of it, is to

Let us by conduct of

the crimes of others, which are perpetrated with our knowledge in our behalf! To encourage the crime of another, is to be partaker in his guilt: to withhold our disapprobation from the crime he is about to commit; to unite with him after the commission in enjoying the fruits encourage him in his iniquity. these principles examine the Ahab. When he received from Jezebel the promise, "I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite;" although he knew that that promise could not equitably be fulfilled, and although he must have suspected the means by which it was intended to be performed, he signified no disapprobation; he took no measures for preventing it. When in execution of the promise," she sent letters in Ahab's name;"—those letters, by means of which her sanguinary and nefarious purposes were to be effected; he suffered them to be sealed with his seal;" he thus gave the sanction of his authority to their contents. When the diabolical scheme was perpetrated, and Jezebel, in exultation at the success of her purpose, and the com

pletion of her promise, "said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money; for Naboth is not alive but dead;" he felt no compunction at the deed, by which the death of the innocent man had been compassed, although doubtless it could not have been hidden from his knowledge; he felt no repugnance at entering without delay on enjoying the fruits of the deed: but “it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it." Do we still doubt, whether the sin of the murder of Naboth, actually perpetrated as it was at the instigation of Jezebel, calls for judgment upon the head of Ahab? Hear" the word of the Lord, which came to Elijah, the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria ; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also

taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place, where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood even thine." By the word of the Lord then we are assured, that the murder of Naboth, though in fact the deed of Jezebel, was in guilt the deed of Ahab also. It was not only he, who took possession of the vineyard; but it was he also, who killed the innocent possessor. As "Jezebel his wife stirred him up," so did "he sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord." And therefore, while on her the righteous sentence was declared, "The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel;" upon him also the menace was denounced, "Him that dieth of Ahab in the city, the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat."

Whilst these particulars in the narrative of a signal act of wickedness are fresh in our minds, let us not, my brethren, dismiss them immediately, but reflect on them in serious meditation, accompanied with de

vout prayer to almighty God in Christ's name, that they may furnish some wholesome admonition to ourselves.

And first the history prompts us, in the expressive language of our Saviour, to "take heed and beware of covetousness Beware of the beginnings of covetousness; you know not, whither they may lead you in the end. Wicked and unprincipled as Ahab was, and sold under sin, he probably on his first application to Naboth had no intention of accomplishing his desires by the means, to which he was afterwards instigated to resort. Wretch as he was, he probably would have shrunk from the prospect of securing to himself the vineyard, by that chain of complicated iniquity, which terminated in the murder of an innocent man. His instance is not singu lar. There is not a vice which more effectually contracts and deadens the feelings, which more completely makes a man's affections centre in himself, and excludes all others from partaking in them, than the

Luke xii. 15.

desire of accumulating possessions. When this desire has once gotten hold of the heart, it shuts out all other considerations, but such as may promote its views. In its zeal for the attainment of its end, it is not delicate in the choice of means. As it closes the heart, so also it clouds the understanding. It cannot discern between right and wrong: it takes evil for good and good for evil: it calls darkness light, and light darkness. Beware then of the beginnings of covetousness; for you know not where it will end.

Beware, too, of encouraging desires, which, although they may have a certain specious appearance, and may not seem at first to be sinful, will, if they be carefully examined, assume a character different from what they once wore. What could seem more innocent than the desire of Ahab to possess the vineyard of Naboth, in exchange for an equivalent? Yet when the peculiar circumstances of the case are duly considered, that desire could not have been gratified without doing violence to the natural feelings of the pro