It is the full view of this subject that animates the heavenly hosts to sing, " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing :" therefore, " blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever'^." And were we also to meditate more on these things, we should oftener catch the fire, and sing with enraptured hearts " the song of Moses and the Lamby."]
X Rev. v. 12, 13. y Rev. xv. 3.
Matt. V. 23, 24. Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought 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.
THE explanation which our Lord has given us of the sixth commandment, shews, that we are not to confine the import of the commandments to the mere letter of them, but to regard them as extend- ing to the words of our lips, and the dispositions of our hearts. Nor must we imagine that they are intended solely to prohibit sin : they must be under- stood as inculcating all those virtues which are opposed to the sin forbidden. This is evident from the connexion in which our text stands with the preceding context. Our blessed Lord had declared, that a wrathful word was in fact a species and degree of murder : and from thence he takes occasion to inculcate the necessity of exercising in every respect a spirit of love, so as, not only to entertain no anger in one's own heart against others, but so as not to leave room for the exercise of it in the hearts of others towards us. The direction which he gives us respecting it will lead us to shew,
L The duty of seeking reconciliation with men —
Wild beasts are scarcely more prone to injure their own species, than man is to oppress and injure his fellow-man. Indeed, considering what tempers we