Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 1.djvu/336

304 in himself, and rejoiced in the work of his hand, to teach us on that day to take a complacency in him, and to give him the glory of his works, Ps. 92. 4. The sabbath began in the finishing of the work of creation, so will the everlasting sabbath in the finishing of the work of providence and redemption; and we observe the weekly sabbath in expectation of that, as well as in remembrance of the former; in both conforming ourselves to him we worship. [5.] He has himself blessed the sabbath-day, and sanctified it; he has put an honour upon it, by setting it apart for himself; it is the holy of the Lord and honourable, and he has put blessings into it, which he has encouraged us to expect from him in the religious observation of that day; it is the day which the Lord hath made, let not us do what we can to unmake it; he has blessed, honoured, and sanctified it, let not us profane it, dishonour it, and level that with common time, which God's blessing has thus dignified and distinguished.

12. Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the thy God giveth thee. 13. Thou shalt not kill. 14. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15. Thou shalt not steal. 16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

We have here the laws of the second table, as they are commonly called, the six last of the ten commandments, comprehending our duty to ourselves and to one another, and constituting a comment upon the second great commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. As religion toward God is an essential branch of universal righteousness, so righteousness toward men is an essential branch of true religion. Godliness and honesty must go together.

I. The fifth commandment concerns the duties we owe to our relations; that of children to their parents is the only duty specified; Honour thy father and thy mother, which includes, 1. A decent respect to their persons, an inward esteem of them, outwardly expressed upon all occasions in our conduct toward them; Fear them; (Lev. 19. 3.) Give them reverence, Heb. 12. 9. The contrary to this is, mocking at them and despising them, Prov. 30. 17. 2. Obedience to their lawful commands; so it is expounded; (Eph. 6. 1..3.) Children, obey your parents, come when they call you, go where they send you, do what they bid you, refrain from what they forbid you; and this, as children, cheerfully, and from a principle of love. Though you have said, "We will not," yet afterward repent and obey, Matth. 21. 29. 3. Submission to their rebukes, instructions, and corrections; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward, out of conscience toward God. 4. Disposing of themselves with the advice, direction, and consent, of parents, nor alienating their property, but with their approbation. 5. Endeavouring in every thing to be the comfort of their parents, and to make their old age easy to them; maintaining them if they stand in need of support, which our Saviour makes to be particularly intended in this commandment, Matth. 15. 4..6.

The reason annexed to this commandment is a promise; That thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee: having mentioned, in the preface to the commandments, his bringing them out of Egypt as a reason for their obedience, he here, in the beginning of the second table, mentions his bringing them into Canaan, as another reason; that good land they must have upon their thoughts, and in their eye, now that they were in the wilderness. They must also remember when they were come to that land, that they were upon their good behaviour, and that, if they did not conduct themselves well, their days should be shortened in that land; both the days of particular persons who should be cut off from it, and the days of their nation, which should be removed out of it. But here a long life in that good land is promised particularly to obedient children. They that do their duty to their parents are most likely to have the comfort of that which their parents gather for them, and leave to them: they that support their parents shall find that God, the common Father, will support them. This promise is expounded, (Eph. 6. 3.) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. Those who, in conscience towards God, keep this and the rest of God's commandments, may be sure that it shall be well with them, and that they shall live as long on earth as Infinite Wisdom sees good for them, and that what they may seem to be cut short of on earth shall be abundantly made up in eternal life, the heavenly Canaan which God will give them.

II. The sixth commandment concerns our own and our neighbour's life; (v. 13.) "Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not do any thing hurtful or injurious to the health, ease, and life, of thy own body, or any other person's, unjustly." This is one of the laws of nature, and was strongly enforced by the precepts given to Noah and his sons, Gen. 9. 5, 6. It does not forbid killing in lawful war, or in our own necessary defence, or the magistrates' putting offenders to death, for those things tend to the preserving of life; but it forbids all malice and hatred to the persons of any, (for he that hateth his brother is a murderer,) and all personal revenge arising therefrom; also all rash anger upon sudden provocations, and hurt said or done, or aimed to be done, in passion; of this our Saviour expounds this commandment, Matth. 5. 22. And, as that which is worst of all, it forbids persecution, laying wait for the blood of the innocent, and excellent ones of the earth.

III. The seventh commandment concerns our own and our neighbour's chastity; (v. 14.) Thou shalt not commit adultery: this is put before the sixth by our Saviour, (Mark 10. 19.) Do not commit adultery, do not kill; for our chastity should be as dear to us as our lives, and we should be as much afraid of that which defiles the body as of that which destroys it. This commandment forbids all acts of uncleanness, with all those fleshly lusts which produce those acts, and war against the soul, and all those practices which cherish and excite those fleshly lusts, as looking, in order to lust, which Christ tells us, is forbidden in this commandment, Matth. 5. 28.

IV. The eighth commandment concerns our own and our neighbour's wealth, estate, and goods; (v. 15.) Thou shalt not steal: though God had lately allowed and appointed them to spoil the Egyptians, in a way of just reprisal, yet he did not intend, that it should be drawn into a precedent, and that they should be allowed thus to spoil one another. This command forbids us to rob ourselves of what we have, by sinful spending, or of the use and comfort of it, by sinful sparing; and to rob others, by removing the ancient land-marks, invading our neighbour's rights, taking his goods from his person, or house, or field, forcibly or clandestinely, over-reaching in bargains, not restoring what is borrowed or