CHAPTER IV.

"Now therefore _hearken_, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the

judgments which I teach you, for to _do_ them, that ye may _live_, and

go in and _possess_ the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth

you."

Here we have very prominently before us the special characteristic of

the entire book of Deuteronomy.--"Hearken" and "do," that ye may

"live" and "possess." This is a universal and abiding principle. It

was true for Israel, and it is true for us. The pathway of life and

the true secret of possession is simple obedience to the holy

commandments of God. We see this all through the inspired volume, from

cover to cover. God has given us His Word, not to speculate upon it or

discuss it, but, that we may obey it. And it is as we, through grace,

yield a hearty and happy obedience to our Father's statutes and

judgments, that we tread the bright pathway of life, and enter into

the reality of all that God has treasured up for us in Christ. "He

that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me;

and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love

him, and will manifest Myself to him."

How precious is this! Indeed, it is unspeakable. It is something quite

peculiar. It would be a very serious mistake to suppose that the

privilege here spoken of is enjoyed by all believers. It is not. It is

only enjoyed by such as yield a loving obedience to the commandments

of our Lord Jesus Christ. It lies within the reach of all, but all do

not enjoy it, because all are not obedient. It is one thing to be a

child, and quite another to be an obedient child; it is one thing to

be saved, and quite another thing to love the Saviour, and delight in

all His most precious precepts.

We may see this continually illustrated in our family circles. There,

for example, are two sons, and one of them only thinks of pleasing

himself, doing his will, gratifying his own desires. He takes no

pleasure in his father's society, does not take any pains to carry out

his father's wishes, knows hardly any thing of his mind, and what he

does know he utterly neglects or despises. He is ready enough to avail

himself of all the benefits which accrue to him from the relationship

in which he stands to his father--ready enough to accept clothes,

books, money--all, in short, that the father gives; but he never seeks

to gratify the father's heart by a loving attention to his will, even

in the smallest matters. The other son is the direct opposite to all

this. He delights in being with his father; he loves his society,

loves his ways, loves his words; he is constantly taking occasion to

carry out his father's wishes, to get him something that he knows will

be agreeable to him. He loves his father, not for his gifts, but for

himself; and he finds his richest enjoyment in being in his father's

company and in doing his will.

Now, can we have any difficulty in seeing how very differently the

father will feel towards those two sons? True, they are both his sons,

and he loves them both, with a love grounded upon the relationship in

which they stand to him; but beside the love of relationship common to

both, there is the love of complacency peculiar to the obedient child.

It is impossible that a father can find pleasure in the society of a

willful, self-indulgent, careless son. Such a son may occupy much of

his thoughts, he may spend many a sleepless night thinking about him

and praying for him, he would gladly spend and be spent for him; but

he is not agreeable to him, does not possess his confidence, cannot be

the depositary of his thoughts.

All this demands the serious consideration of those who really desire

to be acceptable or agreeable to the heart of our heavenly Father and

our Lord Jesus Christ. We may rest assured of this, that obedience is

grateful to God; and "His commandments are not grievous"--nay, they

are the sweet and precious expression of His love, and the fruit and

evidence of the relationship in which He stands to us. And not only

so, but He graciously rewards our obedience by a fuller manifestation

of Himself to our souls, and His dwelling with us. This comes out in

great fullness and beauty in our Lord's reply to Judas, not Iscariot,

for whose question we may be thankful--"'Lord, how is it that Thou

wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?' Jesus answered

and said unto him, 'If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My

Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode

with him.'" (John xiv.)

Here we are taught that it is not a question of the difference between

"the world" and "us," inasmuch as the world knows nothing either of

relationship or obedience, and is therefore in no wise contemplated in

our Lord's words. The world hates Christ, because it does not know

Him. Its language is, "Depart from us; for we desire not the

knowledge of Thy ways." "We will not have this Man to reign over us."

Such is the world, even when polished by civilization, and gilded with

the profession of Christianity. There is, underneath all the gilding,

all the polish, a deep-seated hatred of the Person and authority of

Christ. His sacred, peerless name is tacked on to the world's

religion, at least throughout baptized christendom; but behind the

drapery of religious profession, there lurks a heart at enmity with

God and His Christ.

But our Lord is not speaking of the world in John xiv. He is shut in

with "His own," and it is of them He is speaking. Were He to manifest

Himself to the world, it could only be for judgment and eternal

destruction. But, blessed be His name, He does manifest Himself to His

own obedient children, to those who have His commandments and keep

them, to those who love Him and keep His words.

And, let the reader thoroughly understand that when our Lord speaks of

His commandments, His words, and His sayings, He does not mean the ten

commandments, or law of Moses. No doubt, those ten commandments form a

part of the whole canon of Scripture--the inspired Word of God; but to

confound the law of Moses with the commandments of Christ would be

simply turning things upside down, it would be to confound Judaism

with Christianity--law and grace. The two things are as distinct as

any two things can be, and must be so maintained by all who would be

found in the current of the mind of God.

We are sometimes led astray by the mere sound of words; and hence,

when we meet with the word "commandments," we instantly conclude that

it must needs refer to the law of Moses. But this is a very great and

mischievous mistake. If the reader is not clear and established as to

this, let him close this volume and turn to the first eight chapters

of the epistle to the Romans, and the whole of the epistle to the

Galatians, and read them calmly and prayerfully, as in the very

presence of God, with a mind freed from all theological bias and the

influence of all previous religious training. There he will learn, in

the fullest and clearest manner, that the Christian is not under law

in any way, or for any object whatsoever, either for life, for

righteousness, for holiness, for walk, or for any thing else. In

short, the teaching of the entire New Testament goes to establish,

beyond all question, that the Christian is not under law, not of the

world, not in the flesh, not in his sins. The solid ground of all this

is the accomplished redemption which we have in Christ Jesus, in

virtue of which we are sealed by the Holy Ghost, and thus indissolubly

united to, and inseparably identified with a risen and glorified

Christ; so that the apostle John can say of all believers, all God's

dear children, "_As_ He [Christ] _is, so are we_ in this world." This

settles the whole question, for all who are content to be governed by

holy Scripture. And as to all beside, discussion is worse than

useless.

We have digressed from our immediate subject, in order to meet any

difficulty arising from a misunderstanding of the word "commandments."

The reader cannot too carefully guard against the tendency to confound

the commandments spoken of in John xiv. with the commandments of

Moses, given in Exodus xx. And yet we reverently believe that Exodus

xx. is as truly inspired as John xiv.

And now, ere we finally turn from the subject which has been engaging

us, we would ask the reader to refer, for a few moments, to a piece of

inspired history which illustrates, in a very striking way, the

difference between an obedient and disobedient child of God. He will

find it in Genesis xviii, xix. It is a profoundly interesting study,

presenting a contrast instructive, suggestive, and practical beyond

expression. We are not going to dwell upon it, having in some measure

done so in our "Notes on the Book of Genesis;" but we would merely

remind the reader that he has before him, in these two chapters, the

history of two saints of God. Lot was just as much a child of God as

Abraham. We have no more doubt that Lot is amongst "the spirits of

just men made perfect" than that Abraham is there. This, we think,

cannot be called in question, inasmuch as the inspired apostle Peter

tells us that Lot's "righteous soul was vexed with the filthy

conversation of the wicked."

But mark the grave difference between the two men. The Lord Himself

visited Abraham, sat with him, and partook readily of his hospitality.

This was a high honor indeed, a rare privilege--a privilege which Lot

never knew, an honor to which he never attained. The Lord never

visited him in Sodom; He merely sent His angels, His ministers of

power, the agents of His government. And even they, at first, sternly

refused to enter Lot's house or to partake of his proffered

hospitality. Their withering reply was, "Nay, but we will abide in the

street all night." And when they did enter his house, it was only to

protect him from the lawless violence with which he was surrounded,

and to drag him out of the wretched circumstances into which, for

worldly gain and position, he had plunged himself. Could contrast be

more vivid?

But further, the Lord delighted in Abraham, manifested Himself to him,

opened His mind to him, told him of His plans and purposes--what He

was about to do with Sodom. "Shall I," said He, "hide from Abraham

that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great

and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed

in him? For _I know him, that he will command his children and his

household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do

justice and judgment_, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which

he hath spoken of him."

We could hardly have a more telling illustration of John xiv. 21, 23,

although the scene occurred two thousand years before the words were

uttered. Have we aught like this in the history of Lot? Alas! no. It

could not be. He had no nearness to God, no knowledge of His mind, no

insight into His plans and purposes. How could he? Sunk, as he was, in

the low moral depths of Sodom, how could he know the mind of God?

