course is, to look to these things now, while we yet live in this world—to watch ourselves carefully, to examine ourselves, and discover our evils,—and then looking to the Lord for help, to struggle against them. So only can they be removed, and cast out of our hearts. And then, when we enter the next world, and are judged, and the interiors of our spirits are examined, lo! they will be bright and clean, and we shall be pronounced worthy to associate with "the spirits of just men made perfect," who have gone before.
But let us now turn to the spiritual sense of this Commandment; and by understanding that, we shall be enabled to reach the essential principle of the spirit of murder. All parts of the Divine Word have a spiritual sense within that of the letter, and in that spiritual sense, chiefly, its Divinity lies. This spiritual sense never has allusion to anything in the natural world, for it is intended for the use of spiritual beings, the angels of heaven, and for men who are becoming angels. For the Word of God is in heaven, as well as on earth: as it is written in the Psalms, "Forever O Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven."[1] In the spiritual sense, therefore, the Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," has no reference to the destruction of man's body, for that is natural: but it refers to the destruction of his soul, which is spiritual. This Commandment, then, understood in the spiritual sense, forbids the doing of anything that tends to kill or destroy men's souls. To kill a man's soul is to deprive
