Church-rulers and church-builders may not take away the children's bread and the grown man's wine, because some misuse them, and draw on multitudes in their train. Thank God that our inheritance is kept in our sight by the retaining of these expressions; that we are admonished of that mystical union and communion with Christ which is high enough and profitable enough to bear being described in words like these. And I may add, if the vail of words is so splendid, what must the realities be, the spiritual and heavenly realities which lie behind the terms which must hide, though they reveal? But let me not speak of it as a privilege which no man knows, and to which no man may subscribe his name, saying, "I have felt something of this sort.' Christians may indeed have suffered much loss from their expectations being set too low, but God hath not left his sacramental bounty without witness: Christians have found strength, animation, comfort, peace, flow into their hearts in this sacrament in a fuller stream than is according to their wonted experience. They have gone to it expecting some considerable infusion of Christ's help into their souls, and have found more than they looked for; nay, there have been times when they expected little, and compassed great spoil; and many are the times when they have carried away much more than they knew they had received. But who is there whose expectations have ever reached the point which these terms seem to call for--"eating the flesh, and drinking the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ?" Do they not imply a nearness of the soul to Christ, and of Christ to the soul, and a fulness of supply ready to be poured in; and consequently a liberal opening of Christ's treasures to them that raise their desires to this height, according to all their need, and beyond what in all other ordinances we are led to look for?

We need not depreciate the preciousness of prayer, or the peculiar promises made to preaching, or the grounds of hope in the other sacrament; but respecting none of them are such terms used as here. What, then, can we judge but that the presence of Christ in the Lord's supper is nearer, and may be more efficacious, than in many other of the ordained channels of divine mercy? I think that anything short of this fails to account for these marvellous words, which call forth all our hearts and minds to grasp them, and bid us raise our expectations to reach after some

But further, the church has enforced the same in the second and third expressions of this address, by which it strives to persuade us of the greatness of the benefit to be derived from fitly communicating; and here I can be more brief, because these expressions have much in common with that which we have considered. The second reason given is-" We dwell in Christ, and Christ in us," in rightly partaking of this sacrament. Now herein is a thing worthy of remark, that in no passage of scripture that I can discover is our dwelling in Christ, or Christ dwelling in us, spoken of in special connection with receiving this sacrament. Sufficiency there is of passages to establish both terms in their general sense. As Ephesians iii. 17-" That Christ may dwell in your hearts, by faith;" and 1 John iv. 13-" Hereby do we know that we dwell in him, because he hath given us of his Spirit;" but these I believe, and all others, refer to the standing privilege of the believer in every place and in all occupations. They shew that he may run under Christ's shadow as to a refuge in any moment of temptation, by thinking of him, and lifting up the heart to him; nay, that he may maintain so constant a habit of so doing, that he may be said to "dwell in Christ;" and that, if the door of his heart is continually open to Christ, Christ is continually entering in and blessing him; and that Christ may be doing this so constantly, that Christ may be said, by reason of his scarcely interrupted communion, not to be going in and out of his heart, but to be dwelling in it. So that not only is there a mutual connexion perpetual, but there may be a mutual intercourse almost perpetually, especially on the side of Christ towards him. This point is high and lofty as well as the first, and, like it, has drawn many into error: let us beware then how any expression escapes us, or finds favour with us, which makes confusion between Christ and his influences, which are one thing; and the soul and the effects produced upon it by Christ's indwelling, which is another. Christ is not the soul; and the soul is not Christ. We are distinct beings from him, and he from us, though he and we are said to dwell in one another.

CHURCH ARCHITECTURE *.

In the middle ages the clergy were frequently the architects as well as guardians of the church; and, if this cannot be expected now, at all events it is desirable that those to whom the care of our holy edifices is intrusted, should not be ignorant of the essen

From "Elementary Remarks on Church Architecture ;” by John Medley, M.A, vic. of St. Thomas, Exeter. Exeter : Hannaford; London: Rivingtons. 12mo. pp. 39.

