2dli/, It is a destructive sin, 2 Thess. i. 7, 8., " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that obey not the gospel." He who refus- eth to obey God's will in commanding, shall be sure to obey his will in punishing. The sinner, while he thinks to slip the knot of obedience twists the cord of his own dam- nation ; he pcrishetli without excuse ; he hath no plea or apology to make for him- self, Luke xii. 47., " Tiie servant wliich knew his lord's will, but did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes." God will
say why did you not obey? You knew how to do good, but did it not ; therefore your blood is upon your own head.
Quest. What means shall tve use that tm may obey ?
Ans. 1. Serious consideration. Consider, God's commands are not grievous : he com- mands nothing unreasonable, 1 John v. 3. It is easier to obey the commands of God than sin ; the commands of sin are bur- thensome ; let a man be under the power of any lust, how doth he tire himself? What hazards doth he run, even to the en- dangering of his health and soul, that he may satisfy his lusts? What tedious jour- nies did Antiochus Epiphanes take in per- secuting the Jews? Jer. ix. 5., " They weary themselves to commit iniquity ;" and are not God's commands more easy to obey ? Chrysostod saith, virtue is easier than vice, temperance is less burdensome than diunk- enness. Some have gone with less pains to heaven, than others have to hell. — Con- sideration 2. God commands nothing but
what is beneficial, Deut. x. 12, 13.
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Israel, what doth the Lord require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, and to keep his statutes, which I command thee this day, for thy good ?" To obey God, is not so much our duty as our privilege; his commands carry meat in the mouth of them. He bids us repent : and why ? that our sins may be blotted out. Acts iii. 19. He com- mands us to believe: and why? that we may be saved, Acts xvi. 31. There is love in every command : as if a kiisg should bid one of his subjects dig in a gold mine, then take tlie gold to himself.
A. 2. Earnest supplication. Im])lore the help of the Spirit to carry us on in obedi- ence : God's Spirit makes obedience easy and delightful. If the load-stone draw the iron, now it is not hard for the iron to move : if God's Spirit quicken and draw the heart, now it is not hard to obey. When a gale of the Spirit blows, now we go full sail in obedience. Turn that promise into a prayer, Ezek. xxxvi. 27., " I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes." The promise encourageth us, — the Spirit enables us ^o obedience.
OF LOVE.
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OF LOVE.
THE rule of obedience being the moral law, comprehended in the Ten Command- ments, the next question is,
Quest. XL 1 1. JVhat is the su7n of the Ten Commandments ?
Ans. The sum of the Ten Command- ments is, to love the lord our God with all oiu* heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and ^^'ith all oiu* mind, and our neighbour as ourselves.
Deut. vi. 5., " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and \\nth all thy soul, and with all thy might." The dut}^ called for is love, yea, the strength of love, " with all thy heart :" God will lose none of our love. Love is the soul of reli- gion, and that which goes to the right con- stituting a Christian ; love is the (jueen of the graces ; it shines and spaikles in God's eye, as the precious stones did on the breast-plate of Aaron.
Quest. L JVhat is love ?
Ans. It is an holy fire kindled in the af- fections, whereby a Christian is carried out strongly after God as the Supreme Good.
Quest. 2. Wliat is the anteccdeyit of love to God?
Ans. The antecedent of love is know- ledge : the Spirit shines upon the under- standing, and discovers these orient beau- ties in God, — his wisdom, holiness, mercy, — and these are the lenocinium, the load- stone to entice and draw out love to God. Jgnoti nidla cupido^ — such as know not God cannot love him ; if the sun be set in the understanding, there must needs be night in the aflFcctions.
Quest. 3. Wherein doth the formal nor- ture of love consist ?
Ans. The nature of love is in delighting in the object : ComptaccJitia amantis in amn- to, Age IN. This is our loving God, our taking dilight in him, Ps. xxxvii. 4., " De- light thyself also in the Lord;" as a bride delights herself in her jewels. Grace chan- geth a Christian's aims and delights.
Quest. 4. How must our love to God be q>udfitd?
Ans. I. If it be a sincere love, we must love God with all our heart : in the text, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God [Heb. J^ecol leuauca'] with pU thy heart." God will have the whole hem-t ; we must not di- vide our love between God and sin ; the true mother would not have the child di- A-ided, nor will God have the heart divided ; it must be the whole heart.