Divine command

“ It was before remarked, that the Divine commandments are all of them laws of Divine and heavenly order, and that man is required to live in obedience to them, that so his spirit may be brought into a heavenly state, and thus be fitted for heaven. ”

“ To keep the Divine commandments is, chiefly, to resist in ourselves the evils which those commandments forbid. Most of the Divine commandments, you observe, are expressed in the negative form, as, "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not commit adultery," &c. ”

“ Beware of him, and obey his voice in every thing; provoke him not in any thing, for it is at your peril if you do, he will visit your iniquity." Note, 1. Christ is the author of salvation to those only that obey him. The word of command is Hear you him, Matt. xvii. 5. Observe what he hath commanded, Matt. xxviii. 20. 2. Our necessary dependence upon the divine power and goodness should awe us into obedience. We do well to take heed of provoking our protector and benefactor, because if our defence depart from us, and the streams of his goodness be cut off, we are undone. ”

“ They can obey God, but not man, and they must see that the command given has its reason in the Divine order, or the intrinsic catholic reason of things, or they will not yield it a full, entire, and hearty obedience. ”

“ In a few years, we shall be gone from this scene, and have entered the eternal world: then, if we have kept the Divine Commandments—if we have spiritually honored our father and mother—if we have striven to do the Lord's will—we shall hear the joyful words, "Well done! good and faithful servant ”

“ As negative commands enjoin the performance of the opposite positive duties, so this command enjoins whatever appertains to the external and visible worship of God, as the first command, by prohibiting the owning or cleaving to false gods, enjoins the acknowledging, and cleaving to, and spiritually worshiping the true God. ”

“ That simple command is enough to assure us that our labor shall not be in vain. You and I know whom we have believed, and we know that whatever He commands is commanded in infinite wisdom and infinite love. We know that what He says we are to do, it is possible to do, and that in some way it shall be done. The stars in their courses, and earth, and hell, may fight against Christ, but sooner or later He is to reign. ”

“ Those that willingly walk after the commandment, even when it walks contrary to the command of God, will find the commandment an encroaching thing, and that the more power is given it the more it will claim. ”

“ Now, I say to the people, will you gather the poor? To the Elders I say, will you carry the Gospel to all the world? Blessed are they who obey when the Lord gives a direct commandment, but more blessed are they who obey without a direct commandment. For it is written: "It is not meet that I should command in all things, for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant ”

“ What we call the commandments of God are simply the laws or modes of his own Divine existence, stated to us in legal forms for our spiritual guidance. To keep the commandments is to live like God in our finite sphere ”

“ The ministration of the Son and sent of God, even the divine word that was in the beginning with God, and was God, is only sufficient to effect that great and blessed end: and that, not by any thing which he has spoken, commanded, or done without us, but by what he speaks, commands, and does within us; we yielding and submitting thereto by faithful obedience. ”

“ The direct and explicit command of the Lord Jesus Christ to do any particular thing must be obeyed at all hazards, and at all cost. Should He command any one of His disciples to lay down his life, or to undergo a severe discipline and experience in His service, He must be obeyed. ”

“ The first object of this priestly order is to teach all nations to become loyal and good citizens of the kingdom of God, observing all the commandments of God. One universal commandment of God is, for all men every where to repent and be baptized, and keep all other laws of God, as they shall be dispensed from the great High Priest through the delegated authorities. Now if all men do not obey these commands, they are liable to be dealt with as transgressors, and punished as evil doers. The command to obey is imperative upon all men. ”

“ For those who, not content with the common duties of the precepts, enter of their own accord upon the evangelical counsels, in obedience to a divine vocation, present themselves to Christ as His prompt and valiant soldiers. ”

“ But when he was commanded, he returned to life, to inform the living about each place to which men are consigned, that of the blessed and that of the damned; and this command, he affirmed, was laid upon him under a heavy penalty; for there are among mortals not a few who by the pretense of virtue deceive themselves and others, and although they are looked upon as good, yet are very far from the service of God. ”

“ Just as we read that certain of the holy Fathers commanded subjects many things foreign to human reason that they might teach them the virtue of obedience, such as watering dry parts until they produced seeds or softening hard stones by pouring water over them and taming ferocious beasts by a word of command. ”

“ There can be no mistake about the good faith and firm emphasis—as of a man who knows his own mind, and knows that his word is true—with which the Apostle holds up here the two sides of what I venture to call the one truth; 'Work out your own salvation—for God works in you.' Command implies power. ”

“ Called by a command from on high to preside over all the churches in the exercise of our apostolic duty, with the Lord’s help we employ all our solicitude in laboring for the salvation of souls redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, and we strive earnestly to restore to a state of peace and tranquillity, not only those who are frequently tossed about by the storms of impiety and error, but also those who are involved in the hardships and whirlwinds of persecution. ”

“ Go forward, as a command from the mouth of God, is worthy of our deepest consideration, and should be regarded as worthy of all acceptation by a nation, a community, a sect, or a church, and should by the individual man, in his life, practice, example, faith, grace, knowledge, wisdom, truth, and holiness. ”

“ One great want of the times is a commanding ministry—a ministry of a piety at once sober and earnest, and of mightiest moral power. Give us these men, "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," who will proclaim old truths with new energy, not cumbering them with massive drapery nor hiding them beneath piles of rubbish. ”

“ The command is: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." There is no place nor spot where its beams are not to be diffused, no heart into which it does not struggle for entrance. ”

