LECTURE XXVIII.

SEVENTH COMMANDMENT:

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

MATTHEW, V. 28.

Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Ir the whole tenour of the life of Jesus Christ did not abundantly show that he came to fulfil all righteousness, the manner of his speaking upon the subject of this seventh commandment would alone be sufficient to convince us, that he came not to destroy, but to establish the law, by teaching men how to perform it with the utmost purity. No man who is not under the spirit of the strongest delusion, can attend to our blessed Saviour's constant method of spiritualizing the written commandment, and set his face against the law of works. He must have over-ruled the dictates of that plain understanding and con

cience given to all men to discern the truth, before he can persuade himself that he shall be saved for believing, without acting. It is past all dispute, by any one that will see the light, that our blessed Lord took occasion, in what he thought proper to deliver on this subject, not only to dissuade men against the positive breach of the law, but also to guard them against whatever might lead to it; for he plainly declares, that a person is not only guilty by having actually injured his neighbour in this respect, but that he will effectually anger God, and ruin his own soul, by indulging a base and impure desire of this nature, though it does not proceed to a commission of the act. By the latter, doubtless, the crime is aggravated, and the punishment will be proportionate; but the former is enough to condemn him before God: the latter, in many cases, exposes the offender to personal and temporal penalties, according to the laws of different nations; but the former is a sin against that purity of heart, without which no man can see the Lord. Now, the reason of this is as clear as the words of the commandment; for the essence of all evil is seated in the inclination, for verily (saith the Apostle) all concupiscence hath the nature of sin. This word signifies the depravity of our nature, or that evil desire which is the fountain from whence all particular lusts do flow, the

furnace from which all sinful motions, as so many sparks, do continually arise. (James, i. 15.) When lust hath conceived (saith the Apostle), it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when finished, bringeth forth death: in which words we are cautioned, when evil inclinations present themselves, to check, and not encourage them; as, by cherishing the desire, we shall endanger the loss of our souls; but if we destroy them in the first conception, they will not be placed to our account; but if we suffer them to inflame our passions, they will increase the corruption of our nature, and thereby work the effect of death. This was the very case of our first parent; for, the woman, being deceived, was in the transgression. It is very certain, she fell before she had actually tasted the forbidden fruit; her desire was towards the knowledge of good and evil, which the Lord had told her would be the ruin of herself and companion. She suffered a desire to take root in her mind, to become wiser than the wisdom of God had represented as consistent with her best happiness. There is still this difference with us (as there was in the case of Eve), between sin only conceived and finished-that if, when she had found an inclination to disobey, she had prayed to God to strengthen her, and not suffer her to abuse the freedom of her will, she would have escaped the actual transgression,

and prevented the curse; but her failing to do this shows that all sin originates in the will, and confirms our Saviour's words, that out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies; and these are the things that defile the man. (Matt. xv. 19, 20.) The will, therefore, turned from God to this world, was the original sin of the woman; by being finished, it brought forth death, and entailed on all mankind a depraved constitution. But, where sin abounded, there did grace (or mercy) much more abound, in that God contrived a remedy for this sad change in our original constitution of innocence and uprightness: and though, in consequence of our first parents' transgression, an evil nature will necessarily produce evil inclinations and desires, and a perverse will; yet, by using this remedy, by applying to God, through Jesus Christ, to help in time of need, we shall obtain power to resist the evil: the original taint is atoned for by the blood of Jesus, and by his Spirit we shall receive strength to prevent such a progress in sin, either in thought or deed, as would otherwise effect our condemnation. Thus much I have thought proper to observe, by way of introducing the subject of this Lecture: I shall now proceed to consider,

1. The positive nature of the particular