DEUTERONOMY, Section 6 of 6. (Deut. 20 - end).
C H Mackintosh

Deuteronomy 20.
"When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses and chariots, and a
people more than thou, be not afraid of them for the Lord thy God is with thee, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be when ye are come nigh unto the
battle that priest shall approach, and speak unto the people, and shall say, unto them, Hear, O
Israel; ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies let not your hearts faint; fear
not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them for the Lord your God is he
that goeth with you to fight for you against your enemies, to save you (Vers. 1-4.)

How wonderful to think of the Lord as a Man of war! Think of His fighting against people!
Some find it very hard to take in the idea—to understand how a benevolent Being could act
in such a character. But the difficulty arises mainly from not distinguishing between the
different dispensations. It was just as consistent with the character of the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob to fight against His enemies, as it is with the character of the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ to forgive them. And inasmuch as it is the revealed character of God
that furnishes the model on which His people are to be found—the standard by which they
are to act, it was quite as consistent for Israel to cut their enemies in pieces, as it is for us to
love them, pray for them, and do them good.

If this very simple Principle were borne in mind, it would remove a quantity of
misunderstanding, and save a vast amount of unintelligent discussion. No doubt it is
thoroughly wrong for the church of God to go to war. No one can read the New Testament,
with a mind free from bias, and not see this. We are positively commanded to love our
enemies, to do good to them that hate us, and to pray for them that despitefully use us. "Put
up again thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword, shall perish with the
sword." And again, in another gospel, "Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the
sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" Again, our Lord says to
Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my
servants fight"—it would be perfectly consistent them so to do. ···· "But now is my kingdom
not from hence"—and therefore it would be wholly out of character utterly inconsistent,
thoroughly wrong for them to fight.

Ah this is so plain that we need only say, "How readest thou?" Our blessed Lord did not fight;
He meekly and patiently submitted to all manner of abuse and ill-treatment, and in so doing
He left us an example that we should follow His steps. If we only honestly ask ourselves the
question, "What would Jesus do?" it would close all discussion on this point as well as on a
thousand other points besides. There is really no use in reasoning, no need of it. If the words
and ways of our blessed Lord, and the distinct teaching of His Spirit, by His holy apostles, be
not sufficient for our guidance, all discussion is utterly vain.

And, if we be asked, What does the Holy Ghost teach on this great practical point? Hear His
precious clear and pointed words. "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves; but rather give
place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay saith the Lord. Therefore
if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap
coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12.)

These are the lovely ethics of the church of God: the principles of that heavenly kingdom to
which all true Christians belong. Would they have suited Israel of old? Certainly not. Only
conceive Joshua. acting toward the Canaanites on the principles of Romans 12! It would have
been as flagrant an inconsistency as for us to act on the principle of Deuteronomy 20. How is
this? Simply because, in Joshua's day, God was executing judgement in righteousness;
whereas, now, He is dealing in unqualified grace. This makes all the difference. The
principle of divine action is the grand moral regulator for God's people in all ages. If this be
seen, all difficulty is removed, all discussion definitively closed.

But then if any feel disposed to ask, "What about the world? How could it get on upon the
principle of grace? Could it act on the doctrine of Romans 12: 20?" Not for a moment. The
idea is simply absurd. To attempt to amalgamate the principles of grace with the law of
nations, or to infuse the spirit of the New Testament into the framework of political economy
would instantly plunge civilized society into hopeless confusion. And here is just where many
most excellent and well-meaning people are astray. They want to press the nations of the
world into the adoption of a principle which would be destructive of their national existence.
The time is not come yet for nations to beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears
into pruning hooks, and learn war no more. That blessed time will come, thank God, when
this groaning earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
But to seek to get nations, now to act upon peace principles is simply to ask them to cease to
be; in a word, it is thoroughly hopeless, unintelligent labour. It cannot be. We are not called
upon to regulate the world, but to pass through it, as pilgrims and strangers. Jesus did not
come to set the world right. He came to seek and to save that which was lost; and as to the
world, He testified of it that its deeds were evil. He will, ere long come to set things right. He
will take to Himself His great power and reign. The kingdoms of this world shall, most
assuredly, become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. He will gather out of His
kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity. All this is most blessedly true: but
we must wait His time. It can be of no possible use for us, by our ignorant efforts, to seek to
bring about a condition of things which all scripture goes to prove can only be introduced by
the personal presence and rule of our beloved and adorable Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

But we must proceed with our chapter.
Israel were called to fight the Lord's battles. The moment they put their foot upon the land of
it was war to the knife with the doomed inhabitants. "Of the cities of these people which the
Lord God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou save alive nothing that breatheth." This was
distinct and emphatic. The seed of Abraham were not only to possess the land of Canaan, but
they were to be God's instruments in executing His just judgement upon the guilty
inhabitants, whose sins had risen up to heaven, and become absolutely intolerable.

Does any one feel called upon to apologise for the divine actings towards the seven nations
of Canaan. If so, let him be well assured of this that his labour is perfectly gratuitous, entirely
uncalled for. What folly for any poor worm of the earth to think of entering upon such work!
And what folly, too for any one to require an apology or an explanation. It was a high honour
put upon Israel to exterminate those guilty nations—an honour of which they proved
themselves utterly unworthy, inasmuch as they failed to do as they were commanded. They
left alive many of those who ought to have been utterly destroyed; they spared them to be the
wretched instruments of their own ultimate ruin, by leading them into the self-same sins
which had so loudly called for divine judgement.

But let us look, for a moment, at the qualifications which were necessary for those who
would fight the Lord's battles. We shall find the opening paragraph of our chapter full of
most precious instruction for ourselves in the spiritual warfare which we are called to wage.

The reader will observe that the people, on approaching to the battle, were to be addressed,
first, by the priest, and secondly, by the officers. This order is very beautiful. The priest came
forward to unfold to the people their high privileges; the officers came to remind them of
their holy responsibilities. Such is the divine order here. Privilege comes first, and then
responsibility. "The priest shall approach, and speak unto the people, and shall say unto them,
Hear O Israel; ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies; let not your hearts faint,
fear not and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; for the Lord your God is
he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you".

What blessed words are these! How full of comfort and encouragement! How eminently
calculated to banish all fear and depression, and to infuse courage and confidence into the
most sinking fainting heart! The priest was the very expression of the grace of God; his
ministry a stream of most precious consolation flowing from the loving heart of the God of
Israel to each individual warrior. His loving words were designed and fitted to gird up the
loins of the mind, and nerve the feeblest arm for fight. He assures them of the divine
presence with them. There is no question, no condition, no "if," no "but." It is an unqualified
statement. Jehovah Elohim was with them. This surely was enough. It mattered not, in the
smallest degree how many, how powerful, or how formidable were their enemies; they would
all prove to be as chaff before the whirlwind, in the presence of the Lord of hosts, the God of
the armies of Israel.

But then the officer had to be heard as well as the priest. "And the officers shall speak unto
the people; saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it
let him go return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. And what
man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return
unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it. And what man is there that
hath betrothed a wife, hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in
the battle, and another man take her. And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and
they shall say, What man is there that In fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto
his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart. And it shall be that when the
officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the
armies to lead the people." (vers. 5-9.)

Thus we learn that there were two things absolutely essential to all who would fight the
Lord's battles, namely, a heart thoroughly disentangled from the things of nature and of earth;
and a bold unclouded confidence in God. "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the
affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." There is a
very material difference between being engaged in the affairs of this life, and being
entangled by them. A man might have had a house, a vineyard, and a wife, and yet have been
fit for the battle. These things were not, in themselves, a hindrance; but it was having them
under such conditions as rendered them an entanglement that unfitted a man for the conflict.

It is well to bear this in mind. We, as Christians, are called to carry on a constant spiritual
warfare. We have to fight for every inch of heavenly ground. What the Canaanites were to
Israel, the wicked spirits in the heavenlies are to us. We are not called to fight for eternal life;
we have gotten that as God's free gift, before we begin. We are not called to fight for
salvation; we are saved before we enter upon the conflict. It is most needful to know what it
is that we have to fight for, and whom we are to fight with. The object for which we fight is
make good, maintain, and carry out, practically, our heavenly position and character, in the
midst of scenes and circumstances of ordinary human life, from day to day. And then as to
our spiritual foes they are wicked spirits who, during this present time, are permitted to
occupy the heavenlies. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood"—as Israel had to do in
Canaan—"but against principalities, against powers, against the world-rulers
[kosmokravtora"] of this darkness, against wicked spirits in the heavenlies."

Now, the question is, what do we want in carrying on such a conflict as this? Must we
abandon our lawful earthly callings? Must we detach ourselves from those relationships
founded on nature and sanctioned of God? Is it needful to become an ascetic, a mystic or a
monk, in order to carry on the spiritual warfare to which We are called? By no means; indeed
for a Christian to do any one of these things would, in itself, be a proof that he had
completely mistaken his calling, or that he had, at the very outset, fallen in the battle. We are
imperatively called upon to work with our hands the thing is good, that we may have to give
to him that needeth. And not only so, but we have the ample guidance, in the pages of the
New Testament as to how we are to carry ourselves in the varied natural relationships which
God Himself has established, and to which He has affixed the seal of His approval. Hence it
is perfectly plain that earthly callings and natural relationships are, in themselves no
hindrance to our waging a successful spiritual warfare.

What then is needed by the Christian warrior? A heart thoroughly disentangled from things
earthly and natural; and an unclouded confidence in God. But how are these things to be
maintained? Hear the divine reply. "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that
ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,"—that is the whole time from the cross to the
coming of Christ — and, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt
about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the
Preparation of the gospel of peace! above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for
all saints." (Eph 6.)

Reader, mark the qualification of a Christian warrior as here set forth: by the Holy Ghost. It is
not the question of a house, a vineyard or a wife, but of having the inward man governed by
"truth;" the outward conduct characterised by real practical "righteousness;" the moral habits
and ways marked by the sweet "peace" of the gospel; the whole man covered by the
impenetrable shield of "faith;" the seat of the understanding guarded by the full assurance of
"salvation; and the heart continually sustained and strengthened by persevering prayer and
supplication; and led forth in earnest intercession for all saints, and specially for the Lord's
beloved workmen and their blessed work. This is the way in which the spiritual Israel of God
are to be furnished for the warfare which they are called to wage with wicked spirits in the
heavenlies. May the Lord, in His infinite goodness, make all these things very real in our
souls' experience, and in our practical career, from day to day!

The close of our chapter contains the principles which were to govern Israel in their warfare.
They were most carefully to discriminate between the cities which were very far off from
them, and those that pertained to the seven judged nations. To the former they were, in the
first place, to make overtures of peace. With the latter, on the contrary, they were to make no
terms whatever. "When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace
unto it"—a marvellous method of fighting!—"And it shall be, if it make thee answer of
peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be
tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. And if it will make no peace with thee, but
will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it; and when the Lord thy God hath
delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof"—as expressing the positive
energy of evil—"with the edge of the sword. But the women, and the little ones, and the
cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof"—all that was capable of being
turned to account, in the service of God, and of His people- thou shalt take unto thyself; and
thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Thus shalt
thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which not of the cities of these
nations."

