whe.t " de!ICent must God feel H to btl to consort with cree.turee of such petty sel6sh e.ims e.nd uncultured w1tys I Only real pitying love, a desire to benefit e.nd raise these miserable objects, a vision of what it was possible for them to become by such fellow- ship with the Most High, could have invested men with sufficient interest in the eyes of God to permit him to dwell amongst them. If the people strive to fulfil the behesta of the Law, much of their degradation will vanish, and be succeeded by integrity and ri1;hteousness, which shall gradually beautify their character and customs. 11 My soul shall not abhor you," if you honour my precept-s by strict fidelity. III. THE PROMISE VERIFIED. 1. In the locaJ, habif.ation of God at Shiloh and Jerusalem. There God placed his Name and exhibited his power and favour. 2. In hu personal manifestatwn in Ohrist Jesus. "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." 11 The Word . . . dwelt among us." Then was answered the que&- tion, "Will God in very deed dwell with man upon the earth?" Christ sojourned like ourselves in a house of clay, mingling with men and women in their daily tasks, sat at the same table with publicans and sinners. 3. In the presence of God spiritually in the heart of the individual believer, in the Church of Christ as a whole, making it the temple of God, a.nd in the various assemblies, small or great, of the saints. " Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them." The grandest fulfilment will be when the Lord God Almighty shall himself oonstituto the temple in which they shall offer their worship and service. " He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among (spread his tabernacle over) them." No more hungering nor thirsting, no death, sorrow, nor crying, when God shall thus absolutely completely draw near to his people.-S. R. A. Vers. 1, 2.-0ommand to maintain the public worship of Jehovah. I. Ptra1TY OF woBSBIP. No idols or images. 1. Spirituality of religion. 2. Dependence of man on re11ilatwn. The deistic position of natural religion untenable. 3. 'l'he worship of God should be the free and grateful remembrance of past benefits received, therefore the leading elements of it should be faith and praise, not, as in heathenism and corrupt Christian syst.ems such as the Roman Catholic, the slavish subjection of man to the fear of Divine wrath and the mediation of priests. • II. CoNBECRA.TION BOTH OF DAY AND PLACE. Sabbath and sanctuary. 1. As neces- sary on account of the weakness of our nature. We cannot keep the mind above the world unless we are separated at times altogether from it. 2. The rallying point of fellowship. In the co=union of saints there is special spiritual help. 3. As main- taining the holy order of human life, giving distinction and eminence to the highest things, predicting the future rest, revealing the dependence of the bodily life on the life of the soul, a.nd of the happiness of earthly toil on the blessing of God. 4. The Christian sabbath as based on the resurrection of Christ has a new form of obligation and a larger sphere of holy suggestion. It is not so much commanded as vitally connected with the whole strength of Christian motive.-R. Vere. 3-39.-Promises and threatenings. Ver. 12, "And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people." L The true law of human life. 1. Religion the upholding support of individual, social, national well-being. Natural laws subservient to higher ends. Ascending scale in the universe, the physical the basis of the psychical, the psychical of the moral, the moral of the spiritual. 2. 'l'he covenani relationship of God and man the only true form in which the ideas of religion can be realized and maintained. Personality of God, freedom of man. Interchange of confidence. Living communion. Support of prayer, which should embrace all wants and possibilities. 3. Illustration of the connection between providence and religion in the history both of individuals and nations. Importance of insisting on the truths contained in this chapter as against seculariam and fanaticism and mysticism. Religion is objective as well as subjective. Tremendous fact that, notwithstanding both the promises and threatening11, Israel failed t-0 keep the Law. Illustration of human fall and dependence on Divine grace. IL Divine government. 1. Righteous. 2. Merciful 3. Revealed in connection with a system of truth and actual promises appealing to faith. 4. Embracing those who know not God, 86 well as his people.-R. OH. XXVII, 1-34,] THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. (27
Ver. 21.-ThreateningB. I. Actually fnlfilled in hi~tory of the Jews, especially at 11icge of Jerusalem, A.D. 70. II. Illustrating the moral nature of man as connected with a moral government. III. 'faken in order of announcement after the promises, reminding us that God willeth not the death of a sinner. The brightness of the love on the background of righteousneBS.-R. Vera. 40-46.-The gracious invitation to repmtana. The covenant may be restored. Even in the midst of the declarations of Divine sove1 eignty and govern- ment, long-suffering mercy meets "the earliest and faintest breathings of a broken and penitent spirit." I. Confirm by history (see Judges and Kings). The restoration from Babylon. All consummated in Messiah. II. 'l'he free grace of God is the fonndation of hope ; " I am the Lord their God • " "I will remember;" "for all that I will not cast them a.way;" "of faith, that 'it might be by grace." III. The forgiveness of God dependent on the fulfilment of declared conditions. "If they shall confess ; " "if their uncircumcised heart be humbled." 1. Spirituality of religion maintained from the beginning. 2. The purpc:>se and end of all Divine chastisements to produce a.n acceptable state of heart. 3. The true penitence was the true circumcision, in other words, it wa.s a renewal of the covenant, therefore included faith and acceptance of the Divine revelation and ordinances. Repentance and fait.h are one in the higher light of the gospel, for they are both "toward" the covenant in Christ Jesus.-B.