Use \st. It reproves such as have other gods, and so renounce the true God. 1. Such as set up idols, Jer. ii. 28., " Accord- ing to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah." Hos. xii. Ill, " Their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field," — 2. Such as seek to familiar spirits. This is a sin condemned by the law of God, Deut. xviii. 10, 11., "There shall not be found among you any that consult with fa« miliar spirits." It is ordinary, that if peo- ple have lost any of their goods, they send to wizai'ds and soothsayers, to know how they may come by their goods again : what is this but for people to make a god of the devil, by consulting with him, and putting their trust in him ? Wliat ! because you have lost your goods, will you lose your souls too ? 2 Kings i. 6. So, is it not be- cause you think there is not a God in hea- ven, that you ask counsel of the devil ? If any be guilty, be humbled.
Use 2d. It sounds a retreat in our ears. Let it call us off from the idolizing any creature ; and renouncing other gods, let us cleave to the true God and his service. If we go away from God, we know not where to mend ourselves.
1. It is honourable serving of the true God ; Servire Deo est regnare. It is more honour to serve God, than to haA'e kings serve us. — 2. Serving the true God is de- lightful, Isii. Ivi. 7., " I will make them joyful in my house of prayer." God oft
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displays the banner of his love in an ordi- nance, and pours in the oil of gladness into the heart. All God's ways are pleasant- ness, his paths are strewed with roses, Prov. iii. 17. 3. Serving the true God is beneficial ; they have great gain here, — the hidden manna, — inward peace, and a great reward to come. They that serve God shall have a kingdom when they die, Luke xii. 32., and shall wear a crown made of the flowers of paradise, 1 Pet. v. 4. To serve the true God is our true interest. God hath twisted his glory and our salva- tion together. He bids us believe ; and why ? that we may be saved. Therefore, renouncing all others, let us cleave to the true God.
2. You have covenanted to serve the true Jehovah, renouncing all others. When one hath entered into covenant with his master, and the indentures are drawn and sealed, then he cannot go back, but must
serve out his time. We have covenant- ed in baptism to take the Lord for our God, renouncing all others, — and renewed this covenant in the Lord's supper, — and shall we not keep our solemn vow and co- venant ? We cannot go away from God without the highest perjury, Heb. x. 38., " If any man draw back," as a soldier that steals away from his colours, ' my soul shall have no pleasure in him : I will pour vials of wrath on him, and make mine ar- rows drunk with blood.'
3. None ever had cause to repent of cleav- ing to God and his service : some have re- pented that they had made a god of the world. Cardinal Wolsey said, " Oli that I had served my God as I have served my king, he would never have left me thus !" None ever complained of serving (lod : it was both their comfort and crown on their death-bed.
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ExoD. XX. 4. Thou shcdt not make unto tJiee any graven image, ^c.
IN the first commandment is forbidden the worshipping a false god : in this, the worshipping the true God in a false man- ner.
1. " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." This forbids not the mak- ing an image for civil use, Mat. xxii. 20., " Wliose is this image and superscription ? They say unto him. It is Caesar's." But the commandment forbids setting up an image for religious use or worship.
2. " Nor the likeness of any thing," &c. All ideas, portraitures, shapes, images of God, whether by effigies or pictures, are here forbidden, Deut. iv. 15, 16., " Take heed lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make the similitude of any figure." God is to be adored in the heart, not painted to the eye.
3. " Thou shalt not bow down to them." The intent of making images and pictures, is to worship them. No sooner was Nebu- chadnezzar's golden image set up, but all the people fell down and worshipped it,
Dan. iii. 7. Therefore God forbids the prostrating of ourselves before an idol. So then, the thing prohibited in tliis command- ment is image-worship. To set up an im- age to represent God, is a debasing of the Deity, it is below God. If one should make images of snakes or spiders, saying he did it to represent his prince, would not the prince take this in high disdain ? What greater disparagement to God, than to re- present the infinite God by that which is finite, — the living God, by that which is without life, and the Maker of all, by a thing which is made ?