Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-04-28
&eading fur the Sabbath,
CONDUCTED BY
REV, ROBERT LATHAM
(Original
IOIISIHn
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.

twentieth chapter of Exodus, is usually called
the moral law. 1t is not very apparent why
they are so designated. So far as we remem-
ber, they are not so called in the scriptures.
The simple word ho, or, for the sake of en-
phasis, the law, expresses all that is necessary.
The adjective moral, is derived from the
Latin word mos. This word means, manner,
custom, habit, way of life, conduct. The
word law denotes a ruler of action. The
word moral is apparently superAuous. Gus
tom, however, has made its use in connection
with law as applied to the term command
ments admissible, if not correct.
The ten commandments, were given by
God to Moses, under circumstances we'll
adapted to show their great Importance.
These circumstances are all minutely and
thrillingly narrated in the book of Exodus,
and need not be here repeated.
The ten commandments are susceptible of
division. The first four have reference to the
duties which we owe directly to God. The
remaining six teach us what duties we owe to
our fellow-men. 1t may be remarked that
these ten commandments form the basis of all
good governments among men, and all human
crime is violation of some one, or all of
these commandments.
The first commandment is thus stated:
Thou shalt have no other Gods before me"
The starting point in religion is the belief in
the existence of Supreme Being. Religion
consists in worshiping God. If the God we
worship is the true God, and if we worship
him in the right way, our religion is the true
religion otherwise, it is false religion. In
the first commandment, it is assumed that
there is only one living and true God. This
God we are commanded to recognize in all we
do, say and think. By fair and Legitimate
inference, we are, in the first commandment,
commanded to worship the Supreme Being.
All men are 30 constituted that they must
worship, in some sort of way, some sort of a
god. The first commandment forbids the
worshiping of any and all gods, except the
living and true God. 1t does not, in other
words, forbid the exercise of devotional feel.
ings and devotional exercises, but it limits
these feelings and exercises to the true God.
It would be waste of time to attempt to
prove, to any Bible reader, that one of the
truths taught in the Scriptures, is the exis
tence of God. 1t matters not whether this
fact is discoverable by the light of nature Or
not a; it is plainly taught in the Bible, and is
not inconsistent with the discoveries Of reason.
No science, no philosophy, has any facts to
present which teach that there is no God.
It is only the fool that says in his heart there
is no God. In the first commandment, we
are commanded to worship this God to the
exclusion of all others. AS the existence Of
law indicates irregular conduct, so the first
commandment teaches US that there is a ten.
dency of the human mind to idolatry. In
nothing has the fertility of the human mind
more clearly shown itself than in its multiply
ing objects of alteration. There are gods
many; but they are the creations of morbid
magiDations. The Bible teaches that there
is but one God, and this is the teaching of
right reason.
In the first commandment, as in all the
commandments, there is duty enjoined and
a sin forbidden. The duty which we are
required to perform, is the worshiping OF
the living and true God. The sin forbidden
is the worshiping of idols. Whoever re-
fuses or neglects to worship the living and
true God, sins; and whoever worships any
idol, no matter what it may be, sins. Sin
consists in doing what We are commanded
not to do, or in not doing what we are COM
manded to do. In this there is nothing that
is unreasonable, nothing that is arbitrary,
nothing that is ouorous. On the contrary, it
is in perfect harmony with reason.
If, as the scriptures teach, there is but one
God, and that God is our maker and pre-
server, it is our duty to render to him what
ever services He may require. The highest
claim to our services is the claim Of creation
and preservation. In US, God has peculiar
propriety. We sustain to Him relationship
that we can sustain to no creature. He is our
maker. From Him we derive our being
and to Him is due our preservation in exis
tence. No higher claim can possibly be set
up than the right of creation. All other
titles may be defective. That founded upon
creation is perfect. This is the right which
God has in all his creatures. This gives
Him the absolute right to command, and i'm.
poses upon all his creatures the duty to obey.
That we may be enabled to render accepta-
BILE obedience to God, we must have a correct
knowledge of his nature. This knowledge
can be obtained only from the Scriptures.
From the works of creation and providence,
we can learn something of the nature of God,
but that knowledge is very obscure, dark and
confused. Sin has blinded our minds and
made that which is plain, obscure that which
is light, dark and confused.
The tendency in the human mind to idola-
try, is fully demonstrated in the history of all
nations Under the most favorable circum-
stances, the Jews forsook God-the God
that brought them out of Egypt-and made
and worshiped false gods. Even Aaron, the
priest of God, so far aided and abetted this
sinful propensity, that he made for Gods