  things  that  are  not 
dishonest  and  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God  there  obedi- 
ence is  required ;  yea,  although  in  many  things  their  com- 
mands should  be  impertinent  or  too  imperious  and  tyran- 
nical, yet  sei*vants  in  such  cases  are  no  more  exempted 
from  obedience  than  their  masters  shall  be  from  punish- 
ment;  for  the  unreasonableness  of  their  commands  they 
shall  give  an  account  to  God  their  master;  and  thou,  for 
withholding  thy  obedience,  both  to  them  and  him. 

(2.)  Another  duty  is,  a  patient  suffering  of  reproofs  and 
corrections.  Yea,  and  so  patient  are  servants  to  be  as  not 
so  much  as  to  answer  again,  Tit.  2:9,  "  Exhort  ser- 
vants— to  please  their  masters  well  in  all  things,  not 
answering  again."  So  strictly  hath  religion  tied  them  up 
to  obedience  that  they  ought  not  to  reply  against  a  re- 
buke, nor  to  derogate  so  much  from  the  authority  of  their 
masters  as  to  murmur  at  it ;  and  therefore  to  use  violence 
against  them  is  so  high  a  degree  of  disobedience  that  it 
approacheth  near  to  sacrilege. 

Yea,  and  this  quiet  and  silent  submission  is  required 
also,  not  only  where  the  servant  hath  given  just  cause  for 
reproof  and  correction,  but  although  he  suffer  from  the 
groundless  rage  and  passion  of  his  master.  See  1  Vet. 
2  :  18-20,    "  Servants,  be   subject    to   your  own    mas- 


284 


THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 


ters,  with  all  fear ;  not  only  to  the  good  and  gentle,  but 
also  to  the  froward.  For  this  is  thankworthy,  if  a  man  for 
conscience  toward  God  endure  grief,  suffering  wrong- 
fully. For  what  glory  is  it  if,  when  ye  be  buffeted  foi 
your  faults,  ye  shall  ta,ke  it  patiently  1  But  if,  when  ye  do 
well  and  suffer  for  it,  ye  take  it  patiently,  this  is  acceptable 
with  God."  See  here  how  urgently  the  apostle  enjoins  on 
them  this  duty.  And  indeed  a  duty  so  hard,  so  contrary 
to  flesh  and  blood,  had  need  to  be  pressed  home  upon 
your  consciences.  You  ought  to  be  patient,  not  only 
when  you  are  justly  reproved  and  corrected  for  your 
faults ;  but  if  the  distempered  rage  of  a  master  should 
break  forth  without  any  reason,  or  contrary  to  all  reason; 
if  he  should  reprove  and  buffet  you,  not  for  your  faults 
but  for  your  duty,  you  ought  to  take  it  patiently  and  not 
to  strike  again,  po  not  so  much  as  to  answer  again :  that  is, 
not  to  answer  with  taunts  and  invectives,  but  calmly  and 
at  fit  and  convenient  seasons  to  present  to  him  the  justice 
of  your  actions  and  the  reasons  that  naoved  you  to  them. 
I  must  confess-  that  of  all  things  which  belong  to  the 
duty  of  servants  this  is  the  most  difficult ;  and  there  is 
nothing  that  can  sweeten  and  facilitate  it  but  only  con- 
science of  their  duty  and  the  acceptance  and  reward 
which  they  shall  find  with  God  for  it ;  and  therefore  they 
had  need  to  pray  for  a  great  measure  of  self-denial  and 
mortification  of  those  passions  which  will  be  apt  to  strug- 
gle in  them  on  this  occasion,  and  by  an  eye  of  faith  look 
up  to  God  to  support  them,  esteeming  it  a  chastisement 
inflicted  on  them  by  their  heavenly  Master ;  and  that  he, 
be  their  spirits  never  so  high,  will  enable  them  to  undergo 
it  without  any  more  murmuring  than  tl)ey  would  use 
against  God  himself,  when  he  immediately  afflicts  them. 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  '  285 

(3.)  Another  duty  of  servants  is  a  reverential  fear  of 
their  masters,  '*  A  son  honoreth  his  father,  and  a  servant 
his  master:  if  then  I  be  a  father,  where  is  mine  honor  1 
and  if  I  be  a  master,  vs^here  is  my  fear  ]"  Mai.  1  :  6.  And 
1  lie  apostle  hath  commanded  servants  to  "  be  obedient  to 
their  mastei-s,  with  fear  and  trembling."  Eph.  G  :  5.  And 
;!^ain,  1  Pet,  2  :  18,  *' Servants,  be  subject  to  your  masters 
\\  ith  all  fear."  This  fear  is  to  be  expressed  by  them  in 
:isir  speeches  and  actions. 

In  their  speeches^  by  forbearing  any  clamors  or  irrever- 
ent muttering  in  their  presence.  Their  words  must  be 
few  and  humble,  giving  them  all  those  respectful  titles 
that  belong  justly  to  their  place  and  quality.  Yea,  and 
they  must  not  Only  speak  fair  to  them  whilst  they  are  pre- 
sent, but  speak  well  of  them  when  absent ;  begetting  in 
others  as  good  an  opinion  of  them  as  they  may ;  conceal- 
ing their  infirmities,  and  what  they  cannot  speak  truly  of 
them  to  their  credit,  therein  to  be  silent. 

Likewise  in  their  actions  they  ought  to  testify  their  ro- 
^rence,  conducting  themselves  with  all  the  expressions 
of  modesty  and  respect  before  them,  and  readily  doing 
not  only  what  their  masters  shall  expressly  command, 
but  what  they  judge  will  be  pleasing  and  acceptable 
to  them ;  and  therefore  we  have  that  expression.  Psalm 
123  :  2,  *'  The  eyes  of  servants  look  unto  the  hand  of 
their  masters;  and  the  eyes  of  a  maiden  unto  the  hand  of 
her  mistress,"  intimating  to  us  that  good  servants  will 
not  only  readily  obey  when  they  have  a  verbal  and  oral 
command,  but  will  be  ready  to  take  the  least  sign,  the 
least  beck  fi'om  their  masters,  and  strive  not  only  to  ful- 
'  fil  but  even  to  prevent  their  commands  by  the  readiness  - 
and  respect  of  their  obedience.  .         .  ~ 


286  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

(4.)  Another  duly  of  a  servant  is  diligence  in  his  mas 
ter\s  affairs.  He  ought  to  set  his  mind  to  them,  and  em- 
ploy his  time  in  them.  For  he  is  not  faithful  who  is  ne- 
fjliofent ;   and  he  steals  from  his  master  who  doth  not  use 

DO  ' 

his  strength  and  spend  his  time  in  his  service.  Every 
slothful  servant  is  a  thief;  and  so  much  advantage  as  he 
liinders  his  master  of  by  his  negligence  and  idleness,  of 
so  much  he  doth  but  rob  him.  And  therefore  in  the  Pa- 
rable of  the  Talents,  when  the  master  takes  an  account 
of  every  man's  improvements,  he  calls  that  servant  who 
had  not  used  his  talent  nor  been  industrious  in  his  service, 
not  only  slothful,  but  wicked,  *'  Thou  wicked  and  slothful 
servant."  Mat.  25  :  26. 

(5.)  Another  duty  is  fidelity  and  trust  in  what  is  com- 
mitted to  their  charge ;  not  defrauding  their  masters,  noi 
purloining  from  them  the  least  value,  but  serving  them 
with  all  faithfulness  and  integrity.  So,  Tit.  2  :  9,  10, 
"Exhort  servants  to  be  obedient  unto  their  own  mas- 
ters—-not  purloining,  but  showing  all  good  fidelity."  And 
unto  this  appertains  carefulness  in  preserving  their  mas- 
ter's estate  ;  not  wasting  or  consuming  it  either  by  riotous 
living  or  negligence.  Doubtless  many  men  have  sunk  and 
decayed  under  the  unfaithfulness  or  carelessness  of  their 
servants,  either  stealing  from  them  or  prodigally  wasting 
what  was  theirs.  Let  such  know  that  every  farthing  stands 
upon  account  in  God's  debt-book :  unless  they  make 
amends  to  their  masters,  if  ever  Providence  shall  enable 
them  to  do  it,  they  must  make  a  punctual  payment  to  di- 
vine justice,  which  is  infinitely  the  more  dreadful  creditor. 

(6.)  As  trust  in  affairs,  so  likewise  truth  in  speech  is 
another  duty  of  a  servant.  They  ought  to  approve  them- 
selves such  that  their  masters  may. repose  themselves  on 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  287 

their  word.  And  as  servants  are  the  hands  and  the  eyes 
of  their  masters,  so  they  ought  to  make  no  other  report 
to  them  than  what  is  as  certain  as  though  they  had  touch- 
ed it  and  seen  it  themselves.  We  read  of  Gehazi,  that 
when  he  was  returned  from  taking  a  bribe  of  Naaman,  ho 
stood  very  demurely  before  his  master  with  a  lie  ready 
prej^ared  in  his  moi»th.  "  Whence  comest  thou,  Gehazi  V* 
"  Thy  servant,"  saithhe,  "  went  no  whither."  But  this  lie 
cost  him  a  leprosy  that  stuck  incurably  to  him  and  to 
all  his  posterity.  I  am  loth  to  be  uncharitable,  but  I  much 
fear  that  if  the  same  judgment  were  inflicted  on  every 
servant  that  come  s  to  his  master  with  a  lying  excuse,  many 
families  would  be  infected,  and  very  few  in  this  relation 
escape  that  loathsome  contagion.  Certainly  it  is  only  a 
cowardly,  base,  slavish  fear  that  induceth  one  to  this  vile 
sin  of  lying.  And,  what !  wilt  thou  be  more  afraid  to  offend 
thy  master  by  confessing  a  fault,  than  to  offend  thy  God 
by  committing  another  to  conceal  it  1  What  else  is  this 
but  to  heap  up  sin  upon  sin,  and  to  make  a  single  trans- 
gression become  two .  thereby  I  A  sin  the  most  odious 
to  God,  who  is  truth  itself;  and  usually  most  detestable 
to  men,  and  with  difficulty  pardonable  by  them  ;  for  it  im- 
putes folly  and  ignorance  to  them,  as  being  so  weak  that 
they  cannot  find  out  the  matter.  And  therefore  the  Psalm- 
ist saith,  *'  He  that  telleth  lies  shall  not  tarry  in  my  sight." 
Psalm  101  :  7. 

(7.)  Another  duty  of  servants,  and  it  is  the  last  I  shall 
mention,  is  to  serve  their  masters  witk  good  will,  and  in 
singleness  of  their  hearts  ;  not  grudgingly,  as  of  constraint, 
for  that  is  slavish,  but  readily  and  cheerfully,  as  unto  the 
JjOtS.',  **  not  as  men-pleasers,"  only  "  with  eye-service," 
being  no  longer  diligent  than  their  master's  eye  is  upon 


?S8  THE  ten:  commandments 

tliem,  but  careless  and  negligent  as  soon  as  his  back  la 
turned;  "  but  as  the  servants  of  Christ,  doing  the  will  of 
God  from  the  heart;"  as  the  apostle  commands  and  di- 
rects them,  Eph.  6  :  5-7. 

Now  to  perform  service  to  their  masters  as  unto  God 
and  Christ,  imports. these  two  things  : 

A  serious  consideration  that  God  is  concerned  in  every 
thing  they  do,  as  the  object  of  it.  So,  Coh  3  :  23, 
"  Whatsoever  ye  do,  do  it  heartily,  as  to  the  Lord."  And 
therefore  servants  are  commanded  to  have  respect,  not  so 
much  unto  men  as  unto  God.  This  is  the  way  to  er^noble 
thy  service,  be  it  never  so  mean ;  it  is  God  whom  thou 
ser^'^st  in  them,  that  God  whom  the  greatest  princes  and 
potentates  of  the  earth  ought  to  serve.  And  be  the  em- 
ployment what  it  will,  yet  the  greatness  and  glory  of  that 
Master  to  whom  thou  doest  it  put  an  honor  and  dignity 
upon  it. 

To  do  service  as  unto  the  Lord,  implies  thy  doing  it 
on  this  very  account,  because  God  hath  commanded  it. 
Be  the  action  what  it  will,  yet  if  you  can  truly  say  that 
you  do  it  not  only  because  your  master  hath  commanded 
it,  but  because  God,  his  Master  and  yours,  hath  laid  the 
authority  of  his  command  and  injunction  on  you  to  obey 
him,  this  commends  the  service  to  God,  and  makes  it  an 
action  done  truly  unto  him. 

And  this  may  Ije  a  great  encouragement  to  servants, 
(far  indeed  their  condition  generally  wants  encourage- 
ment) that  though  their  employment  may  be  the  drudge- 
ries of  this  life,  and  those  possibly  not  very  well  accepted 
by  their  harsh  and  froward  masters ;  yet,  be  their  work 
never  so  painful  and  laborious,  whilst  they  perform  it  out 
of  conscience  to  God's  command,  it  is  accounted  as  done 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  289 

to  him,  and  not  to  them ;  they  are  his  servants  more  than 
theirs,  and  he  will  kindly  accept  and  bountifully  reward 
them. 

II.  Let  us  now  proceed  to  those  duties  which  mas- 
ters OWE  RECIPROCALLY  TO    THEIR   SERVANTS.   And  those 

consist,  as  before  I  noted,  either  in  the  right  choosing  or 
in  the  right  using  of  them. 

(1.)  The  master's  first  duty  is  a  prudent  care  and  cir- 
cumspection in  the  choice  of  his  servants.  This  is  a  mat- 
ter of  great  moment,  and  that  whereon  the  happiness 
and  comfort,  or  else  the  misery  and  trouble  of  a  family  do 
very  much  depend. 

Two  qualifications  in  a  servam  ought  chiefly  to  be  re- 
garded in  the  making  choice  of  him.  The  one  is  ability 
to  Jill  his  place  and  manage  those  affairs  which  you  com- 
mit to  his  care  and  trust.  The  other  is  conscientiousness 
and  piety  in  doing  faithful  service  not  to  thee  only,  but  to 
God,  the  common  Master  of  you  both^ 

And  indeed  this  latter  is  of  more  importance  and  c^ 
greater  concern  to  thee  than  the  former.  For  when  thou 
entertainest  a  godly  person,  though  possibly  not  so  suffi- 
cient for  thy  employment  as  some  others,  it  will  be  a  com- 
mendation of  thy  charity  that  thou  maintainest  one  of 
God's  servants  in  thy  family.  But  when  thou  entertainest 
a  lewd  profane  vn'etch  only  because  he  is  able  to  despatch 
his  work,  thou  maintainest  one  of  the  devil's  slaves,  and 
takest  into  thy  house  a  sworn  servant  to  the  deadliest 
enemy  thou  hast,  which  is  justly  reproachable  both  with 
folly  and  impiety.  .     '  ^ 

Yet  how  little  is  this  usually  regarded  !  I  know  it  is 
the  custom  of  too  many,  that  if  they  can  light  on  those 

Ten  Com.  10 


290  THE  TfeN   COMMANDMEl^TS, 

wiiom  they  think  proper  for  their  affairs,  they  never  in- 
quire what  their  principles  or  what  their  practices  be  as 
to  religion,  whether  popish  or  factious,  whether  for  the 
mass  or  the  meeting ;  but  choose  them  as  they  would 
beasts  of  burden,  the  most  strong  and  able,  and  account 
it  the  only  property  of  good  servants  to  be  able  to  per- 
form their  office  and  willing  tu  drudge  as  much  as  they 
would  have  them.  .''...  -'      " 

But  let  them  know  that  they  ittake  a  V^f y  uiiwise  ahd  a 
very  sinful  choice.  For  such  servants  will  assuredly  make 
much  more  work  than  they  despatch,  and  leave  more  filth 
in  the  house  than  they  cleanse  out.  Though  they  be  never 
so  able  and  fit  for  their  employments,  yet  think  not  such 
a  one  fit  for  thee  who  refuseth  to  serve  that  G-od  whom 
thou  thyself  art  bound  to  serve,  and  believe  it  to  be  a  de- 
sign of  the  devil  to  help  thee  to  onevi^ho  shall  do  thy  work 
but  undo  thy  family.  One  vile  and  wdcked  servant  is 
enough  to  corrupt  a  Aivhole  household ;  for  assure  your- 
selves they  come  there  to  do  the  devil  more  service  than 
you,  and  their  examples  and  presumptions  v^dll  seduce 
and -draw  others  into  the  same  excess  with  themselves. 

For  to  this  I  impute  the  rise  and  growth  of  that  general 
profatieness  that  is  too  reigning  in  most  families,  espe- 
cially in  those  whose  quality  or  estates  require  a  nume- 
rous attendance.  They  are  cornmonly  too  careless  what 
mffian  and  debauched  servants  they  entertain ;  and  their 
children,  which  else  might  be  the  ornament  and  glory  of 
the  nation,  conversing  with  these,  learn  from  them  those 
first  rudiments  of  vice  which  afl;erward  their  condition 
and  wealtn  enable  them  to  perfect  into  consummate  vil- 
laity.  Here  they  learned  the  first  taste  of  excess  and  in- 
temperance j  here  they  were  taught  the  first  syllables  of 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  99l 

oaths,  and  instnicted  how  to  lisp  out  curses  and  obscenity, 
and  according  to  their  proficiency  were  applauded  by 
these  impious  wretches  for  their  genteel  docility  ^nd  apt- 
ness. Such  serv^ants  as  these  should  be  rooted  out ;  not 
only  are  they  the  pests  of  particular  families,  but  their  in- 
fluence reaches  farther,  even  to  corrupt  those  who  may 
hereafter  have  an  influence  on  the  state  and  common- 
wealth ;  for  they  serve  only  to  give  youth  the  first  relish<^i 
of  sloth,  and  pleasure,  and  vice,  which,  by  wofu!  im- 
provements, grow  at  last  to  be  inveterate  habits,  and 
make  them  only  a  shame  to  their  families  and  a  curse  to 
the  state. 

.  So  it  is  proportionably  in  all  humbler  families  :  where 
the  servants  are  wicked,  the  children  ordinarily  will  be 
more  ruled  by  their  examples  and  flatteries  than  by  their 
parents*  authority  and  commands. 

And  therefore  it  highly  concerns  you  to  make  a  pru- 
dent choice  at  first,  or,  if  therein  you  have  been  mistaken, 
as  soon  as  you  can  to  rid  your  houses  of  those  vermin  and 
caterpillars,  which  else  will  destroy  the^  verdant  and  bud- 
ding hopes  of  your  children ;  and  to  bring  in  those  who 
are  sober,  stayed  and  godly,  who  will  make  it  their  gi-eat 
care  first  to  serve  God  and  then  you.  Take  the  resolution 
of  the  royal  Psalmist  for  your  pattern  and  direction, 
"  Mine  eyes  shall  be  upon  the  faithful  of  the  land,  that  they 
may  dwell  with  me ;  he  that  walketh  in  a  perfect  way,  he 
shall  serve  me.  He  that  worketh  deceit  shall  not  dwell 
within  my  house ;  he  that  telleth  lies  shall  not  tarry  in  my 
sight."  Psalm  101 :  6,  7.  Certainly  those  will  be  the  Lest 
servants  to  us  who  are  faithful  servants  to  God  ;  or  if  tney 
should  be  less  fit  for  thy  occasions,  yet  they  will  suffi- 
ciently earn  their  wages,  though  they  only  pray  for  thee. 


298  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

It  is  said  of  Joseph,  Gren.  39  :  5,  when  he  was  hroughl 
into  Potiphar's  house  to  be  his  servant,  "  that  the  Lord 
blessed  the  Egyptian's  house  for  Joseph's  sake;  and  the 
blessing  of  the  Lord  was  upon  all  that  he  had,  in  the 
house  and  in  the  field."  Godly  servants  bring  a  bless- 
ing along  with  them  to  the  families  where  they  reside  : 
having  such  a  servant  thou  hast  a  flriend  in  court,  one  that 
can  do  thee  kind  offices  in  heaven  through  his  interest  at 
the  throne  of  grace.  And  therefore,  as  it  is  thy  duty,  so  it 
is  thy  wisdom  and  thy  concqm  to  make  choice  of  such ; 
these  best  know  their  duty ;  these  will  make  most  con- 
science of  performing  it ;  in  their  integrity  and  faithful 
ness  thy  heart  may  repose,  and  they  will  entitle  thee  and 
thy  family  to  those  blessings  which  attend  them.        - 

2.  Another  general  duty  of  masters  in  relation  to  ser 
vants  is,  rightly  to  use  them  when  they  are  chosen.  And 
this  consists  likewise  in  two  things,  government  and  pjv- 
vision. 

(1.)  This  government  ought  to  he  prudent  and  discreet, 
such  as  may  maintain  authority,  and  yet  not  be  sonred 
into  tyranny.  Therefore  it  should  be  a  master's  care  to 
demean  himself  gravely  before  his  servants ;  "bis  very 
countenance  and  deportment  should  be  enough  to  beget 
reverence  in  them.  For  when  the  master  is  vain  and  light, 
the  servants  will  grow  first  familiar  and  then  contemp- 
tuous. 

Government  consists  in  two  things,  command  and  cor- 
rection.  But  that  which  doth  most  of  all  tend  to  make 
both  effectual,  is  good  example. 

A  master  ought  wisely  to  command  and  enjoin  his  ser- 
vants what  they  should  do.  And  herein  is  required  much 
skill  and  prudence.    For  though  servants  ought  not  to  in- 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  293 

quire  into  the  reasons  of  all  that  their  masters  bid  them 
do,  yet  doubtless  it  is  a  very  difficult  matter  for  them  to 
bring  themselves  to  do  that  which  is  apparently  vain  and 
ridiculous ;  and  by  imposing  such  things  upon  them  the 
master  will  much  hazard  the  loss  or  diminution  of  his  au- 
thority :  therefore  in  laying  his  commands  upon  them  he 
ought  to  have  regard  bpth  to  the  manner  and  matter  of 
them. 

As  to  the  manner y  he  ought  not  to  command  with  rigor, 
with  ill  language  and  revilings,  as  is  the  custom  of  too 
many,  who  when  they  enjoin  their  servants  any  thing  pre- 
face their  commands  with  a  reproach,  which  tends  to  no- 
thing but  to  discourage  them,  to  make  them  hate  the  em- 
ployment and  him  that  setteth  them  about  it ;  and  by  this 
means  we  make  our  servants  to  become  our  enemies 
The  apostle  therefore  hath  given  this  caution,  Eph.  6  :  9^ 
"  Ye  masters,  do  the  same  things  to  your  servants,  for-" 
bearing  threatening."  Nor  yet  should  they  prostitute 
their  authority  by  any  submiss  entreaties,  for  it  is  an  evil 
which  the  earth  itself  cannot  bear,  when  a  servant  rei^eth 
and  bears  sway  over  his  master,  as  the  wise  man  observes, 
Prov.  30  :  22 ;  but  there  should  be  such  an  equal  mixture 
of  mildness  with  gravity,  and  love  with  authority,  that  the 
servant  should  not  only  be  compelled  but  inclined  by  it 
unto  obedience.  Indeed  there  is  required  much  evenness 
of  temper  in  him  that  would  make  a  good  master ;  not  to 
be  hurried  with  violent  and  causeless  passions,  nor  to  be 
fiwayed  by  irrational  humors ;  for  nothing  doth  more  de- 
tract from  authority  than  humorsomeness,  "because  ser- 
vants not  having  any  standing  measure  of  what  will  please 
auch  a  master,  will  at  last  grow  careless  of  it,  and  despise 
the  commands  of  him  who  is  as  much  a  servant  as  they 


2^4  THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

are  servants,  yea,  a  very  slave  to  his  passions  and  humors, 
than  which  there  cannot  be  a  baser  and  a  viler  slavery; 
and  therefore  those  who  are  servants  to  fickle  and  capri- 
cious masters,  though  they  raay  seem  very  obsequious  to 
them,  yet  cannot  but  secretly  despise  them ;  for  power 
may  indeed  make  their  commands  to  be  obeyed,  but  it  is 
reason  only  and  gravity  that  can  make  them  venerable 
and  reverend. 

As  to  matter  also,  a  master  ought  to  command  nothing 
hut  what  is  laicfdl  to  he  performed.  For  both  he  and  his 
servant  have  a  supreme  Lord  and  Master  in  the  highest 
heaven,  whom  they  both  ought  to  fear  and  obey.  And  to 
every  master  let  me  say,  thy  servant's  service  is  no  far- 
ther due  to  thee  than  as  it  is  consistent  with  the  service 
of  Grod ;  and  when  thou  commandest  any  thing  contrary 
thereimto,  thou  art  not  a  master  but  a  tempter.  It  is  true, 
he  is  bound  in  conscience  to  obey  thee,  yet  it  is  only  in 
those  things  wherein  the  law  of  God  hath  left  his  con- 
science free ;  and  therefore  where  the  great  and  universal 
Lord  hath  laid  a  prohibition  on  him,  his  obedience  is  su- 
perseded, and  thy  commands  do  only  bind  thyself  to  guilt, 
not  him  to  observance.  He  is  bound  to  work  for  thee,  but 
^ot  tc  lie,  nor  to  steal,  nor  to  cheat  for  thee ;  and  if  thou 
art^so  wicked  as  to  enjoin  him  any  such  thing,  it  is  no  un- 
civil answer  to  say  to  thee,  as  the  apostle  did.  Acts,  5  :  29, 
"  We  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men."  And  further, 

A  master's  commands  must  be  not  only  lawful  hxxt  possi- 
ble. To  command  things  impossible  is  the  height  of  folly. 
And  therefore  when  Abraham  commanded  his  servant  to 
procure  a  wife  for  his  son,  the  servant  prudently  answers, 
What  if  she  will  not  come  1  upon  which  supposition  his 
master  acquits  him  from  the  oath  of  God  that  was  betwixt 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  29§ 

them.  "  If  the  woman  will  not  be  willing  to  follow  thee, 
then  thou  shalt  be  cle^r  from  this  oath."  Gen.  24  :  8.  To 
command  things  impossible  to  be  effected  will  but  detract 
from  the  master's  authority  and  lessen  his  esteem,  and 
cause  the  servant  to  think  his  own  discretion  to  be  a  bet- 
ter guide  for  his  actions  thqn  his  master's :  yea,  although 
the  thing  be  not  simply  impossible  in  itself,  but  only  to 
the  servant,  considering  either  his  inability  or  employ- 
ments ;  or  if  it  be  hugely  inconvenient,  or  prejudicial,  or 
unseasonable,  the  master  ought  not  in  conscience  or  pru- 
dence to  exact  it.  For  as  to  command  things  unlawful  is 
impiety,  and  things  impossible,  folly ;  so  to  require  things 
unreasonable  and  prejudicial  is  mere  tyranny;  and  as  such 
it  is  recorded  of  Pharaoh  and  his  task-masters,  who,  to 
weary  and  wear  out  the  Israelites,  exacted  the  whole  tale 
of  bricks,  but  would  not  allow  straw  to  make  them. 

Moreover,  a  master's  commands  ought  not  to  be  vain 
and  imjjertinent,  but  he  should  have  some  swaying  reason, , 
though  perhaps  not  always  fit  to  be  communicated  to  the 
servant,  why  he  commands  such  things  from  him,  area- 
son  sufficient  to  satisfy  his  own  judgment  and  his  own 
conscience. 

Again,  it  is  the  master's  duty  to  correct  those  s&rvants 
that  are  stubborn  and  disobedient.  The  wise  man  tells  us, . 
"  There  is  a  servant  who  will  not  be  coiTOcted  by  words, 
for  although  he  understand  he  will  not  answer."  Prov. 
29  :  19.  Yet  here  prudence  must  be  the  measure  of  what 
discipline  is  fit  for  them,  according  to  their  age,  disposi- 
tion and  the  nature  of  their  offence.  A  reproof  will  work 
more  effectually  with  some  than  stripes,  and  those  who 
have  ingenuous  spirits  wil]  either  be  discouraged  or  exas- 
perated by  a  too-rigorous  usage.  And  Grod  hath  express,ly 


-896  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

interposed  his  will  in  this  particular.  "  Thou  shalt  not 
rule  over  him  with  rigor,  but  shalt  fear  thy  God."  Lev. 
25:43. 

Indeed  no  correction  is  to  be  inflicted  on  them  out  of 
passion  and  revenge;  but  either  for  reformation  and 
amendment,  that  they  may  be  the  more  wary  for  the  fu- 
ture ;  or  for  example's  sake,  to  terrify  others  from  the 
same  or  the  like  offences.  Even  a  heathen  could  say, 
"  No  wise  man  doth  punish  because  the  offence  is  already 
committed, ^^  for  then  it  comes  unseasonably  and  too  late, 
**  hut  that  it  may  not  he  committed  again^  Plato  apud 
Lactant.  de  Ira  Dei.  c.  18. 

But  still  be  sure  that  the  corrections  be  not  immo- 
derate and  too  severe  :  neither  exceeding  the  proportion 
of  the  fault,  for  that  is  cruelty ;  nor  unbeseeming  thee  to 
inflict,  or  the  age  and  character  of  thy  servant  to  suffer, 
for  that  will  be  reproachful  to  both.  Generally  reproof  is 
the  best  discipline. 

Now,  to  move  you  to  mercy  and  lenity  towards  them, 
consider,  .  ■     '  .  ' 

That  you  yourselves  have  a  Master,  the  great  and  glorious 
God.  This  the  apostle  urges,  Eph.  6:9,"  Masters— for- 
bear threatening,  knowing  that  your  Master  also  is  in 
heaven."  Think  with  yourselves  how  often  you  provoke 
him,  and  yet  he  bears  with  you  although  you  are  infinite- 
ly more  inferior  to  him  than  any  servant  can  be  to  you  : 
this  will  calm  your  passions  and  cause  you,  if  not  alto- 
gether to  wave,  yet  at  least  to  allay  and  mitigate  the 
rigor  and  severity  of  your  chastisements. 

Consider  that  they  are  equal  with  you  in  respect  to  God. 
It  is  true,  they  are  your  servants ;  but  both  you  and  they 
are  fellow-servants  to  the  great  Lord  and  Master.    And 


FIFTH  commandment:  "  297 

if  thou  in  a  rage  shouldst  take  thy  fellow-servant  by  the 
throat  and  imperiously  abuse  him,  fear  lest  thy  Lord  may 
require  it  and  vindicate  his  wrongs  in  the  punishnuent  of 
thy  tyranny.  "  There  is  no  respect  of  persons  with  him  ; 
but  he  that  hath  done  wrong,  shall  receive  for  the  wrong 
that  he  hath  done."  Arid  what  art  thou,  O  vile  worm, 
that  thou  shouldst  domineer  over  thy.  fellow,  who  is 
moulded  of  as  good  earth  and  hath  as  precious  and  im- 
mortal a  soul  in  him  as  thyself?    For, 

Consider  that  thou  art  equal  likewise  in  nature  :  Divine 
providence  only  hath  made  the  difference.  Whence  then 
such  a  supercilious  disdain  of  servants,  "  as  if,"  says  Ma- 
crobius,  "they  did  not  consist  of  the  same  materials  nor 
draw  the  same  breath  with  thyself?"  "They  are  ser- 
vants, but  yet  they  are  men;  they  are  servants,  yea, 
rather,  they  are  thy  fellow-servants."  And  it  is  in  the 
power  of  the  same  providence  who  hath  subjected  them 
to  thee,  to  change  the  scene,  to  exalt  them  and  bring  thee 
into  bondage.  Why  then  shouldst  thou  despise  them  % 
whereas  thou  knowest  not  how  soon  thou  mayest  be 
brought  under  a  more  miserable  servitude.  They  are 
servants  out  of  necessity ;  when,  perhaps,  their  masters 
are  voluntary  slaves.  Some  are  slaves  to  their  lustSj 
others  to  covetousness,  others  to  ambition,  and  all  to 
hope,  all  to  fear.  And  there  is  no  servitude  so  justly  con- 
temptible as  that  which  is  voluntary  and  wilful. 

Consider  again,  that  lie  wJio  is  a  servant  to  men  may  be 
the  Loj'd's  freeman ;  whereas  he  that  is  :free  among  men 
may  be  a  slave  to  his  lusts,  and  by  them  to  the  devil ; 
and  therefore  we  ought  neither  to  think  despicably  of 
servants  nor  to  use  them  severely,  but  to  treat  them  with 
love,  as  our  fellow-creatures,  our  fellow-servants,  yea,  and 

13* 


298  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

fellow-heirs  of  the  same  inheritance  of  life  and  glory. — 
Thus  much  concerning  the  master's  duty  in  government. 

(2.)  The  other  particular,  under  the  general  duty  of  mas- 
ters in  relation  to  servants,  is  provision ;  and  this  ought 
to  be  both  for  their  temporal  and  spiritual  good,  for  the 
welfare  both  of  their  bodies  and  of  their  souls. 

As  for  temporal  provision,  the  master  is  bound  tw 
supply  his  servants  with  things  necessary  for  them,  ac- 
cording to  the  tenor  of  the  agreement  and  compact  made 
between  him  and  them :  "  Masters,  give  unto  your  ser- 
vants that  which  is  just  and  equal."  Col.  4  : 1.  He  ought 
to  provide  for  them  food  and  raiment ;  or  else,  in  lieu  of 
any  of  these,  faithfully  to  pay  them  their  agreed  vy^ages. 
**  The  wages  of  him  that  is  hired  shall  not  abide  all  night 
with  thee  until  the  morning."  Lev.  19  :  13.  And  again, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  oppress  a  hired  servant  that  is  poor 
and  needy — -at  his  day  thou  shalt  give  him  his  hire: 
neither  shall  the  sun  go  down  upon  it,  lest  he  cry  against 
thee  unto  the  Lord,  and  it  be  sin  unto  thee.^'  Deut.  24  : 
14,  15.  This  oppression  of  servants,  in  withholding  from 
thern  the  covenanted  reward  of  their  labor,  is  a  crying  and 
provoking  sin.  So  the  apostle  :  "  The  hire  of  the  labor- 
ers which  have  reaped  down  the  fields,  (so  likewise  of 
those  who  have  done  any  other  work  and  service  for  you,) 
which  is  of  you  kept  back  by  fraud,  crieth  y  and  the  cries 
of  them  that  have  reaped  are  entered  into  the  ears  of 
the  Lord  of  sabbaoth."  James,  5:4. 

And  as  the  master  is  to  make  temporal  provision  for 
their  bodies,  so  much  more  is  he  to  provide  for  their 
spiritual  welfare  and  the  good  of  their  souls,  inasmuch 
as  their  souls  are  incomparably  to  be  preferred  before 
their  bodies-    ■  , 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  299 

Every  master  is  to  be  both  d,  priest  and  a  prophet  with- 
in his  own  family  as  well  as  a  king.  He  is  to  instinct  them 
in  the  will  and  laws  of  God;  to  inform  their  ignorance, 
resolve  their  doubts,  excite  and  quicken  them  to  the  ser- 
vice of  God ;  to  rectify  their  errors  and  mistakes,  to  pray 
with  them  and  for  them,  to  direct  them  in  the  way  that 
leads  to  heaven  and  happiness  ;  and,  above  all,  to  walk 
before  them  in  it  by  his  holy  and  pious  example. 

But  how  few  masters  are  there  who  conscientiously 
perform  this  duty  !  Do  not  the  most  think  it  enough  if 
they  provide  necessaries  and  conveniences  for  the  body, 
the  dull,  outward  and  earthly  part  of  man  1  and,  indeed, 
it  were  enough,  if  they  had  only  beasts  to  look  after;  ,*;j#^r 

But  remember,  thy  servants  and  those  who  belong  to 
thy  charge  have  precious  and  immortal  souls,  capable  of 
eternal  glory  and  happiness,  but  liable  to  eternal  misery 
and  torments ;  and  God  hath  intrusted  thee  with  these 
souls  of  theirs,  and  will  require  them  at  thy  hands.  What 
a  heavy  and  tremendous  doom  will  pass  upon  thee  when 
God  shall  demand  at  thy  hands  the  souls  of  thy  servants, 
or  of  thy  children,  which  have  perished  through  thy  de- 
fault! Will  it  be  enough  then  to  plead,  "  Lord,  I  fed 
and  clothed  them,  and  was  careful  of  their  health  and 
welfare  ]"  Yea,  indeed,  if  their  bodies  only  were  com- 
mitted to  thy  care,  this  were  enough ;  but  see,  there  they 
stand  condemned  and  ready  for  eternal  flames  for  the 
ignorance  which  thou  oughtest  to  have  informed,  for  the 
profaneness  which  thou  oughtest  to  have  chastised  and 
hindered,  for  diose  neglects  of  holy  duties  in  which  thou 
oughtest  to  have  gone  before  them ;  and  therefore,  though 
they  shall  die  and  perish  in  their  sins,  yet  their  blood  will 
God  require  at  thy  hands,  whose  carelessness  or  evil  ex-? 


300  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

ample  hath  hardened  them  in  wickedness  and  led  then, 
on  securely  to  destruction. 

Let  me  therefore  warn  you  who  are  masters  and  heads 
of  families,  that  as  you  regard  the  welfare  of  the  souls  of 
those  under  your  charge,  yea,  of  your  own  souls,  which 
are  deeply  engaged  and  concerned  in  theirs,  you  will  use 
all  diligence  and  industry  in  promoting  their  spiritual 
good,  that  you  may  at  the  last  day  present  them  with  joy 
before  the  tribunal  of  God :  **  Lo,  here  I  am,  and  the 
children  and  servants  that  thou  hast  given  me."  That 
you  may  with  joy  and  triumph  present  them  before  the 
throne  of  justice  then,  be  frequent  in  presenting  them  be- 
fore the  throne  of  grace  now.  Let  not  a  day  pass  with- 
out its  stated  hours  of  prayer  in  your  family.  Instruct 
those  that  are  ignorant;  reduce  those  that  are  en'oneous ; 
admonish  and  rebuke  with  all  authority  those  that  are 
faulty;  discard  those  that  are  contumacious  and  incorri- 
gible; let  not  a  scoffing  Ishmael,  a  scomer  and  derider 
of  piety  and  holiness  remain  within  your  doors ;  and  es- 
pecially be  careful  that  both  you  and  ydur  family,  do^ 
strictly  observe  and  sanctify  the  Lord's  day,  for  therein 
consists  a  great  part  of  the  life  and  strength  of  religion, 
and  this  day  usually  gives  a  seasoning  to  all  the  days  of 
the  week.  Prepare  your  families  by  private  duties  for 
public ;  let  none  of  them  stay  at  home  from  the  ordinances 
but  upon  great  and  urgent  necessity  ;  suflfer  them  not  to 
wander,  some  to  one  pastor  and  some  to  another,  but  where 
the  ordinances  of  God  are  duly  dispensed;  and  whither 
thou  thyself  art  called,  thither  do  thou  lead  thine,  that  as 
they  receive  their  bodily  food  in  thy  house,  so  they  may 
receive  their  spiritual  food  in  the  house  of  God ;  take 
an  account  of  their  profiting  by  what  they  hear;  be  as 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  301 

careful  to  see  thy  family  well  employed  in  the  service  of 
God  upon  the  Lord's  day,  as  to  see  them  employed  in  thine 
own  service  and  affairs  the  other  days  of  the  week ;  and 
therefore  be  not  long  nor  unnecessarily  from  them ;  for  God 
hath  made  thee  his  overseer,  and  if  his  work  go  not  for- 
ward in  private  family  duties,  especially  on  the  Lord's 
day,  thou  canst  never  expect  a  blessing  upon  what  they 
do  for  thee. — Thus  much  concerning  the  mutual  duties  of 
masters  and  servants. 

ll\iQJifth  class  of  relative  duties  that  I  shall  treat  of,  is 

that    of     PASTORS     AND     THEIR     FLOCKS,     MINISTERS     AND 

THEIR  PEOPLE.  For  between  them  also  is  such  a  rela- 
tion of  superiority  and  inferiority  as  brings  them  under 
the  direction  of  this  commandment. 

We  do  not  arrogate  too  much  to  ourselves  nor  take  too 
much  upon  us  when  we  affirm  that  we  are  superior  to 
the  people,  and  have  an  authority  over  them  in  things 
spiritual  and  appertaining  unto  God.  And  although, 
through  the  vices  and  defects  of  some  who  are  dignified 
with  this  high  honor,  and  partly  through  the  meanness 
of  their  outward  state  and  condition,  not  only  their  per- 
sons but  their  office  be  sunk  into  scorn  and  contempt ; 
yet  I  cannot  but,  with  the  apostle,  magnify  mine  office, 
which  is  truly  excellent  and  venerable;  and  it  is  the 
great  sin  of  the  people  to  despise  this  calling,  although 
the  follies  and  indiscretions  of  ministers  themselves  may 
not  only  occasion  but  invite  them  to  do  it. 

Here  I  shall  plainly  set  down  the  reciprocal  duties 
which  they  ought  mutually  to  perform  to  each  other. 

I.  The  DUTIES  OF  MINISTERS  either  respect  their  call 


302  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

to  that  office,  or  their  management  and  discharge  of  it. 

1.  The  great  duty  that  respects  their  call,  is  to  look  to 
it  that  they  be  rightly  called;  that  they  do  not  rashly 
thrust  themselves  into  so  sacred  a  function  unless  they 
be  duly  set  apart  thereto. 

For,  as  the  priests  under  the  law  were  ''taken  from 
among  men,  and  ordained  for  men  in  things  pertaining  to 
God,  to  offer  gifts  and  sacrifices,"  as  the  apostle  speaks, 
Heb.  5  : 1,  so  likewise  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  are  to 
be  duly  sanctified  and  set  apart  for  this  high  employment, 
to  stand  before  the  Lord,  and  to  minister  in  things  that 
appertain  to  his  worship  ;  and  it  is  an  intolerable  pre- 
sumption for  any  to  intrude  themselves  into  this  lot  with- 
out being  selected  thereunto  or  duly  authorized  by  that 
order  which  God  himself  hath  appointed  and  left  unto  his 
church.  **  For  no  man  taketh  this  honor  unto  himself  but 
he  that  is  called  of  God,"  as  the  apostle  subjoins,  verse  4. 
And  therefore  God  complains  of  those  prophets  whom  he 
had  "  not  sent,"  and  "  yet  they  ran  ;"  and  to  whom  he  had 
"not  spoken,"  and  "  yet  they  prophesied."  Jer.  23  :  21 
Audacious-undertaking  men  it  seems  they  "were  :  like  some 
of  late  days,  who  thought  their  forwardness  alone  a  suf- 
ficient consecration,  and  the  seal  of  whose  commission 
bears  only  the  stamp  of  their  own  impudence.  ,     "; 

Now  to  the  d.ue  constitution  of  a  minister  there  is  re~ 
quisite  a  twofold  call. 