It

tial principles of the science to which we are all so deeply indebted, and should know both how to preserve what is valuable, and to add what is deficient. Nor are the clergy the only persons interested. might be so, if the clergy were the church. But as the laity form equally with themselves an integral part of the one body-as they alike enjoy the benefit of the ecclesiastical taste and munificence of former ages-some knowledge of church architecture ought, surely, to be a part of every liberal education. Ought not they who would be ashamed to be ignorant of the names of ordinary plants, herbs, and minerals, and who even take delight in extending their researches into the productions of a former world, to blush at their ignorance of the very elements of the great science by whose noblest productions they are surrounded? Yet how do most persons enter a cathedral, collegiate, or handsome parochial church? After gazing about them for a few moments in uninstructed amazement, they surrender themselves into the hands of an officer more ignorant probably than themselves, who hurries them on from nave to choir, from monument to monument, with all the rapidity of one who has his alphabet to say, and his fee to receive, and who would be glad to finish the one, and receive the other as soon as possible; and few even of those who frequently enter our parish or collegiate churches have any notion whatever of the style in which they are erected. This general ignorance has been attended with its usual consequences-barbarous neglect where it seemed unnecessary to do anything for the church, and still more barbarous alterations where enlargement or restoration became necessary. For what is the usual course adopted on the enlargement of a parish church? The thing is staved off as long as possible; there is a great deal of talk throughout the parish that accommodation is wanted; a dissenting chapel is built, and those who have tried in vain to obtain a seat in the parish church occupy their sittings there; until at last the parishioners come together. Even then there is a grumbling about the heavy rates and dreadful expenses; but the rate is finally carried. Yet how to enlarge to the best effect nobody knows; one proposes to lengthen, another to widen, a third to build galleries all round the church -which latter proposition is in all likelihood accepted. So the old and lofty pillars are incrusted with galleries, neatly painted to look like oak; and to give light above, green-house frames are thrown into the roof. And now those in the galleries can neither see nor hear the preacher: the pulpit must therefore be removed from its old and graceful position, and placed directly in front of the altar on four handsome Grecian pillars. But the desire for improvement increases. There is an ancient Norman font half blocked up with pews, and very dirty on the outside. Mr. A., the church-warden, is a painter, and has a mind to try his skill, and shew his liberality. So, with the best intention possible, he offers to paint the dirty granite a light cerulean blue, streaked in with veins of marble; and there being nobody to remonstrate, it is done, and all agree the font looks much eleaner than before.

Now this is no exaggerated picture of what is going on every day. Our churches are in a course of transformation; and, unless the parishioners acquire some better notions of what is due to God's house, our church-building zeal will irrecoverably spoil half the old churches in the kingdom, to say nothing of those which are built entirely new.

But there is a higher ground on which we may rest the argument for the necessity of some knowledge of church architecture, and it is this-a deficiency in taste where the object is to pay religious reverence to the Almighty, implies a deficiency in moral perception, and a deficiency in moral perception cannot exist without injury to the moral and religious cha

racter. For if God himself condescended to inspire one holy man with skill for the furnishing a part of the tabernacle, and to mark out by pattern for Moses himself what was proper for its erection, and in a subsequent age to descend to the same particulars in reference to the temple, it is clear that what the great God of heaven thought it not beneath him to teach, must be our duty to learn. And where the houses dedicated to God are either so mean as to excite contempt, or so ill arranged that all that profound selfabasement, which man ought to feel towards his Maker is swallowed up in taking care for his own comfort, and making himself his own idol, it is plain that bad taste is only another name for irreverence and forgetfulness of what is due to God and to the place where he is worshipped. So that I think it may be admitted, on scriptural principles, that incorrect taste in religious edifices implies incorrect moral perception; an error not indeed always wilful, but which nevertheless requires to be amended.

