A Body of Practical Divinity, Sermon 59
Of the Commandments.
Exod. 20.3.
Thou shalt have no other Gods before me, &c.
Quest. WHy doth the Commandment run in the second Person singular, Thou] why doth not God say, You shall have no other Gods, but Thou?
Resp. Because the Commandment concerns every one, and God would have you take it as spoken to you by Name: Though we are forward to take Privileges to our selves, yet we are apt to shift off Duty from our selves to others: Thefore the Commandment runs in the second Person, Thou and Thou, that every one may know that the Commandment is spoken to him, as it were by name. And so I come to the Commandment, Thou shalt have no other Gods before me. This Commandment may well lead the Van, and be set in the Front of all the Commandments, because it is the Foundation of all true Religion. The summ of this Commandment is, that we should sanctifie God in our Hearts, and give him a Precedency above all created Beings. There are two Branches of this Commandment. 1. That we must have One God. 2. That we must have but one. Or thus: 1. That we must have God for our God: 2. That we must have no other. 1. That we must have God for our God: It is manifest we must have a God, and who is God save the Lord? 2 Sam. 22.32. The Lord Iehovah (one God in three Persons) is the true, living, eternal God, and him must we have for our God.
Quest. 1. What is it to make God to be a God to us?
Resp. 1. To make God to be a God to us, is to acknowledge him for a God: The Gods of the Heathen are Idols, Psalm 96.5. and we know that an Idol is nothing, 1 Cor. 8.4. that is, it hath nothing of Deity in it: If we cry, Help O Idol, an Idol cannot help; the Idols were themselves carried into Captivity, Isa. 46.2. So that an Idol is nothing, Vanity is ascribed to it, Ier. 14.22. we do not acknowledge it to be a God. But this is to make God to be a God to us, when we do, ex animo, acknowledge him to be God, 1 Kings 18.39. All the People fell on their Faces, and said, The Lord he is the God! The Lord he is the God! Yea, we acknowledge God to be the only God, 2 Kings 19.15. O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the Cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone. Deity is a Jewel belongs only to his Crown: Yet further, we acknowledge that there is no God like him, 1 Kings 8.23. And Solomon stood before the Altar of the Lord, And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, Psalm 89.6. For who in the Heaven can be compared unto the Lord; who among the Sons of the Mighty, can be likened unto the Lord? In the Chaldee it is, Who among the Angels? None can do as God, he brought the World out of nothing; And he hangs the Earth upon nothing, Iob 26.7. This is to make God to be a God to us, when we are perswaded in our Hearts, and confess with our Tongue, and subscribe with our Hand, that God is the only true God, and that there is none comparable to him.
2. To make God to be a God to us, is to choose him, Ioshua 24.15. Choose ye this day whom you will serve; but as for me and my House, we will serve the Lord. That is, we will choose the Lord to be our God: It is one thing for the Judgment to approve of God, and another thing for the Will to choose him. Religion is not a matter of Chance, but Choice. Quest. What is antecedent to, or goes before this Choice? Resp. 1. Before this choosing God for our God, there must be Knowledge: We must know God before we can choose him; before one choose the Person he will Marry, he must first have some Knowledge and Cognisance of the Person: So we must know God before we can choose him for our God, 2 Chron. 28.9. Know thou the God of thy Fathers. We must know God in his Attributes, Glorious in Holiness, Rich in Mercy, Faithful in Promises: We must know God in his Son: As in a Glass a Face is represented, so in Christ as in a Transparent Glass, we see Gods Beauty and Love shine forth. This Knowledge must go before our choosing of God. Lactantius said, All the Learning of the Philosophers was without an Head, because it wanted the Knowledge of God. 2. Wherein our choosing of God consists: It is an Act of Mature Deliberation; a Christian having viewed the Superlative Excellencies in God, and being stricken into an Holy Admiration of his Perfections, he singles out God from all other Objects to set his Heart upon: He saith as Iacob, Gen. 28.21. The Lord shall be my God. 3. The Effect of choosing God: The Soul that chooseth God, devotes himself to God, Psalm 119.38. Thy Servant, who is devoted to thy fear. As the Vessels of the Sanctuary were consecrated and set apart from common to Holy Uses: So the Soul who hath chosen God to be his God, hath dedicated and set himself apart for God, and will be no more for Profane Uses.
