first loved us. We are told to call Him, "Abba, Father," to depend on Him with more confidence than on the best earthly parent; never doubting of His love, for that is unchangeable; ever looking to His wisdom to guide us, for that is infinite; and ever leaning on His power to help us, for that is Almighty.

Let us ever pray that thus we may keep this commandment in spirit, because it is God's law; and also because in keeping it there is great reward. Not that our obedience is to give life. After all we are unprofitable servants. Christ is our righteousness. But ever remembering that just as God Himself becomes more the highest object of our affections, shutting out other objects, and keeping them at an infinite distance, so shall we find our souls are satisfied; we shall "know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, and be filled with all the fulness of God." (Eph. iii. 19.) Nothing short of this can satisfy immortal souls. This is the restoration of God's image in our souls, this is being "conformed to the image of His Son, the firstborn among many brethren," and "putting on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Eph. iv. 24.)

PRAYER.

O Lord God, who hast revealed Thyself to man as the greatest good, grant me to know this by experience. Come Thou, and take possession of my heart. Cast out every unclean thing. Make me the temple of the Holy Ghost. May I have no other gods but Thee. May I love no creature in comparison to Thee. Lord, Thou knowest this is far from being my state naturally. My soul cleaves to the dust. I love almost every thing better than Thee. But do Thou change my heart, and cause me to choose Thee before all else. Let the love of Christ to my soul bring about this change. Make me to believe that for His sake Thou lovest me, unworthy as I am. Give me faith in all Thy promises of love. Thus as I see thee a God of love in the Son of thy love, may my whole heart be drawn out to Thee, and my affections be set upon things above, where Christ sitteth at Thy right hand. Lord, enable me from my inmost soul to say, "Thou knowest that I love Thee;"-for Jesus' sake. Amen.

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; "And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” EXODUS XX. 4—6.

WHEN God gave the commandments, He well knew what were the natural inclinations of man, and what they would be in all ages of the world. Amongst others, He knew man would be prone to fall into the strange sin of worshipping dumb idols, wood and stone. And if we wanted to prove the necessity for such a commandment as this second one, we should say, Look first at the heathen world, and see how all nations are found guilty of making their own gods out of wood, and metal, and stone, and falling down and worshipping them. Then next, look at the

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Jewish people, who even in the face of the light of the laws given from Mount Sinai, and the knowledge of the one true God, yet, very soon and very generally, fell into the sin of idol worship.

Then we would say further, see this tendency to idolatry among nations called Christians. See this commandment broken in its very letter, in many professedly Christian Churches..

This commandment then cannot be laid aside, even by us Christians, there is a proneness in every man to break it in spirit, as says the apostle, "Covetousness is idolatry," and we find the practice of many called Christians does involve a breach of the very letter.

This command is on this account enforced by a double motive. God reminds us He is a "jealous God," and punishes even to many generations this sin. God is not of course capable of feeling jealousy or anger, or any other human passion betokening weakness. But the language is adapted to our understandings, and speaks after the manner of men. This, at least it teaches us, that worshipping anything else than God, will lead God to act towards the worshipper as if He were jealous and angry. He will punish such and also their children, even to the third and fourth generation. Not that those among the children

of such should be punished if they were righteous, but if walking in the sins of their fathers. So we are taught in Ezekiel xviii. 14-17.

The present condition of the Jews, scattered among all nations, and cast off from being God's people, is an instance of such visitations. Yet we know how ready is God to receive any from among them who shall return to the Lord, acknowledge, believe, and confess the Saviour. Those are punished who continue among "them that hate Him."

There is also the encouragement of a promise in this commandment. There is an appeal to the motive of love; "Shewing mercy unto thousands in them that love me, and keep my commandments." Jealousy indeed implies love. Jealousy is offended love. Those that continue to serve the living God and do not run after other Gods, find mercy. We have a notable instance of this in the case of Jehu, who was very zealous in destroying all the worshippers of Baal. We read of his servants thus obeying his wishes, "They brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them," and again, "Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel." And for this he was thus rewarded. "The Lord said unto Jehu, because thou hast done well in executing that