(1.)  He  must  have  an  inward  call',  which  consists  both 
in  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  also  in  the  inclination 
of  his  will  to  use  them  for  God's  glory  in  this  holy  minis- 
tration. 

He  must  be  endowed  with  a  competent  knowledge  of  the 
truths  of  the  Gospel ;  without  which  the  great  end  of  the 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  303 

ministry  cannot  be  attained,  which  is  to  teach  and  instruct 
the  people.  It  is  indeed  the  duty  of  the  ministry  to  strive 
after  eminency  in  this  knowledge  ;  for  they  are  the  lights 
of  the  world,  and  should  be  able  to  diffuse  abroad  their 
beams,  that  they  may  enlighten  those  that  are  ignorant 
and  sit  in  dai'kness.  But  yet  there  is  no  stated  measure  noi, 
Standard  for  their  knowledge ;  for  we  find  that  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  great  minister  and  teacher  of  the  world, 
sent  forth  his  disciples  to  preach  when  yet  they  were  very 
ignorant  of  many  important  truths  of  the  Gospel.  Emi- 
nent knowledge  is  therefore  necessary  for  their  duty, 
but  competent  knowledge  is  necessary  for  their  office. 

Sanctifying  grace  and  a  holy  life  and  conversation  are 
also  indispensable  in  the  ministry.  They  may  indeed  sus- 
tain the  office  without  this  j  for  we  find  a  Judas  sent  forth 
with  the  same  authority  and  commission  as  the  rest  of 
the  disciples.  Yea,  and  the  apostles  who  had  Christ  him- 
self for  their  master  and  instructor,  yet  are  by  him  seiit  to 
attend  on  the  ministry  of  the  scribes  and  pharisees ;  who, 
though  they  were  very  wicked  and  ungodly  hypocrites, 
yet  because  they  sat  in  Moses'  seat,  that  is,  because  they 
had  a  rightful  authority  to  teach  the  people,  therefore  he 
commands  his  own  scholars  to  hear  and  obey  them : 
"Whatsoever  they  bid  you  observe,  that  observe  and 
do."  Mat.  23  : 2,  3.  God  may  feed  his  people  as  he  did 
Elijah  by  a  raven,  and  make  a  cold  breath  kindle  the 
sparks  of  grace  in  the  hearts  of  others  and  blow  it  up  in- 
to a  flame.  But  yet  it  is  profitable  to  the  people  to  sit 
under  a  minister  who  shall  go  before  them  in  example  as 
well  as  in  doctrine ;  who  not  only  prescribes  them  rules  of 
holiness,  but  is  himself  an  example  of  those  rules.  Such 
a  one,  who  speaks  from  the  heart,  is  likely  to  speak  to  the 


304  THE    TEN    CaMMANDMENTS. 

heart;  and  having  himself  experienced  the  ways  of 
holiness,  can  more  savorily  recommend  them  to  the  accep- 
tance of  his  flock.  And  certainly  he  will  be  more  likely 
to  speed  in  his  errand,  when  he  shall  persuade  them  to 
nothing  but  what  he  hath  found  the  goodness  and  sweet- 
ness of  in  himself.  All  others  are  but  like  those  Mercurial 
statiies  which  in  old  times  were  set  up  in  cross  ways  with 
their  hands  extended  to  point  out  the  right  road  to  pas- 
sengers, but  themselves  never  walked  in  them.  These  in- 
deed may  be  serviceable.  But  a  minister  should  not  only 
be  a  director,  but  a  leader ;  he  should  not  only  point  out 
the  way,  but  walk  before  his  flock  in  it.  And  it  is  com- 
monly 6bserved  that  it  is  the  labors  of  such  that  God 
most  usually  owns  and  crowns  with  success.  -' 

(2.)  As  he  must  have  an  inward  call  in  the  gifts  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  so  likewise  he  must  have  an  outward  call 
by  a  solemn  separation  to  this  work,  through  impo- 
sition of  hands.  This  gives  him  the  ministerial  power, 
and  invests  him  with  authority  to  dispense  the  ordinances 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  an  officer  and  minister  of  the  Gospel. 
And  this  authority  St.  Paul  calls  a  gift,  "  Neglect  not  the 
gift  that  is  in  thee,  which  was  given  thee  by  prophecy, 
with  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery."  1 
Tim.  4  :  14.  This  gift  here  spoken  of  I  take  to  be  the 
ministerial  office  conferred  upon  him  by  ordination,  ac- 
cording to  those  predictions  and  prophecies  which  were 
before'  given  of  him  by  some  divinely  inspired  men,  who 
foretold  that  he  was  by  God  designed  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  and  should  glorify  God  by  a  careful  dis- 
charge of  it;  of  which  we  read  chap.  1,  verse  18. 

2.  When  we  are  assured  that  our  call  is  right  and  ac- 
cording to  the  will  of  God,  there  are  then  many  other 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  305 

duties  incumbent  on  us  in  the  due  exercise  of  our  calling. 

(1.)  We  ought  to  be  good  examples  to  the  flock.  This 
St.  Paul  most  expressly  enjoins  Timothy,  "  Be  thou  an 
example  to  the  believers,  in  word,  in  conversation, '  in 
charity,  in  spirit,  in  faith,  in  purity."     1  Tim.  4  :  12. 

Indeed  it  is  very  sad  to  consider  how  the  unsuitable 
conversation  of  ministers  doth  quite  enervate  all  the  force 
and  strength  of  their  doctrine  and  exhortations.  For,  let, 
them  speak  with  the  tongues  of  angels  and  preach  as 
holily  and  powerfully  as  if  the  Holy  Ghost  did  immediate- 
ly inspire  them,  yet,  if  their  lives  be  loose  and  their  con- 
versation contradictory  to  their  doctrine,  the  people  will 
be  ready  to  conclude  that  so  much  strictness  is  not 
necessary,  that  they  only  urge  it  as  a  matter  of  high  and 
nice  perfection  in  religion,  and  that  certainly  they  know 
a  nearer  way  to  heaven  than  through  so  many  severities 
which  they  press  upon  the  people,  and  therefore  they 
will  take  the  same  course  and  run  the  same  venture  that 
their  ministers  da. 

And  how  is  it  likely  that  such  a  ministry  should  be 
effectual  to  bring  others  to  holiness,  when  the  minister 
himself  declares  to  all  the  world,  by  his  actions,  that  he. 
looks  upon  it  as  unnecessary  %  What  hold  can  his  admo- 
nitions and  reproofs  take  upon  the  consciences  of  men  ] 
certainly  his  own  guilt  must  rise  up  in  his  throat  and 
choke  his  reproofs.  For  consciousness  of  the  same  mis- 
carriages will  retort,  whatever  we  can  say  against  others, 
more  strongly  upon  ourselves,  and  suggest  to  us  that  it 
i«i  but  base  hypocrisy  to  blame  that  which  we  ourselves 
practise.  With  what  face  canst  thou  press  others  to  re- 
pent and  reform  ]  what  arguments  canst  thou  use  to  pre- 
vail with  them,  who,  by  continuing  in  the  same  sin,  dost 
thyself  judge  those  arguments  to  be  of  no  force  % 


306  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS, 

Indeed,  it  were  a  temper  to  be  wished  and  prayed  for, 
that  we  could  only  respect  how  righteous  the  reproof  is, 
and  not  how  righteous,  the  person  who  gives  it,  and  bt> 
content  to  have  our  motes  plucked  out  though  it  he  by 
such  as  have  beams  in  their  ovsti  eyes  ;  that  we  could 
learn  that  hard  lesson  which  our  Savior  gives  his  disciples, 
to  do  as  they  say,  but  not  to  do  after  their  works ;  for,  in-' 
deed,  there  is  no  more  reason  to  reject  sound  admoni- 
tion because  it  comes  from  an  unsound  heart,  than  there 
is  to  stop  our  ears  against  good  counsel  because  it  is  de- 
livered perhaps  by  one  who  has  an  offensive  breath.  But , 
yet  so  it  usually  fares,  that  when  ministers  of  defiled  and 
loose  lives  shall  yet  preach  up  holiness  and  strictness  to 
their  people  and,  as  they  ought,  reprove' them  sharply  for 
their  sins,  they  will  be  apt  to  think,  *'  What !  is  he  in 
earnest  1  and  doth  he  not  see  that  he  himself  is  as  bad  or 
worse  1  With  what  face  can  he  thunder  out  wo,  and  wrath, 
and  hell  against  my  sins,  which  yet  are  no  more  miner 
than  his  own  1  Doth  he  think  to  fright  me  vvith  denouncing^' 
threats  and  curses,  when  he  himself,  who  stands  as  fair  a 
mark  for  them  as  I,  slights  and  contemns  them  ]  Or  doth 
he  envy  me  my  sins  and  would  engross  them  all  to  him- 
self ]"  And  thus,  with  such  carnal  reasonings,  drawn  from 
the  evil  examples  and  wicked  lives  of  ministers,  they  sit 
hardened  under  their  preaching,  and  account  all  they  say. 
but  as  a  lesson  they  must  repeat  and  a  tale  they  must  tell 
to  get  their  living  by.  Certainly,  such  shall  perish  in 
their  iniquities,  but  the  blood  of  their  souls  God  will  re- 
quire at  your  hands.  -  '■ '■      ^ : 

But  when  a  minister  walks  conscientiously  and  exem- 
plarily  before  his  flock,  his  doctrine  gains  a  mighty  advan- 
tage to  work  upon  them  by  his  life.    This  is  building  up 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  307 

he  church  of  Christ  with  both  hands  ;  showing  them  both 
he  equity  and  the  easiness  of  that  hoHness  whieh  he 
persuades  them  to  by  his  own  practice.  When  he 
•eproves,  his  reproofs  break  in  upon  the  consciences  of 
lis  hearers  with  conviction  and  authority,  and  if  they  do 
lot  reform,  yet  at  least  they  daimt  and  terrify  them,  and 
nake  them  self-accused  and  self-condemned.  "  Here  is 
me  that  reproves  me  for  sin,  who  believes  it  to  be  as 
3vil  as  he  represents  it  by  his  own  eschewing  it.  Here  is 
:>ne  that  denounces  wrath  if  I  repent  not,  who  doubtless 
:)elieves  it  to  be  as  terrible  as  he  declares  it  by  his  own 
carefulness  to  escape  it."  Certainly,  preaching  never 
:omes  with  such  power  and  energy  into  the  conscience 
IS  when  the  minister  preacheth  as  well  by  his  works  as 
by  his  word,  and,  to  induce  the  people  to  it,  is  first 
obedient  himself  to  the  truths  which  he  teacheth  them. 
Men  are  easier  led  by  examples  than  by  precepts,  for, 
though  precepts  are  the  more  exact,  yet  examples  are  the 
more  easy  way  of  teaching,  and  he  is  a  perfect  workman 
who  joineth  both  together,  neither  teaching  what  he  will 
not  do,  nor  doing  what  he  dares  not  teach :  and  there- 
fore it  is  observed  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  great 
teacher  of  his  church,  that  he  began  both  to  do  and  teach. 
Acts,  1:1. 

Now  ministers  must  be  exemplary  both  in  themselves 
a|id  in  their  families. 

In  themselves  they  "  must  be  blameless,  as  the  stewards 
of  God  J  not  self-willed,  not  soon  angry,  not  given  to 
wine,  no  strikers,  not  given  to  filthy  lucre:  lovers  of 
hospitality,  lovers  of  good  men,  sober,  just,  holy,  tem- 
perate," as  the  Apostle  sums  up  their  duties,  Tit.  1  :  7, 
8      These  are  the  things   which  will  give  them  a  good 


308  THE    TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 

report  among  those  which  are  without,  and  will  recom- 
mend the  doctrines  and  truths  which  they  teach,  to  the 
acceptation  and  love  of  their  very  enemies  and  the  ene- 
mies of  their  holy  profession. 

They  must  likewise  be  exemplary  in  their  families :  a 
minister  must  rule  ''well  his  own  house,  having  his 
children  in  subjection,  with  all  gravity."  1  Tim.  3  :  4. 
And  because  there  are  so  many  who  are  ready  mali- 
ciously to  asperse  us,  we  must,  by  a  serious  and  circum- 
spect conversation,  cut  off  all  occasion  from  slanderous 
tongues,  that  they  who  watch  for  our  halting  may  be 
ashamed  when  they  can  find  nothing  to  reproach  us  with 
save  in  the  matter  of  our  God.  . 

But  if  any  such  there  be,  who  speak  like  angels  but 
live  like  devils ;  who,  when  they  are  in  the  pulpit,  it  is 
pity  they  should  ever  come  out,  and  when  they  are  out, 
it  is  a  great  pity  they  should  ever  come  into  it  again ; 
who  are  heavenly  lights  in  it,  but  hellish  fire-brands  out 
of  it  J  would  to  God  they  would  consider  how  they  de- 
stroy the  very  end  of  their  calling,  and,  instead  of  con 
verting  souls,  do  but  harden  them  in  their  sins ;  making 
men  abhor  the  offerings  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord ; 
putting  arguments  in  their  mouths  to  justify  their  con- 
tinuance in  their  wickedness,  or  else  prejudices  in  their 
hearts;  causing  them  to  depart  and  separate  from  holy 
institutions,  because  dispensed  by  profane  and  scandalous 
ministers.  Let  them  pretend  never  so  highly  to  uniform- 
ity and  obedience ;  yet,  certainly,  these  are  the  men  who 
have  made  all  our  separatists  that  now  sadly  rend  our 
church  in  pieces  ;  for  when  the  sheep  see  a  wolf  set  over 
them  instead  of  a  shepherd,  no  wonder  if  they  run  from 
him  and  scatter  into  other  pastures.  It  is  in  vain  for  them 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  309 

to  tell  people  that  they  ought  to  be  obedient  to  the  laws 
of  the  church,  when  those  that  tell  them  so  are  not  obe- 
dient to  the  laws  of  God  their  Father.  i . 

And  oh,  that  they  would  but  consider  not  only  the 
damage  which  they  do  to  the  church,  of  which  too  many  of 
them  seem  zealous  propugners,  but  the  heavy  wo  and 
wrath  which  they  bring  upon  their  own  souls.  Every  ser- 
mon they  study  they  do  but  draw  up  a  bill  of  indictment 
against  themselves,  and  every  time  they  preach  they  do 
but  pronounce  the  sentence  of  their  own  damnation.  Wc 
unto  such  pastors,  when  they  whom  Christ  hath  set  over 
his  sheep  shall  themselves  be  found  at  the  last  day  stand- 
ing among  the  goats ! 

(2.)  Another  great  duty  of  ministers  is  a  diligent  and 
conscientious  employment  of  their  gifts  and  talents. 

They  must  be  both  able  and  willing  to  teach.  They 
themselves  must  be  well  grounded  in  the  knowledge  and 
doctrine  of  Christ :  '*  the  priest's  lips "  should  preserve 
"  knowledge,  and  men  should  seek  the  law  at  his  mouth ; 
for  he  is  the  messenger  of  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Mai.  2  :  7. 
And  therefore  the  apostle  rejects  a  novice,  a  raw,  ig- 
norant and  unexperienced  person ;  for  "  if  the  blind 
lead  the  blind,  both  will"  be  in  danger  of  falling  together 
"  into  the  ditch."  And  God  himself  tells  such  ignorant 
and  foolish  teachers,  "  Because  thou  hast  rejected  know- 
ledge, I  also  will  reject  thee,  that  thou  shalt  be  no  priest 
to  me  :  seeing  thou  hast  forgotten  the  law  of  thy  God,  I 
will  also  forget  thy  children."  Hosea,  4:6. 

And  as  they  must  be  able  to  teach,  so  they  must  be 
diligent  in  teaching.  A  "  necessity  is  laid  upon  them, 
and  wo  unto  them  if  they  preach  not  the  Gospel,"  as  the 
apostle  speaks,  1  Cor.  9  :  16.    They  ought  to  be  instant 


010  THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 

in  season  and  out  of  season,  2  Tim.  4 : 2,  "Preach  the 
word ;  be  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season :  reprove, 
rebuke,  exhort  with  all  long-suffering  and  doctrine."  Not 
as  if  BGunisters  must  be  continually  in  the  exercise  of 
preaching,  but  they  ought  to  preach  in  season,  that  is,  in 
the  ordinary  and  stated  times  for  it,  and  out  of  season, 
that  is,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  when  the  necessity  or 
usefulness  of  the  church  shall  require  it. 

Their  doctrine  also  ought  to  be  sound  such  as  cannot 
be  condemned :  **  Speak  thou  the  things  which  become 
sound  doctrine."  Tit.  2:1.  It  must  have  its  authority 
either  from  the  express  words  of  Scripture,  or  the 
analogy  of  faith  rationally  deduced  from  Scripture  j  foi 
he  that  preacheth  false  doctrine  inconsistent  with  these, 
doth  but  mingle  poison  with  his  people's  meat. 

It  must  likewise  be  frojitahle,  not  setting  before  them 
"alien  and  unintelligible  notions,  or  such  thin  airy  specu- 
lations as  can  scarce  consist  with  sense,  much  less  with 
divinity,  for  this  is  to  give  them  wind  instead  of  food. 
*^  Charge  them  before  the  Lord,  that  they  strive  not  about 
words  to  no  profit,  but  to  the  subverting  of  the  hearers." 
2  Tim.  2  :  14.  And,  Tit.  3:8,"  These  things  I  will  that 
thou  affirm  constantly;  that  they  which  have  believed  in 
God  might  be  careful  to  maintain  good  works.  These 
things  are  good  and  profitable  unto  men." 

Their  preaching,  moreover,  must  be  flai%  and  suited  to 
tlie  capacity  of  their  hearers,  as  much  as  can  be  without 
disgusting  any ;  for  he  that  shall  only  disgorge  and  tum- 
ble out  a  heap  of  bombastic  theatrical  words,  at  which 
the  people  only  stare,  and  gape,  and  wonder,  preacheth 
to  them  in  an  unknovm  tongue,  although  he  speak  Eng- 
lish:  and  this  is  but  to  give  them  stones  instead  of  bread. 


f  ilP'TH  c&MMArmM^N*.  311 

Again,  their  preaching  must  be  grave  and  solid,  not 
slovenly  and  too  much  neglected,  for  that  will  but  be- 
get a  nauseating  in  the  hearers ;  nor  yet  too  nicely  and 
sprucely  drest,  for  that  will  be  apt  to  divert  the  atten- 
tion from  the  matter  to  the  phrase.  Their  sermons  ought 
to  have  a  comely  and  matron-like,  not  a  gayish  and  mere- 
tricious attire.  The  truths  they  preach  must  be  delivered 
ill  such  words  as  may  adorn  but  not  hide  nor  bury  them, 
such  as  may  rather  recommend  the  doctrine  to  the  con- 
sciences, than  the  art  and  rhetoric  of  the  preacher  to  the 
errors  and  fancies  of  the  hearers. 

And,  finally,  they  ought  to  preach  powerfully  and  with 
authority :  "  These  things  command  and  teach."  1  Tim. 
4:11.  We  come  to  the  people  in  the  name  of  God,  and 
are  his  ambassadors,  and  therefore  ought  to  deliver  his 
message  boldly,  being  sent  to  the  people  by  the  Kingof 
kings  and  Lord  of  lords ;  and  those  who  mince  his  er- 
rand, as  if  they  were  afraid  to  speak  that  which  God  hath 
given  them  in  commission,  shall  at  their  retirm  unto  him  re- 
ceive the  reward  of  treacherous  and  unfaithful  i^essengers. 

There  are  very  many  other  duties  which  cannot  with- 
out too  much  length  be  particularly  insisted  on.  As  hos- 
pitality, according  to  the  measure  of  their  estates.  They 
must  be  "given  to  hospitality."  1  Tim.  3  :  2.  They  must 
be  "  lovers  of  hospitality."  Tit.  1  :  8.  And  therefore  they 
ought  to  be  liberally  and  plentifully  endowed,  that  they 
may  make  their  table  a  snare  in  a  good  sense,  and  may  get 
some  to  follow  and  observe  them  though  it  be  but  for  the 
loaves ;  and  here  it  will  be  a  good  point  of  their. wisdom 
if  they  can  handsomely  make  use  of  such  opportunities 
(as  we  find  our  Savior  did  after  he  had  miraculously  fed 
the   multitude)   to  break  unto  them  the  bread  of  life, 


312  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

and  with  their  bodily  nourishment  to  feed  their  souls. 

Then  gravity,  in  their  discourse  and  in  all  their  con- 
verse. A  minister  should  neither  speak  nor  do  any  thing 
that  is  unseemly.  Intemperate  mirth,  clamorous  talk, 
scurrilous  jestings,  but  especially  the  least  syllable  of  an 
oath,  although  it  be  never  so  much  varied  and  disguised, 
in  a  minister's  mouth,  as  it  is  wicked,  so  it  is  utterly 
misbecoming  the  dignity  of  his  profession,  and  renders 
him  mean  and  contemptible. 

Again,  a  pious  and  assiduous  care  in  visiting  the  sick, 
who  may  receive  good  advice  and  counsel  then,  although 
perhaps  they  have  all  their  lifetime  before  despised  and 
refused  it.  You  may  possibly  do  more  good  by  the  sick- 
bed than  in  the  pulpit,  for  death  is  a  terrible  and  thun- 
dering preacher ;  and  he  must  be  a  most  forlorn  and  ob 
durate  wretch  who  will  not  listen  to  your  admonitions 
when  the  hopes  of  a  long  life,  which  made  him  formerly 
reject  them,  have  forsaken  him. 

And  once  more,  diligence  in  catechising  and  instructing 
the  younger  in  the  principles  of  faith  and  religion.  Root 
them  well  at  first,  and  they  will  continue  stable  ever  after. 
This  vdll  save  yourselves  and  your  successors  much  la- 
bor ;  for  if  once  you  can  insinuate  into  their  minds  piety 
and  verity,  they  will  grow  up  to  farther  degrees  of  per- 
fection in  the  ordinary  course  of  your  ministry,  and  be 
your  comfort  and  rejoicing  here,  and  your  crown  and 
glory  hereafter. 

There  are  many  other  duties  necessary  to  the  right 
discharge  of  the  ministerial  function,  but  those  already 
mentioned  may  suffice.  And  all  others  may  be  reduced 
to  some  of  these. 

I  shall  therefore  conclude  this  part  of  the  subject  v*  ith 


PIPTH    COMMANDMENT.  313 

my  earnest  request  that  you  would  ever  seriously  medi- 
tate upon  that  charge  which  God  gives  the  prophet,  and 
in  him  all  ministers  :  "  Son  of  man,  I  have  made  thee  a 
watchman  unto  the  house  of  Israel ;  therefore  hear  the 
word  at  my  mouth  and  give  them  warning  from  me. 
When  I  say  unto  the  wicked,  thou  shalt  surely  die ;  and 
thou  givest  him  not  warning,  nor  speakest  To  warn  the 
wicked  of  his  evil  way,  to  save  his  life ;  the  same  wicked 
man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity ;  but  his  blood  wall  I  require 
at  thine  hand.  Yet  if  thou  warn  the  wicked,  and  he  turn 
not  from  his  wdckedness,  he  shall  die  in  his  iniquity,  but 
thou  hast  delivered  thy  soul."  Ezek.  3  :  17-19. 

II.  Having  considered  the  duties  of  ministers  to  their 
people,  we  come  now  to  the  people's  duty  towards 
THEIR  MINISTER,  which  is  especially  twofold^  that  of  obe- 
dience and  honor.  ^^;  </ 1 

1.   Obedience,  in  being  persuaded  by  his  godd  "utfvice" 
arid  admonitions. 

We  have  this  most  expressly  commanded,  Heb.  13  :  17, 
"Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you;"  that  is,  not 
only  civil  magistrates  and  your  rulers  in  state  affairs,  but 
ministers  also ;  for  so  it  is  added,  "  for  they  watch  for 
your  souls  as  they  that  must  give  an  account ;  that  they 
may  do  it  with  joy,  and  not  with  grief."  And  they  are 
called  "the  elders  that  rule  Well."  1  Tim.  5  :  17. 

I  know  that  this  obedience  to  ministers  is  a  duty  so 

utterly  forgotten  in  the  practice  of  most  men,  that  I  doubt 

if  tjiere  may  not  be  some  prejudice  in  them  against  these 

places  of  Scripture  by  which  it  is  so  plainly  enjoined. 

Alas,  that  ever  Christ  and  his  apostle  should  invest  us 

with  such  authority,  which  when  we  assume  we  are  look- 
Ten.  Com.  l^ 


3X4    '  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS, 

ed  upon  by  the  people  as  almost  as  ridiculous  for  it  as  if 
we  had  only  a  reed  in  our  hands  and  u  crown  of  shame 
rather  than   of  dignity  put  upon  our  heads,  and  are  ac- 
counted of  rather  as  insolent  usurpers  upon  their  liberty 
than  as  officers  empowered  by  God  himself!    Sirs,  we 
take  to  ourselves  no  power  over  you  but  what  God  hath 
hy  his  patent  and  charter  given  us ;  and  when  we  pro- 
pound to  you  the  will  of  God  revealed  in  his  word,  or  in 
cases  not  so  clearly  determined  therein  do  give  our  judg- 
ment as   those  who   have  found  mercy  to  be  accounted 
faithful,  we  do  and  may  challenge  your  obedience  to  it  in 
the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.    For  we  find  that  in 
those  particular  cases  wherein  the  apostle  had  no  express 
revelation  from  Christ,  yet  he  prescribes  to  the   Corin- 
thians what  he  judges  fit  for  them  to  do,   and  by  that  di- 
rection obliged  their  practice  ;  not  indeed  simply  and  ab- 
solutely, yet  so  that,  in  such  circumstances  as  the  apostle 
supposeth,  they  had  sinned  if  they  had  done  otherwise 
than  he   directed  them.    We  desire  not  to  lord  it  over 
God's   inheritance    by    any   burdensome    imposition   of 
thing's,  either  unlawful  or  in  themselves  unfit.    But  when 
we  require  from  you  those  things  which  God  himself  hath 
commanded,  or  if  not  expressly  commanded,  yet  which 
are,  in  the  judgment  of   those  to  whom  you  owe  obedi- 
ence, thought  convenient  and  lawful  to  be  done,  I  know 
not  how  you  can  excuse  yourselves    fi'om  disobedience 
against  God  if  in  these  cases   you  be  not  obedient  unto 
us.  And  if  you  call  this  usurpation,  and  a  taking  too  much 
upon  us,  you  do  but  speak  the  language  of  Korah  and  his 
accomplices.  Num.  16:3,  and  shake  not  so  much  ours  as 
God's  title  and  authority  over  you,  who  hath  given  us  this 
power  and  commission. 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  315 

2.  Another  duty  of  the  people  is  to  honor  their  minis- 
ters as  their  spiritual  fathers. 

Yea,  the  apostle  speaks  of  a  double  honor  due  to  them, 

1  Tim.  5  :  17,  "  Let  the  elders  that  rule  well  be  account- 
ed worthy  of  double  honor."  All  must  have  that  honor 
given  them  which  is  due  to  their  function ;  but  those  who 
inxle  the  flock  well,  k*^*'?*  that  is,  not  barely  commenda- 
bly  but  excellently,  must  have  this  honor  doubled  to 
them  ;  and  those  who  not  only  thus  rule  but  excel  others 
in  teaching  them  likewise,  must  have  this  double  honor 
doubled  upon  them,  especially  they  that  labor  in  the  word 
and  doctrine. 

We  owe  them  the  honor  o?  reverence.  We  ought  to 
honor  and  esteem  them  for  their  office  and  their  work's 
sake.  ^  So,  expressly,  1  Thess.  5  :  12,  13,  "We  beseech 
you,  brethren,  to  know  them  which  labor  among  you,  and 
esteem  them  very  highly  in  love  for  their  work's  sake." 
And  again,  Phil.  2  :  29,  "  Receive  him  therefore  In  the 
Lord  with  all  gladness ;  and  hold  such  in  reputation." 
And  certainly  they  who  cast  any  contempt  on  ministers, 
either  by  injurious  actions  or  reviling  speeches,  do  not 
so  much  despise  them  as  Christ  who  sent  them.  "He 
that  despiseth  you,  despiseth  me,"  saith  our  Savior,  Luke, 
10  :  16.  And  God  will  not  leave  this  sin  unpunished, 
yea,  he  speaks  of  it  as  an  almost  unpardonable  crime  : 
"  They  mocked  the  messengers  of  God,  and  despised  his 
words,  and  misused  his  prophets,  until  the  wrath  of  God 
was    against    his   people,    and   there   was   no   remedy." 

2  Chron.  36  :  16. 

Again,  we  owe  them  the  honor  of  maintenance.  So,  Gal. 
6:6,"  Let  him  that  is  taught  in  the  wdrd,  communicate 
unto  him  that  teachethin  all  good,  things."    And  there  is 


316  THE  TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

good  reason  for  it ;  for,  "  if  we  have  sown  unto  you  spiri- 
tual things,  is  it  a  great  thing  if  we  shall  reap  your  car- 
nal things'?"  saith  the  apostle,  1  Cor.  9  :  11.  What  you 
give  them  is  not  a  matter  of  bounty  and  mere  voluntary 
benevolence ;  and  the  minister  who  so  accounts  or  re- 
ceives it,  undervalues  his  authority  and  wrongs  his  right ; 
but  it  is  your  duty  and  his  due.  He  must  have  a  compe- 
tent and  liberal  maintenance,  not  stinted  to  bare  neces- 
sity ;  but  it  should  be  liberal,  such  as  may  enable  him  to 
relieve  the  necessities  of  others,  to  provide  comfortably  for 
his  own  family,  and  to  use  hospitality  in  his  house.  This 
is  his  due,  and  he  owes  you  no  more  thanks  for  tendering 
it  than  you  do  him  for  receiving  it.  Not  here  to  dispute 
the  divine  right  of  the  tenth  part,  (which  yet  was  not  all 
that  was  due  to  the  ministers  under  the  law,  for  they  had 
a  considerable  accession  by  offerings  and  sacrifices,)  I 
think  it  certain  that  the  encouragement  of  ministers  un- 
der the  Gospel  should  equal  if  not  exceed  theirs,  inasmuch 
as  our  labor  is  far  greater  and  our  ministry  more  excel- 
lent than  theirs.  But  they  who  think  it  fit  to  keep  minis- 
ters poor  and  dependent,  may  well  be  suspected  to  do  it 
in  favor  of  their  own  vices  ;  for  how  shall  he  dare  to  re- 
prove them,  who  is  afraid  of  losing  part  of  his  stipend? 
But  whilst  the  gentleman  in  black  must  sit  below  the 
salt,  and  after  dinner  converse  with  the  better  sort  of 
serving  men,  there  is  no  danger  that  he  should  be  so  au- 
dacious as  to  find  fault ;  or  if  he  should,  no  great  heed 
will  be  taken  to  what  so  despicable  a  thing  as  he  can  say. 

It  remains  only  to  notice,  in  the  sixth  place,  the  mutual 
duties  between  superiors  and  inferiors,  or  those  who 
differ  in  the  gifts  of  Divine  hounty. 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  '  317 

These  may  be  considered  either  as  the  gifts  o£  special 
grace  or  o£  common  providence.    Of  which  briefly. 

I.  The  gifts  of  special  grace.  God  endows  s'ome 
with  an  excellent  measure  of  sanctifying  grace ;  and  is 
pleased  to  show  the  world,  by  a  few  rare  and  choice  in- 
stances, how  wonderfully  he  can  sublime  our  corrupted 
nature,  and  'how  near  he  can  exalt  human  frailty  to  an 
angelical  perfection.  This  indeed  is  the  most  excellent 
of  all  his  gifts,  and  that  which  we  ought  most  earnestly 
to  covet  and  desire ;  for  although  other  gifts,  as  know- 
ledge, wisdom,  power,  &c.  do  in  some  imperfect  manner 
assimilate  us  to  God,  yet  sanctification  and  holiness  fa; 
transcend  all  these,  both  because  it  stamps  on  us  the  re- 
semblance of  the  Divine  nature  in  that  attribute  which  is 
its  greatest  glory,  (whence  God  assumes  it  to  himself  that 
he  is  glorious  in  Jioliness,)  and  likewise  because  God 
hath  highly  honored  itj,  and  given  it  the  dignity  and  pre- 
rogative to  be  the  only  means  of  bringing  us  to  the  com- 
plete and  eternal  fruition  of  our  felicity. 

1.  Those  whom  God  hath  thus  blessed  with  an  emi- 
nent degree  of  this  his  best  gift  ought, 

(1.)  To  heware  that  they  do  not  secretly  despise  their 
weaker  brethren  in  their  hearts;  nor  with  a  censorious  aus- 
terity reject  those  whom  God  hath  received. 

It  is  often  seen  that  fellow-seiTants  are  more  inex- 
orable towards  each  other  than  their  common  Lord  and 
MELster;  and  that  those  eri'ors  and  infirmities  which  are 
rather  the  slips  of  thoughtlessness  than  the  products  of  a 
resolved  will,  can  hardly  obtain  pardon  among  men, 
though  God  hath  forgiven  and  forgotten  them.  This 
ariseth  from  a  spiritual  pride,  which  makes  us  envious 


318  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

towards  those  who  excel  us,  and  scornful  towards  those 
who  fall  short;  for  when  men  grow  conceited  of  their 
own  excellencies  and  attainments  they  will  be  ready  to 
condemn  other  men's  duties  as  formal  hypocrisy,  and  their 
sins  as  total  apostasy;  they  will  mistake  the  smoking 
flax  for  a  reeking  dunghill,  and  be  forward  imperiously 
to  cast  them  out  of  God's  family  though  themselves  were 
but  lately  received  into  it  out  of  mere  charity. 

Certainly  this  is  a  spirit,  (though  it  too  much  prevails  in 
this  broken  and  shattered  age,  wherein  every  one  thinks 
so  much  the  better  of  himself  by  how  much  the  worse  he 
thinks  of  others,)  yet  this  I  say  is  a  spirit  utterly  misbe- 
coming the  sweetness  and  mildness  of  the  Gospel,  which 
teacheth  us  to  be  meek  and  gentle,  forbearing  one  an- 
other and  forgiving  one  another.  It  would  better  become 
thee,  O  christian,  not  to  observe  other  men's  falls,  but  to 
lodk  to  thine  own  standing  :  "  Thou  standest  by  faith,  be 
qot  high-minded,  but  fear."  Rom.  11  :  20.  It  is  the  worst 
vvay  that  so  excellent  a  thing  as  divine  grace  can  be  per- 
verted, when  it  makes  thee  proud  and  censorious. 

For  my  part  I  should  much  more  confide  in  the  secu- 
rity of  an  humble  soul  that  creeps  along  to  heaven,  though 
with  a  slow  yet  an  even  pace,  than  in  the  ecstatic  zeal  and 
fervor  of  those  who  perhaps  far  outstrip  others,  but  also 
contemn  them.  For  the  one  is  still  pressing  forward,  and 
regards  with  admiration  those  who  excel ;  but  the  other 
is  often  looking  back  with  disdain  upon  those  who  are 
slower  than  himself ;  and  whilst  he  minds  not  so  much 
his  way  as  the  advances  he  hath  made,  offers  many  ad- 
vantages to  the  devil  to  trip  him  up  and  give  him  many  a 
sore  and  shameful  fall. 

And   therefore,    O    christian,    the   more  eminent  thy 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  ,  \      319 

graces  are,  the  more  need  hast  thou  to  pray  alnd  stfive  for 
humility.  The  tallest  cedars  had  need  have  the  deepest 
roots,  otherwise  the  storms  and  winds  will  easily  oyer- 
turn  them  :  so  truly  the  higher  any  grow,  the  more  they 
spread  and  flourish  like  the  cedars  of  God,  beautiful  in 
their  leaves  and  plentifiil  in  their  sap,  the  more  need 
have  they  to  be  deeply  rooted  in  humility ;  or  else,  be- 
lieve it,  the  wind  and  tempest  of  temptations,  to  which 
they  stand  more  exposed  than  others,  will  not  only  sorely 
shake  them  but  utterly  overturn  them,  when  those  whom 
they  shall  despise  as  mean  shrubs  shall  stand  secure,  and 
with  a  tender  pity  weep  over  their  fall. 

(2.)  Another  duty  of  Such  as  are  eminent  in  grace  is, 
to  improve  the  grace  they  have  to  the  henefit  and  advan- 
tage of  others. 

God  hath  given  thee  a  large  portion,  that  thou  shouldst 
be  helpful  to  thy  brethren.  The  stock  of  grace  which  he 
hath  offered  thee,  is  not  only  that  thou  thyself  shouldst 
live  well  upon  it,  but  it  was  intended  for  the  relief  and 
comfort  of  the  whole  family. 

Hath  God  endowed  thee  with  a  clear  and  distinct 
knowledge  of  the  mysteries  of  the  Gospel  1  Know  that  this 
lamp 'was  lighted  up  in  thee  that  thou  shouldst  give  light 
unto  others,  that  thou  shouldst  diffuse  and  scatter  abroad 
its  rays  round  about  thee ;  to  inform  the  ignorant,  guide 
the  doubting,  confirm  the  wavering,  resolve  the  scrupu- 
lous, reduce  the  erroneous  and  convince  the  malicious 
opposers  of  the  truth.  This  is  not  the  minister's  duty 
only,  though  more  eminently  and  especially  his ;  but  it 
is  the  duty  of  every  private  clu-istian  whom  God  hath 
blessed  with  a  large  measure  of  true  knowledge  more 
than  others,  still  keeping  within  due  bounds  and  limits. 


320  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENtcs. 

Or,  hath  the  Holy  Spirit  kindled  in  thy  breast  a  flame 
of  Divine  affection'^  And  is  it  not  to  this  end,  that  thou 
shouldst  breathe  warmth  into  the  languishing  desires  of 
others,  and  by  holy  conference  and  spiritual  discourse, 
illustrating  the  beauty  of  holiness,  the  excellency  of  true 
piety  in  itself  and  the  rewards  which  it  brings  after  it,  ap- 
ply thy  heavenly  fire  unto  their  chill  and  freezing  hearts 
until  thou  hast  enkindled  them  too  and  set  them  on  a 
flame,  that  so  both  together  might  bum  with  vigorous 
love  towards  God  and  his  Christ  1 

Or,  hath  God  exercised  thee  with  grievous  trials  and 
violent  temptations  1  Wherefore  is  it,  but  that  thou 
shouldst  the  better  know  how  to  succor  those  that  are 
tempted,  and  by  thine  own  experiences  counsel  and 
comfort  those  who  are  ready  to  sink  under  their  load, 
which  not  only  the  weight  but  the  unusualness  makes  the 
more  intolerable  %  For  the  greatest  accent  and  emphasis 
that  such  do  usually  put  upon  their  miseries  is,  that  never 
any  before  were  so  severely  afflicted,  never  any  before 
were  so  violently  assaulted.  Let  them  know  that  no  temp- 
tation hath  befallen  them  but  what  is  common  unto  men, 
and  that  thou  thyself  hast  come  triumphantly  from  under  the 
like.  Expound  to  them  the  depths  and  methods  of  Satan, 
unravtel  his  vnles  and  subtleties,  stretch  out  the  entangled 
folds  of  that  old  and  crooked  serpent ;  for  therefore  hath 
God  comforted  you  in  all  your  tribulations,  that  you 
might  be  able  to  comfort  them  who  are  troubled,  with 
the  same  comforts  by  which  yourselves  have  been  com- 
forted oi  God ;  as  the  apostle  speaks,  2  Cor.  1 :  4. 
'  Or,  if  thou  art  not  so  fit  either  for  instruction  or  coun- 
sel, yet  at  least  let  thy  graces  be  beneficial  to  others,  hy 
a  holy  and  exemplary  conversation.    If  thy  graces  cannot 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  321 

shin«  through  thy  gifts,  yet  at  least  let  them  shine  through 
thy  life,  that  others  seeing  thy  good  works,  may  give 
glory  to  thy  heavenly  Father.  And  therefore  never  com- 
plain that  thou  canst  not  honor  God  in  so  noble  a  w^ay  as 
others,  that  thou  canst  not  speak  nor  plead  for.  him  as 
others  do.  If  thou  livest  to  him  thou  pleadest  for  him ; 
for  certainly  a  holy  life  is  a  much  better  commendation 
of  holiness  than  all  the  elaborate  encomiums  of  art  and 
rhetoric. — Tbese  are  the  duties  of  those  that  excel  in 
grace. 

2.  As   for  others  whose  graces  are  less,  one  duty  of 
theirs  is. 

Highly  to  love  and  esteem  those  whose  graces  dre  more 
eminent  and  conspicuous.  God  is  the  comprehensive  and 
ultimate  object  of  our  love  and  veneration,  and  therefore 
the  nearer  any  creature  approacheth  to  the  similitude  of 
God,  the  more  ought  we  to  esteem  and  prize  it.  Now 
God  is  not  more  strikingly  represented  in  any  thing  than 
in  the  holiness  of  his  saints.  This  is  the  most  perfect 
portraiture  and  image  of  him  who  hath  styled  himself 
•*  the  holy  One  of  Israel."  They  are  begotten  of  God, 
made  partakei-s  of  the  Divine  nature,  and  confonned  to 
his  image  ;  therefore,  as  we  would  adore  this  glorious  at- 
tribute of  God  in  its  infinite  original,  so  we  ought  to 
esteem  and  venerate  it  in  those  happy  souls  to  whom 
God  hath  conimunicated  some  rays  of  it.  **  Every  one 
that  loveth  him  that  begat,  loveth  him  also  that  is  begot- 
ten of  him,"  saith  the  Apostle,  1  John,  5  :  1,  because  of 
the  likeness  he  bears  to  his  heavenly  Father;  and  the 
more  express  this  resemblance  is,  the  more  intense  and 
the  more  endearing  should  our  affections  be.  We  ought  to 
associate  with  them ;  to  make  them  our  bosom-fiiends, 


322  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

our  confidants,  and  our  companions ;  our  delight  should 
be  in  the  saints,  and  in  the  excellent  ones  of  the  earth,  as 
David  professeth  his  to  have  been,  Psalm  16  :  3. 

Another  duty  of  the  less  eminent  in  grace  towards 
those  who  are  the  more  eminent,  is  imitation  of  their  holy 
examples  y  following  them  wherein  they  follow  the  Lord 
Christ. 

If  thou  seest  others  far  outstrip  thee,  mend  thy  pace, 
endeavor  to  overtake  them,  tread  in  the  same  steps,  and 
do  thy  very  utmost  to  keep  even  with  them :  envy  not 
their  graces,  but  be  sure  to  emulate  them. 

Indeed,  some  there  are  who,  that  they  might  not  seem 
to  be  behind  the  best,  prove  hinderances  and  pull-backs  to 
them,  lest  the  forwardness  of  their  zeal  and  piety  should 
be  a  reproach  to  their  own  sloth :  like  truants  at  school, 
who,  lest  their  fellows  should  get  too  much  before  them, 
do  what  they  can  to  entice  them  from  their  books.  But 
this  is  a  most  wicked  envy,  and  the  root  of  it  is  pride  and 
laziness. 

