A good conscience is a wall of brass, that will be able to stand against a false witness. As no flattery can heal a bad conscience, so no slander can hurt a good. God will clear up the names of his people, Ps. xxxvii. 6., " He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light." God, as he will wipe away tears from the eyes, so he will wipe off reproach- es from the name. Believers shall come forth out of all their slanders and reproaches, as ' the wings of a dove, covered with sil- ver, and her feathers with yellow gold.'
Branch 3. It should exhort such to be very thankful to God, whom God hath pre- served from slander and false witness. Job calls it •' the scourge of the tongue," chap. v. 21. As a rod doth scourge the back, so the slanderer's tongue doth scourge the name. It is a great mercy to be kept from the scourge of the tongue ; a mercy, that God stops malignant mouths from bearing false witness. What mischief may not a lying report or a false oath do ? One destroys the name, the other the life. It is the Lord who muzzles the mouths of the wicked, and keeps those dogs that snarl at us, from flying upon us, Ps. xxxi. 20., " Thou slialt keep them secretly in a pavilion, from the strife of tongues." It is, I suppose, an al- lusion to kings, who being resolved to pro- tect their favourites against the accusations of men, take them into their bed-chamber, or bosom, where none may touch them : so God hath a pavilion, or secret hiduig place for his favourites, where he preserves their credit and reputation untouched, — he keeps
them from the " strife of tongues." Thig is a mercy we ought to acknowledge to God. II. The mandatory part of this com- mandment implied : that is, " that we stand up for others and vindicate them, when they are injured by lying lips." This is the sense of the commandment, not only that we should not slander or falsely accuse others, but that we should witness for them, and stand up in their defence, when we know them to be traduced. A man may wrong another as well by silence as by slander when he knows him to be wrong- fully accused, yet doth not speak in his be- half. If others cast false aspersions on any, we should wipe them off". The apostles (who were filled with the wine of the Spi- rit) being charged with drunkenness, Peter was their compurgator, and openly cleared their innocency, Acts ii. 15., " Tiiese are not drunken, as ye suppose." Jonathan knowing David to be a worthy man, and all those things Saul said of him to be slan- ders, vindicated David, 1 Sam. xix. 4, 5., David hath not sinned against thee, but his works to thee-ward have been very good : " Wlierefore then wilt thou sin against in nocent blood, and slay David without a cause?" When the primitive Christians were falsely accused for incest, and killing their children, Tertullian made a famous apology in their vindication. This is to act the part both of a friend and of a Christian, to be an advocate for another, when he is wronged in his good name.
OF THE TENTH COMMANDMENT.
ExoD. XX. 17. Thou shall not covet thy Neighbour's House, thou sluilt not covet thy Neigh- bour's Wife, nor his Man-servant, nor his Maid-servant, nor his Ox, nor his Jss, nor any thing that is thy Neighbours.
THIS commandment forbids, 1st. Covet- ousness in general, " Thou shalt not covet." 2d. In particular, " Thy neighbour's house, thy neighbour's wife," &c.
I. It forbids covetousness in general, " Thou shalt not covet." It is lawful to use the world, yea, and to desire so much of it as may : 1. Keep us from the temp-
tation of poverty, Prov. xxx. 8. Give me not poverty, lest I steal, and take the name of my God in vain. — 2. As may ena- ble us to honour God with works of mercy, Prov. iii. 9., " Honour the Lord with tliy substance." But all the danger is, when the world gets into the heart. The water is useful for the sailing of the ship ; all the
OF THE TENTH COMMANDMENT.
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danger is when the water gets into the ship; so the fear is, when the world gets into the heart, *' Thou slialt not covet."
Quest, What is it to covet ?
Ans. There are two words in the Greek, which set forth the nature of covetousness : 1. PkoJiexia, which signifies an ' insatiable desire of getting the world.' Covetousness is a dry dropsy. Austin defines covetous- ness, Plus velle quam sat est, — to desire more than enough, — to aim at a great es- tate,— to be like the daughters of the horse- leech, crying, " Give, give," Prov. xxx. 15., — or like Behemoth, Job xl. 23., " He trust- eth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth," — 2. Phylarnyria, which signifies an ' inordinate love of the world.' The world is the idol ; it is so loved, that a man will not part with it to any good use ; this Is to come under the indictment of covetous- ness. He may be said to be covetous, not only who gets the world unrighteously, but who loves the world inordinately.