Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy Volume Ii Part 18

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

Let us never forget this; it is a wholesome truth for every one of us.

We all need to bear in mind that if G.o.d were to withdraw His sustaining grace for one moment, there is no depth of iniquity into which we are not capable of plunging; indeed, we may add--and we do it with deep thankfulness--it is His own gracious hand that preserves us, each moment, from becoming a complete wreck in every way,--physically, mentally, morally, spiritually, and in our circ.u.mstances. May we keep this ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts, so that we may walk humbly and watchfully, and lean upon that arm which alone can sustain and preserve us.

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

But there was one grand fact which was ever to be kept prominently before each member of the congregation of Israel, namely, the divine presence in their midst. This fact was to govern their most private habits, and give character to all their ways. "The Lord thy G.o.d walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; _therefore shall thy camp be holy_; that He see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee." (Chap. xxiii.

14.)

What a precious privilege to have Jehovah walking in their midst! what a motive for purity of conduct, and refined delicacy in their personal and domestic habits! If He was in their midst to secure victory over their enemies, He was also there to demand holiness of life. They were never for one moment to forget the august Person who walked up and down in their midst. Would the thought of this prove irksome to any?

Only to such as did not love holiness, purity, and moral order. Every true Israelite would delight in the thought of having One dwelling in their midst who could not endure aught that was unholy, unseemly, or impure.

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

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

But not only does the Holy Spirit dwell in each individual believer, He also dwells in the Church collectively. "Know ye not that _ye are the temple of G.o.d_, and that the Spirit of G.o.d dwelleth _in you_?" (1 Cor. iii. 16.) It is upon this fact that the apostle grounds his exhortation in 1 Thessalonians v. 19--"_Quench_ not the Spirit." How divinely perfect is Scripture? how blessedly it hangs together! The Holy Ghost dwells in us individually, hence we are not to _grieve_ Him; He dwells in the a.s.sembly, hence we are not to _quench_ Him, but give Him His right place, and allow full scope for His blessed operations. May these great practical truths find a deep place in our hearts, and exert a more powerful influence over our ways, both in private life and in the public a.s.sembly.

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

xxii. 1-4.)

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

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

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

Cannot Christians learn something from this? How p.r.o.ne we are to think only of ourselves, our own interests, our own comfort and convenience!

How rarely it happens that in the building or furnishing of our houses we bestow a thought upon other people! We build and furnish for ourselves. Alas! self is too much our object and motive-spring in all our undertakings; nor can it be otherwise unless the heart be kept under the governing power of those motives and objects which belong to Christianity. We must live in the pure and heavenly atmosphere of the new creation in order to get above and beyond the base selfishness which characterizes fallen humanity. Every unconverted man, woman, and child on the face of the earth is governed simply by self in some shape or another. Self is the centre, the object, the motive-spring, of every action.

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

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

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

What a weighty principle is here! Do we really understand it? do we see its true spiritual application? It is to be feared there is a terrible amount of "mingled seed" used in the so-called spiritual husbandry of the present day. How much of "philosophy and vain deceit," how much of "science falsely so called," how much of "the rudiments of the world," do we find mixed up in the teaching and preaching throughout the length and breadth of the professing church!

How little of the pure, unadulterated seed of the Word of G.o.d, the "incorruptible seed" of the precious gospel of Christ, is scattered broad-cast over the field of christendom in this our day! How few, comparatively, are content to confine themselves within the covers of the Bible for the material of their ministry! Those who are, by the grace of G.o.d, faithful enough to do so, are looked upon as men of one idea, men of the old school, narrow, and behind the times.

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

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

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

Here, however, we must close this section. We have elsewhere sought to handle the subject of "The Unequal Yoke," and shall not therefore dwell upon it here.[23] The Israelite was not to plow with an ox and an a.s.s together; neither was he to wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen. The spiritual application of both these things is as simple as it is important. The Christian is not to link himself with an unbeliever for any object whatsoever, be it domestic, religious, philanthrophic, or commercial; neither must he allow himself to be governed by mixed principles. His character must be formed and his conduct ruled by the pure and lofty principles of the Word of G.o.d. Thus may it be with all who profess and call themselves Christians.

[23] See a pamphlet ent.i.tled "The Unequal Yoke," post-paid, 10 cts.

CHAPTER XXVI

"And it shall be, _when thou art come_ in unto the land which the Lord thy G.o.d giveth thee for an inheritance, and _possessest it_, and _dwellest_ therein; that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy G.o.d giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto _the place which the Lord thy G.o.d shall choose to place His name there_"--not to a place of their own or others' choosing.--"And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy G.o.d that _I am come_ unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us. And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy G.o.d." (Ver. 1-4.)

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

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

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

This is a very beautiful ill.u.s.tration of worship. "A Syrian ready to perish." Such was the origin. There is nothing to boast of, so far as nature is concerned. And as to the condition in which grace had found them, what of it? Hard bondage in the land of Egypt; toiling amid the brick-kilns, beneath the cruel lash of Pharaoh's taskmasters. But then, "We cried unto Jehovah." Here was their sure and blessed resource. It was all they could do, but it was enough. That cry of helplessness went directly up to the throne and to the heart of G.o.d, and brought Him down into the very midst of the brick-kilns of Egypt.

Hear Jehovah's gracious words to Moses--"I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry, by reason of their taskmasters; for _I know their sorrows_; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.... Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me; and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them." (Ex. iii. 7-9.)

Such was the immediate response of Jehovah to the cry of His people.

