All this line of things is most deplorable. It ought not to be found

in connection with the holy name of Christ, with His assembly, or the

holy exercises of His table. We must measure every thing in our

private life, in our domestic economy, in our daily history, in all

our intercourse, and in all our business transactions, with that one

standard, namely, the glory of Christ. Our one grand question, in

reference to every thing that comes before us or solicits our

attention, must be, Is this worthy of the holy name which is called

upon me? If not, let us not touch it; yea, let us turn our back upon

it with stern decision, and flee from it with holy energy. Let us not

listen for a moment to the contemptible question, "What harm is there

in it?" Nothing but harm if Christ be not in it. No truly devoted

heart would ever entertain, much less put, such a question. Whenever

you hear any one speaking thus, you may at once conclude that Christ

is not the governing object of the heart.

We trust the reader is not weary of all this homely, practical truth.

We believe it is loudly called for in this day of high profession. We

have all of us much need to consider our ways, to look well to the

real state of our hearts as to Christ; for here lies the true secret

of the whole matter. If the heart be not true to Him, nothing can be

right--nothing in the private life, nothing in the family, nothing in

the business, nothing in the assembly, nothing any where; but if the

heart be true to Him, _all_ will be--must be right.

No marvel, therefore, if the blessed apostle, when he reaches the

close of that wonderful epistle to the Corinthians, sums all up with

this solemn declaration: "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ,

let him be Anathema Maran-atha." In the course of his letter, he deals

with various forms of doctrinal error and moral pravity; but when he

comes to the close, instead of pronouncing his solemn sentence upon

any particular error or evil, he hurls it with holy indignation

against any one, no matter who or what, who does not love the Lord

Jesus Christ. Love to Christ is the grand safeguard against every form

of error and evil. A heart filled with Christ has no room for aught

beside; but if there be no love to Him, there is no security against

the wildest error or the worst form of moral evil.

We must now return to our chapter.

The attention of the people is specially called to the solemn scenes

at Mount Horeb--scenes which should surely have deeply and abidingly

impressed their hearts. "Specially the day that thou stoodest before

the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather Me the

people together, and _I will make them hear My words_." The grand and

all-important point for Israel of old, for the Church now, for each,

for all, at all times and in all places, is, to be brought into

direct, living contact with the eternal Word of the living God, to the

end "that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they shall live

upon the earth, and _that they may teach their children_."

It is very beautiful to note the intimate connection between hearing

God's Word and fearing His name. It is one of those great

root-principles which never change, never lose their power or their

intrinsic value. The Word and the name go together; and the heart that

loves the one will reverence the other, and bow down to its holy

authority in all things. "He that loveth Me not keepeth not My

sayings." "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His

commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso

keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected." (John

xiv; 1 John ii.) Every true lover of God will treasure up His Word in

the heart, and where the Word is thus lovingly treasured in the

heart, its hallowed influence will be seen in the whole life,

character, and conduct. God's object in giving His Word is that it may

govern our conduct, form our character, and shape our ways; and if His

Word has not this practical effect upon us, it is utterly vain for us

to speak of loving Him--yea, it is nothing short of positive mockery,

which He must sooner or later resent.

And let us note particularly the solemn responsibility of Israel as to

their children. They were not only to "hear" and "learn" for

themselves, but they were also to teach their children. This is a

universal and abiding duty, which cannot be neglected with impunity.

God attaches very great importance to this matter. We hear Him saying

as to Abraham, "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." (Gen. xviii.)

These words are most important, as setting before us the divine

estimate of domestic training and family piety. In all ages, and under

all dispensations, God has been pleased to give expression to His

approbation of the proper education of the children of His

people--their faithful training according to His holy Word. We find no

such thing sanctioned in Scripture as children being allowed to grow

up in ignorance and carelessness and willfulness. Some professing

Christians, under the baneful influence of a certain school of

theology, seem to think that it is, in some way, an interference with

the sovereignty of God, with His purposes and counsels, to instruct

their children in the truth of the gospel and the letter of holy

Scripture. They consider that the children ought to be left to the

action of the Holy Ghost, which they are sure to experience in God's

own time if indeed they are of God's elect, and if not, all human

effort is perfectly useless.

Now, we must, in all faithfulness to the truth of God and to the souls

of our readers, bear the clearest and strongest testimony against this

one-sided view of the great practical subject before us. There is

nothing more mischievous, nothing more pernicious in its effect upon

the conscience, the heart, the life, the whole practical career and

moral character, than one-sided theology. It does not matter what side

you take, so long as you only take one. It is sure to produce what we

must term a spiritual malformation. We feel we cannot too strongly and

earnestly warn the reader against this sore evil. It can only lead to

the most disastrous results; and as to its effect in reference to the

training of our children and the management of our households--the

subject now before us--it is mischievous in the extreme. Indeed we

have seen the most deplorable consequences follow the carrying out of

this line of thought. We have known the children of Christian parents

to grow up in utter ignorance of divine things, in carelessness,

recklessness, and open infidelity; and if a word of admonition were

offered, it has been met by arguments based upon the dogmas of a

one-sided divinity--and the one side turned the wrong way. It has been

said, "We cannot make Christians of our children, and we must not make

them formalists or hypocrites. It must be a divine work or nothing.

When God's time comes, He will effectually call them, if indeed they

are among the number of His elect; if not, all our efforts are

perfectly useless."

To all this we reply, that this line of argument, if carried to its

fullest extent, would prevent the farmer from plowing his ground or

sowing his seed. It is very plain that he cannot make the seed to

germinate or fructify. He could no more cause a solitary grain of

wheat to grow than he could create the universe. Does this prevent his

plowing and sowing? does it cause him to fold his arms and say, I can

do nothing. I cannot, by any effort of mine, make corn grow. It is a

divine operation, and therefore I must wait God's time. Does any

farmer reason and act like this? Surely not, unless he be a lunatic.

Every sound-minded person knows that plowing and sowing must go before

the reaping; and if the former be neglected, it is the height of

extravagant folly to look for the latter.

Nor is it otherwise in the matter of training our children. We know

God is sovereign; we believe in His eternal counsels and purposes; we

fully recognize the grand doctrines of election and predestination--yea,

we are as thoroughly persuaded of them as of the truth that God is, or

that Christ died and rose again. Moreover, we believe that the new

birth must take place in every instance--in the case of our children

as of all beside; we are convinced that this new birth is entirely a

divine operation, effected by the Holy Ghost, through the Word, as we

are distinctly taught in our Lord's discourse with Nicodemus in John

iii, and also in James i. 18 and 1 Peter i. 23.

But does all this touch, in the most remote way, the solemn

responsibility of Christian parents to teach and train their children,

diligently and faithfully, from their earliest moments? Most certainly

not. Woe be to the parents who, on any plea or on any ground

whatsoever, be it one-sided theology, misapplied Scripture, or aught

else, deny their responsibility, or neglect their plain, bounden duty,

in this holy business. True, we cannot make our children Christians,

and we ought not to make them formalists or hypocrites; but we are not

called to _make_ them any thing. We are simply called to do our duty

by them, and leave results to God. We are instructed and commanded to

bring up our children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."

When is this "bringing up" to commence? when are we to begin the

sacred work of training our little ones? Surely, at the beginning. The

very moment we enter upon a relationship, we enter also upon the

responsibility which that relationship entails. We cannot deny this;

we cannot shake it off. We may neglect it, and have to reap the sad

consequences of our neglect, in various ways. It is a very serious

thing to stand in the sacred relationship of a parent--very

interesting and very delightful, no doubt; but most serious, because

of the responsibility involved. True it is, blessed be God, His grace

is sufficient for us in this as in all beside, and "if any man lack

wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally, and

upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." "We are not sufficient of

ourselves," in this weighty matter, to think or to do any thing as

ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God, and He will meet our every

need. We have simply to draw upon Him, for exigence of every hour.

But we must do our duty. Some do not like the homely word "duty." They

think it has a legal ring about it. We trust the reader does not think

so, for it is a very great mistake indeed. We look upon the word as a

very sound and morally wholesome one, and we believe that every true

Christian loves it. One thing is certain, it is only in the path of

duty we can count on God. To talk of trusting God, when out of the

path of duty, is a miserable conceit, and a delusion; and in the

matter of our relationship as parents, to neglect our duty is to bring

down upon us the most disastrous consequences.

We believe the whole business of Christian education is summed up in

two brief sentences, namely, Count on God for your children, and,

Train your children for God. To take the first without the second is

antinomianism; to take the second without the first is legality; to

take both together is sound, practical Christianity--true religion in

the sight of God and man.

