A. 11. We hallow and sanctify God's name when we sympathize with him ; we grieve when his name suffers. \st. We lay to heart his dishonour. How was Moses affected with God's dishonour I He breaks the tables, Exod. xxxii. 19. We grieve to see God's sabbaths profaned, his worship adulterated, the wine of truth mingled with error. — 2d. We grieve when God's church is brought low, because now God's name suffers. Nehemiah lays to heart the mise- ries of Sion ; his complexion begins to alter, and he looks sad, Neh. ii. 2., " Why is thy countenance sad ?' What ! sad, wlien the king's cup-bearer, and wine is so near ! O but it fared ill with the church of God, and religion seemed to lose ground, and God's name suffered : therefore Nehemiah grows weary of the court, — he leaves his wine and mingles his drink with weeping ! This holy sympathy and grieving when God's name suffers, God esteems an honouring and sanc- tifying his name, llezekiah grieved when the king of Assyria reproached the living God, Isa. xxxvii. 17. " lie went up into the house of the Lord, and spread the letter of blasphemy before the Lord," 2 Kings xix. 14. And no doubt watered the letter with his tears ; he seemed not to be so much troubled at the fear of losing liis own life and kingdom, as that God should lose his glory,
A. 12. We hallow and sanctify God's name when we give that same honour to God the Son as we give to God the Father, John V. 23., " That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father." The Socinians deny Christ's divinity, saying that he is a mere man : this is to make him below the angels, Ps. viii, 5., for the human nature, considered in itself, is below tho
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angelical ; this is to reflect dislionour upon the Lord of glory. We must give equal lionour to the Son as to the Father ; we must believe Christ's Deity ; he is the picture of his Father's glory, Heb. i. 3. If the God- Jiead be in Christ, he must needs be God ; but the Godhead shines in him. Col. ii. 9., *' In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ;" therefore, he is Gfod. How could these divine titles be given to Christ, Omnipotency, Heb. i. 3., — Uhic|ui- ty, Mat. xxviii. 20., — a jjower of scaling pardons, Mat. ix. 6.,- Co-equality witli Cod the Father, both in power and di<j;nity, John V. 21, 23., — how, I say, could theise titles of honour be ascribed to Christ, if he were not crowned with the Deity ? When we believe Christ's Godhead, and build our liope of salvation on the corner-stone of his merit, — when we see neither the righteous- ness of the law, nor of angels, can justify, but we flee to Christ's blood as to the altar of refuge, — this is an honouring and sanc- tifying God's name. God never thinks his name to be hallowed, unless his Son be ho- noured.
A. 13. We hallow God's name by stand- ing up for his truths. Much of God's glory lies in his truths ; God's truths are his ora- cles. God intrusts us with his truths as a treasure ; we have not a richer jewel to in- trust God with than our souls, nor God hath not a greater jewel to intrust us with than his truths. God's truths set forth his glory; now when we are zealous advocates for God's truths, this is an honour done to God's name. Athanasius was called ' the bulwark of truth ;' he stood up in the defence of God's truths against the Arians, and so was a pillar in tiie temple of God ; better have truth without peace, than peace with- out truth. It concerns the sons of Zion to stand up for the great doctrines of the gos- pel : the doctrine of the Trinity, — the Hy- postatical union, — ^justification by faith, — the saints' perseverance. We are bid to contend earnestly, Jude 3., to strive as in an agony for the faith, that is, the doctrine of faith ; this contending for the truth, brings great revenues to heaven's exche- quer; this is an hallowing of (lod's name. Contend for the truth ; some can contend for ceremonies, but not for the truth. We
should count him unwise, that should con- tend more for a box of counters than for his box of evidences.