Blinded by the murky atmosphere which inwrapped the guilty cities of

the plain, how could he see into the future? Utterly impossible. If a

man is mixed up with the world, he can only see things from the

world's stand-point; he can only measure things by the world's

standard, and think of them with the world's thoughts. Hence it is

that the Church, in its Sardis condition, is _threatened_ with the

coming of the Lord as a thief, instead of being _cheered_ with the

hope of His coming as the bright and morning star. If the professing

church has sunk to the world's level--as, alas! she has--she can only

contemplate the future from the world's point of view. This accounts

for the feeling of dread with which the great majority of professing

Christians look at the subject of the Lord's coming. They are looking

for Him as a thief, instead of the blessed Bridegroom of their hearts.

How few there are, comparatively, who _love His appearing_! The great

majority of professors (we grieve to have to pen the words) find their

type in Lot rather than in Abraham. The Church has departed from her

proper ground; she has gone down from her true moral elevation, and

mingled herself with that world which hates and despises her absent

Lord.

Still, thank God, there are "a few names, even in Sardis, which have

not defiled their garments"--a few living stones, amid the smouldering

ashes of lifeless profession--a few lights twinkling amid the moral

gloom of cold, nominal, heartless, worldly Christianity. And not only

so, but in the Laodicean phase of the Church's history, which presents

a still lower and more hopeless condition of things, when the whole

professing body is about to be spued out of the mouth of "the faithful

and true witness"--even at this advanced stage of failure and

departure, those gracious words fall, with soul-stirring power, on the

attentive ear, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if _any man_

hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in _to him_, and will

sup with him, and he with Me."[7]

[7] To apply the solemn address of Christ to the church of Laodicea,

as we sometimes find it done in modern evangelical preaching, to the

case of the sinner, is a great mistake. No doubt, what the preacher

means is right enough, but it is not presented here. It is not Christ

knocking at the door of a sinner's heart, but knocking at the door of

the professing church. What a fact is this! How full of deep and awful

solemnity as regards the church! What an end to come to!--Christ

outside! But what grace, as regards Christ, for He is knocking! He

wants to come in; He is still lingering, in patient grace and

changeless love, ready to come in to any faithful individual heart

that will only open to Him. "If any man"--even one! In Sardis, He

could speak _positively_ of "_a few_;" in Laodicea, He can only speak

_doubtfully_ as to finding _one_. But should there be even one, He

will come in to him, and sup with him. Precious Saviour! Faithful

Lover of our souls! "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and

forever."

Reader, need we wonder that the enemy should seek to mutilate and

misapply the solemn and searching address to the church of

Laodicea--the professing body in the last dreary stage of its history?

We have no hesitation in saying that to apply it _merely_ to the case

of an unconverted soul is to deprive the professing church of one of

the most pertinent, pungent, and powerful appeals within the covers of

the New Testament.

Thus, in the days of professing Christianity, as in the days of the

patriarchs--in the times of the New Testament, as in those of the Old,

we see the same value and importance attached to a hearing ear and an

obedient heart. Abraham, in the plains of Mamre, the pilgrim and the

stranger, the faithful and obedient child of God, tasted the rare

privilege of entertaining the Lord of glory--a privilege which could

not be known by one who had chosen his place and his portion in a

sphere doomed to destruction. So, also, in the days of Laodicean

indifference and boastful pretension, the truly obedient heart is

cheered with the sweet promise of sitting down to sup with Him who is

"the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the

creation of God." In a word, let the condition of things be what it

may, there is no limit to the blessing of the individual soul who will

only hearken to the voice of Christ, and keep His commandments.

Let us remember this. Let it sink down into the very deepest depths of

our moral being. Nothing can rob us of the blessings and privileges

flowing from obedience. The truth of this shines out before our eyes

in every section and on every page of the volume of God. At all times,

in all places, and under all circumstances, the obedient soul was

happy in God, and God was happy in him. It always holds good, whatever

be the character of the dispensation, that, "To this man will I look,

even to him who is of a contrite spirit, and trembles at My word."

Nothing can ever alter or touch this. It meets us in the fourth

chapter of our blessed book of Deuteronomy, in the words with which

this section opens--"Now therefore _hearken_, O Israel, unto _the

statutes_ and unto _the judgments which I teach you_, for _to do_,

that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of

your fathers giveth you." It meets us in those precious words of our

Lord, in John xiv, on which we have been dwelling--"He that hath _My

commandments_ and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me," etc. And

again, "If a man love Me, _he will keep My sayings_."[8] It shines

with peculiar brightness in the words of the inspired apostle

John--"Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence

toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, _because we keep

His commandments_, and _do those things that are pleasing in His

sight_. And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the

name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us

commandment. And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and

He in him." (1 John iii. 21-24.)

[8] There is an interesting difference between the Lord's

"commandments" and "sayings." The former set forth, distinctly and

definitely, what we ought to do; the latter are the expression of His

mind. If I give my child a command, it is the statement of his duty;

and if he loves me, he will delight to do it. But if he has heard me

_say_ I like to see such a thing done, although I have not actually

told him to do it, it will touch my heart much more deeply to see him

go and do that thing in order to gratify me, than if I had given him a

positive command. Now, ought we not to try and please the heart of

Christ? Should we not "labor to be agreeable to Him"? He has made us

accepted; surely we ought to seek, in every possible way, to be

acceptable to Him. He delights in a loving obedience; it was what He

Himself rendered to the Father.--"I delight to do Thy will; yea, _Thy

law_ is within _My heart_." "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." Oh, that we may drink more deeply into the spirit

of Jesus, walk in His blessed footsteps, and render Him a more loving,

devoted, and whole-hearted obedience in all things! Let us earnestly

seek after these things, beloved Christian reader, that His heart may

be gratified, and His name glorified in us, and in our entire

practical career from day to day.

Passages might easily be multiplied, but there is no need. Those which

we have quoted set before us, in the clearest and fullest way

possible, the very highest motive for obedience, namely, its being

agreeable to the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ--well-pleasing to God.

True, we owe a hearty obedience on every ground. "We are not our own;

we are bought with a price." We owe our life, our peace, our

righteousness, our salvation, our everlasting felicity and glory, all

to Him; so that nothing can exceed the moral weight of His claims upon

us for a life of whole-hearted obedience. But above and beyond His

moral claims stands the marvelous fact that His heart is gratified,

His spirit refreshed, by our keeping His commandments and doing those

things that are pleasing in His sight.

Beloved Christian reader, can any thing exceed the moral power of such

a motive as this? Only think of our being privileged to give pleasure

to the heart of our beloved Lord! What sweetness, what interest, what

preciousness, what holy dignity, it imparts to every little act of

obedience to know that it is grateful to the heart of our Father! How

far beyond the legal system is this! It is a most perfect contrast, in

its every phase and every feature. The difference between the legal

system and Christianity is the difference between death and life,

bondage and liberty, condemnation and righteousness, distance and

nearness, doubt and certainty. How monstrous the attempt to amalgamate

these two things--to work them up into one system, as though they were

but two branches from the one stem! What hopeless confusion must be

the result of any such effort! How terrible the effect of seeking to

place souls under the influence of the two things! As well might we

attempt to combine the sun's meridian beams with the profound darkness

of midnight. Looked at from a divine and heavenly stand-point, judged

in the light of the New Testament, measured by the standard of the

heart of God, the mind of Christ, there could not be a more hideous

anomaly than that which presents itself to our view in christendom's

effort to combine law and grace. And as to the dishonor done to God,

the wound inflicted on the heart of Christ, the grief and despite

offered to the Holy Ghost, the damage done to the truth of God, the

grievous wrong perpetrated upon the beloved lambs and sheep of the

flock of Christ, the terrible stumbling-block thrown in the way of

both Jew and Gentile, and, in short, the serious injury done to the

entire testimony of God during the last eighteen centuries, the

judgment-seat of Christ can alone declare it; and oh, what an awful

declaration that will be! It is too tremendous to contemplate.

But there are many pious souls throughout the length and breath of the

professing church who conscientiously believe that the only possible

way to produce obedience, to attain to practical holiness, to secure a

godly walk, to keep our evil nature in order, is to put people under

the law. They seem to fear that if souls are taken from under the

school-master, with his rod and rudiments, there is an end to all

moral order. In the absence of the authority of law, they look for

nothing but hopeless confusion. To take away the ten commandments as a

rule of life, is, in their judgment, to remove those grand moral

embankments which the hand of God has erected to stem the tide of

human lawlessness.

We can fully understand their difficulty. Most of us have had to

encounter it, in one shape or another. But we must seek to meet it in

God's way. It is of no possible use to cling, with fond tenacity, to

our own notions, in the face of the plainest and most direct teaching

of holy Scripture. We must, sooner or later, give up all such notions.

Nothing will, nothing can, stand but the Word of our God--the voice of

the Holy Ghost--the authority of Scripture--the imperishable teachings

of that peerless revelation which our Father has, in His infinite

grace, put into our hands. To that we must listen, with profound and

reverent attention; to it we must bow down, with unquestioning and

unqualified obedience. We must not presume to hold a single opinion

of our own: God's opinion must be ours. We must clear out all the

rubbish, which, by the influence of mere human teaching, has

accumulated in our minds, and have every chamber thoroughly cleansed

by the action of the Word and Spirit of God, and thoroughly ventilated

by the pure and bracing air of the new creation.