But  a  holy  emulation  never  repines  at  nor  hinders 
the  proficiency  of  others  :  it  rather  would  by  all  means 
promote  it,  but  it  will  put  us  upon  endeavors  to  be  as  for- 
ward as  any.  It  will  not  be  a  curb  to  them,  but  a  spur 
to  us.  And  such  an  emulation  as  this  every  true  chris- 
tian should  highly  cherish.  For  the  shame  of  being  out- 
stript  is  as  great  an  incentive  as  any  that  can  be  given  to 
virtue.  Christians  are  like  a  company  of  men  running  in 
a  race :  every  one  should  strive  and  strain  every  nerve 
and  sinew  to  be  first  at  the  goal — the  first  that  should  lay 
bold  on  the  prize  and  reward. 

And  here  he  sure  you  set  your  pattern  right.  Take 
Qot  the  most  noisv  and  airy  christians,  who  glory  in  talk 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  323 

and  censures.  Take  not  one  who  hath  an  affectation  of 
beino;'  relio:ious  after  a  new  mode  and  fashion.  Take 
not  one  who  seeks  to  raise  a  fame  for  piety  only  by  de- 
crying or  condemning  this  or  that  form  of  profession,  and 
who,  if  there  were  no  differences  among  us,  would  lose 
very  much  of  his  reputation  for  sanctity ;  for  these  are 
only  torrents  that  run  with  a  violent  stream,  but  they  are 
shallow,  and  we  know  not  how  soon  they  may  grow  dry 
and  deceive  the  hopes  of  those  who  come  to  refi-esh 
themselves  at  them.  But  propound  those  to  yourselves 
for  examples  who  are  of  fixed  principles  and  sober 
practice  ;  who  are  grave  and  solid  ;  who,  in  all  the  duties 
that  belong  to  a  christian  conversation,  labor  to  do  them 
substantially  rather  than  ostentatiously ;  who  live  within 
G  od  and  themselves  ;  who  have  deep  thoughts  and  solid 
expressions  of  duty ;  and  whose  actions  are  suitable  and 
correspondent  to  both.  Such  a  one  is  the  Christian  in^ 
deed;  and  such,  for  some  such  there  are,  I  recommend 
to  you  for  your  imitation.  And  yet  there  is  no  man  that 
walks  so  uprightly  but  that  sometimes  he  steps  awry. 
And  therefore  be  not  led  by  a  blind  and  implicit  adhe- 
rence to  any  man,  but  continually  eye  the  rule ;  and 
wherein  soever  any  forsake  that,  be  they  apostles,  yea, 
or  if  it  were  possible,  even  angels  themselves,  therein 
forsake  them. — Thus  much  for  the  mutual  duties  of  su- 
periors and  inferiors  in  respect  of  grace. 

II.  Let  us  next  consider  them  in  respect  to  the  gifts  of 
God's  COMMON  BOUNTY,  which  he  promiscuously  distri- 
butes both  to  the  good  and  to  the  bad.  I  shall  but  briefly 
mention  them. 

God's  gifts  of  providence  may  respect  either  our  ^er- 


324  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

sons  or  else  our  outward  estate.  Those  which  respect  the 
person,  are  either  gifts  of  the  mirtd  or  of  the  body. 

(1.)  Those  who  excel  i7i  gifts  of  the  mind,  in  know- 
ledge, and  wisdom,  and  parts,  a  profound  judgment,  or  a 
winning  elocution,  ought  to  improve  these  to  the  good  and 
advantage  of  others ;  not  as  Ahithophel  did  his  politic 
counsel,  or  Tertullus  his  flattering  oratory,  to  oppress 
right  and  equity ;  but  to  guide  and  advise,  for  the  benefit 
of  mankind  and  the  glory  of  God. 

For  these  gifts,  though  they  are  not  sanctifying,  yet  may 
be  very  serviceable  to  the  church.  Hiram,  though  a  stran- 
ger to  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  yet  provided  many  ex- 
cellent materials  for  the  building  of  the  temple.  So  God 
doth  many  times  embellish  those  who  are  strangers  to 
him  with  many  admirable  ornaments  of  understanding 
and  learning,  and  makes  use  of  the  materials,  which  they 
have  prepared  and  laid  in,  for  the  edification  of  his  church. 
And  as  Noah  employed  many  to  build  his  ark,  who  were 
themselves  overwhelmed  in  the  deluge ;  so  God  many 
times  employs  such  as  these  to  build  his  ark,  the  church, 
who  yet  may  at  last  be  swept  away  with  the  deluge  of  his 
wrath,  and  drowned  in  perdition. 

These,  though  they  should  possess  such,  gifts  without 
any  sanctifying  and  saving  grace,  yet  §Lre  very  useful  men, 
and  our  duty  is  to  esteem  aud  reverence  them,  to  love 
their  excellencies  and  to  encourage  their  labors,  to  praise 
God  for  them,  and  pray  for  an  increase  of  their  gifts. 
How  much  more  then,  when  their  natural  and  acquired 
endowments  are  conjoined  with  sanctifying  grace,  and  the 
love  of  the  truth  as  much  possesses  their  hearts  as  the 
knowledge  of  it  does  their  heads  !  It  is  a  sordid  baseness 
to  detract  §i-om  any  man's  worth  or  extenuate  his  abilities 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT. 


by  some  slandei'ous  huts  and  exceptions.  This  is  the  dis- 
ingenuous practice  of  many,  who  think  all  that  added  to 
their  own  praise  which  they  thus  nibble  away  from 
another  man's. 

(2.)  Another  superiority  which  God  gi-ants  some  over 
others,  is  that  of  old  age,  which  is  of  itself  reverend  and 
entitled  to  respect ;  and  we  ought  to  give  that  due  re- 
spect to  it  which  both  nature  and  the  law  of  God  requires : 
"  Thou  shalt  rise  up  before  the  hoary  head,  and  honor  the 
face  of  the  old  man,  and  fear  thy  God."  Lev.  19  :  32. 
God  hath  put  a  signal  honor  upon  it  by  styling  himself 
the  Ancient  of  days,  Dan.  7:9;  and  he  threatens  it  as  a 
great  judgment  upon  a  people,  Isa.  3  :  5,  that  the  children 
shall  behave  themselves  proudly  against  the  ancients.  We 
read  how  severely  a  scorn  cast  upon  an  aged  prophet  was 
revenged  on  those  children  which  mocked  his  baldness.  A 
reverend  awe  before  the  aged  is  not  only  a  point  of  man- 
ners, but  part  of  a  moral  and  express  duty ;  and  therefoi'e 
it  is  said  of  Elihu,  Job,  32 :  4,  that  he  "  waited  till  Job 
had  spoken,  because  they  were  elder  than  he  ^"  and  verse 
6,  he  saith,  "  I  am  young,  and  ye  are  very  old;  where- 
fore I  was  afraid,  and  durst  not  show  you  mine  opinion." 

And  if  such  respect  and  reverence  be  due  to  them  fi'om 
others,  they  ought  chiefly  to  reverence  themselves,  and 
by  grave,  and  prudent,  and  holy  actions,  to  put  a  crown 
of  glory  on  their  own  gray  head.  They  ought  not  to  be 
vain  and  light  in  their  converse,  nor  children  of  a  hundred 
yeai's  old,  nor  by  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  their  lives 
expose  themselves  to  that  contempt  which  will  certainly 
be  cast  on  them  where  age  is  not  accompanied  with 
gravity  and  prudence.  And  therefore  we  find,  Prov. 
16 :  31,  "  The  hoary  head  is  a  crown  of  glory,  if  il  be 


Ii26  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

found  in  the  way  of  righteousness  :"  otherwise,  instead  of 
being  a  glory,  it  is  but  a  double  shame  and  reproach. 

(3.)  There  is  another  sort  of  the  gifts  of  common  pro- 
vidence wherein  some  excel  others,  and  that  is  riches  and 
honor.  Those  who  are  distinguished  by  these  the  Scrip- 
ture calls  fathers.  Nabal,  though  he  were  a  fool  and  a  churl, 
yet  David  in  his  message  to  him  doth  implicitly  call  him 
father,  1  Sam.  25  :  8,  "  Give,  I  pray  thee,  whatsoever  com- 
eth  to  thine  hand  unto  thy  servants,  and  to  thy  son  David." 

Their  duty  is  to  be  humble  towards  their  inferiois, 
knowing  that  it  is  only  external  goods,  and  those  the 
least  considerable  of  all  the  stores  of  God's  blessings,  that 
make  them  to  differ  from  others,  and  to  communicate  to 
the  relief  of  others'  necessities,  that  they  may  be  rich  in 
good  works,  and  make  themselves  friends  of  the  mammon 
of  unrighteousness,  that  when  they  fail  they  may  be  re- 
ceived into  everlasting  habitations  \  for  he  that  is  rich  only 
in  hoarding  and  keeping  up  his  store,  is  no  better  to  be 
accounted  of  than  the  base  earth  which  locks  up  more 
treasures  in  its  bowels  than  they  can  in  their  chests. 

And  the  duty  of  their  inferiors  is  to  pay  them  all  due 
respect  according  to  what  God  hath  bestowed  upon  them  ; 
to  acknowledge  the  riches  of  God  in  making  them  rich, 
and  to  endeavor  to  promote,  so  far  as  in  them  lies,  the 
spiritual  good  of  their  souls,  that  they  may  not  be  rich 
here  and  undone  eternally.  For  a  rich  man  may  be  more 
universally  instrumental  either  of  good  or  evil  than  others 
can,  and  therefore  to  win  such  a  one  to  the  faith,  or  to 
preserve  him  stable  in  it,  is  a  most  charitable  work,  not 
only  to  his  soul  in  particular,  but  to  the  church  of  Christ, 
the  affairs  of  which  may  be  much  advanced  by  such  a 
man's  wealth  and  interest. 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  327 

Thus  I  have  at  last  gone  through  the  mutual  duties  of 
many  relations  involyed  here  in  this  fifth  commandment ; 
some  natural^  some  civile  some  ecclesiastical^  and  some 
economical :  I  know  not  with  what  acceptation  or  success. 

Possibly  some  may  think  these  things  too  mean  and 
trivial  to  be  so  long  insisted  on.  But  let  me  tell  such,  that 
relative  duties^  as  they  are  the  most  difficult  of  all  to  per- 
form, so  they  are  the  best  trials  of  true  Christianity  and 
the  power  of  godliness.  He  that  endeavors  not  to  waHc 
closely  with  God  in  these,  let  his  notions  and  profession 
be  never  so  lofty  and  sublime,  it  will  be  no  uncharitable- 
ness  at  all  to  judge  that  all  his  pomp  is  but  a  mere  form 
of  godliness  and  a  hypocritical  ostentation. 

Let  me  exhort  you,  therefore,  in  the  fear  of  God,  that 
ye  be  much  in  pondering  these  things.  There  needs  no 
great  labor  to  understand  them,  nor  to  find  out  mysteries 
and  concealed  depths  in  them.  It  is  true,  they  are  plain, 
but  they  are  of  daily  use,  and  it  is  but  reasonable  that  we 
should  not  be  long  understanding  what  we  are  continual- 
ly to  practise. 

Let  me  subjoin  but  one  general  rule  and  I  have  done. 
It  is  this  :  in  all  these  mutual  duties  it  is  no  excuse  for  the 
one  party  to  foil  of  the  most  conscientious  and  carefol  per- 
formance of  what  belongs  to  him  because  tJie  other  doth  so. 
For  certainly  another  man's  sin  cannot  excuse  mine ;  and 
God  hath  bound  us  in  duty  not  only  one  to  another,  but 
all  of  us  to  himself  Therefore  though  others  may  break 
their  obligations  and  covenants  with  us,  yet  that  doth  not 
take  off  our  obligation  to  them.  Should  the  father  be  care- 
less of  and  cruel  to  his  child,  yet  this  doth  not  at  all  ex- 
empt the  child  from  paying  duty  and  obedience  to  his 
father.    Should  a  master  be  tyrannical  over  his  servant. 


328  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

yet  the  servant's  duty  remains  still  stated  and  unaltered, 
to  reverence,  fear  and  obey  his  master.  Should  a  minister 
be  careless  of  the  flock  committed  to  his  charge,  yet  his 
people  are  still  bound  to  give  him  respect  and  honor  in 
regard  to  his  office.  Should  a  magistrate  tyrannize  over 
his  subjects,  yet  still  they  are  to  own  him  and  obey  his 
commands  in  all  lawful  things,  li'or  mal-administration 
of  any  office  or  any  authority  by  superiors  cannot  counte- 
nance and  excuse  want  of  duty  in  inferiors.  Still  we  are 
as  carefully  to  perform  what  God  hath  required  as  if  our 
superiors  were  the  best  parents  or  magistrates  or  masters 
in  the  world ;  and  if  there  be  any  wrong  done,  or  defect 
on  their  part,  we  must  leave  it  to  Him  to  reward  our  con- 
scientious obedience,  and  to  punish  their  wilful  offences. 
And  so  likewise  it  is  incumbent  on  superiors  to  perform 
their  duties  faithfully  and  conscientiously  toward  their  in- 
feriors, be  they  never  so  perverse,  ungrateful  or  rebellious, 
for  their  faults  cannot  excuse  our  neglects.  ■ 

Having  spoken  thus  much  of  the  precept  in  this  large 
and  comprehensive  command.  Honor  thy  father  and  thy 
mother,  I  come  now  to  the  promise  added  as  a  motive 
and  encouragement  to  obedience,  that  thy  days  may  he 
long  in  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee.  This 
promise  God's  faithfulness  stands  engaged  to  fulfil  to  all 
that  are  dutiful  and  obedient. 

"'  And  here  we  may  observe,  that  whereas  the  free  and 
genuine  administration  of  the  Gospel  promises  eternal  life 
and  the  joys  and  glories  of  heaven  to  believers,  the  old 
law  runs  generally  upon  earthly  and  temporal  blessings  ; 
and  among  them  insists  frequently  upon  length  of  days 
and  a  happy  and  prosperous  life,  as  the  chiefest  blessing 


FIFTH    COMMANDMENT.  329 

and  highest  expectation  of  human  nature ;  yet  this  must 
not  be  understood  as  if  the  promises  of  the  law  were  only 
for  these  beggarly  and  earthly  concerns,  but  because  this 
procedure  was  more  suitable  to  the  whole  system  of  that 
early  instruction  wherein  God  thought  fit  to  discipline 
them  by  types,  and  to  lead  them  to  ths  sun  by  shadows. 
Therefore,  as  he  allayed  his  own  spiritual  worship  with 
the  mixture  of  very  many  external  rites  and  pompous  ob- 
servances, so  he  propounded  to  them  likewise  their  eter- 
nal rewards  by  temporal  and  earthly  promises ;  and,  by 
both,  attempered  their  religion  to  their  state  of  infancy, 
bringing  it  down,  as  much  as  possible,  to  the  verdict  of 
sense ;  reserving  the  manly  and  heroic  duties  of  believing 
his  word  without  a  pawn  to  the  more  grovsTi  ages  of  the 
church. 

But  however,  though  these  promises  made  to  the  Jews 
were  thus  typical,  yet  these  figures  were  not  altogether 
so  figurative  as  not  to  be  properly  understood  and  fulfilled. 
Though  heaven  were  typified  by  Canaan,  yet  God's  vera- 
city would  have  suffered  if  he  had  brought  them  to  hea- 
ven, the  true  land  of  promise,  and  not  given  them  their 
inheritance  in  the  earthly  Canaan.  So  likewise,  that  God 
might  be  true  to  his  promise,  it  is  not  enough  that  he  re- 
wards the  obedient  with  eternal  life ;  but  his  faithfulness 
stands  obliged  to  prolong  their  temporal  life  to  such  a  du- 
ration as  may  be  fit  at  least  to  make  a  type  of  the  ever- 
lasting rest. 

Neither  doth  the  more  spiritual  dispensation  of  the  Gos- 
pel look  upon  this  blessing-  of  long  life  as  a  thing  below 
its  cognizance,  but  propounds  it  as  a  promise  of  moment, 
though  it  be  now  divested  of  its  typical  use  and  stancb 
for  no  more  than  itself  signifies.    And  therefore  we  fina 


330  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

that  the  apostle  puts  a  value  upon  this  fifth  commandment 
on  this  very  reason,  that  it  is  "  the  first  M^ith  promise." 
Eph.  6  :  2,  3.  And  St.  Peter  at  large  transcribes  that  pas- 
sage of  Psalm  34,  "  What  man  is  he  that  desireth"  to 
live,  "  and  loveth  many  days  1  Let  him  depart  from  evil, 
and  do  good."  And  St.  Paul  tells  us  that  "  godliness  is 
profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that 
now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come."  And  what  is  there 
that  can  concern  this  life  more  than  life  itself?  God's 
faithfulness  is,  therefore,  obliged  by  promise  to  lengthen 
out  a  holy  and  obedient  life. 

Nor  will  it  be  very  hard  to  vindicate  his  faithfulness 
in  the  performance  of  this  promise.  God  does  indeed  suf- 
fer many  to  gi'ow  old  in  their  sins,  whose  youth  began 
their  course  of  wickedness  with  rebellion  against  their  pa- 
rents, and  who  continue,  to  their  decrepid  days,  their  im- 
pieties and  rebellions  against  God  ;  and  early  towardliness 
and  piety  1  know  are  often  looked  ijpon  as  mortal  symp- 
toms— God  seems  to  shorten  their  days  to  whom  he  here 
promiseth  a  long  life — but  since  this  present  life  is  no- 
thing else  but  a  tendency  and  preparative  to  eternity, 
neither  it  nor  any  thing  in  it  can  be  called  good  but  only 
as  it  relates  to  our  eternal  state.  And  therefore  all  pro- 
mises of  earthly  blessings  must  necessarily  imply  this  con- 
dition, that  they  shall  be  literally  fulfilled  to  us  if  they 
may  promote  our  eternal  happiness  :  otherwise  they  would 
not  be  promises,  but  threatenings,  and  that  which  we  ap- 
prehend to  be  a  blessing  would  indeed  prove  no  other  to 
us  than  a  snare  and  curse.  We  may  boldly  challenge  long 
life  when  all  the  circumstances  of  it  will  tend  to  our  ever- 
lasting welfare.  But  God,  who  knows  how  frail  and  yield- 
ing the  best  of  us  are,  an^d  in  the  series  of  his  divine  pro- 


FIFTU    COMMANDMENT.  331 

vidence  sees  to  what  prevailing  temptations  we  shall  be 
exposed,  oftentimes  in  mercy  abridges  this  promise,  and 
takes  us  from  the  world,  lest  the  world  should  take  us 
from  him ;  and  deals  with  us  as  princes  deal  with  duellists, 
they  make  them  prisoners  that  they  may  preserve  them  : 
so  God,  that  he  might  preserve  his  people  from  their 
great  enemy,  commits  them  to  the  safe  custody  of  the 
gi-ave.  And  if  this  be  to  be  unfaithful,  certainly  his  faith- 
fulness would  be  nothing  else  but  an  art  to  circumvent 
and  undo  us,  should  he,  only  to  keep  that  inviolate,  per- 
form those  promises  which  would  be  to  our  hurt  and  detri- 
ment. Nor,  indeed,  can  any  man,  whom  God  hath  blessed 
with  a  right  judgment  and  due  esteem  of  things,  be  will- 
ing to  compound  for  the  continuance  of  this  present  life 
at  the  hazard  or  diminution  of  his  future  happiness. 


THE  SIXTH  COMMANDMENT. 

TJiou  slialt  not  kill. 

The  Commandments  of  the  Second  Table  all  immedi- 
ately respect  our  duty  to  our  fellow-men,  whom  we  may 
consider  either  as  under  some  pecnliar  differences,  or  in 
their  common  nature. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  duties  that  belong  to 
them  under  the  first  acceptation,  as  they  are  differenced 
into  superiors  and  inferiors.  There  are  other  duties 
which  appertain  universally  to  all,  under  what  difference 
soever  they  may  be  considered,  whether  they  be  supe- 
riors or  inferiors,  or  equals  among  themselves ;  and  these 
are  contained  in  the  five  following  precepts,  all  which 
concern  our  neighbor  either  in  his  ^person  or  in  his  exte- 
rior gifts  of  wealth  or  good  name. 

His  ferson  is  to  be  considered  either  naturally  or  mys- 
tically. Naturally,  as  he  is  this  individual  man ;  and  so 
the  sixth  commandment  provides  for  his  security,  Thou 
shalt  not  'hill.  Mystically,  as  he  is  in  the  state  of  mar- 
riage, which  of  two  makes  up  one  mystical  person  ;  and 
so  care  is  taken  for  him  in  the  seventh,  Thou  shalt  not 
commit  adultery. 

If  we  consider  him  in  his  external  gifts,  his  estate  and 
substance  is  safeguarded  by  the  eighth  commandment. 
Thou  shalt  not  steal.  His  reputation  and  good  name  by 
the  ninth.  Thou  shalt  not  hear  false  witness  against  thy 
neighbor. 

And  as  a  strong  fence  set  about  him,  and  also  about  the 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT,  333 

Other  laws,  that  neither  of  them  be  violated,  God  hath  not 
only  prohibited  the  outward  acts  of  gross  and  flagitious 
crimes,  but  the  inward  lurking  motions  to  evil  in  our 
tJwughts  and  affections  ;  and  this  in  the  tenth  command- 
ment. Thou  slialt  not  covet. 

I  shall  begin  with  the  first  of  these,  which  takes  care 
for  the   security  and  indemnity   of  our  persons,  Thou 

SHALT   NOT    KILL.  , 

I.  This  command  forbids,  first,  that  barbarous  and  in- 
human sin  of  MURDER,  that  first-bom  of  the  devil,  who  was 
a  murderer  from  the  beginning ;  the  first  branded  crime 
that  we  read  of,  wherein  natural  coiTuption  contracted 
by  the  fall  vented  its  rancor  and  virulence ;  the  sin  of 
Cain,  that  great  instance  of  perdition,  "  who  slew  his 
brother  "  Abel,  "  because  his  brother^s  works  were  righ- 
teous and  his  own  evil." 

Neither  doth  this  precept  confine  itself  only  to  forbid 
the  actual  sin  of  murder,  but  all  degrees  and  all  causes 
of  it ;  as  hatred  and  rash  anger,  revenge,  and  slanders, 
and  false  accusations,  and  whatsoever  may  prejudice  the 
safety  of  our  neighbor,  or  tempt  us  to  see  him  perish 
when  it  is  in  our  power  to  rescue  and  relieve  him. 

Some  have  extended  the  sense  of  this  prohibition.  Thou 
shalt  not  kill,  even  to  brute  creatures,  holding  it  unlawful 
to  slay  any  of  them  for  the  use  and  service  of  our  life. 
Possibly  indeed  unmercifulness  even  towards  them,  and 
a  cruel  tormenting  of  them,  not  to  satisfy  our  occasions 
and  necessities,  but  our  unreasonable  passions,  may  be  re- 
ducible as  a  sin  against  this  commandment,  for  all  acts  of 
cruelty  are  so ;  but  simply  to  kill  them  for  our  necessity' 
cannot.    God,   the  universal  Lord  both  of  them  and  us, 


334  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

hath  granted  us  this  prerogative  in  our  charter,  to  have 
the  power  of  life  and  death  over  them.  "  Every  moving 
thing  that  liveth  shall  be  meat  for  you."  Gen.  9  :  3.  And 
doubtless  we  may  put  them  to  any  kind  of  death  that  the 
necessity  either  of  our  food  or  physic  will  require.  This 
killing,  therefore,  forbidden  in  the  text,  refers  only  to  men 
like  ourselves  ;  and  therefore  it  is  very  properly  rendered 
by  others,    Thou  shalt  do  no  murder. 

-  2.  Yet,  neither  is  every  killing  of  a  man  murder  ^  for 
there  are  several  cases  wherein  although  one  kill  another 
yet  he  is  no  murderer ;  as, 

(1.)  \Ti  the  execution  of  justice. 

Magistrates  and  such  as  have  lawful  power  and  autho 
rity  may  and  ought  to  put  capital  offenders  to  death ;  and 
if  they  do  not,  God  will  charge  it  on  them  as  their  sin.  It 
is  an  ancient  law  upon  record;  Gen.  9:6,  "  Whoso 
sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed  ;" 
as  if  there  were  no  other  way  for  expiation,  no  other  me- 
thod to  wash  away  the  stain  and  guilt  of  blood,  but  only 
by  his  who  unjustly  spilt  it.  And  again,  Deut.  19  :  21, 
"  Thine  eye  shall  not  pity,  but  life  shall  go  for  life."  And 
indeed  if  we  rightly  consider  it,  this  is  not  to  butcher  up 
mankind,  but  to  preserve  them.  God  hath  commanded 
magistrates  to  kill,  that  he  might  prevent  murder ;  for  our 
nature  is  so  extremely  corrupt  that  there  is  no  other  ef- 
fectual way  to  hinder  us  from  killing  but  by  enjoining  the 
magistrates  to  do  it.  And  therefore  as  physicians,  in  cases 
of  violent  and  immoderate  bleeding,  do  often  open  a  vein 
in  another  part  of  the  body  as  the  best  method  to  stop  it 
oy  revulsion  ;  so,  when  the  body  politic  bleeds  by  private 
rage  and  revenge  gushing  out  into  murders,  the  way  to 
stop  this  blood  is  to  shed  blood. 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT.  335 

Neither  doth  our  Savior's  command  not  to  resist  evil. 
Mat.  5  :  39,  gainsay  this  legal  and  punitive  v^ay  of  blood- 
shedding.  For  those  words  do  only  forbid  private  re* 
venge,  not  public.  We  must  not  be  judges  in  our  own 
causes,  nor,  when  we  apprehend  ourselves  wronged,  carve 
out  to  ourselves  what  measures  of  revenge  our  wrath  and 
fury  shall  dictate.  We,  who  have  no  authority  nor  com- 
mission, ought  not  to  take  life  for  life,  nor  eye  for  eye, 
nor  tooth  for  tooth,  much  less  life  for  an  injurious  word 
or  an  idle  quarrel.  We  must  not  repay  with  the  least 
revenge  those  who  have  done  us  the  greatest  wrongs, 
in  which  sense  we  must  not  resist  evil ;  but,  if  we  have 
in  any  thing  suffered  wrong,  we  ouglit  to  bring  all  our 
causes  and  complaints  to  the  magistrate;  for  into  his 
hands  hath  Gk)d  put  the  sword  of  justice.  Rom.  13  :  4. 

Revenge  is  so  sacred  a  thing  that  none  ought  to  inter- 
'  meddle  with  it  but  those  whom  God  hath  appointed ;  for 
he  hath  solemnly  ascribed  it  to  himself,  Heb.  10  :  30, 
"  Vengeance  belongeth  unto  me  :  I  will  recompense,  saith 
the  Lord."  And  he  hath  constituted  the  magistrate  as  his 
deputy  in  this  work  and  office,  and  therefore  he  only 
ought  to  revenge  by  punishment  proportionable  to  the 
nature  of  the  crimes  committed. 

So  that,  to  speak  properly,  it  is  only  God,  and  not  man, 
that  sheds  the  blood  of  wicked  persons.  The  magistrate 
receives  his  commission  from  God,  and  doth  it  as  his  mi- 
nister and  servant ;  yea,  and  in  doing  it,  is  so  far  from  do- 
ing a  cruel  and  unjust  act,  an  act  that  will  either  pollute 
his  hands  or  stain  his  conscience,  that  it  makes  him  the 
more  holy  and  pure.  And  therefore  when  Moses  called 
the  Levites  to  slay  those  idolaters  tha<t  had  worshipped 
the  golden  calf,  he  speaks  of  it  as  a  holy  function :  "  Con 


336  THE    TEJV    COIVIMANDMENTS. 

secrate  yourselves  to-day  to  the  Lord;  even  every  man 
upon  his  son,  and  upon  his  brother ;  that  he  may  bestovi^ 
upon  you  a  blessing  this  day."  Exod.  32  :  29. 

(2.)  There  may  be  bloodshed  in  a  just  and  lawful  war, 
without  the  charge  or  crime  of  murder. 

Indeed  we  are  commanded  to  follow  peace  with  all 
men  ;  and  as  much  as  lies  in  us,  and  if  possible,  to  have 
peace  with  all  men.  Rom.  12  :  18.  But  sometimes,  through 
the  ambition  and  turbulent  spirits  of  others,  through  their 
politic  designs  pf  picking  unjust  quarrels,  it  may  be  no 
longer  possible  to  maintain  peace ;  and  in  this  case,  where 
we  have  right  and  equity  on  our  side,  it  is  lawful  to  wage 
war.  I  speak  not  now  of  private  differences  between  per- 
son and  person ;  but  of  public,  between  nation  and  na- 
tion :  in  which  case  the  supreme  magistrate  hath  the  power 
of  making  war  and  proclaiming  peace. 

There  are  some  who  decry  this  assertion,  and  think  it 
contrary  to  the  temper  of  a  christian,  who  is  a  son  of 
peace,  to  be  a  man  of  war.  I  confess  there  is  nothing  that 
caii  justify  war  against  another  nation,  but  either 

Necessary  defence  against  an  unjust  invasion.  Or, 

Recovery  of  what  is  unjustly  taken  away  i  ■q.?,  David  pur- 
sued the  Amalekites,  who  had  carried  his  wives  away 
captives.  Or, 

The  punishing  of  some  great  injury  and  tvrong;  as 
David  likewise  warred  against  the  Ammonites  for  the 
contumelious  usage  of  his  ambassadors. 

But,  where  the  cause  is  just,  the  manner  in  which  we 
prosecute  it  warrantable,  the  authority  which  engageth  us 
in  it  being  rightly  constituted  over  us,  I  see  nothing  but 
that  it  is  very  fit  when  it  is  very  necessary  to  take  up 
arms,  and  in  a  public  war  to  right  ourselves  upon  inju- 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT.      '  337 

rious  enemies.  For  as  there  may  be  many  wrongs  done 
by  one  party  against  another,  who  must  be  judged  by  the 
law  common  to  them  both ;  so  there  niay  be  many  wroiigs 
done  by  one  nation  against  another,  which  if  they  v/ill 
not  consent  to  redress,  there  being  no  common  ma/,ns- 
trate  nor  common  law  over  them  both,  (except  the  law 
and  right  of  nations,  of  which  the  more  powerful  usually 
make  little  account,)  in  this  case,  certainly,  the  injured 
may  very  justly  have  recourse  to  war;  for,  what  law  is  to 
persons  of  the  same  nation,  that  war  is  to  persons  of  a 
different  nation. 

We  read  that  among  those  many  penitents  that  came 
to  John  the  Baptist  for  instruction,  when  soldiers  also 
came  he  did  not  bid  them  lay  down  their  arms  or  their 
commission.  He  preached  not  to  them,  fight  no  more, 
kill  no  man ;  but  gave  them  directions  how  they  should 
demean  themselves  in  their  calling :  which  he  would  not 
have  done  if  he  had  thought  their  calling  itself  unlawful. 
He  bids  them  "  Do  no  violence,  accuse  no  man  falsely, 
but  be  content  with  your  wages."  Luke,  3  :  14. 

Neither  did  our  Savior  when  he  so  highly  commended 
the  centurion  for  his  faith,  rebuke  him  for  his  profession, 
but  extolled  him  for  taking  the  ground  and  argument  of 
his  faith  from  his  military  calling,  Luke,  7:8,  **  I  am  a 
man  under  authority,  having  under  me  soldiers  ;  and  I 
say  unto  one,  go,  and  he  goeth ;  and  to  another,  come, 
and  he  cometh  ;  and  to  my  servant,  do  this,  and  he  doeth 
it."  This  very  calling  of  his  he  urgeth  Christ  with,  and 
makes  it  an  argument  to  strengthen  his  faith,  that  cer- 
tainly Christ  was  able  to  cure  his  sick  servant,  because 
if  he  who  was  but  a  captain  had  such  authority  over  his 
soldiers  as  to  command  them  to  come   and  to  go  at  his 

Ten  Com.  i  ^  ' 


338  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

word,  how  much  more  absolute  power  had  Jesus,  as  Lord 
both  of  life  and  death,  over  all  bodily  diseases,  to  com- 
mand them  to  come  and  go  at  his  pleasure !  This 
I  take  to  be  the  force  and  reason  of  his  words,  upon 
which  Christ  gives  him  this  large  testimonial  and  enco- 
mium, verse  9,  "  When  Jesus  heard  these  things,  he  mar- 
velled at  him,  a,nd  turned  him  about  and  said  unto  the 
people,  I  have  not  found  so  great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel" 
But  enough  of  this. 

(3.)  A  man  may  shed  blood  in,  the  necessary  defence  oj 
his  person  without  being  guilty  of  murder,  when  he  is 
suddenly  assaulted  by  those  who  attempt  to  take  away  his 
life  and  he  hath  no  other  means  left  him  to  secure  it.  In 
this  case,  there  being  no  possibility  of  having  recourse  to 
a  magistrate  for  protection,  every  man  is  a  magistrate  to 
himself 

But  here,  because  all  cases  of  blood  are  tender,  let  me 
caution  you  that  it  is  not  enough  that  the  danger  be  im- 
pending, but  it  must  be  instant  and  present ;  such  wherein 
a  man's  life  is  in  all  probability  lost  if  he  doth  not  stand 
upon  his  defence.  For  in  dangers  that  are  only  threat- 
ened and  approaching,  we  ought  to  trust  Providence, 
and  to  use  our  best  diligence  to  work  our  escape  from 
them.  But  if  the  assault  be  sudden  and  no  way  of  es- 
cape visible,  we  may  lawfully  take  away  the  life  of  him 
who  unjustly  seeks  to  take  ours ;  for  this  is  not  a  design 
to  hill  him^  but  to  preserve  ourselves. 

Yea,  we  find,  Exod.  22  :  2,  that  God  allows  the  kilHng 
of  a  thief,  if  he  break  into  a  man's  house  by  night,  but  not 
so  if  he  attempt  it  by  day.  And  possibly  the  reason  of 
this  law  might  be  because,  when  any  cometh  upon  another 
ip.  the  night,  it  might  be  presurned,  ihoX  he  takes  the  ad- 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT.  339 

vantage  of  the  darkness  not  only  to  steal  his  goods  but  to 
harm  his  person ;  and  therefore  God  allows  it  as  lawful 
to  kill  such  a  one  as  a  part  of  necessary  defence :  from 
which  I  think  we  may  safely  conclude  that  it  is  lawful 
also  to  kill  those  who  attempt  upon  our  goods,  when  we 
have  reason  to  fear  they  may  likewise  design  upon  our 
persons. 

(4.)  There  is  yet  one  case  more,  and  that  is  accident 
tal  hloodsJiedding,  which  is  not  chargeable  with  murder 
when  blood  is  shed  without  any  intention  or  purpose  of 
doing  it. 

Such  a  case  we  find  mentioned  in  Scripture,  as  when 
in  hewing  of  wood  from  a  tree  the  axe  should  slip  and 
kill  a  man's  neighbor.  Deut.  19  :  5.  And  therefore  for 
such  innocent  manslayers  God  himself  appointed  cities 
of  refuge,  that  they  might  fly  to  them  and  be  safe  from  the 
avenger  of  blood. 

But  here  we  must  look  to  it  that  we  be  employed 
about  lawful  things;  otherwise,  if  we  be  doing  that  which 
is  unjustifiable,  which  accidentally  proves  to  be  the  death 
of  another,  this  cannot  be  excused  from  murder :  and  I 
am  sure  God  exacts  the  same  punishment  for  it.  There- 
fore it  is  said,  Exod.  21  :  22,  that  if  men  strive  among 
themselves  and  hurt  a  woman  that  she  die,  though  it  was 
not  intended  by  them,  yet  life  shall  go  for  life  :  because 
their  strife  and  contention  between  themselves  is  an  un- 
lawful action. 

There  ought  also  to  be  a  due  care  taken  to  avoid  any 
mischief  that  may  happen  upon  doing  a  lawful  action,  by 
giving  notice  to  those  who  come  in  the  way  of  danger, 
and  forbearing  to  do  it  whilst  they  are  there. 

But  in  all  cases  where  the  death  of  another  is  intended 


340  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

let  it  be  upon  never  so  violent  and  sudden  a  passion, 
although  there  were  no  prepensed  and  rancoring  malice 
borne  towards  him  before,  and  howsoever  ow  laws  may  be 
too  favorable  to  it  and  call  it  manslaughter,  yet  doubtless 
it  is  in  conscience  and  in  the  sight  of  God  wilful  murder. 
For  the  manslayer,  whom  the  Scripture  mentions  distinct 
from  the  murderer,  is  only  he  who  slays  his  neighbor  ac- 
cidentally; not  designing  nor  intending  him  any  harm. 
This  is  the  only  manslaughter  which  our  law  is  pleased 
to  call  chance-medley ;  and  whatsoever  is  not  this  is  mur- 
der, and  ought  as  such  to  be  punished. 

2:  Murder  may  be  either  of  a  marCs  self  or  of  another. 
Both  of  them  are  most  black  and  heinous  crimes. 

(1.)  As  for  self-murder ^  many  of  the  ancient  heathens 
thought  this  the  most  heroic  and  gallant  way  of  dying,  and 
would  have  recourse  to  it  on  very  slight  occasions,  ac- 
counting it  a  universal  remedy  that  nature  had  put  into 
their  hands  to  rid^  themselves  of  any  trouble  which  they 
were  loth  to  bear. 

Yet  some  even  among  the  heathen  have  very  sharply 
as  well  as  justly  taxed  this  wicked  custom,  among  whom 
that  saying  of  Aristotle  in  his  Ethics  is  very  considerable: 
*'  For  a  man  to  die  only  that  he  may  avoid  poverty  or 
crosses,  is  not  gallantry,  but  mere  cowardice,  and  declares 
that  he  wants  courage  to  encounter  them."  In  this  par- 
ticular this  heathen  had  a  better  illumination  than  the 
author  of  the  book  of  Maccabees,  who  very  unworthily 
commends  one  Razis,  a  Jew,  for  choosing  rather  to  dest!roy 
himself  than  yield  to  his  enemy — a  passage  in  this  bookj 
besides  divers  others,  which  evidently  proves  those  books 
not  to  belong  to  the  canon  of  Scripture,  but  to  deserve  to 
be  called  as  they  are.  Apocryphal. 


I 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT.  341 

And  truly  self-murder,  next  to  the  unpardonable  sin 
against  the  Holy  Ghost,  is,  I  think,  the  most  dangerous 
and  most  desperate  that  can  be  committed;  and  as  it 
leaves  so  little  room  for  repentance,  it  leaves  but  very 
little  for  hope  and  charity.  Those  wretched  creatures 
whom  God  hath-  so  far  abandoned  as  to  permit  them  to 
fall  into  this  horrid  crime,  had  they  but  the  least  care  of 
their  eternal  salvation,  would  certainly  tremble  when  they 
are  offering  violence  to  themselves,  considering  that  they 
must  instantly  appear  before  God,  and  lift  up  those  hands 
at  his  great  tribunal  which  they  but  a  minute  before  im- 
brued in  their  own  blood.  It  is  a  sin  which,  when  the 
devil  tempts  men  to,  he  cannot  make  use  of  his  most  pre- 
vailing wile  and  stratagem,  for  when  he  tempts  to  other 
sins  he  still  drills  on  the  sinner  with  hopes  of  living  to  re- 
pent and  reform,  and  promises  him  mercy  and  forgive- 
ness ;  but  this  of  self-murder  precludes  all  such  hopes 
and  expectations,  for  they  die  in  their  sins,  yea,  their 
death  is  their  sin  :  and  what  a  forlorn  estate  are  they  in 
who  resolve  that  their  last  act  shall  be  a  damnable  sin ! 
These  are  self-murderers  to  purpose,  and  destroy  not 
only  their  bodies  but  their  souls  too. 

Consider  again  that  it  is  a  sin  committed  against  the 
very  standard  and  rule  of  our  love  to  others ;  for  God 
hath  commanded  us  to  love  others  as  ourselves,  and  there- 
fore as  we  may  not  murder  another,  so  much  less  may  we 
murder  ourselves.  And  those  who  are  hurried  to  this  im- 
pious act,  as  they  do  actually  destroy  themselves,  so  they 
do  virtually  and  interpretatively  murder  and  destroy  the 
whole  world ;  and  are  as  guilty  before  God  as  if,  toge 
ther  with  themselves,  they  had  murdered  their  parents, 
their  children,  their  nearest  relations,  and  all  mankind  be- 


34!^  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

Bides  J"  and  that,  because  they  destroy  that  fundamental 
law  which  should  regulate  their  love  to  their  neighbors, 
and  which  is  the  stated  rule  according  to  which  they 
should  endeavor  after  their  welfare  and  preservation. 

Therefore  if  ever  the  devil  work  upon  thy  melancholy 
and  discontented  pride  to  tempt  thee  to  this  damnable  and 
almost  unpardonable  sin,  be  sure  to  collect  all  thy  strength 
xmto  thee,  and  with  infinite  abhorrence  of  it  command 
him  to  depart.  Let  not  any  shame,  or  poverty,  or  hor- 
rors of  conscience  fasten  this  hellish  temptation  upon 
thee,  for  know  assuredly  that  if  thou  hearkenest  unto 
them  and  puttest  them  in  execution,  there  is  no  probabi- 
lity but  that  thou  must  pass  from  temporal  sufferings  to 
eternal  torments  ;  which,  be  thy  condition  in  this  life 
never  so  deplorable  and  wretched,  thou  hast  no  reason 
to  hasten,  but  wilt  in  hell  think  that  they  came  too  soon 
upon  thee. 

2.  The  murdering  of  another  is  a  most  heinous  and 
black  sin,  a  sin  that  God  doth  usually  by  some  wonderful 
method  of  his  providence  detect  and  bring  to  punishment ; 
and  which  dogs  the  consciences  of  those  who  are  guilty 
of  it  with  homd  affrights  and  terrors,  and  hath  some- 
times extorted  from  them  a  confession  of  it  when  there 
hath  been  no  other  proof  nor  evidence. 

The  two  greatest  sinners  that  the  Scripture  hath  set 
the  blackest  brand  upon  were  both  murderers,  Cain  and 
Judas :  the  one  the  murderer  of  his  brother,  the  other 
first  of  his  Lord  and  Master,  and  then  of  himself. 