“ And to satisfy you more fully, and clear it up he says, though the end of the command be not to justify, but to pursue a man from it to Christ, yet the command suffers no prejudice by this means, but rather is established by faith, the end of it, because this faith persuades the heart, and makes a man obey out of love to God, whereas before it should never have gotten any obedience, while men sought salvation by it. ”

“ I worship the gods openly, and the whole mass of the troops who are returning with me worship the gods. [7] I sacrifice oxen in public. I have offered to the gods many hecatombs as thank-offerings. The gods command me to restore their worship in its utmost purity, and I obey them, yes, and with a good will. ”

“ Particularly is this command good in the Christian man's life. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Every professing Christian must grow in grace and in knowledge—knowledge of himself, of his God, of his obligations to the world around him, and as to matters of faith grow therein. Paul says—"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." ”

“ Now these immediate commands of God, in regard of their manner of publishing and propounding, are either explicit or implicit.
1. Explicit: which are expressly and in plain terms laid down, as the letter of the commandments of the decalogue, Exod. xx. The commands of Christ, "Feed my lambs, feed my sheep," John xxi.; "Go, disciple ye all nations," &c., Matt, xxviii. 19; "Do this in remembrance of me," Matt, xxvi; 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24, &c. Now whatsoever is expressly commanded of God in plain, evident terms, that is of divine right, without all color of controversy. ”

“ In the same sermon I observed, "'Love is the fulfilling of the law, the end of the commandment.' It is not only 'the first and great' command, but all the commandments in one. 'Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise,' they are all comprised in this one word, love. ”

“ Moreover, obedience to command is carried into all the details of their daily lives. The bell summons them to the various duties of the day, and they aim at instant obedience, so that a perfect religious will immediately leave off anything he is saying or writing in order to give a willing and punctual compliance. ”

“ For the Commandement is a lamp, and the Law is light, and reproofes of instruction are the way of life. The Commandements leade directly to that life, which deserves the name of life, eternall life. The Traveller takes the next way to his Journeyes end: No wise man will willingly step one foot out of the way to Heaven. If our limmes be crooked, we omit nothing that Art or Exercise can doe to set them strait: and shall not I take care to rectifie my soul, and bring it into right order? ”

“ Man's reformation and regeneration are signified by this commandment, in the spiritual sense, because they coincide with the Lord's labours and conflicts with the hells, and with His victory over them, and the rest after victory; for the Lord reforms and regenerates man, and renders him spiritual, in the same manner that He glorified His Human and made it Divine.
In the celestial sense conjunction with the Lord is meant by this commandment, and then peace, because protection from hell; for rest is signified by the Sabbath, and in this highest sense, peace. ”

“ Note, All that minister about holy things must have an eye to God's command as their rule and warrant; ”

“ A precept or command is a general teaching of God, obligating every man under pain of mortal sin—namely, in cases in which he has fallen away from the command. Hence the saints who for a period of their life lived hypocritically sinned mortally for that period. So also the damned, by persistent false living sin persistently in hell. ”

“ The Scriptures are full of the warmest exhortations to all to keep the commandments, which certainly would be unbecoming the Divine wisdom if it were impossible to keep them with the help of God's grace, or if that grace were ever refused us. (2.) God everywhere obliges man to keep His commandments, under pain of eternal punishment. ”

“ Another office of vast importance to the Church of God, is the Kingly Authority of our Redeemer; this he sustains, and this he exercises—as God he is King by nature, and has a kingdom, common to the three divine Persons—hence he is called Lord of Hosts, or armies; the six armies—two in heaven, elect angels and spirits of just men—two on earth, the Church and the nations of the world—two in hell, fallen angels and reprobate characters ”

“ Respect the Commandment of fasting and abstinence as a Commandment which God Himself has given you through His Church, and consider it an honor to observe it strictly.
THE THIRD, FOURTH, AND FIFTH COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH.
1. What are we commanded by the Third and Fourth Commandments of the Church?
By the Third and Fourth Commandments we are commanded, 1. To confess our sins faithfully at least once a year; and 2. To receive the Holy Communion worthily at Easter or during the Easter-time; that is, from the first Sunday in Lent till Trinity Sunday, inclusive. ”

“ The Law which is written in the heart of the spirituall seed is part of the Covenant of grace: for the righteousnesse of faith speaketh on this wise; This Commandement which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it farre off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall goe up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may heare it, and doe it. ”

“ The command tells the substance of the Church's message. Its essence is the proclamation of the manifested God. To gaze on Jesus is to behold God. That God is made known in the twin glories of power and gentleness. He comes 'as a strong one.' His dominion rests on His own power, and on no human allies. His reign is retributive, and that not merely as penally recompensing evil, but as rewarding the faith and hope of those who waited for Him. ”

“ They are simple, and easily known. The first command is concerning God, and affirms that God contains all things, and is a Being every way perfect and happy, self-sufficient, and supplying all other beings ”

“ You have certainly not avoided them, at least, by staying away from the Sacrament, and breaking Christ’s command to take it? If you are so afraid of God’s anger, are you more likely to provoke Him by disobeying His strict commands, or by obeying them? It needs no philosopher, my friend, to find out that. ”

“ And we are born to obey the commandments, if we choose to be willing to be saved. Such is the Nemesis, [32] through which there is no escaping from God. Man’s duty, then, is obedience to God, who has proclaimed salvation manifold by the commandments. ”

“ He first of all commands you to repent, for now "God commandeth all men everywhere to repent." The moment you are willing to obey this command, that moment he will give you the power to obey. Without aid from the power of the Lord that man never could have stretched forth his withered hand ”