Furthermore, we must learn to confide implicitly in every word that

proceedeth out of the mouth of God. We must not reason, we must not

judge, we must not discuss: we must simply believe. If man speaks, if

it be a mere question of human authority, then indeed we must judge,

because man has no right to command. We must judge what he says, not

by our own opinions, or by any human standard, creed, or confession of

faith, but by the Word of God. But when Scripture speaks, all

discussion is closed.

This is an unspeakable consolation. It is not within the compass of

human language to set forth adequately the value or the moral

importance of this great fact. It delivers the soul completely from

the blinding power of self-will on the one hand, and of mere

subjection to human authority on the other. It brings us into direct,

personal, living contact with the authority of God; and this is life,

peace, liberty, moral power, true elevation, divine certainty, and

holy stability. It puts an end to doubts and fears, to all the

fluctuations of mere human opinion, so perplexing to the mind, so

torturing to the heart. We are no longer tossed about with every wind

of doctrine, every wave of human thought. _God has spoken._ This is

quite enough. Here the heart finds its deep and settled repose. It has

made its escape from the stormy ocean of theological controversy, and

cast anchor in the blessed haven of divine revelation.

Hence, therefore, we would say to the pious reader of these lines, if

you would know the mind of God on the subject before us--if you would

know the ground, character, and object of Christian obedience, you

must simply listen to the voice of holy Scripture. And what does it

say? Does it send us back to Moses, to teach us how to live? Does it

send us back "to the palpable mount," in order to secure holy living?

Does it put us under the law, to keep the flesh in order? Hear what it

says. Yes; hearken and ponder. Take the following words from Romans

vi.--words of emancipating, holy power: "For sin shall not have

dominion over you; for _ye are not under law_, but under grace."

Now, we most earnestly entreat the reader to let these words enter

into the very depths of his soul. The Holy Ghost declares, in the

simplest and most emphatic manner, that Christians are not under law.

If we were under law, sin would have dominion over us. Indeed, we

invariably find, in Scripture, that "sin," "law," and "flesh" are

linked together. A soul under law cannot possibly enjoy full

deliverance from the dominion of sin; and in this we can see at a

glance the fallacy of the whole legal system, and the utter delusion

of seeking to produce holy living by putting souls under the law. It

is simply putting them into the very place where sin can lord it over

them, and rule them with absolute sway. How is it possible, then, to

produce holiness by law? It is absolutely hopeless.

But let us turn, for a moment, to Romans vii. "Wherefore, my brethren,

ye also"--and all true believers, all God's people--"are become _dead

to the law_ by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to

another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring

forth fruit unto God." Now, it is perfectly plain that we cannot be

"dead to the law" and "under the law" at the same time. It may perhaps

be argued that the expression, "dead to the law" is merely a figure.

Well, supposing it be so, we ask, A figure of what? Surely it cannot

be a figure of persons under law. Nay, it is a figure of the very

opposite.

And let us mark particularly, the apostle does not say the law is

dead. Nothing of the kind. The law is not dead, but we are dead to it.

We have passed, by the death of Christ, out of the sphere to which the

law belongs. Christ took our place; He was made under the law; and, on

the cross, He was made sin for us. But He died for us, and we died in

Him; and He has thus taken us clean out of the position in which we

were under the dominion of sin, and under law, and introduced us into

an entirely new position, in living association and union with

Himself, so that it can be said. "As He is, so are we in this world."

Is He under law? Assuredly not. Well, neither are we. Has sin any

claim upon Him? None whatever. Neither has it any upon us. We are, as

to our standing, as He is in the presence of God; and therefore to put

us back under law would be a complete overturning of the entire

Christian position, and a most positive and flagrant contradiction of

the very plainest statements of holy Scripture.

Now, we would, in all simplicity and godly sincerity, ask, How could

holy living be promoted by removing the very foundation of

Christianity? How could indwelling sin be subdued by putting us under

the very system that gave sin power over us? How could true Christian

obedience ever be produced by flying in the face of holy Scripture? We

confess we cannot conceive any thing more thoroughly preposterous.

Surely a divine end can only be gained by pursuing a divine way. Now,

God's way of giving us deliverance from the dominion of sin is by

delivering us from under law; and hence all those who teach that

Christians are under law are plainly at issue with God. Tremendous

consideration for all who desire to be teachers of the law!

But let us hear further words from the seventh chapter of Romans. The

apostle goes on to say, "For _when we were in the flesh_, the motions

of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth

fruit unto _death_. But now _we are delivered from the law_, being

dead [or, having died] to that wherein we were held: _that we should

serve_ in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the

letter."[9]

[9] The rendering of Romans vii. 6 in our authorized version is

manifestly erroneous, inasmuch as it teaches that the law is dead,

which is not true. "The law is good, if a man use it lawfully." (1

Tim. i.) And again, "The law is holy." (Rom. vii.) Scripture never

teaches that the law is dead, but it teaches that the believer is dead

to the law--a totally different thing.

But further, ἀποθανοντες cannot possibly apply to the law,

as any well-taught school-boy can see at a glance; it applies to

us--believers. Were it the law, the word would be

ἀποθανοντος.

Here, again, all is as clear as a sunbeam. What means the expression,

"When we _were_ in the flesh"? Does it--can it mean that we _are_

still in that condition? Clearly not. If I were to say, When I _was_

in London, would any one understand that I am in London still? The

thought is absurd.

But what does the apostle mean by the expression, "When we were in the

flesh"? He simply refers to a thing of the past--to a condition that

no longer obtains. Are believers, then, not in the flesh? So Scripture

emphatically declares. But does this mean that they are not in the

body? Assuredly not. They are in the body as to the fact of their

existence, but not in the flesh as to the ground of their standing

before God.

In chapter viii. we have the most distinct statement of this

point.--"So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. _But ye

are not in the flesh_, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of

God dwell in you." Here we have the statement of a most solemn fact,

and the setting forth of a most precious, glorious privilege. "They

that are in the flesh _cannot please God_." They may be very moral,

very amiable, very religious, very benevolent; but they cannot please

God. Their entire position is false. The source whence all the streams

flow is corrupt; the root and stem whence all the branches emanate are

rotten--hopelessly bad. They cannot produce a single atom of good

fruit--fruit that God can accept. "They cannot please God." They must

get into an entirely new position; they must have a new life, new

motives, new objects--in a word, they must be a new creation. How

solemn is all this! Let us weigh it thoroughly, and see if we

understand the apostle's words.

But on the other hand, mark the glorious privilege of all true

believers. "_Ye are not in the flesh._" Believers are no longer in a

position in which they cannot please God. They have a new nature--a

new life, every movement, every outflow, of which is agreeable to God.

The very feeblest breathing of the divine life is precious to God. Of

this life, the Holy Ghost is the power, Christ the object, glory the

goal, heaven the home. All is divine, and therefore perfect. True, the

believer is liable to err, prone in himself to wander, capable of

sinning. In him (that is, in his flesh,) dwelleth no good thing. But

his _standing_ is based on the eternal stability of the grace of God,

and his _state_ is met by the divine provision which that grace has

made for him in the precious atonement and all-prevailing advocacy of

our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus he is forever delivered from that terrible

system in which the prominent figures are, "Flesh," "Law," "Sin,"

"Death"--melancholy group, most surely!--and he is brought into that

glorious scene in which the prominent figures are, "Life," "Liberty,"

"Grace," "Peace," "Righteousness," "Holiness," "Glory," "Christ." "For

_ye are not come_ to the mount that might be touched"--that is, the

palpable mount--"and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and

darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of

words; which voice they that heard, entreated that the word should not

be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was

commanded, 'And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be

stoned, or thrust through with a dart:' and so terrible was the sight,

that Moses said, 'I exceedingly fear and quake:') but _ye are come_

unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly

Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, the general

assembly, the church of the first-born [ones] which are written in

heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men

made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to

the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than Abel." (Heb.

xii.)

Thus we have endeavored to meet the difficulty of any conscientious

reader who up to the moment in which he opened this volume had

cherished the conviction that it is only by putting believers under

the law that practical holiness and true obedience can be attained. We

trust he has followed us through the line of Scripture evidence which

we have laid before him. If so, he will see that to place believers in

such a position is to do away with the very foundations of

Christianity--to abandon grace--to give up Christ--to go back to the

flesh, in which we cannot please God, and to place ourselves under the

curse. In short, the legal system of men is diametrically opposed to

the teaching of the entire New Testament. It was against this system

and its upholders that the blessed apostle Paul, during his whole

life, ever testified. He absolutely abhorred it, and continually

denounced it. The law-teachers were ever seeking to sap and undermine

his blessed labors, and subvert the souls of his beloved children in

the faith. It is impossible to read his burning sentences in the

epistle to the Galatians, his withering references in his epistle to

the Philippians, or his solemn warnings in the epistle to the Hebrews,

and not see how intense was his abhorrence of the whole legal system

of the law-teachers, and how bitterly he wept over the ruins of the

testimony so dear to his large, loving, devoted heart.