And  God  so  infinitely  hates  and  detests  murder,  that 
although  the  altar  were  a  refuge  for  other  offenders,  yet 
he  would  not  have  a  murderer  sheltered  there,  but  ho 
was  to  be  dragged  from  that  inviolable  sanctuary  to  ex 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT.  343 

ecution,  according  to  that  law,  Exod.  21  :  14,  "  If  a  man 
come  presumptuously  upon  his  neighbor  and  slay  him 
with  guile,  thou  shalt  take  him  from  mine  altar,  that  he 
may  die."  And  accordingly  we  read,  1  Kings,  2  :  30,  31, 
that  when  Joab  had  fled  and  taken  hold  on  the  horns  of 
the  altar,  so  that  the  messengers  who  were  sent  to  put 
him  to  death  durst  not  violate  that  holy  place  by  shed- 
ding his  blood,  Solomon  gives  command  to  have  him  slain 
even  there,  as  if  the  blood  of  a  wilfiil  murderer  were  a 
very  acceptable  sacrifice  offered  up  unto  God. 

And  indeed,  in  the  first  prohibition  of  murder  that  we 
have,  God  subjoins  a  very  weighty  reason  why  it  should 
be  so  odious  to  him.  Gen.  9:6,  **  Whoso  sheddeth  man's 
blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed ;  for  in  the  image 
of  God  made  he  man."  So  that  homicidvum  est  Deicidium, 
"  to  slaughter  a  man,  it  is  to  stab  God  in  effigy ;"  for 
though  the  image  of  God's  holiness  and  purity  be  totally 
defaced  in  us  since  the  fall,  yet  still  every  man,  even  the 
most  vdcked  «iid  impious  that  lives,  bears  some  marks  of 
the  image  of  God  in  his  intellect,  the  freedom  of  his  will, 
and  his  dominion  over  the  creatures ;  and  God  will  have 
every  part  of  his  image  so  revered  by  us,  that  he  who  as- 
saults man  is  esteemed  by  him  as  one  who  attempts  to 
assassinate  God  himself 

Murder  is  a  crying  sin.  Blood  is  loud  and  clamorous. 
The  first  that  ever  was  shed  was '  heard  as  far  as  fi'om 
earth  to  heaven  :  "  Tlie  voice  of  thy  brother's  blood  crieth 
unto  me  from  the  ground."  Gen.  4  :  10.  And  God  will 
certainly  hear  its  cry  and  avenge  it. 

(3.)  But  not  only  he  whose  hands  are  imbrued  in  the 
blood  of  others,  but  those  also  who  are  aecessory  are  guil- 
ty qfmw^der.    As, 


344  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

Those  who  command  or  counsel  it  to  he  done.  Thus  David 
became  guilty  of  the  murder  of  innocent  Uriah ;  and  God, 
in  drawing  up  his  charge,  accuseth  him  with  it,  2  Sam. 
12  :  9,  **  Thou  hast  slain  him  with  the  sword  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Ammon." 

.  Again,  tJiose  who  consent  to  murder  are  guilty  of  it. 
Thus  Pilate,  for  yielding  to  the  clamorous  outcries  of  the 
Jews,  "  Crucify  him,  crucify  him,"  though  he  washed  his 
hands  and  disavowed  the  fact,  yet  was  as  much  guilty  as 
those  who  nailed  him  to  the  cross. 

He  also  who  concealeth  a  murder  is  guilty  of  it.  And 
therefore  we  read,  Deut.  21  :  6,  7,  that  in  case  a  man 
were  found  slain  and  the  murderer  unknown,  the  elders 
of  that  city  were  to  assemble  and  wash  their  hands  and 
protest  that  they  had  not  shed  this  blood,  neither  had  their 
eyes  seen  it ;  intimating  that  if  they  had  seen  and  con- 
cealed it,  they  had  thereby  become  guilty  of  the  murder. 

Those  also  who  are  in  authority  and  do  not  punish  a 
murder  when  committed  and  known,  are  themselves  guilty 
of  it.  Thus  when,  by  the  wicked  artifice  of  Jezebel,  Na- 
both  was  condemned  to  die,  although  Ahab  knew  nothing 
of  the  contrivance  till  after  the  execution ;  yet,  because  he 
did  not  vindicate  that  innocent  blood  when  he  came  to  the 
knowledge  of  it,  the  prophet  chargeth  it  upon  him,  1  Kings, 
21  :  19,  "  Hast  thou  killed,  and  also  taken  possession'?" 
The  guilt  lay  upon  him,  and  the  punishment  due  to  it 
overtook  him,  although  we  do  not  read  that  he  was  any 
otherwise  guilty  of  it  than  in  not  punishing  those  who  had 
committed  it. 

And  those,  magistrates  who,  upon  any  pretext  whatever, 
suffer  a  murderer  to  escape  unpunished,  are  said  to  pol- 
lute the  land  with  blood.  Num.  35  :  31-33,   "  Ye  shall 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT.  345 

take  no  satisfaction  for  the  life  of  a  murderer ;  but  he 
shall  be  surely  put  to  death.  So  shall  ye  not  pollute  the 
land  wherein  ye  are ;  for  blood  it  defileth  the  land :  and 
the  land  cannot  be  cleansed  of  the  blood  that  is  shed 
therein,  but  by  the  blood  of  him  that  shed  it." 

II.  But  in  this  commandment  not  only  the  perpetration 
of  murder,  and  the  actual  embruing  our  hands  in  the 
blood  of  our  brother  is  prohibited ;  but  likewise  all  causes 
and  OCCASIONS  leading  to  it.  As, 

First,  Envy,  which  is  the  rust  of  a  cankered  soul,  a 
foul,  meagre  vice,  that  turns  the  happiness  and  welfare 
of  others  into  our  misery  and  torment.  Thus  Cain  first 
enviously  repined  at  the  success  and  acceptance  of  his 
brother's  sacrifice,  and  this  quickly  prompted  him  to 
murder. 

Secondly.  Unjust  and  immoderate  anger,  which,  if  it  be 
suffered  to  lie  festering  in  the  heart,  will  turn  into  the 
venom  of  a  perfect  hatred.  This  is  not  only  a  cause  but 
a  degree  of  murder,  and  as  such  it  is  accounted  by  our 
Savior,  who  is  the  best  expositor  of  the  law,  Mat.  5  :  21, 
22,  "  Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said  by  them  of  old  time. 
Thou  shalt  not  kill — But  I  say  unto  you.  That  whosoever 
is  angry  with  his  brother  without  a  cause,  is  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  u\  danger  of  hell-fire." 
Which  passage  I  have  already  explained.  But, 

1.  Anger  is  not,  as  envy,  simply  and  in  itself  unlaw- 
ful;  for, 

(1.)  There  may  be  a  virtuous  anger  as  well  as  vicious: 
an  anger  that  merits  praise  and  commendation ;  and  is  so 

15* 


346  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

far  from  being  a  sin,  that  it  is  a  noble  and  generous  grace. 
To  be  moved  with  indignation  for  the  cause  of  God  when 
his  glory  is  eclij)sed,  his  name  dishonored,  his  ordinances 
profaned,  his  sanctuary  polluted,  his  people  vilified,  this 
is  a  holy  anger,  and  may  well  lose  the  common  and  vulgar 
appellation  of  anger,  and  pass  under  the  name  of  zeal. 
Such  was  our  Savior's  against  those  that  defiled  the  temple, 
when  with  a  miraculous  authority  he  whipped  them  out 
and  vindicated  the  house  of  God  unto  the  worship  of  God, 
from  the  usurpation  of  the  god  of  this  world,  mammon. 
And  therefore  we  find  that  passage.  Psalm  69  :  9,  applied 
to  this  action  of  Christ :  "  The  zeal  of  thine  house  hath 
eaten  me  up."  So  likewise  when,  by  their  hypocritical  si- 
lence, they  seemed  to  discountenance  and  disallow  the 
curing  of  a  man  on  the  Sabbath  day,  it  is  said  "  He  look- 
ed round  about  upon  them  with  anger,  being  gi'ieved  for 
the  hardness  of  their  hearts."  Mark,  3  :  5. 

(2.)  There  is  also  an  innocent  and  allowahle  anger, 
when  we  have  just  provocation  to  it ;  for  religion  doth  not 
utterly  root  out  and  destroy  the  natural  passions,  but  only 
moderate  and  regulate  them.  We  may  be  angiy,  but 
we  must  not  sin  in  bur  anger,  Eph.  4  :  2Q,  **  Be  angjy," 
but  "  sin  not."   And, 

(3.)  There  is  a  vicious  and  sinful  anger,  which  is  a  rash 
and  foolish  passion,  a  short  phrenzy,  that  puts  a  man  for 
the  present  quite  beside  himself,  and  so  agitates  the  spi- 
rits that  the  blood  boils  about  the  heart  and  sends  up 
such  sooty  fumes  as  darken  the  understanding  and  de- 
prive him  of  the  use  and  benefit  of  his  reason. 

The  two  ingi'edients  that  make  up  anger  are  grief  for 
some  injury  conceived  to  be  done  unto  us,  and  desire  of 
revenge,  to  discharge  our  gall  and  choler  upon  those  that 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT.  347 

have  wronged  us,  as  if  we  gave  ourselves  eaise  hy  laying 
a  load  upon  others. 

2.  Two  things  especially  make  anger  to  he  evil  and  sin- 
ful. When  it  is  without  cause,  and  when  it  is  without 
hounds. 

(1.)  Causeless  anger  is  a  kind  of  murder,  when  men 
will  fret  and  rage,  although  there  be  no  provocation  at  all 
given  them.  Some  men's  gall  overflows  so  much  that 
upon  every  trivial  occasion,  or  perhaps  when  there  is 
none  but  only  their  own  umbrage  and  suspicion,  they  fly 
out  into  intemperate  speeches  and  revengeful  acts,  and 
are  presently  all  in  a  flame  and  combustion  when  there  is 
nothing  to  irritate  them  but  their  ovTn  choleric  fancies : 
like  clouds  that  break  out  in  thunder  and  lightning  when 
all  the  fire  and  sulphur  is  bred  only  in  their  own  bowels. 

See  this  testy  spirit  in  Jonah,  who,  though  he  were  a 
holy,  yet  it  seems  by  his  history  he  was  a  very  passionate 
man.  First  he  is  angry  that  God  would  spare  Nineveh 
after  he  had  prophesied  ruin  and  destruction  to  it:  he 
grows  into  a  pet  even  with  the  mercy  of  God,  as  if  he 
circumvented  him  and  designed  to  make  him  accounted 
a  false  prophet :  "  It  displeased  Jonah  exceedingly,  and 
he  was  very  angry."  chap.  4:1.  Jonah  is  angry  because 
God  is  appeased :  he  thinks  the  Almighty  too  easy,  and 
can  hardly  forgive  that  mercy  which  so  readily  forgave 
the  Ninevites.  And  again,  when  God  had  caused  a  worm 
to  destroy  the  gourd  which  he  had  prepared  to  shade 
this  hot  and  angry  head,  Jonah  falls  into  another  fit  of 
bitter  passion  for  the  loss  of  so  poor  a  thing  as  his  gourd  ; 
and  when  God  meekly  expostulates  the  cause  with  him, 
"  Doest  thou  well  to  be  angry  for  the  gourd  ?"  his  pas- 
sion so  far  transports  him  that  he  dares  to  return  this  mal- 


348  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

apert  answer  even  to  the  great  God,  Yea,  "  I  do  well  to 
be  angry,"  to  the  very  death.  See  here  how  his  gall  over- 
flows and  taints  both  his  reason  and  his  religion  :  he 
hurls  his  fury  about  against  God  and  men.  And  as  he  sits 
in  his  booth,  looking  and  praying  daily  that  fire  and  brim- 
stone might  come  down  from  heaven  to  consume  that 
great  city,  when  he  saw  his  expectation  frustrated  and 
the  date  of  his  prophecy  expired  without  the  accomplish- 
ment of  it,  he  quarrels  with  God,  storms  against  every 
thing,  is  weary  of  his  life,  and  it  would  seem  could 
almost  have  fired  the  city  himself  rather  than  it  should 
have  escaped. 

.  (2.)  As  causeless  anger,  so  immoderate  anger  is  a  great 
sin  and  a  committing  of  murder  in  our  hearts. 

Anger  may  be  immoderate  either  in  degree  or  in  con- 
tinuance. 

It  is  immoderate  in  degree,  when  it  is  vehement  and 
excessive,  transporting  us  beyond  our  due  bounds  and 
temper. 

I  know  no  law  that  forbids  a  christian  to  resent  an  in- 
jury. Our  Savior  Christ  himself,  when  he  was  buffeted 
was  sensible  of  and  reproves  that  insolence,  John,  18  : 
23,  "  If  I  have  spoken  evil,  bear  witness  of  the  evil ;  but, 
if  well,  why  smitest  thou  me  V^  Christianity  doth  not 
make  men  stocks,  but  keeps  them  from  being  furies  ;  it 
doth  not  root  up,  but  only  prune  our  anger  and  cut  off  all 
superfluities  of  naughtiness  from  it.  It  may,  when  just 
cause  is  given,  warm  but  not  fire  our  spirits ;  but  when  it 
breaks  forth  into  reviling  speeches,  or  into  revengeful 
actions,  be  sure  it  hath  catched  fire  then,  and  is  enkindled 
of  hell. 

And  yet  the  just  anger  of  superiors  as  magistrates,  or 


I 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT.       -  349 

masters,  or  parents,  may  lawfully  break  forth  upon  infe- 
riors in  inflicting  due  punishments.  Nor  will  this  fall 
under  the  guilt  of  a  sinful  revenge,  but  a  just  reward, 
whilst  they  are  careful  that  the  punishment  exceed  not  the 
fault  and  crime  committed. 

But  for  those  who  ^lave  no  authority  over  others  to 
seek  revenge  upon  them,  either  by  railing  or  defaming 
speeches,  or  by  the  paying  injury  for  injury,  is  a  trans- 
gression of  this  commandment,  the  effect  of  immoderate 
anger  and  a  kind  of  murder  in  them. 

Anger  may  also  be  immoderate  in  continuance.  For 
age  will  sour  it  into  hatred,  and  turn  what  was  wine  into 
vinegar.  Therefore  the  apostle  counsels  us,  "  Be  angry, 
and  sin  not."  But  how  may  that  be  done  1  "Let  not  the 
sun,"  saith  he,  "  go  down  upon  your  wrath."  Eph.  4  :  2Q. 
And  indeed  he  that  goes  to  bed  and  sleeps  v<rith  anger 
boiling  in  his  breast,  will  find  the  scum  of  malice  upon  it 
the  next  morning. 

This  is  a  passion  which,  if  it  be  long  cherished,  will  drive 
away  the  Spirit.  For  how  canst  thou  think  that  the  dove- 
like Spirit  of  God  will  reside  where  the  heart  remains  full 
of  gall ;  or  that  the  celestial  flame  of  divine  love  should 
bum  bright  and  clear  where  there  are  so  many  thick 
fames  and  vapors  continually  rising  up  to  damp  and  choke 
it  1  How  darest  thou  betake  thyself  to  rest  without  first 
invoking  the  great  God  and  locking  up  thyself  by  prayer 
into  his  custody  and  safe  tuition  I  And  how  darest  thou 
pray  whilst  wrath  bums  and  rankles  in  thy  breast  ]  Canst 
thou  in  faith  pray  for  forgiveness,  who  dost  not  thyself 
forgive  1  Our  Savior  hath  expressly  told  us,  that  if  we 
'*  forgive  not  men  their  trespasses,  neither  will  our  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  forgive  us  our  trespasses  ;"  and  there- 


350  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

fore  as  long  as  anger  and  desire  of  wreaking  our  revenge 
upon  those  that  have  w^ronged  us  are  entertained  by  us, 
so  long  we  invalidate  our  own  prayers  by  not  performing 
that  condition,  without  which  God  will  never  hear  nor 
accept  them.  And  therefore  be  sure  you  be  no  longer 
angry  than  you  may  lawfully  abstain  from  prayer.  For 
we  are  commanded  to  "  lift  up  holy- hands  without  vnrath." 
1  Tim.  2  :  8.  Certainly  dissension  and  animosity  with 
men  is.no  fit  temper  to  prepare  us  to  hold  commu- 
nion with  God.  And  therefore  though  thy  gift  be  ready 
to  be  laid  upon  the  altar,  remember  thyself,  look  inward 
and  see  whether  all  be  quiet  and  calm  there,  if  there  be 
no  grudge,  no  anger  against  thy  brother.  If  thou  findest 
any,  either  go  first  and  actually  reconcile  thyself  unto  him, 
or  if  opportunity  will  not  sufiice  for  that,  purge  out  the 
leaven  of  wrath  and  malice,  and  reconcile  thyself  unto  him 
in  thine  own  heart ;  for  under  the  law  no  offering  of  the 
Lord  was  to  be  mingled  with  leaven,  and  now  under  the 
Gospel  God  will  accept  of  no  oblations  that  are  offered  up 
unto  him  with  the  ferment  of  wrath  arid  passion.  Although 
it  may  surprise  us,  yet  let  it  not  possess  us.  See  what 
the  wise  man  counsels  us,  Eccles.  7  :  9,  "Be  not  hasty  in 
thy  spirit  to  be  angry :"  or  if  through  haste  and  thought- 
lessness it  may  seize  upon  you,  yet  let  it  not  dwell  there ; 
for  he  adds,  *'  anger  dwelleth  in  the  bosom  of  fools."  And 
certainly  the  calm  and  peaceable  Spirit  of  God  will  not 
dwell  in  that  house  where  there  are  perpetual  tumults 
and  discords,  and  where  our  unruly  passions  make  such 
a  noise  and  uproar  that  his  secret  whispers  and  sugges- 
tions cannot  be  heard. 

Thus  you  see  what  kind  of  anger  is  sinful— that  which 
is  causeless,  and  that  which  is  immoderate,  either  in  de 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT.  351 

gree  or  in  duration.  And  likewise  what  anger  is  lawful— 
that  which  is  zealous  for  God's  glory,  and  that  which  is 
rightly  tempered  for  our  own  and  our  neighbor's  good. 

3.  Let  us  consider  whence  sinful  arid,  univarrantable 
anger  usually  ^proceeds.  You  shall  find  this  bitter  fruit  to 
have  likewise  its  root  of  bitterness.  The  causes  of  it  are 
Commonly  these  : 

(1.)  Pride,  and  an  overweening  conceit  of  ourselves. 

Pride  is  the  fruitful  mother  of  many  vices ;  but  it  nurs- 
eth  none  with  more  care  and  tenderness  than  this  of  an- 
ger; and  therefore  the  wise  man  tells  us,  Prov.  13  :  10, 
that  only  from  "pride  cometh  contention;"  and  indeed, 
as  the  philosopher  observes,  anger  usually  ariseth  from  an 
opinion  that  we  are  despised  and  contemned.  Now  the 
proud  man  thinks  every  one  contemns  him  that  doth  not 
value  him  as  highly  as  he  values  himself — that  is,  beyond 
all  reason ;  and  if  he  cannot  meet  with  such  fools,  he 
grows  angry  and  discontented  with  all  the  world.  Arist. 
Rhet.  50,  2,  c.  2.  Plut.  de  Ira  Gohib.  cap.  12.     „-,   *-^r.  ^^ 

Proud  flesh  about  a  sore  is  always  tender  and  cannot 
bear  the  least  touch ;  and  so  proud  persons,  if  they  be  never 
i^o  little  touched,  presently  grow  enraged  and  think  they 
have  a  gi'eat  injury  done  them  if  others  do  not  as  much 
admire  and  respect  them  as  they  do  themselves. 

Whoever  is  much  a  self-lover  cannot  fail  of  frequent 
occasions  to  make  him  angry.  Now  the  proud  man  is  the 
greatest  self-lover  in  the  world ;  and  the  misery  is  that  he 
usually  loves  himself  without  a  rival ;  and  if  all  do  not 
yield  to  him,  to  say  what  he  shall  dictate,  and  to  think 
what  he  shall  determine,  and  to  do  what  he  shall  prescribe, 
he  takes  it  for  a  high  aflront ;  and  as  he  hath  given  himself 
an  authority  over  others,  he  looks  that  they  should  submit 


352  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

to  it  and  acknowledge  it.  And  others,  perhaps  having  no 
less  pride,  or  possibly  more  reason,  refusing  to  gratify  his 
vain  and  arrogant  humor,  quarrels  and  dissensions  arise, 
and  endless  jars  and  discords. 

(2.)  Another  cause  of  this  passion  is  the  weakness  and 
feebleness  of  nature.  And  therefore  it  is  truly  observed  by 
Plutarch,  that  those  vs^ho  are  of  the  most  infirm  natures 
and  weakest  constitutions  are  most  harassed  with  it ;  as 
children  more  than  men;  old  age  more  than  the  staid 
part  of  life ;  and  sick  persons  more  than  those  that  are  in 
health.  For  anger  is  a  great  weakness,  and  therefore 
lodgeth  most  in  the  weakest ;  ants  and  pismires,  and  such 
little  creatures,  are  most  busy  with  their  stings ;  whereas 
strong  and  generous  creatures  must  be  much  provoked 
before  they  will  be  injurious. 

There  are  many  other  causes  of  the  violent  stirring  of 
this  exorbitant  passion  :  as  over-much  love  of  vain  trifles, 
which  if  they  come  to  any  mischance,  as  usually  they  do, 
we  are  apt  to  be  disturbed  at  it ;  easiness  to  believe  at  the 
first  recommendation,  and  engaging  our  affections  in 
things  before  we  have  had  trial  and  experience  of  them, 
which  afterwards  proving  quite  contrary  to  our  expecta- 
tions, the  disappointment  will  excite  pur  choler,  &c.  But 
r  shall  not  insist  on  these.  / 

III.  Let  us  therefore  proceed  to  lay  down  some  Rules 

FOR    THE    RESTRAINING    AND    MODERATING  OF    ANGER  ;    and 

that  in  others  and  in  ourselves. 

1.  In  others.  It  is  a  hellish  sport  for  us  to  irritate  and 
stir  up  anger  in  others,  only  for  us  to  laugh  at  or  to  make 
our  advantage  by  it :  scarce  a  less  sin  than  to  make  others 
drunk  that  we  may  abuse  them,  for  prevailing  passion  is 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT.  653 

for  the  time  a  kind  of  drunkenness,  and  both  are  a  degree 
of  frenzy  and  madness.  Thou  oughtest  not,  therefore,  un- 
necessarily to  exasperate  thy  brother,  whom  thou  knowest 
prone  to  this  great  weakness ;  otherwise  be  assured  that 
all  his  intemperate  speeches  and  rash  action?  shall  be  im- 
puted to  thee,  and  are  thy  sins  as  well  as  his ;  and  what- 
ever revilings  he  dischargeth  against  thee  shall  at  last  also 
be  charged  upon  thee,  and  what  a  foolish  thing  it  is  for 
thee  to  bear  the  sting  of  them  here  and  the  punishment  of 
them  hereafter !  The  wise  man  hath  told  us,  Prov.  14« :  9, 
that  they  are  "  fools"  who  "  make  a  mock  at  sin."  And  if 
thou,  for  thy  recreation,  provokest  any  to  an  indecent  and 
unbecoming  passion,  know  that  such  laughter  is  deadly  to 
thyself,  and  thou  art  like  those  poisoned  persons  who 
laugh  themselves  to  death. 

To  prevent  and  suppress  anger  in  thyself,  (for  there  it 
doth  most  hurt,  since  another  man's  anger  is  none  of  my 
guilt,  if  I  have  neither  been  faulty  in  stirring  it  up  nor 
top  easy  to  catch  the  flame  from  him,)  take  these  following 
rules  and  directions. 

(1.)  Labor  and  pray  for  a  meek  and  humble  spirit. 
Think  lowly  of  thyself,  and  then  certainly  thou  wilt  not 
be  angry  if  others  conspire  vnxh  thee  in  thinking  and 
speaking  of  thee  as  thou  dost  of  thyself.  Most  common- 
ly anger,  as  I  have  said,  proceeds  from  an  opinion  of  being 
despised:  now  do  thou  first  of  all  despise  thyself,  and 
then  all  reproaches  and  injuries  will  signify  no  more  to 
thee  than  that  other  men  approve  thy  judgment,  and  that 
certainly  can  be  no  cause  of  anger.  Thou  wilt  not  be 
angry  for  want  of  a  ceremony  or  demonstration  of  respect 
which  others  impose  or  exact,  nor  wilt  thou  quarrel  with 
any  for  not  relying  on  thy  judgment  or  contradicting  thy 


354  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

sentiments,  when  thou  shalt  reflect  upon  thine  own  igno- 
rance and  frequent  mistakes.  They  are  the  high  hills 
whose  heads  are  wrapped  about  with  clouds  and  tem- 
pests, when  the  humble  valleys  are  calm  and  serene ; 
80  humble  souls  that  lie  low  in  their  own  esteem  remain 
undisturbed,  when  lofty  persons  are  still  molested  with 
the  tempests  of  their  own  passions. 

(2.)  Consider  how  ojlen  thou  givest  God  occasion  to  be 
angry  with  thee,  which  if  he  should  take,  thou  wert  for 
ever  undone.  He  bears  many  affronts  and  indignities  at 
thy  hands.  And  who  art  thou  ]  a  poor  vile  worm.  And 
who  is  he  %  even  the  great  Almighty  God,  the  universal 
King  of  heaven  and  earth,  that  he  should  put  up  with 
such  wrongs  at  thy  hands  !  And  shall  God  daily  take  in- 
juries from  such  a  wretched  nothing  as  thou  art,  God  who 
is  thy  Lord  and  Master;  and  wilt  not  thou  bear  them  pa- 
tiently from  thy  fellow-servant,  who  it  may  be  is  in  every 
respect  equal  to  thee,  but  only  inferior  to  thee  in  this, 
that  he  provokes  thee  unjustly  1  Certainly,  were  we  as 
tender  towards  our  brethren  as  we  all  desire  God  should 
be  towards  us,  could  we  forbear  others  as  we  ourselves 
would  be  forborne,  there  would  never  be  any  quarrel 
commenced,  or  if  it  were,  it  would  be  soon  compound- 
ed. What  saith  the  Psalmist  1  "  He  will  not  always 
chide  ;  neither  will  he  keep  his  anger  for  ever.  He  hath 
not  dealt  with  us  after  our  sins,  nor  rewarded  us  ac- 
cording to  our  iniquities."  Psalm  103  :  10.  Let  this 
great  example  be  ours,  not  to  be  soon  moved  to  anger, 
and  quickly  to  free  ourselves  from  it.  Indeed  many  there 
are  that  are  slow  to  anger,  and  in  that  they  imitate  God  ; 
but  then  they  are  tenacious  and  retentive  of  wrath,  and 
hardly  placable  again :  their  anger  is  like  an  impression 


I 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT.  355 

upon  some  hard  metal,  very  difficultly  maae,  and  as  difficult 
to  be  effaced.  Let  such  consider  what  would  become  of 
them  if  God  should  be  as  slow  to  be  reconciled  to  them 
as  they  are  to  their  brethren.  Nay,  he  is  infinitely  more 
wi'onged  by  you  than  you  can  be  by  them ;  and  yet  he  so 
far  condescends  as  first  to  seek  reconciliation.  And, 
although  he  be  infinitely  able  by  the  least  expression  of 
his  wrath  and  power  for  ever  to  destroy  you;  yet  "here- 
in God  commendeth  his  love  unto  you,  that  when  ye  were 
enemies,  ye  were  reconciled  unto  him  by  the  death  of  his 
Son."  Certainly  whoever  doth  but  seriously  reflect  upon 
the  infinite  patience  and  forbearance  of  God,  if  he  hath 
any  sweetness  diffiised  into  his  soul  by  that  consideration, 
if  he  hath  any  conscience  of  imitating  his  heavenly  Father 
in  that  which  is  his  most  adorable  attribute,  if  he  hath  any 
care  to  ascertain  unto  himself  the  pardon  and  remission 
of  his  own  offences,  he  will  therein  find  a  powerful  influ- 
ence to  sway  him  to  the  like  acts  of  mercy  and  forgiveness. 
(3.)  Beware  of  prejudice  against  thy  brother.  For  pre- 
judice is  a  very  ill  interpreter  of  actions,  and  will  be  sure 
to  expound  them  in  the  worst  sense.  Be  not  easy  to  be- 
lieve that  those  who  offend  thee  do  it  with  design,  or  that 
they  despise  and  undervalue  thee.  Rather  think  it  any 
thing  else  than  contempt  of  thee.  Believe  that  his  offen- 
ces proceed  rather  from  his  folly  and  indiscretion,  or  that 
he  is  forced  and  necessitated  to  do  it,  that  others  have  put 
him  upon  it.  If  they  be  thy  friends  that  wrong  thee,  sup- 
pose it  to  be  only  a  fault  of  their  too  great  familiarity  and 
a  misgoverned  intimacy.  If  they  be  such  as  are  subject 
to  thee,  believe  that  since  they  know  thou  hast  power  to 
chastise  them,  they  would  not  do  it  purposely  to  provoke 
thee.    If  they  be  vile  and  sordid  persons,  trouble  not  thy- 


,     35jGr  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

self  witli  theif  affronts,  for  thy  reputation  is  above  them 
Thus,  I  say,  inchne  to  believe  it  any  thing  rather  than  a 
designed  abuse.  For  though  a  strict  jealousy  over  our 
reputation  and  aptness  to  think  ourselves  w^ronged  seem 
to  proceed  from  generousness  and  a  sense  of  honor,  yet 
indeed  they  proceed  only  from  baseness  and  v^eakness  of 
mind.  Whoever  accounts  himself  despised  by  another,  is 
in  a  sense  less  than  he,  and  confesseth  himself  his  inferior. 
He  is  the  noble  and  heroic-spirited  person  w^ho  is  un- 
shaken with  the  petty  affronts  and  injuries  of  others,  and 
hath  so  much  stable  confidence  in  the  integrity  of  his 
actions  that  he  cannot  believe  any  can  traduce  him  or 
'  them :  whereas  to  be  angry  at  them  doth  but  in  a  sort 
justify  slanders,  and  will  beget  a  belief  that  that  is  not 
altogether  groundless  whereat  he  shows  himself  so  much 
concerned.  It  is  an  old  maxim  of  prudence,  *'  If  you  be 
angry  at  railings,  you  seem  to  acknowledge  them;  if  you 
contemn  them,  they  vanish." 

(4.)  Be  not  familiar  with  any  angry  person.  For  as  one 
fire  will  kindle  another,  so  it  is  likely  that  his  choler  will  kin- 
dle thine,  till  both  flame  into  an  inordinate  and  extrava 
'  gant  passion.  See  the  direction  expressly  given  us,  Prov. 
22  :  24,  25,  "  Make  no  friendship  with  an  angry  man : 
and  with  a  furious  man  thou  shalt  not  go,  lest  thou  learn 
his  ways,  and  get  a  snare  to  thy  soul."  Indeed  there  is 
no  such  fuel  to  wrath  as  wrrath,  and  it  is  a  very  hard  mat- 
ter to  refrain  from  being  angry  with  him  who  will  cause- 
lessly be  angry  with  us.  And  as  thou  must  shun  the  com- 
pany and  acquaintance  of  choleric  persons,  so  likewise  of 
scoffers ;  for  a  scoff  and  a  jeer  is  many  times  more  pro- 
voking than  a  blow,  and  nothing  wall  sooner  kindle  the 
coals  of  contention  than  a  biting  taunt :   therefore  Solo- 


SIXTH    COMMANDMENT.  357 

raon  adviseth  us,  Prov.  22  :  10,  "  Cast  out  the  scorner, 
and  contention  shall  go  out  j  yea,  strife  and  reproach  shall 
cease." 

(5.)  It  is  very  good  counsel,  if  thoufeclest  any  motions 
of  this  unruly  passion  begin  to  stir  in  thy  heart,  that  thou 
arrest  it  for  some  time  before  thou  either  speak  or  act.  Let 
this  mud  have  some  time  to  settle  again,  that  reason  may 
in  the  meanwhile  recover  her  throne  and  direct  thee  how 
to  govern  thyself  like  a  wise  man  and  a  christian.  Speak 
not  whilst  thou  art  in  the  impetuous  hurries  of  thy  pas- 
sion ;  for  it  was  well  said  by  Plutarch,  that  "  it  is  good 
m  a  fever,  but  much  better  in  anger,  to  have  a  tongue  kept 
clean  and  smooth."  Plut.  de  Ira  Cohib.  Put  an  interval 
of  time  between  thy  anger  and  thy  action  ;  for  those  who 
act  in  the  violence  and  paroxysms  of  their  anger,  do  either 
they  know  not  what,  or  else  what  they  may  have  reason  to 
repent  of;  and  therefore  Solomon  tells  us  that  "  the  dis- 
cretion of  a  man  deferreth  his  anger,"  Prov.  19  :  11 ;  and 
*'  the  beginning  of  strife  is  as  when  one  letteth  out  water." 
Prov.  17  :  14.  At  first  when  a  man  cutteth  the  bank  of  a 
river,  the  passage  is  but  little  and  the  stream  may  be  easily 
stopped,  but  by  continual  running  it  will  wear  away  the 
earth  and  widen  the  gap,  and  whole  floods  and  currents 
will  pour  out  where  but  some  few  drops  were  intended. 

(6.)  Contemplate  the  ugliness  and  deformity  of  this  sin 
in  others  ;  how  it  makes  men  brutish  in  their  souls  and 
deformed  likewise  in  their  countenances.  It  inflames  the 
face,  fires  the  eyes,  and  makes  a  man  look  like  a  fury, 
deafens  the  ears,  froths  the  mouth,  makes  the  heart  beat 
and  pant,  the  tongue  stammer,  the  voice  harsh  and  rough, 
the  speech  precipitate  and  oftentimes  ridiculous  :  briefly,  it 
puts  the  whole  man  into  a  preternatural  fever,  and  trans- 


358  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

forms  the  body  into  a  monster  and  the  man  into  a  devil. 
And  what !  shall  I  give  way  to  passion,  so  uncomely  a 
passion  that  will  make  me  scorned  when  I  would  seem 
most  terrible?  Certainly,  were  there  no  other  thing 
whereof  to  accuse  this  immoderate  anger,  it  were  enough 
to  render  it  odious ;  but  when  it  not  only  destroys  what  I 
was,  but  seeks  the  ruin  and  destruction  of  others,  it  con- 
cerns me  to  stop  it  in  its  first  rise  and  ebullitions,  lest  the 
boilings  of  my  blood  proceed  so  far  as  to  attempt  the 
shedding  of  the  blood  of  others.         , . 


THE   SEVENTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Thou  slialt  not  commit  Adultery. 

In  considering  the  former  commandment  we  have  seen 
what  care  God  t^es  for  the  security  aiid  indemnity  of 
every  man's  person.  This  command  extendeth  farther,  and 
provideth  for  his  security  as  he  is  considered  mystically 
in  marriage-union,  which  of  twain  maketh  one  flesh.  The 
one  defends  him  from  the  violence  of  bloody  rage  and 
revenge,  the  other  from  the  violations  of  impure  lusts. 

I  judge  it  not  convenient  to  be  too  circumstantial  in 
showing  you  what  is  prohibited  under  this  precept.  I 
know  that  some,  especially  the  popish  casuists  in  their 
treatises  of  moral  divinity,  such  as  Sanches,  Diana,  &c. 
have  spoken  of  these  things  so  minutely,  and  with  such  a 
filthy  accurateness,  that  they  violate  the  very  eyes  and 
fancies  of  their  readers ;  rather  teach  vice  than  condemn 
it ;  and  instruct  the  ignorant  to  sin  skilfully  rather  than 
convince  the  guilty  to  bring  them  to  repentance.  Some 
wickednesses  there  are  which  it  is  far  better  not  to  re- 
prove than  to  name ;  it  is  more  expedient  to  leave  those 
who  are  guilty  of  them  to  be  lashed  by  their  natural  light 
and  conscience,  than,  by  agitating  such  crimes,  teach  others 
not  so  much  to  abhor  as  to  practise  them.  And  let  this  be 
my  apology  if  I  pass  over  this  subject  with  more  than  my 
accustomed  brevity. 

1.  I  shall  speak  of  the  sin  which  is  here  lite?'ally  and 
expressly  forhiddeUy  and  this  is, 

I 


360'  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

1.  The  detestable  and  loathsome  sin  of  adultery.  This 
sin,  properly  taken,  is  a  sin  committed  between  two  per- 
sons, the  one  or  both  of  them  married  to  another.  In  any 
view  it  is  a  most  heinous  sin,  but  on  the  married  person's 
side  most  inexcusable  and  intolerable.  In  Gen.  39  :  9,  it  is 
called  a  "  great  wickedness  against  God,"  even  on  the  un- 
married man's  part.  And  in  Lev.  20  :  10,  and  Deut.  22  :  22, 
the  temporal  punishment  assigned  to  it  is  no  less  than 
death,  the  same  punishment  that  belonged  to  murder. 

And  if  hurhan  laws  were  as  severe  in  the  punishment 
of  the  sin  as  divine,  the  fear  of  it  might  possibly  be  of 
greater  influence  to  deter  men  from  such  filthiness  than 
either  shame  or  the  denunciation  of  eternal  punishment. 
Yea,  we  read  in  history.  Speed's  Chron.  p.  289,  that  our 
progenitors,  the  English  Saxons,  even  while  they  remain- 
ed pagans  and  idolaters,  so  hated  this  sin,  that  they  made 
it,  yea,  and  simple  fornication  also,  punishable  with  death, 
which  they  severely  inflicted  on  those  that  were  found 
guilty ;  and  this  custom  continued  among  them  after  they 
were  converted  to  Christianity,  until  the  year  of  Christ 
750,  when  the  antichristian  see  of  Rome,  the  mother  of 
whoredoms,  abrogated  this  law  as  too  rigorous  for  chris- 
tians. Job  calleth  it  *'  a  heinous  crime  ;  yea,  an  iniquity 
to  be  punished  by  the  judges  ;  a  fire  that  consumeth  to 
destruction."  Job,  31  :  11,  12. 

But  though  they  who  are  guilty  of  this  sin  may  escape 
the  judgment  of  men,  either  through  the  secrecy  of  their 
wickedness  or  the  too  gentle  censures  of  the  law,  yet 
they  shall  not  escape  the  righteous  judgment  of  God,  nor 
those  everlg,sting  punishments  that  he  hath  prepared  for 
them  in  hell,  Heb.  13  :  4,  "  Whoremongers  and  adulter- 
ers God  will  judge." 


SEVENTH    COMMANDMENT.  361 

Two  things  in  this  sin  of  adultery  make  it  so  exceed- 
ing heinous,  namely,  the  licentiousness  andincontinency  of 
it,  in  letting  loose  the  reins  to  a  brutish  concupiscence, 
and  in  yielding  up  the  body  to  pollution  and  the  soul  to 
damnation;  and  the  injustice  of  it,  it  being  a  deceit  of 
the  highest  and  most  injurious  nature  that  can  be* 
Consider, 

(1.)  It  is  the  violation  of  a  most  solemn  vow  and 
covenant  y  and  so  adds  perjury  to  imfaithfulness ;  alien- 
ating that  person  to  another,  who,  by  the  most  sacred 
and  the  strictest  obligations,  is  bound  only  to  that 
partner  and  yoke^fellow  to  whom  God  and  their  own 
consent,  and  the  legal  rights  of  the  church  and  state 
have  addicted  them. 

(2.)  It  is  also  the  source  and  cause  of  a  spurious  a/nd  sup- 
posititious hirth;  bringing  in  a  strange  blood  into  the  inhe- 
ritance of  lawful  children,  whereby  this  unfaithfulness  be- 
comes theft  as  well  as  perjury. 

"  But  though  this  sin  of  adultery  be  alone  mentioned  in 
the  command,  yet,  according  to  the  rules  laid  down  in  the 
beginning  or  this  work,  all  other  kinds  of  uncleanness  are 
also  forbidden  under  the  name  of  this  one  gross  crime/ 
For  the  law  of  God  is  perfect ;  and  as  all  manner  of 
chastity,  both  in  our  thoughts,  speeches  and  actions,  is 
there  enjoined  us,  so  likewise  whatever  is  in  the  least 
contrary  and  prejudicial  to  a  spotless  chastity  and  an  in- 
violate modesty,  is  hereby  forbidden.  And  therefore, 

2.  This  commandment  forbids  the  uncleanness  o?  for- 
fiication,  a  sin  which  properly  is  the  sin  conltnitted  be- 
twixt two  single  persons,  and  which,  though  it  hatli  net 
aOffie  aggravations  that  belong  to  the  other,  yet  is  an 
abominable  sin  in  the  sight  of  God.  '•r-MfK\  i4?? 

Ten.  Com.  '16 


362  THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

I  know  how  it  is  extenuated  by  the  impure  Romanists,* 
as  a  small  stain  that  may  easily  be  washed  off  by  the 
sprinkling  of  a  little  holy  water.  But  it  is  no  wonder  if 
they  who  have  drank  deep  of  the  cup  of  fornications  of 
the  gi'cat  whore,  and  are  guilty  of  spiritual  fornication, 
fiV.^uld  speak  lightly  of  corporal  fornication  also. 

But  let  us  hear  how  God,  who  is  infinite  purity,  hath 
sentenced  this  sin,  when  he  threatens  that  he  himself  will 
judge  whoremongers ;  and  tells  us,  1  Cor.  6  :  9,  10,  that 
"  neither  fornicators,  nor  idolaters,  nor  adulterers,  shall 
inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."  No,  the  New  Jerusalem 
which  is  above,  is  a  holy  city,  and  no  unclean  thing  shall 
ever  enter  into  it.  *'  Without  are  dogs,  and  sorcerers, 
and  whoremongers,  and  murderers,  and  idolaters."  Rev. 
22  :  15.  And  it  were  well  with  them  if  all  their  punish- 
ment were  only  to  be  left  without ;  but  there  is  a  lake  of 
fire  prepared  for  them,  into  which  they  shall  be  cast  and 
'  plunged — the  fire  of  hell,  to  punish  the  flames  of  lust.  Rev. 
21  :  8,  "The  fearful,  and  unbelieving,  and  the  abomina- 
ble, and  murderers,  and  whoremongers  (you  see  how,  in 
both  places,  they  are  joined  with  the  vilest  and  most 
infamous  sinners,) — shall  have  their  portion  in  the  lake 
which  burnetii  with  fire  and  brimstone,  which  is  the  se- 
cond death."  The  apostle  reckons  this  as  one  of  the  works 
of  the  flesh.  Gal.  5  •  19,  "  The  works  of  the  flesh  are  ma- 
nifest, which  are  these,  adultery,  fornication,  uncleanness, 
lasciviousness,"  &c.  and  he  exhorts  us  to  a  careful  mor- 
tification of  it.  Col.  3:5,  "  Mortify,  therefore,  your  mem- 
bers, which  are  upon  the  earth,  fornication,  uncleanness, 
inordinate  affection,"  &c.  ,.  i        ,.- 

♦  Mazarin.  in  Psal.  li.  Durand.  Sent.  1.  iv.  dist.  33.  92.  Emraaa. 
Sa.  Art.  20.    Tit.  Episcopus. 