"I am come down to deliver them." Yes, blessed be His name, He came down, in the exercise of His own free and sovereign grace, to deliver His people; and no power of men or devils--earth or h.e.l.l could hold them for a moment beyond the appointed time. Hence, in our chapter, we have the grand result as set forth in the language of the worshiper and in the contents of his basket. "I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us.... And now, behold, I have brought the first-fruits of the land, which Thou, O Lord, hast given me." The Lord had accomplished all, according to the love of His heart and the faithfulness of His word. Not one jot or t.i.ttle had failed.--"I am come" And "I have brought the fruit." The fruit of what? of Egypt? Nay; but "of the land, which Thou, O Lord, hast given me." The worshiper's lips proclaimed the completeness of Jehovah's work; the worshiper's basket contained the fruit of Jehovah's land.

Nothing could be simpler, nothing more real. There was no room for a doubt, no ground for a question. He had simply to declare Jehovah's work and show the fruit. It was all of G.o.d from first to last. He had brought them out of Egypt, and He had brought them into Canaan. He had filled their baskets with the mellow fruits of His land, and their hearts with His praise.

And now, beloved reader, let us just ask you, do you think it was presumption on the part of the Israelite to speak as he did? Was it right, was it modest, was it humble, of him to say, "_I am come_"?

Would it have been more becoming in him merely to give expression to the faint hope that at some future period he might come? would doubt and hesitation as to his position and his portion have been more honoring and gratifying to the G.o.d of Israel? What say you? It may be that, antic.i.p.ating our argument, you are ready to say, There is no a.n.a.logy. Why not? If an Israelite could say, "I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us," why cannot the believer now say, I am come unto Jesus? True, in the one case, it was sight; in the other, it is faith. But is the latter less real than the former? Does not the inspired apostle say to the Hebrews, "Ye _are come_ unto Mount Zion"? and again, "We _receiving_ a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve G.o.d with reverence and G.o.dly fear." If we are in doubt as to whether we have "come" or not, and as to whether we have "received the kingdom" or not, it is impossible to worship in truth or serve with acceptance. It is when we are in intelligent and peaceful possession of the place and portion in Christ that true worship can ascend to the throne above, and effective service be rendered in the vineyard below.

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

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

This latter can only flow from the knowledge of G.o.d.

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

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

Nothing can be more beautiful than the moral order of these things. It is precisely similar to what we have in Hebrews xiii. "By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to G.o.d continually, that is, _the fruit_ of our lips giving thanks to His name." Here is the worship. "But to do good and to communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices G.o.d is well pleased." Here is the active benevolence.

Putting both together, we have what we may call the upper and the nether side of the Christian's character--praising G.o.d and doing good to men. Precious characteristics! May we exhibit them more faithfully.

One thing is certain, they will always go together. Show us a man whose heart is full of praise to G.o.d, and we will show you one whose heart is open to every form of human need. He may not be rich in this world's goods; he may be obliged to say, like one of old who was not ashamed to say it, "Silver and gold have I none;" but he will have the tear of sympathy, the kindly look, the soothing word, and these things tell far more powerfully upon a sensitive heart than the opening of the purse-strings, and the jingling of silver and gold. Our adorable Lord and Master, our great Exemplar, "went about doing good;" but we never read of His giving money to any one; indeed, we are warranted in believing that the blessed One never possessed a penny. When He wanted to answer the Herodians on the subject of paying tribute to Caesar, He had to ask them to show Him a penny; and when asked to pay tribute, He sent Peter to the sea to get it. He never carried money, and most a.s.suredly money is not named in the category of gifts bestowed by Him upon His servants. Still He went about doing good, and we are to do the same, in our little measure; it is at once our high privilege and our bounden duty to do so.

And let the reader mark the divine order laid down in Hebrews xiii.

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

"But to do good and to communicate _forget not_." There is singular interest attaching to the mode in which this is put. He does not say, But to offer the sacrifice of praise forget not. No; but lest, in the full and happy enjoyment of our own place and portion in Christ, we should "forget" that we are pa.s.sing through a scene of want and misery, trial and pressure, the apostle adds the salutary and much-needed admonition as to doing good and communicating. The spiritual Israelite is not only to rejoice in every good thing which the Lord his G.o.d has bestowed upon him, but he is also to remember the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow--that is, the one who has no earthly portion, and is thoroughly devoted to the Lord's work, and the one who has no home, the one who has no natural protector, and the one who has no earthly stay. It must ever be thus.

The rich tide of grace rolls down from the bosom of G.o.d, fills our hearts to overflowing, and in its overflow, refreshes and gladdens our whole sphere of action. If we were only living in the enjoyment of what is ours in G.o.d, our every movement, our every act, our every word, yea, our every look, would do good. The Christian, according to the divine idea, is one who stands with one hand lifted up to G.o.d in the presentation of the sacrifice of praise, and the other hand filled with the fragrant fruits of genuine benevolence to meet every form of human need.

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

We shall now briefly glance at the third point in the precious chapter before us. We shall do little more than quote the pa.s.sage for the reader. The Israelite, having presented his basket and distributed his t.i.thes, was further instructed to say, "I have not eaten thereof in my _mourning_, neither have I taken away aught thereof for any _unclean_ use, nor given aught thereof for _the dead_; but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my G.o.d, and have done according to all that Thou hast commanded me. Look down from Thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Thy people Israel, and the land which Thou hast given us, as Thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey. This day the Lord thy G.o.d hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments; thou shalt therefore _keep_ and _do_ them, _with all thine heart_ and _with all thy soul_. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy G.o.d, and to _walk in His ways_, and to keep His statutes and His commandments and His judgments, and to hearken unto His voice: and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be His peculiar people"--that is, a people of His own special possession--"as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep _all_ His commandments; and to make thee high above all nations which He hath made, in praise and in name and in honor; and that thou mayest be _a holy people_ unto the Lord thy G.o.d, as He hath spoken." (Ver. 14-19.)

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

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