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OBLIGATIONS TOWARD FELLOW-MEN--IN THE DECALOGUE
--EX.
20:12-17.--JULY
20.--
"Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."--Mat. 19:9.
AS
THE FIRST four commands of the Decalogue note man's first obligation
and responsibility to his Creator, so the remaining six mark out his
responsibilities toward his fellow-creatures. We can, undoubtedly,
gain some valuable lessons in the study of these commands given to
Israel at Mount Sinai, constituting the basis of the Law Covenant:
nevertheless, it is proper, especially in view of the gross
misunderstanding prevalent upon the subject, that in considering
these commands Christians should remember that they were not given to
them, but to the Jews; that as we have a New Covenant so we have a
new law as the basis of that Covenant, as well as a new Mediator. Old
things have passed away and all things have become new to the new
creature in Christ Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile. The profitable
lessons we may learn through the study of these commands given to
others, are of the same kind as the lessons we learn in studying the
various types and ceremonies of that Jewish Covenant, which the
Apostle assures us were but shadows of good things coming after them.
(Heb.
10:1.)
We have the good things, the spiritual things, the higher things;
nevertheless, we learned to appreciate these higher things the more
by noticing their types and shadows and by contrasting them with the
higher things. For instance, altho we study the things written in the
law concerning the typical day of atonement, and its sacrificial
ceremonies, etc., we do not do so with a view to repeating those
sacrifices of bulls and of goats which can never take away sin; but
with a view to seeing the more clearly the full force and meaning of
the better sacrifices, the anti-typical, which do take away the sin
of the world. So with the Ten Commandments. God would not address
these to any member of the house of sons, adopted into his family and
begotten of his spirit, because they would be inappropriate to such,
and really be a denial on God's part that they had become sons or
that they had his spirit; for "If any man have not the spirit of
Christ he is none of his," and certainly the man begotten of the
holy spirit, possessed of the mind of Christ, would no more need to
be told that he should do no murder, that he should not steal, etc.,
than that he should not take God's name profanely. None of these
things would anyone begotten of the spirit of God be disposed to do;
and, hence, it would not have been appropriate in God to have made
that Jewish Law the basis of the Covenant into which he has invited
the Church to enter, as children, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Jesus Christ their Lord, if so be that they suffer with him.
The
first of these commandments taught the Jew the sacredness of the
family relationship--that the children should honor the parents,
which implies that the parents should not only so instruct their
children, but that, so far as possible, they should strive to live
before them such lives as would reasonably call forth such respect,
obedience, honor. A promise of long life is attached to this
commandment. We may esteem on general principles that children
obedient to their parents would be the more inclined to be obedient
to the laws of their country and to the laws of their Creator, and
that such obedience would be favorable to old age. But we are not
certain that there was not more than this intended. The words, "That
thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee," would seem to connect this promise with Israel's
possession of the land of promise. And if we have reasoned logically
that obedience to parents would lead to obedience to God, we may
reason reversely that Israel's disobedience to God which resulted in
their various captivities, taking them out of the land of promise,
and finally in their [R3045 : page 218] complete banishment
from that land, means that this lesson of obedience to parents was
not well learned, and that this reward of continuing in their own
land was therefore taken from them.
If
we would seek a higher meaning for this commandment, under the law of
love, its first meaning to the Lord's people would be that they
should honor their Father in heaven, and the Abrahamic Covenant under
which they have been begotten to the new nature. (Gal.
4:22-31);
and such honor to God and such respect for their covenant with him
are certainly the terms upon which they may hope for a share in the
heavenly Canaan with its eternal life. And in proportion as God's
people reverence him and honor him in word and in deed the influence
of such lives upon their children should be weighty, and should call
forth their respect. They should seek to rule their own homes in
love, remembering, nevertheless, the Lord's admonition, "A man's
foes shall be they of his own household." They need not be
surprised if, despite their every effort to do good and properly to
inculcate duty, the influences of the world and its false views of
matters, should make their homes very different from what they would
prefer.