I shall make only one other prefatory remark in anticipation of a supposed objection. It may be said, " May we not safely leave all this in professional hands? The study of church architecture belongs to architects, and may properly remain with them." Now, to say nothing of the mistakes which even skiful architects occasionally make from their want of study of the principles of church architecture, is it not evident that the supply must, in some degree, be regulated by the demand? and that bad taste in the public mind will not call for, nor excite good designs among architects? and that so long as the public are content to be ill informed, architects will not sufficiently inform themselves? But after all, we do not leave the matter in professional hands, for we undertake to be the judges of their plans; and he who undertakes to be a judge, should at least have some knowledge on the point which he is about to decide. Indeed, architects continually complain, and with very good reason, that their designs are ruined by committees, who sit in judgment upon them without the slightest knowledge of the principles on which they are framed, and having accepted a plan, desire the architect to get it executed at half the proposed expense-that is, they accept his design, but destroy its proportions.

SCRIPTURAL DISQUISITIONS.

No. IV.

BY THE REV. W. BLACKLEY, B.A. "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: 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. Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way: first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing."-MATT. v. 21–26. BEFORE attempting an explanation of this passage it may be well, perhaps, to make a few preliminary remarks. It is undoubtedly a very difficult one. There is, however, as I conceive, more allusion in it to Jewish customs than has generally been thought; and the want of a reference to this fact, together with losing sight of the construction of the 21st and 22nd verses in the original text, has been, in great measure, the cause that persons have failed in coming to a clear understanding of the passage whenever they have sat down to consider its meaning. As it respects

the construction, if the sentence in the 22nd verse"But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment"-be considered parenthetical, the 21st and 22nd verses would be connected thus:-"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; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,' shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, 'Thou fool,' shall be in danger of hell fire." And this construction appears correct from the circumstance, that the Greek for the expressions, "Whosoever shall kill," and "whosoever shall say, 'Raca," and "whosoever shall say, 'Thou fool,"" is all of the same character in its construction; that is, the pronoun corresponds in each instance, and the verbs are in the same mood. It removes the difficulty too, which every one finds whenever he attempts to explain the words, "whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,' shall be in danger of the council," as those of our Lord. For, supposing them to be the words of our Lord, and intended as a general rule for Christian guidance, they are at a loss to ascertain satisfactorily what can be the meaning of the danger pointed out for saying "Raca" to any one, namely, "he shall be in danger of the council"—that is, of the sanhedrimsince, as the Jewish economy has long since passed away, the power of the council or sanhedrim is now a nonentity.

And while this difficulty in the explanation of the words is removed, by allowing the construction I have pointed out, the not allowing it and making the words, "whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,' shall be in danger of the council," the words of our Lord, there is left, not only the difficulty I have alluded to in applying it to Christians, but a variation in the structure of the 22nd verse, which does not appear in any other part of the sermon. If the "whosoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca,'" are the words of Christ, then, in the Greek of that sentence, and in the Greek of the sentence, "whosoever is angry with his brother," there is an unusual difference in the construction; in that case, instead of os dav inn, it might, I think, be expected to have been πᾶς ὁ δ ̓ εἰπὼν to assimilate with πᾶς ὁ ὀργιζόμενος. This is also a strong reason for inclining me to think that the words, "whosoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca,' shall be in danger of the council," are not the words of our Lord. The term council literally signifies the sanhedrim; and among the Jews there was the lesser sanhedrim, and the great sanhedrim. The lesser or inferior sanhedrim was a court in every city, which consisted of twenty-three persons; and had the power of life and death, so far as its jurisdiction extended. The great sanhedrim was a court in Jerusalem, consisting of seventy-two persons, which received appeals from the inferior sanhedrims or courts of twenty-three; and whose business also was to judge in the most important affairs: for instance, in all matters relative to religion; as when any person pretended to be a prophet, or attempted to make innovations in the established worship. To one or other of these councils our Lord undoubtedly referred.

