brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; " and it binds believers now, as well as it bound the children of Israel, to that obedience which the Lord requireth. For whether we consider it as referring to them or to ourselves, the argument is most weighty; and there are many considerations included in it, which are very powerful, and highly calculated to remind us of the necessity of giving up ourselves to the Lord.

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This argument, in respect of the posterity of Abraham, to whom it was first proposed, will be found peculiarly strong, if we consider the following things:-1. That this deliverance from Egypt reminded the Israelites of the accomplishment of the mise which God had made to them long before they stood in need of the exertion of almighty power. See Gen. xv. 13, 14; Exod. xii. 41. 2. That what God had done for the children of Israel, in delivering them from the Egyptians, was a mercy which they surely had not yet forgotten. 3. That they were utterly unable of themselves to have effected this great deliverance. 4. That it was not a common deliverance, nor accomplished by the use of ordinary means. 5. That it was both a temporal and a spiritual favour done to them. They were delivered from bondage, by which their souls were made bitter within them; and they were delivered from a land of graven images, and were to be constituted the only Church of God upon earth. To them the lively oracles of truth were to be committed. To them promises were made, and were to be fulfilled. They were to be accounted a holy priesthood, a royal nation, a peculiar people. To them the knowledge of the living God was to be revealed; and to them was to be made known the way of salvation; while the rest of the world was sitting in moral darkness, and in the region and shadow of spiritual death.

The motive by which we should be influenced, is, the love of God in sending his Son into this world, to deliver us from the bondage of sin and Satan, of the world and the flesh; of which the deliverance from Egyptian bondage was typical.

The design of God in delivering sinners from spiritual bondage is the same that it was in delivering the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. His design in delivering the Israelites was, that they might serve him; and his design in delivering us from spiritual bondage is, that we may serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness all our days.

INFERENCES.

From this subject we learn,-1. The necessity of studying the character of God, that we may know him and obey him; for without knowledge there can be no obedience. 2. That obedience is the duty of all; and that gracious motives are proposed to influence to it. 3. That sinners have the greatest encouragement to a life of holiness. 4. That the Lord draweth sinners with

the cords of love.-Hos. xi. 4. 5. The danger of not complying with God's commandments. 6. That the slavery of sin is the worst bondage. 7. The necessity of being delivered by Jesus Christ out of the hands of all our spiritual enemies. 8. The necessity of gratitude to Jehovah for the revelation of the gracious scheme of deliverance from every evil. 9. That we ought to view his service as our pleasure in this world, seeing this is the great design of his grace being manifested to any. 10. That the greater the mercy conferred upon us is, the more unfeigned ought our gratitude to be.

SECT. II. THE DUTIES WHICH WE OWE TO GOD-CONTAINED IN THE FIRST FOUR COMMANDMENTS OF THE LAW.

DIV. 1. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.

Q. 45.—Which is the First Commandment?

The First Commandment is, "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me."

Exod. xx. 3; Deut. v. 7.

Duties Required.

Q. 46.—What is Required in the First Commandment? The First Commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly.

ANALYSIS AND PROOFS.

We are here taught,—

1. That we are required to know God. 1 Chron. xxviii. 9."Know thou the God of thy father." See also Job xxii. 21. 2. That we are required to acknowledge God. Prov. iii. 6."In all thy ways acknowledge him."

3. That we are required to know and acknowledge God as the only true God. John xvii. 3.-"This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God." 1 Kings viii. 33."When Israel shall confess thy name."

4. That we are required to know and acknowledge God as our God. Deut. xxvi. 7.-"Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God."

5. That we are required to worship and glorify God as the only true God. Matt. iv. 10.-"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 99 1 Chron. xvi. 25, 26.-"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised he also is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are idols; but the Lord made the heavens."

6. That we are required to worship and glorify God as our God. Ps. xcv. 6, 7.—“O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture." Ps. cxlv. 1.-"I will extol thee, my God, O King; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

EXPLANATION.

Obs. 190.-The First Commandment requires us to know and acknowledge God.

To know God, is to know that he exists, and that he is such as he hath manifested himself to be in his Word. Heb. xi. 6. It is here that we have the only true account of what he is; of the various relations in which he stands to all men in general, and to his own people in particular; and of the various characters which he sustains, as a present help in every time of need. But this knowledge must be, not a mere speculative knowledge, but a practical and saving knowledge, such a knowledge as will influence us to do whatever he hath commanded.

To acknowledge God, implies a steady belief in the existence of God-of that God who hath revealed himself in his Word; a firm belief that all the perfections, and titles, and attributes, which are ascribed to God in his Word, belong to him and to none else; and also a confessing him in secret and before the world,-Rom. x. 10; and a maintaining of his perfections in opposition to what may be said against them.

Obs. 191.-The First Commandment requires us to know and aknowledge God as the only true God.

To know and acknowledge God as the only true God, is to believe and profess that he alone is possessed of infinite perfection; and that the perfections of his nature are eminently displayed and manifested in the Lord Jesus Christ.-Hos. xiii. 4.

Obs. 192.-The First Commandment requires us to know and acknowledge God as our God.