But it is possible that after all we have written, and notwithstanding

the full tide of Scripture evidence to which we have called the

reader's attention, he may still feel disposed to ask, Is there not a

danger of unholy laxity and levity if the restraining power of the law

be removed? To this we reply, God is wiser than we are. He knows best

how to cure laxity and levity, and how to produce the right sort of

obedience. He tried the law, and what did it do? It worked wrath; it

caused the offense to abound; it developed "the motions of sins;" it

brought in death; it was the strength of sin; it deprived the sinner

of all power; it slew him; it was condemnation; it cursed all who had

to do with it--"As many as are of the works of the law are under the

curse;" and all this, not because of any defect in the law, but

because of man's total inability to keep it.

Is it not plain to the reader that neither life nor righteousness nor

holiness nor true Christian obedience could ever be attained under

law? Is it possible, after all that has passed in review before us,

that he can have a single question, a single doubt, a single

difficulty? We trust not. No one who is willing to bow down to the

teaching and authority of the New Testament can adhere to the legal

system for one hour.

However, ere we turn from this weighty and all-important subject, we

shall place before the reader a passage or two of Scripture in which

the moral glories of Christianity shine forth with peculiar lustre, in

vivid contrast to the entire Mosaic economy.

First of all, let us take that familiar passage at the opening of the

eighth of Romans, "There is therefore now _no condemnation_ to them

which are _in Christ Jesus_. For the law of the spirit of life in

Christ Jesus _hath made me free_ from the law of sin and death. For

what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God

sending His own Son _in the likeness_ of sinful flesh, and for sin,

condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness [δικαίωμα]

of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but

after the Spirit." (Ver. 1-4.)

Now, we must bear in mind that verse 1 sets forth the _standing_ of

every Christian--his _position_ before God. He is "in Christ Jesus."

This settles every thing. He is not in the flesh; he is not under law;

he is absolutely and eternally "in Christ Jesus." Hence there is,

there can be, no condemnation. The apostle is not speaking of or

referring to our _walk_ or our _state_. If he were, he could not

possibly speak of "no condemnation." The most perfect Christian walk

that ever was exhibited, the most perfect Christian state that ever

was attained, would afford some ground for judgment and condemnation.

There is not a Christian on the face of the earth who has not daily to

judge his state and his walk--his moral condition and his practical

ways. How, then, could "no condemnation" ever stand connected with, or

be based upon, Christian walk? Utterly impossible. In order to be free

from all condemnation, we must have what is divinely perfect, and no

Christian walk is or ever was that. Even a Paul had to withdraw his

words (Acts xxiii. 5.). He repented of having written a letter (2 Cor.

vii. 8.). A perfect walk and a perfect state were only found in One.

In all beside--even the holiest and best, failure is found.

Hence, therefore, the second clause of Romans viii. 1 must be

rejected: it is not Scripture. This, we think, would be seen by any

one really taught of God, apart from all question of mere criticism.

Any spiritual mind would detect the incongruity between the words "no

condemnation" and "walk." The two things cannot be made to harmonize.

And here, we doubt not, is just where thousands of pious souls have

been plunged into difficulty as to this really magnificent and

emancipating passage. The joyful sound, "No condemnation," has been

robbed of its deep, full, and blessed significance by a clause

introduced by some scribe or copyist whose feeble vision was doubtless

dazzled by the brightness of that free, absolute, sovereign grace

which shines in the opening statement of the chapter. How often have

we heard such words as these!--"Oh, yes; I know there is no

condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus; but that is if they

walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Now, I cannot say that

I walk thus. I long to do so, and I mourn over my failure. I would

give worlds to be able to walk more perfectly; but, alas! alas! I have

to judge myself--my state, my walk, my ways--each day, each hour. This

being so, I dare not apply to myself the precious words, 'no

condemnation.' I hope to be able to do so some day, when I have made

more progress in personal holiness; but in my present state, I should

deem it the very height of presumption to appropriate to myself the

precious truth contained in the first clause of Romans viii."

Such thoughts as these have passed through the minds of most of us, if

they have not been clothed in words. But the simple and conclusive

answer to all such legal reasonings is found in the fact that the

second clause of Romans viii. 1 is not Scripture at all, but a very

misleading interpolation, foreign to the spirit and genius of

Christianity, opposed to the whole line of argument in the context

where it occurs, and utterly subversive of the solid peace of the

Christian. It is a fact well known to all who are conversant with

biblical criticism, that all the leading authorities are agreed in

rejecting the second clause of Romans viii. 1.[10] And in this, it is

simply a matter of criticism confirming, as all sound criticism must

do, the conclusion at which a really spiritual mind would arrive

without any knowledge of criticism at all.

[10] It may be that the reader feels a little jealous of any

interference with our excellent English Bible. He may, like many

others, feel disposed to say, "How is an uneducated man to know what

is Scripture and what is not? Must he depend upon scholars and critics

to give him certainty on so grave and important a question? If so, is

it not the same old story of looking to human authority to confirm the

Word of God?" By no means. It is a totally different thing. We all

know that all copies and translations must be, in some points,

imperfect, as being human; but we believe that the same grace which

gave the Word in the original Hebrew and Greek languages, has most

marvelously watched over our English translation, so that a poor man,

at the back of a mountain, may rest assured that he possesses in his

common English Bible the revelation of the mind of God. It is

wonderful, after all the labors of scholars and critics, how few

passages, comparatively, have had to be touched; and not one affecting

any foundation-doctrine of Christianity. God, who graciously gave us

the holy Scriptures at the first, has watched over them and preserved

them to His Church in a most wonderful manner. Moreover, He has seen

fit to make use of the labors of scholars and critics, from age to

age, to clear the sacred text of errors which, through the infirmity

attaching to all human agency, had crept into it. Should these

corrections shake our confidence in the integrity of Scripture as a

whole? or lead us to doubt that we possess, in very deed, the Word of

God? Nay, rather should they lead us to bless God for His goodness in

watching over His Word in order to preserve it in its integrity for

His Church.

But in addition to all that has been advanced in reference to this

question, we cannot but think that the occurrence of the clause, "who

walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit," in verse 4, affords

abundant evidence of its misplacement in verse 1. We cannot, for a

moment, admit the thought of redundancy in holy Scripture. Now, in

verse 4 it _is_ a question of walk--a question of our fulfilling "the

righteousness [mark the word--δικαίωμα] of the law," and

hence the clause is in its right, because divinely fitted, place. A

person who walks in the Spirit--as every Christian ought--fulfills the

righteousness of the law. Love is the fulfilling of the law; and love

will lead us to do what the ten commandments could never effect,

namely, to love our enemies. No lover of holiness, no advocate of

practical righteousness, need ever be the least afraid of losing aught

by abandoning the legal ground, and taking his place on the elevated

platform of true Christianity--by turning from Mount Sinai to Mount

Zion--by passing from Moses to Christ. No; he only reaches a higher

source, a deeper spring, a wider sphere of holiness, righteousness,

and practical obedience.

And then, if any one should feel disposed to ask, Does not the line of

argument which we have been pursuing tend to rob the law of its

characteristic glory? We reply, Most assuredly not. So far from this,

the law was never so magnified, never so vindicated, never so

established, never so glorified, as by that precious work which forms

the imperishable foundation of all the privileges, the blessings, the

dignities, and the glories of Christianity. The blessed apostle

anticipates and answers this very question in the earlier part of his

epistle to the Romans. "Do we then," he says, "make void the law

through faith? Far be the thought; yea, we establish the law." How

could the law be more gloriously vindicated, honored, and magnified

than in the life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ? Will any one

seek, for a moment, to maintain the extravagant notion that it is

magnifying the law to put Christians under it? We fondly trust the

reader will not. Ah! no; all this line of things must be completely

abandoned by those whose privilege it is to walk in the light of the

new creation; who know Christ as their life and Christ as their

righteousness, Christ their sanctification, Christ their great

exemplar, Christ their model, Christ their all and in all; who find

their motive for obedience, not in the fear of the curses of a broken

law, but in the love of Christ, according to those exquisitely beautiful

words, "The love of Christ"--not the law of Moses--"constraineth

us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all

dead. And He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth

live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose

again." (2 Cor. v.)

Could the law ever produce aught like this? Impossible. But, blessed

forever be the God of all grace, "what the law could not do," not

because it was not holy, just, and good, but "in that it was weak

through the flesh"--the workman was all right, but the material was

rotten, and nothing could be made of it; but "God sending His own Son

in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the

flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,

who," as risen with Christ, linked with Him by the Holy Ghost, in the

power of a new and everlasting life, "walk not after the flesh, but

after the Spirit."