Indiscriminate slaughter and wholesale destruction formed no part of Israel's business. If any
cities were disposed to accept the proffered terms of peace, they were to have the privilege of
becoming tributaries to the people of God; and, in reference to those cities which would
make no peace, all within their walls which could be made use of was to be reserved.

There are things in nature and things of earth which are capable of being used for God, they
are sanctified by the word of God and prayer. We are told to make to ourselves friends of the
mammon of unrighteousness, that when we fail, they may receive us into everlasting
habitations; which simply means that if this world's riches come into the Christian's hands, he
should diligently and faithfully use them in the service of Christ; he should freely distribute
them to the poor, and to all the Lord's needy workmen; in short, he should make them
available, in every right and prudent way, for the furtherance of the lord's work in every
department. In this way, the very riches which else might crumble into dust in their hands, or
prove to be as rust on their souls, shall produce precious fruit that shall serve to minister an
abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Many seem to find considerable difficulty in Luke 16: 9; but its teaching is as clear and
forcible as it is practically important. We find very similar instruction in 1 Timothy 6 "charge
them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches,
but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be
rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for
themselves a Good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal
life."* There is not a fraction which we spend, directly and simply, for Christ which will not
be before us by and-by. The thought of this, though it should not, by any means, be a motive
spring, may well encourage us to devote all we have, and all we are, to the service of our
blessed Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
{*It may interest the reader to know that the four leading authorities agree in reading o[ntw"
instead of aijwnivou, in 1 Timothy 6: 19. Thus the passage would be, "That they may lay hold
on life in earnest" or in reality. The only real life is to live for Christ; to live in the light of
eternity; to use all we possess for the promotion of God's glory, and with an eye to the
everlasting mansions. This, and only this, is life in earnest.}

Such is the plain teaching of Luke 16 and 1 Timothy 6; let us see that we understand it. The
expression, "That they may receive you into everlasting habitations" simply means that what
is spent for Christ will be rewarded in the day that is coming. Even a cup of cold water given
in His precious Name shall have its sure reward in His everlasting kingdom. Oh! to spend and
be spent for Him!

But we muse close this section by quoting the few last lines of our chapter, in which we have
a very beautiful illustration of the way in which our God looks after the smallest matters, and
His gracious care that nothing should be lost or injured. "When thou shalt besiege a city a
long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by
forcing an axe against them; for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down
(for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege; only the trees which thou
knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt
build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued." (Vers. 19,
20.)

"Let nothing be lost," is the Master's own word to us—a word which should ever he kept in
remembrance. "Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused." We should
carefully guard against all reckless waste of ought that can be made available for human use.
Those who occupy the place of domestic servants should give their special attention to this
matter. It is painful, at times, to witness the sinful waste of human food. Many a thing is
flung out as offal which might supply a welcome meal for a needy family. If a Christian
servant should read these lines, we would earnestly entreat him or her to weigh this subject in
the divine presence, and never to practise or sanction the waste of the smallest atom that is
capable of being turned to account for human use. We may depend upon it that to waste any
creature of God is displeasing in His sight. Let us remember that His eye is upon us; and may
it be our earnest desire to be agreeable to Him in all our ways.

Deuteronomy 21.
"If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in
the field, and it be not known who hath slain him; then thy elders and thy judges"—the
guardians of the claims of truth and righteousness—" shall come forth, and they shall
measure unto the cities that are round about him that is slain; and it shall be, that the city
which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath
not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; and the elders of that city shall
bring down the heifer unto a rough valley which is neither eared nor sown and shall strike off
the heifer's neck there in the valley. And the priests the sons of Levi—exponents of grace and
mercy—"shall come near; for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and
to bless in the name of the Lord, and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke
be tried"—blessed, comforting fact!—"And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the
slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley; and they shall
answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be
merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent
blood to thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shalt thou put
away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in
the sight of the Lord." (Vers. 1-9.)

A very interesting and suggestive passage of holy scripture now lies open before us, and
claims our attention. A sin is committed, a man is found slain in the land; but no one knows
ought about it, no one can tell whether it is murder or manslaughter, or who committed the
deed. It lies entirely beyond the range of human knowledge. And yet, there it is, an
undeniable fact. Sin has been committed, and it lies as a stain on the Lord's land, and man is
wholly incompetent to deal with it.

What then is to be done? The glory of God and the purity of His land must be maintained. He
knows all about it, and He alone can deal with it; and truly His mode of dealing with it is full
of most precious teaching.

First of all, the elders and judges appear on the scene. The claims of truth and righteousness
must be duly attended to; justice and judgement must be perfectly maintained. This is a great
cardinal truth running all through the word of God. Sin must be judged, ere sins can be
forgiven, or the sinner justified. Ere mercy's heavenly voice can be heard, justice must be
perfectly satisfied, the throne of God vindicated, and His Name glorified. grace must reign
through righteousness. Blessed be God that it is so! What a glorious truth for all who have
taken their true place as sinners! God has been glorified as to the question of sin, and
therefore He can, in perfect righteousness, pardon and justify the sinner.

But we must confine ourselves simply to the interpretation of the passage before us; and, in
so doing, we shall find in it a very wonderful onlook into Israel's future. True, the great
foundation truth of atonement is presented; but it is with special reference to Israel. The
death of Christ is here seen in its two grand aspects, namely, as the expression of Man's guilt,
and the display of God's grace, the former we have in the man found slain in the field; the
latter in the heifer slain in the rough valley. The elders and the judges find out the city nearest
to the slain man; and nothing can avail for that city save the blood of a spotless victim—the
blood of the One who was slain at the guilty city of Jerusalem.

The reader will note, with much interest, that the moment the claims of justice were met by
the death of the victim, a new element is introduced into the scene. "The priests the sons of
Levi shall come near." This is grace acting on the blessed ground of righteousness. The
priests are the channels of grace, as the judges are the guardians of righteousness. How
perfect, how beautiful is scripture, in every page, every paragraph, every sentence! It was not
until the blood was shed that the ministers of grace could present themselves. The heifer
beheaded in the valley changed the aspect of things completely "The priests the sons of Levi
shall come near; for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in
the name of the Lord; and by their word"—blessed fact for Israel! blessed fact for every true
believer!—"shall every controversy and every stroke be tried." All is to be settled on the
glorious and eternal principle of grace reigning through righteousness.

Thus it is that God will deal with Israel by-and-by. We must not attempt to interfere with the
primary application of all those striking institutions which come under our notice in this
profound and marvellous book of Deuteronomy. No doubt, there are lessons for us—precious
lessons; but we may rest perfectly assured that the true way in which to understand and
appreciate those lessons is to see their true and proper bearing. For instance, how precious,
how full of consolation, the fact that it is by the word of the minister of grace that every
controversy and every stroke is to be tried, for repentant Israel by-and-by, and for every
repentant soul now! Do we lose ought of the deep blessedness of this by seeing and owning
the proper application of the scripture? Assuredly not; so far from this, the true secret of
profiting by any special passage of the word of God is to understand its true scope and
bearing.

"And all the elders of that city that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over
the heifer that is beheaded in the valley."* "I will wash my hands in innocency; and so will I
compass thine altar." The true place to wash the hands is where the blood of atonement has
for ever expiated our guilt. "And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this
blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou
hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. and the blood
shall be forgiven them."
{*How full of suggestive power is the figure of "the rough valley! " How aptly it sets forth
what this world at large, and the land of Israel in particular, was to our blessed Lord and
Saviour! Truly it was a rough place to Him, a place of humiliation, a dry and thirsty land a
place that had never been eared or sown. But, all homage to His Name! by His death in this
rough valley, He has procured for this earth and for the land of Israel a rich harvest of
blessing which shall be reaped throughout the millennial age to the full praise of redeeming
love. And even now, He from the throne of heaven's majesty, and we, in spirit with Him, can
look back to that rough valley as the place where the blessed work was done which forms the
imperishable foundation of God's glory, the church's blessing, Israel's full restoration, the joy
of countless nations, and the glorious deliverance of this groaning creation.}

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." "Unto you, first, God having raised
up his Son Jesus sent him to bless you, by turning away every one of you from his iniquities."
Thus all Israel shall be saved and blessed by-and-by, according to the eternal counsels of
God, and in pursuance of His promise and oath to Abraham, ratified and eternally established
by the precious blood of Christ, to whom be all homage and praise, world without end!

Verses 10-17 bear, in a very special way, upon Israel's relationship to Jehovah. We shall not
dwell upon it here. The reader will find numerous references to this subject, throughout the
pages of the prophets, in which the Holy Ghost makes the most touching appeals to the
conscience of the nation—appeals grounded on the marvellous fact of the relationship into
which He had brought them to Himself, but in which they had so signally and grievously
failed. Israel has proved an unfaithful wife, and, in consequence thereof, has been set aside.
But the time will come when this long rejected but never forgotten people shall not only be
reinstated but brought into a condition of blessedness, privilege and glory beyond anything
ever known in the past.

This must never, for a moment, be lost sight of or interfered with. It runs like a brilliant
golden line through the prophetic scriptures from Isaiah to Malachi; and the lovely theme is
resumed and carried on in the New Testament. Take the following glowing passage, which is
only one of a hundred. "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I
will not rest, until the righteousness thereof Go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof
as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory;
and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt
also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate;
but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah [My delight is in her], and thy land Beulah [married]; for
the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a
virgin, so shall thy Sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall
thy God rejoice over thee. I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall
never hold their peace day nor night; ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and
give him no rest, till he establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The Lord
hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength"—let men beware how they
meddle with this!—"Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the
sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured; but they that
have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord; and they that have brought it together shall
drink it in the court of my holiness.... Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the
world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is
with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed
of the Lord; and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken." (Isa. 62)

To attempt to alienate this sublime and glorious passage from its proper object, and apply it
to the Christian church, either on earth or in heaven, is to do positive violence to the word of
God, and introduce a system of interpretation utterly destructive of the integrity of holy
scripture. The passage which we have just transcribed with intense spiritual delight, applies
only to the literal Zion, the: literal Jerusalem, the literal land of Israel. Let the reader see that
he thoroughly seizes and faithfully holds fast this fact.

As to the church, her position on earth is that of an espoused virgin, not of a married wife.
Her marriage will take place in heaven. (Rev. 19: 7, 8) To apply to her such passages as the
above is to falsify her position entirely, and deny the plainest statements of scripture as to her
calling, her portion, and her hope, which are purely heavenly.

Verses 18-21 of our chapter record the case of "a stubborn and rebellious son." Here again we
have Israel viewed from another standpoint. It is the apostate generation for which there is no
forgiveness. "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of
his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not
hearken unto them; then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out
unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; and they shall say unto the elders of
his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton
and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die; so shalt
thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear and fear.

The reader may, with much interest, contrast the solemn action of law and government, in the
case of the rebellious son, with the lovely and familiar parable of the prodigal son, in Luke
15. Our space does not admit of our dwelling upon it here, much as we should delight to do
so. It is marvellous to think that it is the same God who speaks and acts in Deuteronomy 21
and in Luke 15. But oh! how different the action! how different the style! Under the law, the
father is called upon to lay hold of his son, and bring him forth to be stoned. Under grace, the
father runs to meet the returning son; falls on his neck and kisses him; clothes him in the best
robe, puts a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; has the fatted calf killed for him; seats
him at the table with himself, and makes the house ring with the joy that fills his own heart at
getting back the poor wandering spendthrift.

Striking contrast! In Deuteronomy we see the hand of God, in righteous government,
executing judgement upon the rebellious. In Luke 15 we see the heart of God pouring itself
out, in soul-subduing tenderness, upon the poor repentant one, giving him the sweet
assurance that it is His own deep joy to get back His lost one. The persistent rebel meets the
stone of judgement; the returning penitent meets the kiss of love.

But we must close this section by calling the reader's attention to the last verse of our chapter.
It is referred to in a very remarkable way by the inspired apostle, in Galatians 3 "Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree."

This reference is full of interest and value, not only because it presents to us the precious
grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in making Himself a curse for us, in order that
the blessing of Abraham might come on us poor sinners of the Gentiles; but also because it
furnishes a, very striking illustration of the way in which the Holy Spirit puts His seal upon
the writings of Moses, in general, and upon Deuteronomy. in particular. All scripture hangs
together so perfectly that if one part be touched you mar the integrity of the whole. The same
Spirit breathes in the writings of Moses, in the pages of the prophets, in the four evangelists,
in the Acts, in the apostolic epistles general and particular, and in that most profound and
precious section which closes the divine Volume. We deem it our sacred duty (as it is, most
assuredly, our high privilege) to press this weighty fact upon all with whom we come in
contact; and we would, very earnestly, entreat the reader to give it his earnest attention, to
hold it fast and bear a steady testimony to it, in this day of carnal laxity, cold indifference and
positive hostility.

Deuteronomy 22-25.
The portion of our book on which we now enter, though not calling for elaborate exposition,
yet teaches us two very important practical lessons In the first place, many of the institutions
and ordinances here set forth prove and illustrate, in a most striking way, the terrible
depravity of the human heart. They show us, with unmistakable distinctness, what man is
capable of doing, if left to himself. We must ever remember, as we read some of the
paragraphs of this section of Deuteronomy, that God the Holy Ghost has indicted them. We,
in our fancied wisdom, may feel disposed to ask why such passages were ever penned? Can it
be possible that they are actually inspired by the Holy Ghost? and of what possible value can
they be to us? If they were written for our learning, then what are we to learn from them?

Our reply to all these questions is, at once, simple and direct; and it is this, the very passages
which we might least expect to and on the page of inspiration teach us, in their own peculiar
way, the moral material of which we are made, and the moral depths into which we are
capable of plunging. And is not this of great moment? Is it not well to have a faithful mirror
held up before our eyes in which we may see every moral trait, feature and lineament
perfectly reflected? Unquestionably. We hear a great deal about the dignity of human nature,
and very many find it exceedingly hard to admit that they are really capable of committing
some of the sins prohibited in the section before us, and in other portions of the divine
Volume. But we may rest assured that when God commands us not to commit this or that
particular sin, we are verily capable of committing it. This is beyond all question. Divine
wisdom would never erect a dam if there was not a current to be resisted. There would be no
necessity to tell an angel not to steal; but man has theft in his nature, and hence the command
applies to him. And just so in reference to every other prohibited thing; the prohibition
proves the tendency—proves it beyond all question. We must either admit this or imply the
positive blasphemy that God has spoken in vain.

But then it may be said; and is said by many, that while some very terrible samples of fallen
humanity are capable of committing some of the abominable sins prohibited in scripture, yet
all are not so. This is a most thorough mistake. Hear what the Holy Ghost says, in the
seventeenth chapter of the prophet Jeremiah. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked." Whose heart is he speaking of? Is it the heart of some atrocious
criminal, or of some untutored savage? Nay; it is the human heart, the heart of the writer and
of the reader of these lines.

Hear also what our Lord Jesus Christ says on this subject. "Out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." Out of what
heart? Is it the heart of some hideously depraved and abominable wretch wholly unfit to
appear in decent society? Nay; it is out of the human heart the heart of the writer and of the
reader of these lines.

Let us never forget this; it is a wholesome truth for every one of us. We all need to bear in
mind that if God were to withdraw His sustaining grace, for one moment, there is no depth of
iniquity into which we are not capable of plunging; indeed, we may add—and we do it with
deep thankfulness it is His own gracious hand that preserves us, each moment, from
becoming a complete wreck, in every way, physically, mentally, morally, spiritually, and in
our circumstances. May we keep this ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts,
so that we may walk humbly and watchfully, and lean upon that arm which alone can sustain
and preserve us!

But, we have said, there is another valuable lesson furnished by this section of our book
which now lies open before us. It teaches us, in a manner peculiar to itself, the marvellous
way in which God provided for everything connected with His people. Nothing escaped His
gracious notice; nothing was too trivial for His tender care. No mother could be more careful
of the habits and manners of her little child, than the Almighty Creator and moral Governor
of the universe was of the most minute details connected with the daily history of His people.
By day and by night, waking and sleeping at home and abroad, He looked after them. Their
clothing, their food, their manners and ways toward one another, how they were to build their
houses, how they were to plough and sow their ground, how they were to carry themselves in
the deepest privacy of their personal life—all was attended to and provided for in a manner
that fills us with wonder, love and praise. We may here see, in a most striking way, that there
is nothing too small for our God to take notice of when His people are concerned. He takes a
loving, tender, fatherly interest in their most minute concerns. We are amazed to find the
Most High God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, the Sustainer of the vast universe,
condescending to legislate about the matter of a bird's nest; and yet why should we be
amazed when we know that it is just the same to Him to provide for a sparrow as to feed a
thousand millions of people daily?

But there was one grand fact which was ever to be kept prominently before each member of
the congregation of Israel, namely, the divine presence in their midst. This fact was to govern
their most private habits, and give character to all their ways. "The Lord thy God walketh in
the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up, thine enemies before thee; therefore
shall thy camp be holy; that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee." (Deut.
23: 14.)

What a precious privilege to have Jehovah walking in their midst! What a motive for purity
of conduct, and refined delicacy in their persons and domestic habits! If He was in their
midst to secure victory over their enemies, He was also there to demand holiness of life.
They were never, for one moment, to forget the august Person who walked up and down in
their midst. Would the thought of this be irksome to any? Only to such as did not love
holiness, purity and moral order. Every true Israelite would delight in the thought of having
One dwelling in their midst who could not endure ought that was unholy, unseemly or
impure.

The Christian reader will be at no loss to seize the moral force and application of this holy
principle. It is our privilege to have God the Spirit dwelling in us, individually and
collectively. Thus we read, in 1 Corinthians 6: 19, "What! know ye not that your body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"
This is individual. Each believer is a temple of the Holy Ghost, and this most glorious and
precious truth is the ground of the exhortation given in Ephesians 4: 30, "Grieve not the holy
Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

How very important to keep this ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts! What
a mighty moral motive for the diligent cultivation of purity of heart, and holiness of life!
When tempted to indulge in any wrong current of thought or feeling, any unworthy manner of
speech, any unseemly line of conduct, what a powerful corrective would be found in the
realisation of the blessed fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in our body as in His temple! If only
we could keep this ever before us it would preserve us from many a wandering thought, many
an unguarded and foolish utterance, many an unbecoming act.

But, not only does the Holy Spirit dwell in each individual believer, He also dwells in the
church collectively. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you?" (1 Cor. 3: 16.) It is upon this fact that the apostle grounds his exhortation
in 1 Thess 5: 19 "Quench not the Spirit." How divinely perfect is scripture! How blessedly it
hangs together! The Holy Ghost dwells in us individually; hence we are not to grieve Him.
He dwells in the assembly, hence we are not to quench Him, but give Him His right place,
and allow full scope for His blessed operations. May these great practical truths find a deep
place in our hearts, and exerts more powerful influence over our ways both in private life and
in the public assembly!

We shall now proceed to quote a few passages from the section of our book which now lies
open before us strikingly illustrative of the wisdom, goodness, tenderness, holiness and
righteousness which marked all the dealings of God with His people of old. Take, for
example, the very opening paragraph. "Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go
astray, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.
And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it
unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt
restore it to him again. In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his
raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found shalt
thou do likewise; thou mayest not hide thyself. Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox
fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt surely help him to lift them up
again" (Deut. 22: 1-4)

Here the two lessons of which we have spoken are, very distinctly, presented. What a deeply
humbling picture of the human heart have we in that one sentence, "Thou mayest not hide
thyself!" We are capable of the base and detestable selfishness of hiding ourselves from our
brother's claims upon our sympathy and succour—of shirking the holy duty of looking after
his interests—of pretending not to see his real need of our aid. Such is man! Such is the
writer!

But oh! how blessedly the character of our God shines out in this passage! The brother's ox,
or his sheep, or his ass was not—to use a modern phrase—to be thrust into pound, for
trespass; it was to be brought home, cared for, and restored, safe and sound, to the owner
without charge for damage. And so with the raiment. How lovely is all this! How it breathes
upon us the very air of the divine presence, the fragrant atmosphere of divine goodness,
tenderness and thoughtful love! What a high and holy privilege for any people to have their
conduct governed and their character formed by such exquisite statutes and judgements!

Again, take the following passage so beautifully illustrative of divine thoughtfulness: "When
thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not
blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence." The Lord would have His people
thoughtful and considerate of others; and hence, in building their houses, they were not
merely to think of themselves, and their convenience, but also of others and their safety.

Cannot Christians learn something from this? How prone we are to think only of ourselves,
our own interests, our own comfort and convenience! How rarely it happens that, in the
building or furnishing of our houses, we bestow a thought upon other people! We build and
furnish for ourselves; alas! self is too much our object and motive spring in all our
undertakings; nor can it be otherwise unless the heart be kept under the governing power of
those motives and objects which belong to Christianity. We must live in the pure and
heavenly atmosphere of the new creation, in order to get above and beyond the base
selfishness which characterizes fallen humanity. Every unconverted man woman and child on
the face of the earth is governed simply by self, in some shape or another. Self is the centre,
the object, the motive-spring of every action.

True, some are more amiable, more affectionate, more benevolent, more unselfish, more
disinterested, more agreeable than others; but it is utterly impossible that "the natural man"
can be governed by spiritual motives, or an earthly man be animated by heavenly objects.
Alas! We have to confess, with shame and sorrow, that we who profess to be heavenly and
spiritual are so prone to live for ourselves, to seek our own things, to maintain our own
interests, to consult our own ease and convenience. We are all alive and on the alert when
self, in any shape or form, is concerned.

All this is most sad and deeply humbling. It really ought not to be, and it would not be if we
were looking more simply and earnestly to Christ as our great Exemplar and model in all
things. Earnest and constant occupation of heart with Christ is the true secret of all practical
Christianity. It is not rules and regulations that will ever make us Christ-like in our spirit,
manner and ways. We must drink into His spirit, walk in His footsteps, dwell more
profoundly upon His moral glories, and then we shall, of blessed necessity, be conformed to
His image. "We all with open face beholding as in a glass [or mirror katoptrizovmenoi.] the
glory, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the, Spirit of the
Lord." (2 Cor. 3.)

We must now ask the reader to turn, for a moment, to the following very important practical
instructions—full of suggestive power for all Christian workers "Thou shalt not sow thy
vineyard with divers seeds, lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy
vineyard be defiled." (Deut. 22: 9.)

What a weighty principle is here! Do we really understand it? Do we see its true spiritual
application? It is to be feared there is a terrible amount of "mingled seed" used in the so-
called spiritual husbandry of the present day. How much of "philosophy and vain deceit.,"
how much of "science falsely so called," how much of "the rudiments of the world" do we
find mixed up in the teaching and preaching throughout the length and breadth of the
professing church! How little of the pure, unadulterated seed of the word of God, the
"incorruptible seed" of the precious gospel of Christ, is scattered broadcast over the field of
Christendom, in this our day! How few, comparatively, are content to confine themselves
within the covers of the Bible for the material of their ministry! Those who are, by the grace
of God faithful enough to do so, are looked upon as men of one idea, men of the old school,
narrow and behind the times.

Well, we can only say, with a full and glowing heart, God bless the men of one idea, men of
the precious old school of apostolic preaching! Most heartily do we congratulate them on
their blessed narrowness, and their being behind these dark and infidel times. We are fully
aware of what we expose ourselves to in thus writing; but this does not move us. We are
persuaded that every true servant of Christ must be a man of one idea, and that idea is Christ;
he must belong to the very oldest school, the school of Christ; he must be as narrow as the
truth of God; and he must, with stern decision, refuse to move one hair's breadth in the
direction of this infidel age. We cannot shake off the conviction that the effort on the part of
the preachers and teachers of Christendom to keep abreast of the literature of the day must, to
a very large extent, account for the rapid advance of rationalism and infidelity. They have got
away from the holy scriptures, and sought to adorn their ministry by the resources of
philosophy, science and literature. They have catered more for the intellect than for the heart
and conscience. The pure and precious doctrines of holy scripture, the sincere milk of the
word, the gospel of the grace of God and of the glory of Christ, were found insufficient to
attract and keep together large congregations. As Israel of old despised the manna, got tired
of it, and pronounced it light food, so the professing church grew weary of the pure doctrines
of that glorious Christianity unfolded in the pages of the New Testament, and sighed for
something to gratify the intellect, and feed the imagination. The doctrines of the cross, in
which the blessed apostle gloried, have lost their charm for the professing church, and any
who would be faithful enough to adhere and confine themselves in their ministry to those
doctrines might abandon all thought of popularity.

But let all the true and faithful ministers of Christ, all true workers in His vineyard apply
their hearts to the spiritual principle set forth in Deuteronomy 22: 9; let them, with
unflinching decision, refuse to make use of "divers seeds" in their spiritual husbandry; let
them confine themselves in their ministry to "the form of sound words," and ever seek
"rightly to divide the word of truth," that so: they may not be ashamed of their work, but
receive a full reward in that day when every man's work shall be tried of what sort it is. We
may depend upon it, the word of God—the pure seed—is the only proper material for the
spiritual workman to use. We do not despise learning; far from it, we consider it most
valuable in its right place. The facts of science, too, and the resources of sound philosophy
may all be turned to profitable account in unfolding and illustrating the truth of holy
scripture. We find the blessed Master Himself and His inspired apostles making use of the
facts of history and of nature in their public teaching; and who in his sober senses, would
think of calling in question the value and importance of a competent knowledge of the
original languages of Hebrew and Greek, in the private study and public exposition of the
word of God?

But admitting all this, as we most fully do, it leaves wholly untouched the great practical
principle before us-a principle to which all the Lord's people and His servants are bound to
adhere, namely, that the Holy Ghost is the only power, and holy scripture the only material
for all true ministry in the gospel and the church of God. If this were more fully understood
and faithfully acted upon, we should witness a very different condition of things throughout
the length and breadth of the vineyard of Christ.

Here, however, we must close this section. We have elsewhere sought to handle the subject
of "The Unequal Yoke," and shall not therefore dwell upon it here.* The Israelite was not to
plow with an ox and an ass together; neither was he to wear a, garment of divers sorts, as of
woollen and linen. The spiritual application of both these things is as simple as it is
important. The Christian is not to link himself with an unbeliever, for any object whatsoever,
be it domestic, religious, philanthropic, or commercial, neither must he allow himself to be
governed by mixed principles. His character must be formed and his conduct ruled by the
pure and lofty principles of the word of God. Thus may it be with all who profess and call
themselves Christians.
{*See a pamphlet entitled, "The Unequal Yoke."}

Deuteronomy 26.
"And it shall be, when thou shalt come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee
for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; that thou shalt take of the first of
all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee,
and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose
to place his name there"—not to a place of their own or others' choosing—"And thou shalt go
unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord
thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give
us. And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand and set it down before the altar of
the Lord thy God." (Vers. 1-4.)

The chapter on which we now enter contains the lovely ordinance of the basket of firstfruits
in which we shall find some principles of the deepest interest, and practical importance. It
was when the hand of Jehovah had conducted His people into the land of promise, that the
fruits of that land could be presented. It was, obviously, necessary to be in Canaan, ere
Canaan's fruits could be offered in worship. The worshipper was able to say, "I profess this
day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our
fathers for to give us."

Here lay the root of the matter. "I am come." He does not say, "I am coming, hoping to come,
or longing to come." No; but, "I am come." Thus it must ever be. We must know ourselves
saved, ere we can offer the fruits of a known salvation. We may be most sincere in our
desires after salvation, most earnest in our efforts to obtain it. But then we cannot but see that
efforts to be saved, and the fruits of a known and enjoyed salvation are wholly different. The
Israelite did not offer the basket of firstfruits in order to get into the land, but because he was
actually in it. "I profess this day, that I am come." "There is no mistake about it, no question,
no doubt, not even a hope. I am actually in the land, and here is the fruit of it."

"And thou shalt speak, and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my
father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a
nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and
laid upon us hard bondage. And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord
heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression. And the
Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and
with great terribleness, and with signs and with wonders; and he hath brought us into this
place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. And now,
behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And
thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God. And thou
shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine
house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you."

This is a very beautiful illustration of worship. "A Syrian ready to perish." Such was the
origin. There is nothing to boast of, so far as nature is concerned. And as to the condition in
which grace had found them; what of it? Hard bondage in the land of Egypt. Toiling amid the
brick kilns, beneath the cruel lash of Pharaoh's taskmasters. But then, "We cried unto
Jehovah." Here was their sure and blessed resource. It was all they could do; but it was
enough. That cry of helplessness went directly up to the throne and to the heart of God, and
brought Him down into the very midst of the brick kilns of Egypt. Hear Jehovah's gracious
words to Moses, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have
heard their cry, by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down
to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a
good land, and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.... Now therefore, behold,
the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me; and I have also seen the oppression
wherewith the Egyptians oppress them." (Ex. 3: 7-9.)

Such was the immediate response of Jehovah to the cry of His people. "I am come down to
deliver them." Yes; blessed be His Name, He came down, in the exercise of His own free and
sovereign grace, to deliver His people; and no power of men or devils, earth or hell, could
hold them for one moment beyond the appointed time. Hence, in our chapter, we have the
grand result as set forth in the language of the worshipper, and in the contents of his basket. I
am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us.... And now,
behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which thou, O Lord, hast given me." The
Lord had accomplished all, according to the love of His heart, and the faithfulness of His
word. Not one jot or tittle had failed. "I am come." And "I have brought the fruit." The fruit
of what? Of Egypt? Nay; but "of the land which thou, O Lord, hast given me." The
worshipper's lips proclaimed the completeness of Jehovah's work. The worshipper's basket
contained the fruit of Jehovah's land. Nothing could be simpler, nothing more real. There was
no room for a doubt, no ground for a question. He had simply to declare Jehovah's work and
show the fruit. It was all of God from first to last. He had brought them out of Egypt, and He
had brought them into Canaan. He had filled their baskets with the mellow fruits of His land,
and their hearts with His Praise.

And now, beloved reader, let us just ask you, do you think it was presumption on the part of
the Israelite to speak as he did? Was it right, was it modest, was it humble of him to say "I am
come"? Would it have been more becoming in him merely to give expression to the faint
hope that, at some future period, he might come? Would doubt and hesitation, as to his
position and his portion, have been more honouring and gratifying to the God of Israel? What
say you? It may be that, anticipating our argument, you are ready to say, "There is no
analogy." Why not? If an Israelite could say, "I am come unto the country which the Lord
sware unto our fathers for to give us," why cannot the believer now say, "I am come unto
Jesus"? True, in the one case, it was sight; in the other, it is faith. But is the latter less real
than the former? Does not the inspired apostle say to the Hebrews, "Ye are come unto mount
Zion"? And again, "We receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace
whereby we may serve God with reverence and godly fear." If we are in doubt as to whether
we have "come" or not, and as to whether we have "received the kingdom" or not, it is
impossible to worship in truth, or serve with acceptance. It is when we are in intelligent and
peaceful possession of the place and portion in Christ, that true worship can ascend to the
throne above, and effective service be rendered in the vineyard below.

For what, let us ask, is true worship? It is simply telling out, in the presence of God, what He
is, and what He has done. It is the heart occupied with, and delighting in God and in all His
marvellous actings and ways. Now, if we have no knowledge of God, and no faith in what He
has done, how can we worship Him? "He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that
he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." But, then, to know God is life eternal. I
cannot worship God if I do not know Him; and I cannot know Him without having eternal
life. The Athenians had erected an altar "to the unknown God," and Paul told them that they
were worshipping in ignorance, and proceeded to declare unto them the true God as revealed
in the Person and work of the Man Christ Jesus.

It is deeply important to be clear as to this. I must know God ere I can worship Him. I may
"feel after him, if haply I may find him;" but feeling after One whom I have not found, and
worshipping and delighting in One whom I have found, are two totally different things. God
has revealed Himself, blessed be His Name! He has given us the light of the knowledge of
His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. He has come near to us in the Person of that blessed
One, so that we may know Him, love Him, trust in Him, delight in Him, and use Him, in all
our weakness and in all our need. We have no longer to grope for Him amid the darkness of
nature, nor yet among the clouds and mists of spurious religion, in its ten thousand forms.
No; our God has made Himself known by a revelation so plain that the wayfaring man,
though a fool in all beside, may not err therein. The Christian can say, "I know whom I have
believed." This is the basis of all true worship. There may be a vast amount of fleshly
pietism, mechanical religion, and ceremonial routine, without a single atom of true spiritual
worship. This latter can only flow from the knowledge of God.

But our object is not to write a treatise on worship, but simply to unfold to our readers the
instructive and beautiful ordinance of the basket of firstfruits And having shown that worship
was the first thing with an Israelite who found himself in possession of the land—and,
further, that we, now, must know our place and privilege in Christ before we can truthfully
and intelligently worship the Father—we shall proceed to point out another very important
practical result illustrated in our chapter, namely, active benevolence.

"When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is
the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the
widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; then thou shalt say before the Lord
thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given
them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to
all thy commandments, which thou hast commanded me; I have not transgressed thy
commandments, neither have I forgotten them." (Vers. 12, 13.)

Nothing can be more beautiful than the moral order of these things. It is precisely similar to
what we have in Hebrews 13. "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God
continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." Here is the worship. "But
to do good and communicate, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Here
is the active benevolence. Putting both together, we have what we may call the upper and the
nether side of the Christian's character—praising God and doing good to men. Precious
characteristics! May we exhibit them more faithfully! One thing is certain, they will always
go together. Show us a man whose heart is full of praise to God, and we will show you one
whose heart is open to every form of human need. He may not be rich in this world's goods.
He may be obliged to say, like one of old who was not ashamed to say it, "Silver and gold
have I none, but he will have the tear of sympathy, the kindly look, the soothing word, and
these things tell far more powerfully upon a sensitive heart than the opening of the purse-
strings, and the jingling of silver and gold. Our adorable Lord and Master, our Great
Exemplar, "went about doing good;" but we never read of His giving money to any one;
indeed, we are warranted in believing that the Blessed One never possessed a penny. When
He wanted to answer the Herodians on the subject of paying tribute to Caesar, He had to ask
them to show Him a penny; and when asked to pay tribute, He sent Peter to the sea to get it.
He never carried money; and, most assuredly, money is not named in the category of gifts
bestowed by Him upon His servants. Still He went about doing good, and we are to do the
same, in our little measure; it is, at once, our high privilege and our bounden duty to do so.

And let the reader mark the divine order laid down in Hebrews 13 and illustrated in
Deuteronomy 26. Worship gets the first, the highest place. Let us never forget this. We, in
our wisdom or our sentimentality, might imagine that doing good to men, usefulness,
philanthropy is the highest thing. But it is not so. "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me." God
inhabits the praises of His people. He delights to surround Himself with hearts filled to
overflowing with a sense of His goodness, His greatness and His glory. Hence, we are to offer
the sacrifice of praise to God "continually." So also the Psalmist says, "I will bless the Lord at
all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth." It is not merely now and then, or when
all is bright and cheery around us, when everything goes on smoothly and prosperously; no,
but "at all times"—"continually" The stream of thanksgiving is to flow uninterruptedly. There
is no interval for murmuring or complaining, fretfulness or dissatisfaction, gloom or
despondency. Praise and thanksgiving are to be our continual occupation. We are ever to
cultivate the spirit of worship. Every breath, as it were, ought to be a hallelujah. Thus it shall
be, by-and-by. Praise will he our happy and holy service while eternity rolls along its course
of golden ages. When we shall have no further call to "communicate," no demand on our
resources or our sympathies, when we shall have bid an eternal adieu to this scene of sorrow
and need, death and desolation, then shall we praise our God, for evermore, without let or
interruption, in the sanctuary of His own blessed presence above.

"But to do good and to communicate, forget not." There is singular interest attaching to the
mode in which this is put. He does not say, "But to offer the sacrifice of praise, forget not."
No; but lest, in the full and happy enjoyment of our own place and portion in Christ, we
should "forget" that we are passing through a scene of want and misery, trial and pressure, the
apostle adds the salutary and much needed admonition as to doing good and communicating.
The spiritual Israelite is not only to rejoice in every good thing which the Lord his God has
bestowed upon him, but he is also to remember the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and
the widow—that is, the one who has no earthly portion and is thoroughly devoted to the
Lord's work; and the one who has no home, the one who has no natural protector, and the one
who has no earthly stay. It must ever be thus. The rich tide of grace rolls down from the
bosom of God, fills our hearts to overflowing, and, in its overflow, refreshes and gladdens
our whole sphere of action. If we were only living in the enjoyment of what is ours in God,
our every movement, our every act, our every word, yea, our every look would do good. The.
Christian, according to the divine idea, is one who stands, with one hand lifted up to God, in
the presentation of the sacrifice of praise, and the other hand filled with the fragrant fruits of
genuine benevolence to meet every form of human need.

O beloved reader, let us deeply ponder these things. Let us really apply our whole hearts to
the earnest consideration of them. Let us seek a fuller realisation and a truer expression of
these two great branches of practical Christianity, and not be satisfied with anything less.

We shall now briefly glance at the third point in the precious chapter before us. We shall do
little more than quote the passage for the reader. The Israelite, having presented his basket,
and distributed his tithes, was further instructed to say, "I have not eaten thereof in my
mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought
thereof for the dead; but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done
according to all that thou hast commanded me. Look down from thy holy habitation, from
heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest
unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey. This day the Lord thy God hath
commanded thee to do these statutes and judgements; thou shalt therefore keep and do them,
with all thine heart and with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God,
and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his
judgements, and to hearken unto his voice. And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be
his peculiar people"—that is a people of His own special possession—"as he hath promised
thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; and to make thee high above all
nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be
an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken." (Vers. 14-19.)

Here we have personal holiness, practical sanctification, entire separation from everything
inconsistent with the holy place and relationship into which they had been introduced, in the
sovereign grace and mercy of God. There must be no mourning, no uncleanness, no dead
works. We have no room, no time for any such things as these; they do not belong to that
blessed sphere in which we are privileged to live and move and have our being. We have just
three things to do; we look up to God, and offer the sacrifice of praise. We look around at a
needy world, and do good. We look in upon the circle of our own being—our inner life, and
seek, by grace, to keep ourselves unspotted. "Pure religion and undefiled, before God and the
Father, is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself
unspotted from the world." (Jas. 1: 27)

Thus, whether we hearken to Moses, in Deuteronomy 26, or to Paul in Hebrews 13, or to
James in his most wholesome, needed, practical epistle, it is the same Spirit that speaks to us,
and the same grand lessons that are impressed upon us—lessons of unspeakable value and
moral importance—lessons loudly called for, in this day of easygoing profession, in the
which the doctrines of grace are taken up and held in a merely intellectual way, and
connected with all sorts of worldliness and self-indulgence.

Truly there is an urgent need of a more powerful, practical ministry amongst us. There is a
deplorable lack of the prophetic and pastoral element in our ministrations. By the Prophetic
element we mean that character of ministry that deals with the conscience and brings it into
the immediate presence of God. This is greatly needed. There is a good deal of ministry
which addresses itself to the intelligence; but sadly too little for the heart and the conscience.
The teacher speaks to the understanding; the prophet speaks to the conscience;* the pastor
speaks to the heart. We speak, of course, generally. It may so happen that the three elements
are found in the ministry of one man; but they are distinct; and we cannot but feel that where
the prophetic and Pastoral gifts are lacking in any assembly the teachers should very
earnestly wait upon the Lord for spiritual power to deal with the hearts and consciences of
His beloved people. Blessed be His Name, He has all needed gift, grace and power for His
servants. All we need is to wait on Him, in real earnestness and sincerity of heart, and He
will, most assuredly, supply us with all suited grace and moral fitness for whatever service
we may be called to render in His church.
{*Very many seem to entertain the idea that a prophet is one who foretells future events; but
it would be a mistake thus to confine the term. 1 Cor 14: 28-32 lets us into the meaning of the
words "prophet" and "prophesying." The teacher and the prophet are closely and beautifully
connected. The teacher unfolds truth from the word of God; the prophet applies it to the
conscience; and, we may add, the pastor sees how the ministry of both the one and the other
is acting on the heart and in the life.}

Oh! that all the Lord's servants may be stirred up to a more deep-toned earnestness, in every
department of His blessed work! May we be "instant in season, out of season," and in no wise
discouraged by the condition of things around us, but rather find, in the very condition, an
urgent reason for more intense devotedness.

Deuteronomy 27.
"And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the
commandments which I command you this day. And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass
over Jordan unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up
great stones, and plaster them with plaster; and thou shalt write upon them all the words of
this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy
God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the Lord God of thy fathers hath
promised thee. Therefore it shall be, when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these
stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaster them with
plaster. And there shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones: thou
shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar of the Lord thy God of
whole stones; and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord thy God; and thou
shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the Lord thy God. And thou
shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly. And Moses, and the priests
the Levites, spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art
become the people of the Lord thy God Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy
God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day. And Moses
charged the people the same day, saying, These shall stand upon mount Gerazim to bless the
people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and
Joseph, and Benjamin. And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and
Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali." (Vers. 1-13.)

There could not be a more striking contrast than that which is presented in the opening and
close of this chapter. In the paragraph which we have just penned, we see Israel entering
upon the land of promise—that fair and fruitful land, flowing with milk and honey, and there
erecting an altar in mount Ebal, for burnt offerings and peace offerings. We read nothing
about sin offerings or trespass offerings here. The law, in all its fullness, was to be "written
very plainly," upon the plastered stones, and the people, in full, recognised, covenant
relationship, were to offer on the altar those special offerings of sweet savour, so blessedly
expressive of worship and holy communion. The subject here is not the trespasser in act, or
the sinner in nature, approaching the brazen altar, with a trespass offering or a sin offering;
but rather a people fully delivered, accepted and blessed—a people in the actual enjoyment
of their relationship and their inheritance.

True, they were trespassers and sinners; and, as such, needed the precious provision of the
brazen altar. This, of course, is obvious, and fully understood and admitted by every one
taught of God; but it manifestly is not the subject of Deuteronomy 27: 1-13, and the spiritual
reader will, at once, perceive the reason. When we see the Israel of God, in full covenant
relationship, entering into possession of their inheritance, having the revealed will of their
covenant God Jehovah, plainly and fully written before them, and the milk and honey
flowing around them, we must conclude that all question as to trespasses and sins is
definitively settled, and that nothing remains for a people so highly privileged and so richly
blessed, but to surround the altar of their covenant God, and present those sweet savour
offering which mere acceptable to Him and suited to them.

In short, the whole scene unfolded to our view in the first half of our chapter is perfectly
beautiful. Israel having avouched Jehovah to be their God, and Jehovah having avouched
Israel to be His peculiar people, to make them high above all nations which He had made, in
praise, and in name, and in honour; and an holy people unto the Lord their God, as He had
spoken—Israel thus privileged, blessed and exalted, in full possession of the goodly land, and
having all the precious commandments of God before their eyes, what remained, but to
present the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, in holy worship and happy fellowship?

But, in the latter half of our chapter, we find something quite different. Moses appoints six
tribes to stand upon mount Gerazim, to bless the people; and six on mount Ebal to curse; but
alas! when we come to the actual history, the positive facts of the case, there is not a single
syllable of blessing? nothing but twelve awful curses each confirmed by a solemn "amen"
from the whole congregation.

What a sad change! What a striking contrast! It reminds us of what passed before us in our
study of Exodus 19. There could not be a more impressive commentary on the words of the
inspired apostle in Galatians 3: 10. "For as many as are of the works of the law"—as many as
are on that ground—"are under the curse: for it is; written"—and here he quotes
Deuteronomy 27—"cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in
the book of the law to do them."

Here we have the real solution of the question. Israel, as to their actual moral condition, were
on the ground of law; and hence, although the opening of our chapter presents a lovely
picture of God's thoughts respecting Israel, yet the close of it sets forth the sad and
humiliating result of Israel's real state before God. There is not a sound from mount Gerazim,
not one word of benediction; but, instead thereof, curse upon curse falls on the ears of the
people.

Nor could it possibly be otherwise. Let people contend for it as they will, nothing but a curse
can come upon "as many as are of the works of the law. It does not merely say, "as many as
fail to keep the law," though that is true; but, as if to set the truth in the very clearest and
most forcible manner before us, the Holy Ghost declares that for all, no matter who, Jew,
Gentile or nominal Christian—all who are on the ground or principle of works of law, there
is, and can be, nothing but a curse. Thus, then, the reader will be able, intelligently, to
account for the profound silence that reigned on mount Gerazim, in the day of Deuteronomy
27 The simple fact is, if one solitary benediction had been heard, it would have been a
contradiction to the entire teaching of holy scripture on the question of law.

We have so fully gone into the weighty subject of the law, in the first volume of these Notes,
that we do not feel called upon to dwell upon it here. We can only say that the more we study
scripture, and the more we ponder the law-question in the light of the New Testament, the
more amazed we are at the manner in which some persist in contending for the opinion that
Christians are under the law, whether for life, for righteousness, for holiness, or for any
object whatsoever. How can such an opinion stand for a moment in the face of that
magnificent and conclusive statement in Romans 6: "YE ARE NOT UNDER LAW, BUT
UNDER GRACE?

Deuteronomy 28.
In approaching the study of this remarkable section of our book, the reader must bear in mind
that it is by no means, to be confounded with chapter 27. Some expositors, in seeking to
account for the absence of the blessings in the latter, have sought for them here. But it is a
grand mistake—a mistake absolutely fatal to the proper understanding of either chapter. The
obvious fact is, the two chapters are wholly distinct, in basis, scope and practical application.
Chapter 27 is—to put it as pointedly and briefly as possible—moral and personal. Chapter 28
is dispensational and national. That deals with the great root principle of man's moral
condition, as a sinner utterly ruined and wholly incapable of meeting God on the ground of
law; this, on the other hand, takes up the question of Israel as a nation, under the government
of God. In short, a careful comparison of the two chapters will enable the reader to see their
entire distinctness. For instance, what connection can we trace between the six blessings of
our chapter and the twelve curses of chapter 27? None whatever. It is not possible to
establish the slightest relationship. But a child can see the moral link between the blessings
and curses of chapter 28.

Let us quote a passage or two in proof. "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken
diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God"—the grand old Deuteronomic motto, the key
note of the book—"to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this
day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth; and all these
blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord
thy God"—the only safeguard, the true secret of happiness, security, victory and strength—
Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the
fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy
kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou
be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out."

Is it not perfectly plain to the reader that these are not the blessings pronounced by the six
tribes on mount Gerazim? What is here presented to us is Israel's national dignity, prosperity,
and glory founded upon their diligent attention to all the commandments set before them in
this book. It was the eternal purpose of God that Israel should be pre-eminent on the earth,
high above all the nations. This purpose shall, assuredly, be made good although Israel, in the
past, have shamefully failed to render that perfect obedience which was to form the basis of
their national pre-eminence and glory.

We must never forget or surrender this great truth. Some expositors have adopted a system of
interpretation by which the covenant blessings of Israel are spiritualised and made over to the
church of God. This is a most fatal mistake. Indeed, it is hardly possible to set forth in
language, or even to conceive the pernicious effects of such a method of handling the
precious word of God. Nothing is more certain than that it is diametrically opposed to the
mind and will of God. He will not and cannot sanction such tampering with His truth, or such
an unwarrantable alienation of the blessings and privileges of His people Israel.

True, we read, in Galatians 3. "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ; that we might receive"—what? Blessings in the city and in the field?
Blessings in our basket and store? Nay; but "the promise of the Spirit through faith." So also
we learn, from the same epistle, in Galatians 4, that restored Israel will be permitted to
reckon amongst her children all those who are born of the Spirit, during the Christian period.
"But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice
thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath
many more children than she which hath an husband."

All this is blessedly true; but it affords no warrant whatever for transferring the promises
made to Israel to New Testament believers. God has pledged Himself, by an oath, to bless the
seed of Abraham His friend—to bless them with all earthly blessings, This promise holds
good and is absolutely inalienable. Woe be to all who attempt in the land of Canaan. to
interfere with its literal fulfilment, in God's own time. We have referred to this in our studies
on the earlier part of this book, and must now rest content with warning the reader, most
solemnly, against every system of interpretation which involves such serious consequences as
to the word and ways of God. We must ever remember that Israel's blessings are earthly; the
church's blessings are heavenly. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ."

Thus, both the nature and the sphere of the church's blessings are wholly different from those
of Israel, and must never be confounded. But the system of interpretation above referred to
does confound them, to the marring of the integrity of holy scripture, and the serious damage
of souls. To attempt to apply the promises made to Israel to the church of God, either now or
hereafter, on earth or in heaven, is to turn things completely upside down, and to produce the
most hopeless confusion in the exposition and application of scripture. we feel called upon,
in simple faithfulness to the word of God, and to the soul of the reader, to press this matter
upon his earnest attention. He may rest assured it is, by no means, an unimportant question;
so far from this, we are persuaded that it is utterly impossible for any one who confounds
Israel and the church, the earthly and the heavenly, to be a sound or accurate interpreter of
the word of God.

However, we cannot pursue this subject further here. we only trust that the Spirit of God will
arouse the heart of the reader to feel its interest and importance, and give him to see the
necessity of rightly dividing the word of truth. If this be so, our object will be fully gained.

With regard to this twenty-eighth of Deuteronomy, if the reader only seizes the fact of its
entire distinctness from its predecessor, he will be able to read it with spiritual intelligence
and real profit. There is no need whatever for elaborate exposition. It divides itself naturally
and obviously into two parts. In the first, we have a full and most blessed statement of the
results of obedience. (See verses 1-15.) In the second, we have a deeply solemn and affecting
statement of the awful consequences of disobedience. (See verses 16-68.) And we cannot but
be struck with the fact that the section continuing the curses is more than three times the
length of the one containing the blessings. That consists of fifteen verses; this of fifty-three.
The whole chapter furnishes an impressive commentary on the government of God, and a
most forcible illustration of the fact that "our God is a consuming fire." All the nations of the
earth may learn from Israel's marvellous history, that God must punish disobedience, and
that, too, first of all, in His own. And if He has not spared His own people, what shall be the
end of those who know Him not "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations
that forget God." "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." It is the very
height of extravagant folly for any one to attempt to evade the full force of such passages, or
to explain them away. It cannot be done. Let any one read the chapter before us and compare
it with the actual history of Israel, and he will see that as sure as there is a God on the throne
of the majesty in the heavens, so surely will He punish evildoers, both here and hereafter. It
cannot be otherwise. The government that could or would allow evil to go unjudged,
uncondemned, unpunished, would not be a perfect government, would not be the government
of God. It is vain to found arguments upon one-sided views of the goodness, kindness and
mercy of God. Blessed be His Name, He is kind and good and merciful and gracious, long-
suffering and full of compassion. But He is holy and just, righteous and true; and "he hath
appointed a day in the which he will judge the world [the habitable earth, oijkoumevnhn] in
righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance [given
proof, pivstin] unto all, in that he hath raised him from the dead." (Acts 17.)

However, we must draw this section to a close; but, ere doing so, we feel it to be our duty to
call the reader's attention to a very interesting point in connection with verse 13 of our
chapter. "The Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only,
and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy
God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them." This, no doubt, refers to
Israel as a nation. They are destined to be the head of all the nations of the earth. Such is the
sure and settled purpose and counsel of God respecting them. Low as they are now sunk,
scattered and lost amongst the nations, suffering the terrible consequences of their persistent
disobedience, sleeping, as we read in Daniel 12, in the dust of the earth; yet they shall, as a
nation, arise and shine in far brighter glory than that of Solomon.

All this is blessedly true, and established, beyond all question, in manifold passages in
Moses, the Psalms, the prophets and the New Testament. But, in looking: through the history
of Israel, we find some very striking instances of individuals who were permitted and
enabled, through infinite grace, to make their own of the precious promise contained in verse
13, and that too in very dark and depressing periods of the national history, when Israel, as a
nation, was the tail and not the head. We shall just give the reader an instance or two, not
only to illustrate our point, but also to set before him a principle of immense practical
importance and universal application.

Let us turn, for a moment, to that charming little book of Esther—a book so little understood
or appreciated—a book which, we may truly say, fills a niche and teaches a lesson which no
other book does. It belongs to a period when, most assuredly, Israel was not the head, but the
tail; but, notwithstanding, it presents to our view the very edifying and encouraging picture of
an individual son of Abraham so carrying himself as to reach the very highest position, and
gaining a splendid victory over Israel's bitterest foe.

As to Israel's condition, in the days of Esther, it was such that God could not publicly own
them. Hence it is that His name is not found in the book, from beginning to end. The Gentile
was the head and Israel the tail. the relationship between Jehovah and Israel could no longer
be publicly owned; but the heart of Jehovah could never forget His people; and we may add,
the heart of a faithful Israelite could never forget Jehovah or His holy law; and these are just
the two facts that specially characterise this most interesting little book. God was acting for
Israel behind the scenes, and Mordecai was acting for God before the scenes. It is worthy of
remark that neither Israel's best Friend, nor their worst enemy, is once named in the book of
Esther; and yet the whole book is full of the actings of both. The finger of God is stamped on
every link in the marvellous chain of providence; and, on the other hand, the bitter enmity Of
Amalek come out in the cruel plot of the haughty Agagite.

All this is intensely interesting Indeed, in rising from the study of this book, we may well say,
"Oh! scenes surpassing fable and yet true." No romance could possibly exceed in interest this
simple but most blessed history. But we must not expatiate, much as we should like to do so.
time and space forbid. We merely refer to it now in order to point out to the reader the
unspeakable value and importance of individual faithfulness, at a moment when the national
glory was faded and gone. Mordecai stood like a rock for the truth of God. He refused with
stern decision, to own Amalek. He would save the life of Ahasuerus and bow to his authority
as the expression of the power of God; but he would not bow to Haman. His conduct, in this
matter, was governed simply by the word of God. The authority for his course was to be
found in this blessed book of Deuteronomy. Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the
way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; how he met thee by the way, and smote the
hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and
he feared not God"—here was the true secret of the whole matter—"therefore it shall be,
when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land
which the Lord thy God giveth for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it." (Deut. 25: 17-19.)

This was distinct enough for every circumcised ear, every obedient heart, every upright
conscience. Equally distinct is the language of Exodus 17. "And the Lord said unto Moses,
write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua; for I will utterly put
out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the
name of it JEHOVAH-nissi [the Lord my banner]: for he said, Because the Lord hath sworn
that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." (Vers. 14-16.)