SEVENTH    COMMANDMENT.  363 

3.  Here  likewise  are  forbidden  all  incestuous  mixturesy 
or  uncleanness  between  those  who  are  related  to  each 
other  within  the  degrees  of  kindred  specified,  Lev.  18, 
from  the  6th  to  the  ISth  verse ;  v^hether  the  kindred  be 
by  affinity  or  consanguinity,  that  is,  whether  by  former 
marriage  or  by  blood  and  descent.  And  the  nearer  any 
persons  are  so  related  to  us  the  greater  is  the  abomination 
if  we  approach  unto  them,  whether  it  be  with  pretence  of 
marriage,  which  in  this  case  is  null  and  void,  or  without 
any  such  pretence.  > 

4.  Here  is  likewise  forbidden  polygamy,  or  a  taking  a 
wife  to  her  sister;  that  is,  to  another.  Lev.  18  :  18.  God 
indeed  seemed  to  connive  at  this  in  the  holy  men  of  old, 
yet  it  never  was  otherwise  than  a  sin  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world.  And  therefore  the  prophet  Malachi  refers 
us  to  the  primitive  institution  of  marriage,  to  show  the 
obliquity  of  this  practice,  Mai.  2  :  15,  "  Did  not  he  make 
one  ]"  that  is,  Did  not  he  create  one  woman  for  one  man  1 
"  Yet  had  he  the  residue  of  the  Spirit,"  that  is,  the  same  Spi- 

1^  ^rit  and  power,  whereby  he  created  all  things  in  the  world, 
resided  still  in  God,  and  therefore  he  could  easily  have 
formed  more  women  as  well  as  one  had  he  not  purposed 
to  oblige  them  one  to  the  other  solely,  and  to  teach  them, 
by  their  being  paired  at  first,  not  to  seek  a  multiplication 
of  wives  afterwards.  Therefore  polygamy  was  unlawful 
in  the  beginning,  even  then  when  the  necessity  of  in- 
creasing the  world  might  seem  to  plead  for  it ;  and  how 
much  more  unlawful  now  when  that  necessity  is  ceased ! 
Besides  this,  the  apostle  hath  commanded,  1  Cor.  7  :  2, 
"  Let  every  man  have  his  own  wife,  and  every  woman 
her  own  husband." 

5.  Moreover,  here  are  forbidden  all  those  monsters  of 


364  THE  TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

unnatural  lust,  and  those  prodigies  of  villany  and  filthi- 
ness  which  are  not  fit  to  be  named  among  men,  but  are 
punished  upon  beasts  themselves,  as  you  may  read,  Lev. 
20  :  15,  16,  and  Lev.  18  :  22,  23.     .  :  ^ 

6.  All  those  things  that  may  be  incentives  to  lust,  and 
which  add  fuel  to  this  fire,  are  likewise  forbidden  in  this 
command ;  as  all  impurities  of  the  eyes,  of  contact,  of  lewd 
and  obscene  speech ;  all  immodest  spectacles,  wanton  ac- 
tions, uncivil  and  garish  attire ;  or  whatever  else  may  kin- 
dle, either  in  ourselves  or  others,  any  unchaste  affections ; 
for  all  these  things  do  but  lay  in  provision  for  the  flesh, 
to  fulfil  it  in  the  lusts  thereof. 

.  7.  Because  this  law  is  spiritual,  therefore  it  not  only* 
forbids  the  gross  outward  acts  of  filthiness,  but  the  inward 
uncleanness  of  the  heart  j^  all  lustful  contemplations  and 
ideas,  and  evil  concupiscences. 

For  it  is  not  enough  to  refrain  unchaste  desires  from 
breaking  forth  into  act,  but  we  must  also  refrain  our 
hearts  from  entertaining  any  such  desires.  These  flames 
pent  up  i-n  the  heart  will  soot  and  consume  it ;  and  though 
its  ruin  be  more  invisible,  yet  it  will  be  sad  and  fatal.  As 
there  is  a  heart-murder,  so  there  is  a  heart-adultery ;  and 
he  that  commits  speculative  uncleanness  and  prostitutes 
his  thoughts  and  imaginations  to  the  impure  embraces 
of  filthy  lust,  is,  according  to  our  Savior's  interpretation, 
guilty  of  the  transgression  of  this  command ;  so,  Mat.  5  : 
.27,  28,  "  Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said  to  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."    Thus  you  see  what  is  prohibited. 


SEVENTH    COMMANDMENT.  365 

11.  I  shall  next  speak  of  the  exceeding  heinousness 
of  this  sin,  and  why  it  is  so  justly  odious  to  God,  and 
ought  to  be  to  us. 

1.  It  is  a  sin  which  murders  two  souls  at  once^  and  there- 
fore the  most  uncharitable  sin  in  the  world. 

Other  sinners  can  perish  singly.  The  swearer  damns 
none  by  his  oaths  but  himself,  and  although  he  curse 
others  to  the  pit  of  hell,  yet  he  shall  descend  thither  alone 
The  drunkard  with  his  intemperance  drowns  but  his  own 
soul  in  perdition.  The  bloody  murderer  may  say  with 
-Lamech,^  Gen.  4  :  23,  "  I  have  slain  a  man  to  my  wound- 
ing, and  a  young  man  to  my  own  hurt."  And  indeed  all 
other  sinners,  though  their  wickedness  prompt  them  to 
draw  in  associates  and  partakers  with  them,  yet  the  na- 
ture of  their  sin  doth  not  require  a  partnership  in  their 
guilt,  but  they  may  be  solitarily  wicked  and  perish  alone : 
only  this  sin  of  adultery  necessarily  requires  partnership, 
and  involves  another  in  the  same  condemnation.  And  is 
it  nothing  to  thee  that  another's  damnation  shall  be  set 
upon  thy  score,  and  the  blood  of  their  souls  charged  upon 
thine  for  ever?  Think  with  yourselves  what  horrid  greet- 
ings these  unclean  wretches  will  give  each  other  in  hell, 
when  they  who  have  here  wallowed  together  in  beastly 
sensuality  shall  there  wallow  together  in  unquenchable 
flames,  and  with  ineffable  anguish  exclaim  against  and 
curse  both  themselves  and  one  another — the  one  for 
enticing,  the  other  for  consenting,  and  both  for  fulfilling 
their  impure  desires.  * 

.  Or,  suppose  that  God  should  vouchsafe  thee  repent- 
ance unto  life ;  yet,  art  thou  sure  that  his  justice  and 
severity  will  not  harden  the  other  in  this  sin  to  which 
thoii  hast  been  the  author  and  persuader  %     How  know  . 


366  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

est  thou  but  they  may  persist,  and  perish  in  their  wick- 
edness 1  Divine  vengeance  may  snatch  them  away  with- 
out affording  them  space  or  grace  to  repent.  And  is  it 
nothing  to  thee  that  thou  hast  damned  a  soul  as  well  as 
defiled  a  body,  and,  for  the  satisfying  of  thy  brutish 
lust,  hast  brought  upon  them  everlasting  woes  and  tor- 
ments 1  If  God  hath  granted  thee  mercy,  how  anxiously 
solicitous  oughtest  thou  to  be  to  deliver  those  out  of  the 
snares  of  the  devil  whom  thou  hast  entangled  therein, 
and  by  all  holy  counsels  and  remonstrances  recover  them 
to  God  by  repentance !  Or,  if  a  speedy  execution  of 
Divine  justice  should  cut  them  off  before,  what  a  sad 
consideration  will  it  be  to  thee  that  thou  hast  eternally 
ruined  a  poor  soul !  This,  if  thou  hast  any  sense  of  sin, 
or  of  the  wrath  of  the  great  God  due  unto  it,  will  make 
thee  go  mourning  all  thy  days,  and  bring  down  thy  gray 
hairs  with  sorrow  to  the  grave.  „  •     ^         ' 

.2.   It  is  the  most  degrading  of  all  sins.         -  j 

It  debaseth  a  man  from  the  excellency  of  his  nature, 
and  resembles  him  to  the  condition  of  brute  beasts.  The 
perfection  of  a  man  is,  to  govern  himself  according  to 
law  and  reason ;  to  bound  and  circumscribe  his  actions 
by  the  rules  of  what  is  fit  and  honest :  whereas  beasts 
show  the  inferiority  of  their  natures  by  the  scope  and 
range  of  their  unguided  appetites.  Hence  the  prophet 
compares  adulterers  to  "  fed  horses — every  one  neighing 
after  his  neighbor's  wife."  Jer.  5  :  8.  And  God  joins 
such  impure  persons  with  the  vilest  and  most  detestable 
of  brute  beasts,  Deut.  23  :  18,  "  Thou  shalt  not  bring 
the  hire  of  a  whore,  nor  the  price  of  a  dog  jnto  the 
house  of  the  Lord  thy  God  for  any  vow ;  for  even  both 
these  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord  thy  God." 


SEVENTH    COMMANDMENT.  367 

3.  It  is  a  sin  which  7nost  of  all  obscures  and  exti?i- 
guislies  the  light  of  a  maiCs  natural  reason  and  under- 
standing. 

Nothing  so  much  darkens  the  understanding  as  the 
fumes  of  lust,  Hos,  4  :  11,  "Whoredom,  and  wine,  and 
new  wine  take  away  the  heart."  And  to  this  the  apos- 
tle gives  testimony,  Eph.  4  :  18,  19,  "  Having  the  un- 
derstanding darkened,  being  alienated  from  the  life  of 
Grod  through  the  ignorance  that  is  in  them  because  of  the 
blindness  of  their  heart;  who  being  past  feeling,  have 
given  themselves  over  to  work  all  uncleanness  with 
greediness."  So  far  doth  this  beastly  sin  besot  the' 
mind  and  befool  men,  that,  according  to  the  chaste  and 
modest  phrase  of  Scripture  language,  it  is  frequently 
called  committing  of  folly ;  as  if  there  were  no  folly  like 
to  this,  and  it  alone  deserved  to  carry  away  the  name  and 
title  from  all  other  sins :  and  indeed  it  is  a  most  notori- 
ous and  egregious  folly,  for  a  short  pang  and  epilepsy  of 
sensual  delight  to  betray  the  soul  to  a  gloomy  dulness, 
bitter  remembrance,  guilt,  and  eternal  shame  and  death. 

4,  It  is  a  sin  justly  the  most  infamous  and  scandalous 
amongst  men. 

A  sin  that  brands  them  with  the  greatest  shame  and 
reproach,  a  reproach  that  can  never  be  wiped  away. 
And  certainly  if  such  a  one  doth  ever  seriously  con- 
sider his  own  sin,  he  cannot  but  be  ashamed  of  himself; 
for  although  there  be  a  shame  consequent  upon  the  act 
of  every  sin,  yet  the  credit  and  reputation  of  a  man 
is  never  so  deeply  blemished  nor  so  foully  stained  by 
any  sin  as  that  of  adultery,  Prov.  6  :  32,  33,  "  Whoso 
committeth  adultery  with  a  woman  lacketh  understand- 
ing:   he   that   death   it,   destroyeth  his   own   soul.     A 


368  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

wound  and  dishonor  shall  he  get  and  his  reproach  sTiall 
not  be  wiped  away."  Yea,  the  dishonor  of  adulterous 
parents  is  so  foul,  that,  like  a  black  blot,  it  diffuseth  and 
spreadeth  itself  even  upon  their  children.  Deut.  23  :  2. 
A  bastard  was  not  to  enter  into  the  congregation  of  the 
Lord  unto  the  tenth  generation. 

5.  Consider  that  this  sin  of  uncleanness  is  a  Mnd  of 
sacrilege,  a  converting  of  that  which  is  sacred  and  dedi- 
cated, unto  a  profane  use. 

What  saith  the  apostle,  1  Cor.  6  :  19  ?  "  Know  ye 
not  that  your  body  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost]" 
And  if  it  were  a  sacrilegious  impiety  to  turn  the  temple 
of  God,  which  consisted  only  of  vile  materials,  wood  and 
stone,  to  vile  and  inferior  uses;  if  our  Savior's  zeal 
burned  within  him  when  he  saw  the  sanctuary  turned 
into  a  market,  and  the  house  of  God  made  a  den  of 
thieves;  how  much  more  heinous  wickedness  is  it  to 
convert  the  living  temples  of  the  ever-living  God,  even 
our  bodies,  which  were  redeemed  and  consecrated  to 
God  by  the  precious  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  unto  impure 
and  unclean  uses,  and  to  turn  his  sanctuary  into  a 
stew !  "  The  body  is  not  for  fornication ;  but  for  the 
Lord.  And  your  bodies  are  the  members  of  Christ." 
Will  ye  "  then  take  the  members  of  Christ  and  make 
them  the  members  of  a  harlot  1  God  forbid."  And  the 
apostle  thinks  this  sacrilegiousness  of  uncleanness  so 
high  an  aggravation  of  the  sinfulness  of  it,  that  he  insists 
on  it  again,  1  Cor.  3  :  16,  17,  "  Know  ye  not  that  ye 
are  the  temple  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwell - 
eth  in  you  %  If  any  man  defile  the  temple  of  God,  him 
shall  God  destroy  :  for  the  temple  of  God  is  holy,  which 
temple  are  ye." 


SEVENTH    COMMANDMENT.  369 

6.  Consider  if  all  these  things  will  not  prevail,  the 
dreadful  punishment  that  God  threatens  to  inflict  Upon 
all  who  are  guilty  of  this  sin. 

Yea,  he  speaks  of  it  as  a  sin  that  he  can  hardly  be 
persuaded  to  pardon ;  a  sin  that  puzzles  infinite  mercy 
to  forgive,  Jer.  5  :  7-9,  "How  shall  I  pardon  thee 
for  thisi  When  I  had  filled  thy  children  to  the  full, 
they  then  committed  adultery,  and  assembled  themselves 
by  troops  in  the  harlots'  houses.  They  were  as  fed 
horses  in  the  morning :  every  one  neighing  after  his 
neighbor's  wife.  Shall  I  not  visit  for  these  things  1  saith 
the  Lord,  and  shall  not  my  soul  be  avenged  on  such  a 
nation  as  this '?"  And,  indeed,  God  doth  often  in  this 
life  visit  this  sin  :  sometimes  by  filling  their  loins  with 
strange  and  loathsome  diseases,  Prov.  6  :  2Q\  some- 
times by  reducing  them  to  extreme  beggary;  for  this 
Bin,  as  Job  speaks,  is  "  a  fire  that  consumeth  to  de- 
struction, and  would  root  out  all  his  increase."  Yea, 
this  very  sin  is  so  great  a  punishment  for  itself,  that  the 
wise  man  tells  us,  Prov.  22  :  14,  that  those  whom  God 
hates  shall  fall  into  it.  Yea,  and  to  express  the  exceed- 
ing sinfulness  of  this  sin  of  uncleanness,  the  apostle 
tells  us  that  God  made  it  the  punishment  of  several 
other  sins  as  black  and  horrid  as  can  be  well  conceived. 
When  he  had  spoken,  Rom.  1  :  23,  of  the  gross  idolatry 
of  the  heathen  in  worshipping  images  and  falling  down 
before  stocks  and  stones,  he  subjoins,  verse  24,  that  for 
this  cause  "  God  also  gave  them  up  to  uncleanness  :"  as 
if  uncleanness  were  bad  enough  to  punish  idolatry,  and 
those  were  sufiiciently  plagued  for  their  spiritual  un- 
cleanness who  were  abandoned  over  unto  corporal  pol- 
lutions. But,  though  this  sin  may  sometimes  escape 
16* 


370  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

infamy  through  concealment,  and  other  temporal  judg- 
ments of  God  through  his  patience  and  forbearance,  yet  it 
will  certainly  find  them  out  at  the  last ;  and  then  those 
who  have  burned  together  in  lust,  shall  bum  together  in 
unquenchable  flames.  "  They  shall  have  their  portion  in 
the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone." — These 
are  the  derhonstrations  of  the  heinousness  of  this  sin. 

III.  Let  me  now  give  you  some  cautionary  rules 
AND  DIRECTIONS,  by  observing  which  you  may  be  pre- 
served from  the  commission  of  this  sin.     And, 

1.  Be  sure  that  you  keep  a  narrow  watch  over  your 
senses.  For  these  are  the  sluices  which,  instead  of  letting 
in  pleasant  streams  to  refresh,  do  commonly  let  in  nothing 
but  mud  to  pollute  the  soul.  There  is  no  actual  filthi- 
ness  in  the  heart  of  any  but  came  in  by  these  inlets. 
Through  these  the  devil  casts  in  abundance  of  filth — he 
stirs  up  indwelling  lust,  and  by  the  sinful  objects  which 
the  senses  convey  to  the  soul,  he  dungs  that  ground  which 
of  itself  was  too  fruitful  before.  Thus  the  devil  makes 
use  of  an  adulterous  eye  to  range  abroad  and  fetch  in 
provision  for  uncleanness,  and  by  it,  as  by  a  burning-glass, 
he  sets  the  heart  on  fire,  and  then  blows  up  the  flames 
through  the  ears  by  hearing  lascivious  discourses.  There- 
fore make  a  covenant  with  thine  eyes,  and  carefully  divert 
them  from  all  loose  glances  and  all  alluring  and  enticing 
objects;  stop  thine  ears  against  all  filthy  communication; 
and  if  any  begin  such  obscene  talk  as  is  the  coirimon 
raillery  of  our  days  and  almost  of  every  company,  blush 
not  thou  to  reprove  them,  but  by  thy  reproofs  make  them 
blush  at  their  own  shame  and  wickedness. 

2.  Addict  thyself  to  sobriety  and  temperance,  and  by 


SEVENTH    COMMANDMENT.  371 

these  beat  down  thy  body  and  keep  it  in  subjection  to 
thy  reason  and  religion.  Certainly  the  excesses  of  those 
who  indulge  themselves  in  gluttony  or  drunkenness  will 
froth  and  foam  over  into  lust.  And  therefore  it  is  said 
Jer.  5  :  7,  that  when  the  Israelites  were  "  fed  to  the  full, 
they  then  committed  adultery." 

3.  Continually  exercise  thyself  in  some  honest  and  law- 
ful employment.    Lust  grows  active  when  we  grow  idle. 

Therefore  os  fulness  of  bread,  so  likewise  idleness  is  reck- 
oned as  one  of  the  sins  of  impure  Sodom.  Ezek.  16  :  49. 
David,  when  he  walks  idly  upon  the  roof  of  his  house, 
lies  open  to  the.  snares  and  is  inveigled  by  the  beauty  of 
Bathsheba :  had  he  then  been  at  his  harp  and  his  psalms, 
he  might  have  driven  the  evil  spirit  from  himself,  as  for- 
merly he  did  from  his  master  Saul.  Running  streams 
preserve  themselves  clear  and  pure,  whereas  standing 
pools  soon  corrupt  and  breed  noisome  and  venomous 
creatures.  While  our  mind  is  employed  there  will  be  no 
time  left  for  lust  to  dally  with  our  fancy  nor  to  dandle  an 
unclean  affection  in  our  thoughts,  and  therefore  it  may  be 
remarked  as  a  considerable  circumstance  in  Joseph's  re- 
jecting the  enticements  of  his  lewd  mistress  that  the  text 
saith,  "  He  went  into  the  house  to  dispatch  his  business," 
Gen.  39  :  11,  noting  to  us  that  the  honest  care  of  our 
affairs  is  an  excellent  preservative  to  keep  us  from  this 
sin  of  wantonness  and  uncleanness. 

4.  But,  above  all,  he  earnest  and  frequent  in  prayer y 
and  if  thou  sometimes  joinest  fasting  with  thy  prayers, 
they  will  be  shot  up  to  heaven  with  a  fuller  strength. 
For  this  sin  of  uncleanness  is  one  of  those  devils  that 
"  goes  not  out  but  by  fasting  and  prayer."  God  is  a  God 
of   purity.     Instantly  beg  of  him,  that   he    would  send 


372  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

down  his  pure  and  chaste  Spirit  into  thy  heart  to  cleanse 
thy  thoughts  and  thy  affections  from  all  unclean  desires. 
Beg  that  the  Holy  Ghost  would  but  once  touch  thy  heart 
with  the  dear  sense  of  his  eternal  love,  that  he  would  dif- 
fuse such  a  celestial  flame  through  thy  soul  as  may  ravish  it 
with  a  heavenly  zeal  and  ardor,  and  make  it  scorn  to  stoop 
to  the  ignoble  love  of  poor  inferior  objects.  Represent  to 
him  that  thy  body  is  his  temple,  and  thy  heart  his  altar  in 
it,  and  desire  of  him  that  no  strange  unhallowed  fire  may 
flame  on  his  altar. 

Whilst  thou  diligently  and  conscientiously  makest  use 
of  these  means,  thou  mayest  comfortably  expect  to  be 
kept  pure  and  immaculate — innocent  in  thy  soul  and  clean 
in  thy  body ;  and  as  thou  hast  kept  thyself  undefiled  here, 
so  hereafter  to  be  found  worthy  to  walk  with  the  Larrili 
tn  white.    —  >     -/^    '  ',  ,^    '      -  -  ■>\.' 


''  ■  \ 


•c^:;.  </*,  •  .'.i  ■) 


THE  EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT. 


Thou    Shalt    not    Steal. 


The  foregoing  commandment,  as  you  have  seen,  re- 
quires chastity  in  our  persons.  This  requires  honesty  and 
uprightness  in  our  dealings ;  a  virtue  immediately  found- 
ed upon  that  first  practical  principle  of  all  human  con- 
verse, v^hich  our  Savior  lays  down,  Mat.  7  :  12,  "  What- 
soever ye  w^ould  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even 
so  to  them ;"  and  which  he  recommends  to  us  as  the  brief 
sum  and  epitome  of  all  the  Scriptures ;  "for  this  is  the 
law  and  the  prophets." 

The  principle  of  this  command  carries  such  innate 
light  and  clear  evidence  in  itself,  that  the  very  heathens 
do  frequently  inculcate  it  in  their  writings  as  the  primary 
dictate  of  that  morality  which  they  taught.  It  is  a  maxim 
which  we  all  assent  to,  not  by  any  elaborate  instructions, 
or  dint  of  arguments,  or  any  long  train  of  consequences ; 
but  because  it  strongly  masters  our  understandings  by  its 
native  evidence,  and  springs  up  in  us  an  unpremeditated 
resolve  of  reason.  Both  God  and  nature  have  set  it  up  as 
a  standard  in  our  consciences ;  and  usually  there  needs 
no  other  judge  of  our  actions  towards  others,  than  our  owii 
conscience  comparing  them  with  what,  in  the  like  cases, 
we  would  think  just  and  fit  to  be  done  towards  ourselves. 

It  may  be  we  are  all  partial  to  ourselves  in  our  present 
concerns ;  and  whilst  we  look  only  that  way,  we  may 


374?  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

possibly  seek  all  advantages  to  promote  them,  though  to 
another's  detriment;  but  both  reason  and  religion  teach 
us  to  put  ourselves  in  their  stead,  and  then  to  manage 
all  our  transactions  with  them  as  vv^e  ourselves  would 
judge  just  and  reasonable,  were  their  condition  ours. 

Therefore  when  thou  dealest  with  another  thou  shouldst 
first  be  both  parties  to  thyself.  As  for  instance,  a  servant 
should  sit  down  and  consider  with  himself  what  respect 
he  would  require  were  he  m  the  same  circumstances  with 
his  master,  and  had  servants  under  him.  Children  should 
consider  what  duty  and  obedience  they  would  expect 
were  they  parents  of  children;  subjects,  what  honor  and 
submission  they  might  reasonably  demand  were  they  ma- 
gistrates ;  and  so  in  any  other  relation.  And  when  they 
have  thus  seriously  pondered  it  in  their  own  thoughts,  let 
them  then  perform  the  same  duties  to  others  in  their  real 
condition  which  they  judged  to  belong  to  them  in  their  per- 
souated  condition ;  for  it  is  a  never-failing  rule  for  the  direc- 
tion of  our  practice,  t/iat  what  thoujudgest  due  to  thy  self ^ 
wert  thou  in  another  man's  condition,  is  certairdy  as  due  to 
hirn  in  his  own  ;  and  if  thou  actest  not  accordingly,  thou 
betrayest  a  great  deal  of  selfishness  and  sinful  partiality. 

This  is  a  rule  applicable  to  all  affairs;  and  there  is 
scarce  any  one  occurrence  of  a  man's  life  but  he  may  re- 
gulate himself  in  it  according  to  this  direction.  And  in- 
deed there  is  scarce  need  of  any  other.  Whatsoever  thou 
hast  to  transact  with  thy  brother,  though  perhaps  thou 
mayest  spy  advantages  upon  him,  and  such  as,  if  thou 
shouldst  take,  possibly  he  might  never  know  or  never  be 
able  to  redress ;  yet  then  take  thy  conscience  aside  and 
seriously  ask  whether  thou  couldst  be  content  and  think 
it  honest  and  just  to  be  so  dealt  with   thyself;  if  not. 


EIGUTU    COMMANDMENT.  "^  375 

whatsoever,  the  temptation  be,  or  how  much  soever  thou 
mightest  gain  by  hearkening  unto  it,  reject  it  with  scorn, 
as  that  which  would  induce  thee  to  violate  the  first  prin- 
ciple of  common  honesty  among  men,  and  contradicts  all 
the  laws  both  of  nature  and  Scripture. 

Were  this  rule  but  more  generally  observed  among 
men  the  world  would  not  have  such  cause  to  cry  out  of 
rapine,  extortion,  oppression,  fraud  and  injustice,  as  now 
it  hath.  The  rich  would  not  gi'ind  the  faces  of  the  poor, 
nor  the  poor  causelessly  clamor  against  the  rich ;  supe- 
riors would  not  tyrannize  over  inferiors,  nor  inferiors 
Hiurmur  or  rebel  against  superiors ;  but  an  equal  peace 
and  uniform  justice  would  overspread  the  face  of  the 
whole  earth,  and  righteousness  would  "  run  down  our 
streets  as  a  mighty  stream." 

Let  me  therefore  once  again  recommend  it  to  you  (for 
indeed  I  cannot  press  it  too  often)  that  you  would  fre- 
quently set  this  golden  rule  before  your  eyes,  to  do  no- 
thing to  any  other  person,  which,  were  you  in  his  capa- 
city, you  would  think  unjust  to  be  done  unto  yourselves ; 
and  whatsoever  you  would  expect  from  others  as  your 
due  were  you  in  their  place  and  they  in  yours,  to  perform 
the  very  same  to  them ;  for  otherwise  you  cannot  but  con- 
demn yourselves  in  your  actions  whilst  you  do  that  which 
upon  this  supposition  you  cannot  but  be  convinced  is  un- 
just, and  withhold  that  which  you  know  to  be  due,  and 
which  yourselves  would  expect  should  be  yielded  to  you 
by  others.  This  is  a  dictate  of  nature  and  right  reason, 
this  is  the  sum  of  the  law  and  the  prophets ;  and  all  those 
various  precepts  which  are  given  us  in  the  Scriptures  for 
the  conduct  of  our  lives  are  T3ut  as  so  many  lines  that 
meet  all  in  this  centre ;  and  if  we  apply  it  to  each  particu- 


376  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

lar  command  of  the  second  table,  we  shall  find  them  all 
founded  upon  this,  and  to  be  interpreted  by  it.  We  are 
required  to  honor  superiors ;  to  abstain  from  murder, 
from  adultery,  from  theft,  from  false  accusations,  from  co- 
veting what  rightfully  belongs  to  another;  and  all  this  ac- 
cording to  the  same  measures  by  which  we  would  have 
others  perform  these  very  duties  to  us.  So  that  self, 
which  is  now  the  great  tempter  to  wrong  and  injure 
others,  were  it  governed  according  to  this  universal 
maxim,  would  be  the  greatest  patron  and  defender  of 
other  men's  rights  and  dues. 

I  have  the  longer  insisted  on  this  principle,  both  be- 
cause it  is  of  such  general  influence  to  the  right  ordering 
of  our  conversation,  and  also  because  the  most  visible 
and  apparent  violation  of  this  natural  law  is  by  the  sin  of 
theft  forbidden  in  this  commandment.  '       .      •   - 

I.  Theft,  in  general,  is  an  unjust  taking  or  keeping 
to  ourselves  what  is  lawfully  another  man's.  He  is  a  thief 
who  withholds  what  ought  to  be  in  his  neighbor's  posses- 
sion, as  well  as  he  who  takes  from  him  what  he  hath  for- 
merly possessed. 

^  All  theft  presupposes  a  right  and  propriety ;  for  where 
nothing  of  right  appertains  to  me,  nothing  can  be  unjust- 
ly taken  or  detained  from  me. 

1.  Certain  it  is,  that  God  is  the  great  Lord  and  pro- 
prietor hoth  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  of  all  things  in  them : 
Ps.  24  :  1,  "  The  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  fulness 
thereof;"  and  50  :  10,  "Every  beast  of  the  forest  is 
mine,  and  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills."  By  him  and 
of  him  are  all  things ;  and  for  his  will  and  pleasure  they 
are,  and  were  created. 


EIGHTH    COMMANDMENT.  377 

2.  This  great  and  absolute  Lord  hath  granted  to  man  a 
large  charter  of  the  world.  When  he  had  taken  an  exact 
inventory  of  those  goods  with  which  he  had  furnished 
this  great  house,  the  universe,  (he  "  saw  every  thing  that 
he  had  made,  and  behold,  it  was  very  good,"  Gen. 
1  :  31 ;)  then  he  set  man  to  live  in  it  as  his  tenant,  and 
freely  gave  him  the  use  of  and  dominion  over  all  the 
works  of  his  hands,  Gen.  1  :  28,  "  Replenish  the  earth 
and  subdue  it,  and  have  dominion  over  all  the  fish  of 
the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  every  liv- 
ing thing  that  moveth  upon  the  earth."  So  the  Psalmist, 
Ps.  H5  :  16,  "  The  heaven,  even  the  heavens  are  the 
Lord's;  but  the  earth  hath  he  given  to  the  children  of 
men."  A  large  and  regal  gift,  whereby  he  hath  made 
over  all  sublunary  things  to  man ;  reserving  to  himself 
the  sovereignty  and  supreme  lordship  of  all,  and  requir- 
ing only  from  man  the  homage  and  payment  of  obe- 
dience.   Yet, 

'?  3.  This  large  charter  and  donation  gave  no  particular 
propriety  to  any :  neither,  if  man  had  continued  in  his 
happy  and  innocent  estate,  would  there  have  been  any 
need  of  mine  or  thinCj  or  any  partition  of  these  earthly 
possessions;  but  common  blessings  had  been  enjoyed  in 
common,  and  all  things  which  covetousness  and  comip- 
tion  now  ravine  after,  would  have  been  as  promiscuous- 
ly enjoyed  and  used  as  the  common  light  and  air,  and 
each  particular  man's  share  in  those  blessings  would  have 
been  sufficient  and  satisfactory.    But, 

4.  Sin  entering  into  the  world,  7nen*s  desires  grew  im^ 
moderate  after  these  earthly  enjoyments ^  and  their  attempts 
to  attain  them  injurious  to  others ;  so  that  it  became  ne- 
cessary to  prescribe  bounds  and  limits  to  them,  and  to 


378  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

divide  among  them  what  before  lay  in  common  among 
all ;  that  each  man  knowing  his  assigned  portion,  might 
rest  satisfied  with  it,  and  be  restrained  from  the  unjust 
invasion  and  usurpation  of  another's  right.    And, 

5.  This  could  no  otherwise  be  effected  but  by  human 
laws,  hy  mutual  compact  and  agreement,  declaring  what 
should  he  accounted  as  every  man's  right  and  property.  So 
that  it  is  law  which  is  the  great  determiner  of  property ; 
and  there  is  nothing  mine  or  thine,  farther  than  this  as- 
signs it  to  u&i  Indeed  equity  must  sometimes  interpose 
to  moderate  the  letter  of  the  law;  for,  in  some  cases, 
should  we  rigorously  prosecute  our  right,  and  insist»upon 
every  punctilio  that  we  may  call  our  due,  this,  although 
it  would  not  be  unjust,  yet  it  would  be  justice  turned  in- 
to gall  and  wormwood ;  it  would  be  a  breach  and  viola- 
tion of  the  law  of  Christ  and  of  charity,  which  requires 
us  rather  to  part  with  our  own  in  small  matters,  than  to 
be  vexatious  or  contentious  in  recovering  or  defending  it. 

Thus  ygu  see  how  all  right  and  property  first  came  into 
the  world :  a  general  right,  by  the  donation  of  God ;  a 
particular  right  by  the  sanction  of  laws,  alloting  to  each 
man  his  portion,  which  to  invade  or  usurp  from  him,  is 
injustice  or  theft.  1    .•  '^ 

Whence  it  follows  that  where  there  is  no  society  in  oc- 
cupation of  any  part  of  the  earth,  the  right  accrues  to  the 
first  possessor;  and  where  things  are  found  which  apper- 
tain to  none,  they  fall  to  the  first  seizor ;  for  there  can  be 
no  theft  committed  where  there  is  no  precedent  title.  If, 
any  therefore  should  providentially  be  cast  into  some  de- 
sert and  uninhabited  part  of  the  world,  the  general  char- 
ter that  God  hath  given  to  mankind  of  possessing  the 
earth,  empowers  them  to  seize  on  it  as  theirs ;  and  they 


EIGHTH    COMMANDMENT.  379 

may  lawfully  make  use  of  the  blessings  of  it  in  common, 
till,  by  mutual  consent,  they  shall  divide  to  each  other 
their  part  and  portion ;  but  after  such  a  partition  is  made, 
to  use  the  same  liberty  is  no  longer  lawful,  but  theft  and 
robbery. 

Thus  you  see  what  theft  is,  and  that  this  law  of  God 
prohibiting  us  to  steal  what  is  another's,  doth  presuppose 
a  law  of  man,  which  maketh  property  and  causeth  things 
to  become  either  ours  or  another's. 

But  there  are  many  kinds  of  theft. 

1.  The  first  kind  of  theft  is  the  taking  away  of  what 
rightfully  belongs  to  another,  whether  God  or  man. 

(1.)  Of  this  sort  the  highest  and  chief  is  that  committed 
against  God  hy  sacrilege,  which  is  an  alienating  from  God 
whatever  he  hath  appropriated  to  himself,  or  whatever  is 
on  good  grounds  dedicated  to  the  encouragement  and 
maintenance  of  his  honor  and  service. 

Indeed  the  alienating  of  what  hath  been  given  to  super- 
stitious or  idolatrous  uses  cannot  be  justly  4ncluded  in 
the  sin  of  sacrilege ;  for  it  was  not  so  much  given  to  God 
as  to  ignorance  and  superstition ;  therefore  our  ancestors 
have  done  well  and  piously  in  dissolving  those  nests  and 
cages  of  unclean  birds  that  were  so  numerous  and  bur- 
thensome  in  these  kingdoms  ;  but  withal,  in  my  judgment, 
they  would  have  done  much  better  if  they  had  converted 
their  revenues  to  some  public  use,  either  for  the  benefit 
of  the  church  or  the  commonwealth,  rather  than  to  their 
DvvTi  private  and  particular  gain. 

'  But  where  any  thing  is  indeed  consecrated  to  God  and 
set  apart  for  the  maintenance  and  encouragement  of  his 
worship  and  service,  it  is  no  less  than  sacrilege  and  rob- 
bing of  God  to  alienate  any  part  of  this  to  any  secular  use. 


380  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

or  to  detain  it  from  that  use  to  which  it  was  separated. 

Of  this  God  himself  grievously  complains,  Mai.  3  :  8,  9, 
"  Will  a  man  rob  God  ]"  as  if  it  were  a  sin  so  heinous  as 
that  it  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  any  man  would  be  guilty 
of  it.  What !  not  allow  that  God  his  share  among  them 
who  had  liberally  afforded  them  all  things  to  enjoy !  "  Yet 
ye  have  robbed  me.  But  ye  say,  Wherein  have  we  rob- 
bed thee  1  In  tithes  and  offerings.  Ye  are  cursed  with  a 
curse ;  for  ye  have  robbed  me,  even  this  whole  nation.'' 

Certainly  those  things  which  are  appointed  for  the  wor- 
ship and  service  of  God,  whether  they  be  so  originally  by 
divine  right  or  not,  yet  cannot  be  alienated  nor  detained 
without  involving  the  persons  or  the  nation  that  doeth  thus 
in  a  most  direful  curse ;  for  this  is  no  other  than  a  robbing 
God  of  his  right. 

(2.)  Theft  is  committed  against  men  by  an  unjust  seiz- 
ing or  detaining  what  of  right  belongs  to  them.  And  this 
may  be  done  either  by  fraud  or  force:  therefore  our 
Savior  in  reciting  the  commandments  mentions  them  botjb 
Mark,  10  :  19,  "  Do  not  steal:  defraud  not."        .      ,      ; 

This  is  a  sin,  moreover,  that  God  hath  threatened  with 
many  severe  curses  and  punishments. 
-  The  temporal  punishment  which  the  Scripture  awards 
to  it  is  a  fourfold  and  sometimes  a  fivefold  restitution,  as 
you  may  see,  Exod.  22  :  1 ;  therefore  Zaccheus,  when  he 
was  converted,  offers  a  fourfold  restitution  to  those  whom 
he  had  wronged,  "  Luke,  19  :  8,  "If  I  have  taken  any 
thing  from  any  man  by  false  accusation,  I  restore  him 
fourfold." 

And  yet,  besides  this  restitution,  it  seems  that  some- 
times the  offenders  were  to  be  put  to  death,  especially  if 
the  circumstances  of  their  theft  added  cruelty  and  dp- 


EIGHTH    COMMANDMENT.  381 

pression  to  it.  This  appears  in  the  parable  of  Nathan, 
2  Sam.  12.  When  he  had  most  artificially  aggravated 
the  crime  of  the  rich  man  in  taking  away  the  poor  man's 
lamb,  he  so  raised  David's  compassion  and  indignation 
that  he  pronounced  this  sentence,  verse  5,  6,  "  The  man 
that  hath  done  this  thing  shall  surely  die ;  and  he  shall 
restore  the  lamb  fourfold,  because  he  did  this  thing,  and 
because  he  had  no  pity."  So  you  see  that,  even  under 
the  law  of  Moses,  it  was  not  unlawful  in  some  cases  to 
punish  a  thief  with  death,  though  the  usual  and  pre- 
scribed punishment  was  restitution. 

.God  also  leaves  a  curse  upon  what  is  gotten  hy  theft  and 
deceit.  A  curse  that  will  blast  and  consume  all  such  wick- 
ed increase.  They  put  it  into  a  bag  with  holes,  and,  by 
some  unperceivable  providence,  it  strangely  wastes  and 
slips  away  between  their  fingers.  But,  usually,  luxury 
and  intemperance  devour  what  is  got  by  theft  and 
rapine — God,  by  his  righteous  judgment,  making  one 
sin  the  vengeance  of  another.  Some  secret  withering 
curse  seizeth  upon  it,  and  what  is  thus  wickedly  add- 
ed to  our  former  possessions,  will  rub  its  rust  and 
canker  upon  them  all;  and,  if  restitution  be  not  duly 
made,  will  insensibly  prey  upon  them  and  consume 
them;  therefore,  saith  the  wise  man,  Proverbs,  21  :  7, 
"The  robbery  of  the  wicked  shall  destroy  them;"  and 
Jer.  17  :  11,  "As  the  partridge  sitteth  on  eggs,  and 
hatcheth  them  not,  so  he  that  getteth  riches,  and  not 
by  right,  shall  leave  them  in  the  mixlst  of  his  days,  and 
at  his  end  shall  be  a  fool."  Many  times  Grod  raiseth 
up  those  against  them  who  deal  vdth  them  as  they 
have  dealt  with  others;  and  when  these  spunges  are 
full  of  what  they  have  unjustly  sucked  up,  they  shall  be 


382  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

squeezed,  and  made  to  refund  their  ill-gotten  treasure. 
Thus  God  threatens  the  Chaldeans,  Hab.  2  :  8,  "Be- 
cause thou  hast  spoiled  many  nations,  all  the  remnant 
of  the  people  shall  spoil  thee."  Such  unjust  gettings 
tend  only  to  poverty  ;  and  in  this  sense  it  is  no  solecism 
to  say  they  have  but  gained  a  loss,  and  treasured  for 
themselves  and  their  posterity  want  and  beggary. 
Therefore,  as  you  desire  to  thrive  in  the  world,  and 
to  have  your  earthly  comforts  multiplied,  so  be  sure 
that  no  gain  of  robbery,  or  oppression,  or  fraud  and 
deceit,  be  found  in  your  hands  ;  for  this  will  devour 
even  what  you  have  gotten  lawfully. 

Again,  not  only  is  theft  against  men  threatened  with 
severe  curses  and  punishments,  but  anxieties  and  per- 
plexities of  mind  always  accompany  ill-gotten  wealth. 
This  is  a  sin  so  much  against  the  very  light  of  nature, 
that  conscienc;e,  if  it  be  not  utterly  stupified  and  sense- 
less, will  be  still  molesting  and  haunting  men  with 
troublesome  thoughts  and  reflections;  besides,  the  fear 
of  detection,  and  the  shame  and  punishment  which  will 
follow  upon  it,  must  needs  be  a  continual  disturbance 
to  them.  Whereas,  what  is  gotten  with  a  good  con- 
science, and  in  an  honest  and  lawful  calling,  wheth- 
er it  be  more  or  less,  brings  this  contentment  with  it, 
that  a  man  may  quietly  sit  down  and  rejoice  in  that 
portion  which  the  providence  and  bounty  of  his  gracious 
God  and  heavenly  Father  have  here  afforded  him.  He 
drinks  no  widow's  tears  nor  orphan's  blood.  He  eats 
not  the  flesh  of  the  poor,  nor  breaks  the  bones  of  the 
needy.  His  conscience  gnaws  not  upon  him  whilst  he 
is  feeding  on  what  his  honest  labor  and  industry  have 
prepared  for  him  ;  and  althoug]>  it  be  but  a  bit  of  bread 


EIGHTH    COMMANDMENT.  383 

and  a  cup  of  water  that  he  can  procure,  yet  is  he  enter- 
tained at  a  continual  feast.  His  fare  may  be  but  mean, 
yet  his  cheer,  his  joy  and  comfort  is  great,  and  the 
coarsest  morsel  he  eats  is  far  more  savory  to  him  than 
all  the  heightened  delicacies  of  rich  oppressors,  whose 
consciences  mingle  gall  and  wormwood  with  their  most 
pleasant  bits,  and  gnaw  and  grind  them  as  they  grind  the 
faces  of  the  poor  and  needy.  Therefore,  saith  the  wise 
man,  Prov.  16  :  8,  **  Better  is  a  little  with  righteousness, 
than  great  revenues  without  right."  And  the  Psalmist, 
Ps.  37  :  16,  *'  A  little  that  a  righteous  man  hath  is  better 
than  the  riches  of  many  wicked." 