It is the sweet privilege of every Christian parent to count, with all

possible confidence, upon God for his children. But then we must

remember that there is, in the government of God, an inseparable link

connecting this privilege with the most solemn responsibility as to

training. For a Christian parent to speak of counting on God for the

salvation of his children, and for the moral integrity of their future

career in this world, while the duty of training is neglected, is

simply a miserable delusion.

We press this most solemnly upon all Christian parents, but especially

upon those who have just entered upon the relationship. There is great

danger of shirking our duty to our children, of shifting it over upon

others, or neglecting it altogether. We do not like the trouble of it;

we shrink from the constant worry as it seems to us. But we shall find

that the trouble and the worry and the sorrow and the heart-scalding

arising from the neglect of our duty will be a thousand times worse

than all that can be involved in the discharge of it. To every true

lover of God there is deep delight in treading the path of duty. Every

step taken in that path strengthens our confidence to go on. And then

we can always count upon the infinite resources that we have in God

when we are keeping His commandments. We have simply to betake

ourselves, morning by morning, yea, hour by hour, to our Father's

exhaustless treasury, and there get all we want, in the way of grace

and wisdom and moral power, to enable us to discharge aright the holy

functions of our relationship. "He giveth more grace." This always

holds good. But if we, instead of seeking grace to discharge our duty,

seek ease in neglecting it, we are simply laying up a store of sorrow

which will accumulate rapidly and fall upon us heavily at a future

day. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth,

that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the

flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the

Spirit reap life everlasting." (Gal. vi.)

This is the condensed statement of a great principle of God's moral

government--a principle of universal application, and one which

applies, with singular force, to the subject before us. _As_ we sow,

in the matter of the education of our children, _so_ we shall, most

assuredly, reap. There is no getting out of this.

But let not any dear Christian parent, whose eye may scan these lines,

be at all discouraged or faint-hearted. There is no reason whatever

for this, but, on the contrary, every reason for the most joyful

confidence in God. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the

righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Let us tread, with firm step,

the path of duty; and then we can count, with unwavering confidence,

upon our ever-faithful and gracious God for the need of each day as it

rolls along. And in due time we shall reap the precious fruit of our

labor, according to the appointment of God, and in pursuance of the

enactments of His moral government.

We do not attempt to lay down any rules or regulations for the

training. We do not believe in such. Children cannot be trained by dry

rules. Who could attempt to embody in rules all that is wrapped up in

that one sentence, "Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the

Lord"?

Here we have, indeed, a golden rule which takes in every thing from

the cradle to matured manhood. Yes, we repeat, "from the cradle;" for

we are most fully persuaded that all true Christian training begins at

the very beginning. Some of us have little idea of how soon and how

sharply children begin to observe, and how much they take in as they

gaze at us through their dear expressive eyes.

And then how marvelously susceptible they are of the moral atmosphere

which surrounds them! Yes; and it is this very moral atmosphere that

constitutes the grand secret of training our families. Our children

should be permitted to breathe, from day to day, the atmosphere of

love and peace, purity, holiness, and true practical righteousness.

This has an amazing effect in forming the character. It is a great

thing for our children to see their parents walking in love, in

harmony, in tender care one for the other, in kind consideration for

the servants, in love and sympathy for the poor. Who can measure the

moral effect upon a child of the very first angry look, or unkind

word, between father and mother? And in cases where the daily history

is one of unsightly strife and contention--the father contradicting

the mother, and the mother disparaging the father--how are children to

grow in such an atmosphere as this?

The fact is, it is not within the compass of human language to set

forth all that is involved in the moral tone of the entire family

circle--the spirit, style, and atmosphere of the whole household, the

drawing-room, the dining-room, the nursery, the kitchen; where

circumstances admit of such distinctions, or where the family have to

confine themselves to two rooms. It is not a question of rank,

position, or wealth, but of the beauteous grace of God shining out in

all. There may be the stalled ox or the dinner of herbs--these are

not, at present, in question. But what we press on all fathers and

mothers--all heads of households, high and low, rich and poor, learned

and ignorant, is the necessity of training their children in an

atmosphere of love and peace, truth and holiness, purity and kindness.

Thus will our households be the practical exhibition of the character

of God; and all who come in contact with them will, at least, have

before their eyes a practical witness to the truth of Christianity.

But, ere we turn from the subject of domestic government, there is one

special point to which we desire to call the attention of Christian

parents--a point of the utmost possible moment, yet too much neglected

amongst us, and that is, the need of inculcating upon our children

the duty of implicit obedience. This cannot be too strongly insisted

upon, inasmuch as it not only affects the order and comfort of our

households, but, what is infinitely more important, it concerns the

glory of God and the practical carrying out of His truth. "Children,

obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right." And again,

"Children, obey your parents _in all things_; for this is well

pleasing unto the Lord." (Eph. vi.; Col. iii.)

This is absolutely essential, and must be firmly insisted upon from

the very outset. The child must be taught to obey from his earliest

moments. He must be trained to submit himself to divinely appointed

authority, and that, as the apostle puts it, "in all things." If this

be not attended to from the very first, it will be found almost

impossible to attend to it afterwards. If the will be allowed to act,

it grows, with terrible rapidity, and each day's growth increases the

difficulty of bringing it under control. Hence, the parent should

begin at once to establish his authority on a basis of moral strength

and firmness; and when this is done, he may be as gentle and tender as

the most loving heart could desire. We do not believe in sternness,

harshness, or severity. They are by no means necessary, and are

generally the accompaniments of bad training and the proofs of bad

temper. God has put into the parent's hand the reins of government and

the rod of authority, but it is not needful--if we may so express

it--to be continually chucking the reins and brandishing the rod,

which are the sure proofs of moral weakness. Whenever you hear a man

continually talking about his authority, you may be sure his authority

is not properly established. There is a quiet dignity about true moral

power which is perfectly unmistakable.

Furthermore, we judge it to be a mistake for a parent to be

perpetually crossing a child's will in matters of no moment. Such a

line of action tends to break the child's spirit, whereas the object

of all sound training is to break the will. The child should ever be

impressed with the idea that the parent seeks _only_ his real good,

and that if he has to refuse or prohibit any thing, it is not for the

purpose of curtailing the child's enjoyment, but simply for the

promotion of his true interests.

One grand object of domestic government is to protect each member of

the household in the enjoyment of his privileges, and in the proper

discharge of his relative duties. Now, inasmuch as it is the divinely

appointed duty of a child to obey, the parent is responsible to see

this duty discharged, for if it be neglected, some other members of

the domestic circle must suffer.

There can be no greater nuisance in a house than a naughty, willful

child; and, as a general rule, wherever you find such, it is to be

traced to bad training. We are aware, of course, that children differ

in temper and disposition--that some children have peculiarly strong

wills and sturdy tempers, and are therefore specially hard to manage.

All this we quite understand; but it leaves wholly untouched the

question of the parent's responsibility to insist upon implicit

obedience. He can always count on God for the needed grace and power

to carry out this point. Even in the case of a widowed mother, we

believe, most assuredly, she can look to God to enable her to command

her children and her household. In no case, therefore, should parental

authority be surrendered for a moment.

It sometimes happens that, through injudicious fondness, the parent is

tempted to pamper the will of the child; but it is sowing to the

flesh, and must yield corruption. It is not true love at all to

indulge a child's will, neither can it possibly minister to his true

happiness or legitimate enjoyment. An over-indulged, self-willed child

is miserable himself and a grievous infliction on all who have to do

with him. Children should be taught to think of others, and to seek to

promote their comfort and happiness in every way. How very unseemly it

is, for example, for a child to enter the house and ascend the stairs

whistling, singing, and shouting, in total disregard of other members

of the household who may be seriously disturbed and annoyed by such

conduct! No properly trained child would think of acting in such a

way; and where such unsubdued, unruly, inconsiderate conduct is

allowed, there is a serious defect in the domestic government.

It is essential to family peace, harmony, and comfort, that all the

members should "consider one another." We are responsible to seek the

good and the happiness of those around us, and not our own. If all

would but remember this, what different households we should have! and

what a different tale would families have to tell! Every Christian

household should be the reflection of the divine character. The

atmosphere should just be the very atmosphere of heaven. How is this

to be? Simply by each one--parent, child, master, and servant--seeking

to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, and manifest His spirit. He never

pleased Himself, never sought His own interest in any thing; He did

always the thing that pleased the Father; He came to serve and to

give; He went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of

the devil. Thus it was ever with that most blessed One--the gracious,

loving, sympathizing Friend of all the sons and daughters of want,

weakness, and sorrow; and if only the various members of each

Christian family were formed on this perfect model, we should, at

least, realize something of the power and efficacy of personal and

domestic Christianity, which, blessed be God, can ever be maintained

and exhibited notwithstanding the hopeless ruin of the professing

church. "Thou and thy house" suggests a great golden principle which

runs through the volume of God, from beginning to end. In every age,

under every dispensation, in the days of the patriarchs, in the days

of the law, and in the days of Christianity, we find, to our exceeding

comfort and encouragement, that personal and domestic godliness has

its place as something grateful to the heart of God and to the glory

of His holy name.

