ships another. as the true God, or besides the true God, without an image, sins against the first, and not against the second commandment: but he who worships the true God alone by images, violates the second, and not the first commandment. We cannot make two commands of the tenth command, because only one sinful act, to wit, coveting is forbidden with respect to several objects, as Paul also observes, Rom. vii. 7. Moreover, we could not know by this division which was the ninth or tenth command; for in Exod. xx. 17, the ninth command would be, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house," and the tenth command, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife:" but in Deut. v. 21, that ninth would be the tenth, and that tenth the ninth command; for here the wife is mentioned first, and then follows the house, and thus otherwise than Exod. xx. 17. We therefore apprehend this better, when we as signfour commåndments to the first table, and six to the second.

III. The first commandment, which is the foundation of all the other corgmandments, was pronounced by the mouth of the great Lawgiver in these words, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." The Lord God, speaking to the great congregation of his people, saith not "ye," but "thou," each of you in particular, as if each individual stood alone at the mountain, "shalt have no other gods before me." There are no other gods: but the sinner, "coming short of the glory of God," hath set up other objects besides God for gods, in opposition to the Lord, and so there are, as Paul speaks, 1 Cor. viii. 5, 6, "many that are called gods; whether in heaven, or in earth; but to us there is but one God." Therefore we may not have any other gods before him (or before his face) that is, no where, for his face, and "his eyes are every where, beholding the evil and the good," as Solomon speaks, Prov. xv. 3. Therefore the Lord requires that the idolater should "put away his abominations out of his sight,” in order that he may return to him, Jer. iv. 1.

The God of Israel enjoins then two great things in this part of his word; First, that men should have and hold him alone for God; and then, that they should not have any other gods instead of, or besides him. Therefore we must hold and acknowledge the Lord for our God. The Lord was become the God of Israel by the covenant of grace it was their duty therefore to hold and acknowledge him for their God, as Jacob vowed to the Lord, that he should be his God," Gen. xxviii. 21, or as Asaph declared, when he said, Psalm Ixxiii. 25, 26, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none

This is according to the Dutch translation.

upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." The instructor showeth in what manner we do this, when he saith, that (a)" we must learn to know the only true God rightly." Since he alone is God, therefore he alone must be known as such, and in"This,' deed as our God in Christ, agreeably to his revelation. saith the Saviour to his Father, "is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent," John xvii. 3. (b) "That we should trust in him alone." The Psalmist saith, "They that know thy name will trust in thee," Psalm ix 11. When we trust in God, we rest and lean upon him, as our God in all cases, with calm tranquillity: "Commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass," saith David to the favourites of the Lord, Psalm xxxvii. 5. (c) The person, who is in covenant with God, must also "submit himself to God alone," as well with respect to his commandments by obedience to them: Israel declared readily, when they surrendered themselves in covenant to the Lord, Exod. xxiv. 7. All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient:" as with respect to his chastisements, "with all lowliness and patience: We had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather he in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?" thus asks Paul, Heb xii. 9. See how the saints did this, 1 Sam. iii. 18. 2 Sam xv. 26. xvi. 7—13 Micha vii. 9. (d) "We must expect all good things from him" only, because he takes care, as the God of the covenant, of his covenant people: "The Lord is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him," Lam. iii. 25. (e) As the Lord is worthy to be loved, and as he loves his people greatly, as the God of the covenant, therefore "we must love him with our whole heart" above all: "Hear O Israel," saith Moses, Deut. vi. 4, 5, "the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (f) But when God enters into covenant with man in such a familiar manner, it ought not to beget any irreverence in us, but we must also "fear" and stand in awe of him: "Sanctify the Lord of hosts, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread," saith the prophet to the people of God, Isaiah viii. 13. (g) The happy people, whose God is the Lord, must also "glorify him," since he is worthy of all glory, and " he hath formed his people for himself, that they may show forth his praise," Isaiah xliii. 21. See Peter ii. 9. (h) Finally, the Israel of God" do any thing contrary to his will;" yea," they should much rather

may not

renounce and forsake all creatures, than do the least thing contrary to bes will." This is to deny, not to know, yea, to hate ourselves, and all that belongs and is dear to us, for the Lord's sake: "If any man come to me," saith the Lawgiver, Luke xiv. 26," and hate not his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sis hers, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."

But when the Lord commands this, he then also forbids having any other gods in his stead, or besides him. The catechism explains this,

1. Of "idolatry," which is either a greater or less. The greater idolatry is either "to contrive, or to have in the stead of, or besides the one true God, any other object, in which men place their trust." The heathens defiled themselves abominably with this kind of idolatry; for they held almost every thing in heaven, on earth, and in the sea, yea, even the sinful passions of men to be gods. The Jews were not entirely clear of these sins: "they for scok God, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that could hold no water," Jer. iii. 11, 12, 13. It is also a gross idolatry, when men acknowledge the true God to be God, but nevertheless make and worship something besides him as God. The heathens had, besides their supreme god, Jupiter, also many inferior gods. The old Samaritans "feared the Lord, and served their gods also," 2 Kings xvii. 33. The Papists conduct no better, for they have their breaden or mass-god besides the true God, and they ought therefore to be deemed idolaters. The less idolatry consists in being led by the depravity of our hearts from God to the creature. For instance, (a) when a person takes such a pleasure in himself, as if he were God, like Herod, Acts xii. S1, 22, 23. A person "sets his heart as God's heart," like the prince of Tyre, Ezek. xxviii. 2 -6. (b) When a person ends in himself, and doth all things for his own sake. Our first parents ate of the forbidden fruit, that they might be like God. We ought to do all things on account of, and for the Lord's sake: but the sinful nature of Adam having been transmitted to his posterity, causeth us to "seek every one his own, and not that which is the Lord's," as Paul speaks, Philip. ii. 21. (c) It is also idolatry to purpose any thing rashly, and to believe, when we purpose it, that we shall succeed, without looking up to the Lord; for we do then depend on ourselves, as if we were gods; whether we do this in spirituals, with Peter, Matt. xxvi 31-35, or in temporals,, James iv. 12-16. (d) To this we may add relying upon our own righteousness, thinking that we shall stand before God in our own duties, as though our own doings were an infinitely val

