offices for which they were originally given. The understand- ing will have its capacity for the comprehension of divine truth renovated and enlarged : the will of itself will turn to every thing which God requires : and the affections will all fix on God as their proper centre, from which neither force nor attraction shall be able to divert them. Love to God will assimilate us to God himself. By " beholding and contem- plating his glory, we shall be changed into his image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
Once more: this maybe called the first and great command- ment,]
4. Because by obeying it we shall of necessity be led to obey every other —
[From which of the other commandments would any man who loves God desire to be released? There is not so much as one, that he would wish to have relaxed in any degree. They are all written in his heart ; and he longs to have them inscribed there more and more clearly every day he lives. Could he have the desire of his soul, he would have " every thought of his heart brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."]
I think we have now seen abundant reason why love to God may well be regarded as " the first and great commandment."
And now I beg your attention to that solemn admonition with which the command itself, both as published by Moses, and cited by our Lord, is intro- duced, " Hear, O Israel!" Yes, Hear, all of you, my beloved brethren :
" Hear this," first, for your instruction, that ye may know to whom alone your allegiance is due —
[As for other gods, there are none that have any claim upon you, or indeed any existence, but in the imaginations of ignorant and ungodly men. There are men indeed who claim an authority over you: but their authority is not their own: it is God's : and they are only as God's deputies, to exercise it for him. Between husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, magistrates and subjects, there is a bond of rule on the one part, and of subjection on the other : but the rule must be for God, and the subjection to God : and then only are the reciprocal obligations duly performed, when re- spect is had to God's authority and honour in the discharge of theme.]
e Acts iv. 19, 20.