This we consider to be most consolatory at all times, but more

particularly at a time like the present, when the professing church

seems so rapidly sinking into gross worldliness and open infidelity;

and not this only, but when those who most earnestly desire to walk in

obedience to the Word of God, and to act on the grand foundation-truth

of the unity of the body, find it so difficult to maintain a a

corporate testimony. In view of all this, we may well bless God, with

overflowing hearts, that personal and family piety can always be

maintained, and that from the heart and the home of every Christian a

constant stream of praise may ascend to the throne of God, and a

stream of active benevolence flow out to a needy, sorrowful,

sin-stricken world. May it be so more and more, through the mighty

ministry of God the Holy Ghost, that God, in all things, may be

glorified in the hearts and homes of His beloved people.

* * * * *

We have now to consider the very solemn warning addressed to the

congregation of Israel against the terrible sin of idolatry--a sin to

which, alas! the poor human heart is ever prone, in one way or

another. It is quite possible to be guilty of the sin of idolatry

without bowing down before a graven image; wherefore it behooves us to

weigh well the words of warning which fell from the lips of Israel's

venerable lawgiver. They are most assuredly written for our learning.

"And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain

burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and

thick darkness." Solemn and suited accompaniments of the occasion!

"And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire." Oh, how

differently He speaks in the gospel of His grace! "Ye heard the voice

of the words, but saw no similitude." Important fact for them to

ponder! "_Only a voice._" And "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by

the Word of God." "And He declared unto you His covenant, which He

commanded you to perform--ten commandments; and He wrote them upon two

tables of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you

statutes and judgments," not that they might discuss them, sit in

judgment upon them, or argue about them, but "that _ye might do

them_"--the grand old story, the Deuteronomic theme of _obedience_,

most precious! whether out of or "in the land whither ye go over to

possess it."

Here lies the solid ground of the appeal against idolatry. They _saw_

nothing. God did not show Himself to them. He did not assume any

bodily shape, of which they might form an image. He gave them His

word--His holy commandments, so plain that a child could understand

them, and the wayfaring men though fools need not err therein. There

was no need for them, therefore, to set about imagining what God was

like; nay, this was _the_ very sin against which they were so

faithfully warned. They were called to hear God's voice, not to see

His shape--to obey His commandment, not to make an image of Him.

Superstition vainly seeks to do honor to God by forming and worshiping

an image; Faith, on the contrary, lovingly receives and reverently

obeys His holy commandments. "If a man love Me," says our blessed

Lord, "he will"--what? make an image of Me, and worship it? Nay, but

"he will keep My words." This makes it so simple, so safe, so certain.

We are not called to work up our minds to form any conception of God;

we have simply to hear His word and keep His commandments. We can have

no idea whatever of God but as He has been pleased to reveal

Himself.--"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son,

which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him."--"God, who

commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our

hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the

face of Jesus Christ."

Jesus is declared to be the brightness of God's glory and the exact

impression of His substance. He could say, "He that hath seen Me hath

seen the Father." Thus the Son reveals the Father; and it is by the

Word, through the power of the Holy Ghost, that we know any thing of

the Son; and therefore for any one to attempt, by any efforts of his

mind or workings of his imagination, to conceive an image of God, or

of Christ, is simply idolatry. To endeavor to arrive at any knowledge

of God or of Christ save by Scripture, is simply mysticism and

confusion; nay, more, it is to put ourselves directly into the hands

of the devil, to be led by him into the wildest, darkest, and

deadliest delusion.

Hence, therefore, as Israel, at Mount Horeb, was shut up to the

"_voice_" of God and warned against any similitude, so we are shut up

to holy Scripture and warned against every thing which would draw us

away, the breadth of a hair, from that holy and all-sufficient

standard. We must not listen to the suggestions of our own minds, nor

to those of any other human mind: we must absolutely and sternly

refuse to listen to any thing but the voice of God--the voice of holy

Scripture. Here is true security, true rest; here we have absolute

certainty, so that we can say, "I know _whom_"--not merely _what_--"I

have believed; and am persuaded that _He_," etc.

"Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves, (for ye saw no manner of

similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the

midst of the fire,) lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven

image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any

winged fowl that flieth in the air, the likeness of any thing that

creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters

beneath the earth; and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and

when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the

host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them,

which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole

heaven. But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the

iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of

inheritance, as ye are this day."

There is a very weighty truth set before us here. The people are

expressly taught that in making any image and bowing down thereto,

they, in reality, lowered and corrupted themselves. Hence, when they

made the golden calf, the Lord said unto Moses, "Go, get thee down;

for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have

corrupted themselves." It could not be otherwise. The worshiper must

be inferior to the object of his worship; and therefore, in worshiping

a calf, they actually put themselves below the level of the beasts

that perish. Well, therefore, might He say, They "have corrupted

themselves; they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I

commanded them; they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped

it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, 'These be thy gods, O

Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'"

What a spectacle! A whole congregation, led by Aaron the high-priest,

bowing in worship before a thing formed by a graving tool out of the

earrings which had just been taken from the ears of their wives and

daughters! Only conceive a number of intelligent beings--people

endowed with reason, understanding, and conscience--saying of a molten

calf, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of

the land of Egypt"! They actually displaced Jehovah by an image

graven by art and man's device! And these were the people who had seen

the mighty works of Jehovah in the land of Egypt. They had seen plague

after plague falling upon Egypt and its obdurate king; they had seen

the land, as it were, shaken to its very centre by the successive

strokes of Jehovah's governmental rod; they had seen Egypt's

first-born laid in death by the sword of the destroying angel; they

had seen the Red Sea divided by one stroke of Jehovah's rod, and they

had passed through upon dry ground between those crystal walls which

afterwards fell, in crushing power, upon their enemies--all these

things had passed before their eyes, and yet they could so soon forget

all and say of a molten calf, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which have

brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." Did they really believe

that a molten image had made the land of Egypt to tremble, humbled its

proud monarch, and brought them forth victoriously? Had a calf divided

the sea for them, and led them majestically through its depths? So, at

least, they said; for what will people not say when the eye and the

heart are turned away from God and His Word?

But we may perhaps be asked, Has all this a voice for us? Are

Christians to learn any thing from Israel's molten calf? and do the

warnings addressed to Israel against idolatry convey any voice to the

ear of the Church? Are we in danger of bowing down to a graven image?

Is it possible that we, whose high privilege it is to walk in the

full-orbed light of New-Testament Christianity, could ever worship a

molten calf?

To all this we reply, first of all, in the language of Romans xv. 4,

"_Whatsoever things_ were written aforetime"--Exodus xxxii. and

Deuteronomy iv. included--"were written for our learning, that we

through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." This

brief passage contains our chartered right to range through the wide

field of Old-Testament scripture and gather up and appropriate its

golden lessons, to feed upon its "exceeding great and precious

promises," to drink in its deep and varied consolation, and to profit

by its solemn warnings and wholesome admonitions.

And then, as to our being capable of or liable to the gross sin of

idolatry, we have a striking answer in 1 Corinthians x, where the

inspired apostle uses the very scene at Mount Horeb as a warning to

the Church of God. We cannot do better than quote the entire passage

for the reader. There is nothing like the Word of God; may we love,

prize, and reverence it more and more each day.

"Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that

_all_ our fathers were under the cloud"--those whose carcasses fell in

the wilderness, as well as those who reached the land of

promise,--"and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto

Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual

meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of

that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ."

How strong, how solemn, and how searching is this for all professors!

"But with many of them God was not well pleased; for they were

overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were _our examples_"

(let us carefully mark this), "to the intent we should not lust after

_evil things_"--things in any way contrary to the mind of Christ, "as

they also lusted. Neither _be ye idolaters_" (so that professing

Christians may be idolaters) "as were some of them; as it is written,

'The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.' Neither

let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one

day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of

them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye,

as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

Now _all these things_ happened unto them for ensamples; and _they are

written for our admonition_, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."

