"·ill of God. 6. It lR~'B broad Rnd deep in the nation's life the foundations of industry ,nd strength 11.nd of moral, e.s well as materie.l, greatness.-U. Vers. 13--17.-0ur threefold duty to 011,r neighbour. I. HE 18 NOT TO BE INJURED ['I( ACT. 1. Hu life is to be held MtCred. It is God's gree.t gift to him and it is God's only to take it Rway, by express oomrna.nd, or by his own judgment. This is a IRw for nations 11.~ well 11.s individuals. In every unjust we.r this comme.nd is trampled under foot. 2. Hi6 home i8 tmered. The wreck of homes which lust he.s me.de I 'l'he holy, loving refuge of childhood e.nd youth desolated, e.nd its very memory made a horror and anguish! 3. Hu prop,-,rty u sacred. It is the man's specie.I stewardship from God. God can bless us e.lso, for e.[ things are his, but this stands between our neighbour and the Master, to whom be must render bis account. JI. HE IS NOT TO BE INJURED BY WORD. We may lay no band upon his life, his home, his goods, and yet our tongue may wound and rob him. We may cause respect; and love to fall away from him wrongfully. Our dimininishing aught of these, save as the servant.I! of truth, is a crime before God. III. HE IS NOT TO BE WRONGED IN THOUGHT. God asks not only for a blameless life but also for a pure heart, in which lust and hate and envy and greed have no place. Sin is to be slain in it.s root.-U. Vers. I-2.--Utility of a C011,rse of teaching on the commandments, that Divine law '«"hicb can never be destroyed. Let those who object to the preaching of morality remember John Wesley's words: " I find more profit in sermons on either good tempers or good works than in whe.t e.re vulgarly ce.lled ' gospel sermons.' " Consider- I. THE DIVISION AND GROUPING OF THE COIDU.NDMENTS. 1. Division. we know that there are ten-the ten words-but how are the ten words me.de up? The modem Jewish method me.kes the introductory announcement, e. "first word," and combines our first and second as the •· second word." By others the first and second are combined as the first, and then the tenth divided to complete the number. Our own ordinary division is most likely to be correct; but various usage shows that the importance attaches not to the nvmher but the Be7Ulll. 2. 0-roupi,ng. Two tables, but how many on earh? Augustine held that the first table contained three, the second seven, whence he drew some mystical conclusions with regard to the Trinity. The popular view includes four in the first table, and six in the second. Most likely, however, there should be five in r each table perhe.ps connected with the hand as the symbol of action]. On this view we shall see that in each table the four first commandments are rooted in the fifth. II. THE SPEA.KER A.ND THE MOTIVE. 1. The speaker (cf. Deut. v. 22).-God, Jehovah, a personal Deity, and one whose nature is changeless (MaL iii. 6; Jas. i.17). Moses did not evolve the law out of his own head; he heard it, he received it, he enuncial,ed it, but "God spake all these words." 2. 7'he motive.-The motive appealed to for obedience is too often fear; the motive too which Israel was most inclined to act upon. God, however, makes his appeal not to fear, but to the sense of gra.titude :- " Remember what I have done for you, then hear whe.t I expect you to do for me.'' Tht• deiiverer he.s a right to lay down rules of conduct for those whom he has delivered; whilst a.t the same time gratitude to him inspires them with a motive for obedience. Apply- to ourselves : God he.s redeemed U4l; we should obey him not from fear, but from love- not that we 'f1Wl!I get something out of him, but because we ha.ve got so much already. Ill. GE:i.'ERA.L CONBIDERA.TIONS. 1. There is an order in the arrangement. "Order is heaven's first law," and it shows itself in the code from heaven. First God, our filial relations; then man, our fratemal, relations; the u1,ward-looking a.nd the outward- looking aspects of life. Under each. too, the order is maintained; first we are shown tht blossom, then the stem, then the root. The flower of worship is rooted in the l,ome, and the flower of love is rooted in the heart. 2. The commandments are indica- ti@s of the Divine will from which they spring. Our duty is to study what God has w,/d in order that we may discover what he wishes. The old covenant wa.s on stone- tahle~, ea;;i)y intelligible and very definite; the new covenant is on hearts of flesh, it a,utJJ.im,prom,ptings to duLy, rather than directions. We need both; we must uHe the uln that we may give effect to the new, ant.l the new that we may fulfil the old. llllUlit,·utto,,.-Fwr engine to fulfil iti; work, steam needed inside to propel, lines outHidE en. xx. 3- 6.) TIIE BOOK OF RXODUS. J .:;;;
to direct.] The new covenant cannot render the old nugatory ; it is well to bf\ve motive power, but we still need the lines laid down by which to guide ournelve!! when we have it.-G.