The Ten Commandments [Thomas Watson Jr.]

It is not enough to hear God's voice-but we must obey. Obedience is a part of the honor we owe to God. Obedience carries in it, the life-blood of religion. Obedience without knowledge is blind, and knowledge without obedience is lame. That is proper obedience-which the Word requires. Our obedience must correspond with the Word, as the copy with the original. To seem to be zealous, if it be not according to the Word, is not obedience-but will-worship. Obey God's voice. This is the beauty of a Christian. While we please God with our obedience, we also please ourselves. While we give him the duty-he gives us the dowry. You lose nothing by obeying God. The obedient son has the inheritance settled on him. Obey, and you shall have a kingdom. In Watson's The Ten Commandments each commandment is served up filled with insight and commentary. Watson contrasts the first and second commandments: "In the first commandment worshipping a false god is forbidden; in this (namely, the second commandment), worshipping the true God in a false manner." "God is to be adored in the heart, not painted to the eye." Thomas Watson was an English preacher and author who obtained great fame preaching until the Restoration when he was ejected as the vicar of St. Stephen's Walbrook for noncomformity. Watson continued to exercise his ministry privately and upon the Declaration of Indulgence in 1672 he obtained a license to preach at the great hall in Crosby House.