ings can be so blinded, and apostatize so far from God, that they can be inclined to such an evil work from I know not what religious principle, "giving their firstborn to be a sacrifice for their transgression, and the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul," Micha vi. 7. The heathens nevertheless, like the king of the Moabites, 2 Kings iii. 17, defiled themselves in a shameful manner with this sin : "They knew the judgment of God, that they who committed such things were worthy of death." Rom. i 32, and that blood must be given for blood, and soul for soul to satisfy the divine justice; blood, the soul of beasts, could not atone for the gullt of reasonable creatures; therefore nothing was more proper for this than the blood and souls of their dear children. It might admit of some kind of excuse, that those blinded nations, who were destitute of the divine revelation concerning the proper surety, deviated to such a conduct; but that the peculiar people of God, who were daily instructed concerning the future atoning sacrifice of the Messiah, "should slay their children in the valleys, should offer them up, and cause them to pass through the fire unto Moloch and the idols, to consume them," Isaiah Ivii. 5. Jer. xxxii. 35. Ezek. xvi. 20, 21. xxiii. 39, this, I say, was more intolerable than the atrocious child-murdering of the heathens. Neither did the Lord suffer those murders of his people to remain unrevenged; it was on account of this sin, as well as others, that the Lord God said of the Jews, Ezek. xxiii. 46, 47. "I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled; and the company shall stone them with stones, and despatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire."

It will perhaps be said, no person can surpass the actions of those wicked men. We see nevertheless still greater abominations: the sinner, deceived by him, who was a murderer of man from the be ginning, becomes sometimes so outrageous, that he lays his hands on his own life, and destroys himself, either from despair with Judas, Mat. xxvii. 5, or from angry vexation, because he is not honoured as much as others, on which account Ahithophel hanged himself, 2 Sam. xvii. 23, or like Saul and his armourbearer, that he may not fall into the hands of his enemies, and be reproached and tormented by them, 1 Chron. x. 4, 5. Those seamen do not conduct better, who, in order to escape the cruelty of their enemies, set fire to their powder, and blow up their ship with all who are in it. Certainly no sin is more unnatural than selfmurder: for "who. hath ever yet hated his own flesh? no man," saith Paul, Eph. v.

49. Such a sinner dies in his sin, like Saul, 1 Chron. x. 13. Is " he who hateth his brother a murderer," and do we learn from the apostle, that "no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him," the eternal perdition of such selfmurderers is not less certain. Are there madmen, who are utterly ignorant of what they do, and who destroy themselves in their madness, we cannot judge of their eternal issue. To excuse killing ourselves with the conduct of Samson, who destroyed himself with the Philistines, Judges xvi. 28, 29, 30, is unreasonable; for Samson did that as a judge of Israel, as an act of wonderful heroism, and when the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, as in all his other heroical actions, and so" in faith," Heb. xi. 32.

Although persons, who "wilfully expose themselves to danger," out of their proper callings, as those who climb high, and dive deep, fearless sailors, venturous riders, and giddy ropcdancers, do not lay hands designedly on their own lives, they are nevertheless not altogether guiltless of self-murder; for if they perish in such dangerous actions, are they not themselves the authors of their death? do they not tempt God by their unadvised conduct? and who urges them on, but he who was a murderer of man from the beginning? did not he endeavour to seduce the Son of God to this sin, that he might, if possible, despatch him thereby Mat. iv. 5, 6,7. Nor are those less guilty of bereaving themselves of their lives, who injure their health and spirits by their dissoluteness, by excess in eating and drinking, and by shameful fornication and adultery, so that "they do not live out half their days," as David speaks, Psalm lv. 23, for "who hath wo? who hath sorrow? who hath wounds without cause? they that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine:" thus asks and answers the wisest of kings, Prov. xxiii. 29, 30. And of the unchaste person he saith, Prov. v. 11, that "he mourneth at the last, when his flesh and his body are consumed." If we will not render ourselves guilty of this sin, "we must not hurt ourselves" neither: a priest may not do this, although he mourn ever so sorely for a deceased person; the Lord forbids it, Lev. xxv. 5. Did the priests of Baal, from a principle of devotion, "cut themselves with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them," as we read, 1 Kings xviii. 28, we must ascribe that to their idolatrous folly, and foolish idolatry; but the conduct of the Romish priests, who scourge themselves with whips, stuck with pins, until they even shed their blood, that they may display their vainglorious holiness, and imaginary crucifixion of the Aesh, is detestable and cruel, or suffer me rather to say, Col. ii. 33,

"it is a pretended argument of wisdom in willworship and humility, and in not sparing the body; and it is not of any advantage, but only a satisfying of the flesh."

But how doth it come to pass, that man, who was created after the image of God, in perfect love to God and his neighbour, can be guilty of such abominations? By his apostacy from God, seduced by his father, and the murderer of man, he hath lost that pure image, and that fair love; he hath contracted a horrible and devilish disposition: "His heart is desperately wicked," Jer. xvii. 19. "The imagination of the thoughts of his heart is become only evil continually," Gen. vi. 5. He is by nature prone to hate God and his neighbour," living in malice and envy, hateful and hating others," Titus iii. 13. His lusts and his delight in vain glory, in fleshly pleasures, and in worldly profit mislead him to "wars and fightings," James iv. 1 "Out of such an evil heart proceed murders," as our Saviour testifieth, Matt. xv. 19, for it disposes a person to envy, hatred, anger and a desire of revenge, which evil emotions the instructor records as the next causes of murder.