To know and acknowledge God as our God, is to profess our relation to him as his people, on the faith of the grant that he makes of himself to us in the Word.-Deut. xxvi. 17, 18; Ps. xlviii. 14. But this cannot be done without faith in him, and in his Son Jesus Christ, through whom alone any can come to God.-John xiv. 6, 9; 1 John iii. 23.

That which is connected with this acknowledgment of God, and in a great measure shows an unfeigned faith in this one God as our God, is an acknowledgment of God in all our ways, and an acknowledgment of him in all his ways to us. We must acknowledge him in all his providences towards us, in all his promises and their accomplishment, and in all his threatenings and judgments.

Obs. 193.-The First Commandment requires us to worship and glorify God as the only true God and as our God.

To worship God, is to make him the supreme object of our esteem and delight, both in public, private, and secret.-Ps. lxxi. 19, lxxiii. 25,.cxlii. 5, and cxi. 1.

To glorify God, is to ascribe to him all possible glory and perfection; and to endeavour, in all our actions, to promote his honour and glory.-Exod. xv. 11; 1 Cor. x. 31.

To worship and glorify God accordingly, imports, that as we must know and acknowledge God to be the only true God and our God, so we are bound, in every part of our obedience, to act towards him as those who stand in such a near relation to him. --Ps. xlv. 11; 1 Cor. vi. 20. We cannot, however, yield any acceptable obedience, unless we acknowledge him to be our God in Christ; for the belief of the promise is the foundation of all acceptable worship and obedience. All true obedience is the obedience of faith; and without faith it is impossible to please God.-Rom. vi. 26; Heb. xi. 6.

There are two ways in which God must be worshipped and glorified-in our hearts and in our lives.-John iv. 24; Matt. v. 16.

1. To worship and glorify God in our lives, or externally, is to have a respect to all his instituted ordinances; to avoid all manner of sin, and to shun every appearance of evil; to provoke to love and to good works; to stir up others to serve the Lord; and, in a word, to frame our lives according to the Scriptures.

2. To worship and glorify God in our hearts, or internally, is to think and meditate upon him,—Mal. iii. 16; Ps. lxiii. 6; to remember him,-Eccl. xii. 1; to honour and adore him,-Mal. i. 6; Isa. xlv. 23; to love and esteem him highly,—Deut. vi. 5; Ps. lxxi. 19; to desire and choose him as our God,-Ps. lxxiii. 25; Josh. xxiv. 15; to trust, and believe, and hope in him,Isa. xxvi. 4; Exod. xiv. 31; Ps. cxxx. 7; to fear him,-Isa. viii. 13; to delight and rejoice in him,-Ps. xxxvii. 4, and xxxii. 11; to call upon him, and to give all praise and thanks unto him,Phil. iv. 4; to be zealous for him,-Rom. xii. 11; to yield all obedience and submission to him with the whole man,-Jer. vii. 23; James iv. 7; to be careful in all things to please him, and sorrowful when in any thing he is offended,-1 John iii. 22; Jer. xxxi. 18; and to walk humbly with him,-Micah vi. 8.

INFERENCES.

From this subject we learn,-1. The necessity of searching the Scriptures. 2. The necessity of examining the nature of the knowledge which we have of God; whether our intentions of cleaving to the Lord as our God are sincere, and whether we are careful to evidence our sincerity by keeping his commandments. 3. That we have the greatest possible encouragement to serve the

Lord. 4. That the most comfortable situation of the soul is, when it can call God its God. 5. That the best evidence of this

is, to worship and glorify him as such. 6. Wherein much personal godliness consists. 7. Wherein much of that internal worship consists which belongeth unto God. 8. That the law of the Lord is infinitely holy, and exceeding broad. 9. That none can obey it, so as to obtain life by it.

Sins Forbidden.

Q. 47. What is forbidden in the First Commandment ? The First Commandment forbiddeth the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying the true God, as God, and our God; and the giving of that worship and glory to any other which is due to him alone.

ANALYSIS AND PROOFS.

We are here taught,

1. That we are forbidden to deny God. Ps. xiv. 1.—“ The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."

2. That we are forbidden to refuse or neglect to worship and glorify God. Isa. xliii. 22.-"Thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; thou hast been weary of me, O Israel." Dan. v. 23."The God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified."

3. That we are forbidden to worship God improperly, as if he were not the only true God. Matt. xv. 8.-" This people draweth nigh to me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me."

4. That we are forbidden to worship God, as if he were not our God. Ezek. xliv. 9.-" Thus saith the Lord God, No stranger uncircumcised in heart, or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary."

5. That we are forbidden to give that worship and glory to any other which is due to God alone. Rom. i. 25. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. Ps. xcvii. 7.-" Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods."

EXPLANATION.

Obs. 194.-The First Commandment forbiddeth the denying of the true God; or atheism.

Atheism is distinguished into speculative and practical.

1. Speculative atheism is a full persuasion in the heart that there is no God, and an open profession of it with the mouth; or it is a rejection of those essential truths which clearly prove the existence of God. The denial of a revelation from heaven,