The Sum of Sacred Divinity, Book 1 · Chapter 6
CHAP. VI.
Of the ſecond Commandement.
THE ſumme of the ſecondThe Papiſts ſtrike out this whole ſecond Commandement moſt ſaor▪ legiouſly. Commandement is, That wee worſhip God, as hee himſelfe hath commanded: Euerie aDeut. 1…. 32.thing which I command, that ſhall you keepe and doe; Thou ſhalt not adde vntounto it, neither ſhalt thou take from it. b1. Chron. 15. 13.Therefore, ſaith the good King EZECHIAH, did IEHOVAH our GOD make a breach among vsus at the firſt, becauſe wee ſought him not according to appointment. Whatſoeuer cExod. 23. 13. To the worſhip of God two things doe belong; a holy manner of warſhipping God, & a holy reſt: The manner ſtandeth in Obedience and Reuerence.I ſay vntounto you, you ſhall keepe.
Herein it differeth from the former Commandement,Obedience, is the worſhipping of him according to his Commandement. That commanded the Worſhip of God which is natural: This, the Worſhip whatſoeuer the ſame be, which is by Diuine Ordinance and Inſtitution. To doe whatſoeuer God commandeth, is called Obedience: A vertue, as Samuel ſaith, 1. Sam. 15. 22, 23. better then Sacrifice, and wherewith the Lord is more delighted, then with burnt Offerings. And, that Obedience is the ſumme of the ſecond Commandement, may appeare by the oppoſition there made of them that louelove God and keepe his Commandements, to theſe words, Thou ſhalt not make any grauen Image.
As therefore in the firſt Commandement the worſhip of falſe gods was forbidden: ſo here is forbidden all falſe worſhip of the true God, which the words plainly ſhew, forbidding to make any carued Images to our ſelues, or to bow downe and worſhip the things which ſo we make. Now, there is none ſo fooliſh, that iudgeth the worke of his owne hands to bee indeed and truely God, or that worſhippeth the very things that himſelfe hath made; but onelyonly in and by the ſame doth worſhip him, whom in his true or falſe conceit hee holdeth to bee God. Therefore it is ſaid, Mat. 15. 9. In vaine they worſhip me, &c.
The contrarie therefore ofThe Papiſts teach and command all manner of Willworſhip, Idolatry, Superſtitions, and their fabulous and ſayned Traditions. this Commandement is in one word Will-worſhip, whē wee worſhip the true GOD falſly, that is to ſay, after our owne inuentions: dCol. 2. 23.which things hauehave indeed a ſhew of wiſedome in Will-worſhip and humbleneſſe of minde, and in not ſparing the bodie, but are not in any eſtimation, ſeeing they are referred to the ſatisfying of the fleſh. e1. Sam. 13. 13SAMVEL ſaid vntounto SAVL, Thou haſt done fooliſhly. Thou haſt not obſerued the Commandement of IEHOVAH thy God. Willworſhip contayneth vnderunder it,
Firſt, Idolatry: that is, theThe Papiſts Idolatrie, and their wicked and fond diſtinction, as if the Scripture onelyonly condemned ſuch Images as the Heathen made for the worſhipping of their falſe gods, which is manifeſtly cō futed both by the example of the Iewes, Exod 32. and by this Commandement of Moſes, Deut. 4. 12, 15, 16 who, to reſtraine the people from Idolatry, oppoſeth the voice of God heard in the Mountaine to all Images, euen to the Image of God himſelfe, not onelyonly to the Image of Heathen gods; When Iehouah ſpake vntounto you out of the middeſt of that fire, yee heard the voice of his words, but ſaw no ſimilitude, ſaue a voyce: take heed therefore, &c. worſhipping of GOD in Images or Idols, whereof God giueth ſo ſtraight charge fDeut. 4. 15, 16Take heed therefore vntounto your ſelues, for you ſaw no ſimilitude in the Day that IEHOVAH ſpake vntounto you in Horeb out of the middeſt of the fire: That ye corrupt not your ſelues, & make you a grauen Image, the likeneſſe of any repreſentation, &c. And the gEſay 40. 