3. To make God to be a God to us, is to enter into a Solemn Covenant with him, that he shall be our God: After Choice follows the Marriage Covenant: As God makes a Covenant with us, Isa. 55.3. I will make an everlasting Covenant with you, even the sure Mercies of David: So we make a Covenant with him, 2 Chron. 15.12. They entred into Covenant to seek the Lord God of their Fathers. And Isa. 44.5. One shall say, I am the Lords: And another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord. Like Soldiers that subscribe their Names in the Muster-Roll. This Covenant, that God shall be our God, we have oft renewed in the Lords-Supper: And it is like a Seal to a Bond, to bind us fast to God, and to keep us that we do not depart from him.
4. To make God to be a God to us, is to give him Adoration: Which consists 1. in reverencing of him, Psal. 89.7. God is to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. The Seraphims who stood about Gods Throne, covered their Faces, Isa. 6. And Eliah wrapped himself in a Mantle when the Lord passed by▪ in token of reverence. This Reverence shews the high Esteem we have of Gods Sacred Majesty. 2. Adoration is in bowing to him or worshipping him, Psalm 29.2. Worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness. Nehem. 8.6. They bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. This foreign, or Divine Worship, is the peculiar Honour belongs to the Godhead. This God is jealous of, and will have no Creature share in, Isa. 42.8. My Glory will I not give to another. Magistrates may have a civil Respect or Veneration, God only a Religious Adoration.
5. To make God to be a God to us, is to fear him, Deut. 28.58. That thou maist Fear this glorious and fearful Name, the Lord thy God. This fearing of God is, 1. To have God always in our eye, Psal. 16.8. I have set the Lord always before me. And Psal 25.15. Mine eyes are ever towards the Lord. He who fears God, imagines that whatever he is doing, God looks on, and as a Judge, weighs all his Actions. 2. To fear God, is when we have such an Holy awe of God upon our Hearts that we dare not sin, Psal. 4.4. Stand in awe and sin not. The Wicked sin and fear not; the Godly fear and sin not, Gen. 39.9. How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God? Bid me sin, bid me drink Poyson. It is a Saying of Anselm, If Hell were on one side, and sin on the other, I would rather leap into Hell, than willingly sin against my God. 1. This glorious and fearful Name: He who fears God will not sin, though it be never so secret, Levit. 19.14. Thou shalt not curse the Deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the Blind, but shalt fear thy God. Suppose you should curse a Deaf Man, he cannot hear you curse him: Or if you lay a Block in a Blind Mans way, and make him fall, he cannot see you lay it. Ay, but the fear of God will make you avoid those sins which can neither be heard nor seen by Men. 2. Where the fear of God is, it destroys the fear of Man: The three Children feared God, therefore they feared not the Kings Wrath, Dan. 3.16. The greater noise drowns the less; the noise of Thunder drowns the noise of a River: So when the fear of God is superintendent in the Soul, it drowns all other carnal Fear. This is to make God to be a God to us, when we have an Holy Filial fear of him; that thou maist fear.
6. To make God to be a God to us, is to trust in him, Psal. 141.8. Mine eyes are unto thee, O God, the Lord, in thee will I trust, 2 Sam. 22.3. The God of my Rock, in him will I trust. There is nothing we can trust in but God: All the Creatures are a Refuge of Lyes: They are like the Egyptian Reed, too weak to support us, but strong enough to wound us: Omnis motus fit super immobili. God only is a sufficient Foundation to build our Trust upon. And then when we Trust, we make him a God to us; else we make him an Idol if we do not trust in him. Trusting in God, is when we rely on his Power as a Creator, and on his Love as a Father. Trusting in God, is when we commit our chief Treasure to him: Our Soul is our chief Treasure, we commit our Soul to him, Psal. 31.5. Into thy hands I commit my Spirit. As the Orphant trusts his Estate with his Guardian, so we trust our Souls with God: This is to make him a God to us. Quest. How shall we know that we trust in God aright? Resp. If we trust in God aright, then we will trust in God at one time as well as another, Psal. 62.8. Trust in him, Becol gnet, at all times. Can we trust God 1. in our streights? When the Fig-tree doth not flourish; When our earthly Crutches are broken; Can we now lean upon Gods Promise? When the Pipes are cut off that use to bring us Comfort, can we live upon God, in whom are all our fresh Springs? When we have no Bread to eat but the Bread of Carefulness, Ezek. 19 8. When we have no Waters to drink unless Tears, Psal. 80.5. Thou givest them tears to drink in great measure; Can we now trust in Gods Providence, to make supply for us? A good Christian believes, that if God feed the Ravens, he will feed his Children: He lives upon Gods All-sufficiency, not only for Grace, but Food: He believes if God will give him Heaven, he will daily Bread: He trusts Gods Bond, Psal. 37.3. Verily thou shalt be fed. 2. Can we trust God in our Fears? Fear is the Ague of the Soul: When Adversaries begin to grow high, can we now display the Banner of Faith? Psal. 56.3. What time I am afraid I will trust in thee. Faith cures the Trembling at the Heart: Faith gets above Fear, as the Oyl swims above the Water. This is to trust in God, and it is to make him to be a God to us.
