ui a M agaimt our neigh'b.Jur. This is implied in the seventh commandment. 8. It i, a ntt agaimt our nwn 'bodiu. (1 Cor. vi. 18.) Sinners dishonour their own bodie~ (Rom. i. 24). 4. It i8 a sin against the soul. "Whoredom takee away the heart" (Hos. iv. 11). II. CoNSIDER THE FATAL OONSEQUENOES OF THIS BIN. 1. It wastes tlie 'body. (Job xx. 11.) 2. It wars agains_t the sohl. (1 Pet. ii. 11.) 3. It causes shame. (Prov. vi. 33; Eph. v.12.) ~- It entails poverty. (Prov. v\. 26.) 6. It euludes/rom the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. VI. 9, 10.)-T. C.
Vera. ~.-How personal purity is to be maintained. The sanctification whioh is God's will requires that "every one of you know how to possess himself of his own ~essel in sanctification and honour, not in passion of lust." The vessel is not a wife hut a man's own body. If it meant a wife, it might be said that every man would b~ bound to marry. The wife is no doubt called the" weaker vessel," the evident meaning of the term of comparison being that. the husband is also" a vessel." L How THE BODY IB TO BE USED. 1. Negatively. (1) It is not to be regarded as outside the pa.le of moral obligation, as antinomian perverters say, basing their error on the words of the apostle, "It is not I that do it. but sin thnt dwelleth in me;"" In me, that is, in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thiug." (2) It is not to be injured or mutilated by 1111Ceticism, after Romish example. The apostle condemns" the neglecting of the body " and "the not sparing of the body " (Col. ii. 23). (3) It is not to be made "an instrument of unrighteousness" through sensuality-" not in passion of lust." Sensn- ality is quite inconsistent with the very iclea of sanctification. 2. Positively. (1) The body is to be kept under control; the Christian "must know how to possess himself of bis own vessel." He "must keep under the body;" he must make it servant and not master, and not allow its natural liberty to run into licentiousness. (2) He must treat it with all due honour-" in sanctification and honour;" (a) because it is God's workmanship, for "we are fearfully and wonderfully made ; " ('b) because it is "the temple of the Holy Ghost" (1 Cor. vi. 19); (c) because it is an heir of the resurrection; (d) because it is, and ought to be, like the believer himself, "a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Master's use," for the body has much to do in the economy of grace. 11 DISSUASIVEB AGAINST PERSONAL IMPtJllITY. 1. The knowledge of God received by the (Jhri,gtUJITI, ought to guard us against it. The apostle here attributes Gentile impurity to ignorance of God. "Even as the Gentiles who know not God." The world by wisdom knew not God, was alienated from the life of God, and thus sunk into moral disorder. The apostle shows in the first chapter of Romans how God, as a righteons retribution, gave over the idolatrous Gentiles to all sorts of moral dishonour. 2. Awthl!lr di8S1J,Q,Sive iB the regard we ought to have for a lJrother's family hrmour. "That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in this matter." A breach upon family honour is a far worse offence than any breach upon property. The stain is indelibly deeper. 3 . ..foother dissuasive is the Divim 11engeance. For " the Lord is the Avenger concerning all these thinizs." If the venizeance does not reach men in this world, it will in the next, where they will have their portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone. They shall "not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. vL 9). 4. 1'he nature of the Divine call iB another dissua.~ive. For"' God did not call you for uncleanness, but in sanc1ification." They had received "a holy calling," a "high calling;" and though "called unto liberty," they were "created unto good works." They were" called to be saints;" for God says, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." 5. Another dissuasive is that the sin involves a du.pisal of God, who has given us his Holy Spirit that we may attain to i;anctification. "He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man but God, who bath also given unto us hi~ Holy Spirit." God has ordered all our family relations, and any dishonour done to them involves a contempt of his authority. We have in this passage God-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-interested in man's salvation and holiness.-T. C.
Vera. 9, 10.-lnculcatwn of brotherly love. The apostle next reminda the Thessa- lonians of the duty of abounding in brotherly love. L TBK nT"J11.& or TBI.8 LOVE. 1. It iB the ajfectwn of those who Me children qf lhe on. n . .1-18.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THEBSALONIA.NB. 81