Again, the righteousness of Christians must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, inasmuch as it must be universal, and not partial. The Pharisees discharged some duties, and overlooked others. They performed the smaller, and omitted the greater. They paid tithes on mint, cummin, and anise; but they neglected the weighter matters of the law-judgment, mercy, and truth; they strained at a gnat, and swallowed a camel. Let us beware of selecting certain parts of duty which are easy, and of slighting others; and especially of being very scrupulous in small things, and yet far from conscientious in great. Let us endeavour to fulfil every duty; for "he, that keepeth the whole law, and yet offendeth in one point, is guilty of all; for the same GOD who hath said, thou shalt not commit adultery, hath said also thou shalt not steal:-Now therefore, if thou commit not adultery, yet if thou steal, thou art become a transgressor of the law."

Lastly, our righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, inasmuch as they carried no virtue to its proper height. They fell short of true goodness. It was the habit of the Scribe to lower the meaning of Scripture, to explain down the law of GOD, to devise exceptions to it, to make abatements from it. The Scripture had no force or strength, no strictness of meaning, no heart-searching quality, when interpreted by these teachers. Let us be fearful of all lax expositions of the word of GOD,-of all worldly ways of understanding it. The Scribes "took away the key of knowledge;" and the Scripture being perverted by the priests, neither true religion, nor true morality, prevailed among the people. The particular nature of those erroneous interpretations of Scripture, which the Pharisees introduced. is in some degree explained by CHRIST in the passage which we shall have next to consider.

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XII.

ST. MATTHEW, V. 21-26.

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 s cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shali 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, whiles thou art in the way with him lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast intɔ prison.

Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

We have here an example of the manner in which our SAVIOUR explained the precept of the law of Moses. "Thou shalt not kill," was one precept of it. The Scribes and Pharisees interpreted this, as forbidding only the direct act of murder: and thought it sufficient to bring the mer who had committed this crime before one of their courts Such was their interpretation of this law; "Whosoever shall kill," said they, "shall be in danger of the judgment. CHRIST, however, considered, that the sin of murder proceeded from anger in the heart; and He, therefore, interprets the prohibition of murder, as a prohibition of anger also. He likewise explains this law, as forbidding every degree of hatred which is without a cause: in doing which He uses some expressions, of which the meaning was then probably familiar to the Jews, though now become a little obscure; we mean the expressions of " Raca,” and “Thou fool."

He alsc intimates, that in whatever degree mon

indulge their anger against each other, in the same degree will God be angry with them: and he does this by alluding to the several Jewish courts of law, some of which took cognisance of the smaller offences, and others of the greater, each inflicting a proportionate punishment. The judgment was the lower court; the council was the next; and the word "hell-fire" stands for the highest punishment which could be inflicted by the highest court, the punishment of being burnt alive.

Our SAVIOUR then proceeds to remark, that he who entertains in his mind any hatred against his brother, cannot be an acceptable worshipper of GoD:-a most important truth, and one which we ought to call to mind, as often as we engage in divine worship. If, therefore, He says, "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." He then advises those who have any quarrel, to agree with their adversary quickly; and by adverting to the present consequences, which, in this world, attend the delay of the reconciliation, suggests the line of conduct, which it is our highest wisdom to pursue.

Let us make some practical application of this part of the subject. The Pharisees offered up many a sacrifice to GOD, with hearts full of ill-will to their neighbours. Their religion was also on this account a religion which GoD abhorred: He will have a pure heart in his worshippers He will accept no worship for Himself, while His worshipper is at enmity with his neighbour. The Church of England expects her members to examine whether they are in charity with all men, before they venture to receive the sacrament. Nothing can be more seasonable than such an expectation. This passage, however, may suggest the propriety of questioning ourselves, on the same point, not only then, but, also, as often as we offer up our worship; since there is no part of it which is consistent with an

angry state of the heart. He that would acceptably worship GOD must also love his neighbour.

Are we then well assured that we indulge no malice or hatred? Is none of this seed of murder in our hearts ? Let it not satisfy us to say that we would not kill. This was the scanty morality of the Pharisees. This was their narrow way of explaining the law. CHRIST hath taught us a larger interpretation of it. Are we followers of CHRIST,—and have we learnt from Him fully to examine ourselves on this point? Do we perceive the sin, even of an angry word or of an angry motion within the heart? Do we therefore watch the heart? Do we keep the heart (as David expresses it) with all diligence, knowing that out of it are the issues of life? Is our religion a religion of the heart, and not of the knee only, and of the lip? In vain do we repair to the house of God; in vain do we prostrate our bodies before Him; in vain does our tongue make even the fullest profession of our guilt; in vain is all our Christian confidence and hope; if we maintain a quarrel against any :-if we do not in our hearts love every man his neighbour:-" for he that hateth his brother," says the Apostle, "is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."*

These observations seem particularly applicable to persons of a very narrow and sectarian spirit; to those, I mean, whose religion, like that of the Jews, has rendered them severe, unsocial, and uncharitable. Men of this class are in great danger of carrying their religious hatred of some opposite sect, up to their very house of worship. It is true, that we should neither tolerate the heresies of any sect, nor the sins of any individual; we should nevertheless anxiously inquire, whether our religious opposition to the errors of men may not degenerate into hatred of them, and thus corrupt our religious service. Let us breathe, espe cially when we are in the house of prayer, a spirit of kindness

* 1 St. John, iii. 15.

and reconciliation towards all. Let us remember, that "love is of GOD;" and that he is the most likely to be both pure in his own worship, and right in his own creed, who most loves GOD and his fellow-creatures; "for he, that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness, even until now :" and "by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love, one towards another."

XIII.

ST. MATTHEW, V. 27, 28

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.

WE have here another instance of the strict manner in which our SAVIOUR explains the law of Moses. The seventh commandment had said "Thou shalt not commit adultery;" and the Jews, after the example of the Scribes and Pharisees, seem to have considered actual adultery alone as forbidden by it; a crime which prudence, which reputation, which self-interest, which the most common regard to conscience might be sufficient to prevent; and which was far from common, even among many heathen nations. Was this then the whole sin which the religion of CHRIST was to forbid? Was it fit, or was it even to be tolerated, that the law of Moses should be so interpreted, that a man might fully obey that law, and yet be no better than many heathen? CHRIST in this passage gives a most extensive meaning to this law; and thus rescues it out of the corrupt hands of the Scribes and Pharisees: "But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust