or whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and
whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live, therefore, or
die, we are the Lord's." To seek the Lord, and to walk after the Lord,
are the sum of all the obedience to Him which he requires; and are the
substance of what all are required to vow and swear to perform. "And
they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with
all their heart and with all their soul."[292] "And the king stood by a
pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and
to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with
all their heart, and all their soul, to perform the words of this
covenant that were written in this book: and all the people stood to
the covenant."[293] These duties to God ought to be performed to Christ;
for he hath said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in
earth;"[294] and it is the will of God, "that all men should honour the
Son, even as they honour the Father."[295] These duties are, it maybe
remarked, in general,

To declare the glory of God. All the duty that He requires of man is
included in this. Every thing that occurs, independently of the will of
moral creatures, is glorifying to God. Every evil thing is overruled for
the manifestation of his glory. The willing services of unfallen angels
and redeemed men, directly tend to display that glory. All that God
requires of man, and consequently the use of all means appointed for
glorifying his name, ought to be vowed. By commands to all; by promises,
by invitations and encouragements, to his people; by denunciations and
warnings addressed to his enemies; he urges men to show forth his glory.
To vow and swear to do so is therefore obligatory upon them. The
obligation is acknowledged in the Psalmist's vow,--"I will praise thee,
O Lord my God, with all my heart; and I will glorify thy name for
evermore."[296] And as a consequence of offering worship to God, and
therefore, in some instances at least, of vowing to Him, the glorifying
of God's name is predicted. "All nations whom thou hast made shall come
and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name."[297] But
particularly,

To maintain the truth by the profession and practice of it. Idolatry, or
the whole of false religion and all its practical consequences, is
represented both as a withholding from God of the glory due to him, and
as a surrender of the truth.[298] Christ is the Truth; and