18.Prophet cryeth out, Ʋnto whom will ye liken the mightie God? and what likeneſſe will ye addreſſe for him? Hither belongeth that, where he is ſaid to be a hEſay 45 15. foreignGod, that hideth himſelfe, that is to ſay, inuiſible, and not to be expreſſed by carued Images: As the oppoſition there ſheweth. Wherefore the Apoſtle in the Catalogue of offences worthily giueth the firſt place hereunto: They iRom. 1. 23turned theaglory of the incorruptible God into the ſimilitude of the Image of a corruptible man, and of Birds, and of foure-footed beaſts, and of creeping things. This was the ſinne of the Iſraelites in the Wilderneſſe: for they worſhipped not the Calfe; as the Papiſts, to colour their owne Idolatrie, doe affirme, but God in the Calfe; ſo themſelues proclayme: kExod. 32. 5.Tomorrow ſhall bee the Holy-day of IEHOVAH: Let vsus make a Feaſt tomorrow to IEHOVAH. And the Pſalmiſt beareth lPſal. 10…. 20.witneſſe, They turned their glorie into the frame of an Oxe that eateth graſſe. And yet this Calfe made to worſhip God in the forme thereof, Stephen calleth an Idoll, Acts 7. 41. Theſe two kindes bowing downe to Moloch, to ſerue and worſhip him, and worſhipping the true GOD in the bowing downe to Moloch, are plainely diſtinguiſhed, Zophaniah, 1. 5. and Iudgements there pronounced againſt both ſorts of ſuch worſhippers: for it is certaine, that Idols and Images are ſo farre from being, as they ſeeme mforeign.glaſſes and repreſentations to make men ſee God the cleerer, that contrariwiſe they cloſe and dawbe vp mens eyes from ſeeing, and their hearts from vnderſtanding. As the Prophet in plaine words ſpeaketh, Eſay 44. 18. teaching nothing indeed but vanitie and lyes. Their molten nEſay 41. 29.Images are winde, and emptineſſe, or confuſion. What oHabak. 2. 18.profiteth the carued Image, when the framer thereof hath caruedit a molten Image, and a teacher of lyes? But pIer. 10. 8.together (both Iewes and Gentiles iumping in the ſame Idolatry) they are brutiſh and become Fooles, for the ſtocke (or wood, that is to ſay, the Image made of wood) is a doctrine of vanities. And againe, EueryEvery qVerſe 14, 15.man is not ſo brutiſh, that he knoweth not that eueryevery Founder is ſhamed by the carued Image: for his molten Image is but falſhood, and there is no breath in them: they are vanitie, and the worke of errours, what time theſe men (their worſhippers) are viſited, they (their Images themſelues) ſhall periſh. Wherefore all vſe of an Image deuiſed by mans braine in Gods ſeruice, is condemned: for when himſelfe pleaſeth to appoint them, as he did the Cherubins, &c. vnderunder the Law, his Commandement maketh it to be lawfull. So the very words of the Law doe ſound, Thou ſhalt not make vntounto thy ſelfe (that is, of thine owne head, and out of the deuice of thine owne braine.)
Secondly, Superſtition, that is to ſay, all corruption of Gods Seruice, by adding or taking from, be it in meates and drinkes, obſeruing of dayes and times, ceremonies and miniſteries inuented by men or otherwiſe. Therefore rDeut. 12. 32.whatſoeuer I command you, take heed you doe it; thou ſhalt put nothing thereto, nor take ought therefrom. ſMat. 15. 9.In vaine they worſhip me, teaching for doctrines the commandements of men.
Thirdly, Traditions, to ſignifie and repreſent any grace of God, otherwiſe then he hath appointed; for the which, Chriſt condemned the Phariſes waſhing of hands and cups, &c. Yee tMarke 7. 8.lay the Commandement of God apart, and obſerue the traditions of men; as the waſhing of pots and cups, and many other ſuch like things ye doe.