Further,  this  sm  of  robbery  and  deceit  provokes  God 
to  cut  men  off  hy  some  untimely  stroke  and  immature 
judgment — and  that,  either  by  the  hand  of  human  justice 
with  shame  and  reproach,  or  of  divine  justice  with  wrath 
and  vengeance.  For  so  we  find  it  threatened,  Ps.  55  : 
23,  "  Thou,  O  God,  shalt  bring  them  down  into  the  pit 
of  destruction  :  bloody  and  deceitful  men  shall  not  live 
out  half  their  days  :"  that  is,  they  shall  not  lengthen  out 
their  days  to  that  period  which  the  course  and  strength 
of  nature  might  seem  to  promise  them ;  but  the  hand  of 
God  shall  cut  them  off  in  the  vigor  and  midst  of  their 
flourishing  years.  But,  however  it  may  fare  with  them 
in  this  life,  however  they  may  escape  the  reproach  of 
men  and  the  sword  of  justice,  yet, 

They  who  commit  this  sin  shall  certainly  he  eternally 
cursed  and  eternally  miserable.  Their  ill-gotten  goods 
shall  not  be  able  to  redeem  their  souls,  nor  bribe  the  jus- 
tice of  God,  nor  give  them  the  least  solace  and  comfort. 
And  what  wretched  fools  are  they  who  must  eternally 
perish   for   gaining  things  that  perish   here,    and    bring 


384  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

everlasting  torments  upon  themselves  for  that  which  be- 
fore brought  them  vexations  and  disquietude!  1  Cor. 
6  :  10,  "Nor  thieves,  nor  covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor 
revilers,  nor  extortioners  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God."  Where  then  shall  their  portion  be  but  in  that  lake 
w^hich  burneth  w^ith  fire  and  brimstone  unquenchable  ? 
Where  the  Lord  w^ill  spoil  their  very  souls,  as  the  wise 
man's  expression  is,  Prov.  22  :  23,  "  Rob  not  the  poor ; 
for  the  Lord  will  plead  their  cause,  and  will  spoil  the 
soul  of  those  that  spoiled  them."  Thus  you  see  in  what 
various  ways  God  hath  threatened  that  he  will  punish 
this  sin. 

But  before  I  can  proceed  farther,  here  are  two  questions 
to  be  answered. 

Question  1.  Whether  in  no  case  it  he  lawful  to  steal. 
What  if  the  necessity  be  so  lu'gent  that  I  must  certainly 
perish  or  else  relieve  myself  by  this  means  % 

I  say  we  ought  not  to  do  it  in  any  case,  for  theft  is  in 
itself  a  sin,  and  there  can  be  no  necessity  to  sin ;  for  every 
man  is  bound  rather  to  choose  the  greatest  evil  of  suffer- 
ings than  to  commit  the  least  evil  of  sin. 

Indeed  such  necessity  doth  somewhat  mitigate  the  hei- 
nousness  of  the  offence ;  but  that  is  not  at  all  considerable 
in  the  direction  of  our  practice,  since  it  continues  a  sin 
still,  and  deserves  et-ernal  damnation.  The  wise  man  tells 
us,  Prov.  6  :  30,  31,  *'  Men  do  not  despise  a  thief  if  he 
steal  to  satisfy  his  soul  when  he  is  hungry;"  but  this 
must  be  understood  only  comparatively,  viz.  that  the  re- 
proach and  infamy  which  attend  such  a  one  are  not  so 
great  as  that  of  an  adulterer,  as  it  appears  verse  32,  as  if 
he  should  say,  "  To  be  an  adulterer  is  a  far  fouler  re- 
proach than  to  be  a  needy  thief."  Yet  he  adds,  "  If  he  be 


EIGHTH    COMMANDMENT.     \V  >i^'         285 

found  lie  shall  restore  sevenfold ;  he  «hall  give  all  the 
substance  of  his  house  :"  that  is,  though  his  necessity  and 
hunger  may  take  off'  somewhat  from  the  shame,  yet  it 
shall  not  from  the  punishment  of  his  offence,  but  he  shall 
restore  that  vv^hich  he  hath  stolen  sevenfold.  Not  that  the 
restitution  should  be  seven  times  as  much  as  the  theft, 
for  the  utmost  that  the  law  requires  was  but  a  fivefold  res- 
titution, Exod.  22  :  1;  but  as  the  word  sevenfold  is  most 
frequently  used  in  Scripture  to  signify  that  which  is  com- 
plete and  perfect,  so  is  it  here,  **he  shall  restore  seven- 
fold," that  is,  he  shall  make  a  full  and  satisfactory  res- 
titution. 

Since  therefore  the  punishment  of  theft  shall  not  be  re- 
laxed upon  the  plea  of  indigence  and  necessity,  it  is  ap- 
parent that  necessity  cannot  justify  any  from  the  guilt 
of  theft. 

'  Hence,  let  your  wants  be  what  they  will  or  can  be, 
you  ought  not  to  supply  them  by  any  such  wicked  aiid 
unlawful  courses,  whatever  Aquinas  says  to  the  contrary, 
22  de  q.  66,  art.  7.  If  God  hath  given  thee  strength  and 
ability,  thou  oughtest  to  labor  and  to  use  thine  honest  in- 
dustry to  procure  necessaries  ;  if  not,  thou  oughtest  to  im- 
plore the  charity  and  benevolence  of  others  whose  hearts 
God  may  open  to  thy  relief.  Or  if  thou  shouldst  Tneet 
with  such  cruel  Diveses  who  will  contribute  nothing  to 
thy  support,  thou  oughtest  rather,  with  godly  Lazarus,  to 
die  in  thine  integrity  than  to  steal  any  thing  from  them, 
which,  although  it  be  their  superfluity,  yet  it  is  not  thy 
right  without  their  donation. 

Question  2.  What  shall  we  judge  of  the  Israelites 
spoiling  the  Egyptians  of  their  jewels,  of  which  we  read, 
Exod.  12:  35,  36? 

Ten  Com.  J'jr 


386  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

I  answer :  In  this  action  there  was  no  theft  committed.  For, 

(1.)  The  supreme  dominion  of  all  things  is  the  Lord's, 
and  he  may  justly  transfer  the  right  and  property  where 
he  pleaseth.  Therefore  the  Israelites  being  commanded 
by  the  Lord  to  take  these  things  of  the  Egyptians,  took 
only  what  was  rightfully  their  own,  being  made  so  by  him 
who  hath  the  sovereign  power  of  all  things  both  in  heaven 
and  earth. 

(2.)  These  things  which  they  thus  took  might  be  well 
considered  in  lieu  of  their  wages,  which  were  not  given 
them  for  their  long  service  in  Egypt.  Therefore  it  was 
but  righteous  in  God  to  consign  over  these  riches  of  the 
Egyptians  to  the  Israelites  as  a  reward  for  their  tedious 
servitude.  Those  who,  by  the  command  of  the  supreme 
Lord  of  all,  take  that  which  is  but  a  due  reward  for  their 
labor,  cannot  certainly  be  condemned  as  guilty  of  theft. 
And  this,  it  seems,  was  their  plea,  when  in  the  time  of 
Alexander  the  Great,  so  many  ages  after  the  thing  was 
done,  the  Egyptians  sued  the  Jews  by  a  juridical  pro- 
cess, to  recover  what  was  taken  from  them.  But, 
..  (3.)  This  example  is  extraordinary  and  special,  and 
not  to  be  pleaded  nor  introduced  into  practice.  For 
certain  it  is  that  they  had  a  most  express  command  from 
God  to  spoil  the  Egyptians.  But  whosoever  shall  pre- 
tend any  such  warrant  now,  by  revelation  or  the  impulse 
of  his  private  spirit,  may  well  be  censured  for  enthu- 
siasm and  condemned  for  robbery.  Thus  I  have  done 
with  the  first  and  greatest  kind  of  theft:  taking  away 
what  rightfully  belongs  to  another,  whether  God  or  man. 

2.  Another  kind  of  theft  is,  ojp^ession  and  unreason' 
able  exaction.  "  .."     =     •    ■•  -  • -, 

And  this  especially  is  the  sin   of  superiors    towards 


EIGHTH    COMMANDMENT*        f  387 

their  inferiors :  taking  advantage,  either  upon  their  weak- 
ness or  their  necessity,  to  impose  most  unequal  condi- 
tions upon  them,  and  such  as  they  cannot  bear  without 
their  detriment  or  ruin ;  contrary  to  that  law  which  God 
gave  unto  his  people.  Lev.  25  :  14,  "  If  thou  sell  ought 
unto  thy  neighbor,  or  buyest  ought  at  thy  neighbor's 
hand,  ye  shall  not  oppress  one  another."  Thus,  those 
who  set  their  lands  to  the  sweat  and  toil  of  others  at  too 
hard  a  rate,  so  that  the  laborious  tenant  cannot  subsist  by 
his  industry  ;  those  that  let  out  money  at  a  biting  interest, 
or  rigidly  exact  it  from  insufficient  persons ;  great  ones 
who  fright  the  meaner  into  disadvantageous  bargains,  and 
force  them  through  fear  to  part  with  what  they  enjoy  at 
an  under  price  ;  these,  and  others  like  them,  though  they 
may  not  be  condemned  by  human  laws,  which  give  too 
much  permission  to  men  to  make  the  utmost  advantage 
of  their  own,  yet  they  are  guilty  by  the  law  of  God,  and 
their  sin  is  no  less  than  oppression,  which  is  a  sin  hateful 
both  to  God  and  man.  The  prophet  Micah,  chap.  3  :  2,  3, 
calls  it  a  "flaying  off  their  skin  from  off  them,  and  their 
flesh  from  off  their  bones;"  and  "  chopping  them  in  pie- 
ces as  for  the  pot,  and  as  flesh  for  the  caldron."  All  un- 
mercifulness  and  hard  dealings  with  others  are  a  kind  of 
thefi; ;  for  the  law  of  nature,  and  much  more  the  law  of 
chanty,  binds  thee  so  to  deal  with  others  that  they  may 
have  no  cause  to  complain  of  thee  to  God,  and  in  the  bit- 
terness of  their  spirits  to  imprecate  his  wrath  and  ven- 
geance upon  thee. 

3.  Another  kind  of  theft  is,  detaining  from  another 
what  is  his  due  either  bij  equity  or  compact. 

And  how  many  are  there  whose  profuse  riot  and  lux- 
ury are  maintained  upon  the  intrusted  goods  of  others, 


^88  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

whilst  the  poor  creditor  in  the  meantime  hath  no  otlicr 
satisfaction  but  good  words,  and  scarce  any  thing  to  live 
upon  but  his  own  tears  and  sighs  !  And  how  many  with- 
hold the  hire  of  the  laborer,  who,  when  he  hath  wearied 
himself  in  their  service,  is  denied  that  small  reward 
which  he  requires  for  his  necessary  refreshment !  Yea, 
not  only  denying  it,  but  even  deferring  it  beyond  the 
time  that  they  can  conveniently  be  without  it,  is  a  kind  of 
theft  and  oppression.  Deut.  24  :  14,  15,  "  Thou  shalt 
not  oppress  a  hired  servant  that  is  poor  and  needy.  At 
his  day  thou  shalt  give  him  his  hire,  neither  shall  the  sun 
go  down  upon  it ;  for  he  is  poor,  and  setteth  his  heart 
upon  it :  lest  he  cry  against  thee  unto  the  Lord,  and  it  be 
sin  unto  thee."  Yea,  in  all  thy  bargains  and  agreements, 
though  they  be  never  so  much  to  thine  own  prejudice, 
thou  art  bound  to  stand  to  them,  unless  the  other  will 
voluntarily  release  thee  from  the  obligation;  for  this  is 
one  of  the  characters  given  of  a  godly  person,  Ps.  15  :  4, 
"  He  that  sweareth,"  and  covenanteth  "  to  his  own  hurt, 
and  changeth  not,"  but  upon  demand  is  ready  and  willing 
to  fulfil  his  agreement.  How  much  more  heinous  and 
abominable  is  it,  when  men  have  already  received  the  full 
value  of  their  compact,  unjustly  to  withhold  what  they 
have  agreed  to  give !  which  is  no  better  than  to  take 
their  labor  or  their  goods  from  them  by  violence  and  rob- 
bery ;  yea,  and  in  one  respect  worse,  inasmuch  as  it  adds 
falsehood  to  stealth. 

4.  Another  kind  of  theft  is  in  buying  and  selling. 

And  this  is  a  very  large  and  voluminous  deceit ;  for  the 
subtlety  of  men  hath  found  out  so  many  artifices  to  de- 
fraud and  overreach  one  another,  that  to  recount  them  is 
almost  as  hai  d  as  to  escape  them.  Here  come  in  the  false 


EIGHTH    COMMANDMENT.  389 

weights  and  the  false  measures  which  are  an  "  abomina- 
tion to  the  Lord,"  Prov.  11:  1 ;  false  and  counterfeited 
wares ;  overcommending  or  undervaluing  of  goods  ibr 
advantage,  and  many  other  unjust  contrivances  which 
men's  consciences  can  better  suggest  to  them  than  any 

-discourse.  The  apostle  hath  sufficiently  cautioned  and 
threatened  such  men,  1  Thess.  4:6,  "  Let  no  man  go 
beyond  or  defraud  his  brother  in  any  matter;  because 
that  the  Lord  is  the  avenger  of  all  such."   Believe  it,  there 

'is  a  day  coming  when  the  false  weights  shall  be  them- 
selves weighed,  and  the  scanty  measures  measured  by  a 
standard  that  is  infallibly  true.  Possibly  thou  mayest  deal 
■^,  so  cunningly,  that  those  whom  thou  overreachest  can  have 
no  advantage  against  thee  nor  right  themselves  by  law  ; 
.  but  remember  that  the  great  Judge  will  avenge  them  upon 
.<  thee  at  the  last  day.  Then  all  accounts  shall  be  balanced, 
and  so  much  found  resting  due  which  thou  shalt  certainly 
pay,  though  not  to  those  whom  thou  hast  wronged,  yet  to 
the  justice  of  God  who  is  the  great  and  universal  creditor. 
Besides  these  several  kinds  of  theft,  there  are  likewise 
manT/  other  kinds,  as  prodigality  in  wasting  what  should 
satisfy  the  just  demands  of  others,  taking  wages  and  re- 

._ward  for  what  we  do  not  endeavor  conscientiously  to  per- 
form ;  selling  that  which  we  have  no  right  to  dispose  of, 
or  things  which  ought  not  to  be  sold ;  taking  bribes  for 
justice,  or  rewards  for  injustice.  But  I  shall  not  particu- 
larly insist  upon  these  and  many  others  that  might  be 
mentioned. — Thus  we  have  seen  what  the  negative  part  of 
this  precept  is,  or  what  i&  forbidden  in  this  commandment. 

II.  As  eveiy  negative  implies  in  it  a  positive,  let  us 
now  see  what  is  the  duty  here  required. 


390  THE    TEN   COMMANDMENTS. 

This  is  twofold :  that  every  one  of  us  should  have 
some  calling,  and  that  all  of  us  should  be  contented  in  the 
state  and  condition  of  life  in  which  Divine  providence 
hath  placed  us. 

1.  The  command  is,  thou  shalt  not  steal;  therefore 
every  man  ought  to  have  a  calling  by  which  he  may 
comfortably  subsist,  and  by  his  labor  and  industry  may 
provide  at  least  necessaries  for  himself  and  family.  For 
he  that  provideth  not  for  his  family  "  hath  denied  the 
faith,"  saith  the  Apostle,  **and  is  worse  than  an  infidel." 

(1.)  Some  there  ^re  toho  live  without  any  calling  at  all. 
Such  are  like  idle  drones  that  consume  the  labor  of  others, 
lazy  vagabonds  to  whom  the  greatest  charity  would  be 
correction,  who  only  sei-ve  to  devour  misplaced  alms  and 
defraud  the  truly  poor  of  their  relief.  Yea,  if  I  should 
rank  with  these  a  company  of  superfluous  debauched 
gentlemen,  I  think  I  should  do  them  no  great  injury ; 
such  I  mean  who  are  neither  serviceable  to  God  nor  their 
country,  who  have  nothing  of  true  worth  and  gentility  in 
them,  but  are  a  company  of  lewd  and  desperate  characters, 
the  most  unprofitable  members  in  the  commonwealth,  and 
good  for  nothing  but  to  kill  and  destroy  one  another  in 
their  drunken  quarrels.  I  know  there  is  no  necessity  for 
manual  employment  and  labor  to  those  whom  God  hath 
liberally  endowed  with  his  earthly  blessings ;  but  yet  they 
may  have  a  calling,  and  within  their  own  sphere  may 
find  employment  enough  to  take  up  their  time  and 
thoughts,  and  such  as  may  make  them  the  most  beneficial 
men  on  earth,  and  truly  honored  and  loved  by  others  ; 
for  by  their  authority,  their  example,  the  ampleness  of 
their  patrimony  and  revenues,  and  the  dependence  thaf 
Others  have  upon  them,  they  may  be  as  influential  to  pro 


EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT.  391 

mote  goodness  and  virtue  as  too  commonly  they  are  to 
promote  vice  and  villany;  and  to  such  truly  generous 
spirits  who  intend  to  be  so  employed,  let  me  commend 
the  careful  perusal  of  an  excellent  treatise  directed  to 
them,  entitled,  *'  The  Gentleman's  Calling."  But  yet 
w^ithal,  if  they  should  condescend  to  some  stated  vocation 
and  course  of  life,  it  would  be  no  disparagement  to  their 
gentility ;  for  certainly  Adam  was  as  much  a  gentleman, 
and  had  as  large  demesnes  as  any  of  them,  and  yet  God 
thought  fit  to  plafce  him  in  Eden  that  he  might  dress  and 
keep  the  garden.    But  as  some  have  no  employment, 

(2.)  Others  have  an  unlawful  employment^  whose  only 
work  is  to  instruct  in  vice,  and  excite  men  to  it.  And 
how  many  such  are  there  who  live  by  provoking  and  en- 
couraging the  wickedness  of  others,  and  continually  make 
use  of  all  the  allurements  that  might  entice  to  evil ;  and 
recommend  debauchery,  first  to  the  fancy  and  then  to  the 
will  and  affections  ! 

(3.)  Others  have  indeed  an  honest  and  a  lawful  calling, 
but  they  are  7iegligent  and  slothful  in  it.  Sloth  tendeth  to 
poverty,  Prov.  6  :  10,  11,  '*  Yet  a  little  sleep,  a  little  slum- 
ber, a  little  folding  of  the  hands  to  sleep  :  so  shall  thy  po- 
verty come  as  one  that  travelleth,"  drawing  nearer  and 
nearer  to  thee  by  soft  and  silent  degrees  ;  "  and  thy  want 
as  an  armed  man,"  who,  though  his  pace  be  slow  by  rea- 
son of  the  weight  of  his  armor,  yet  his  assaults  are  more 
irresistible  and  destructive.  And  poverty  tempts  to  thefi;, 
Prov.  30  :  9,  **  Lest  I  be  poor,  and  steal."  And  therefore 
this  command,  which  forbids  theft,  must,  by  consequence, 
enjoin  labor  and  industry  in  those  lawful  callings  wherein 
the  Divine  providence  hath  set  us,  according  to  that  of 
the  apostle,  Eph.  4  :  28,  "  Let  him  that  stole,  steal  no 


392  The  ten  commandments.  , 

more ;  but  rather  let  him  labor,  working  with  his  hands 
the  thing  which  is  good,  that  he  may  have  to  give  to  him 
that  needeth,"  and  so,  by  his  industry,  of  a  thief  become 
a  benefactor  and  alms-giver. 

\   2.  It  requires  us  to  be  contented  with  that  portion  of  y/^ 
earthly  comforts  which  our  heavenly  Father  allots  to  iis. 

"  Be  content  with  those  things  ye  have."  Heb.  13  :  5. 
And  certainly  he  that  is  not  content  with  what  God  allows 
him,  lies  under  a  grievous  temptation,  by  fraudulent  and 
unjust  courses,  to  carve  out  his  own  condition  to  himself, 
and  to  invade  the  rights  and  property  of  others.  Discon- 
tent and  covetousness  are  the  root  of  all  injustice.  He 
that  thinks  himself  wronged  in  that  he  hath  not  as  much 
as  some  others,  will  be  apt,  either  through  fraud  or  vio- 
lence, to  increase  his  own  by  wronging  of  others. 

Let  us  therefore  check  this  ripening  temper  betimes, 
and  not  think  that  we  have  too  little  and  others  too  much  ; 
but  whatsoever  God  affordeth  us,  let  us  account  it  suffi- 
cient provision  and  a  child's  portion ;  and  although  it  be 
but  food  and  raiment,  neither  the  most  delicate  nor  the 
most  sumptuous,  yet,  "  having  food  and  raiment,  let  us  be 
therewith  content,"  as  the  apostle  exhorts  us,  1  Tim.  6  : 
8.  Let  us  look  upon  all  other  things  as  superfluous  or  in- 
different, and  not  murmur  though  we  should  never  obtain 
them ;  for  whatever  is  needful  to  thy  subsistence  God's 
providence  and  blessing  upon  thy  industry  will  furnish 
thee  with ;  and  what  is  not  needful  to  this,  is  not  worth 
thy  envy  and  repining. 

3.  I  shall  only  subjoin  a  word  or  two  to  those  who  are 
conscious  to  themselves  that  they  have  wronged  others  of 
what  was  their  due,  and  either  withheld  or  taken  from 
them  what  by  law  and  equity  belonged  to  them. 


EIGHTH    COMMANDMENT.^  393 

Let  such  know  that  they  are  bound  to  make  them  a 
perfect  and  plenary  satisfaction,  by  making  an  entire  and 
plenary  restitution,  if  the  thing  they  have  stolen  or  pur- 
loined be  still  extant  and  in  their  hand;  or  if  not,  then  by 
making  a  full  and  satisfactory  compensation.  Yea,  be  the 
thing  great  or  small,  more  or  less,  though  it  should  seem- 
ingly tend  to  the  loss  of  thy  credit  by  acknowledging 
such  a  wrong,  or  visibly  tend  to  thy  impoverishing  or  un- 
doing to  restore  it,  yet  notwithstanding,  thou  art  bound  to 
restore  every  farthing  of  that  of  which  thou  hast  wronged 
and  defrauded  thy  brother.  Nor  is  it  enough  to  confess 
the  sin  before  God  and  to  beg  pardon  at  his  hands,  but 
thou  must  likewise  render  unto  man  what  is  his  due,  and 
what  thou  unjustly  keepest  from  him,  whether  it  be  his 
by  thy  promise  or  by  his  own  former  possession,  as  ever 
thou  hopest  to  obtain  pardon  for  thy  sin  from  the  mercy 
of  God ;  yea,  and  thou  art  bound  likewise,  to  the  very  ut- 
most of  thy  power,  to  make  him  recompense  for  all  the 
damage  which  he  hath  in  the  meantime  sustained  by  thy 
unjust  withholding  of  his  right  and  due  from  him;  or  else 
thou  shalt  never  obtain  pardon  and  remission  for  thy 
guilt.  And  the  reason  is,  because,  as  long  as  you  detain 
what  is  another's,  so  long  you  continue  in  the  commission 
of  the  same  sin ;  for  unjust  possession  is  a  continued  and 
prolonged  theft,  and  certainly  repentance  can  never  be 
true  nor  sincere  while  we  continue  in  the  sin  of  which 
we  seem  to  repent ;  and  thy  repentance  not  beuig  true, 
pardon  shall  never  be  granted  thee. 

But  you  will  say,  "  What  if  those  whom  we  have 
wronged  be  since  dead  1  How  can  restitution  be  made 
to  them  1" 

I  answer  :  In  this  case  thou  art  bound  to  make  it  to 
17* 


3D4  •        THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS.  ^  . 

theii  children,  or  their  nearest  relations,  to  whom  it  is 
to  be  supposed  that  what  thou  hast  wrongfully  detained 
would  have  descended  and  been  left  by  them.  Or,  if  none 
of  these  can  be  found,  nor  any  to  whom  of  right  it  may 
belong,  then  God's  right  takes  place,  as  he  is  the  great 
Lord  and  proprietor  of  all  things ;  and  thou  oughtest, 
besides  what  thou  art  obliged  to  give  of  thine  own,  to 
bestow  it  on  the  works  of  charity  and  piety,  for  it  is 
then  escheated  to  him.  Yet,  withal,  thou  hast  great 
reason  to  bewail  that  thou  hast  so  long  defeiTed  the 
restitution  of  it  to  the  right  owner  till  now  thou  hast 
made  thyself  incapable  of  doing  it. 

This  possibly  may  seem  a  hard  lesson,  and  doubtless 
it  is  so  in  a  world  so  full  of  rapine  and  injustice ;  but 
yet,  as  hard  as  it  is,  this  is  the  rule  of  Christianity,  this 
is  the  inflexible  law  of  justice,  and  without  this  you  live 
and  die  without  all  hopes  of  obtaining  pardon,  by  con 
tinning  in  your  sins  irapenitently.  "^   .     :^  " ' 


^.jf-:-;  .,'.^r' 


THE    NINTH    COMMANDMENT. 


Thou  Shalt   not   bear  false  witness   against  tliy  neighbor. 

The  former  commandment  provides  for  the  security 
of  every  man's  property^  that  he  may  suffer  no  wrong 
nor  detriment  in  his  goods;  this  provides  for  the  pre- 
servation of  his  good  namcj  which  is  a  much  dearer  pos- 
session. For  "  A  good  name,"  saith  the  wise  man, 
Prov.  22  :  1,  "is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great  riches," 
and  therefore  it  ought  to  be  preserved  and  guarded  by 
us,  although  not  delicately  and  nicely,  yet  tenderly  and 
with  respect.  Whoso  contemns  fame  will  soon  prosti- 
tute virtue,  and  those  who  care  not  what  others  say,  will 
shortly  arrive  to  such  impudence  of  sinning  as  not  to 
care  what  they  themselves  do. 

Indeed  a  good  name  is  so  excellent  a  blessing,  that 
there  is  but  one  thing  to  be  preferred  before  it,  and  that 
is  a  good  conscience.  When  these  two  stand  in  com- 
petition, credit  must  give  place  to  duty ;  and  in  this  ease 
it  is  far  better  to  lose  our  repute  with  men,  than  our  ac- 
ceptance and  reward  with  God.  It  oftentimes  so  hap- 
pens, through  the  ignorance  and  general  corruption  of 
mankind,  that  what  is  honest,  and  pure,  and  just,  is  yet 
not  of  good  report  amongst  them:  piety  is  but  affecta- 
tion, strictness  of  life  a  peevish  hypocrisy,  the  cross  a 
scandal,  Christ  himself  a  wine-bibber,  a  fiiend  of  pub- 


396  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

licanis  and  sinners,  his  doctrine  heresy,  and  his  miracles 
impostures.  And  if  thou  lightest  upon  any  such  froward 
and  perverse  censurers,  as  too  many  such  there  are  in 
all  ages,  **  who  think  it  strange,"  as  the  apostle  speaks, 
"  that  ye  run  not  with  them  to  the  same  excess  of  riot, 
speaking  evil  of  you,"  seek  not  by  any  base  and  sinful 
compliance  to  redeem  their  good  opinion,  but  rather 
glory  in  the  testimony  of  their  railing,  and  account  all 
their  reviling  speeches  to  be  but  so  many  votes  for 
your  blessedness.  **  Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall  revile 
you,  and  persecute  you,  and  shall  speak  all  manner  of  evil 
against  you  falsely  for  my  sake."  Mat.  5:11. 

Never  covet  a  good  name  by  bad  actions.  For  what 
will  all  the  concurring  applause  of  the  whole  world  sig- 
nify to  thee,  if  yet  thy  conscience  condemn  thee  louder 
than  they  can  extol  thee  'i  This  is  but  to  have  music  at 
the  door,  when  all  the  while  there  is  chiding  and  brawl- 
ing within.  It  is  far  better  that  others  should  wound  thy 
credit  than  thou  thy  conscience.  That  is  a  wound  which 
their  tongues  can  never  lick  whole  again.  All  the  repu- 
tation thy  popular  sinning  can  bring  thee  will  be  but  like 
hanging  bells  at  a  horse's  ears,  when  all  the  while  his 
back  is  galled  with  his  burthen.  Whoever  will  be  a 
christian  must  resolve  to  go  through  bad  report  as  well 
as  good:  he  should  desire  the  one,  but  not  anxiously 
refuse  the  other.  And  if  any  will  bespatter  him,  let 
him  be  careful  that  it  be  only  with  their  own  dirt,  and 
not  with  his — -with  their  own  malice,  and  not  his  mis- 
carriages. And  whilst  he  thus  keeps  his  conscience 
dear,  he  may  be  assured  that  his  credit  shall  be  cleared 
up  at  that  day  when  all  their  unjust  reproaches  shall 
but  add  a  crown  and  diadem  of  glory  to  his  head. 


NINTH    COMMANDMEI^T.  397 

But  where  a  good  name  is  consistent  with  a  good 
conscience,  we  ought  to  prize  and  value  it  as  one  of 
the  choicest  of  God's  blessings  in  this  world,  and  to 
use  all  lawful  means  to  preserve  it.     For, 

1.  A  good  name  will  render  a  man  more  serviceable  to 
God,  and  the  Jitter  instrument  to  promote  his  honor  and 
glory  in  the  world.  '^7' 

And  therefore  the  wise  man,  Eccl.  7  :  1,  compares  a 
good  name  to  "  precious  ointment,"  and  in  the  compaii- 
^Bon  gives  it  the  preference.  For  as  precious  ointment  dif- 
fuses its  fragrancy  through  the  room  where  it  is  poured 
forth,  and  affects  all  that  are  in  it  with  its  delightful  odor ; 
so  do  men's  gifts,  when  they  are  perfumed  with  a  good 
name,  delight  and  attract  others,  and  by  a  sweet  and  pow- 
erful charm  allure  them  to  imitate  and  practise  those  vir- 
tues which  they  see  to  be  so  commendable.  And  therefore 
we  find  it  the  apostle's  carCj  2  Cor.  6:3,  to  give  "  no 
offence  in  any  thing,  that  the  ministry  might  not  be 
blamed."  Though  it  be  our  great  folly  to  estimate  men's 
counsels  by  their  own  practice,  since  a  diseased  physician 
may  prescribe  a  wholesome  medicine,  yet  so  it  comes  to 
pass,  whether  through  the  curse  of  God  or  the  prejudice 
of  men,  that  those  who  have  lost  their  credit,  have,  toge- 
ther with  it,  lost  all  opportunities  and  advantages  of  doing 
good  in  the  world :  let  their  talents  be  never  so  great  and 
their  gifts  never  so  eminent,  yet  if  once  this  dead  fly  be 
gotten  into  this  box  of  ointment,  it  will  corrupt  it  and 
render  it  unsavoiy  to  all.  And  the  devil  hath  no  policy  so 
successful  to  make  the  gifts  of  those  whom  he  fears  might 
6hake  his  kingdom  unuseful,  as  either  to  tempt  them  to 
the  commission  of  some  infamous  and  scandalous  sin,  or 
to  tempt  others  falsely  to  calumniate  and  report  such  pro- 


398  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

fligate  crimes  concerning  them ;  then  he  knows  such  a 
one  is  disarmed  and  made  unserviceable,  and  if  he  can  but 
once  blast  the  leaves,  the  fruit  will  seldom  come  to  any 
maturity  and  perfection.  Therefore  as  you  desire  to  be 
serviceable  to  God  in  promoting  his  glory,  and  to  the 
world  in  promoting  their  good  and  benefit,  which  is  the 
gTeat  end  of  our  being  and  the  only  thing  worth  living 
for,  so  endeavor,  by  all  wise  and  honest  means,  to  keep 
up  your  good  name.  Be  good,  and  appear  to  be  so.  *'  Let 
your  light  so  shine  before  men,  that  they  seeing  your 
good  works,  may  glorify  your  Fathei"  which  is  in  heaven." 
Mat.  5:  16. 

2.  A  good  name i  as  it  gives  us  advantage  of  doing  good 
to  others t  lays  an  obligation  upon  us  of  being  good  ourselves. 

For  if  the  world  be  so  kindly  mistaken  as  to  report 
well  of  us  without  any  desert,  yet  this  cannot  but  stimu- 
late us,  if  we  have  any  ingenuousness,  and  engage  us  to 
deserve  it,  and  thus  happily  turn  that  which  was  praise 
into  motive.  Or  if  they  give  us  but  our  due  commenda- 
tion, and  our  virtue  justly  challengeth  this  fame,  yet  still 
it  will  engage  us  to  do  things  worthy  of  ourselves,  and 
worthy  of  the  common  estimate  that  men  put  upon  us,  that 
we  may  not  fall  short  of  what  we  have  been,  or  what  they 
still  repute  us  to  be.  This  is  a  laudable  ambition,  which 
seeks  by  virtue  to  maintain  that  credit  which  by  virtue 
we  have  acquired.  And  doubtless  when  other  arguments 
have  been  baffled  by  a  temptation,  this  hath  been  a  sheet 
anchor  to  the  soul,  and  hath  often  held  it  in  the  greatest 
storms  when  the  wind  and  waves  have  beat  most  furiously 
against  it.  "  Should  I  consent  to  this  sin,  what  a  blot  and 
dishonor  should  I  get  to  myself!  How  should  I  be  able 
to  look  good  men  in  the  face  again]    Would  not  this  sin 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.  399 

brand  me  for  a  hypocrite  in  their  esteem  1  Would  they 
ever  look  upon  me  or  receive  me  with  affection  after  this 
fain  Should  I  not  carry  the  disgrace  and  scar  of  this 
wound  visibly  upon  me  to  my  grave  1  No,  one  sin  shall 
never  ruin  all  the  comfort  and  all  the  repute  gained 
through  so  many  years,  and  I,  who  have  been  so  long 
exemplary  as  a  christian,  will  not  by  this  one  act  make 
myself  a  scorn  to  the  wicked  and  a  shame  to  the  godly." 
And  by  these  considerations  he  rejects  a  temptation  that 
perhaps  ran  down  all  other  considerations  before  it.  But 
a  man  of  a  lost  and  desperate  credit  sins  impudently  with- 
out any  such  restraint  upon  him ;  he  thinks  it  is  but  in 
vain  for  him  to  abstain  from  any  wickedness,  for,  whether 
he  doth  or  not,  people  will  still  believe  him  guilty;  his 
credit  is  so  disfigured  and  his  name  so  infamous  that  he 
thinks  he  cannot  be  worse  than  he  is  already  reported, 
and  so  rubs  his  forehead  and  outfaces  censure,  and  with  a 
brazen  impudence  cares  not  how  wicked  he  is  nor  how 
many  know  him  to  be  so.  Thus  you  see  how  cautious 
we  ought  to  be  in  maintaining  our  own  good  name. 

But  this  command  requires  us  to  preserve  the  re- 
pute and  good  name  of  others  as  well  as  our  own. 
It  forbids 

The  sin  of  lying,  of  detraction  and  slander,  and  of  base 
toothing  and  unwortJiy  flattery. 

In  the  first  place,  the  command  prohibits  lying  ;  and 
this  is  a  sin  which  comprehends  under  it  all  other  vio- 
lations of  this  precept,  for  slander  and  flattery  are  both 
of  them  lies,  different  only  in  manner  and  circumstances ; 
and  as  lying  is  a  sin  large  and  comprehensive  in  its  na- 
ture, so  it  is  general  and  universal  in  its  practice.     We 


400  THE   TEN    COMMANDMENTS 

may  well  complain,  with  the  holy  prophet,  that  '*  Truth 
is  perished  from  the  earth." 

And  here  I  shall  show  what  a  lie  is,  with  the  different 
sorts  of  lies,  and  then  the  heinousness  and  aggravation  of 
this  common  sin. 

I.  A  lie,  according  to  Augustin's  definition   of  it,   is 

A  VOLUNTARY  SPEAKING  OF  AN  UNTRUTH  WITH  AN  IN- 
TENT   TO    DECEIVE. 

In  a  lie  therefore  there  must  be  these  three  ingre- 
dients. There  must  be  the  speaking  of  an  untruth;  it 
must  be  known  to  us  to  he  an  untruth  ;  and  it  must  be  loith 
a  will  and  intent  to  deceive  him  to  whoin  ice  speak  it,  and 
to  lead  him  into  error.    Hence, 

:'•■  X.  Parables  and  figurative  speeches  are  no  lies.  For 
neither  as  to  the  drift  and  scope  of  them  are  they  false- 
hoods, nor  yet  are  they  spoken  with  an  intent  to  deceive, 
but  rather  to  instruct  the  hearers,  and  so  they  have  nei- 
ther the  matter  nor  the  form  of  a  lie. 

The  Scripture  abounds  with  these  tropical  expressions, 
which  although,  in  the  proper  signification  of  the  words, 
they  cannot  be  verified  of  the  thing  to  which  they  are  ap- 
plied, yet  do  they  very  fully  agree  to  them  in  their  figura- 
tive and  transferred  sense.  Thus  Jotham's  parable  of 
trees  choosing  them  a  king  was  aptly  accommodated  to 
the  sense  which  he  meant,  and  which  those  that  heard 
him  well  enough  understood.  And  thus  our  Savior 
Christ  calls  himself  a  door,  signifying  by  that  metaphor 
that  by  him  alone  we  must  enter  into  heaven  and  eternal 
life :  a  vine,  signifying  that  without  our  incision  into  him 
and  spiritual  union  to  him,  whereby  we  derive  grace 
from  his  plenitude  and  fulness  of  grace  as  the  branches 
do  sap  and  juice  from  the  stock,  we  shall  be  cast  out  as 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.  401 

withered  and  fruitless  branches,  fit  for  nothing  but  to  be 
burned.  Innumerable  other  metaphors  are  every  where 
dispersed  throughout  the  Scriptures. 

And  besides  metaphors,  the  Scripture  useth  hyperholes. 
I  shall  only  instance  in  that  famous  one,  John,  21  :  25, 
"  Many  other  things  Jesus  did,  the  which,  if  they  should 
be  written  every  one,  I  suppose  that  even  the  world  it- 
self could  not  contain  the  books  that  should  be  written." 
This  high  expression  the  evangelist  uses  to  indicate  the 
great  number  of  the  miracles  and  remarkable  passages 
of  our  Savior's  life,  and  to  signify  that  he  did  very  many 
other  things  which  are  not  on  record. 

^  ^And  sometimes  the  Scripture  useth  iro?iical  taunts. 
Thus  in  that  bitter  sarcasm  of  Elijah  to  the  priests  of 
Baal,  1  Kings,  18  :  27,  "He  mocked  them,  and  said, 
cry  aloud;  for  he  is  a  god."  Ironical  speeches  of  this 
kind  are  so  far  from  being  intended  to  create  error  in 
the  minds  of  men,  or  to  confirm  them  in  it,  that  they  are 
spoken  on  purpose  to  convince  them  of  their  eiTors  and 
make  them  appear  to  be  shameful  and  ridiculous,  and 
therefore  are  no  lies. 

But  here  we  must  take  this  caution,  that  in  using  such 
figurative  speeches  we  ought  so  to  circumstantiate  them 
that  the  hearers  may  easily  perceive  the  drift  and  scope 
of  our  discourse,  or  at  least  that  they  may  be  assured 
that  we  intend  some  other  meaning  by  them  than  what 
the  words  do  properly  and  in  themselves  bear.  Otherwise, 
though  it  may  not  be  a  lie  in  us,  yet  it  may  be  an  occa- 
sion of  error  and  mistake  in  them. 

2.  Every  falsehood  is  not  a  lie.  For  though  it  hath  the 
matter,  yet  it  may  want  the  form  and  complement  to  make 
it  such.   Foi  many  times  men  speak  and  report  that  whicb 


402  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

is  not  true,  wMcli  yet  they  themselves  do  believe  to  be  true ; 
and  so  they  are  rather  deceived  than  deceivers,  and  per- 
haps are  far  from  any  intention  of  imposing  on  the  credu- 
lity of  others.  Such  a  one  is  not  so  much  to  be  accused  of 
lying,  as  of  folly  and  rashness  in  reporting  that  for  truth 
the  certainty  of  vi^hich  is  not  clear  and  evident  to  himself. 

3.  A  man  may  speak  that  wJiich  is  true,  und  yet  he  a  liai 
in  so  doing.    As  in  these  two  cases  : 

When  loe  report  that  to  he  a  truth,  which,  although  it  he 
so,  yet  we  believe  it  to  he  a  falsehood,  and  report  it  with  an 
intent  to  deceive  those  that  hear  us.    Or, 

When  we  report  the  figurative  words  of  another,  leaving 
out  those  circumstances  which  might  make  them  appear  to 
he  figurative.  Therefore  they  are  called  false  witnesses 
which  came  in  against  Christ  and  testified  that  he  said 
he  was  "  able  to  destroy  the  temple  of  God  and  to  build 
it  in  three  days,"  Mat.  26  :  60,  in  which,  though  there 
were  many  falsifications  of  the  words  of  our  Savior,  yet 
had  they  reported  the  very  words  that  he  spake,  they  had 
nevertheless  been  false  witnesses,  because  by  their  tes- 
timony they  wrested  them  to  another  sense  than  what 
Christ  intended  by  them ;  for  certainly  he  is  a  liar  who 
reports  my  words  with  a  purpose  to  beget  a  wrong  con- 
struction of  them,  as  much  as  he  who  reports  me  to  have 
spoken  what  I  never  said. 

