The Ten Commandments

The practical illustrations of the eternal prin
ciples of morality which constitute the basis of
the Decalogue, were suggested oy the circum
stances of the congregation, which contains very
few professional men, not many manufacturers, but
a large number of retail tradesmen, a large num
ber of young men and women employed in retail
shops, and a still larger number of working people.
It has always seemed to me to be a principal
part of the work of a Christian Minister not only
to insist on the duty of " repentance towards God
and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ," but to illus
trate in detail the obligations both of private and
public morality ; and I have felt it right to discuss
in the pulpit on Sunday, the questions affecting
the moral life of individuals or of nations, which I
knew were being discussed in workshops and at
dinner tables during the week.

I have also endeavoured to encourage and
strengthen the interest of my congregation in
municipal and national politics. It has been justly
said that in a free country, the public business of
the nation is the private business of every citizen ;
and I cannot see that the will of God is ever likely
to be done on earth as it is done in Heaven, if
Christian men do not consider how the law of
Christ is to be illustrated in the legislation and
policy of the State.

BIRMINGHAM



CONTENTS



INTRODUCTORY i

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT . . . . ao

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT . . . j8

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT . . . 6 1

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT . . . . 8

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT 11}

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT . . . .138

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT . . . . l6l

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT .... l86
THE NINTH COMMANDMENT . . * 207

THE TENTH COMMANDMENT . , . .229