There is also another circumstance which inclines me to think that the latter part of the 22nd verse is not in continuation of the words of our Lord, in the first part of it, but in continuation of the 21st verse; and it is this-that if our Lord had intended the latter part of the 22nd verse as a general rule for Christian guidance, he, as our exemplar and pattern, would not have violated the precept which he had laid down for our guidance, as he appears often to have done if that were the case. Just take the 23rd chapter of St. Matthew as an instance; in addressing the scribes and pharisees in the 17th verse, he says "Ye fools (pwpoi) and blind:" and again in the 19th verse"Ye fools (popoi) and blind." This, I must confess,

is a very powerful reason for making me conclude that the latter part of the 22nd verse is in continuation of the 21st, and that the first part of the 22nd verse is a parenthesis *.

The original of the expression "hell-fire," literally means the "gehenna of fire," or "the fiery gehenna" that is, the fire of the valley of Hinnom. This valley lay near to Jerusalem, and had formerly been the scene of the detestable worship of Moloch, an idol of the Ammonites, to which children were offered in sacrifice. The Jews, who were for a long time addicted to idolatry, joined the heathen in the worship of this idol, and caused their own children to pass through the fire to Moloch; a particular place in this valley was called "Tophet "-that is, "the firestove," in which they put and burned their children alive to Moloch. At the time, however, of the reformation under Josiah (2 Kings xxiii. 10), that king defiled this place, in order that no one might go there any more to offer his son or his daughter to Moloch, and made it the receptacle for the out-pourings or offal of the city, where fires were kept constantly burning in order to consume it. Now, as there were some offences under the Jewish law, for which people were condemned to be burned alive (see, for instance, Levit. xx. 14, and Levit. xxi. 9), it has been thought that this valley of Hinnom was selected as the place of execution for all who were sentenced to be burnt alive.

With regard to the word parà, it was used when applied to any one, to signify the greatest possible contempt for the individual to whom it was applied; and the word pope, which our translation renders "thou fool," signifies "a graceless villain," and was a term among the Jews which "implied the highest enormity and most aggravated guilt." Now, though I cannot find these expressions alluded to in the Jewish divine law, yet I believe there was a law among the Jews, established by themselves, which gave the sanhedrim power to inflict punishment upon the party who used contemptuous expressions of another, as well as evilly laid to the charge of another, apostacy from the worship of Jehovah, which I believe the word μwpòg implied. And, in reference to this latter expression, as the Jewish law gave authority for the individual to be put to death who apostatized from the worship of Jehovah and turned to idolatry, and as the individual who, having laid a charge against another without being able to prove it, was to suffer the same punishment which the individual, who had been charged, would have had to suffer had he been found guilty (Deut. xix. 16-19), I strongly incline to think that it was a custom among the Jews, in the time of our Lord, to cast into the fiery gehenna

that is, into the valley of Hinnom, where a fire was constantly burning-the individual who charged another with apostacy from the worship of Jehovah without being able to prove it, as well as him who had apostatized, if it could be proved against him †. And I am the more inclined to think this, because I find in the code of the Gentoo laws, that persons who used such expressions as "raca," and "moros," were to be punished for the use of them: the former by a

• Bishop Hurd, in reference to Mark ix. 49, 50, remarks"The difficulty of the two concluding verses of this chapter arises from a vivacity of imagination in the pursuit and application of metaphors; a faculty in which the Orientals excelled and delighted. They pass suddenly from one idea to another, nearly, and sometimes remotely allied to it. They relinquished the primary sense for another suggested by it; and without giving any notice, as we do, of our intention. These numerous reflected lights, as we may call them, eagerly catched at by the mind in its train of thinking, perplex the attention of a modern reader, and must be carefully separated by him if he would see the whole scope and purpose of many passages in the sacred writings."

+ It makes no difference, however, whether the punishment was the being burnt, or the being condemned to attend the keeping up the fires which were constantly burning in that valley.

heavy fine, and the latter by having the tongue of the person who used it cut out, and a hot-iron of ten fingers' breadth thrust into his mouth".