4.  It  is  no  lie  to  conceal  part  of  the  truth  when  it  is  not 
expedient  nor  necessary  to  he  known.  Thus,  1  Sam.  16  :  2, 
God  himself  instructs  Samuel,  when  he  sent  him  to  anoint 
jDavid  king  over  Israel,  that  he  should  answer,  he  came 
to  sacrifice  to  the  Lord;  which  was  truth,  and  one  end  of 
his  going  into  Bethlehem,  though  he  had  als<i  another, 
which  he  prudently  concealed. 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.  403 

5.  A  man  may  act  contrary  to  what  he  before  said,  if 
the  circumstances  of  the  thing  he  altered,  without  being 
guilty  of  lying.  Of  this  we  have  frequent  examples  in 
the  Scripture.  Thus,  Gen.  19  :  2,  the  angels  tell  Lot 
that  they  would  not  come  into  his  house,  but  would 
"  abide  in  the  street  all  night ;"  yet,  upon  his  importunity 
and  earnest  entreaties,  they  went- in  with  him.  And  thus 
Peter,  with  some  heat  and  vehemency  of  his  humility,  re- 
fused that  Christ  should  wash  his  feet,  John,  13  :  8, 
*'  Thou  shalt  never  wash  my  feet ;"  but  when  he  was  in- 
structed in  the  significancy  of  this  condescension  of  our 
Savior,  he  not  only  permits,  but  entreats  him  to  do  it.  So 
likewise  in  all  things  of  such  a  nature  we  may  lawfully 
change  our  words  upon  the  change  of  our  minds,  and 
upon  the  inducement  of  some  circumstances  that  were 
not  known  or  considered  by  us,  we  may,^  without  the  im- 
putation of  lying,  do  otherwise  than  we  before  resolved 
and  declared.  But  here  must  be  heedful  caution  : 
'  That  the  actions  be  not  such  as  we  are  bound  to  perform 
by  divine  precept ; 

Nor  such  as  we  have  bound  ourselves  to  by  the  voluntary 
obligation  of  a  vow  made  unto  God  ; 

J^or  such  that  our  not  doing  them,  or  doing  Mherwise 
than  we  have  promised,  shall  be  hurtful  or  prejudicial  to 
others.  For  if  I  have  promised  another  that  which  is  be- 
neficial to  him,  however  I  may  change  my  opinion,  yet  I 
must  not  change  my  purpose  ;  but,  unless  he  v^dll  release 
me,  or  hath  forfeited  the  benefit  of  my  promise  by  failing 
in  the  conditions  of  it,  I  stand  engaged  to  perfoiTn  what  I 
lave  plighted  to  him. 

Thus  you  see  what  a  lie  is,  and  what  is  not  a  lie. 

The  sum  of  all  I  shall  contract  in  this  description  of 


404  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

it  :  A  lie  is  a  falsehood,  either  real  or  supposed  so  by  us 
spoken  purposely  and  with  an  intention  to  deceive  an 
other.  And  therefore,  neither  falsehoods  not  thought  tc 
be  so,  nor  figurative  speeches,  nor  truth  partly  concealed 
nor  the  change  of  our  mind  and  purposes  upon  the 
changing  and  alteration  of  circumstances,  can  be  charge- 
able with  the  foul  and  scandalous  sin  of  lying. 

As  to  the  different  sorts  of  lies,  they  are  usually  distin- 
guished into  three  kinds :  the  jocular,  the  officious,  and 
the  pernicious  lie.  -  .  .   ~  '    ■     -^"         .' 

1.  The  jocular  lie  is  a  lie  framed  to  excite  mirth  and 
laughter,  and  to  deceive  the  hearer  only  to  please  and 
divert  him.  Though  it  may  seem  very  harmless  to  de- 
ceive men  into  mirth  and  recreation,  yet  truth  is  such  an 
awful  and  severe  thing  that  it  ought  not  to  be  contradict- 
ed; no,  not  in  jest.    And  God  reckons  it  as  a  sin  against 

.  the  Israelites,  Hos.  7  :  3,  that  they  made  "  the  king  and 
princes  glad,"  or  merry,  "  with  their  lies." 

2.  The  officious  lie  is  a  lie  which  is  told  for  another's 
benefit  and  advantage,  and  seems  to  make  an  abundant 
compensation  for  its  falsehood  by  its  use  and  profit.  But 
yet  neither  can  this  excuse  it  from  being  a  sin;  for  since 

.  a  lie  is  intrinsically  evil  in  itself,  let  the  advantage  that 
accrues  by  it  be  never  so  great,  we  ought  not  to  shelter 
either  ourselves  or  others  under  that  rotten  refuge.    That 
_Btated  maxim  holds  universally  true  in  all  cases ;  we  ought 
.not  to  do  evil  that  good  may  come  thereof.    Therefore, 
-  although  thine  own  life  or  thy  neighbor's  depends  upon 
it,  yea,  put  the  case,  it  were  not  only  to  save  his  life  but 
'  to  save  his  soul,  couldst  thou  by  this  means  most  eminent- 
ly advance  the  glory  of  God  or  the  general  good  and  wel- 
fare of  the  church,  yet  thou  oughtest  not  to  tell  the  least 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT..-  405 

lie  to  promote  these  great  and  blessed  ends.    This  the 
apostle  takes  for  granted,  Rom.  3:7. 

And  here,  as  this  passage  may  seem  at  first  glance 
somewhat  obscure,  I  shall  briefly  expound  it.  If  the  truth 
of  God  hath  more  abounded  through  my  lie  unto  his  glory, 
why  yet  am  I  also  judged  as  a  sinner?  The  words  as  they 
stand  seem  to  be  favorable  to  such  a  beneficial  lie ;  but  if 
we  consider  the  scope  and  drift  of  them,  we  shall  see  that 
they  clearly  condemn  it.  For  the  apostle  had,  in  the  fore- 
going verses,  taught  that  the  unrighteousness  and  sins  of 
men  did  occasionally  conduce  to  the  manifestation  of  the 
justice  and  veracity  of  God,  in  fulfilling  his  threatenings 
upon  them.  Against  this  position  he  raiseth  an  objection, 
verse  5,  If  the  unrighteousness  of  men  commend  and  illus- 
trate the  righteousness  of  God,  how  then  can  God  be  just 
in  taking  vengeance  on  those  sins  by  which  he  is  glorified  1 
To  this  the  apostle  answers  two  ways : 

He  abhors  the  consequence,  verse  6.  God  forbid  that  we 
should  think  him  unjust  because  he  punisheth  those  sins 
which  accidentally  serve  for  the  manifestation  of  his  glo- 
ry. For  if  God  were  unjust,  how  then  should  he  judge 
the  world  1 

\  He  answers,  by  putting  alike  case  and  giving  a  like  in- 
stance,  Yerse  7,  "  If  the  truth  of  God  hath  more  abounded 
through  my  lie — why  yet  am  I  judged  as  a  sinner  V  As  if 
he  had  said,  "  By  the  like  reason  as  you  infer  that  it  would 
be  unrighteous  in  God  to  punish  those  who  are  the  occasion 
of  so  much  glory  to  him  through  their  sins,  by  the  like,  I 
might  infer,  that  if  by  my  lie  I  might  glorify  God,  I  were 
not  to  be  accounted  a  sinner  for  lying."  But  this,  saith  he, 
verse  8,  is  a  most  wicked  consequence,  and  such  as  would 
justify  the  slanders  of  those  who  report  that  we  affirm  it 


4dd' 


THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 


lawful  to  do  evil  that  good  may  come,  wJiose  damnation  is 
just :  that  is,  it  is  just  with  God  to  damn  those  who  slander 
us  with  such  a  gross  untruth;  and  it  is  just  with  God  to 
damn  those  who  hold  so  wicked  and  destructive  a  doctrine. 

So  you  see  that  nothing  could  be  more  expressly  spoken 
against  these  officious  lies  than  what  the  apostle  here  pro- 
duceth  in  this  place.  He  asserts,  in  general,  that  we  must 
not  do  evil  that  good  may  come  thereof;  and  he  instanceth 
in  particular,  that  we  must  not  lie,  although  the  glory  of 
God  may  he  promoted  hy  it. 

3.  The  malicious  and  pernicious  lie  is  a  lie  devised  on 
purpose  for  the  hurt  and  damage  of  my  neighbor.  And  this 
is  the  worst  and  the  most  heinous  sort  of  all,  and  hath 
nothing  that  might  excuse  or  extenuate  it.  li  shows  a 
heart  brimful  of  the  bitterness  of  malice,  when  this  pas- 
sion works  out  at  the  mouth  in  slanderous  reports  and 
false  accusations.  All  lies  are  in  themselves  sinful;  but 
this  is  the  vilest  and  most  abominable  of  all. 

11.  The  AGGRAVATIONS  OF  THIS  SIN.    Consider, 

1.  It  is  <2  sin  that  makes  you  most  like  unto  the  devil. 

The  devil  is  a  spirit,  and  therefore,  gross  canial  sins 
cannot  correspond  to  his  nature.  His  sins  are  more  re- 
fined and  intellectual ;  such  as  are  pride  and  malice,  de- 
ceit and  falsehood,  John,  8  :  44,  "  He  is  a  liar,  and  the 
father  of  it."  And  the  more  malice  goes  into  the  com- 
position of  any  lie,  the  more  nearly  it  resembles  him. 
This  is  the  first-born  of  the  devil;  the  beginning  of  his 
strength ;  for  by  lies  he  prevailed  over  wretched  man ; 
hence  it  is  his  darling  and  beloved  sin,  and  the  gi'eatest 
instrument  of  promoting  his  kingdom.  It  is  that  which,  in 
his  own  mouth,  ruined  all  mankina  in  the  gross,  when  he 
falsely  suggested  to  our  first  parents  that  they  should  be 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.  407 

as  gods ;  and  that  which  he  still  puts  into  the  hearts  and 
mouths  of  men  to  ruin  and  destroy  their  souls  and  the 
souls  of  others,  Acts,  5:3,  '*  Why  hath  Satan  filled  thine 
heart  to  he  to  the  Holy  Ghost  V  "  When  he  speaketh  a 
lie,  he  speaketh  of  his  own,"  saith  our  Savior.  And  cer- 
tainly, when  we  speak  a  lie  we  repeat  only  what  he 
prompts  and  dictates  to  us.  Thou  never  liest  but  thou 
speakest  aloud  what  the  devil  whispered  softly  to  thee  ; 
the  old  serpent  lies  folded  round  in  thy  heart,  and  we 
may  hear  him  hissing  in  thy  voice.  And  therefore  when 
God  summoned  all  his  heavenly  attendance  about  him, 
and  demanded  who  would  persuade  Ahab  to  go  up  and 
fall  at  Ramoth-Gilead,  an  evil  spirit  that  had  crowded 
in  amongst  them  steps  forth  and  undertakes  the  office,  as 
his  most  natural  employment,  and  that  wherein  he  most 
of  all  delighted,  1  Kings,  22  :  22,  "  I  will  go  forth  and 
be  a  lying  spirit  in  the  mouth  of  all  his  prophets."  JCvPty 
lie  thou  tellest,  consider  that  the  devil  sits  upon  thy 
tongue,  breathes  falsehood  into  thy  heart,  and  forms  thy 
words  and  accents  into  deceit. 

2.  Consider  that  it  is  a  sin  most  contrary  to  the  nature 
hf'God^  lolio  is  truth  itself.  It  is  sin  that  he  hates  ^nd 
abominates,  Prov.  6  :  16,  17,  "These  six  things  doth  the 
Lord  hate ;  yea,  seven  are  an  abomination  unlo  him :  a 
proud  look,  a  lying  tongue,"  &c. ;  and  Prov.  12  :  22,  "  Ly- 
ing lips  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord."  Hence  we  have 
so  many  express  commands  given  us  against  this  sin.  Lev. 
19  :  11,  "  Ye  shall  not  deal  falsely,  nor  lie  one  to  an- 
other." Col.  3  :  9,  "  Lie  not  one  to  another."  "  Wherefore, 
putting  away  lying,  speak  every  man  truth  to  his  neigh- 
bor." Eph.  4  :  25. 

3.  Consider  that  it  is  a  sin  that  gives  in  a  fearful  evidence 


408t  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

against  us  that  we  belong  to  the  devil  and  are  his  children  / 
for  he  is  tlie  father  of  lies  and  of  liars.  God's  children 
will  imitate  their  heavenly  Father  in  his  truth  and  ve- 
racity. And  it  is  g,  very  observable  place,  Isa.  63  :  S, 
"  Surely,"  saith  God,  "  they  are  my  people  ;  children  that 
will  not  lie  ;  so  he  was  their  Savior." 

4.  Consider  how  dreadfully  God  hath  threatened  this 
nn  with  eternal  death.  Scarce,  any  one  sin  more  express- 
ly and  particularly.  Rev.  22:15,  "Without,"  even  in 
outer  darkness,  "  are  dogs — and  murderers,  and  idolaters, 
and  whosoever  loveth  or  maketh  a  lie."  !;.-  . 

5.  A  lie  showeth  a  most  degenerate  and  cowardly Jear  of 
men,  and  a  most  daring  contempt  of  the  great  God.  Who- 
ev-er  lies,  does  it  out  of  a  base  and  sordid  fear  lest  some 
evil  and  inconvenience  should  come  to  him  by  declaring 
the  truth.  And  this  Montaigne,  in  his  Essays,  gives  as  the 
reason  why  the  imputation  of  lying  is  the  most  reproach- 
ful ignominy  that  one  man  can  lay  upon  another,  and  that 
which  most  passionately  moves  them  to  revenge  ;  because, 
saith  he,  "  To  say  a  man  lieth,  is  to  say  that  he  is  audacious 
towards  God  and  a  coward  towards  men."  Lib.  2,  c.  18^ 

6.  Mankind  generally  account  lying  a  most  infamous 
and  reproachful  sin.  A  liar  loseth  all  credit  and  reputa- 
tion amongst  men;  and  he  who  hath  made  himself  scan- 
dalous by  lying,  is  not  believed  when  he  speaks  truth. 
Yea,  it  is  so  odious  and  foul  a  sin  that  we  find  it  generally 
esteemed  worse  than  other  sins ;  and  the  avoiding  of  this 
is  thought  a  good  excuse  for  the  commission  of  others ; 
for  when  men  are  moved  with  some  violent  passion  they 
often  resolve  to  do  those  things  which,  when  their  passion 
is  allayed,  they  must  look  upon  as  grievous  sins;  yet, 
rather,  than  be  false  to  their  word,  and  so  censured  for 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.  409 

lying,  they  will  venture  to  perpetrate  them.  Thus  Herod, 
for  his  oath's  sake,  beheaded  John  the  Baptist.  And  the 
common  excuse  for  rash  and  unwaiTantable  actions  is,  "  I 
said  I  would  do  thus  or  thus,  and  therefbre  I  thought  my- 
self bound  in  honor  to  do  it." 

7.  It  is  a  sin  that  God  will  detect,  and  which  exposeth  those 
who  are  guilty  of  it  to  shame  and  contempt.  Lying  lips 
are  **  but  for  a  moment."  Prov.  12  :  19.  And  when  they 
are  found  out,  as  usually  they  are,  by  their  own  forget- 
fulness  and  the  interfering  of  their  own  speeches,  how 
shameful  will  their  sin  be  to  them !  And  the  reward  they 
shall  have  for  it  is,  that  those  who  have  accustomed  them 
selves  to  lying  shall  not  be  believed  when  they  speak 
truth. 

Thus  much  concerning  the  heinousjiess  and  aggravation 
of  the  sin  of  lying. 

There  remain  two  other  violations  of  this  command- 
ment ;  the  one  is  by  slander  and  detraction,  the  other  by 
base  flattery  and  soothing  ;  and  both  may  respect  either 
ourselves  or  others. 

I  shall  now  speak  of  the  common  sin  of  slander  and 
DETRACTION  :  a  siu  that  is  reigning  and  triumphant  in  this 
our  age,  and  if  I  should  likewise  sayin  this  place,  I  think 
I  should  not  myself  be  guilty  of  it  by  that  censure. 

Slander  and  detraction  seem  somewhat  to  differ.  Slan- 
der, properly,  is  a  false  imputation  of  vice,  but  detraction 
is  a  causeless  diminishing  report  of  virtue.  The  one  tra- 
duceth  us  to  be  what  indeed  we  are  not,  the  other  lessens 
what  we  really  are,  and  both  are  highly  injurious  to  our 
good  name  and  reputation,  the  best  and  dearest  of  all  our 
earthly  possessions. 

Tea  Com.  Jg 


410  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

WheH  a  man's  life  and  actions  are  so  blameless  and 
exemplary  that  even  malice  itself  is  ashamed  to  vent  its 
venom  by  base  slanders  lest  it  should  appear  to  be  ma- 
lice, and  the  reproach  should  light  rather  upon  the  report- 
ers than  him  whom  they  seek  to  defame,  then  it  betakes 
itself  to  those  little  sly  arts  of  nibbling  at  the  edges  of  a 
man's  credit  and  clipping  aw^ay  the  borders  of  his  good 
name,  that  it  may  not  pass  so  current  in  the  world  as  be- 
fore. Thus  when  any  are  so  just  as  to  give  others  their 
due  commendation  either  for  learning,  or  wisdom,  or  piety, 
or  any  other  perfection,  either  of  grace  or  of  nature,  you 
shall  have  those  who  lie  in  wait  to  cut  off  other  men's  es- 
teem. If  they  see  it  so  strongly  fortified  by  the  conspicuous- 
ness  of  it  and  the  general  vote  of  the  world  that  they  dare 
not  attack  the  whole,  they  lurkingly  assault  part  of  it,  and 
what  they  cannot  altogether  deny  they  will  endeavor  to 
diminish  :  **  It  is  true,  such  a  man  is,  as  you  say,  learned 
and  knowing,  but  withal  so  knowing  as  to  know  that  too. 
He  is  wise,  but  his  wisdom  is  rather  politic  than  gene- 
rous, and  all  his  designs  are  biassed  with  self-ends.  He  is 
charitable,  but  his  charity  seems  too  indiscreet ;  or  if  you 
did  not  proclaim  his  good  works  he  himself  would.  He  is 
pious  and  devout  indeed,  poor  man,  after  his  way,  and  ac- 
cording to  his  knowledge."  Thus  by  these  blind  hints 
they  endeavor  either  to  find  or  to  make  a  flaw  in  another 
man's  reputation,  well  knowing  that  a  cracked  name,  like  a 
cracked  bell,  will  not  sound  half  so  clear  and  loud  in  the 
ears  of  the  world  as  else  it  might.  Thus  you  see  what 
elanders  and  detractions  are.    I  remark, 

1.  A  man  may  he  a  self-slanderer  and  a  self-dctracter. 
Such  are  those  who  traduce  and  defame  themselves,  and 
either  assume  to  themselves  those  wickednesses   which 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.  41 1 

they  have  not  committed,  or  blameably  conceal  those 
gifts  and  excellencies  they  are  endowed  with,  when  they 
are  called  to  discover  them  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
public  good. 

Some  slander  themselves  out  of  hope  of  reward,  when 
they  suppose  that  the  crimes  they  boast  of  may  be  ac- 
cepted as  services  by  others.  Thus,  when  Saul  had  slain 
himself,  an  Amalekite  falsely  reports  to  David  that  he 
had  slain  him — hoping  to  obtain  a  reward  from  him  for 
despatching  his  enemy. 

Sometimes  men  impiously  boast  of  those  sins  which 
they  never  did  and  never  durst  commit,  merely  oid  of  a 
hraving  humor  of  vain-glory,  and  that  among  their  de- 
bauched companions  they  may  gain  the  reputation  of 
valiant  and  daring  sinners. 

Others  falsely  accuse  themselves  of  those  sins  of  which 
they  were  never  guilty,  out  of  a  despairing  and  dejected 
spirit.  Thus  many  a  poor  soul  that  hath  labored  under 
severe  convictions,  begins  first  to  doubt,  and  then  to  con- 
clude that  he  hath  certainly  committed  the  unpardonable 
sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  and,  in  extreme  anguish  and 
horror,  crieth  guilty,  and  confesseth  the  indictment  that 
is  falsely  drawn  up  against  him  by  the  calumny  of  the 
devil  and  his  own  dark  fears  and  melancholy. 

Sometimes  men  detract  from  themselves  out  of  a  lying 
and  dissembled  humility,  making  this  kind  of  detraction 
only  a  bait  for  commendation ;  as  knowing  the  ball  will 
rebound  back  the  farther  to  them  the  harder  they  strike 
it  from  them.  This  is  usually  an  artifice  of  proud  and 
arrogant  persons  ;  and  those  who  cannot  endure  to  be 
contradicted  in  any  thing  else,  would  be  very  loth  you 
should  yield  to  them  in  this. 


412  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

:  And,  lastly,  others  detract  from  themselves  out  of  a  too 
hashful  modesty,  or  to  avoid  some  troublesome  and  un- 
pleasing  employments  which  they  are  called  unto.  Thus 
we  find  Moses,  Exod.  4  :  10,  making  many  excuses  that 
he  was  "  not  eloquent,"  but  ''slow  of  speech  and  slow 
of  tongue ;"  and  all  because  he  was  loth  to  under- 
take that  difficult  and  dangerous  charge  of  bringing  out 
the  children  of  Israel  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt. 

All  these  kinds  of  self-slander  and  detraction  are  evil, 
and  some  of  them  most  vile  and  abominable. 

2.  There  \^  a  slandering  of  and  detracting  from  another, 
wronging  him  unjustly  in  his  fame  and  reputation,  which 
we  ought  tenderly  to  preserve  and  cherish.  God  and 
nature  have  intrusted  us  mutually  with  each  other's 
good  name.  Thy  brother's  credit  is  put  as  a  precious 
deposit  into  thy  hands,  and  if  thou  wickedly  lavishest  it 
out  by  spreading  false  rumors  of  him,  or  carelessly  keep- 
est  it,  by  suffering  others  to  do  so  when  it  is  in  thy  power 
to  justify  him,  know  assuredly  that  it  will  be  strictly  re- 
quired of  thee,  for  in  this  respect  every  man  is  his  bro- 
ther's keeper.  J    .;>^^;    ^'f     • 

This  slandering  of  others  may  be  either  m  judicial  pro- 
cess or  in  common  and  ordinary  converse. 

(1.)  Injudicial  process.  And  then  it  is  truly  and  pro- 
perly false-witnessing — when  thou  risest  up  against  thy 
brother  in  judgment,  and  attestest  that  which  thou  know- 
est  to  be  false  and  forged,  or  which  thou  art  not  most 
infallibly  assured  to  be  true.  And  this  sin  is  the  more 
heinous  and  dreadful  on  account  of  two  aggravating  cir- 
cumstances that  attend  it. 

Since  usually  all  actions  in  law  and  judgment  concern 
either  the  person  or  the  estate  of  thy  brother,  by  a  false 


.    NINTH   COMMANDMENT.  T  410 

witness  thou  not  only  wrongest  him  in  his  name  and 
reputation,  but  also  either  his  person  or  his  estate,  and  so 
thou  art  not  only  a  slanderer  but  a  thief  or  murderer. 
"  A  hypocrite  with  his  mouth  destroyeth  his  neighbor/' 
Prov.  11  :  9.  And  by  so  much  the  more  odious  is  thy 
crime,  in  that  thou  pervertest  the  law,  which  was  intended 
to  be  a  fence  and  safeguard  to  every  man's  property,  and 
turnest  it  against  itself,  making  it  the  instrument  of  thy  in- 
justice and  cruelty.  The  Psalmist,  Psal.  52  :  2,  compares 
Doeg's  malicious  tongue  to  a  sharp  razor;  and  certainly 
when  thou  givest  a  false  testimony  against  thy  brother, 
thy  tongue  is  a  sharp  razor,  it  not  only  wounds  hi& 
credit  but  cuts  his  throat. 

Again,  since  usually  all  judicial  proceedings  exact  from 
the  witnesses  a  tremendous  oath  solemnly  taken  by  the 
name  of  the  great  God  of  heaven,  to  give  in  a  false  testi- 
mony is  not  only  to  be  guilty  of  slander  but  oi perjury  too. 

Yea,  and  let  me  add  one  thing  more  to  make  it  a  most 
accumulate  wickedness  ;  such  a  false  testimony  is  not  only 
slander  and  perjury,  but  it  is  hlasphemy  too .  For  what 
else  is  it  but  to  bring  the  most  holy  God,  who  is  eternal 
tnith,  to  confirm  a  falsehood  and  a  lie  1  What  can  be  a 
higher  affront  to  his  most  sacred  Majesty  than  this  %  For 
a  sworn  witness  is  therefore  accepted  because  he  brings 
God  in  to  be  a  witness  too.  And  wilt  not  thou  tremble, 
O  wretch,  to  cite  God  to  appear  a  witness  to  that  which 
a  thousand,  witnesses  within  thee  (I  mean  thy  own  con- 
science) do  all  depose  to  be  false  and  forged ;  and  so 
to  transfer  thy  injustice,  and  rapine,  and  bloody  murder 
upon  him,  and  shelter  them  all  under  the  shadow  of  his 
veracity  and  faithfulness  ! 

You  see  then  how  horrid  an  impiety  this  is ;  and  yet 


424  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

how  common  it  is,  not  only  those  who  by  this  wicked 
means  suffer  wrong,  but  others  who  are  conversant  in 
such  judiciary  trials  do  too  truly  report. 

May  it  please  God  to  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  our  ru- 
lers to  enact  more  severe  and  rigorous  laws  against  those 
who  are  found  guilty  of  it !  It  is  sad  to  think  that  whereas 
a  thief  shall  be  adjudged  to  death  (in  England)  for  stealing 
some  petty  inconsiderable  matter,  and  perhaps  too  for  the 
relief  of  his  pressing  necessities ;  yet  two  villains  that 
have  conspired  together  by  false  accusations  and  perjured 
testimonies  to  take  away  a  man's  whole  estate,  or  possibly 
his  life,  should  for  these  far  greater  crimes  be  sentenced 
to  so  easy  a  punishment  that  only  shame  and  reproach 
.make  up  the  severest  part  of  it.  Certainly  methinks  it 
were  but  just  that  the  least  they  should  suffer  should  be.  a 
retaliation  of  their  intended  mischiefs,  and  that  the  same 
they  designed  against  their  brother  should  be  inflicted  on 
themselves  ;  whether  it  be  loss  of  life  or  loss  of  goods  and 
estate.  It  is  but  equity  that  the  plotters  and  artificers 
of  mischief  should  perish  by  their  own  craft.  And  if  this 
rigor  and  wholesome  severity  were  used,  we  should  not 
have  so  many  oaths  set  out  to  hire,  nor  would  any  make 
it  a  trade  to  be  a  witness  ;  but  innocency  would  be  se- 
cured under  the  protection  of  the  laws,  and  the  laws 
themselves  be  innocent  of  the  ruin  of  many  hundreds,  who 
by  this  means  fall  into  the  snares  of  ungodly  men.  Of 
this  one  thing  I  am  sure,  that  God  himself  thought  it  a 
most  equitable  law  when  he  thus  provided  for  the  safety 
of  his  people  Israel :  Deut.  19 :  18-20,  "  If  the  witness  be 
a  false  witness,  and  testify  falsely  against  his  brother,  then 
shall  ye  do  unto  him  as  he  had  thought  to  do  unto  his  bro- 
ther:  so  shalt  thou  put  the  evil  away  from  among  you; 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.  415 

and  those  which  remain  shall  hear  and  fear,  and  shall 
henceforth  commit  no  more  any  such  evil  among  you." 

(2.)  There  is  a  slandering  of  others  in  our  common  and. 
ordinary  converse.  And  this  is  either  open  and,  avowed^ 
in  their  presence  and  to  their  faces ;  or  secret  and  sly^  be- 
hind their  backs. 

The  open  and  avowed  is  ^ also  twofold.  One  way  is  by 
reviling  and  railing  speeches,  as  Shimei  barked  at  David, 
2  Sam.  16  :  7,  "  Come  out,  thou  bloody  man,  and  thou 
man  of  Belial."  And  I  wish  that  our  streets  and  houses 
did  not,  to  their  great  disgrace  and  reproach,  echo  with 
such  clamor ;  and  that  too  many  did  not  rake  together  all 
the  dirty  expressions  which  their  wit  and  malice  will 
sei've  them  to  invent  only  to  throw  into  one  another's 
faces.  A  sin  which,  as  it  is  sordid  and  base  in  itself,  so 
it  chiefly  reigns  among  those  who  are  of  a  mean  condi- 
tion ;  but  wherever  found,  is  a  disparagement  to  human  na- 
ture, a  sin  against  civil  society,  and  argues  men  guilty  of 
much  folly  and  brutishness  ;  and  I  am  sure  it  is  a  transgres- 
Rion  of  that  express  command  of  the  apostle,  Eph.  4:31, 
32,  "  Let  all  bitterness,  and  wrath,  and  anger,  and  cla- 
mor, and  evil-speaking  be  put  away  from  you,  with  all 
malice  ;  and  be  ye  kind  one  to  another,  tender-hearted, 
forgiving  one  another,  even  as  God  for  Christ's  sake  hath 
forgiven  you." 

The  other  way  of  open,  avowed  slander  is  by  hitter 
taunts  and  sarcastical  scoffs.  And  this  is  usually  an  ap- 
plauded sin  among  the  more  refined  sort  of  men,  who 
take  a  pride  and  glory  in  exposing  others  and  making 
them  ridiculous,  thinking  their  own  wit  never  looks  so 
beautiful  as  when  it  is  dyed  in  other's  blushes.  But  this 
is  a  most  scurrilous  and  offensive  way,  wherein  certainly 


416  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

he  hath  the  most  advantage,  not  who  hath  most  ■wit, 
but  tliat  hath  least  modesty.  These  kinds  of  tauntings  are 
sometimes  such  as  the  apostle  calls  cruel  mockings,  and 
reckons  up  as  one  part  of  those  persecutions  which  the 
primitive  christians  endured.  Heb.  11  :  36.  As  Nero  for 
his  barbarous  sport  VTi'apped  up  the  christians  in  beasts' 
skins  and  then  set  dogs  to  worry  them;  so  these  dis- 
guise their  brethren  in  false  and  antic  shapes,  and  then 
fall  upon  them  and  beat  them. 

Again,  there  is  a  more  secret  and  sly  conveyance  of 
slander,  by  hachhiting,  whisperings  and  the  carrying  up 
and  down  of  tales.  Like  those  busy  tongues,  Jer.  20  :  10, 
that  would  fain  find  or  make  themselves  some  employ- 
ment, sayijng.  Report,  and  we  will  report.  And  so  a 
false  and  slanderous  rumor  shall,  like  the  river  Nile, 
spread  over  the  whole  land,  and  yet  the  head  of  it  be 
never  known :  it  shall  pass  on  to  the  indelible  blot  and 
infamy  of  thy  neighbor,  and  the  first  author  of  it  lie  hid 
and  concealed  in  the  crowd,  as  some  fishes  will  in  the  mud 
which  they  themselves  have  stirred.  Against  this  sort  of 
men  Solomon,  in  his  book  of  Proverbs,  is  very  severe ; 
and  there  is  no  one  wickedness  which  that  excellent 
compendium  of  wisdom  and  morality  doth  more  inveigh 
against  than  this  of  whispering  about  another  man's  dis- 
grace, Prov.  18  :  8,  "  The  words  of  a  tale-bearer  are  as 
wounds,  and  they  go  down  into  the  innermost  parts  of 
the  belly."  And  this  he  repeats  again,  chap.  2Q  :  22,  in- 
timating that  the  wound  which  such  a  tongue  makes  is 
deep,  but  yet  hid  and  secret,  and  therefore  the  more  in- 
curable. And  Prov.  16  :  28,  **  A  whisperer  separateth 
chief  friends."  He  is,  as  it  were,  the  devil's  truchman 
and  interpreter  between  them  both,  and  goeth  to  one  and 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT..  417 

buzzeth  in  his  ear  what  such  a  one  said  of  him,  although 
perhaps  it  be  altogether  false ;  and  when  he  hath  by  this 
means  got  some  angry  and  choleric  speeches  from  him, 
goes  and  reports  them  back  to  the  other ;  and  so  by  hia 
wicked  breath  blows  up  the  coals  of  strife  and  dissension 
between  them.  Therefore  the  wise  man  tells  us,  "  Where 
no  wood  is,  the  fire  goeth  out ;  so,  where  there  is  no 
tale-bearer  the  strife  ceaseth."  Prov.  26  :  20.  The 
apostle  cautions  the  Corinthians  against  this  sin,  2  Cor. 
12  :  20,  ''  I  fear  lest,  when  I  come,  I  shall  not  find  you 
such  as  I  would — lest  there  be  among  you  debates,  en- 
vyings,  wi'aths,  strifes,  backbitings,  whisperings,  swell- 
ings, tumults ;"  and  he  reckons  it  up  among  the  black 
catalogue  of  those  crimes,  for  the  which  '  *  God  gave  up  " 
the  heathen  "  to  a  reprobate  mind,  to  do  those  things 
which  are  not  convenient ;  being  filled  with  all  unrighte- 
ousness— full  of  envy,  murder,  debate,  deceit,  malignity, 
whisperers,  backbiters,  haters  of  God,  despiteful,  proud, 
boasters,  inventors  of  evil  things."  Rom.  1  :  28-30. 
Now  one  of  the  chief  artifices  of  this  sort  of  men  is  to 
calumniate  strenuously,  according  to  that  old  maxim  of 
the  devil,  Calumniarefortiter^  et  aliquid  adhcerehit,  "  Slan- 
der stoutly,  and  somewhat  will  stick  behind  ;"  for  though 
the  wound  may  possibly  be  healed,  yet  the  scar  will  still 
remain,  and  be  a  blemish  to  a  man's  reputation  as  long  as 
he  lives. 

But  then  again  there  is  another  kind  of  slander  and  de- 
traction, when  a  man  divulgeth  those  imperfections  and 
faults  which  are  truly  in  his  neighbor,  without  being  called 
or  necessitated  to  do  it.  For  sometimes  truth  itself  may 
be  a  slander,  when  it  is  spoken  with  an  evil  design  to  the 
hurt  and  prejudice  of  another. 

18* 


418  ^       THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS.     > 

Indeed,  if  thou  be  duly  called  to  witness  in  judgment ; 
or  if  it  be  in  thy  own  defence  and  vindication,  when,  if 
thou  dost  not  discover  him  that  is  guilty,  thou  thyself 
mayst  be  supposed  to  be  the  person;  or  if  the  crime  be  such 
as  ought  not  to  escape  unpunished  ;  or  ifhe  remain  contu- 
macious after  more  private  admonition,  in  which  case  our 
Savior  commands  us  to  tell  it  to  the  church:  or  lastly,  when 
it  is  for  the  safety  and  security  of  another,  who  might  else 
be  wronged  should  we  conceal  from  him  the  mischiefs 
which  others  intend  him :  in  these  cases  it  is  both  lawful 
and  expedient  to  make  known  the  faults  of  thy  brother. 

But  then  be  sure  that  thou  do  it  not  with  any  secret 
delight  and  exultation  that  thou  hast  his  credit  to  tram- 
ple upon,  to  raise  thine  own  the  higher ;  but  with  that 
true  grief  and  sorrow  of  heart  which  may  evince  to  all  the 
world  that  nothing  but  conscience  and  a  sense  of  thy  duty 
enforced  thee  to  publish  his  shame,  which  thou  wouldst 
be  willing  to  hide  at  the  price  of  any  thing  but  sin  and 
thine  own  shame. 

But,  alas  !  it  is  strange  to  consider  the  depravity  of  our 
nature,  how  we  delight  in  other  men's  sins,  and  are 
secretly  glad  when  their  miscarriages  give  us  an  occasion 
to  reproach  and  disgi'ace  them.  How  many  are  big  with 
such  stuff,  and  go  in  pain  till  they  have  disburthened 
themselves  into  the  ears  of  others  !  And  some  are  such 
ill  dissemblers  of  their  joy,  that  they  do  it  with  open 
scorn  and  irrision.  Others  are  more  artificially  malicious, 
and  with  a  deep  sigh  and  a  downcast  look,  and  a  whining 
voice  and  an  affected  slowness,  whisper  to  one,  "  Alas ! 
did  you  not  hear  of  such  a  gross  miscarriage  by  such  a 
one  1"  and  then  whisper  the  same  thing  to  another,  and 
B  third ;  and  when  they  have  made  it  as  public  as  they 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.  410 

can,  hypocritically  desire  every  one  to  keep  it  secret,  for 
that  they  would  be  loth  their  neighbor  should  come  to 
any  disgrace  and  trouble  about  it.  Believe  it,  sirs,  this, 
though  the  matter  you  report  be  never  so  true,  is  nothing 
else  but  slander ;  because  it  is  done  to  no  good  end,  but 
only  to  feed  your  own  malice,  and,  like  flies,  to  lie  suck- 
ing the  galled  backs  and  sores  of  others.  And  therefore 
we  find  that  Doeg,  though  he  told  nothing  but  the  truth, 
1  Sam.  22  :  9,  10,  yet  is  by  David  challenged  as  a  liar 
and  slanderer.    Ps.  52. 

Having  thus  shown  what  this  sin  of  slander  is,  I  shall 
give  some  brief  rules  and  directions,  which,  through 
the  grace  of  God,  may  be  serviceable  to  keep  you  from 
this  common  sin ;  and  then  such  as  may  show  how  you 
ought  to  demean  yourselves  under  the  lash  of  other 
men's  slanderous  tongues. 

1.  II020  to  keep  yourselves  from  slandering  others. 

(1.)  If  thou  wouldst  keep  thyself  from  being  a  slanderer 
of  others,  addict  not  thyself  violently  to  any  one  party  or 
persuasion  of  men.  For  party  spirit  will  beget  prejudice, 
and  prejudice  is  the  jaundice  of  the  soul,  which  repre- 
sents other  men  and  their  actions  in.  the  color  which  oui 
own  disease  puts  upon  them.  And  indeed  we  have  all 
generally  such  a  good  conceit  of  ourselves,  that  it  is  a  very 
hard  and  difficult  matter  to  have  a  good  esteem  for  others 
who  are  not  of  our  judgment  and  of  our  way.  And  this 
makes  us,  first,  very  willing  to  hear  soma  evil  of  them  ; 
for  because  we  think  that  what  we  do  is  good,  we  cannot 
cordially  think  them  good  who  do  not  judge  and  act  as 
we  ourselves  do,  and  so  our  minds  are  prepared  to  en- 
tertain reports  against  them  from   others,  and  then  to 


4r2x)  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

spreaa  them  abroad  ourselves.  And  I  cannot  but  impute 
to  this  the  great  uncharitableness  of  our  days,  wherein 
love  and  brotherly  kindness  lie  murdered  under  the  vio- 
lence of  different  persuasions,  and  different  modes,  and 
divers  ways  of  worshipping  one  and  the  same  God  and 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Hence  all  those  lying  rumors 
and  lying  wonders  that  one  party  invents  to  beat  down 
the  other.  Both  suffer  from  each  other's  envenomed 
tongues,  and  between  both,  truth  suffers,  and  charity 
perishes,  and  is  utterly  lost.  For  shame,  O  christians ! 
Is  this  the  way  to  promote  God's  cause  or  Christ's  king- 
dom 1  Doth  he  or  it  stand  in  need  of  your  lies  ?  Will 
you  speak  wickedly  for  God,  ai;id  talk  deceitfully  for  him  1 
Shall  his  honor  be  maintained  by  the  devil's  inventions  ] 
I  shall  not  speak  partially ;  but  wheresoever  the  fault 
lies,  there  let  the  censure  fall— that  it  is  certainly  a 
very  strong  presumption  of  a  weak  and  bad  cause,  when 
the  refuge  and  support  of  it  are  lies. 

(2.)  If  thou  wouldst  not  be  guilty  of  slander,  he  not 
busy  in  other  men's  affairs.  Keep  thine  eyes  within  doors 
and  thy  thoughts  at  home.  Inquire  not  what  others  sa} 
nor  what  others  do,  but  look  to  thine  own  affairs,  and 
guide  them  with  discretion.  Thou  hast  work  enough 
at  home,  within  thine  own  heart,  and  in  thine  own 
house;  and  if  thou  art  careful  to  manage  that  well, 
thou  wilt  scarcely  have  either  time  or  inclination  to  re- 
ceive or  divulge  bad  reports  of  others.  And  therefore 
the  apostle  joins  idleness  and  tattling  together,  "  They 
learn  to  be  idlerp  wandering  about  from  house  to  house ; 
and  not  only  idle,  but  tattlers  also,  and  busy-bodies, 
speaking  things  which  they  ought  not."  1  Tim.  5  :  13. 
They  are  idle,  and  yet  husy -bodies,  very  idly  busy,  who, 


1 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.  421 

because  they  care  not  to  employ  their  hands,  set  their 
tongues  on  work,  and  suffer  them  to  walk  through  the 
world  abusing  and  lashing  every  one  they  meet.  A  true 
description  of  a  company  of  giddy  flies  in  our  times,  that 
are  always  roving  from  house  to  house,  and  skipping 
about,  now  to  this  man's  ear,  and  by  and  by  to  that,  and 
buzzing  reports  of  what  ill  they  have  heard  or  observed 
of  others. 

(3.)  Take  another  rule.  If  thou  wouldst  not  be  guilty 
of  slander,  he  frequent  in  reflecting  on  thine  own  miscarria- 
ges, or  thy  pr oneness  to  fall  into  the  same  or  greater  faults. 

When  thou  hearest  or  knowest  of  any  foul  and  scanda- 
lous sin  committed  by  another,  look  backwards  upon  thine 
own  life  and  actions.  Canst  thou  find  no  blots  in  thy  copy] 
Is  the  whole  course  of  thy  life  fair  vsrritten  upon  thy  con- 
science %  If  not,  how  canst  thou  without  shame  to  thyself 
upbraid  thy  brother  with  his  miscarriages,  when  thou  thy- 
self hast  been  guilty  of  the  like  or  greater?  Or  wliy,  O 
hypocrite,  "  beholdest  thou  the  mote  that  is  in  thy  bro- 
ther's eye,  and  seest  not  the  beam  that  is  in  thine  ovm?" 
Methinks  our  shame  for  our  own  sins  should  be  a  cover- 
ing to  our  brother's,  and  when  we  ourselves  are  guilty, 
we  should  not  be  so  malicious  nor  foolish  as  to  reproach 
ourselves  by  reproaching  him;  for  thus  to  eclipse  and 
darken  his  good  name  is  but  as  when  the  moon  eclipseth 
the  sun,  her  own  darkness  and  obscurity  is  made  the 
more  evident  by  it. 

Or  if  God  by  his  restraining  grace  hath  kept  thee  from 
those  wickednesses  into  which  he  hath  suffered  others  to 
fall,  yet  then  look  inward,  view  and  search  thine  own 
heart,  ransack  over  thy  corrupted  nature,  and  there  thou 
shalt  find  those,  yea,  and  far  ^eater  abominations  than 


422  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

those,  like  beds  of  twisted  serpents  knotting  and  crawlino- 
within  thee.  vSay  with  thyself,  **  How  can  I  reproach  him 
who  hath  but  copied  forth  mine  own  nature  1  How  can  I 
expose  his  infamy  who  hath  but  done  what  I  have  much 
ado  to  keep  myself  from  doing  ]  Possibly  the  same  temp- 
tation might  have  prevailed  over  me  too,  had  God  let  it 
loose  upon  me.  I  owe  my  preservation,  not  to  any  differ- 
ence that  was  between  us,  but  only  to  the  free  and  abound- 
ing grace  of  God:  by  this  it  is  that  I  stand;  and  shall 
I  reproach  him  for  falling,  who  should  also  myself  have 
fallen  were  I  not  strongly  upheld  by  another  ?"  Thus  I 
say,  by  reflecting  on  ourselves  we  shall  be  withheld  from 
being  injurious  in  our  censures  and  in  our  reports  of 
others,  we  shall  hardly  divulge  their  real  miscarriages, 
much  less  accuse  and  slander  them  with  false  and  forged 
ones.  This  is  the  apostle's  i-ule.  Gal.  6:1,  "  Brethren,  if 
a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye,  which  are  spiritual,  re- 
store such  a  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness ;  considering 
thyself  lest  thou  also  be  tempted." 