This, and only this, is true, practical Christianity; and if the

reader will turn to the second of Galatians, he will find another of

those fine, glowing utterances of the blessed apostle, setting forth,

with divine force and fullness, the special glory of Christian life

and walk. It is in connection with his faithful rebuke of the apostle

Peter at Antioch, when that beloved and honored servant of Christ,

through his characteristic weakness, had been led to step down, for a

moment, from the elevated moral ground on which the gospel of the

grace of God places the soul. We cannot do better than quote the

entire paragraph for the reader: every sentence of it is pregnant with

spiritual power.

"But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him _to the face_."

He did not go behind his back, to disparage and depreciate him in the

view of others, even though "he was to be blamed. For before that

certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they

were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were

of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him,

insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth

of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a

Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why

compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews

by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not

justified by works of law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we

have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith

of Christ, and not by works of law; for by works of law shall no flesh

be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we

ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of

sin? God forbid [or, Far be the thought--μη γενοιτο.]. For if

I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a

transgressor." For if the things were right, why destroy them? and if

they were wrong, why build them again? "For I, through law, am _dead

to law_, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ:

nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life

which I now live in the flesh, I live [not by the law, as a rule of

life, but] by the faith of the Son of God, _who loved me_, and gave

_Himself for me_. I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if

righteousness come by law, then Christ is dead in vain [or, has died

for nothing--δωρεὰν.]." (Gal. ii. 11-21.)

Here, then, we have one of the very finest statements of the truth as

to practical Christianity any where to be found. But what specially

claims our attention just now is, the very marked and beautiful way in

which the gospel of God opens up the path of the true believer between

the two fatal errors of legality on the one side and carnal laxity on

the other. Verse 19, in the passage just quoted, contains the divine

remedy for both these deadly evils. To all--whoever or wherever they

are--who would seek to put the Christian under the law, in any shape

or for any object whatsoever, our apostle exclaims, in the ears of

dissembling Jews, with Peter at their head, and as an answer to all

the law-teachers of every age, "_I am dead to law_."

What can the law have to say to a dead man? Nothing. The law applies

to a living man, to curse him and kill him because he has not kept it.

It is a very grave mistake indeed to teach that the law is dead or

abolished. It is nothing of the sort. It is alive in all its force, in

all its stringency, in all its majesty, in all its unbending dignity.

It would be a very serious mistake to say that the law of England

against murder is dead; but if a man is dead, the law no longer

applies to him, inasmuch as he has passed entirely out of its range.

But how is the believer dead to law? The apostle replies, "I through

law am dead to law." The law had brought the sentence of death into

his conscience, as we read in Romans vii, "I was alive without the

law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And

the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be into death.

For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it

slew me."

But there is more than this. The apostle goes on to say, "I am

crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ

liveth in me." And here is the triumphant answer of the Christian to

those who say that inasmuch as the Mosaic law is abrogated, there is

no longer any demand for the legal restraint under which the Jews were

called to live. To all who would seek liberty for self-indulgence, the

answer is, "I am dead to law, [not that I might give a loose rein to

the flesh, but] that I might live unto God."

Thus nothing can be more complete, nothing more morally beautiful,

than the answer of true Christianity to legality on the one hand and

licentiousness on the other. Self crucified; sin condemned; new life

in Christ; a life to be lived to God; a life of faith in the Son of

God; the motive-spring of that life, the constraining love of

Christ--what can exceed this? Will any one, in view of the moral

glories of Christianity, contend for putting believers under the law,

putting them back into the flesh--back into the old creation--back to

the sentence of death in the conscience--back to bondage, darkness,

distance, fear of death, condemnation?

Is it possible that any one who has ever tasted, even in the very

feeblest measure, the heavenly sweetness of God's most blessed gospel,

can accept the wretched mongrel system, composed of half law and half

grace, which christendom offers to the soul? How terrible to find the

children of God--members of the body of Christ--temples of the Holy

Ghost--robbed of their glorious privileges, and burdened with a heavy

yoke, which, as Peter says, "neither our fathers nor we were able to

bear." We earnestly entreat the Christian reader to consider what has

been placed before him. Search the Scriptures; and if you find these

things to be so, then fling aside forever the grave-clothes in which

christendom inwraps its deluded votaries, and walk in the liberty

wherewith Christ makes His people free; tear off the bandage with

which it covers the eyes of men, and gaze on the moral glories which

shine with such heavenly brilliancy in the gospel of the grace of God.

And then let us prove, by a holy, happy, gracious walk and

conversation, that grace can do what law never could. Let our

practical ways from day to day, in the midst of the scenes,

circumstances, relationships, and associations in which we are called

to live, be the most convincing reply to all who contend for the law

as a rule of life.

Finally, let it be our earnest, loving desire and aim to seek, in so

far as in us lies, to lead all the dear children of God into a clearer

knowledge of their standing and privileges in a risen and glorified

Christ. May the Lord send out His light and His truth, in the power

of the Holy Ghost, and gather His beloved people around Himself, to

walk in the joy of His salvation, in the purity and light of His

presence, and to wait for His coming.

* * * * *

We do not attempt to offer any apology for what may perhaps appear to

some of our readers to be a very lengthened digression from the fourth

chapter of Deuteronomy. The fact is, we have been led into what we

judge to be a very needed line of practical truth by the very first

verse of the chapter, as quoted at the opening of this section. We

felt it absolutely necessary, in speaking of the weighty question of

obedience, to seek to place it on its true basis. If Israel was called

to "hearken and do," how much more are we, who are so richly

blessed--yea, "blessed with _all_ spiritual blessings in the

heavenlies in Christ Jesus." We are called to obedience, even to the

obedience of Jesus Christ, as we have it in 1 Peter i, "Elect

according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through

sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the

blood of Jesus Christ." We are called to the very same character of

obedience as that which marked the life of our blessed Lord Jesus

Christ Himself. Of course, in Him there was no hindering influence as,

alas! there is in us; but as to the character of the obedience, it is

the same.

This is an immense privilege. We are called to walk in the footsteps

of Jesus. "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to

walk even as He walked." Now, in pondering the path of our Lord, in

considering His marvelous life, there is one point which demands our

profound and reverent attention--a point which connects itself, in a

very special manner, with the book of Deuteronomy--and that is, the

way in which He ever used the Word of God--the place which He ever

gave to the holy Scriptures. This we consider to be a subject of the

last possible importance at the present moment. It holds a prominent

place throughout the lovely book with which we are at present engaged.

Indeed, as we have already remarked, it characterizes the book, and

marks it off from the three books which precede it in the divine

canon. We shall find proofs and illustrations of this in abundance as

we pass along. Every where, the Word of God gets its own paramount

place, as the only rule, the only standard, the only authority, for

man. It meets him in every position, in every relationship, in every

sphere of action, and in every stage of his moral and spiritual

history. It tells him what he ought to do, and what he ought not. It

furnishes him with ample guidance in every difficulty. It descends, as

we shall see, to the most minute details--such details, indeed, as

fill us with amazement to think that the High and Mighty One that

inhabiteth eternity could occupy Himself with them--to think that the

Omnipotent Creator and Sustainer of the vast universe could stoop to

legislate about a bird's nest. (Chap. xxii. 6.)

Such is the Word of God--that peerless revelation--that perfect and

inimitable volume which stands alone in the history of literature. And

we may say that one special charm of the book of Deuteronomy--one

peculiar feature of interest is, the way in which it exalts the Word

of God, and enforces upon us the holy and happy duty of unqualified

and unhesitating obedience.

Yes; we repeat and would fervently emphasize the words--unqualified

and unhesitating obedience. We would have these wholesome words

sounded in the ears of Christian professors throughout the length and

breadth of the earth. We live in a day specially marked by the setting

up of man's reason, man's judgment, man's will; in short, we live in

what the inspired apostle calls "man's day." On all hands we are

encountered by lofty and boastful words about human reason, and the

right of every man to judge and reason and think for himself. The

thought of being absolutely and completely governed by the authority

of holy Scripture is treated with sovereign contempt by thousands of

men who are the religious guides and teachers of the professing

church. For any one to assert his reverent belief in the plenary

inspiration, the all-sufficiency, and the absolute authority of

Scripture, is quite sufficient to stamp him as an ignorant,

narrow-minded man, if not a semi-lunatic, in the judgment of some who

occupy the very highest position in the professing church. In our

universities, our colleges, and our schools, the moral glory of the

Divine Volume is fast fading away, and instead thereof our young

people are led and taught to walk in the light of science--the light

of human reason. The Word of God itself is impiously placed at the bar

of man's judgment, and reduced to the level of the human

understanding. Every thing is rejected which soars beyond man's feeble

vision.

Thus the Word of God is virtually set aside. For, clearly, if

Scripture is to be submitted to human judgment, it ceases to be the

Word of God. It is the very height of folly to think of submitting a

divine and therefore perfect revelation to any tribunal whatsoever.

