command, was punished on account of the base principle by which he was influenced in performing it. He did well in extirpating the seed of Ahab, and was rewarded for it to the fourth generation': but forasmuch as he was actuated by vanity and ambition, the blood which he shed was imputed to him as murder g. Nor is there any thing more common than for even religious persons to mistake the path of duty through an inattention to their own spirit. The disciples doubtless thought themselves under the influence of a commendable zeal, when they would have called fire from heaven to consume a Samaritan village ; as did Peter also, when he cut off the ear of Malchus. We should therefore be peculiarly cautious with respect to this, lest by the mixture of any selfish motive or base affection we offend Him, whom it is our desire and endeavour to please.
God having prescribed rules for a just ordering of our whole spirit and conduct, we must, " in all things that he has said unto us, be circumspect."]
The importance of this injunction will appear, while we consider,
II. The reasons of it —
Surely it is a necessary injunction, and no less reasonable than necessary: for,
1. The same authority exists in every command- ment—
[It is God who issued a prohibition of adultery and mur- der: and it is the same Almighty Being who forbids us to entertain a selfish wish or covetous desire11. Shall we then acknowledge his authority in our actions, and disregard it in our principles ? Shall we think ourselves at liberty to deviate from any part of his revealed will ? If so, we cease to act as his creatures, and become a God unto ourselves.]
2. Without circumspection we cannot perform any duty aright —
[We cannot find out the real motives of our actions with- out daily self-examination, and earnest prayer to God for the teachings of his Spirit. However simple the path of duty may appear, there are ten thousand ways in which we may depart from it. And, as long as our hearts are so deceitful, and we have such a subtle adversary striving to mislead us, we shall be in perpetual danger of mistaking our way. If therefore we
f 2 Kings x. 30. % 2 Kings x. 1 6. with Hos. i. 4.
h Jam. ii. 10, 11.