68- .1/n Expofttion upon the _{h~li ke~p the whole law, a'!l yet offind in one po~nt, if guilty of a//. Not as though the VIOlation of one PJ·ecepty,r~rcac:tually the Violation of another, (for many may Steal, and yet not ad:nally Murthcr; many again may Murther, and yet not actually commit Adultery.) But this place of the Apoftle Ihuft be underftood of viofating that Authority which paflhh through them all, aud by which all the Commandments have their Sand: ion: For fincc the Anthority of the great God is one and the fame in all thcfe Laws, l1e that fhall fo far difrcfped this Authority., as wilfully to break one of thcm1 evidently declares, tha_t: l1e owns it not in any: And although other confiderations fjlay reJtrain Ibch an one from thofc; Crimes which art!: forbidd€n by fome Commandments, yet his obfcrvancC of them is no part of Obedience; nor can it be interpreted to he performed out of Confcicnce and RefpeB: towJrds God; for were it fo, the fame Authority which with-held him from I\further,or Theft, or Adulter y, would likewife rell:r:.:tiu him from Lying, or taking the Name of God i1) vain. i and he that is guilty ofthcfe Offences, is likewife guilty of all, becaufe the f.1me AuthOrity is ll:amp'd upon them all alike, and iS ali ke violated in the tranfgreffion of each; .and this very reafon the Apoft:le fubjoins to his allCrtion, Verfo It. He that faid, D~J ~tot commit Adultery; fajd alfo, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no Adllltery, yet if thou Kill, than art become a Tranfgreffour of the Law ; yea, of the whole Law, as breaking that Fence which God hath fct about his Law, e\"en his fovereign and abfolute Authoriry. Thefc arc the Ruleswhich may diretl: yourUnderftandings to a right Knowledge of the ~titude and Comprehenfivenefs of the LJw. As for the Application of them to particular Cafes, I muft leave that to the judgment ofChriftian Prudence; onl}l' iri the enfuing Treati!C you will meet with fu.ndry ExampleS of it. It will be now re~uifite that I fpcak fomething (and that ch iefly becaufc other$ J1ave fpoken fo much) concerning the Order of thefe Commands; the Nmnbcr of them is no way quefrioncd, for God himfelfhath determined them to be Ten Commandments, Exod. 34·· 28. but the Method and Difpofition of them is much controverted; and I th ink with more Heat and Contention than the Caufe deferves; for if ali that God hath fpokcn be intircly delivered to us, what great concer n is it, whet hei· ~h i s or that Command be reckoned the fecond, thid, or fourth? This certainly tends !~ut little to Piety.:, and we had need rather to imploy our Care how to keep them, il1an how to reckon them. 'J1JM, A·· And therefore, wav ing all other Differences, (as that of Hcfychius, making the firft qui.,~JJ, ,, Command to be this, I am the Lord thy God; which we with good Reafon affirm to be ,. q. Jec. 6n1y a p:n·t of the Preface; and leav ing out the fourth concerning the Sanaification Art. 4·' bf the Sabbath; and that of the feventh, -placing, Thoufhalt not kill, after, Thoujhalt not commit adultcr)'; Thu jJMit not ftcal; whereas, we, according to the llebr~w Verity place it before;) all that I fhall remark, is, the Difference between the Papifts and us in the Enumeration of the Ten ComtnandmeJJ,tS: They gcil'crally hold, that there at=e but Three Commands in the firft Table; and therefore m:tke !even ili theSecond: and to complcat this Number, as they join the firfr and the fecond into one, fo they divide the tenth into two. Concerning this Divifion, or Union, we would not be much contentious with them, were there not a Sacrilegious and Idolatrous Defign tonch'd under it; for finding the fccond Commandment to firike fo direB:ly at their Image-Worfhip, they thought it expedient to deny it to he any diftinB: Precept of it felf, but only an Appendix or Expofit ionof the former, Thouflulit ha-ve no othrr GodJ before Me; that fo they might with the bettei· colour omit it, as generally they have done in all their Books of Devotion, and for Inftruc1ion of the People. Sp that of thofe few among them that can rehearfe the Decalogue, yon Ihall find none that will repeat, Thou fludt not make 1mto thre any graven Image, th.ou jiJ~lt_not ~ow down thy [elf unto them, rJOr fcrve them; as not knowing that any filCh thmg IS forbidden them by God. And yet that they may make up the full Number of the Commandments, they divide the tenth into two; one forbidding the coveting of onr Neighbour's Wife; and the other , the coveting of any other of his Poffeflions. . !he only Authority they produce from Antiquity, for this Order of the Decaloguc, is that of St. Auftine; and it is very t111e, th:tt he doth in A~<g. E.p. :c9. 11d J<~lmar. many places of his V/ arks fo conjoin and divide them ; but far StnnGn',4S. de ttmp~rt. lib. from any defign of promoting Idolatry, or keeping the People in t5._m::ra. Ft~u.fi. lo/Mri,h, TraB. Jgnorancc, that the worihipping of Images was forbidden: Yet in 1 · mJ•ht~n. this particular he went contrary to the current of all former A!ltiqmty;
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