Here we learn, in the plainest manner, that there is no depth of sin

and folly, no form of moral pravity, into which we are not capable of

plunging, at any moment, if not kept by the mighty power of God. There

is no security for us save in the moral shelter of the divine

presence. We know that the Spirit of God does not warn us against

things to which we are not liable. He would not say to us, "Neither be

ye idolaters," if we were not capable of being such. Idolatry takes

various shapes. It is not, therefore, a question of the shape of the

thing, but the thing itself--not the outward form, but the root or

principle of the thing. We read that "covetousness is idolatry," and

that a covetous man is an idolater; that is, a man desiring to possess

himself of more than God has given him is an idolater--is actually

guilty of the sin of Israel when they made the golden calf and

worshiped it. Well might the blessed apostle say to the

Corinthians--say to us, "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from

idolatry." Why be warned to _flee_ from a thing to which we are not

liable? Are there any idle words in the volume of God? What mean those

closing words of the first epistle of John--"Little children, keep

yourselves from idols"? Do they not tell us that we are in danger of

worshiping idols? Assuredly they do. Our treacherous hearts are

capable of departing from the living God, and setting up some other

object beside Him; and what is this but idolatry? Whatever commands

the heart is the heart's idol, be it what it may--money, pleasure,

power, or aught else,--so that we may well see the urgent need for the

many warnings given us by the Holy Ghost against the sin of idolatry.

But we have in the fourth chapter of Galatians a very remarkable

passage, and one which speaks in most impressive accents to the

professing church. The Galatians had, like all other Gentiles,

worshiped idols; but, on the reception of the gospel, had turned from

idols to serve the living and true God. The Judaizing teachers,

however, had come among them and taught them that unless they were

circumcised and kept the law, they could not be saved.

Now this, the blessed apostle unhesitatingly pronounces to be

idolatry--a going back to the grossness and moral degradation of their

former days, and all this after having professed to receive the

glorious gospel of Christ. Hence the moral force of the apostle's

inquiry, "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them

which by nature are no gods. _But now_, after that ye have known God,

or rather are known of God, how _turn ye again_ to the weak and

beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire _again_ to be in bondage? Ye

observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you,

lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain."

This is peculiarly striking. The Galatians were not outwardly going

back to the worship of idols. It is not improbable that they would

have indignantly repudiated any such idea. But, for all that, the

inspired apostle asks them, "How turn ye again?" What does this

inquiry mean if they were not going back to idolatry? and what are we

now to learn from the whole passage? Simply this, that circumcision,

and getting under the law, and observing days, and months, and times,

and years--that all this, though apparently so different, was nothing

more or less than going back to their old idolatry. The observance of

days and the worship of false gods were both a turning away from the

living and true God, from His Son Jesus Christ, from the Holy Ghost,

from that brilliant cluster of dignities and glories which belong to

Christianity.

All this is peculiarly solemn for professing Christians. We question

if the full import of Galatians iv. 8-10 is really apprehended by the

great majority of those who profess to believe the Bible. We solemnly

press this whole subject upon the attention of all whom it may

concern. We pray God to use it for the purpose of stirring up the

hearts and consciences of His people every where to consider their

position, their habits, ways, and associations; and to inquire how far

they are really following the example of the assemblies of Galatia, in

the observance of saints' days and such like, which can only lead away

from Christ and His glorious salvation. There is a day coming which

will open the eyes of thousands to the reality of these things, and

then they will see what they now refuse to see, that the very darkest

and grossest forms of paganism may be reproduced under the name of

Christianity, and in connection with the very highest truths that ever

shone on the human understanding.

But however slow we may be to admit our tendency to fall into the sin

of idolatry, it is very plain, in Israel's case, that Moses, as taught

and inspired of God, felt the deep need of warning them against it, in

the most solemn and affecting terms. He appeals to them on every

possible ground, and reiterates his counsels and admonitions in a

manner so impressive as to leave them, assuredly, without any excuse.

They never could say that they fell into idolatry from the want of

warning, or of the most gracious and affectionate entreaty. Take such

words as the following: "But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you

forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a

people of inheritance, as ye are this day." (Ver. 20.)

Could any thing be more affecting than this? Jehovah, in His rich and

sovereign grace, and by His mighty hand, brought them forth from the

land of death and darkness, a redeemed and delivered people. He had

brought them to Himself, that they might be to Him a peculiar

treasure, above all the people upon earth. How, then, could they turn

away from Him, from His holy covenant, and from His precious

commandments?

Alas! alas! they could and did. "They _made_ a calf, and said, 'These

be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of

Egypt.'" Think of this! A calf, made by their own hands--an image,

graven by art and man's device, had brought them up out of Egypt! A

thing made out of the women's earrings had redeemed and delivered

them! And this has been written for our admonition. But why should it

be written for us if we are not capable of and liable to the very same

sin? We must either admit that God the Holy Ghost has penned an

unnecessary sentence, or admit our need of an admonition against the

sin of idolatry; and assuredly, our needing the admonition proves our

tendency to the sin.

Are we better than Israel? In no wise. We have brighter light and

higher privileges, but, so far as we are concerned, we are made of the

same material, have the same capabilities and the same tendencies, as

they. Our idolatry may take a different shape from theirs; but

idolatry is idolatry, be the shape what it may; and the higher our

privileges, the the greater our sin. We may perhaps feel disposed to

wonder how a rational people could be guilty of such egregious folly

as to make a calf and bow down to it, and this, too, after having had

such a display of the majesty, power, and glory of God. Let us

remember that their folly is recorded for our admonition; and that we,

with all our light, all our knowledge, all our privileges, are warned

to "flee from idolatry."

Let us deeply ponder all this and seek to profit by it. May every

chamber of our hearts be filled with Christ, and then we shall have no

room for idols. This is our only safeguard. If we slip away the

breadth of a hair from our precious Saviour and Shepherd, we are

capable of plunging into the darkest forms of error and moral evil.

Light, knowledge, spiritual privileges, church position, sacramental

benefits, are no security for the soul. They are very good in their

right place and if rightly used, but in themselves they only increase

our moral danger.

Nothing can keep us safe, right, and happy but having Christ dwelling

in our hearts by faith. Abiding in Him and He in us, that wicked one

toucheth us not. But if personal communion be not diligently

maintained, the higher our position, the greater our danger and the

more disastrous our fall. There was not a nation beneath the canopy of

heaven more favored and exalted than Israel when they gathered around

Mount Horeb to hear the word of God: there was not a nation on the

face of the earth more degraded or more guilty than they when they

bowed before the golden calf--an image of their own formation.

* * * * *

We must now give our attention to a fact of very deep interest,

presented at verse 21 of our chapter, and that is, that Moses, for the

third time, reminds the congregation of God's judicial dealing with

himself. He had spoken of it, as we have seen, in chapter i. 37, and

again at chapter iii. 26, and here, again, he says to them,

"Furthermore _the Lord was angry with me for your sakes_, and sware

that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto

that good land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance;

but I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan; but ye shall

go over and possess that good land."

Now, we may ask, Why this threefold reference to the same fact? and

why the special mention, in each instance, of the circumstance that

Jehovah was angry with him on their account? One thing is certain, it

was not for the purpose of throwing the blame over upon the people, or

of exculpating himself. No one but an infidel could think this. We

believe the simple object was, to give increased moral force to his

appeal, more solemnity to his warning voice. If Jehovah was angry with

such an one as Moses--if he, for his unadvised speaking at the waters

of Meribah, was forbidden to enter the promised land (much as he

desired it), how needful for them to take heed! It is a serious thing

to have to do with God--blessed, no doubt, beyond all human expression

or thought, but most serious, as the lawgiver himself was called to

prove in his own person.

That this is the correct view of this interesting question seems

evident from the following words: "_Take heed unto yourselves_, lest

ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which He made with you,

and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing which the

Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. For the Lord thy God is a consuming

fire, even a jealous God."

This is peculiarly solemn. We must allow this statement to have its

full, moral weight with our souls. We must not attempt to turn aside

its sharp edge by any false notions about grace. We sometimes hear it

said that "God is a consuming fire to the world." By and by He will be

so, no doubt; but now He is dealing in grace, patience, and

long-suffering mercy with the world. He is not dealing in judgment

with the world now; but, as the apostle Peter tells us, "the time is

come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first

begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel

of God?" So also, in Hebrews xii, we read, "For _our_ God _is_ a

consuming fire." He is not speaking of what God will be to the world,

but of what He is to us. Neither is it, as some put it, "God is a

consuming fire out of Christ." We know nothing of God out of Christ.

He could not be "_our_ God" out of Christ.

No, reader; Scripture does not need such twistings and turnings: it

must be taken as it stands. It is clear and distinct, and all we have

to do is to hearken and obey. "Our God is a consuming fire," "a

jealous God," not to consume us, blessed be His holy name, but to

consume the evil in us and in our ways. He is intolerant of every

thing in us that is contrary to Himself--contrary to His holiness, and

therefore contrary to our true happiness, our real, solid blessing. As

the "Holy Father," He keeps us in a way worthy of Himself, and He

chastens us in order to make us partakers of His holiness. He allows

the world to go on its way for the present, not interfering publicly

with it; but He judges His house, and He chastens His children, in

order that they may more fully answer to His mind and be the

expression of His moral image.

