96

FIRST COMMANDMENT.

He gave me; or by following teachers of my own choosing rather than taking those which God has provided for me?

4. Can I remember that I ever made pleasure my God, by attending to, and following after it, when I ought to have been attending to, and following my duty to GOD.

5. Have I ever made mammon my God, by attending so closely to what I called my business, so as to allow this to interfere with my real business, my duty to GOD. Have I always sought first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, faithfully trusting that all these things would be added to me?

6. Have I ever made pride my God, by valuing myself and my own deeds above those of other men; thus secretly in my heart trusting in my own works for salvation, and despising those of others?

7. Have I ever made any created thing my God, by setting my affections so strongly upon it, as to neglect my duty for it while it was present with me; or by forgetting my faith and trustfulness, and murmuring when it was taken away.

8. If I can remember having at any time of my life failed in any of these points, then surely I have broken the First Commandment, and not loved the LORD my GOD with all my heart. Let me turn to Him in penitence, and pray that for CHRIST's sake He would blot out that sin.

9. If, on the other hand, my conscience does not accuse me in any of these points, let me first pray that God would enlighten it, and that my heart deceive me not. And then let me thank Him with my whole heart, that the HOLY GHOST, which was shed upon me at my baptism, has not as yet been withdrawn, but has so effectually helped me, that I have worshipped GOD with my whole heart.

This to be repeated at the end of the Questions upon every Commandment:

When I have sufficiently thought of these things, let me pray that the LORD would have mercy upon me for any breaking of this Commandment in my life past, and that for the rest of my life He would incline my heart to keep this law.

SECOND COMMANDMENT.

97

LECTURE III.

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.

The First Commandment has taught me to worship GoD with all my heart, mind, and soul; but as God made our bodies as well as our souls-as CHRIST will raise again our bodies as well as our souls-a s-as the HOLY GHOST makes our bodies His dwelling-place, as well as puts good thoughts into our souls, our worship cannot be considered perfect unless that body also take part in it.

It is a very great mistake to think that, if we say our prayers, it matters very little how we say them or where we say them. Everything that GOD has made must worship Him by doing the duty for which it was made. Things without sense do: the sun runs its appointed course, and gives us light and darkness and winter and summer; the moon gives us the regular tides; the birds and beasts each do their appointed work, in preventing any particular created thing from increasing so much upon us as to do us hurt. All these serve GOD in their own stations,-surely, then, our bodies should do the same. If GOD has given us a tongue, it should praise Him; if He has given us knees, they should bow before Him. He does not He does not say that they shall not do their work by being employed in our own service; what He does say is, that that work is to be sanctified by dedicating some portion of it to Himself.

This Commandment teaches us that there are certain things to be reverenced, because God has separated them to Himself. Bishop Ken, in his "Practice of Divine Love," says, when speaking of this Commandment, "O my GOD! for Thy dearest sake give me grace to pay a religious and suitable veneration to all sacred persons, or places, or things, which are Thine by solemn dedication, and separated for the uses of Divine love and the communications of Thy grace, or which may promote the order of Thy worship, or the edification of faithful people." And this is

F

98

HEREDITARY SINS.

evident enough from the Commandment itself. If we are not to bow down to and outwardly reverence anything that is false, it follows that we are to bow down and outwardly reverence anything that is true. The warning of this Commandment is very singular, and very well worthy of attention; and that is, that the punishment due upon our breaking it falls upon our children unto the third and fourth generation. Now, one reason of that is, that when we fail to worship GoD as we ought inwardly, or with our souls-that is to say, break the First Commandment—we hurt ourselves no doubt, and are punished ourselves; but forasmuch as it is inwardly, and that people do not see it, we do not thereby set a bad example, and thus we hurt no one but ourselves. When, on the other hand, we break the Second Commandment, which relates more to bodily worship, which other people can see, and when we outwardly offend, either by bowing down to what we ought not, or by not bowing down to what we ought, then we set a bad example to others, especially our children, who, trained up by our outward irreverence and breaking of the Second Commandment with the body, soon learn to be irreverent inwardly, and forget to worship GoD with their soul. Thus they are punished even to the third and fourth generation, for their own sins no doubt, but the habits which taught them those sins they learnt of us.