Either God has given us a revelation or He has not. If He has, that

revelation must be paramount, supreme, above and beyond all question,

absolutely unquestionable, unerring, divine. To its authority all must

bow down, without a single question. To suppose for a moment that man

is competent to judge the Word of God, able to pronounce upon what is

or what is not worthy of God to say or to write, is simply to put man

in God's place. And this is precisely what the devil is aiming at,

although many of his instruments are not aware that they are helping

on his designs.

But the question is continually cropping up before us, "How can we be

sure that we have, in our English Bible, the _bona-fide_ revelation of

God?" We reply, God can make us sure of it. If He does not, no one

can: if He does, no one need. This is our ground, and we deem it

unassailable. We should like to ask all those who start this infidel

question (for such we must honestly call it), Supposing that God

cannot give us the absolute certainty that, in our common English

Bible, we do actually possess His own most precious, priceless

revelation, then whither are we to turn? Of course, in such a weighty

matter, on which momentous and eternal consequences hang, a single

doubt is torture and misery. If I am not sure of possessing a

revelation from God, I am left without a single ray of light for my

path; I am plunged in darkness, gloom, and mental misery. What am I to

do? Can man help me by his learning, his wisdom, or his reason? Can he

satisfy my soul by his decision? Can he solve my difficulty, answer my

question, remove my doubt, dissipate my fear? Is man better able than

God to give me the assurance that God has spoken?

The idea is absolutely monstrous--monstrous in the very highest

degree. The plain fact is this, reader: If God cannot give us the

certainty that He has spoken, we are left without His word altogether.

If we must turn to human authority, call it what you please, in order

to guarantee the Word of God to our souls, then that authority is

higher and greater, safer and more trustworthy, than the Word which it

guarantees. Blessed be God, it is not so. He has spoken to our hearts.

He has given us His Word, and that Word carries its own credentials

with it. It stands in no need of letters of commendation from a human

hand. What! turn to man to accredit the Word of the living

God!--apply to a worm to give us the assurance that our God has spoken

to us in His Word! Away forever with the blasphemous notion, and let

our whole moral being--all our ransomed powers adore the matchless

grace, the sovereign mercy, that has not left us to grope in the

darkness of our own minds, or to be bewildered by the conflicting

opinions of men; but has given us His own perfect and most precious

revelation, the divine light of His Word, to guide our feet into the

path of certainty and peace, to enlighten our understandings and

comfort our hearts, to preserve us from every form of doctrinal error

and moral pravity, and finally, to conduct us into the rest,

blessedness, and glory of His own heavenly kingdom. All praise to His

name throughout the everlasting ages!

But we must bear in mind that the marvelous privilege of which we have

spoken--and truly it is most marvelous--is the basis of a most solemn

responsibility. If it be true that God has, in His infinite goodness,

given us a perfect revelation of His mind, then what should be our

attitude in reference to it? Are we to sit in judgment upon it? Are we

to discuss, argue, or reason? Alas! for all who do so. They will find

themselves on terribly dangerous ground. The only true, the only

proper, the only safe attitude for man in the presence of God's

revelation is, obedience--simple, unqualified, hearty obedience. This

is the only right thing for us, and this is the thing which is

pleasing to God. The path of obedience is the path of sweetest

privilege, rest, and blessing. This path can be trodden by the merest

babe in Christ, as well as by the "young men" and the "fathers." There

is the one straight and blessed path for all. Narrow it is, no doubt;

but, oh! it is safe, bright, and elevated. The light of our Father's

approving countenance ever shines upon it; and in this blessed light

the obedient soul finds the most triumphant answer to all the

reproaches of those who talk, in high-sounding words, about breadth of

mind, liberality of thought, freedom of opinion, progress,

development, and such like. The obedient child of God can afford to

put up with all this, because he feels and knows, he believes and is

sure, that he is treading a path indicated for him by the precious

Word of God. He is not careful to explain or apologize, feeling

assured that those who object, oppose, and reproach are utterly

incapable of understanding or appreciating his explanation. And,

moreover, he feels that it is no part of his duty to explain or

defend. He has but to obey; and as for objectors and opposers, he has

but to refer them to his Master.

This makes it all so simple, so plain, so certain. It delivers the

heart from a thousand difficulties and perplexities. If we were to set

about replying to all who undertake to raise questions or start

difficulties, our whole life would be spent in the profitless task. We

may rest assured the best possible answer to all infidel objectors is,

the steady, earnest, onward path of unqualified obedience. Let us

leave infidels, skeptics, and rationalists to their own worthless

theories, while we, with unswerving purpose and firm step, pursue that

blessed path of childlike obedience which, like the shining light,

shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Thus shall our minds be

kept tranquil, for the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,

shall garrison our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. When the

Word of God, which is settled forever in heaven, is hidden deep down

in our hearts, there will be a calm certainty, a holy stability, and a

marked progress in our Christian career, which will afford the best

possible answer to the gainsayer, the most effectual testimony to the

truth of God, and the most convincing evidence and solid confirmation

to every wavering heart.

The chapter before us abounds in the most solemn exhortation to

Israel, grounded upon the fact of their having heard the word of God.

Thus in the second verse we have a sentence or two which should be

deeply engraved on the tablets of every Christian's heart.--"Ye shall

not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish

aught from it."

These words involve two grand facts with regard to the Word of God. It

is not to be added to, for the simplest of all reasons, because there

is nothing lacking; it is not to be diminished, because there is

nothing superfluous. Every thing we want is there, and nothing that is

there can be done without. "Add thou not unto His words, lest He

reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." To suppose that aught can be

added to God's Word is, upon the very face of it, to deny that it is

God's Word; and, on the other hand, if we admit that it is the Word of

God, then it follows of necessity (blessed necessity!) that we could

not afford to do without a single sentence of it. There would be a

blank in the volume which no human hand could fill up, if a single

clause were dropped from its place in the canon. We have all we want,

and hence we must not add: we want it all, and hence we must not

diminish.

How deeply important is all this, in this day of human tampering with

the Word of God! How blessed to know that we have in our possession a

book so divinely perfect that not a sentence, not a clause, not a

word, can be added to it. We speak not, of course, of translations or

versions, but of the Scriptures as originally given of God--His own

perfect revelation. To this, not a touch can be given. As well might a

human finger have dared to touch the creation of God, on the morning

when all the sons of God sang together, as to add a jot or a tittle to

the inspired Word of God. And on the other hand, to take away a jot or

a tittle from it, is to say that the Holy Ghost has penned what was

unnecessary. Thus the holy volume is divinely guarded at both ends. It

is securely fenced round about, so that no rude hand should touch its

sacred contents.

What! it may be said in reply, do you mean to say that every sentence,

from the opening lines of Genesis to the close of Revelation, is

divinely inspired? Yes; that is precisely the ground we take. We

claim for every line between the covers of the volume a divine origin.

To question this is to attack the very pillars of the Christian faith.

A single flaw in the canon would be sufficient to prove it not of God.

To touch a single stone in the arch is to bring down the whole fabric

in ruins around us. "All Scripture is divinely inspired, and" being

so, must be "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for

instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect

[αρτοις], throughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Tim.

iii.)

This stronghold must on no account be surrendered; nay, it must be

tenaciously held, in the face of every infidel assault. If it be given

up, all is hopelessly lost--we have nothing to lean upon. Either the

Word of God is perfect, or we are left without any divine foundation

for our faith. If there be a word too much or a word too little in the

revelation which God has given us, then verily we are left, like a

ship without compass, rudder, or chart, to be drifted about on the

wild, tumultuous ocean of infidel thought; in short, if we have not an

absolutely perfect revelation, we are of all men most miserable.

But we may still be challenged with such a question as this: Do you

believe that the long string of names in the opening chapters of 1

Chronicles--those genealogical tables are divinely inspired? were they

written for our learning? and if so, what are we to learn from them?

We unhesitatingly declare our reverent belief in the divine

inspiration of all these; and we have no doubt whatever but that

their value, interest, and importance will be fully proved by and by

in the history of that people to whom they specially apply.

And then, as to what we are to learn from those genealogical records,

we believe they teach us a most precious lesson as to Jehovah's

faithful care of His people Israel, and His loving interest in them

and in all that concerns them. He watches over them from generation to

generation, even though they are scattered and lost to human view. He

knows all about "the twelve tribes," and He will manifest them in due

time, and plant them in their destined inheritance, in the land of

Canaan, according to His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Now, is not all this full of blessed instruction for us? Is it not

full of comfort for our souls? Is it not most confirmatory of our

faith to mark the gracious pains-taking of our God, His minute care

and vigilance in reference to His earthly people? Most assuredly it

is. And ought not our hearts to be interested in all that interests

the heart of our Father? Are we not to take an interest in any thing

save what directly concerns ourselves? Where is there a loving child

who would not take an interest in all his father's concerns, and

delight to read every line that drops from his father's pen?

