unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. And finally, the servants of Christ are put into possession of the covenanted blessings of Redemption, of which, in the days of Moses, the Jews in general had very faint ideas; blessings which, even after the delivery of the law, were dimly discerned through the veil of emblematical ordinances. Το Christians is distinctly revealed that effectual atonement through the blood of the Lord Jesus, which was obscurely shadowed forth by the sacrifices of the Temple. To them is clearly disclosed that genuine sanctification by the grace of the Holy Spirit, which was represented under figures by the washings and other purifying rites ordained in the Ceremonial Law. To Christians is unfolded that glorious rest which remaineth in Heaven for the people of God, of which the rest to be enjoyed in the land of Canaan was but a type, May it not well then be said unto Christians; Sirs, ye are brethren? Is it without reason that the Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles so frequently press this consideration upon their followers? If the address, Ye are brethren, was calculated to call forth the feelings of a Jew towards a Jew; how affectionate affectionate are the emotions, which they ought to excite in the breast of a Christian towards a Christian! If it suggested to a Jew powerful motives for right conduct towards his brother; how powerful are the motives which it urges upon us! There are three kinds, in particular, of sin, the guilt of which is brought into clearer light by the consideration that we all are brethren. The first is injustice. Observe the Apostle Paul distinctly applying the consideration before us to sins of this description. To the Thessalonians he declares, This is the will of God, that no man go beyond, and defraud his brother in any matter; because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified (b). Again, to the Corinthians he writes; Brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers, Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay you do wrong and defraud; and that, your brethren (c). If a man plots iniquity against those persons with whom he is united by extraordinary ties; if he oppresses and plunders those whom he is specially bound to () 1 Theff. iv. 6. (c) 1 Cor. vi. 6—8. I 4 protect; protect; is not his sin highly aggravated? Such is our sin, if we plot iniquity against each other; if we oppress or plunder each other; if we in any respect defraud or wrong each other. each other. We all are brethren. Next, observe how this consideration bears upon sins of unkindness. To various offences of this class it is applied in Scripture. Thus St. Paul, after having decided in the affirmative a question warmly agitated in his days, whether it was lawful to eat meat which had been offered by the heathen in the temples of their idols, and was afterwards sold in the market for food; strongly warns the Corinthians against eating it, if they should perceive that by such a proceeding, though in itself lawful, they should be in danger of leading any person, who doubted on the subject, to partake of the meat notwithstanding his scruples. Take heed, saith the Apostle, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee, which hast knowledge, sit at meat in the idol's temple; shall not the conscience of him that is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols? And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died. But when ye so sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ (d). Grudge not one against another, brethren, saith St. James, lest ye be condemned. Behold the Judge standeth at the door. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the Law, and judgeth the Law (e). On the guilt of failing in any branch of love to a brother, St. John repeatedly dwells. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. In this the children of God are manifested, and the children of the Devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God; neither he that loveth not his brother. loveth not his brother abideth in death. He that Whoso ever hateth his brother is a murderer. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen; how can he love God, whom he hath not seen (ƒ)? If you were simply to hear of a man conducting himself in a very unkind way towards some other persons; you would be satisfied from that account alone, before you had enquired who the persons were towards whom he acted thus, that he had committed a great sin. But how much greater would his sin appear to you, if you should learn that the objects of his unkind (e) James, iv. 11. v. 9. (d) 1 Cor. viii. 9—12. ness ness were no others than the sons of his own. father and mother! Thus aggravated is our guilt in the sight of our Heavenly father and the Lord Jesus Christ, when we commit an act of unkindness against one of our Christian brethren. Thirdly. We may notice how forcibly the consideration, that we all are brethren, exposes the grievous sinfulness of that most prevailing sin, both among the rich and among the poor, Pride. So it is applied by Saint Paul: Why dost thou set at nought thy brother? For we shall all stand before the fudgement-seat of Christ (g). It lies also at the root of the reproof which St. James addresses to those who, while professing the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, had respect of persons; and even when assembled for religious worship, received the rich with flattering distinctions, and shewed, by their contemptuous. treatment of any poor man who came into the place of worship, how little they felt towards him as towards a brother (b). If I did despise, says Job, the cause of my man-servant, or of my maid-servant, when they contended with me: what then shall I do when God riseth up? And when He visiteth, what shall I answer Him? Did not he that made me in the (g) Rom. xiv. 10. (b) James, ii. 1—4. womb |