it shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the moun- tains. I will heap mischiefs upon them, and will spend mine arrows upon themV To the same effect the Prophet Nahum also speaks : " God is jealous ; and the Lord revengeth : the Lord revengeth, and is furious ; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries; and he reserveth wrath for his enemies0."]
Nor is this unworthy of his character —
[On account of his own inconceivable excellency he deserves to stand without a rival in our affections. On account of what he has also done for us in creation, in providence, and in grace, especially in the gift of his only dear Son to die for us ; and, I may add, on account of the relation in which he stands as " the Husband of his Church d," he has additional claims to our supreme regard : and if he see that we are in any respect suffering any thing to stand in competition with him, he may well be jealous. In truth, he could not, con- sistently with his own perfections, dispense with these obliga- tions, even for a moment. " He cannot give his glory to another e :" he would cease to be God, if he could suffer his own inalienable rights to be withheld from him, and not express his indignation against the idolatrous offender. It is his very " name' and nature to be jealous : as to those who love him, he is a God of love and mercy ; so is he, of neces- sity, to those who alienate their affections from him, " a jealous God, and a consuming fireV]
From this view of his character, let us proceed to notice,
II. Our duty, as arising from it —
We must not act in any way inconsistent with the relation which we bear to him. We must not suffer,
1. Any alienation of our affections from him —
[We are bound to love him with all our heart, and all our mind, and all our soul, and all our strength. Nothing is to be loved by us but in subordination to him, and for his sake. If any thing under heaven be permitted to share our regards with him, we are guilty of idolatry ». Nothing is excepted, when the Apostle says, " Set your affections on things above, and not on things on the earth h." We must take care, therefore, not only not to love any thing above him, but to " hate even father and mother, and our own lives also," in comparison of him.]
2. Any abatement in our attentions to him —
b Deut. xxxii. 21 — 23. c Nah. i. 2. d Isai.liv. 5. e Isai. xlii.8. f Deut. iv. 23, 24. s Col. hi. 5. h Col. hi. 2.