"Thou
shalt do no murder"--the Revised Version rendering--is much to
be preferred to the Common Version, "Thou shalt not kill."
Murder is always wrong; killing is sometimes right, sometimes duty.
The life of the lower animals was given to man according to his
necessities (Gen.
9:3),
but we deprecate that which is misnamed sport--the destruction of
birds and beasts and fishes wantonly--for no good purpose, but merely
to gratify a savage desire to take life. That this command was not
intended to prohibit the taking of human life under certain
circumstances is evident from the fact that the same law made
provision for the killing of murderers.
To
the Church, the new creatures in Christ, a still higher law governs
on this subject. Our law of Love, the New Command, covers it
completely. He who loves his neighbor will surely not murder him. But
our Teacher gave a still higher thought respecting this feature of
the law, and the way in which we, his followers, should view it, when
he declared that for one brother to have hatred toward another was to
have the murder spirit--the spirit which, under certain conditions,
might lead to murder. According to this definition the person who
angrily wishes that another were dead commits murder in his heart. On
the contrary, the spirit of love wishes well to the neighbor --yea,
even tho he be an enemy, desires that he may come into harmony with
the Lord, and ultimately attain life everlasting, and so desires
these things as to seek by word and act to render him any assistance
possible.
The
third of these commands, "Thou shalt not commit adultery,"
was greatly magnified by our Lord's declaration to the effect that
evil desires, tho not accomplished for lack of opportunity, were as
really violations of this commandment as tho the act had been
committed. How the magnifying glass of the Law of Love enlarges and
intensifies the words, the acts, the thoughts, of life! There is in
this a lesson of purity of thought which should be profitable to all
the Lord's people; for altho we are not in the flesh but in the
spirit, as new creatures, and in our trial or judgment, nevertheless,
the new mind deals with and operates through the mortal body, and
must continually strive to bring it into the fullest subjection
possible. Hence, it is valuable for us to know just how the Lord
esteems such matters, that we may put the greater guard upon the very
thoughts and intentions of our hearts. We may be sure that it was not
of accident that the Apostle wrote respecting the wisdom from above,
"first pure." Our own purity, in the sense of our
justification by faith, comes before we can have any standing or
relationship with the Lord or be begotten into his family; and this
same purity which is made the foundation of the new life, and given
to us reckonedly, must be appreciated by us and lived up to as
closely as possible. And the clearer view we get as to what
constitutes impurity in the Lord's sight, the better will we be able
so to regulate and govern our mortal bodies, our acts, our words, our
very thoughts, as to bring them into as close conformity to the will
of God as possible.
Another
thought in connection with this command, is given to us as new
creatures. We have been betrothed to our Lord, and to him as our
Bridegroom we owe full allegiance--whether we regard this from the
standpoint of the Church as a whole, or from the standpoint of each
individual united with the Lord. From this standpoint, as the Lord's
betrothed we are to be uncontaminated, unadulterated--separate from
the world. "Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world;" "I have chosen you out of the world."
The
fourth of these commands, "Thou shalt not steal," is of
much greater depth and breadth than many are inclined to suppose. In
the light of the New Covenant and its law of love, stealing may
properly be understood to apply to the defrauding of a neighbor,
friend or enemy, in any manner--depriving him of his rights or
liberties as well as of his money or property. It would apply also to
the stealing of a good name from another, as Shakespeare has pointed
out. This command would be infracted, in the light of the Law of
Love, by any transaction in which a neighbor would be worsted in a
bargain, provided anything had been secreted or any deception
calculated to warp his judgment in the making of the bargain had been
practiced. From this standpoint there is a great deal of
"respectable" stealing done today;-- not only by
misrepresentation of the goods by shopkeepers and by untruthful
advertisements, but also amongst dealers of stock exchanges who,
directly or indirectly, throw out wrong information to mislead, and
by others in fraudulent organizations whose financial standing, etc.,
is often grossly misrepresented to enable the organizers to steal
from those who become the purchasers of the stock at more than its
real value.