Let us not be misunderstood. We do not, by any means, attempt to imply

that all portions of the Word of God are of like interest and

importance to us. We do not presume to assert that we are to hang

with equal interest over the first chapter of 1 Chronicles and the

seventeenth chapter of John or the eighth chapter of Romans. It seems

hardly necessary to make such a statement, inasmuch as no such

question is raised. But what we assert is that each of the above

scriptures is divinely inspired, one just as much as another; and not

only so, but we further assert that 1 Chronicles i. and such like

passages fill a niche which John xvii. cannot fill, and do a work

which Romans viii. cannot do.

And finally, above and beyond all, we must remember that we are not

competent to judge what is and what is not worthy of a place in the

inspired canon. We are ignorant and short-sighted; and the very

portion which we might deem beneath the dignity of inspiration may

have some very important bearing upon the history of God's ways with

the world at large or with His people in particular.

In short, it simply resolves itself into this with every truly pious

soul--every really spiritual mind: We reverently believe in the divine

inspiration of every line of our precious Bible, from beginning to

end; and we believe this not on the ground of any human authority

whatsoever. To believe in holy Scripture because it comes to us

accredited by any authority upon earth, would be to set that authority

above holy Scripture, inasmuch as that which guarantees has more

weight--more value than the thing guaranteed. Hence, we should no more

think of looking to human authority to confirm the Word of God than

we should of bringing out a rush-light to prove that the sun was

shining.

No, reader; we must be clear and decided as to this. It must be, in

the judgment of our souls, a great cardinal truth which we hold dearer

than life itself--the plenary inspiration of holy Scripture. Thus

shall we have wherewithal to answer the cool audacity of modern

skepticism, rationalism, and infidelity. We do not mean to say that we

shall be able to convince infidels. God will deal with them in His own

way, and convince them with His own unanswerable arguments in His own

time. It is labor and time lost to argue with such men. But we feel

persuaded that the most dignified and effective answer to infidelity,

in its every phase, will be found in the calm repose of the heart that

rests in the blessed assurance that "all Scripture is given by

inspiration of God;" and again, "Whatsoever things were written

aforetime were written for our learning; that we through patience and

comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." The former of these

precious quotations proves that Scripture has come from God; the

latter, that it has come to us. Both together go to prove that we must

neither add to nor take from the Word of God. There is nothing

lacking, and nothing superfluous. The Lord be praised for this solid

foundation-truth, and for all the comfort and consolation that flows

from it to every true believer!

* * * * *

We shall now proceed to quote for the reader a few of the passages in

this fourth chapter of Deuteronomy which so emphatically set forth the

value, importance, and authority of the Word of God. In them, as in

the whole of this book, we shall see that it is not so much a question

of any particular ordinance, rite, or ceremony, but of the weight,

solemnity, and dignity of the Word of God itself, whatever that Word

may set before us.

"Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my

God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to

possess it." Their conduct was to be ruled and formed, in all things,

by the divine commandments. Immense principle for them, for us, for

all! "Keep, therefore, and do them; for _this is your wisdom_ and

_your understanding_ in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all

these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and

understanding people."

Let us specially weigh these words. Their wisdom and their

understanding were to consist in their simply keeping and doing the

divine statutes and judgments. It was not by learned discussion or

arguments that their wisdom was to be displayed, but by childlike,

unquestioning obedience. All the wisdom was in the statutes and

judgments, not in their thoughts and reasonings respecting them. The

profound and marvelous wisdom of God was seen in His Word, and this

was what the nations were to see and admire. The light of the divine

judgments shining in the conduct and character of the people of God

was to draw forth the admiring testimony of the nations around.

Alas! alas! how differently it turned out! How little did the nations

of the earth learn, from the actings of Israel, about God and His

Word! Yea, His name was blasphemed continually through their ways.

Instead of occupying the high and holy and happy ground of loving

obedience to the divine commandments, they descended to the level of

the nations around them--adopted their habits, worshiped their gods,

and walked in their ways; so that those nations, instead of seeing the

lofty wisdom, purity, and moral glory of the divine statutes, saw only

the weakness, folly, and moral degradation of a people who made their

boast in being the depositary of those oracles which condemned

themselves. (Rom. ii, iii.)

Still, blessed be God, His Word must stand forever, however His people

may fail to carry it out. His standard is perfect, and therefore must

never be lowered; and if the power of His Word be not seen in the ways

of His people, it will shine in the condemnation of those ways, and

ever abide for the guidance, comfort, strength, and blessing of any

who desire, however feebly or falteringly, to tread the path of

obedience.

However, in the chapter with which we are at present occupied, the

lawgiver seeks to set the divine standard faithfully before the

people, in all its dignity and moral glory. He fails not to unfold to

them the true effect of obedience, while he solemnly warns them

against the danger of turning away from the holy commandments of God.

Hear his powerful pleadings with their hearts. "What nation is there

so great," he says, "who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our

God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is

there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all

this law, which I set before you this day?"

Here is true moral greatness, at all times and in all places, for a

nation, for a people, for a household, or for an individual. To have

the living God nigh unto us; to have the sweet privilege of calling

upon Him, in all things; to have His power and His mercy ever

exercised toward us; to have the light of His blessed countenance

shining approvingly upon us, in all our ways; to have the moral effect

of His righteous statutes and holy commandments seen in our practical

career, from day to day; to have Him manifesting Himself to us, and

making His abode with us.

What human language can adequately set forth the deep blessedness of

such privileges as these? and yet they are placed, by infinite grace,

within the reach of every child of God on the face of the earth. We do

not mean to assert that every child of God enjoys them. Far from it.

They are reserved, as we have already seen, for those who, through

grace, are enabled to render a loving, hearty, reverent obedience to

the divine word. Here lies the precious secret of the whole matter. It

was true for Israel of old, and it is true for the Church now--it was

true for the individual soul then, and it is true for the individual

soul now, that divine complacency is the priceless reward of human

obedience. And we may further add that obedience is the bounden duty

and high privilege of all God's people, and of each in particular.

Come what may, implicit obedience is our privilege and our duty,

divine complacency our present sweet reward.

But the poor human heart is prone to wander, and manifold influences

are at work around us to draw us off from the narrow path of

obedience. We need not marvel, therefore, at the solemn and

oft-repeated admonitions addressed by Moses to the hearts and

consciences of his hearers. He pours his large, loving heart out to

the congregation so dear to him, in glowing, earnest, soul-stirring

accents. "Only take heed to thyself," he says, "and keep thy soul

diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen,

and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but

teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons."

These are weighty words for all of us. They set before us two things

of unspeakable importance, namely, individual and domestic

responsibility--personal and household testimony. God's people of old

were responsible to keep the heart with all diligence, lest it should

let slip the precious Word of God. And not only so, but they were

solemnly responsible to instruct their children and their

grandchildren in the same. Are we, with all our light and privilege,

less responsible than Israel of old? Surely not. We are imperatively

called upon to give ourselves to the careful study of the Word of

God--to apply our hearts to it. It is not enough that we hurry over a

few verses or a chapter, as a piece of daily religious routine. This

will not meet the case at all. We want to make the Bible our supreme

and absorbing study,--that in which we delight--in which we find our

refreshment and recreation.

It is to be feared that some of us read the Bible as a matter of duty,

while we find our delight and refreshment in the newspaper and light

literature. Need we wonder at our shallow knowledge of Scripture? How

could we know aught of the living depths or the moral glories of a

volume which we merely take up as a cold matter of duty, and read a

few verses with a yawning indifference, while, at the same time, the

newspaper or the sensational novel is literally devoured?

It will perhaps be said, in reply, We cannot be always reading the

Bible. Would those who thus speak say, We cannot be always reading the

newspaper or the novel? And, we would further inquire, what must be

the actual state of a person who can say, "We cannot be always reading

the Bible"? Can he be in a healthy condition of soul? Can he really

love the Word of God? Can he have any just sense of its preciousness,

its excellence, its moral glories? Impossible.

What mean the following words to Israel: "Therefore shall ye lay up

these My words _in your heart_, and _in your soul_, and bind them for

a sign upon _your hand_, that they may be as frontlets between _your

eyes_"? The "heart," the "soul," the "hand" the "eyes"--all engaged

about the precious Word of God. This was real work. It was to be no

empty formality, no barren routine. The whole man was to be given up,

in holy devotion, to the statutes and judgments of God.

"And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou

sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou

liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon

the door-posts of thine house, and upon thy gates." Do we, Christians,

enter into such words as these? Has the Word of God such a place in

our hearts, in our homes, and in our habits? Do those who enter our

houses, or come in contact with us in daily life, see that the Word of

God is paramount with us? Do those with whom we do business see that

we are governed by the precepts of holy Scripture? Do our servants and

our children see that we live in the very atmosphere of Scripture, and

that our whole character is formed and our conduct governed by it?