The 23rd and 24th verses, I incline to think also, refer to prudential advice usually given by the Jews to any one who had, by his conduct, placed himself in danger of being proceeded against by any one for using such epithets as parà and popέ. And this opinion is confirmed by finding Philo, a Jewish writer, who flourished in the early part of the first century of the Christian era †, observing, when explaining the law of the trespass-offering (de Sacrif., p. 844), that when a man had injured his brother, and repenting of his fault, voluntarily acknowledged it (in which case both restitution and sacrifice were required), he was first to make restitution, and then to come into the temple, presenting his sacrifice, and asking pardon. And in reference to the 25th verse, I find it embodies advice in accordance with a custom prevalent at the time .

Now, bearing in mind these preliminary remarks in connexion with the declaration of our Lord, that, while heaven and earth remained, the (moral) law should not lose its force; and that, so far from having come to destroy the law and the prophets (as some of those whom he addressed imagined) he was come with the express purpose of fulfilling it; bearing in mind also his statement, that those who acted in opposition to the requirements of the law, and taught by their example and precept, that it was not to be regarded, should not be subjects of the kingdom he was about to establish, while those who performed and taught its commands should be approved and honoured members of it; remembering too the declaration he made, that those who desired to become his people must exceed, in their spiritual attainments, those who were esteemed the wisest and the holiest of their nation, namely, the scribes and pharisees, who, in interpreting the law, affirmed that no more than the outward action was commanded or forbidden-we shall arrive, I trust, at a right understanding of this important, and greatly misunderstood, and misapplied passage: first, however, premising, that, while our Lord taught that the law had a deeper reference than merely what was outwardly forbidden or commanded -that, while it was just and good, it was holy and spiritual, he does not appear to have intended to point out any thing new to those whom he addressed, only rightly to illustrate the law, to show them its meaning, and to lead them to just conclusions from it. As Matthew Henry remarks, he adds not any thing new, only limits and restrains some permissions which had been abused, showing the breadth, strictness, and spiritual nature of the precepts of the law; at the same time adding such explanatory remarks as made them more clear. In this proceeding he commences, in the portion which heads this article, with the sixth commandment. And in the continuation of his address to the assembled multitudes before him, we may conceive him speaking to them in some such way as the following:

Ye have heard by the public teachers of your church—that is, by those who read and expound the law of Moses and the prophets every sabbath-daythat it was enjoined upon your fathers, and hence upon you, as one of the special commands of God "Thou shalt not kill;' and that whosoever shall kill, shall be exposed to the penalty of death as the just • Code of Gentoo laws, chap. xv., sect. 2-See Dr. A. Clarke. He formed one of a deputation from the Jews at Alexandria to the emperor Caligula, in the year A.D., 40.

The method of carrying on a process among the Jews, was this:-He who entered the action went to the judges and opened his affair to them, and then they sent officers with him to go and seize the party and bring him to justice. And to

6

judgment of God for the commission of such a crime. Now the scribes and pharisees teach you, in respect of this command, that if you have not committed actual murder, you are in no sense guilty of having broken it. This, however, is a fundamental error. It is true, that that which any command of God forbids, must be abstained from outwardly; for if it be not, the command is most certainly violated. But then there is no one command that has not a deeper reference than merely a reference to the outward act. And in respect to this very command, Thou shalt not kill,' anger (without cause) cherished in the heart of any one shall cause its violation as well as the outward act of murder. Your law has specially enjoined it upon you not to hate thy brother in thy heart (Levit. xix. 17). Now I solemnly declare to you, although the pharisees may tell you that no one violates the sixth command unless he actually commits murder, that where any person hates another-where any one is angry with his brother without cause-such a one is guilty of murder in the sight of God, and shall be obnoxious to his just and merited indignation on account of it. This may be a hard saying to you; but such is the spirituality of your law. It is indeed exceeding broad: it has respect to the disposition and intention of the inner man, as well as to the outward act; and from this you will discover the necessity that there is for repentance in each one of you. For who can lay his hand upon his heart and say, that in no one instance in his life has he been angry with any one child of man? He who cannot do it has broken the sixth command, and consequently, without repentance, can neither be a child of God nor a subject of Messiah's kingdom. I say no one who has subjected himself to the wrath of God, for being angry in his heart with his brother, can be God's child, or a subject of Messiah's kingdom without repentance. And from customs prevalent among yourselves, in a civil and political point of view, you may learn what is your wisdom and duty under such circumstances. If any one, as you know, reviles, or contemptuously treats his brother, by calling him "raca," that is, an empty, vain fellow, he at once becomes liable to be punished by the sanhedrim for the offence, if the offended party choose to proceed against him. Or if any one of you shall call his brother pope, thou graceless villain, implying that he has forsaken the worship of the God of Israel, and turned to idols, he becomes subjected, if he cannot prove his charge, to being cast into the fiery gehenna, and thus burnt to death, should the party thus falsely spoken against proceed against him.