The
Law of Love is very difficult to apply to business under present
conditions; but it always insists upon absolute fairness and
truthfulness in respect to all statements made. It is not incumbent
upon us, however, after making known the facts in any matter, [R3045
: page 219] to either directly or indirectly force upon others
our opinions or judgment in respect to the value of the facts
explained. We may safely allow other men to use their judgment, while
we use ours, when we have told them frankly the truth in regard to
any matter.
The
fifth of these commands, altho it does not directly prohibit false
statements, does necessarily prohibit any statement which would
mislead a neighbor to his injury, and herein we see a superior wisdom
in the light of this command. I might make a declaration that at a
certain hour I will do a certain thing. I am at full liberty to
change my mind and not to do that thing, provided my conduct in this
shall not injure my neighbor in any sense or degree. To whatever
extent our testimony on any subject would be inclined to lead friends
or neighbors or anyone to take any course which would be injurious to
themselves or others, and which they would not otherwise have taken,
to that extent we are bound under the Law of Love. We may do all the
good we please to a neighbor, but we may do him no injury. This is
the spirit of the Apostle's injunction that we say, "If the Lord
will" we will do thus and so. We are to consider the Lord's will
in all we undertake, and his will in brief, is that we honor him and
do good, not evil to fellow men.
False
witness applies to the telling of lies, but it goes deeper than this
and applies to any misrepresentation, whether it be by direct
statement or indirectly by such a statement as would permit a wrong
inference to be drawn. Indeed, amongst refined people this
subterfuge, by which they palliate their consciences, and at the same
time gratify their spiteful hearts, is very common. One may even bear
false witness by the nod of his head, by the shrugging of his
shoulder, or by silence--if a misstatement be made in such a
connection that silence might be understood to mean consent. If a
Jew, a member of the house of servants under Moses, the Mediator of
the Law Covenant, was required to be particular upon this point, how
much more particular should all be who essay to be members of the
house of sons, under the New Covenant and the New Mediator! Does not
the New Covenant Law of Love go still deeper on this point? It surely
does. It prohibits in specific terms, not only the speaking of
untruths in respect to a neighbor, but the speaking of anything
concerning him that would be to his discredit, even tho it were
true--unless under certain circumstances which Love could fully
endorse--if the testimony were required by a court of law, or if the
testimony were necessary for the protection of another from injury.
And even in such cases as little of derogatory truth as possible
should be uttered, and it only in love. The Apostle's word on this
subject is, "Speak evil of no man."
There
is no point, or feature, of the entire Law of Love, as it bears upon
our relationship to fellow-creatures, that needs more of our
attention than this point. It seems difficult for Christians to learn
thoroughly the Master's lessons, that, if they have anything
unpleasant to say respecting a brother or sister, any criticism of
the private life or affairs to offer, it should be offered to him or
her alone and not to others.
Perhaps
on no other score does the Adversary succeed so well in doing
mischief amongst the Lord's people--in planting roots of bitterness,
producing misunderstanding, anger, malice, hatred, strife and other
works of the devil. Let us permit love to do her perfect work in this
relationship to our fellows.
A
difference is to be observed in respect to criticisms of doctrines
publicly uttered. The criticism of an error should be as publicly
made as the error was publicly set forth, if it be of importance. The
thing then to determine would be our liberties and responsibilities,
and we might have neither. But if we possessed both our criticisms
should be only in love, not in boastfulness but in humility; desiring
only to serve the truth and the brethren. Humility will suggest, too,
that we be sure we are right before proceeding to criticize. Even
then some points of truth can generally be approved while the points
of error are being criticized.
