8. Eighthly, Where there is real holiness, there will be the exercise of righteousness towards men from righteous principles, arid upon reli- gious accounts, viz., the honour of God, the command of God, the will of God, the credit of the gospel, &c. Keal holiness towards God is always attended with righteousness towards men : Eph. iv. 24, ' And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteous- ness and true holiness,' or, hoKness of truth ; Tit. ii. 11, 12, ' For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godlily in this present world.' These words'contain the sum of a Christian's duty ; to live soberly towards ourselves, righteously towards our neighbours, and godlily towards God, is true godliness indeed, and the whole duty of man. So holy Abraham in Gen. xxiii. 16, ' And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, cur- rent money with the merchant.' i It is recorded to holy Abraham's everlasting honour and fame, that he paid for the field that he bought of Ephron current money, not counterfeit, pure, not adulterate shekels of silver, not shekels of brass silvered over ; he paid the price that was pitched, and he paid it in such coin as would go current in one country as well as another. So holy Jacob, in Gen. xliii., supposing that the money that was returned in the sacks of corn that his sons brought out of Egypt was through some mistake or oversight, he very honestly and conscientiously ordered them to carry the money back again. Ver. 12, ' And take double money in your hand : and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hands ; peradventure it was an oversight.' A holy heart will not, a holy heart dares not, take an advantage from another's error to do him wrong; it is but justice to return and
^ The common shekel is about twentypence, so then four hundred shekels amount to thirty-three pounds six shillings and eightpence, after five shillings sterling the ounce. And in this purchase is prophetically shewed that Abraham's posterity should have the inheritance of that land : as Jeremiah's buying of his uncle's field was a sign of the Jews' return, and of their policy there again to buy and sell.
HeB. XII. 14,] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 123
restore to every man his due. So holy Moses, in Num. xvi. 15, * And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the Lord, Respect not thou their oflFering : I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.' He sought their good, not their goods ; he preferred their safety before his own life ; he did right to every man, he did wrong to no man ; he did every man some good, he did no man the least hurt. So holy , Samuel, in , 1 Sam. xii. 3-5, 'Behold, here am I: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed : whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed ? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith ? and I will restore it you. And they ^id, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand. And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.' He makes a solemn protestation before the Lord, before his anointed, and before the people, that he had so lived in the exercise of justice and righteousness amongst them, that they could not accuse him of the least unrighteousness, they could not say black was his eye, they could not say that he had lessened them to greaten himself, or that he had impoverished them to enrich himself, or that he had ruined them to raise himself ; upon his appeal they unanimously declare his inno- cency and integrity. So holy Daniel, in Dan. vi. 4, 5, ' Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel con- cerning the kingdom, but they could find no occasion nor fault : foras- much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men. We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God/ Though envy be the father of cruelty and malice, the mother of murder and ambition, the plotter of others' destruction, yet holy Daniel was so just and righteous, so innocent and prudent, so careful and faithful in the administration of his high office, that none of his envious, malicious, and ambitious enemies could, after their unity in a hellish and cniel conspiracy, charge him with the least spot of in- justice or show of righteousness ; i they narrowly scanned all his administrations, and diligently weighed all his actions, and yet them- selves being judges, Daniel is found innocent. They could not so much as charge him with a colourable fault. So Zacharias and Elizabeth, they walked in aU the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless, Luke i. 5, 6 ; they walked not only in the ordi- nances, but also in the commandments of the Lord, and they walked not only in some commandments, but in all the commandments of the Lord ; they walked in the commandments of the second table, as well as in the commandments of the first table; they were as well for righteousness towards man, as they were for holiness towards God. So the apostles, in 2 Cor. vii. 2, ' Receive us ; we wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.' The apostle would have the Corinthians to make room for them in their hearts and houses, as the Greek word ^w/jT^craTe imports, for that they had wronged no man in his name or reputation, as the false apostles had ; ^ Qu. ' unrighteousness'? — Ed.
124 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [HeB. XII. 14.
neither had they corrupted any man in his judgment by false doc- trines or evil examples, as the false apostles had ; neither had they defrauded any man in his estate, as the false apostles had, who made a prize of their followers and hearers. Of the same import is that of the apostle in 1 Thes. ii. 10, 'Ye are witness, and God also, how holily, justly, and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe.' He takes God and them to witness, that they had lived holily in respect of God, and righteously in respect of the world, and unblameably in respect of them that believe. By all which it is most evident, that where there is real holiness towards God, there will be the exercise of righteousness towards men.