And is not this an immense privilege? Yes, verily; it is a privilege

of the very highest order--a privilege flowing from the infinite grace

of our God, who condescends to interest Himself in us, and occupy

Himself even with our infirmities, our failures, and our sins, in

order to deliver us from them, and make us partakers of His holiness.

There is a very fine passage bearing upon this subject in the opening

of Hebrews xii, which, because of its immense practical importance, we

must quote for the reader.--"My son, despise not thou the chastening

of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him; for _whom the

Lord loveth He chasteneth_, and _scourgeth every son_ whom He

receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons;

for _what son_ is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be

_without chastisement_, whereof all are partakers, then are ye

_bastards_ and _not sons_. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our

flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not

much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For

they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; _but

He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness_. Now no

chastening for the present _seemeth_ to be joyous, but grievous;

nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of

righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up

the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees."

There are three ways of meeting divine chastening: We may "_despise_"

it, as something commonplace--something that may happen to any one; we

do not see _the hand of God_ in it. Again, we may "_faint_" under it,

as something too heavy for us to bear--something entirely beyond

endurance; we do not see _the Father's heart_ in it, or recognize His

gracious object in it, namely, to make us partakers of His holiness.

Lastly, we may be "_exercised_" by it. This is the way to reap "the

peaceable fruit of righteousness afterward." We dare not "_despise_" a

thing in which we trace the hand of God: we need not "_faint_" under a

trial in which we plainly discern the heart of a loving Father, who

will not suffer us to be tried above what we are able, but will with

the trial make an issue, that we may be able to bear it, and who also

graciously explains to us His object in the discipline, and assures us

that every stroke of His rod is a proof of His love, and a direct

response to the prayer of Christ in John xvii. 11, wherein He commends

us to the care of the "Holy Father," to be kept according to that name

and all that name involves.

Furthermore, there are three distinct attitudes of heart in reference

to divine chastening, namely, subjection, acquiescence, and rejoicing.

When the will is broken, there is subjection; when the understanding

is enlightened as to the object of the chastening, there is calm

acquiescence; and when the affections are engaged with the Father's

heart, there is rejoicing, and we can go forth with glad hearts to

reap a golden harvest of the peaceable fruit of righteousness, to the

praise of Him who, in His painstaking love, undertakes to care for us

and to deal with us in holy government, and concentrate His care upon

each one as though there were but that one to attend to.

How wonderful is all this! and how the thought of it should help us in

all our trials and exercises! We are in the hands of One whose love

is infinite, whose wisdom is unerring, whose power is omnipotent,

whose resources are inexhaustible. Why, then, should we ever be cast

down? If He chastens us, it is because He loves us and seeks our real

good. We may think the chastening grievous--we may feel disposed to

wonder, at times, how love can inflict pain and sickness upon us; but

we must remember that divine love is wise and faithful, and only

inflicts the pain, the sickness, or the sorrow for our profit and

blessing. We must not always judge of love by the form in which it

clothes itself. Look at that fond and tender mother applying a blister

to her child whom she loves as her own soul. She knows full well that

the blister will cause her child real pain and suffering, and yet she

unhesitatingly applies it, though her heart feels keenly at having to

do it. But she knows it is absolutely necessary; she believes that,

humanly and medically speaking, the child's life depends upon it; she

feels that a few moments' pain may, with the blessing of God, restore

the health of her precious child. Thus, while the child is only

occupied with the transient suffering, the mother is thinking of the

permanent good; and if the child could but think with the mother, the

blister would not seem so hard to bear.

Now, it is just thus in the matter of our Father's disciplinary

dealings with us; and the remembrance of this would greatly help us to

endure whatever His chastening hand may lay upon us. It may perhaps be

said that there is a very wide difference between a blister laid on

for a few minutes, and years of intense bodily suffering. No doubt

there is; but there is also a very wide difference between the result

reached in each case. It is only with the principle of the thing we

have to do. When we see a beloved child of God, or servant of Christ,

called to pass through years of intense suffering, we may feel

disposed to wonder why it is; and perhaps the beloved sufferer may

also feel disposed to wonder, and at times be ready to faint under the

weight of his long-protracted affliction. He may feel led to cry out,

Why am I thus? Can this be love? can this be the expression of a

Father's tender care? "Yes, verily," is Faith's bright and decided

reply. "It is all love--all divinely right. I would not have it

otherwise for worlds. I know this transient suffering is working out

eternal blessing. I know my loving Father has put me into this furnace

to purge away my dross and bring out in me the expression of His own

image. I know that divine love will always do the very best for its

object, and therefore this intense suffering is the very best thing

for me. Of course, I feel it, for I am not a stick or a stone. My

Father means me to feel it, just as the mother means the blister to

rise, for it would do no good otherwise. But I bless Him, with my

whole heart, for the grace that shines in the wondrous fact of His

occupying Himself with me, in this way, to correct what He sees to be

wrong in me. I praise Him for putting me into the furnace; and how can

I but praise Him, when I see Himself, in infinite grace and patience,

sitting over the furnace to watch the process, and lift me out the

moment the work is done?"

This, beloved Christian reader, is the true way, and this the right

spirit in which to pass through chastening of any kind, be it bodily

affliction, sore bereavement, loss of property, or pressure of

circumstances. We have to trace the hand of God, to read a Father's

heart, to recognize the divine object in it all. This will enable us

to vindicate, justify, and glorify God in the furnace of affliction.

It will correct every murmuring thought, and hush every fretful

utterance; it will fill our hearts with sweetest peace and our mouths

with praise.

* * * * *

We must now turn, for a few moments, to the remaining verses of our

chapter, in which we shall find some most touching and powerful

appeals to the heart and conscience of the congregation. The lawgiver,

in the deep, true, and fervent love of his heart, makes use of the

most solemn warnings, the most earnest admonition, and the most tender

entreaties, in order to move the people to the one grand and

all-important point of obedience. If he speaks to them of the iron

furnace of Egypt, out of which Jehovah, in His sovereign grace, had

delivered them; if he dwells upon the mighty signs and wonders wrought

on their behalf; if he holds up to their view the glories of that land

on which they were about to plant their foot; or if he recounts the

marvelous dealings of God with them in the wilderness, it is all for

the purpose of strengthening the moral basis of Jehovah's claim upon

their loving and reverent obedience. The past, the present, and the

future are all brought to bear upon them--all made to furnish powerful

arguments in favor of their whole-hearted consecration of themselves

to the service of their gracious and almighty Deliverer. In short,

there was every reason why they should obey, and no possible excuse

for disobedience. All the facts of their history, from first to last,

were eminently calculated to give moral force to the exhortation and

warning of the following passage:--

"Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord

your God, which He made with you, and make you a graven image, or the

likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. For

the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. When thou

shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have

remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a

graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the

sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke Him to anger; I call heaven and

earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly

perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye

shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left

few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you. And

there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone,

which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell."

How solemn is all this! What faithful warnings are here! Heaven and

earth are summoned to witness. Alas! how soon and how completely all

this was forgotten! and how literally all those heavy denunciations

have been fulfilled in the history of the nation!

But, thank God, there is a bright side of the picture--there is mercy

as well as judgment, and our God (blessed forever be His holy name) is

something more than "a consuming fire and a jealous God." True, He is

a consuming fire, because He is holy; He is intolerant of evil, and

must consume our dross. Moreover, He is jealous, because He cannot

suffer any rival to have a place in the hearts of those He loves. He

must have the whole heart, because He alone is worthy of it, as He

alone can fill and satisfy it forever. And if His people turn away

from Him and go after idols of their own making, they must be left to

reap the bitter fruit of their own doings, and to prove, by sad and

terrible experience, the truth of these words: "Their sorrows shall be

multiplied that hasten after another."

But mark how touchingly Moses presents to the people the bright side

of things--a brightness springing from the eternal stability of the

grace of God, and the perfect provision which that grace has made for

all His people's need, from first to last. "_But_," he says--and oh,

how lovely are some of the "buts" of holy Scripture!--"if from thence

thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek

Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." Exquisite grace! "When

thou art in tribulation"--that is the time to find what our God

is,--"and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter

days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto His

voice;"--what then? "A consuming fire"? Nay; but "the Lord _thy God_

is a merciful God; He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor

forget the covenant of thy fathers which He sware unto them."

