SERMON II.

ON THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.

ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. XIX. VER. 17.

LATTER PART.

If thou wilt enter into Life, keep the Commandments.

THE reason and necessity of obeying God's holy statutes have already been pointed out in a former discourse, where I enlarged upon the first commandment as far as it relates to the knowledge and adoration of the true God.

With respect to idolatry, or the worship of false deities, it will be properly con

sidered under the second commandment, which is so immediately connected with the first, that it seems to be little more than a continuation of it. "Thou shalt "not make to thyself any graven image, "nor the likeness of any thing that is in "heaven above, or in the earth beneath,

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or in the water under the earth; thou "shalt not bow down to them, nor wor "ship them."

In the former commandment, the Almighty has expressly enjoined His people not to adore any other being, whom the rest of the world might look upon as a deity; in this He carries the injunction still farther, forbidding them even to make any representation of Himself, or any thing whatsoever, with intent to pay that reverence to it which is due to the Creator alone,

If we bestow a moment's reflection upon

this sin of idolatry, as it is here described, it must appear astonishing beyond conception, that it should ever enter into the heart of man, to direct his worship to any thing less than the Supreme Being. Yet, wonderful as it seems, scarce any nation has been entirely free from some kind of idolatry, and none more given to the most gross and absurd part of it than God's own peculiar people, both before and after the delivery of these commandments.

To enumerate every species of it, which was practised by the children of Israel, would take up too much of our attention from more interesting reflections; I shall content myself with mentioning one pas sage in Isaiah, where the folly and madness of it are set forth in the strongest and most conspicuous light.

The prophet (in the 44th chap.), speaking of the idolater, says, "He burneth

"part of his wooden god in the fire; "he roasteth his meat with it, and is sa

tisfied; he warmeth himself, and the ❝ residue thereof he maketh a god; he "falleth down unto it and prayeth, say ❝ing, deliver me, for thou art my God." How highly offensive to the sacred Majesty of heaven, such an excess of abomination must be, need not be enquired.

That those nations, who could never arrive at any other knowledge of the true God, than such as their imperfect ideas could suggest, should be led to mis represent the Deity to their imaginations, and worship some visible part of the crea tion for the Creator himself, is not so difficult to be conceived; but, that those people, who knew the Almighty, who had heard his voice, who had felt his power, should be so misled, is unnatural and impious.

But let us rather pity than condemn their error, lest, upon a strict enquiry, we, also, should be found guilty of the same vice, which we are so ready to censure in the children of Israel; lest we should also appear to encourage a species of idolatry not much inferior to the worship of images. For idolatry does not consist merely in the act of making a graven image to represent the true God, or any other false deity; nor is it confined to the falling down and worshiping that image, or to any outward acts of worship and ceremonies performed to it, but extends also to the internal affection of the heart. Whoever suffers himself to believe any thing that is repug nant to the nature of God and his attributes, is, in a great measure, guilty of idolatry.

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