These are searching questions for our hearts, beloved Christian

reader. Let us not put them away from us. We may rest assured there is

no more correct indicator of our moral and spiritual condition than

that afforded by our treatment of the Word of God. If we do not love

it--love to study it--thirst after it--delight in it--long for the

quiet hour in the which we can hang over its sacred page and drink in

its most precious teaching--meditate upon it, in the closet, in the

family, in the street; in short, if we do not breathe its holy

atmosphere--if we could ever give utterance to such a sentiment as

that given above, that "we cannot be always reading the Bible," then,

verily, we have urgent need to look well to our spiritual state, for

we are sadly out of health. The new nature loves the Word of

God--earnestly desires it, as we read in 1 Peter ii.--"As new-born

babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby."

This is the true idea. If the sincere milk of the Word be not sought

after, diligently used and eagerly fed upon, we must be in a low,

unhealthy, dangerous condition of soul. There may not be any thing

outwardly wrong in our conduct, we may not be publicly dishonoring the

Lord in our ways, but we are grieving His loving heart by our gross

neglect of His Word, which is but another term for the neglect of

Himself. It is the very height of folly to talk of loving Christ if we

do not love and live upon His Word. It is a delusion to imagine that

the new life can be in a healthy, prosperous condition where the Word

of God is habitually neglected in the closet and the family.

We do not, of course, mean that no other book but the Bible should be

read, or we should not pen these "Notes;" but nothing demands greater

watchfulness than the matter of reading. All things are to be done in

the name of Jesus, and to the glory of God, and this is amongst the

"all things." We should read no book that we cannot read to the glory

of God, and on which we cannot ask God's blessing.

We feel that this entire subject demands the most serious

consideration of all God's people, and we trust that the Spirit of God

may use our meditation on the chapter before us to stir up our hearts

and consciences in reference to what is due to the Word of God, both

in our hearts and in our houses.

No doubt, if it has its right place in the heart, it will have its

right place also in the house; but if there be no acknowledgment of

the Word of God in the bosom of the family, it is hard to believe that

it has its right place in the heart. Heads of houses should ponder

this matter seriously. We are most fully persuaded that there ought to

be, in every Christian household, a daily acknowledgment of God and

His Word. Some may perhaps look upon it as bondage, as legality, as

religious routine, to have regular family worship. We would ask such

objectors, Is it bondage for the family to assemble at meals? Are the

family reunions around the social board ever regarded as a wearisome

duty--a piece of dull routine? Certainly not, if the family be a

well-ordered and happy one. Why, then, should it be regarded as a

burdensome thing for the head of a Christian household to gather his

children and his servants around him and read a few verses of the

precious Word of God, and breathe a few words of prayer before the

throne of grace? We believe it to be a habit in perfect accordance

with the teaching of both the Old and the New Testaments--a habit

grateful to the heart of God--a holy, blessed, edifying habit.

What should we think of a professing Christian who never prayed, never

read the Word of God, in private? Could we possibly regard him as a

happy, healthy, true Christian? Assuredly not. Indeed we should

seriously question the existence of divine life in such a soul. Prayer

and the Word of God are absolutely essential to healthy, vigorous

Christian life; so that a man who habitually neglects these must be in

an utterly dead state.

Now, if it be thus in reference to an individual, how can a family be

regarded as in a right state where there is no family reading, no

family prayer, no family acknowledgment of God or His Word? Can we

conceive a God-fearing household going on from Lord's day morning to

Saturday night without any collective recognition of the One to whom

they owe every thing? Day after day rolls on, domestic duties are

attended to, the family assemble regularly at meals, but there is no

thought of summoning the household around the Word of God, or around

the mercy-seat. We ask, Where is the difference between such a family

and any poor heathen household? Is it not most sad--most deplorable to

find those who make the very highest profession, and who take their

places at the Lord's table, yet living in the gross neglect of family

reading--family worship?

Reader, are you the head of a household? If so, what are your

thoughts on the subject? and what is your line of action? Have you

family reading and family prayer, daily in your house? If not, (bear

with us when we ask you,) why not? Search and see what is the real

root of the matter. Has your heart declined from God, from His Word

and His ways? Do you read and pray in private? Do you love the Word

and prayer? do you find delight in them? If so, how is it you neglect

them in your household? Perhaps you seek to excuse yourself on the

ground of nervousness and timidity; if so, look to the Lord to enable

you to overcome the weakness. Just cast yourself on His unfailing

grace, and gather your household around you at a certain hour each

day, read a few verses of Scripture and breathe half a dozen words of

prayer; or, if you cannot do this at first, just let the family kneel

for a few moments in silence before the throne.

Any thing, in short, like a family acknowledgment, a family testimony:

any thing but a godless, careless, prayerless life in your household.

Do, dear friend, suffer the word of exhortation in this matter. Let us

entreat you to begin at once, looking to God to help you, as He most

assuredly will, for He never fails a really trusting, dependent heart.

Do not any longer go on neglecting God and His Word in your family

circle. It is really terrible. Let no arguments about bondage,

legality, or formalism weigh with you for a moment. We almost feel

disposed to exclaim, Blessed bondage! If indeed it be bondage to read

the Word, we cordially welcome it, and fearlessly glory in it.

But, no; we cannot for a moment regard it in any such light. We

believe it to be a most delightful privilege for every one whom God

has set at the head of a household to gather all the members of that

household around him and read a portion of the blessed book, and pour

out his heart in prayer to God. We believe it is _specially_ the duty

of the head so to do. It is by no means necessary to make it a long,

wearisome service. As a rule, both in our houses and in our public

assemblies, short, fresh, fervent exercises are by far the most

edifying.

But this, of course, is an open question, as to which we merely give

our judgment, which must go for what it is worth. The length and

character of the service must, in every case, be left to the person

who conducts it. But we do most earnestly trust that if these lines

should be scanned by any one who is the head of a household, and if he

has hitherto neglected the holy privilege of family worship--family

reading, he will, henceforth, do so no more. May he be enabled to say,

with Joshua, "Let others do as they will, as for me and my house, we

will serve the Lord."

It is not, surely, that we would lead any to imagine that the mere act

of family reading takes in all that is comprehended in that weighty

sentence, "We will serve the Lord." Far from it. That blessed service

takes in every thing belonging to our private and domestic history: it

takes in the most minute details of practical daily life. All this is

most true and invaluable. But we are most thoroughly persuaded that

nothing can go right in any household in which family reading and

family prayer are habitually neglected.

It may be said that there are many families who seem very particular

about their morning and evening reading and prayer, and yet their

whole domestic history, from morning till night, is a flagrant

contradiction of their so-called religious service. It may be that the

head of the house, instead of shedding sunlight upon the family

circle, is morose in his temper, rude and coarse in his manners, rough

and contradictory to his wife, arbitrary and severe to his children,

unreasonable and exacting to his servants, finding fault with what is

laid on the table, after having asked God's blessing upon it; and, in

short, in every way giving the lie to his reading and his prayer in

the family. So also as to the wife and the mother, and the children

and the servants. The whole domestic economy is out of order. There is

disorder and confusion; meals are unpunctual; there is a want of

kindly consideration one of another; the children are rude, selfish,

and willful; the servants are thoughtless, wasteful, and disobedient,

if not much worse; the tone, atmosphere, and style of the entire

establishment are unchristian, ungodly, utterly unbecoming.

And then, when you travel outside the domestic circle, and mark the

conduct of the heads and members of the family toward those

outside--mark their business, if they be in business, hear the

testimony of those who deal with them, as to the quality of their

goods, the style and character of their work; the spirit and temper in

which they carry on their business; such grasping and griping, such

covetousness, such commercial trickery; nothing of God, nothing of

Christ, nothing to distinguish them from the most thorough worldlings

around; yea, the conduct of those very worldlings, of those who would

never think of such a thing as family worship, would put them to

shame.

Under such painful and humiliating circumstances, what of the family

worship--the family reading--the family altar? Alas! it is an empty

formality--a powerless, worthless, unseemly proceeding; in place of

being a morning and evening sacrifice, it is a morning and evening

lie--a solemn mockery--an insult to God.

All this is sadly true. There is a terrible lack of household

testimony--of common, practical righteousness in our families and in

the entire economy of our houses. There is but little of the white

raiment--the fine linen, which is the righteousness of saints. We seem

to forget those weighty words of the inspired apostle in Romans

xiv.--"The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but _righteousness_,

and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Some of us seem to think that

whenever we meet with the word "righteousness," it must needs mean the

righteousness of God in which we stand, or righteousness imputed to

us. This is a very great mistake indeed. We must remember there is a

practical and human side of this question; there is the subjective as

well as the objective--the walk as well as the standing--the condition

as well as the position.

These things must never be separated. It is of little use to set up or

seek to maintain a family altar amid the ruins of family testimony. It

is nothing short of a hideous caricature to begin and end with

so-called family worship a day characterized throughout by ungodliness

and unrighteousness, levity, folly, and vanity. Can aught be more

unsightly or more miserably inconsistent than an evening spent in

song-singing, charades, and other light games, closed up with a

contemptible bit of religion in the shape of reading and prayer?