(4.)  If  you  would  not  be  guilty  of  slander,  listen  not  to 
those  who  are  slanderers  and  detracters.  Lend  not  yotir 
ears  to  those  who  go  about  with  tales  and  whispers, 
whose  idle  business  it  is  to  tell  news  of  this  man  and  the 
other ;  for  if  these  kinds  of  flies  can  but  blow  in  your 
ears„  the  worms  will  certainly  creep  out  at  your  mouths. 
For  all  discourse  is  kept  up  by  exchange,  and  if  he  bring 
thee  one  story,  thou  wilt  think  it  incivility  not  to  repay 
him  with  another  for  it ;  and  so  they  chat  over  the  whole 
neighborhood,  accuse  this  man,  and  condemn  another,  and 
suspect  a  third,  and  speak  evil  of  all.  I  wish  tliiat  the 
most  of  our  converse  were  not  taken  up  this  way,  in  re- 
counting stones  of  what  passed  between  such  and  such, 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.  423 

when  all  is  to  no  other  end  but  to  bring  an  evil  report 
upon  them.  Now,  if  any  such  backbiters  haunt  thee,  who 
make  it  their  trade  to  run  up  and  down  with  tales  and 
news,  give  them  no  countenance,  listen  not  to  their  de- 
tractions, but  rather  sharply  rebuke  them  and  silence 
their  slanderous  tongues;  and  this  will  either  drive  the 
slander  from  them  or  the  slanderer  from  thee.  "The 
north  wind  driveth  away  rain,  so  doth  an  angry  counte- 
nance a  backbiting  tongue."    Prov.  25  :  23. 

(5.)  If  you  would  not  be  slanderers  of  others,  he  not 
self-lovers.  For  self-love  always  causeth  envy,  and  envy 
detraction.  An  envious  man  cannot  endure  another's 
praise,  and  therefore  seeketh  all  he  can  to  blast  it  by 
false  reports  and  lying  slanders,  as  if  all  that  were  de- 
tracted from  another  were  added  to  his  own  reputation. 
When  his  neighbor's  fame  begins  to  grow  tall  and  to 
spread  about  him,  he  then  seeks  what  he  can  to  cut  it 
down,  because  he  thinks  it  hinders  his  prospect,  and  the 
world  cannot  take  so  fair  a  view  of  him  as  he  desires, 
therefore  he  is  still  hewing  at  it,  sometimes  with  oblique 
and  sometimes  with  direct  blows,  sometimes  striking  at 
his  talents  and  sometimes  at  his  piety ;  and  if  he  can  but 
make  these  fall  in  the  esteem  of  the  world,  then  he  thinks 
none  shall  be  so  much  respected  and  honored  as  himself. 
A  man  that  is  a  self-lover  thinks  all  due  to  himself :  all 
praise  and  commendation  must  run  in  his  channel,  or 
else  it  takes  a  wrong  course,  and  he  accounts  just  so  much 
taken  from  him  as  is  ascribed  to  another,  and  this  puts 
him  upon  this  base  art  of  detraction,  that  by  depressing 
others  he  may  advance  himself,  and  raise  the  structure  of 
his  own  fame  upon  the  ruins  of  his  neighbor's.  Therefore 
if  thou  wouldst  not  slander  others,  be  sure   do  not  too 


42f4  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

much  admire  thyself.  For  self-applause  and  self-esteeir.  is 
like  a  pikie  in  a  pond,  that  will  eat  up  and  devour  all  about 
it,  that  itself  may  thrive  and  grow  upon  them. 

(6.)i  Be  not  too  ready  to  entertain  suspicious  and  evil 
mnnises  against  others.  For  if  thou  begin  to  suspect  c  vil 
of  another,  the  next  thing  is  to  conclude  it,  and  the  next 
to  report  it.  This  suspicion  is  a  strange  shadow  that 
every  action  of  another  will  cast  upon  our  minds,  espe- 
cially if  we  be  beforehand  a  little  disaffected  towards  them. 
Thus  very  dreams  increased  suspicion  against  Joseph  in 
his  brethren.  And  if  once  a  man  be  out  of  esteem  with 
us,  let  him  then  do  what  he  will,  be  it  never  so  virtuous 
and  commendable,  suspicion  will  still  be  the  interpreter ; 
and  where  suspicion  is  the  interpreter  of  men's  actions, 
slander  and  detraction  will  be  the  gloss  and  comrnunt 
upon  them.  Indeed  suspicion  is  always  too  hasty  in  con- 
cluding, and  many  times  our  jealousies  and  distrusts  upon 
very  small  occasions  prompt  us  to  conclude  that  what  we 
have  thus  surmised  is  certainly  come  to  pass,  and  so  we  take 
shadows  for  enemies,  and  report  that  confidently  for  truth 
which  yet  we  never  saw  acted  but  only  in  our  own  fancies. 

Now,  notwithstanding  that  this  sin  of  slander  and  de- 
traction is  so  great  and  heinous,  yet  may  it  not  be  justly 
feared  that  many  place  their  whole  religion  in  it,  and 
think  themselves  so  much  the  better  by  how  much  the 
worse  they  think  and  report  of  other  men  %  Do  they  not 
think  it  a  piece  of  zeal  and  warmth  for  the  w^orship  and 
service  of  God,  to  cry  down  all  as  superstitious  that  do 
not  worship  him  in  their  way  ]  Do  they  not  make  it,  if  not 
a  part,  yet  a  sign  of  holiness,  to  be  still  finding  fault  and 
crying  out  against  others ;  to  be  censorious  and  clamorous  ] 
Such  a  class  of  men  they  represent  as  all  lewd  and  pro- 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.^  425 

fane,  and  such  a  class  as  all  rebellious  and  hypocrites ;  and 
then,  to  justify  their  censures,  they  instance  possibly  in 
two  or  three,  of  whom  perhaps  they  know  no  more  than 
the  bare  names. 

And  what  tends  all  this  to  but  mutual  exasperation  1 
Those  that  do  not  believe  them  are  exasperated  against 
the  reporters,  and  those  who  do  believe  them  are  exas- 
perated against  the  slandered. 

And  as  it  tends  to  exasperation,  so  likewise  it  encou 
rageth  and  hardeneth  many  in  their  sins.  For  when  they 
hear  so  much  evil  blazed  abroad  in  the  world,  and  few  or 
none  escape  wdthout  having  some  foul  blot  rubbed  upon 
them,  or  infamous  crime  reported  of  them  whether  tnily 
or  falsely,  how  natural  that  many  should  think  that  sin 
and  wickedness  is  no  such  strange  thing,  and  so  embolden 
themselves  to  commit  that  which  they  hear  is  so  common. 

I  beseech  you  therefore,  christians,  for  the  peace  of 
the  church,  which  else  will  continue  sadly  rent  and  di- 
vided ;  for  the  sake  of  Christianity,  which  else  will  be  dis- 
credited and  reviled ;  for  your  brethren's  sake,  who  else 
vnll  be  discouraged  or  exasperated,  be  very  cautious 
what  reports  you  either  receive  or  make  of  others.  Their 
good  name  is  very  precious,  precious  to  God  when  their 
blameless  conversation  warrants  it,  and  precious  to  them- 
selves. However,  unless  there  be  absolute  necessity,  and 
you  are  constrained  to  do  it  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
good  of  others,  divulge  not  their  imperfections  though 
they  be  real,  and  in  no  case  whatever  feign  or  devise  false 
rumors  concerning  them.  "  Take  heed  lest,  if  ye  bite  and 
devour  one  another,  ye  be  not  consumed  one  of  another," 
and  one  with  another.  These  are  rules  to  keep  you  from 
being  guilty  of  slander  against  others. 


426  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

2.  But  if  any  are  guilty  of  raising  an  ill  report  against 
you,  observe  these  following  rules  and  directions  how  you 
ought  to  demean  yourselves  in  this  case. 

(1.)  If  the  reproach  they  cast  on  thee  be  true  and  deserved, 
though  they  perhaps  have  sinned  in  disclosing  it  to  the 
world,  yet  make  this  use  of  it :  go  thou  and  disclose  it  in 
thy  most  humble  and  periitent  confessions  unto  God ;  yea, 
and  if  thou  art  called  thereunto  by  due  form  of  law,  give 
glory  unto  God  by  confessing  it  before  men.  Men  possi- 
bly may  upbraid  thee  with  it,  but  by  this  course  God  will 
forgive  thee,  without  upbraiding  thee. 

(2.)  If  thou  art  falsely  charged  with  that  which  never 
was  in  thy  heart  to  do,  yet  improve  this  providence  to  stir 
thee  up  to  pray  the  more  fervently  that  God  woidd  for  ever 
keep  thee  from  falling  into  that  sin  with  which  others  slan- 
der thee  :  so  shall  all  their  reproaches  be  thrown  merely 
into  the  air,  and  fall  at  last  heavy  on  their  own  heads, 
whilst  thou  rejoicest  in  the  innocency  of  thine  own  soul. 

(3.)  If  any  unjustly  slander  thee,  revenge  not  thyself  upon 
them  by  slandering  them  again.  I  must  confess  that  this 
is  a  very  hard  lesson,  and  requires  almost  an  angelical 
perfection  to  perform  it  well.  We  read  in  the  Epistle  of 
St.  Jude,  that  when  Michael  and  the  devil  contended 
*'  about  the  body  of  Moses,"  the  holy  angel  "  durst  not 
bring  a  railing  accusation  "  against  that  wicked  sj)irit,  but 
only  said,  *'  The  Lord  rebuke  thee."  And  so,  when  men 
of  devilish  spirits  spew  out  their  slanders  and  broach  all 
the  malicious  accusations  that  their  father  the  great  ac- 
cuser hath  ever  suggested  to  them,  return  not  slander  for 
slander;  for  so  the  devil  would  teach  thee  to  be  a  devil; 
but  with  all  Quietness  and  meekness  desire  of  God  to  re- 
buke their  lies  and  calumnies,  and  by  all  wise  and  pru- 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.  427 

dent  means  vindicate  thyself,  clear  up  thine  integrity,  and 
make  it  appear  that  though  "  the  archers  have  shot  at 
thee  and  sorely  giieved  thee  with  their  aiTOws,  even  bit- 
ter vv^ords  ;"  yet  still  **  thy  bow  remaineth  in  its  strength." 
What  saith  the  apostle  ]  1  Pet.  3  ;  9,  Render  not  "  evil 
for  evil,  or  railing  for  railing."  And  indeed  whoever  dolh 
so  seeks  only  to  heal  a  wound  in  his  name  by  making  a 
much  deeper  one  in  his  conscience. 

(4.)  JVken  thou  art  falsely  aspersed  and  slandered,  re- 
fer thyself  and  appeal  to  the  all-knowing  God :  retire  in- 
to the  peace  and  refuge  of  thine  own  conscience,  and 
there  shalt  thou  find  enough  for  their  confutation  and  thy 
comfort. 

Know  that  a  good  name  may  be  in  the  power  of 
every  slanderous  tongue  to  blast ;  but  they  cannot  cor- 
rupt thy  conscience  to  vote  with  them.  Possibly,  it  is 
only  the  excellence  and  eminence  of  thy  grace  that  of- 
fends them :  if  so,  glory  in  it ;  for  the  reproaches  of 
wicked  men  are  the  best  testimonials  that  can  be  given  of 
an  excellent  and  singular  christian.  In  a  strict  and  holy 
conversation  there  is  such  contradiction  to  the  loose  and 
profane  of  the  world,  as  at  once  both  convinces  and  vexes 
them,  reproves  and  provokes  them.  And  if  thou  dost 
thus  reproach  them  by  thy  life,  wonder  not  at  it  if  they 
again  reproach  thee  by  their  lying  slanders.  Be  not  too 
solicitous  how  they  esteem  thee.  It  is  miserable  to  live 
upon  the  reports  and  opinions  of  others  ;  let  us  not  much 
reckon  what  they  say,  but  what  reports  our  own  con- 
sciences make  ;  and  if  a  storm  of  obloquy  and  reproaches, 
railings  and  slanders,  do  at  any  time  patter  upon  us,  how 
sweet  is  it  to  retire  inwards  to  the  calm  innocency  of  our 
own  hearts !  there  are  a  thousand  witnesses  which  will 


428  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

tell  US  we  have  not  deserved  them.  How  comfortable  is 
it  to  remit  our  cause  to  God,  and  to  leave  our  vindication 
to  him  for  whose  cause  we  suffer  reproach !  Thus  Jere- 
miah appeals  to  God  :  "I  heard  the  defaming  of  many — 
Report,  say  they,  and  we  will  report  it.  But,  0  Lord  ot 
hosts,  thou  that  triest  the  righteous,  and  seest  the  reins 
and  the  heart,  unto  thee  have  I  opened  my  csaue."  Ch. 
20  :  10,  12.  Thus,  if  whilst  wicked  men  are  maliciously 
conspiring  how  to  blot  and  sully  our  names,  we  can  but 
keep  our  consciences  clear,  what  need  we  much  trouble 
ourselves  how  the  wind  blows  abroad,  since  we  are  har- 
bored under  the  retreat  of  a  peaceable  heart  1  They  m.ay 
possibly  persuade  others  to  believe  their  calumnies ;  but 
God,  who  searcheth  the  heart  and  conscience,  knows  that 
we  are  injured ;  and  he  is  hastening  on  a  day  wherein  he 
will  clear  up  our  righteousness ;  and  then  the  testimony 
of  a  good  conscience  shall  put  ten  thousand  slanderers  to 
silence. — Thus  I  have  spoken  of  this  sin,  slander  and  de- 
traction. 

The  third  sin  against  this  commandment  is  base  flat- 
tery, which  is  a  quite  opposite  extreme  to  the  other,  as 
both  are  opposite  to  truth.  There  is  either  sel f -flattery ^ 
QX  x}iiQ  flattering  of  others. 

1.  There  is  a  selfflattery.  And  indeed  every  man  is, 
as  Plutarch  well  observed,  his  own  greatest  flatterer. 
However  empty  and  defective  we  may  be,  yet  we  are  all 
apt  to  love  ourselves,  perhaps  without  a  rival,  and  to  be 
puffed  up  with  a  vain  conceit  of  our  own  imaginary  per- 
fections, to  applaud  and  commend  ourselves  in  our  own 
thoughts  and  fancies,  and  to  think  that  we  excel  all  others 
in  what  we  have,  and  what  we  have  not  we  despise  as 
nothing  worth.    From  this  abundance   of  a  vain  heart 


NINTH    COMMANDMENT.  429 

break  out  arrogant  boastings  of  ourselves,  contemning  of 
others,  and  a  presumptuous  intruding  ourselves  into  those 
employments  and  functions  which  vv^e  are  no  way  able  to 
manage.  Leara,  therefore,  O  christian,  to  take  the  just 
measure  of  thyself.  Let  it  not  be  too  scanty,  for  that  will 
make  thee  pusillanimous  and  cowardly,  and  through  an 
extreme  of  modesty  render  thee  unserviceable  to  God 
and  the  world.  But  rather  let  it  be  too  scanty  than  too 
large,  for  this  will  make  thee  proud,  arrogant  and  as- 
suming ;  and  by  exercising  thyself  in  things  too  high  for 
thee,  thou  wilt  but  spoil  whatsoever  thou  dost  rashly  and 
overweeningly  venture  upon.  If  thou  art  at  any  time 
called  or  necessitated  to  speak  of  thyself,  let  it  rather  be 
less  than  the  truth  than  more  ;  for  the  tongue  is  of  itself 
•very  apt  to  be  lavish  when  it  hath  so  sweet  and  pleasuig 
a  theme  as  a  man's  own  praise.  Take  the  advice  of  So- 
lomon :  "  Let  another  man  praise  thee,  and  not  thine 
own  mouth ;  a  stranger,  and  not  thine  own  lips."  Pro  v. 
21  :  2. 

2.  There  is  a  sinful  fiatteriiig  of  others,  and  that  either 
by  an  immoderate  extolling  of  their  virtues,  or  what  is 
worse,  by  a  wicked  commendation  even  of  their  very 
vices.  This  is  a  sin  most  odious  to  God,  who  hath  threat- 
ened to  **  cut  off  all  flattering  lips."  Psalm  12  :  3.  But  es- 
pecially it  is  most  detestable  in  ministers,  whose  very  office 
and  function  it  is  to  reprove  men  for  their  sins,  if  they 
shall  "  daub  with  untempered  mortar,"  and  **  sew  pillows 
under  men's  elbows,"  crying  "  Peace,  peace,  when  there 
is  no  peace  to  the  wicked,"  only  that  they  may  lull  them 
asleep  in  their  secunty  ;  they  do  but  betray  their  souls, 
and  the  blood  of  them  God  will  certainly  require  at  theii 
hands.  i,uo(j  Vi«  ao^ 


THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT. 


Thou  shnlt  not  covet  thy  neig^hhor's  house:  thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  uei£;hbor*8  wife;  no.-  his  itiau-servaut,  ikor  his 
maid-servant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor  any  thing  that 
is  tlty  neighbor's. 


Thus  are  we  at  last,  through  the  Divine  assistance,  ar- 
lived  to  the  tenth  and  last  precept  of  the  moral  law. 

Indeed  the  papists,  and  after  them  some  protestants-, 
divide  it  into  two,  making  these  words,  thou  shalt  not  covet 
thy  neighbor's  wife,  to  be  one  entire  command  ;  and  then 
putting  together  the  other  branches  of  it,  thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  neighbor's  house,  nor  his  servant,  &c.  to  piece  up 
the  last.  And  then,  withal,  to  keep  the  number  of  the 
commandments  from  swelling  beyond  a  decalogue,  or  ten 
words,  some  join  the  first  and  second  together  into  one  ; 
and  the  papists,  in  propounding  the  commandments  to  the 
people,  wholly  leave  out  the  second,  fearing  they  may  be 
corrupted  by  hearing  it,  because  it  speaks  too  boldly 
against  their  idolatry  and  image-worship. 

But  how  infinitely  rash  is  it  for  vile  wretches  either  to 
invert  or  defalcate,  and  as  it  were  to  decimate  the  laws 
of  the  gi-eat  God,  by  the  which  they  and  all  their  actions 
must  be  judged  at  the  last  day  ! 

And  certainly  were  it  not  that  they  might  the  better 
conceal  from  the  ignorant  common  people  the  dangerous 


TENTH    COMMANDMENT.  431 

and  heretical  words  of  the  second  commandment,  they 
could  have  lain  under  no  temptation  at  all  to  do  a  thing 
alton:ether  so  unreasonable  as  the  dividing  of  this  tenth 
commandment  into  two ;  for  on  the  same  ground  might 
they  as  well  have  divided  it  into  seven,  since  there  are 
many  more  concupiscences  mentioned  in  it  than  that 
of  our  neisrhbor's  wife  and  of  his  house.    And  if  each  of 

o 

these  must  constitute  a  distinct  precept,  why  not  also, 
thou  shall  not  covet  his  man-servant :  thou  shalt  not  covet 
his  ox,  &c. 

Besides,  the  order  of  the  words  makes  clearly  against 
them.  For  whereas  they  make,  thou  shalt  not  covet  thy 
neighbor's  wife  to  be  the  ninth,  in  the  text  those  words, 
thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  7teighhor's  house  go  before  them, 
so  that  either  they  must  needs  confess  it  to  belong  to  the 
tenth,  or  else  must  grant  a  most  unintelligible  hyperba- 
ton  both  of  sense  and  words,  such  as  would  bring  in 
utter  confusion  and  disorder  amongst  those  laws  which 
God  certainly  prescribed  us  in  a  most  admirable  method 
and  disposition. 

But  to  speak  no  more  of  this,  I  shall  first  consider  tlie 
sin  here  prohibited,  and  then  close  up  with  some  'practical 
use  and  impi-ovement. 

I.  The  sin  here  prohibited  is  concupiscence,  or  an 
:  unlavidful  lusting  after  what  is  another  man's. 

For  since  God  had  in  the  other  commandments  for- 
bidden the  acts  of  sin  against  our  neighbor,  he  well  knew 
that  the  best  means  to  keep  men  from  committing  sin  in 
act  would  be  to  keep  them  from  desinng  it  in  heart ;  and 
therefore  he  who  is  a  Spirit  imposeth  a  law  on  our  spirits, 
and  forbids  us  to  covet  what  before  he  had  forbidden  us  to 


432  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS.  ^ 

perpetrate.  It  is  true  that  other  precepts  are  spiritual 
likewise,  and  their  authority  reacheth  to  the  mind  and 
the  most  secret  thoughts  and  imaginations  of  the 
heart;  for  our  Savior,  Mat.  5,  accuseth  him  of  adul 
tery  that  doth  but  lust  after  a  woman,  and  him  of  mur- 
der that  is  but  angry  with  his  brother  without  a  cause ; 
and  it  is  a  most  certain  rule,  that  whatever  precept  pro- 
hibits the  outward  act  of  any  sin,  prohibits  likewise  the 
inward  propension  and  desires  of  the  soul  towards  it. 
But  because  these  are  not  plainly  and  literally  expressed 
in  the  former  commands,  therefore  the  infinite  wisdom  of 
God  thought  it  fit  to  add  this  last  command,  wherein  he 
doth  expressly  arraign  and  condemn  the  very  first  mo- 
tions of  our  hearts  towards  any  sinful  object ;  and  where- 
as, before  he  had  commanded  us  not  to  kill,  not  to  steal, 
not  to  commit  adultery,  not  to  slander  and  bear  false  wit- 
ness ;  now  in  the  last  place,  for  the  greater  security  that 
these  his  laws  should  not  be  violated,  he  commands  us 
not  so  much  as  to  harhor  in  our  hearts  any  desire  to- 
wards these.  So  that  this  tenth  commandment  may  well 
be  called  Vinculuin  Legis,  the  bond  of  the  whole  laio  ;  and 
it  is  especially  the  bond  that  strengthens  and  confirms  the 
second  table ;  for  because  all  our  outward  actions  tak^ 
iheir  first  rise  from  our  inward  motions  and  concupis- 
cence, there  is  no  such  way  to  provide  for  our  innocency 
as  to  lay  a  check  and  restraint  upon  these. 

Concupiscence  is  sometimes  taken  in  Scripture  in  a  good 
sense,  but  more  often  in  an  evil.  There  is  an  honest  and 
lawful  concupiscence,  when  we  desire  those  things  which 
are  lawful,  to  which  we  have  right,  and  of  which  we  have 
need.  There  is  likewise  a  holy  and  pious,  and  a  wicked  and 
sinful  concupiscence.  We  have  both  together,  Gal.  5  :  17, 


TENTH    COMMANDMENT.  433 

**  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit,  and  the  spirit  against 
the  flesh." 

It  is  only  concerning  this  sinful  concupiscence  that  we 
are  at  present  to  speak.  This  evil  concupiscence  is  the 
first-born  of  original  sin ;  the  first  essay  and  expression  of 
that  corruption  which  hath  seized  on  us  and  on  all  the 
wretched  posterity  of  Adam.  For  in  original  sin,  besides 
the  guilt  which  results  from  the  imputation  of  the  primi- 
tive transgression  to  us,  and  makes  us  liable  to  eternal 
death,  there  is  likewise  an  universal  depravation  of  our 
natures,  consisting,  first,  in  a  loss  of  those  spiritual  perfec- 
tions wherewith  man  was  endowed  in  his  creation,  which  is 
the  defacing  of  the  image  of  God  stamped  on  our  nature 
in  knowledge,  righteousness  and  true  holiness ;  and  se- 
condly, and  consequent  upon  this,  in  a  violent  propension 
a7id.  inclination  to  whatsoever  is  really  evil  and  contrary  to 
the  holy  will  and  commands  of  God,  and  this  is  the  image 
of  the  devil,  into  which  man,  by  his  voluntary  apostasy 
and  defection,  hath  transformed  himself.  \~  ■  ■    .  ^ • 

This  inordinate  i?iclination  of  the  soul  to  what  is  evil  and 
sinful  is  properly  the  cmicwpiscence  forbidden  in  this  com- 
mandment. For  the  soul  of  man  being  an  active  and  busy 
creature,  must  still  be  putting  forth  itself  in  actions  suita- 
ble to  its  nature.  Before  the  fall  man  enjoyed  supernatu- 
ral grace,  though  in  a  natural  way ;  which  enabled  him  to 
point  every  motion  of  his  soul  towards  God,  and  to  fix 
him  as  the  object  and  end  of  all  his  actions ;  but,  forfeit- 
ing this  gi'ace  by  the  fall,  and  being  left  in  the  hands  of 
mere  nature,  all  his  actiolis  now,  instead  of  aspiring  to 
God,  pitch  only  on  the  creature.  And  this  becomes  sin  to 
us,  not  merely  because  we  affect  and  desire  created  good, 
ipT  that  is  lawfiil,  but  because  we  affect  and  desire  it  in 

Ten  Com.  ^  ig 


434  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

an  inordinate  manner,  that  is,  without  affecting  and  desir- 
ing God.  And  thus  the  soul  not  being  able,  without  grace 
and  the  image  of  God,  to  raise  its  operations  to  God, 
pitched  upon  low,  sinful  objects,  to  the  neglect  and  slight- 
ing of  God  and  the  great  concerns  of  heaven.  This  is,  in 
the  general,  that  inordinate  disposition  of  the  soul  which 
is  here  called  coveting  or  concupiscence.      ,  ,/     <         *-  . 

There  are^wr  degrees  of  this  sinful  concupiscence. 

1.  There  is  the  motus  primo  primi,  or  the  first  film  and 
shadow  of  an  evil  thought,  the  imperfect  embryo  of  a  sin 
before  it  is  well  shaped  in  us  or  hath  received  any  linea- 
ments and  features.  And  these  the  Scripture  calls  the 
imaginations  of  the  thoughts  of  men's  hearts.  Gen.  6  :  5, 
"  God  saw  that  every  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  man's 
heart  was  only  evil  continually :"  that  is,  the  very  first 
figment  and  flushing  of  our  thoughts  is  evil  and  corrupt. 
Indeed,  some  of  these  are  injected  by  the  devil.  Many 
times  he  assaults  the  dearest  of  God's  children  with  hor- 
rid temptations,  and  importunately  casts  into  their  minds 
strange  thoughts  of  questioning  the  very  being  of  God, 
the  truth  of  the  Scriptures,  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
future  rewards  and  punishments,  and  such  other  blas> 
phemous,  hideous  and  unshapen  monsters,  against  the 
very  fundamentals  of  religion,  for  the  truth  of  which  they 
would  willingly  sacrifice  their  very  lives  as  a  testimony  to 
them.  These  indeed  are  not  their  sins,  although  they  are 
their  great  troubles  and  afflictions ;  for  they  come  only 
from  a  principle  without  them,  and  they  are  merely  pas- 
sive and  sufferers  by  them,  so  long  as  they  are  watchful 
to  abhor  and  resist  them,  and  to  cast  these  fiery  darts  ot 
the  devil  back  again  into  his  face.  But  then  there  are 
other  first  motions  arising  in  onr_ hearts  towaids  those 


1 


41.  TENTH    COMMANDMENT.  435 

sins  which  are  more  delightful  and  pleasant  to  our  sensual 
inclinations  :  these,  whatsoever  the  papists  say  to  the  con- 
trary, as  soon  as  ever  they  do  but  begin  to  heave  and  stir 
in  our  bi  easts,  are  truly  sins,  and  do  in  their  measure 
pollute  an  I  defile  the  soul ;  for  the  soul  of  man  is  like  a 
clear  mirror,  upon  which  if  you  only  breathe  you  sully 
it  and  leave  a  dimness  upon  it.  So  truly,  the  very  first 
breathings  of  an  evil  thought  and  desire  in  our  souls  do 
sully  their  beauty  and  dim  their  lustre,  and  render  the 
image  of  God  less  conspicuous  in  them  than  it  was 
before. 

2.  A  farther  degree  of  this  concupiscence  is,  when 
these  evil  motions  are  entertained  in  the  sensual  mind  with 
some  measure  of  complacency  and  delight. 

When  a  sinful  object  offers  itself  to  a  carnal  heart, 
there  is  a  kind  of  inward  pleasing  titillation  that  affects 
it  with  delight,  and  begets  a  kind  of  sympathy  between 
them.  As  in  natural  sympathies  a  man  is  taken  and  de- 
lighted with  an  object  before  he  knows  the  reason  why 
he  is  so  J  so  likewise  in  this  sinful  sympathy  between  a 
carnal  heart  and  a  sensual  object,  the  heait  is  taken  and 
delighted  with  it  before  it  hath  had  time  to  consider  what 
there  is  in  it  that  should  so  move  and  affect  it.  At  the 
very  first  sight  and  glimpse  of  a  person  we  many  times 
find  that  we  conceive  some  more  particular  respect  for 
him  than  possibly  for  a  whole  crowd  of  others,  though  all 
may  be  equally  unknov^oi  to  us ;  so  on  the  very  first 
glimpse  and  apparition  of  a  sinful  thought  in  our  minds, 
we  find  that  there  is  something  in  it  that  commands  a 
particular  regard  from  us,  that  unbosoms  and  unlocks 
our  very  souls  to  it,  even  before  we  have  the  leisure  to 
examine  why. 


436  -      THE  TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

3.  Hereupon  follows  assent  and  approbation  jf  the  sin 
in  the  practical  judgment,  which,  being  blinded  and  for- 
cibly carried  away  by  the  violence  of  coiTupt  and  caraal 
affections,  commends  the  sin  to  the  executive  faculties. 

The  understanding  is  the  great  trier  of  every  deliberate 
action,  so  that  nothing  passeth  into  act  which  hath  not 
first  passed  examination  and  censure  there  ;  whether  this 
or  that  action  is  to  be  done  is  the  great  question  canvass- 
ed in  this  court,  and  all  the  powers  and  faculties  of  the 
soul  wait  what  definitive  sentence  will  be  here  pronounc- 
ed, and  so  accordingly  proceed.  Now  here  two  things 
do  usually  appear  and  put  in  their  plea  to  the  judg- 
ment against  sin ;  God's  law,  and  God's  advocate,  con- 
science J  the  law  condemns,  and  conscience  cites  that 
law.  But  then  the  affections  step  in  and  bribe  the  judge 
with  profit,  or  pleasure,  or  honor,  and  thereby  corrupt 
the  judgment  to  give  its  vote  and  assent  unto  sin. 

4.  When  any  sinful  motion  hath  thus  gotten  an  allow- 
ance and  pass  from  the  judgment,  then  it  betakes  itself  to 
the  will  for  a  decree.  The  judgment  approves  it,  and  there- 
fore the  will  must  now  resolve  to  commit  it,  and  then  the 
sin  is  fully  perfected  and  formed  within,  and  there  wantd 
nothing  but  opportunity  to  bring  it  forth  into  act. 

Thus  you  see  what  this  concupiscence  is,  and  the  de- 
grees of  it,  viz.  the  first  bubblings  up  of  evil  thoughts  in 
our  hearts,  our  complacency  and  delight  in  them,  (as  in- 
deed it  is  very  hard  and  much  against  corrupt  nature 
not  to  love  these  first-born  of  our  souls,)  the  assent  and 
allowance  of  our  judgment,  and  the  decree  and  resolution 
of  our  wills.  Each  of  these  is  forbidden  in  this  com- 
mandment. 

But  if  the  sin  proceeds  any  further,  it  then  exceeds  tht» 


TENTH    COMMANDMENT.  437 

bounds  and  limits  of  this  commandment,  and  falls  under 
the  prohibition  of  some  of  the  former,  which  forbid  the 
outward  acts  of  sin. 

Thus  much  concerning  evil  concupiscence  in  the  ge- 
neral. 

But  here  is  mention  likewise  made  of  several  particu- 
lar objects  of  it :  thy  neighhor's  house,  his  vnfe,  his  ser- 
vants, his  cattle,  (under  which  are  comprehended  all  sorts 
of  his  possessions,)  and  all  is  included  under  the  last 
clause,  nor  any  thing  that  is  thy  neighbor's.  So  that,  to 
desire  to  take  from  him  either  his  life,  or  his  good  name, 
or  his  virtue,  is  this  condemned  covetousness ;  as  well  as 
a  desire  to  take  from  him  his  temporal  possessions  and 
enjoyments. 

II.    I  shall  close  all  with   some   practical    use    and 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1.  Learn  here  to  adore  the  unlimited  and  boundless  so- 
vereignty of  the  great  God. 

His  authority  immediately  reacheth  to  the  very  soul 
and  conscience,  and  lays  an  obligation  on  our  very 
thoughts  and  desires,  which  no-  human  laws  can  do.  It 
is  but  a  folly  for  men  to  intermeddle  with  or  impose 
laws  upon  that  of  which  they  can  take  no  cognizance, 
and  therefore  our  thoughts  and  desires  are  free  from 
their  censure  any  farther  than  they  discover  themselves 
bv  overt  acts.  But  though  they  escape  the  commands 
and  notice  of  men,  yet  they  cannot  escape  God.  He  sceth 
not  as  men  see,  neither  judgeth  he  as  men  judge :  the  se- 
crets of  all  hearts  are  open  and  bare  before  his  eyes  :  ho 
looks  through  our  very  souls,  and  there  is  not  the  least 

hint  of  a  thought,  not  the  least  breath  of  a  desire  stirring 

19* 


438  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

in  us  but  it  is  more  distinctly  visible  to  him  than  the 
most  opake  bodies  are  unto  us.  "  The  Lord  knoweth 
the  thoughts  of  man,  that  they  are  vanity."  Ps.  94  :  11. 
And  therefore  his  law,  like  his  knowledge,  reaches  unto 
the  most  secret  recesses  of  the  soul,  searches  every  comer 
of  the  heart,  judges  and  condemns  those  callow  lusts 
which  men  never  espy ;  and  if  these  find  harbor  and 
shelter  there,  condemns  thee  as  a  transgressor,  and  guilty 
of  eternal  death,  how  plausible  soever  thy  external  de- 
meanor may  be.     Wherefore, 

2.  Content  not  thyself  with  an  outward  conformity  to 
the  latv,  hut  labor  to  approve  thy  heart  in  sincerity  and 
purity  unto  God :  otherwise  thou  art  but  a  pharisaical 
hypocrite,  and  washest  only  the  outside  of  the  cup,  when 
within  thou  art  still  full  of  unclean  lusts. 

This  was  the  corrupt  doctrine  of  the  scribes  and  phari- 
sees,  that  the  law  reached  only  to  the  outward  man ;  and 
although  we  entertained  and  cherished  wicked  desires 
and  evil  purposes  in  our  hearts,  yet  so  long  as  they  did 
not  break  forth  into  outward  crimes,  they  were  not  to  be 
imputed  unto  us,  nor  did  God  account  them  as  sins.  And 
this  St.  Paul  confesseth  of  himself,  that  whilst  he  was 
trained  up  in  pharisaical  principles,  he  did  not  under- 
stand the  inward  motions  of  lusts  to  be  sins. 

But,  alas,  this  is  but  gilding  over  a  dry  and  rotten  post, 
which,  though  it  may  look  beautiful  to  men,  yet,  when  God 
comes  to  examine  it,  will  not  abide  the  fiery  trial.  Thou 
art  as  truly  a  murderer,  a  thief,  an  adulterer  in  God's 
sight,  if  thou  dost  but  harbor  bloody,  unclean,  unjust 
thoughts  in  thy  heart,  as  thou  wouldst  be  in  men's  if 
thou  shouldst  actually  kill,  or  steal,  or  wallow  in  the 
open  and  professed  acts  of  uncleanness. 


TENTH    COMMANDMENT.  439 

Indeed,  most  men  do  herein  grossly  delude  themselves, 
and  if  they  can  but  refrain  from  the  outward  commission 
of  gross  and  scandalous  sins,  they  very  seldom  reflect  on 
their  heart-lusts,  which,  like  deep  ulcers,  rankle  inwardly, 
and  perhaps  grow  incurable,  when  all  the  while  they 
may  be  skimmed  over  with  a  fair  and  inoffensive  life. 
Although  the  heart  estuate  and  boil  over  vdth  malicious, 
revengeful,  lascivious  thoughts,  yet  they  usually  dispense 
with  these,  and  their  natural  conscience  indulgeth  them 
without  disturbance. 

But  deceive  not  yourselves — God  is  not  mocked, 
nor  can  he  be  imposed  upon  by  external  shows,  nei- 
ther will  he  judge  of  thee  as  others  do,  or  as  thou  thy- 
self dost. 

I  know  it  is  a  very  difficult  thing  to  convince  men  of 
the  great  evil  that  there  is  in  sinful  thoughts  and  desires, 
and  therefore  very  difficult  to  persuade  them  to  labor 
agamst  them;  for  because  they  do  not  openly  obtrude 
themselves,  therefore  men  think  they  carry  in  them 
but  small  guilt  and  little  danger.  Every  man  that  hath 
but  a  remnant  of  conscience  left  him  will  beware  of 
gross  and  notorious  crimes,  that  carry  the  mark  of  hell 
and  damnation  visibly  stamped  upon  their  foreheads, 
such  as  he  that  can  without  reluctance  commit  them, 
must  needs  own  himself  for  the  apparent  offspring  of 
the  devil.  But  for  "  an  invisible  thought,  a  notion,  a  de- 
sire, a  thing  next  to  nothing — this  certainly  I  may 
please  myself  withal,  for  this  can  hurt  no  one.  By  a 
malicious  purpose  I  wrong  no  man,  by  a  covetous  de- 
sire I  extort  from  no  man,  and  what  so  great  evil  then 
can  there  be  in  this  ?" 


UO  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  wert  thou  only  to  deal  with  men, 
w^hora  immaterial  things  touch  not,  there  were  no  such 
great  evil  in  them ;  but  when  thou  hast  likewise  to  do 
»vith  an  immaterial  and  spiritual  God,  before  whom  thy 
very  thoughts  and  desires  appear  as  substantial  and  con- 
iiderable  as  thy  outward  actions,  then  know  that  these 
fall  under  his  censure  here,  and  will  fall  under  his  re- 
venge hereafter. 

Now  were  this  persuasion  effectually  wrought  into  the 
minds  of  men,  is  it  possible  they  could  indulge  them- 
selves as  they  do  in  vain,  frothy,  unclean,  malicious 
thoughts  and  desires  "?  Is  it  possible  they  could  so  close- 
ly brood  on  these  cockatrice  eggs  which  will  bring  forth 
Tiothing  but  serpents  to  sting  them  to  eternal  death] 
IS  it  possible  they  could  delight  in  rolling  and  tossing 
a  sin  to  and  fro  in  their  fancy,  and  by  imagining  it, 
make  the  devil  some  recompense  for  not  daring  to 
commit  it  1  Certainly  such  men  are  altogether  unac- 
quainted with  the  life  and  power  of  true  grace,  when 
those  sins  which  they  dare  not  act,  yet  they  dare  with 
pleasure  contemplate  and  dally  with  in  their  fancies  and 
imaginations. 

Turn  therefore  your  eyes  inwards.  Bewail  and  strive 
against  that  natural  concupiscence  which  lodgeth  there, 
and  never  content  thyself  that  thou  hast  dammed  up  the 
streams  of  thy  corruption  from  overflowing  thy  life  and 
actions,  till  thou  hast  in  some  good  measure  dried  up 
the  fountain  of  it. 

3.  See  here  the  best  and  the  surest  method  to  keep  us 
from  the  outward  violation  of  God's  laws,  which  is  to 
mortify  our  corrupt  concupiscence  and  desires. 


TENTH    COMMANDMENT.  441 

And  therefore,  as  1  told  you,  the  wisdom  of  God  hath 
set  this  commandment  in  the  last  place,  as  a  fence  and 
guard  to  all  the  rest.  Thou  shall  not  covet,  and  then  cer- 
tainly thou  shall  not  hilly  nor  steal,  nor  commit  adultery, 
nor  hear  false  witness,  but  be  kept  pure  from  all  out- 
ward defilements  of  the  flesh  when  thou  art  thus  cleansed 
from  the  inward  defilements  of  the  spirit. 

For  from  these  it  is  that  all  the  more  visible  sins  of 
our  lives  and  actions  have  their  supply.  Therefore  saith 
our  Savior,  "Out  of  the  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts, 
murders,  adulteries,  fornications,  thefts,  false  witness, 
blasphemies."  Mat.  15  :  19.  Observe  that  he  puts  evil 
thoughts  in  the  front,  as  the  leader  of  all  this  black  regi- 
ment ;  for  out  of  this  evil  treasure  of  the  heart  men  bring 
forth  evil  things ;  and  all  the  fruits  of  the  flesh,  the  grapes 
of  Sodom  and  the  clusters  of  Gomorrah,  receive  their  sap 
and  nourishment  from  this  root  of  bitterness. 

It  ought  therefore  most  deservedly  to  be  the  great  and 
chief  care  of  every  christian  to  lay  the  axe  to  this  root,  to 
purge  and  heal  this  fountain  that  sends  forth  such  corrupt 
and  poisonous  streams,  to  keep  his  heart  clean  from  sinfiil 
thoughts  and  affections,  and  then  his  life  will  be  clean  by 
consequence.  And  therefore  God  very  pressingly  re- 
quires this,  Jer.  4  :  14,  "  O  Jerusalem,  wash  thy  heart 
from  wickedness — how  long  shall  vain  thoughts  lodge 
within  thee  *?" 

And  let  me  add,  that  unless  we  make  this  our  chief 
care,  unless  we  do  most  solicitously  observe  this  last 
commandment,  all  our  care  in  observing  the  former 
commands  will  be  utterly  in  vain,  not  only  in  respect  to 
our   acceptance  and  reward  with   God,  but    as   to   any 


442  THE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

good  issue  and  effect.  All  other  endeavors  will  be  as 
hopeless  as  to  attempt  the  cure  of  an  ulcerous  body  with- 
out purging  it,  where  the  corruption  will  quickly  break 
forth  again;  or  to  attempt  the  emptying  of  a  pond  that 
hath  many  springs  still  rising  up  in  the  bottom  of  it, 
which  will  soon  grow  as  full  as  ever  it  was. 


THB   END. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 
-_   :rr,^^ir-  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


MAY   6    1934 


FEB  12  1937 


NOV  9   1939 


OEC  1^  ^^ 


MARl     1955  LU 


t90ct'59RBt 


M 


4S«EE| 


/4iJ5^*^^5m^a-<.<^ 


AUG    i3  1961 


ynrt 


u 


% 


LD  21-100m-7,'33 


■ 


y  \j\j 


y 


^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAIvlFORNIA  UBRARY 


i