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be upon your Guard, and to treat one another like Chriftian Brethren; and to fave your felves from this untoward Generation, in which the Spirit of Malice and Hatred has almoft extinguished that of Love and Charity. Let us remember our great Master, and learn of him, who was meek and lowly of Heart, that we may find reft to our Souls. Now to Him, with the Father and Holy Ghoft, &c.

SER

SERMON X.

MATT. V. 21.

Ye have heard that it was faid by them of old Time, Thou shalt not kill: and whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the Judgment.

Ver. 22. But I jay unto you, that whosoever is angry with his Brother without a Caufe, fhall be in danger of the Judgment: and whosoever Shall fay to his Brother, Raca, fhall be in danger of the Council: but whofoever shall fay, Thou Fool, fhall be in danger of Hell-fire.

I

The Third Sermon on this Text.

SHALL not trouble

you with Repetition of what has been already spoke to you from thefe Words. After Explication of the Text, the Heads of Difcourfe I propofed to confider were

these Six:

1. Inward Anger, which our Saviour affigns as the first Degree of Tranfgreffion of the fixth Com

mandment.

2. Slight affronting Words: Which he affigns as the fecond Degree of Tranfgreffion of that Commandment.

3. The higher Provocations of Contumely and Reproach; which are here affigned as the third Degree of Tranfgreffion of the fame Command

ment.

4. The grofs Act of Killing, which even the Jewish Doctors understood to be prohibited by this Commandment; and which we have Reason to fuppofe, is likewife to be interpreted according to our Saviour's Meaning in a fuller Sense.

5. The Degrees of Punishment in the other World, proportioned to the feveral Degrees of

Sin.

6. The last was a general Inftruction I gathered from the Whole, upon Obfervation of our Saviour's Way of interpreting this Commandment; namely, that where any Sin is prohibited by any of God's Laws, there all Thoughts, Words, and Actions, ufually occafioning the Sin, or tending towards it, are likewife prohibited.

Now having already spoke to the First, Second, and Third of these, namely, inward Anger: and both the leffer and greater verbal Provocations; I proceed now to,

IV. The Fourth Thing I proposed to consider from the Words; namely, The grofs Act o Killing, which I fuppofe will be fufficient for our present Meditation. In handling this Subject, Thou shalt not kill, I fhall,

1. First, Explain what is meant thereby.

2. Then offer fome Confiderations to deter you from it.

First then: It is certain, that though the Words are general, Thou shalt not kill; this general Expreffion is to be limited according to the Intent of the Lawgiver, and not to be interpreted in the full Latitude of the Words. Particularly, I need not to tell you

1. That the killing of Birds, Beafts, Fish, and creeping Things, was not defigned to be here prohibited;

prohibited; but the Killing here mentioned, is to be reftrained to Mankind; it appearing from other Paffages of Holy Writ, that these other Animals were given Man to be used, many of them for Food as well as Service.

2. Nor was it the Intent of this Law, to forbid all putting of Men to Death; or totally to prohibit the use of the Sword among Chriftians, as the Quakers, and other Enthufiafts do teach it not being our Saviour's Defign in this Sermon to teach the Magiftrate's Duty, but only that of private Christians. And befides, it is plain, that Capital Punishments were in ufe in all the Governments of the World that we read of, before the Days of the Gofpel, and were never faulted by our Saviour. On the contrary, the Magiftrate's Office is afferted, and that he is not to carry the Sword in vain; but to use it for the Punifhment of Evil-doers, Rom. xiii. 4. Nor,

3. Was it our Saviour's Defign in this Commandment, to forbid all Lawful War; it being plain from the New-Teftament, that Soldiers are forbid indeed Oppreffion, and unlawful Plunder, and commanded to be content with their Wages; but never commanded to quit and abandon their Profeffion. For if it be lawful to apprehend and punish a private Malefactor, it must certainly be as lawful, not only to defend our Selves against, but to bring to condign Punishment those Publick Malefactors that disturb the Peace, and in-' vade the Lives and Fortunes of whole Countries; which cannot be done without Soldiers, Armies, and War. Neither,

4. Was it the Design of the Legiflator in this Precept, to forbid private Men the Ufe of the Sword

VOL. II.

K

[SER M Sword in their own lawful Defence, when they are illegally and unjustly Affaulted; for in that Cafe, both the Law of Nature, and the Laws of all Countries, allow a Man to defend himfelf; otherwife, perhaps it might be too late to wait for the publick Defence of the lawful Magiftrate. Not that it is lawful to make use of this Self-defence against the Magiftrate himself, or his Officers, in the Execution of the Laws; or in their Apprehending any One, to bring him to Trial; for in this Cafe, there will be due Time given to make our Defence in a better and more commendable Way; and therefore our Saviour reproved Peter for his affuming the Ufe of the Sword against the Officers of the lawful Magiftrate; telling him, that he who took, or affumed the Sword, should perish by the Sword, Matt. xxvi. 52. For whenever we use the Sword in any Cafe, in which the Laws of God and Man give us no right to use it; this is a taking, or affuming the Sword; and thereby we make our felves obnoxious to be punished by the Magiftrate's juft Power of the Sword; which, I believe, is our Saviour's Meaning in that Commination.

Having thus mentioned the chief Things which, though they seem to be, yet were not intended to be prohibited by thefe Words, Thou shalt not kill: I fhall in the next place confider what is intended to be prohibited; and instance in the chief Species in that kind.

No doubt the Chief Intent of this Precept was, to restrain Men from cutting off one another's Lives; that every Man might enjoy his Life, till it is either cut off by the Hand of God, or by God's Officer, the Publick Magiftrate, for Punishment

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