1. In the first place "envy" is considered as such an evil root of gall and wormwood, by which a person is grieved on account of his neighbour's profit, and grudges him his advantage with a fretful mind. An abominable disposition, which censures the Lord for showing favour, and "is evil, because God is good," as Jesus speaks," Mat. xx. 15. There are few sins, in which the sinner doth not enjoy some pleasure; but envy is a malicious fury to him, of which he himself wishes to be rid; envy is also hurtful to his health, it gnaws the marrow out of his bones, and consumes his flesh; "Envy," saith Solomon, Prov. xiv. 30, "is the rottenness of the bones." Yea, this sin desires and seeks our neighbour's harm, and it is thus a cause of murder, to which the wicked person is urged through envy by the devil, "Cain," saith the apostle, 1 John iii. 12, was of that wicked one, and slew his brother: and wherefore slew he him? because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." Envy appeared so plainly in the murderous Jews, that "Pilate knew that they had delivered Jesus for envy," Mat. xxvii. 18. We may hide and shelter ourselves from "cruel wrath, and from outrageous anger: but who is able to stand before envy ?" saith Solomon, Prov. xxvii. 4.

2. The other sin is "hatred," which is an aversion from our neighbour, and will not suffer him to live: the Lord God forbade

We have rendered this passage according to the Dutch translation.

this abominable temper of old: "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart," saith he, Lev. xix. 17. No marvel, for "hatred," saith Solomon, Prov. x. 12, "stiereth up strife:" yea, it urgeth the sinner to commit murder. Esau, because he hated his brother, sought to slay him," Gen. xxvii. 41. And Haman ordered a gallows to be made for Mordecai," whom he hated, "in order to hang him thereon," Esther v. 13, 14.

3. The third sin is "anger," by which we must not understand here a holy displeasure at sin in a person, as the Saviour had, when, being grieved on account of the hardness of the hearts of the Jews, he looked round about upon them with anger," Mark iii. 15. We may be angry" in this manner, "and not sin," Eph. iv. 26. But the anger that is forbidden here, is that shortlived phrenzy, or evil agitation of the mind, by which a person is driven furiously on to injure his neighbour in the highest degree. This anger disturbs not only the soul, but also the whole body, the members tremble, the countenance waxes pale and wan, the hair stands erect, the mouth foams, the veins swell, the blood boils, seethes and foams, and thus wrath is "an outrageous anger and cruelty," as we have just now heard from Solomon, Prov. xxvii. 4. Anger is justly considered as the parent of murder; for "an angry man stirreth up strife," according to Prov. xv. 18. xxix. 22, and therefore commits murder also, as we may see in "Simeon and Levi, those instruments of cruelty," Gen. xlix. 5, 6, 7, and in Saul, who, when he was incensed with anger, would slay David, 1 Sam. xviii. 8-11, and in the childmurderer Herod, Mat. ii. 16. It hath often happened, that angry persons have occasioned an incurable disease to themselves by an excessive agitation of anger, and thus their death.

4. Another sin, and more heinous than anger, is forbidden here, to wit, "a desire of revenge," by which a person covets to return and recompense an injury, which he hath suffered, or imagines that he hath suffered, with an equal, yea, with a greater evil, and sometimes even with death. Thus wicked Lamech boasted in an arrogant manner of his revengeful temper, as of a noble virtue, Gen. iv. 23, 24 "Verily I have slain a man for my wounding, and a young man for my hurt: if Cain be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and seven fold." A detestable evil: a revengeful person snatches the sword of vengeance out of the hands of God, "to whom vengeance belongeth," Heb. x. 30, and places himself in his judgment-seat. Although God speaks in the sixth commandment only of murder. yet he forbids also such envy, hatred, anger, and desire of revenge, and accounts all these as murder: "Whosoever

hateth his brother, is a murderer," as we read, 1 John iii. 15. He who hates and condemns the fruit, will destroy also the tree with its stock and root. The reason why men do not commit actual murder oftner, is not because they are too virtuous, but because they lack the opportunity or ability, and especially because God graciously restrains them: but when a man is abandoned to himself in vexatious circumstances, and hath the power, he will soon manifest his murderous temper.

II. Man being wholly subject to God, as his sovereign Lord, cannot be indifferent in a moral sense, or neither good nor evil, but he must be either one or the other: when he forsakes evil he then doth good, and when he doth good, he then forsakes evil: "Therefore it is not enough, that we do not kill any man in the manner mentioned above; for when God forbids envy, hatred, and anger, he then commands us to love our neighbour as ourselves," &c.

1. We are commanded here in the first place "to love our neighbour as ourselves," as this is the root of other virtues; for then we shall not kill him. The cavilling Remonstrants condemn this assertion of the instructor, as if he had not inserted this virtue in its proper place, because loving our neighbour pertains to all the commandments of the second table. But there is no impropriety in speaking of this virtue here, not only because it pertains to this, as well as to the other commandments, but also because it is especially opposed to murder, and is therefore by the Lawgiver himself opposed to that sin, when he saith, Lev. xix. 18. "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

2. It followeth from this, that we must be "patient" toward our neighbour, bearing in a longsuffering manner the injury and harm that we have sustained from him, and not revenging it, but forgiving it, and thus not killing him. We must, as the apostle speaks, "be longsuffering, forbearing and forgiving one another, Col. iii. 12, 13. This is indeed the nature of love, which is longsuffering, is not easily provoked, beareth and endureth all things," according to 1 Cor. xiii. 4, 5, 7.

3. When a person pursues love, he will overtake "peace" also, and maintain it with his neighbour, and thus prevent all strife and discord, and therefore also murder. Applicable are here the words of the apostle, Rom. xii, "If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, jive peaceably with all men. Blessed are the peacemakers," saith the great Prince of peace, Matt v. 9.