V. 5.

uable righteousness; and thus "we submit not to the righteousness of God, but establish our own righteousness," Rom. x. 2, 3. (e) To this belongs also the love of money, desiring to be rich, as if riches were a kind of divinity, or our salvation: "Covetousness is idolatry," saith Paul, Col. iii. 5, and "the covetous man is an idolater," Eph. When men obtain many goods, they become proud of them, and "place their hope and trust in them," Job xxxi. 24. (f) It is thus also with sensual pleasures, in which men endeavour to delight themselves, as if they were Gods: "The belly is the God" of sensualists, Philip iii. 19. (g) It is not otherwise with confiding in warlike stores and heroes: the idolater is persuaded, that by these he will overcome his enemies. "He makes his power his God," Heb. i. 11. And it is no better to ascribe our gains, our acquisition of any goods to our own wise contrivance and power; for we do thus "forget the Lord, and we exalt" and place ourselves in the Lord's stead, Deut. viii. 11-17. (h) We add to this the fear of man, Whereby we suffer ourselves to be hindered from doing our duty, and from trusting in the Lord, and so "forget the Lord," Isaiah li. 12, 13. (i) Finally, having too high an esteem and affection for this and that human being is also idolatry. A busband, a wife, children, physicians, godly ministers possess the heart, like so many gods, Pious Asa was reproved for this, 2 Chron. xvi. 12. Cornelius and others, Acts x. 25, 26. xiv. 11-15. Rev. xix. 10. xxii. 8, 9. 2. The instructor mentions" sorcery" after idolatry. Sorcery (or witchcraft) consists not in doing any thing by slight of hand, and in such a manner, that it appears wonderful to us; but it is a doing of something by the help of the devil, which cannot be done by any human device or power: the Egyptian sorcerers did so with their enchant ments, Exod. vii. and viii. To deny the existence of such sorcery, in order to maintain that the essence of a spirit consists in thought, and to say that a spirit cannot act upon a body, is a direct contradiction of the word of God, which forbids sorcery, and appoints a punishment for it, Deut. xviii. 10, Exod. xxii. 18. and it is making a jest of all human and divine history, which relates the ac tions of sorcerers; although every idle tale concerning sorcery is not to be credited neither. The reason why this abominable practice is forbidden here, is that we depart thereby from God, and betake ourselves to the devil, who is "the God of this world," 2 Cor. iv. 4.

3. "Soothsaying" is also forbidden here. This consists in endeavouring to discover hidden things, which we cannot know by natural means, or by divine revelation, either by tokens in the heavers, or in the hands, by the entrails of beasts, by the screaming of birds,

or by a diabolical art; for we do thus seek something of a divine nature out of the Lord, in the creatures, yea, in his enemy, and therefore this is forbidden, Lev. xix. 26, Deut. xviii. 10. Soothsayers are indeed "artists of Satan,"* according to the word of God, Lev. xix. 31.

4. The instructor speaks also of "superstition," by which men ascribe a certain divinity to something that doth not possess it. The Papists render themselves horribly guilty in this respect, when they ascribe a wonderful virtue and divinity to the water in baptism, to holy water, to the sign of the cross, to the relics of the saints, mumbling prayers, the monk's hood, and other matters. Yea, all the willworship of the Papists is nothing else but superstition: God requires none of these things at their hands It is also silly in superstitious people, to hang a paper with certain figures, or the Lord's prayer about their necks, or to make use of other trifles in different ways against fevers. or other diseases. It is also foolish, to think that the mere saying of the sixth petition will expel the devil from us : we may also reckon it superstition to ascribe too much power to the means of grace, and to depend upon them; which Paul opposeth, 1 Cor. iii. 4-7. This command undoubtedly forbids superstition, since that supposeth something divine out of God, in things which do not possess it.

5. "The invocation of saints, whether angels or men, "or other creatures," is also forbidden here. For we do thus ascribe to the creatures the omniscience, omnipotence, and goodness of God, we practise heathenish idolatry," serving them who by nature are no gods," Gal. iv. 8. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve," saith the Saviour, Matt. iv. 10. The saints refused to be worshipped, as we see, Acts x. 14. Rev. xix. and xxii. The Socinians are therefore to be censured, since they worship Christ, whom they look upon to be a mere creature, as a God inferior to the Father. The Papists transgress still more, when they worship the saints. The Romish Church hath deified thousands, both saints and angels, after the manner of the ancient heathens, in order to worship them: she worships also other creatures, as the bread in the mass, holy relics, and the wood of the cross. In order to blindfold the people, she excuses herself by distinguishing between latreia, the worship which they offer to God, and doulcia, the worship which they give to the saints, and huperdouleia, a higher wor. ship than douleia, which they appropriate to Mary. But the word

This is agreeable to the Dutch translation.