Here we have a remarkable onlook into Israel's future, their departure

from God and consequent dispersion among the nations, the complete

breaking up of their polity, and the passing away of their national

glory. But, blessed forever be the God of all grace, there is

something beyond all this failure and sin and ruin and judgment. When

we get to the far end of Israel's melancholy history--a history which

may truly be summed up in that one brief but comprehensive sentence,

"O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself," we are met by the magnificent

display of the grace, mercy, and faithfulness of Jehovah, the God of

their fathers, whose heart of love tells itself out in that added

sentence, "In Me is thy help." Yes; the whole matter is wrapped up in

these two vigorous sentences, "Thou hast destroyed thyself," "But in

Me is thy help." In the former, we have the sharp arrow for Israel's

conscience; in the latter, the soothing balm for Israel's broken

heart.

In thinking of the nation of Israel, there are two pages which we have

to study, namely, the historic and the prophetic. The page of history

records, with unerring faithfulness, their utter ruin: the page of

prophecy unfolds, in accents of matchless grace, God's remedy.

Israel's past has been dark and gloomy: Israel's future will be bright

and glorious. In the former, we see the miserable actings of man; in

the latter, the blessed ways of God. That gives the forcible

illustration of what man is; this, the bright display of what God is.

We must look at both if we would understand aright the history of this

remarkable people--"a people terrible from their beginning hitherto,"

and, we may truly add, a people wonderful to the end of time.

We do not, of course, attempt to adduce, in this place, proofs of our

statement as to Israel's past and Israel's future. To do so would, we

may say, without any exaggeration, demand a volume, inasmuch as it

would simply be to quote a very large portion of the historical books

of the Bible on the one hand, and of the prophetic books on the other.

This, we need hardly say, is out of the question; but we feel bound to

press upon the reader's attention the precious teaching contained in

the quotation given above. It embodies, in its brief compass, the

whole truth as to Israel's past, present, and future. Mark how their

past is vividly portrayed in these few words: "When thou shalt beget

children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in

the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or

the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord

thy God, to provoke Him to anger."

Is not this precisely what they have done? Is it not here, as it were,

in a nutshell? They have done evil in the sight of Jehovah their God,

to provoke Him to anger. That one word, "_evil_" takes all in, from

the calf at Horeb to the cross at Calvary. Such is Israel's past.

And now, what of their present? Are they not a standing monument of

the imperishable truth of God? Has a single jot or tittle failed of

all that God has spoken? Hearken to these glowing words: "I call

heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon

utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to

possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly

be destroyed. And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye

shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall

lead you."

Has not all this been fulfilled to the letter? Who can question it?

Israel's past and Israel's present alike attest the truth of God's

Word. And are we not justified in declaring that inasmuch as the past

and the present are a literal accomplishment of the truth of God, so

shall the future? Assuredly. The page of history and the page of

prophecy were both indited by the same Spirit, and therefore they are

both alike true; and as the history records Israel's sin and Israel's

dispersion, so doth the prophecy predict Israel's repentance and

Israel's restoration. The one is as true to faith as the other. As

surely as Israel sinned in the past and are scattered at the present,

so surely shall they repent and be restored in the future.

This, we conceive, is beyond all question; and we rejoice to think of

it. There is not one of the prophets, from Isaiah to Malachi, that

does not most distinctly set forth, in accents of sweetest grace and

most tender mercy, the future blessings, pre-eminence, and glory of

the seed of Abraham.[11] It would be simply delightful to quote some

of the sublime passages bearing upon this most interesting subject;

but we must leave the reader to search them out for himself,

especially commending to his notice the precious passages contained in

the closing chapters of Isaiah, in which he will find a perfect feast,

as well as the fullest confirmation of the apostle's statement that

"all Israel shall be saved." All the prophets, "from Samuel and those

that follow after," agree as to this. The teachings of the New

Testament harmonize with the voices of the prophets, and hence to call

in question the truth of Israel's restoration to their own land, and

final blessing there, under the rule of their own Messiah, is simply

to ignore or deny the testimony of prophets and apostles, speaking and

writing by the direct inspiration of God the Holy Ghost; it is to set

aside a body of Scripture evidence perfectly overwhelming.

[11] Jonah, of course, is an exception; his mission was to Nineveh. He

is the only prophet whose commission had exclusive reference to the

Gentiles.

It seems passing strange that any true lover of Christ should seek to

do this; yet so it is, and so it has been, through religious

prejudice, theological bias, and various other causes. But,

notwithstanding all this, the glorious truth of Israel's restoration

and pre-eminence in the earth shines with undimmed lustre on the

prophetic page, and all who seek to set it aside, or interfere with it in

any way, are not only flying in the face of holy Scripture--contradicting

the unanimous voice of apostles and prophets, but also seeking to

tamper (ignorantly and unwittingly, no doubt) with the counsel,

purpose, and promise of the Lord God of Israel, and to nullify His

covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

This is serious work for any one to engage in, and we believe many are

doing it without being aware of it; for we must understand that any

one who applies the promises made to the Old-Testament fathers to the

New-Testament Church is, in reality, doing the serious work of which

we speak. We maintain that no one has the slightest warrant to

alienate the promises made to the fathers. We may learn from those

promises, delight in them, draw comfort and encouragement from their

eternal stability and direct literal application--all this is

blessedly true; but it is another thing altogether for men, under the

influence of a system of interpretation falsely called spiritual, to

apply to the Church, or to believers of the New-Testament times,

prophecies which, as simply and plainly as words can indicate, apply

to Israel--to the literal seed of Abraham.

This is what we consider so very serious. We believe we have very

little idea of how thoroughly opposed all this is to the mind and

heart of God. He loves Israel--loves them for the fathers' sake, and

we may rest assured He will not sanction our interference with their

place, their portion, or their prospect. We are all familiar with the

words of the inspired apostle in Romans xi, however we may have missed

or forgotten their true import and moral force.

Speaking of Israel, in connection with the olive-tree of promise, he

says, "And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be

graffed in; for" the most simple, solid, and blessed of all

reasons--"_God is able_," as He is most surely willing, "to graff them

in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive-tree which is wild by

nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive-tree;

how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed

into their own olive-tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should

be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own

conceits; that blindness _in part_ is happened to Israel, until the

fullness of the Gentiles be come in.[12] And so all Israel shall be

saved: as it is written, 'There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer,

and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: _for this is My covenant

unto them_, when I shall take away their sins.' As concerning the

gospel, they are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the election,

they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of

God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed

God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief; even so have

these also now not believed in your mercy [or, mercy to you. _See

Greek._] that they also may obtain mercy." That is, that instead of

coming in on the ground of law, or fleshly descent, they should come

in simply on the ground of sovereign mercy, just as the Gentiles. "For

God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have _mercy

upon all_."

[12] The reader must seize the difference between "the fullness of the

Gentiles" in Romans xi, and "the times of the Gentiles" in Luke xxi.

The former refers to those who are now being gathered into the Church:

the latter, on the contrary, refers to the times of Gentile supremacy

which began with Nebuchadnezzar, and runs on to the time when "the

stone cut out without hands" shall fall, in crushing power, upon the

great image of Daniel ii.

Here ends the section bearing upon our immediate subject, but we

cannot refrain from quoting the splendid doxology which bursts forth

from the overflowing heart of the inspired apostle as he closes the

grand dispensational division of his epistle--"O the depth of the

riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are

His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the

mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counselor? or who hath first

given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For _of_

Him," as the source, "and _through_ Him," as the channel, "and _to_

Him," as the object, "are all things: to whom be glory forever.

Amen."

The foregoing splendid passage, as indeed all Scripture, is in perfect

keeping with the teaching of the fourth chapter of our book. Israel's

present condition is the fruit of their dark unbelief: Israel's future

glory will be the fruit of God's rich sovereign mercy.--"The Lord thy

God is a merciful God, He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee,

nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which He sware unto them. For

ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the

day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of

heaven unto the other"--The utmost bounds of time and space were to be

appealed to, to see--"whether there hath been any such thing as this

great thing is, or hath been heard like it? Did ever people hear the

voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast

heard, and live? Or hath God assayed to go and take Him a nation from

the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders,

and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by

great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in

Egypt before your eyes? Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest

know that the Lord He is God; there is none else beside Him. Out of

heaven He made thee to hear His voice, that He might instruct thee,

and upon earth He showed thee His great fire; and thou heardest His

words out of the midst of the fire."

Here we have set forth, with singular moral power, the grand object of

all the divine actings on Israel's behalf. It was that they might

know that Jehovah was the one true and living God, and that there was

and could be none beside Him. In a word, it was the purpose of God

that Israel should be a witness for Him on the earth; and so they most

assuredly shall, though hitherto they have signally failed and caused

His great and holy name to be blasphemed among the nations. Nothing

can hinder the purpose of God. His covenant shall stand forever.