"Now when any one has thus laid himself open to the vengeance of another, wisdom and interest dictate that he should seek the pardon of the individual, whom he has offended and injured, by an acknowledgment of his fault, and an amendment in his conduct, in order that the punishment to which he has subjected himself may not fall upon him. And your teachers have wisely enjoined upon you, in the event of your having thus committed yourself, that you should seek to be reconciled to your brother; and to be reconciled to him under such circumstances as may give to him the appearance of sincerity on your part, of repentance for your offence: namely, that if at either of your annual festivals, when you all appear in Jerusalem to offer your sacrifices, a remembrance of your offence occur to you, you at once leave your offering before the altar, in the custody of some one who shall take the charge of it, and go and seek out your brother whom you have offended, and seek to obtain his pardon, and then come and offer your gift; or if, after time and opportunity have been afforded you for seeking reconciliation with your offended and in

sary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him "-that is, before thou art brought before the judge, lest thou be condemned.-Lamy Bibl. Appar. Edit., 1723.

this so wise a precaution, and one so adapted to your advantage, and the offended party (finding no over

ture made on your part to make reparation for your offence) take up the matter seriously, and proceed to hale you with him to the judge, that sentence may be given against you, the advice given you by your teachers is wise, and for your advantage, namely, persist in your obstinacy and folly no longer, but acknowledge your offence, and seek at once terms of agreement with him, that you may not suffer the extremity of the law; which, in the event of your not coming to terms of peace with him, you will have to do. For should you still dare the matter with him, and the charge be proved against you, you will assuredly not be released from the grasp of the law, till full vengeance be taken upon you for your offence.

"If then, for an offence committed against your brother, punishment (according to your own customs) is certain, unless, by repentance and the obtaining of the pardon of your offended brother, you become delivered from the penalty to which you have subjected yourself, how emphatically are you pointed out by it, the wisdom of seeking to become freed from that punishment from God, to which any one may have become exposed by a violation of the command to which I have just referred. You may not have committed actual murder; but the divine command is so broad and spiritual, that if you have indulged anger without cause in your heart against any one, you have done that which in the sight of God is a violation of his command; and that violation subjects you (unless, by true repentance on account of it, you be come forgiven by God) to his just indignation and wrath. In your civil and political communications with one another, custom and law teach you to fear him who is vested with power to kill the body, to punish for offences committed against one another, as well as point out the prudence of taking due and timely steps to become delivered from the danger to which you have exposed yourselves. In the position then in which you stand with God, accountable to him as you are, and intimately acquainted with you as he is, searching the heart and trying the reins of every one of you, how infinitely important is it for you (if you value your happiness in time or in eternity), to repent you truly of your sins, and mourn before God on account of them; since he, in his sovereignty, has not only power to kill the body whenever it shall please him, but has power also, when he hath killed, to cast both body and soul into hell. Bear then in mind, not only that he who actually takes away the life of a fellow creature is guilty of breaking the sixth commandment, but he also who is angry with his brother without a cause; and that, if you would finally have a place at God's right hand in the mansions of everlasting glory, you must seek previously unto him for pardon, and that with all your heart."