7. To make God to be a God to us, is to love him; in the Godly, Fear and Love Kiss each other.
8. To make him a God to us, is to obey him: But I forbear to speak of these, because I shall be large upon them in the Second Commandment; Shewing Mercy unto Thousands of them that love me and keep my Commandments.
Quest. 2. Why we must cleave to the Lord as our God?
Resp. 1. From the Equity of it: It is but equal we should cleave to him, as our God, from whom we receive our Being: Who can have a better Right to us, than he that gives us our Breath, Psal. 100.3. for it is he that hath made us, and not we our selves. It is unequal, yea ungrateful, to give away our Love or Worship to any but God.
2. From the Utility: If we cleave to the Lord as our God, then 1. he well Bless us, Psal. 67.6. God even our own God will bless us. He will bless us first in our Estate, Deut. 28.4, 5. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy ground, Blessed shall be thy Basket and thy Store: We shall not only have our Sack full of Corn, but it shall be Blessed: Here is Mony in the mouth of the Sack. 2. He will bless us with Peace, Psal. 29.11. The Lord will bless his people with Peace: Outward Peace, which is the Nurse of Plenty, Psal. 147.14. He maketh peace in thy borders: Inward Peace, a smiling Conscience: This is sweeter than the dropping Hony. 2. God will turn all Evils to our Good, Rom. 8.28. He will make a Treakle of Poyson. Ioseph's Imprisonment was a means for his Advancement, Gen. 50.20. Out of the bitterest Drug, God will distill his Glory and our Salvation. In short, God will be our guide to Death, our Comfort in Death, our Reward after Death. So then the Utility of it may make us cleave to the Lord as our God, Psal. 144.15. Happy is that People who have the Lord for their God.
3. From the Necessity: 1. If God be not our God, he will Curse our Blessings, Mal. 2.2. And Gods Curse Blasts where-ever it comes. 2. If God be not our God, we have none to help us in Misery: Will God help his Enemies? Will he assist them who disclaim him? 3. If we do not make God to be our God, he will make himself to be our Judge: And if he Condemns, there is no appealing to a Higher Court. So that there is a Necessity of having God for our God, unless we intend to be eternally espoused to Misery.
Use 1. If we must have one God, and the Lord Iehovah for our God, it condemns the Atheist who hath no God, Psal. 14.1. The Fool hath said in his Heart there is no God. There is no God he believes in or worships: Such Atheists were Diagoras and Theodorus: When Seneca did reprove Nero for his Impieties; Saith Nero, Dost thou think I believe there is any God, when I do such things? The Duke of Silecia was so infatuated, that he affirmed, Neque inferos, neque superos esse. That there was neither God nor Devil. We may see God in the works of his Fingers: The Creation is a great Volume, in which we may read a God-head; and he must needs put out his own Eyes, that denies a God. Aristotle, though an Heathen, did not only acknowledge God, when he cried out, Thou Being of Beings, have Mercy on me; But he thought he that did not confess a Deity, was not worthy to live. They who will not believe a God, shall feel him, Heb. 10.31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Use 2. It condemns Christians who profess to own God for their God, yet they do not live as if he were their God. 1. They do not believe in him as a God When they look upon their Sins, they are apt to say, Can God Pardon? When they look upon their Wants, Can God provide? Can he prepare a Table in the Wilderness? 2. They do not love him as a God: They do not give him the Cream of their Love, but are apt to love other things more than God: They say they love God, but will part with nothing for him. 3. They do not worship him as a God: They do not give him that Reverence, nor pray with that Devotion, as if they were praying to a God. How dead are their Hearts? If not dead in Sin, yet dead in Duty: 'Tis as if praying to a God that hath Eyes and sees not; Ears and hears not: In hearing the Word, how much Distraction, what regardless Hearts have many? they are thinking of their Shop and Drugs. Would a King take it well at our hands, if when he is speaking to us, we should be playing with a Feather? When God is speaking to us in his Word, and our Hearts are taken up with Thoughts about the World, is not this playing with a Feather? O how may this humble most of us, we do not make God to be a God to us: We do not believe in him, love him, worship him as a God. Many Heathens have worshipped their False …ods with more Seriousness and Devotion, than some Christians do the true God. O let us chide our selves: Did I say Chide? let us Abhor our selves for our Deadness and Formality in Religion, how we have professed God, yet we have not worshipped him as a God. So much for the first, We must have God for our God. I should come to the Second, We must have no other God.