The
sixth of these commandments, and the last of the whole, deals with
covetousness. As the last it stands in an important place, and when
fully appreciated [R3046 : page 219] is seen to have a bearing
upon all the other commandments. Covetousness implies discontent. It,
therefore, generally lies at the bottom of slander, false witness,
theft, adultery, murder, and disobedience to parents. Indeed, in some
respects we may suppose that it lies at the bottom of any disloyalty
to God also. Was it not covetousness on the part of Satan which first
led him to disloyalty and sin?
In
becoming new creatures in Christ we are supposed to eradicate from
our hearts everything that could in any sense of the word develop
into covetousness --by the consecration of our wills, our hearts, to
the Lord, by the acceptance of his will as instead of our own. From
this standpoint, as the Apostle declares, "Godliness with
contentment [absence of covetousness] is great gain." Indeed,
viewed from the proper standpoint of the new creature, we have
nothing to covet, because in becoming the Lord's we have become
joint-heirs with our Redeemer to all the riches of divine grace, so
that the Apostle could say, "All things are yours...and ye are
Christ's, and Christ is God's."
But let us as new
creatures, remember that covetousness can come into a heart otherwise
pure, and defile the whole, as we see illustrated in the case of
Satan, so that of all the things which we need to guard against most
carefully this is one of the chief. All the graces of the spirit are
opposed to covetousness --meekness, gentleness, brotherly kindness,
love, all forbid that we should covet the things of our brethren or
the things of the world. Rather, thankfulness should so fill our
hearts--gratitude for the manifold mercies and blessings already
received, that there will be no room for a covetous thought. True,
the Apostle, in our Common Version, is made to say, "Covert
earnestly the best gifts" (I
Cor. 12:31),
but it would be a great mistake to suppose that the Apostle taught
that the Lord's people were to covet positions of influence in the
Church. We are indeed to desire [R3046
: page 220] to
have, to enjoy and to use in the Lord's service, as many talents and
gifts as possible, but we find the very reverse of the Apostle's
thought and teaching that we should covet the honors or possessions
of one another. This seems to be a danger point with many, and when
we remember that it has proven to be the wreck-rock for many, it
behooves us to be extremely careful to covet merely the Lord's favor
and the gifts and talents by which we can best serve one another and
not ourselves.
THESE
MANY YEARS.
--DEUT.
8:2.--
"These
many years! What lessons they unfold
Of grace and guidance through
the wilderness,
From the same God that Israel of old
In the
Shekinah glory did possess.
How faithful he, through all my griefs
and fears
And constant murmurings, these many years!
"God
of the Covenant! From first to last,
From when I stood within that
sprinkled door
And o'er my guilt the avenging angel passed,
Thy
better angel has gone on before;
And naught but goodness all the
way appears,
Unmerited and free, these many years!
"Thy
presence wrought a pathway through the sea;
Thy presence made the
bitter water sweet;
And daily have thy hands prepared for
me
Sweet, precious morsels--lying at my feet.
'Twas but to
stoop and taste the grace that cheers,
And start refreshed,
through all these many years!
"What
time I thirsted and earth's streams were dry,
What time I wandered
and my hope was gone,
Thy hand has brought a pure and full
supply,
And, by a loving pressure, lured me on.
How oft that
hand hath wiped away my tears
And written 'Pardoned!' all these
many years!
"And
what of discipline thy love ordained
Fell ever gently on this
heart of mine;
Around its briers was my spirit trained
To bring
forth fruits of righteousness divine;
Wisdom in every check, and
love appears
In every stroke throughout these many years!
"Lord,
what I might have been my spirit knows--
Rebellious, petulant, and
apt to stray:
Lord, what I am, in spite of flesh and foes,
I
owe to grace that kept me in the way.
Thine be the glory! Merit
disappears
As back I look upon these many years.
"Thine
be the glory! Thou shalt have the praise
For all thy dealings, to
my latest breath;
A daily Ebenezer will I raise,
And sing
Salvation through the vale of death--
To where the palm, the
golden harp appears,
There to rehearse thy love through endless
years."
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