Now the divine law, which Christ thus illustrated to the Jews, and in the illustration of which he declared that anger cherished in the heart was a violation of the sixth command equally with that of actual murder, and from thence deduced the necessity of repentance towards God on the partof those who had been the subjects of anger in the heart, as forcibly applies to us as it did to the Jews; inasmuch as it is not less spiritual and binding than it was, nor yet less fatal in its consequences when broken. If anger without cause was murder in the sight of God to the Jews, so it is with

us.

If anger exposed the soul of a Jew to the punishment of God's eternal wrath, without deep repentance on account of it, so it does the soul of any one of us. Mark the language of an inspired apostle (1 John iii. 15): "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."

We learn then from this subject

1. The spirituality of the law of God. God's government is a moral one: he looketh to the state of a

man's heart, and not merely to his outward conduct. This we are too apt to lose sight of: we are too much inclined to look upon the laws of God as we look upon the laws of our country, which have reference only to the regulation of the outward conduct. If we only avoid doing that which they forbid, then we are safe in that case we avoid the penalty threatened upon a transgression. At the same time we may desire to do what they forbid-we may even plan and scheme in our hearts to accomplish what they forbid; and yet, though we desire and plan and scheme to effect it, and even declare our desire to violate the law, we are safe if we do not actually transgress: the law in that case cannot lay hold of us. It is not so, however, with the law of God. The desiring to do a thing which the law of God forbids, is as if it were actually done. The intention, motive, desire of the soul may be as sinful in the sight of God as the outward act. Hence with him anger is as murder; impure desire as adultery. And, while he punishes, or will punish, in the world to come for actual unrepented murder, and actual unrepented adultery, he will also punish for anger, and for indulged impurity of mind. Man, and the laws of man, can only look upon, and have respect unto, the outward conduct; but the infinite and almighty Jehovah looks not only to the outward life, but to the heart which is in man. He fathoms its desires, he proves its motives, he ascertains its intentions! How important then is the scripture exhortation-"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."

We learn also from the subject

2. The danger of anger. Perhaps some one is disposed to inquire, How far-to what extent, may I be angry with any one without danger? The infinite and almighty God can determine this point, but I cannot. I read in the 22nd verse-"Whosoever is angry with his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment;" but when I examine the word in the original, which is rendered in our translation "without cause," I find it comes from a verb which signifies to yield, to give way to; and therefore the sentence in the 22nd verse may mean, that he who yieldsrashly, hastily-to anger, is subject to the danger pointed out. And if a rash, hasty yielding to angry feelings is sinful, how much more certain is the guilt and danger of him or her, who indulges and cherishes and carries out a feeling of resentment against another! It ought not then to be an enquiry with us how far we may go in anger, and yet be guiltless; but we ought ever to strive against the first rising of any feeling that is likely to lead to anger. We ought to aim at having our tempers so imbued with the calm and hallowing influence of the spirit of holiness, that the very first tendency or inclination of the soul to anger may be subdued; so that, by the grace of God, we may rise superior to that which, by satanic influence, would bring our souls, if indulged, under condemnation. And not only ought we to strive and pray against anger, but to watch against it. It is in this way we gather spiritual strength-strength to conquer those foes which rise up against us, both inwardly and outwardly. And, if we strive and watch and pray against any thing which may endanger our soul's present and eternal happiness, and look to God through Christ Jesus for help in our spiritual conflicts, we shall undoubtedly be made more than conquerors through him that hath loved us and given himself for us.

We learn further from this subject

3. The wisdom of timely repentance. Our Lord desired the Jews, as we have already seen, to learn the necessity of an immediate reconciliation with God for transgression, from the certainty with which civil or social transgression might be punished among themselves, unless a timely reconciliation was obtained with the offended party: and the same ar