Israel shall yet be a blessed and effective witness for God on the

earth, and a channel of rich and everlasting blessing to all nations.

Jehovah has pledged His word as to this, and not all the powers of

earth and hell--men and devils combined can hinder the full

accomplishment of all that He has spoken. His glory is involved in

Israel's future, and if a single jot or tittle of His word were to

fail, it would be a dishonor cast upon His great name, and an occasion

for the enemy, which is utterly impossible. Israel's future blessing

and Jehovah's glory are bound together by a link which can never be

snapped. If this be not clearly seen, we can neither understand

Israel's past nor Israel's future. Nay, more; we may assert, with all

possible confidence, that unless this blessed fact be fully grasped,

our system of prophetic interpretation must be utterly false.

But there is another truth set forth in our chapter--a truth of

peculiar interest and preciousness. It is not merely that the glory of

Jehovah is involved in Israel's future restoration and blessedness;

the love of His heart is also engaged. This comes out with touching

sweetness in the following words: "And because He loved thy fathers,

therefore He chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in His

sight with His mighty power out of Egypt; to drive out nations from

before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to

give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day."

Thus the truth of God's word, the glory of His great name, and the

love of His heart are all involved in His dealings with the seed of

Abraham His friend; and albeit they have broken the law, dishonored

His name, despised His mercy, rejected His prophets, crucified His

Son, and resisted His Spirit--although they have done all this, and,

in consequence thereof, are scattered and peeled and broken, and shall

yet pass through unexampled tribulation, yet will the God of Abraham,

Isaac, and Jacob glorify His name, make good His word, and manifest

the changeless love of His heart in the future history of His earthly

people. "Nothing changeth God's affection." Whom He loves and as He

loves He loves unto the end.

If we deny this in reference to Israel, we have not so much as a

single inch of solid standing-ground for ourselves: if we touch the

truth of God in one department, we have no security as to any thing.

"Scripture cannot be broken." "All the promises of God in Him are yea,

and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God." God has pledged Himself to

the seed of Abraham; He has promised to give them the land of Canaan,

_forever_. "His gifts and calling are without repentance." He never

repents of His gift or His call; and therefore for any one to attempt

to alienate His promises and His gifts, or to interfere in any way

with their application to their true and proper object, must be a

grievous offense to Him. It mars the integrity of divine truth,

deprives us of all certainty in the interpretation of holy Scripture,

and plunges the soul in darkness, doubt, and perplexity.

The teaching of Scripture is clear, definite, and distinct. The Holy

Ghost, who indited the sacred Volume, means what He says and says what

He means. If He speaks of Israel, He means Israel--of Zion, He means

Zion--of Jerusalem, He means Jerusalem. To apply any one of these

names to the New-Testament Church is to confound things that differ,

and introduce a method of interpreting Scripture which, from its

vagueness and looseness, can only lead to the most disastrous

consequences. If we handle the Word of God in such a loose and

careless manner, it is utterly impossible to realize its divine

authority over our conscience, or exhibit its formative power in our

course, conduct, and character.

* * * * *

We must now look, for a moment, at the powerful appeal with which

Moses sums up his address in our chapter: it demands our profound and

reverent attention.--"Know _therefore_ this day, and _consider it in

thine heart_, that the Lord He is God in heaven above, and upon the

earth beneath; there is none else. Thou shalt keep _therefore_ His

statutes, and His commandments, which I command thee this day, that it

may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou

mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth

thee, forever." (Ver. 39, 40.)

Here we see that the moral claim upon their hearty obedience is

grounded upon the revealed character of God, and His marvelous actings

on their behalf. In a word, they were bound to obey--bound by every

argument that could possibly act on the heart, the conscience, and the

understanding. The One who had brought them out of the land of Egypt,

with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; who had made that land to

tremble to its very centre, by stroke after stroke of His judicial

rod; who had opened up a pathway for them through the sea; who had

sent them bread from heaven, and brought forth water for them out of

the flinty rock; and all this for the glory of His great name, and

because He loved their fathers--surely He was entitled to their

whole-hearted obedience.

This is the grand argument, so eminently characteristic of this

blessed book of Deuteronomy. And surely this is full of instruction

for Christians now. If Israel were morally bound to obey, how much

more are we! If their motives and objects were powerful, how much more

so are ours! Do we feel their power? do we consider them in our

hearts? Do we ponder the claims of Christ upon us? Do we remember

that we are not our own, but bought with a price, even the infinitely

precious price of the blood of Christ? Do we realize this? Are we

seeking to live for Him? Is His glory our ruling object?--His love our

constraining motive? or are we living for ourselves? Are we seeking to

get on in the world--that world that crucified our blessed Lord and

Saviour? Are we seeking to make money? do we love it in our hearts,

either for its own sake or for the sake of what it can procure? does

money _govern_ us? Are we seeking a place in the world, either for

ourselves or for our children? Let us honestly challenge our hearts,

as in the divine presence, in the light of God's truth, what is our

object--our real, governing, cherished, heart-sought object?

Reader, these are searching questions. Let us not put them aside: let

us really weigh them in the very light of the judgment-seat of Christ.

We believe they are wholesome, much-needed questions. We live in very

solemn times. There is a fearful amount of sham on every side, and in

nothing is this sham so awfully apparent as in so-called religion.

The very days in which our lot is cast have been sketched by a pen

that never colors--never exaggerates, but always presents men and

things precisely as they are.--"This know also, that in _the last

days_"--quite distinct from "_the latter times_" of 1 Timothy iv.--far

in advance, more pronounced, more closely defined, more strongly

marked, these last days in which "perilous [or difficult] times shall

come. For men shall be _lovers of their own selves_, covetous,

_boasters_, proud, blasphemers, _disobedient to parents_, unthankful,

unholy, _without natural affection_, truce-breakers, _false accusers_,

incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors,

heady, high-minded, _lovers of pleasures more_ [or rather] _than

lovers of God_." And then mark the crown which the inspired apostle

puts upon this appalling superstructure!--"Having a form of godliness,

but denying the power thereof." (2 Tim. iii. 1-5.)

What a terrible picture! We have here, in a few glowing, weighty

sentences, _infidel_ christendom, just as in 1 Timothy iv. we have

_superstitious_ christendom. In the latter, we see popery; in the

former, infidelity. Both elements are at work around us, but the

latter will yet rise into prominence--indeed, even now it is advancing

with rapid strides. The very leaders and teachers of christendom are

not ashamed or afraid to attack the foundations of Christianity. A

so-called Christian bishop is not ashamed or afraid to call in

question the integrity of the five books of Moses, and, with them, of

the whole Bible; for, most assuredly, if Moses was not the inspired

writer of the Pentateuch, the entire edifice of holy Scripture is

swept from beneath our feet. The writings of Moses are so intimately

bound up with all the other grand divisions of the divine Volume, that

if they are touched, all is gone. We boldly affirm that if the Holy

Ghost did not inspire Moses, the servant of God, to write the first

five books of our English Bible, we have not an inch of solid ground

to stand upon; we are positively left without a single atom of divine

authority on which to rest our souls; the very pillars of our glorious

Christianity are swept away, and we are left to grope our way, in

hopeless perplexity, amid the conflicting opinions and theories of

infidel doctors, without so much as a single ray from Inspiration's

heavenly lamp.

Does this appear too strong for the reader? Does he believe that we

can listen, for a moment, to the infidel denier of Moses, and yet

believe in the inspiration of the psalms, the prophets, and the New

Testament? If he does, let him be well assured he is under the power

of a fatal delusion. Let him take such passages as the following, and

ask himself, What do they mean, and what is wrapped up in them? Our

Lord, in speaking to the Jews--who, by the way, would not have agreed

with a Christian bishop in denying the authenticity of Moses--says,

"Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one that

accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses,

ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not

his writings, how shall ye believe My words?" (John v. 45-47.)

Think of this: The man that does not believe in the writings of

Moses--does not receive every line of his as divinely inspired, does

not believe in Christ's words, and therefore cannot have any divinely

wrought faith in Christ Himself--cannot be a Christian at all. This

makes it a very serious matter for any one to deny the divine

inspiration of the Pentateuch, and equally serious for any one to

listen to him or sympathize with him. It is all very well to talk of

Christian charity and liberality of spirit; but we have yet to learn

that it is charity or liberality to sanction, in any way, a man who

has the audacity to sweep from beneath our feet the very foundations

of our faith. To speak of him as a Christian bishop, or a Christian

minister of any kind, is only to make the matter a thousand times

worse. We can understand a Voltaire or a Paine attacking the Bible--we

do not look for any thing else from them; but when those who assume to

be the recognized and ordained ministers of religion, and the

guardians of the faith of God's elect--those who consider themselves

alone entitled to teach and preach Jesus Christ, and feed and tend the

Church of God--when they actually call in question the inspiration of

the five books of Moses, may we not well ask, Where are we? What has

the professing church come to?