Here then was Mordecai's authority for refusing a single nod of his head to the Agagite. How
could a faithful member of the house of Israel bow to a member of a house with which
Jehovah was at war? Impossible. He could clothe himself in sackcloth, fast and weep for his
people, but he could not, he would not, he dare not bow to an Amalekite. He might be
charged with presumption, blind obstinacy, stupid bigotry, and contemptible narrow-
mindedness; but with that he had nothing whatever to do. It might seem the most
unaccountable folly to withhold the common mark of respect from the highest noble in the
kingdom; but that noble was an Amalekite, and that was enough for Mordecai. The apparent
folly was simple obedience.

It is this which makes the case so interesting and important for us. Nothing can ever do away
with our responsibility to obey the word of God. It might be said to Mordecai that the
commandment as to Amalek was a bygone thing, having reference to Israel's palmy days. It
was quite right for Joshua to fight with Amalek; Saul, too, ought to have obeyed the word of
Jehovah instead of sparing Agag; but now all was changed; the glory was departed from
Israel, and it was perfectly useless to attempt to act on Exodus 17 or Deuteronomy 27.

All such arguments, we feel assured, would have no weight whatever with Mordecai. It was
enough for him that Jehovah had said, "Remember what Amalek did.... Thou shalt not forget
it." How long was this to hold good? "From generation to generation. Jehovah's war with
Amalek was never to cease until his very name and remembrance were blotted out from
under heaven. And why? Because of his cruel and heartless treatment of Israel. Such was the
kindness of God toward His people! How then could a faithful Israelite ever bow to an
Amalekite? Impossible. Could Joshua bow to Amalek? Nay. Did Samuel? Nay; "he hewed
Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal." How then could Mordecai bow to him? He could
not do it, cost what it might. It mattered not to him that the gallows was erected for him. He
could be hanged, but he could never do homage to Amalek.

And what was the result? A magnificent triumph! There stood the proud Amalekite near the
throne, basking in the sunshine of royal favour, boasting himself in his riches, his greatness,
his glory, and about to crush beneath his foot the seed of Abraham. There, on the other hand,
lay poor Mordecai in sackcloth and ashes and tears. What could he do? He could obey. He
had neither sword nor spear; but he had the word of God, and by simply obeying that word,
he gained a victory over Amalek quite as decisive and splendid in its way, as that gained by
Joshua, in Exodus 17—a victory which Saul failed to gain, though surrounded by a host of
warriors selected from the twelve tribes of Israel. Amalek sought to get Mordecai hanged; but
instead of that he was obliged to act as his footman, and conduct him in all but regal pomp
and splendour through the street of the city. "And Haman answered the king, For the man
whom the king delighteth to honour, let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to
wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:
and let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble
princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring
him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be
done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour. Then the king said to Haman, Make
haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the
Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. Then took
Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback
through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man
whom the king delighteth to honour. And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman
hasted to his house mourning and having his head covered."

Here, assuredly Israel was the head and Amalek the tail—Israel, not nationally but
individually. But this was only the beginning of Amalek's defeat and of Israel's glory. Haman
was hanged on the very gallows he had erected for Mordecai, "And Mordecai went out from
the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold,
and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad."

Nor was this all. The effect of Mordecai's marvellous victory was felt far and wide over the
hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the empire. "In every province, and in every city
whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness,
a feast and a good day. And many people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews
fell upon them." And, to crown all, we read that "Mordecai the Jew was next unto king
Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking
the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed."

Now, reader, does not all this prove to us, in the most striking manner, the immense
importance of individual faithfulness? Is it not eminently calculated to encourage us to stand
for the truth of God, cost what it may? Only see what marvellous results followed from the
actings of one man! Many might have condemned Mordecai's conduct. It might have seemed
like unaccountable obstinacy to refuse a simple mark of respect to the highest noble in the
empire. But it was not so. It was simple obedience. It was decision for God, and it led to a
most magnificent victory, the spoils of which were reaped by his brethren at the very ends of
the earth.

For further illustration of the subject suggested by Deuteronomy 28: 13, we must refer the
reader to Daniel 3 and Daniel 6 there he will see what morally glorious results can be
reached by individual faithfulness to the true God, at a moment when Israel's national glory
was gone; their city and temple in ruins. The three worthies refused to worship the golden
image. They dared to face the wrath of the king, to withstand the universal voice of the
empire, yea, to meet the fiery furnace itself, rather than disobey. They could surrender life,
but they could not surrender the truth of God.

And what was the result? A splendid victory! They walked through the furnace with the Son
of God, and were called forth from the furnace as witnesses and servants of the Most High
God. Glorious privilege! Wondrous dignity! And all the simple result of obedience. Had they
gone with the crowd, and bowed the head in worship to the national god, in order to escape
the dreadful furnace, see what they would have lost! But, blessed be God, they were enabled
to stand fast in the confession of the grand foundation truth of the unity of the Godhead—that
truth which had been trampled under foot amid the splendours of Solomon's reign; and the
record of their faithfulness has been penned for us by the Holy Spirit, in order to encourage
us to tread, with firm step, the path of individual devotedness, in the face of a God-hating,
Christ-rejecting world, and in the face of a truth-neglecting Christendom. It is impossible to
read the narrative and not have our whole renewed being stirred up and drawn out in earnest
desire for more deep-toned personal devotedness to Christ and His precious cause.

Similar must be the effect produced by the study of Daniel 6. We cannot allow ourselves to
quote or expatiate. We can only commend the soul-stirring record to the attention of the
reader. It is uncommonly fine, and it furnishes a splendid lesson for this day of soft, self-
indulgent, easy-going profession, in which it costs people nothing to give a nominal assent to
the truths of Christianity; but in which, notwithstanding, there is so little desire or readiness
to follow, with whole-hearted decision, a rejected Lord, or to yield an unqualified and
unhesitating obedience to His commandments.

How refreshing, in the face of so much heartless indifference, to read of the faithfulness of
Daniel! He, with unflinching decision, persisted in his holy habit of praying three times a
day, with his window open toward Jerusalem, although he knew that the den of lions was the
penalty of his act. He might have closed his window and drawn his curtains and retired into
the privacy of his chamber to pray, or he might have waited for the midnight hour when no
human eye could see, or human ear hear him. But no; this beloved servant of God would not
hide his light under a bed or a bushel. There was a great principle at stake. It was not merely
that he would? pray to the one living and true God, but he would pray with "his windows
open towards Jerusalem." And why "toward Jerusalem"? Because it was God's centre. But it
was in ruins. True, for the present and as looked at from a human standpoint. But to faith,
and from a divine standpoint, Jerusalem was God's centre for His earthly people. It was and it
shall be, beyond all question. And not only so, but its dust is precious to Jehovah; and hence
Daniel was in full communion with the mind of God when he opened his windows toward
Jerusalem and prayed. He had scripture for what he did, as the reader may see by referring to
2 Chronicles 6. "If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of
their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which
thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the
house which I have built for thy name."

Here was Daniel's warrant. This was what he did, utterly regardless of human opinions; and
utterly regardless, too, of pains and penalties. He would rather be thrown into the den of lions
than surrender the truth of God. He would rather go to heaven with a good conscience than
remain on earth with a bad one.

And what was the result? Another splendid triumph! "Daniel was taken up out of the den, and
no manner of hurt was found upon him, BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IN HIS GOD."

Blessed servant! Noble witness! Assuredly he was the head, on this occasion, and his enemies
the tail. And how? Simply by obedience to the word of God. This is what we deem to be of
such vast moral importance for this our day. It is to illustrate and enforce this that we refer to
those brilliant examples of individual faithfulness at a time when Israel's national glory was
in the dust, their unity gone and their polity broken up. We cannot but regard it as a fact full
of interest, full of encouragement, full of suggestive power, that in the darkest days of Israel's
history as a nation we have the brightest and noblest examples of personal faith and
devotedness. We earnestly press this upon the attention of the Christian reader. We consider
it eminently calculated to strengthen and cheer up our hearts in standing for the truth of God
at a moment like the present, when there is so much to discourage us in the general condition
of the professing church. It is not that we are to look for such speedy, striking and splendid
results as were realised in those cases to which we have referred. This is by no means the
question. What we have to keep before our hearts is the fact that, no matter what may be the
condition of the ostensible people of God at any given time, it is the privilege of the
individual man of God to tread the narrow path and reap the precious fruits of simple
obedience to the word of God and the precious commandments of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ.

This, we feel persuaded, is a truth for the day. May we all feel its holy power! We are in
imminent danger of lowering the standard of personal devotedness because of the general
condition. This is a fatal mistake; yea, it is the positive suggestion of the enemy of Christ and
His cause. If Mordecai, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel had acted thus, what
would have been the result?

Ah! no; reader, we have ever to bear in mind that our one great business is to obey and leave
results with God. It may please Him to permit His servants to see striking results, or He may
see fit to allow them to wait for that great day that is coming when there will be no danger of
our being puffed up by seeing any little fruit of our testimony. Be this as it may, it is our plain
and bounden duty to tread that bright and blessed path indicated for us by the commandments
of our precious and adorable Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May God enable us, by the grace
of His Holy Spirit so to do! May we cleave to the truth of God with purpose of heart, utterly
regardless of the opinions of our fellow men who may charge us with narrowness, bigotry,
intolerance and such like. We have just to go on with the Lord.

Deuteronomy 29.
This chapter closes the second grand division of our book. In it we have a most solemn
appeal to the conscience of the congregation. It is what we may term the summing up and
practical application of all that has gone before in this most profound, practical and hortatory
section of the five books of Moses.

"These are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the
children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which He made with them by
Horeb." Allusion has already been made to this passage as one of the many proofs of the
entire distinctness of the book of Deuteronomy from the preceding section of the Pentateuch.
But it claims the reader's attention on another ground. It speaks of a special covenant made
with the children of Israel, in the land of Moab, in virtue of which they were to be brought
into the land. This covenant was as distinct from the covenant made at Sinai, as it was from
the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In a word, it was neither pure law, on the
one hand; nor Pure grace, on the other, but government exercised in sovereign mercy.

It is perfectly clear that Israel could not enter the land on the ground of the Sinai or Horeb
covenant, inasmuch as they had completely failed under it, by making a golden calf. They
forfeited all right and title to the land, and were only saved from instant destruction by
sovereign mercy exercised toward them through the mediation and earnest intercession of
Moses. It is equally plain that they did not enter the land on the ground of the Abrahamic
covenant of grace, for had they done so, they would not have been turned out of it. Neither
the extent nor the duration of their tenure answered to the terms of the covenant made with
their fathers. It was by the terms of the Moab covenant that they entered upon the limited and
temporary possession of the land of Canaan; and inasmuch as they have as signally failed
under the Moab covenant, as under that of Horeb—failed under government as completely as
under law, they are expelled from the land and scattered over the face of the earth, under the
governmental dealings of God.

