Sum of the Ten Commandments.

The sum of the Ten Commandments is, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbour as ourselves.

ANALYSIS AND PROOFS.

We are here taught,-

1. That the whole of man's obedience is comprehended in love. Rom. xiii. 10.--“ Love is the fulfilling of the law." 2. That the first great object of our love is the Lord our God. Matt. xxii. 37, 38.-"Thou sha't love the Lord thy God. This is the first and great commandment."

3. That our love to God must be supreme. Matt. xxii. 37.-"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

4. That ourselves and our neighbour constitute the next object of our love. Matt. xxii. 39.-" The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

EXPLANATION.

Obs. 185.-The first and principal subject of the Ten Commandments, is love to the Lord our God.

The nature of that love which we owe to God, may be seen from the following things:

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1. Love to God must be cordial and affectionate. We must love him with all our heart, or with all our affections.-Psal. cxix. 10; 1 Tim. i. 5.

2. Love to God must be ardent and vigorous. We must love him with all our strength, or with all the exertion and perseverance of which we are capable. Love may be sincere, although not most intense; and this the Gospel may accept, but the law requires perfection in degree.

3. Love to God must be supreme. We must love him with all our soul, and with all our mind, or with all the powers of our mind, and all the inclinations of our will. We must not

only love nothing more than God, but we must love nothing so much as God, or equally with him; for this would be to have more gods than one.-Matt. x. 37; Luke xiv. 26; Psal. lxxiii. 25; Isa. xxvi. 8, 9.

4. Love to God must be purely for himself; or, in other

words, on account of the glorious excellencies of his nature. We are indeed to love him as our benefactor; but we must love him chiefly for his excellencies; such as his truth, holiness, justice, and mercy, &c.-Cant. i. 3.

5. Love to God must be an intelligent love, or a love of which we understand the cause. We must have some knowledge of God, for without this we cannot love him; and the more that we know respecting him, the greater cause we shall have to love him, and the more we will love him.-See Mark xii. 33; Psal. ix. 10.

6. Love to God must be an active love. It must appear genuine, by doing all things to his glory; by making an unreserved surrender of the whole man to him, to be for him and not for another; and by presenting the body a living sacrifice to him, which is a reasonable service.—1 John iii. 18.

The best evidence of love to God, or of a due regard to the duties of the first table of the law, is love to man, or the performance of the duties of the second table of the law. See 1 John iv. 20, 21; John xiii. 35.

Obs. 186.-The second subject of the Ten Commandments is love to our neighbour and ourselves.

By our neighbours we are to understand all mankind, whether high or low, rich or poor, good or bad, saint or sinner, friend or foe, known or unknown,-all, in a word, to whom in any way we may be useful in promoting their happiness here or hereafter.

The nature of that love which we owe to our neighbour will be evident from the following things :—

1. We must love all men in general with a love of benevolence; or, we must wish or desire all good to them. And this is evidenced by praying for all men, that they may be saved; that not only ourselves, but that all may see the salvation of God.

2. We must love all men with a love of beneficence; or, we must do them all the good wè can, both with respect to their bodies and their souls.-Gal. vi. 10; 1 John iii. 18.

3. We must manifest our love to our neighbour, by esteeming him according to his worth or merit. Whatever gift any one possesses, we are to esteem him on account of it; for "every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights."

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4. We must in a special manner love the saints, who are "the household of faith," and "the excellent ones of the earth." And these ought to be loved with a love of complacency and delight.-See Gal. vi. 10; Psal. xvi. 3.

5. With respect to our enemies, we are not to do to them as they do to us. If they hate us, we must love them; if they curse us, we must pray for them; if they do us hurt, we must forgive them; and if they say all manner of evil against us falsely, we must bless and not curse them.-See Matt. v. 43, 44.

