III. The third reason against image-wor- ship, " Of them that hate me." This is a reason against image-worship, 'tis hating God ; the papists, who worship God hy an image, hate God. Image-worship U a pre- tended love to God, but God interprets it an hating of him ; Quce dillgit alieiium odil sponsum,—^ She that loves another man, hates her own husband.' An image-lover is a God-hater. Idolaters are said to go a- whoring from God, E«;ek. xxxiv. 15. How can they love God? I shall show that im- age-worshippers hate God, whatever love they pretend.
1. They n^ho go contrary to God's ex- press will, hate him. God saitli, you shall not set up any statue, image, nor picture, to represent me ; these things I hate, Deut. xsi- 22., " Neither shalt thou set up any image which the Lord thy God hatetli." Yet the idolater will set up images, and worship them. This God looks upon as an hating of him. IIow doth that child love his father, who doth all he can to cross liim?
2. They who turned Jephthah out of doors, hated him, therefore they laboured to shut him out of his father's house. Judges xi. 7. The idolater shuts the trutii out of doors, — he blots out the second command- ment,— he makes a shape of the invisible God, — he brings a lie into God's wor- ship: which is a clear proof he hates God.
j 3. Idolaters, though they love the false j image of God in a picture, yet they liate the true image of God in a believer : tliey pretend to honour Christ in a crucifix, yet persecute Christ in his members : these hate God.
Use \st. This may confute those who plead for image-worshippers. Tliey arc very devout people, — they adore images, — they set up the crucifix, kiss it, light can- dles to it: they love God. Nay, but who shall be judge of their love? God saith, they hate him ; they give religious adora- tion to a creature. These hate God, and God hates them, and they shall never live with God, whom God hates ; he will never lay such vipers in his bosom ; heaven is kept as paradise, with a flaming sword, that they shall not enter in, and Deut. vii. 10., " He repayeth them that hate him, to their face." God will shoot all his destroy- ing pieces among idolatei's ; all the plagues and curses in the book of God shall befal the idolater ; the Lord repays him that hates him, to his face.
Use 2d. Let it exhort us all to flee from Romish idolatry ; let us not be among God- haters, 1 John v. 21., " Little children, keep yourselves from idols." As you would keep your bodies from adultery, so keep your souls from idolatry. Take heed of images, tliey are images of jealousy to pro- voke God to anger; they are damnable;, you may as well perish by false devotiojis as by real scandal ; by image-worship, as drunkenness and whoredom. A man may as well die by poison, as pistol ; we may as well go to hell by drinking poison in the Romish cup of fornication, as by being pis- toled with gross and scandalous sins. To conclude, " God is a jealous God," who- will admit of no co-rival; "he will visit the iniquities of the fathers upon their chil-. dren :" he will entail a jdaguc uiM)n the pos- terity of idolaters. He interprets idolaters to be such as hate him; he that is an im- age-lover is a God-hater. Therefore keep yourselves pure from Romish idolatry ; if you love your souls, keep yourselves from^ idols.
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OF THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.
ExoD. XX. 6. Shelving mercy unto thousands, Sfc.
THIS Is another argument against im- flge-worship, because such as do not pro- voke God with their images, he is merciful to tliem, and will entail mercy upon their posterity; " shewing mercy unto thou- sands."
1. Here is the golden sceptre of God's mercy displayed. — 2. The persons interested in God's mercy ; such as love him, and keep his commandments. — 1. The golden sceptre of God's mercy displayed, " shew- ing mercy to thousands." The heathens thought they praised Jupiter enough, when they called him good and great : both these excellencies meet in God, majesty and mercy. Mercy is that innate propenseness in God to do good to distressed sinners. God shewing mercy, makes his Godhead ap})oar full of glory. When Moses said to God, " I beseech thee shew me thy glory;" "I will"— saith God — "shew mercy," Exod. xxxiii. 18. His mercy is liis glory. Mer- cy is the name by which God will be known, Exod. xxxiv. 6., " The Lord passed by, and prochiiuied, — ' The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious !" ' Mercy pro- coeds primarily, and originally from God; he is called, the " Father of mercies," 2 Cor. i. 3., because he begets all those mercies and bowels which are in the crea- ture. Our mercies compared with God's are scarce so much as a drop to the ocean.
Quest. J'Hiat are the qxialifications ?