But not for ever. Blessed be the God of all grace, the seed of Abraham His friend shall yet
possess the land of Canaan, according to the magnificent terms of the original grant. "The
gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Gifts and calling must not be confounded
with law and government. Mount Zion can never be classed with Horeb and Moab. The new
and everlasting covenant of grace, ratified by the precious blood of the Lamb of God, shall be
gloriously fulfilled to the letter, spite of all the powers of earth and hell, men and devils
combined. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with
their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;
because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will
put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and
they shall be to Me a people; and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that
which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." (Heb. 8: 8-13.)

Now the reader must carefully guard against a system of interpretation that would apply this
precious and beautiful passage to the church. It involves a threefold wrong: namely, a wrong
to the truth of God; a wrong to the church; and a wrong to Israel. We have raised a warning
note on this subject, again and again, in the course of our studies on the Pentateuch, because
we feel its immense importance. It is our deep and thorough conviction that no one can
understand, much less expound the word of God who confounds Israel with the Church The
two things are as distinct as heaven and earth; and hence when God speaks of Israel,
Jerusalem and Zion, if we presume to apply those names to the New Testament church, it can
only issue in utter confusion. We believe it to be a simple impossibility to set forth the
mischievous consequences of such a method of handling the word of God. It puts an end to
all accuracy of interpretation and to all that holy precision and divine certainty which
scripture is designed and fitted to impart. It mars the integrity of truth, damages the souls of
God's people, and hinders their progress in divine life and spiritual intelligence. In short, we
cannot too strongly urge upon every one who reads these lines the absolute necessity of
guarding against this fatally false system of handling holy scripture.

We must beware of meddling with the scope of prophecy, or the true application of the
promises of God. We have no warrant whatever to interfere with the divinely appointed
sphere of the covenants. The inspired apostle tells us distinctly, in the ninth of Romans, that
they pertain to Israel; and if we attempt to alienate them from the Old Testament fathers and
transfer them to the church of God, the body of Christ, we may depend upon it, we are doing
what Jehovah-Elohim will never sanction. The church forms no part of the ways of God with
Israel and the earth. Her place, her portion, her privileges, her prospect are all heavenly. She
is called into existence in this time of Christ's rejection, to be associated with Him where He
is now hidden in the heavens, and to share His glory in the coming day. If the reader fully
grasps this grand and glorious truth, it will go far towards helping him to put things into their
right places and leave them there.

We must now turn our attention to the very solemn, practical application of all that has
passed before us to the conscience of every member of the congregation.

"And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the Lord did
before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his
land; the great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles;
yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto
this day.

This is peculiarly solemn. The most astounding miracles and signs may pass before us, and
leave the heart untouched. These things may produce a transient effect upon the mind and
upon the natural feelings; but unless the conscience is brought into the light of the divine
presence, and the heart brought under the immediate action of the truth by the power of the
Spirit of God, there is no permanent result reached. Nicodemus inferred from the miracles of
Christ that he was a teacher come from God; but this was not enough. He had to learn the
deep and wondrous meaning of that mighty sentence, "Ye must be born again." A faith
founded on miracles may leave people unsaved, unblessed, unconverted—awfully
responsible, no doubt, but wholly unconverted. we read, at the close of the second of John's
Gospel, of many who professed to believe on Christ when they saw His miracles; but He did
not commit Himself unto them. There was no divine work, nothing to be trusted. There must
be a new life, a new nature; and miracles and signs cannot impart this. We must be born
again—born of the word and Spirit of God. The new life is communicated by the
incorruptible seed of the Gospel of God, lodged in the heart by the power of the Holy Ghost.
It is not a head belief founded on miracles, but a heart-belief in the Son of God. It is
something which could never be known under law or government. "The gift of God is eternal
life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Precious gift! Glorious source! Blessed channel!
Universal and everlasting praise to the Eternal Trinity!

"And I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes are not waxen old upon you,
and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot"—wonderful clothes! wonderful shoes! God took
care of them and made them last, blessed for ever be His great and Holy Name!—"Ye have
not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink; that ye might know that I am the
Lord your God." They were fed and clothed by God's own gracious hand. "Man did eat
angels' food." They had no need of wine or strong drink, no need of stimulants. "They drank
of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ." That pure stream
refreshed them in the dreary desert, and the heavenly manna sustained them day by day. All
they wanted was the capacity to enjoy the divine provision.

Here alas! like ourselves, they failed. They got tired of the heavenly food, and lusted for other
things. How sad that we should he so like them! How very humbling that we should so fail to
appreciate that precious One whom God has given to be our life, our portion, our object, our
all in all! How terrible to find our hearts craving the wretched vanities and follies of this poor
passing world—its riches, its honours, its distinctions, its pleasures which all perish in the
usage, and which even if they were lasting, are not, for a, moment, to be compared with "the
unsearchable riches of Christ!" may God, in His infinite goodness, "grant us, according to the
riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ
may dwell in our hearts by faith; that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to
comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height: and to
know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fullness
of God." Oh! that this most blessed prayer may be answered in the deep and abiding
experience of the reader and the writer!

"And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of
Bashan"—formidable and much dreaded foes!—"came out against us unto battle, and we
smote them." and had they been ten thousand times as great and as formidable, they would
have proved to be as chaff before the presence of the God of the armies of Israel. "And we
took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to
the half tribe of Manasseh." Will any one dare to compare this with what human history
records respecting the invasion of South America by the Spaniards? Woe be to those who do
so! They will find themselves terribly mistaken. There is this grand and all-important
difference, that Israel had the direct authority of God for what they did to Sihon and Og; the
Spaniards could show no such authority for what they did to the poor ignorant savages of
South America. This alters the case completely. The introduction of God and His authority is
the one perfect answer to every question, the divine solution of every difficulty. May we ever
keep this weighty fact in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts, as a divine antidote
against every infidel suggestion!

"Keep therefore the words of this [the Moab] covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in
all that ye do." Simple obedience to the word of God ever has been, is now, and ever shall be
the deep and real secret of all true prosperity. To the Christian, of course, the prosperity is
not in earthly or material things, but in heavenly and spiritual; and we must never forget that
it is the very height of folly to think of prospering or making progress in the divine life if we
are not yielding an implicit obedience to all the commandments of our blessed and adorable
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask
what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much
fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue
ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept
my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." Here is true Christian prosperity. May we
earnestly long after it, and diligently pursue the proper method of attaining it!

"Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God; your captains of your tribes, your
elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, your little ones"—touching and
interesting fact!—"your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp"—How exquisite, how
deeply affecting the expression "thy stranger!" What a powerful appeal to Israel's heart on
behalf of the stranger!—"From the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water; that thou
shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy
God maketh with thee this day; that he may establish thee today for a people unto himself,
and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy
fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Neither with you only do I make this covenant
and this oath; but with him that standeth here with us this day before the Lord our God, and
also with him that is not here with us this day;—for ye know how we have dwelt in the land
of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by; and ye have seen their
abominations [that is, the objects of their worship, their false gods], and their idols, wood and
stone, silver and gold, which were among them." (Vers. 10-17.)

This earnest appeal is not only general, but also intensely individual. This is very important.
We are ever prone to generalise, and thus miss the application of truth to our individual
conscience. This is a grave mistake, and a most serious loss to our souls. We are, every one
of us, responsible to yield an implicit obedience to the precious commandments of our Lord.
It is thus we enter into the real enjoyment of our relationship, as Moses says to the people,
"that he may establish thee for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God."

Nothing can be more precious. And then it is so very simple. There is no vagueness,
obscurity or mysticism about it. It is simply having His most precious commandments
treasured up in our hearts, acting upon the conscience, and carried out in the life. This is the
true secret of habitually realising our relationship with our Father, and with our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.

For any one to imagine that he can enjoy the blessed sense of intimate relationship, while
living in the habitual neglect of our Lord's commandments is a miserable and mischievous
delusion. "If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love." This is the grand point.
Let us deeply ponder it. "If ye love me keep my commandments." "Not every one that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven." "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven,
the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." "Circumcision is nothing, and
uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God."

These are seasonable words for this day of easy going, self-indulgent, worldly profession.
May they sink down into our ears and into our hearts! May they take full possession of our
whole moral being, and bring forth fruit in our individual history. We feel persuaded of the
need of this practical side of things. We are in imminent danger, while seeking to keep clear
of everything like legality, of running into the opposite evil of carnal laxity. The passages of
holy scripture which we have just quoted—and they are but a few of many—supply the
divine safeguard against both these pernicious and deadly errors. It is blessedly true that we
are brought into the holy relationship of children by the sovereign grace of God, through the
power of His word and Spirit. This one fact cuts up by the roots the noxious weed of legality.

But then surely the relationship has its suited affections, its duties and its responsibilities, the
due recognition of which furnishes the true remedy for the terrible evil of carnal laxity so
prevalent on all hands. If we are delivered from law-works—as, thank God, we are, if we are
true Christians—it is not that we should be good-for-nothing, self-pleasers, but that life-
works might be produced in us, to the glory of Him whose Name we bear, whose we are, and
whom we are bound, by every argument, to love, obey and serve.

May we, beloved reader, earnestly seek to apply our hearts to this practical line of things. We
are imperatively called upon to do so, and we may fully count upon the abundant grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ to enable us to respond to the call, spite of the ten thousand difficulties and
hindrances that lie in our way. Oh! for a deeper work of grace in our souls, a closer walk with
God, a more pronounced discipleship! Let us give ourselves to the earnest pursuit of these
things!

We must now proceed with the lawgiver's solemn appeal. He warns the people to take heed,
"Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth
away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there
should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood."

These searching words are referred to by the inspired apostle in his Epistle to the Hebrews, in
a very emphatic manner. "Looking diligently," he says, "lest any man fail of the grace of God;
lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled."

What weighty words are these! How full of wholesome admonition and warning! They set
forth the solemn responsibility of all Christians. We are all called upon to exercise a holy,
jealous, godly care over each other, which alas! is but little understood or recognised. We are
not all called to be pastors or teachers. The passage just quoted does not refer particularly to
such. It refers to all Christians, and we are bound to attend to it. We hear great complaints, on
all sides, of the sad lack of pastoral care. No doubt there is a great lack of true pastors in the
church of God, as there is of every other gift. This is only what we might expect. How could
it be otherwise? How could we expect a profusion of spiritual gifts in our present miserable
condition? The Spirit is grieved and quenched by our lamentable divisions, our worldliness,
our gross unfaithfulness. Need we then marvel at our deplorable poverty?

But our blessed Lord is full of deep and tender compassion toward us, in the midst of our ruin
and spiritual desolation; and if we only humbled ourselves under His mighty hand, He would
graciously lift us up, and enable us, in many ways, to meet the deficiency of pastoral gift
amongst us. We might, through His precious grace, look, more diligently and lovingly, after
one another, and seek each other's spiritual progress and prosperity in a thousand ways.

Let not the reader imagine, for a, moment, that we mean to give the smallest countenance to
prying officiousness or unwarrantable espionage on the part of Christians. Far away be the
thought! We look upon such things as perfectly insufferable in the church of God. They stand
at the very moral antipodes of that loving, holy, tender, diligent pastoral care of which we
speak, and for which we long.

But does it not strike the reader that, while giving the widest possible berth to these most
contemptible evils to which we have just referred, we might cultivate and exercise a loving
prayerfu