With respect to the manner in which we must love others, it is said, that we are to love our neighbour as ourselves,—that is, as truly and sincerely as we love ourselves.-Matt. vii. 12. We may here make a remark respecting the following injunction of the Apostle Paul: "In lowliness of mind, let each esteem another better than himself.”—Phil. ii. 3. The meaning of this injunction is, that we are not to boast of ourselves on account of any thing which we possess. If we differ from others, it is wholly owing to the grace of God; for it is he who maketh one to differ from another. The more of his grace that there is in the heart, the more unworthy we will deem ourselves; and thus we will be readily disposed to consider others as better than ourselves.

INFERENCES.

From this subject we learn,-1. That love to God is not what men in general suppose it to be. 2. That, upon trial, the obedience of many will be found to be no true evidence of love to God. 3. That the religion of those who are destitute of true love to God, is vain. 4. That God's love to us should excite our unfeigned love to him. 5. That we cannot exceed in our expressions of love to God. 6. That God is entitled to supreme love from man. 7. That this can be 8. That

evidenced only by keeping his commandments. love to man holds a high place in the moral law. 9. That hatred to our neighbour is a violation of the second table of the law. 10. That the love of Christ ought to constrain us to love our neighbour. 11. That they are chargeable with hatred to their neighbour, who do not allow their love to flow through all mankind. 12. The danger of loving in word only, and not in deed and in truth. 13. That party-spirit ought to be banished from every society, seeing it cuts the very sinews of love. 14. That we ought not to allow every

little circumstance to extinguish the flame of our love to others. 15. That we cannot love God, and hate our neighbour; for, saith the beloved disciple, "He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"-1 John iv. 20.

Preface to the Ten Commandments.

The Preface to the Ten Commandments is in these words: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

Exod. xx. 2; Deut. v. 6.

The Preface to the Ten Commandments teacheth us, that because God is the Lord, and our God, and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments.

ANALYSIS AND PROOFS.

We are here taught,

1. That we are bound to keep all God's commandments. Deut. xi. 1.-"Thou shalt keep his commandments alway." 2. That we should keep God's commandments, because he is the Lord. Lev. xix. 37.-" Ye shall observe my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord." See also Psal. xlv. 11.

3. That we should keep God's commandments, because he is our God. Josh. xxiv. 18.-" Therefore will we serve the Lord; for he is our God." See also Lev. xx. 7.

4. That we should keep God's commandments, because he is our Redeemer. 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20.-" Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

EXPLANATION.

Obs. 187.-We should keep the commandments of God, because he is the Lord.

This reason is expressed in these words :-"I am the Lord ;" and it implies, that God is the eternal God-from everlasting to everlasting-without beginning of days or end of life; that he is the immutable God-the same yesterday,

to-day, and for ever-unchangeable in his purposes, or in any of his ways; that he is the Almighty God, with whom nothing whatever is impossible; that he has his being in and of himself, and is dependent on none; and that he gave being to all things, and preserves them all by the same power by which he called them from nothing into existence.

This reason is full to the purpose; for the least reflection will convince any one, that the excellencies of the Divine nature, the goodness of God in creating man, and his continued goodness in preserving him, call for an unlimited obedience from all.

Obs. 188.-We should keep the commandments of God, because he is our God.

This reason is expressed in these words :-"I am thy God;" and it implies, that a Divine Revelation has been committed to us, in which God hath made himself known as a God in covenant; and that, according to the tenor of the covenant of grace, what he is and what he has as God, is made over to us in his Word; so that we can want no good thing, either in time or through eternity.

This is a powerful motive to obedience; and a more powerful one cannot be conceived. If God makes himself over to sinners of Adam's race in this covenant, as it is revealed in his Word, surely it ought to excite us to a willing obedience, and to walk in all his commandments and ordinances blameless.

But these words, "I am the Lord thy God," not only propose a reason why we should obey God; they also enable us to perform all his pleasure. For, if the covenant provides all things necessary for an acceptable obedience, then strength for the performance of every duty must be included in the promises of the covenant. And, accordingly, the tenor of the covenant is this (Jer. xxxi. 33) :—“This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." See also Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27; Jer. xxxii. 40.

It may be here remarked, that obedience to the commandments of God, is not the condition of the covenant, or of obtaining its privileges; for this would be to dishonour the covenant, as if it were not well-ordered in all things and