We have now and then an instance of a child misbehaving himself at Church; can we not trace that to the example before that child's eyes of grown up men and women sitting at their ease, and sometimes putting themselves into unseemly postures, when they ought to be bowing down and worshipping. There are from fifteen to twenty children who come to Church every morning and kneel in the chancel; I have a good many round me at this moment; I never saw one of them misbehave themselves. They certainly are worshipping GoD with their bodies outwardly, and I believe they are worshipping Him inwardly in their souls also. And why is that? Because they see every one about them doing the same thing, and therefore they get the habit of it. Do not be selfish,-do not say this posture does very well for me, I can pray so

SECOND COMMANDMENT.

99

;

very well; recollect the influence your outward behaviour has upon others, and fear to show the appearance of disrespect to GOD, even though you really do respect Him not only that you should not be punished yourselves, but that your children should not suffer for it in the third and fourth generation. I admit that, in our high-walled pews, it is very difficult to put ourselves into a proper kneeling position, but difficult is one thing, and impossible is another, and the attempt is worth the making, were it only for our example and the teaching of our children. I will go on with the questions, which I hope you will think about between this and our next evening lecture.

QUESTIONS FOR SELF-EXAMINATION.

THOU SHALT NOT MAKE ΤΟ THYSELF ANY GRAVEN IMAGE, NOR THE LIKENESS OF ANY THING THAT IS IN HEAVEN ABOVE, OR IN THE EARTH BENEATH, OR IN THE WATER UNDER THE EARTH. THOU SHALT NOT BOW DOWN TO THEM, NOR WORSHIP THEM FOR I THE LORD THY GOD AM A JEALOUS GOD, AND VISIT THE SINS OF THE FATHERS UPON THE CHILDREN, UNTO THE THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATION OF THEM THAT HATE ME, and show MERCY UNTO THOUSANDS IN THEM THAT LOVE ME, AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.

1. Since, as man, I consist of a visible body as well as of an invisible soul, and both belong to GOD, if my conscience does not accuse me of forsaking God in my soul, have I always been equally ready to pay Him His due reverence with my body?

2. Have I always reverenced the House of GOD because it is the place where He has chosen to put His Name? -the Priest of my own parish, because He chose him to be His Ambassador and representative to me?—the font, because He made it to me as the river Jordan or the pool of Siloam, to wash away the leprosy of my sin ?-the Holy Table, because He appointed it as the place where my soul is strengthened and refreshed by His Body and Blood?

100

SECOND COMMANDMENT.

3. Have I ever dishonoured these places by careless, irreverent, unbecoming, outward behaviour, or the Minister whom He has chosen by inconsiderate and foolish remarks on his teaching, or by holding him as an instructor whom I may criticise, rather than as a messenger of God whom I must esteem for the sake of Him Who sent him ; or by regarding the sermon, which is the teaching of man, above the lessons, and prayers, and psalms, which are the worship of GOD?

4. Have I reflected on the severity of the temporal punishment which GOD inflicted on the nation of Israel for sins relating to the outward worship of God? Have I compared them with those He has inflicted on this country, and has this made me careful for my own part to keep closely and literally to the outward forms of worship appointed by my Church?

5. Have I always bowed down myself before Him Whom I worshipped as my GOD, meekly kneeling on my knees in prayer, and thereby showing outwardly and visibly the difference I make in my heart between Him and all created things?

6. Have I always been sufficiently thankful that GOD has removed from me the temptation to bow down to images or pictures either of Himself or of any of His creatures,—that He has turned my heart from all desire of giving to any of His saints the honour due to Him alone, and removed the custom of it from the land wherein I was born? Do I show my thankfulness by my charitable feelings and expressions towards those who have not enjoyed the same advantages that I have?

7. If in thankfulness for these mercies I can say in my heart that I have never fallen into the sins of irreverence and profanity, may I be sufficiently grateful that in the devotion of my body to His service, GOD has given me so great a safeguard for the devotion of my soul.