But let us take another passage. It is the powerful appeal of the

risen Saviour to the two bewildered disciples on their way to

Emmaus--"'O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets

have spoken; ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to

enter into His glory?' And _beginning at Moses_ and all the prophets,

He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning

Himself." And again, to the eleven and others with them, He says,

"These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you,

that all things must be fulfilled, which were written _in the law of_

_Moses_, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me." (Luke

xxiv. 25-27, 44.)

Here we find that our Lord, in the most distinct and positive manner,

recognizes the law of Moses as an integral part of the canon of

inspiration, and binds it up with all the other grand divisions of the

divine Volume in such a way that it is utterly impossible to touch one

without destroying the integrity of the whole. If Moses is not to be

trusted, neither are the prophets, nor the psalms. They stand or fall

together. And not only so, but we must either admit the divine

authenticity of the Pentateuch or draw the blasphemous inference that

our adorable Lord and Saviour gave the sanction of His authority to a

set of spurious documents, by quoting as the writings of Moses what

Moses never wrote at all! There is positively not a single inch of

consistent standing-ground between these two conclusions.

Again, take the following most weighty and important passage at the

close of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus: "Abraham saith unto

him, 'They have _Moses and the prophets; let them hear them_.' And he

said, 'Nay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the dead,

they will repent.' And he said unto him, 'If they hear not Moses and

the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the

dead.'" (Luke xvi. 29-31.)

Finally, if we add to all this the fact that our Lord, in His conflict

with Satan in the wilderness, quotes only from the writings of Moses,

we have a body of evidence quite sufficient, not only to establish,

beyond all question, the divine inspiration of Moses, but also to

prove that the man who calls in question the authenticity of the first

five books of the Bible, can really have no Bible, no divine

revelation, no authority, no solid foundation for his faith. He may

call himself, or be called by others, a Christian bishop or a

Christian minister; but, in solemn fact, he is a skeptic, and should

be treated as such by all who believe and know the truth. We cannot

understand how any one with a spark of divine life in his soul could

be guilty of the awful sin of denying the inspiration of a large

portion of the Word of God, or asserting that our Lord Christ could

quote from spurious documents.

We may be deemed severe in thus writing. It seems the fashion nowadays

to own as Christians those who deny the very foundations of

Christianity. It is a very popular notion that, provided people are

moral, amiable, benevolent, charitable, and philanthropic, it is of

very small consequence what they believe. Life is better than creed or

dogma, we are told. All this sounds very plausible: but the reader may

rest assured that the direct tendency of all this manner of speech and

line of argument is to get rid of the Bible--rid of the Holy

Ghost--rid of Christ--rid of God--rid of all that the Bible reveals to

our souls. Let him bear this in mind, and seek to keep close to the

precious Word of God; let him treasure that Word in his heart, and

give himself more and more to the prayerful study of it. Thus he will

be preserved from the withering influence of skepticism and

infidelity, in every shape and form; his soul will be fed and

nourished by the sincere milk of the Word, and his whole moral being

be kept in the shelter of the divine presence continually. This is

what is needed: nothing else will do.

* * * * *

We must now close our meditations on this marvelous chapter which has

been engaging our attention; but ere doing so, we would glance for a

moment at the remarkable notice of the three cities of refuge. It

might, to a cursory reader, seem abrupt; but, so far from that, it is,

as we might expect, in perfect and beautiful moral order. Scripture is

always divinely perfect, and if we do not see and appreciate its

beauties and moral glories, it is simply owing to our blindness and

insensibility.

"Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the

sunrising; that the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his

neighbor unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing

unto one of those cities he might live; namely, Bezer in the

wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in

Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites."

Here we have a lovely display of the grace of God rising, as it ever

does, above human weakness and failure. The two tribes and a half, in

choosing their inheritance on this side Jordan, were manifestly

stopping short of the proper portion of the Israel of God, which lay

on the other side of the river of death; but, notwithstanding this

failure, God, in His abounding grace, would not leave the poor slayer

without a refuge in the day of his distress. If man cannot come up to

the height of God's thoughts, God can come down to the depths of man's

need; and so blessedly does He do so in this case, that the two tribes

and a half were to have as many cities of refuge on this side Jordan

as the nine tribes and a half had in the land of Canaan.

This, truly, was grace abounding. How unlike the manner of man! How

far above mere law or legal righteousness! It might, in a legal way,

have been said to the two tribes and a half, If you are going to

choose your inheritance short of the divine mark--if you are content

with less than Canaan, the land of promise, you must not expect to

enjoy the privileges and blessings of that land. The institutions of

Canaan must be confined to Canaan, and hence your manslayer must try

and make his way across the Jordan and find refuge there.

Law might speak thus, but Grace spoke differently. God's thoughts are

not ours, nor His ways as ours. We might deem it marvelous grace to

provide even one city for the two and a half tribes; but our God does

exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, and hence the

comparatively small district on this side Jordan was furnished with as

full a provision of grace as the entire land of Canaan.

Does this prove that the two and a half tribes were right? Nay; but it

proves that God was good, and that He must ever act like Himself,

spite of all our weakness and folly. Could He leave a poor slayer

without a place of refuge in the land of Gilead, though Gilead was not

Canaan? Surely not. This would not be worthy of the One who says, "_I

bring near_ My righteousness." He took care to bring the city of

refuge "near" to the slayer. He would cause His rich and precious

grace to flow over and meet the needy one just where he was. Such is

the way of our God, blessed be His holy name for evermore!

"And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:

these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which

Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of

Egypt, on this side Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in

the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom

Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out

of Egypt: and they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of

Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan

toward the sunrising; from Aroer, which is by the bank of the river

Arnon, even unto Mount Sion, which is Hermon, and all the plain on

this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the

springs of Pisgah."

Here closes this marvelous discourse. The Spirit of God delights to

trace the boundaries of the people, and dwell on the most minute

details connected with their history. He takes a lively and loving

interest in all that concerns them--their conflicts, their victories,

their possessions, all their landmarks; every thing about them is

dwelt upon with a minuteness which, by its touching grace and

condescension, fill the heart with wonder, love, and praise. Man, in

his contemptible self-importance, thinks it beneath his dignity to

enter upon minute details; but _our_ God counts the hairs of our

heads, puts our tears into His bottle, takes knowledge of our every

care, our every sorrow, our every need. There is nothing too small for

His love, as there is nothing too great for His power. He concentrates

His loving care upon each one of His people as though He had only that

one to attend to; and there is not a single circumstance in our

private history, from day to day, however trivial, in which He does

not take a loving interest.

Let us ever remember this, for our comfort; and may we learn to trust

Him better, and use, with a more artless faith, His fatherly love and

care. He tells us to cast _all_ our care upon Him, in the assurance

that He careth for us. He would have our hearts as free from care as

our conscience is free from guilt. "Be careful for _nothing_; but in

every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your

requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth

_all_ understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ

Jesus." (Phil. iv. 6, 7.)

It is to be feared that the great majority of us know but little of

the real depth, meaning, and power of such words as these. We read

them and hear them, but we do not take them in and make our own of

them--we do not digest them and reduce them to practice. How little do

we really enter into the blessed truth that our Father is interested

in all our little cares and sorrows, and that we may go to Him with

all our little wants and difficulties. We imagine that such things are

beneath the notice of the high and mighty One who inhabiteth eternity

and sitteth upon the circle of the earth. This is a serious mistake,

and one that robs us of incalculable blessing in our daily history. We

should ever remember that there is nothing great or small with our

God: all things are alike to Him who sustains the vast universe by the

word of His power, and takes notice of a falling sparrow. It is quite

as easy to Him to create a world as to provide a breakfast for some

poor widow. The greatness of His power, the moral grandeur of His

government, and the minuteness of His tender care, do all alike

command the wonder and the worship of our hearts.

Christian reader, see that you make your own of all these things. Seek

to live nearer to God in your daily walk. Lean more upon Him. Use Him

more. Go to Him in all your need, and you will never have to tell your

need to a poor fellow-mortal. "My God shall supply _all_ your need,

according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." What a

source--"God"! What a standard--"His riches in glory"! What a

channel--"Christ Jesus"! It is your sweet privilege to place all _your

need_ over against _His riches_, and lose sight of the former in the

presence of the latter. His exhaustless treasury is thrown open to

you, in all the love of His heart; go and draw upon it, in the

artless simplicity of faith, and you will never have occasion to look

to a creature-stream or lean on a creature-prop.