rclntion of God's servants to the evil of the world. 1. No tolcralion of it (M11tt. v. '.!!I, :10). 2. No communion with it (2 Cor. vi. 14-18), 3, Unceasing war ngninst It (2 Cor. x. 4; Col. iii. 5).--J. 0. Ycrs. 3, 4.-llfarriage in the Lord. This law, forbidding rnnrriages with tho un- ~odly, is one for all timo. The apostle revives it in 1 Cor. vii. 39, That marrinoe ~hould be only in the Lord is evident- "' I. FnoM Tm: TRUE IDEA OF MARRIAGE. Tll"o individuals unito their lives, ·nn,l enter into a fellowship the most intimate possible-to what end? Surely thnt their nnturcs mn~· he raised to greater perfection, and that they may be better enabled to attain the ends of their ~xistence. This implies a certain harmony of disposition, an essantial accordance in the views taken of life and its duLics. It is a union, as one has said, not merc>ly between two creatures, but also between two spirits. But what communion, it- may be asked, can exist in spiritual respects between two persons severed from each other in the deepest principles of their lives? II. FRoM A REGARD To THE Drvnrn DLEssmo. Where one p~rtner is irreligious, tho blessing cannot rest upon the home in the same degree as where both are .,. heirs toi:ethcr of the grace of life" (1 Pet. iii. 7). Believers are to" agree" as touching what things they shall ask (Matt. xviii. HJ). Variances even in godly households result in prayers being "hindered" (1 Pet. iii. 7). How much sadder the case of a home, so- called, where husband and wife stand so far apart that they cannot unite in prayer at all! And who that ,alues God's blessing would willingly enter into a relatiori. which inc\·itably stints and limits it? III. FROM THE DANGER ACCRUING TO SPIBITUAL LIFE, The dan_ger is not imaginary (l Kings xi. 3). Where spiritual life is not destroyed, as we may hope that often it is not, yet nothing but harm can come from an association in every respect adverse to it. How intolerable to a spiritual mind to endure" the blight of all sympathy, to be dragged down to earth, and forced to become frivolous and commonplace; to lose all zest and earnestness in life; to have heart and' life degraded by mean and perpetually recurring sources of disagreement" (F. W. Robertson) I 'fhis is the species ofliving death to which unequal yokillg not unfrequently leads. The effects on offspring are also to be considered. Yet such marriages are rushed into, and, in the prevalent anxiety to make marriage the stepping-stone to wealth and social position, seem likely to becomo increasingly numerous. Would that men were wise, that they understood these things!-J. 0. Vers. 6-9.-Beasons/0'1' non-conformity to the world, and/or aggression on its evil. I. T!IE HOLTh'ESS OF OUR CALLING. (Ver. 6.) 'l'he believer stands to God in the rela- tion described in this ,erse. He is one chosen from the unholy mass to be peculiarly God's property. He belongs to God in body, soul, and spirit. He is a vessel for the Master's use. His every power is to be consecrated. What higher dignity could a human being sustain than that? But the obligations are coextensive with the honour. TLis man is, in virtue of his holiness, summoned to take up an attitude of non-con- formity to the world (Rom. xii. 2). In virtue of the same holiness, he is bound to unite with others in a sacred crusade against its evil. II. 'l'HE GRACE OF OUR ELECTION. (Ver. 7.) This puts another powerful weight into the sca!e. Standing in so close and honourable a relation ,to God, the believer is bid look to the rock whence he is hewn, and the hole of the pit whence he is diggc,>d. Who made him to differ? Whence this mercy shown peculiarly to him? We need not press texts on election in favour of any special theory. Sufficient that every- believer is willing to confess, as regards his own salvation, that "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy" (Rom. ix. 16), An clecti ve purpose comes to light in his spiritual history (Eph. i. 4, 5). When tracing his salvation to its source, he is consLrained to say," God, who is rich in mercy, for hi8 ;:;r~at love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us tugethcr with Christ" (Eph. ii. 4, 5). .All this implies special obligation to God's ;,ervice. . lll. THE MIGHT OF OUR REDEMPTION. (Ver. 8.) The redemption from Egypt, with ltti tragic accompaniments and mighty sig11s and wonders, was but a faint type of tho f'fl, VII, 1-26.] THE BOOK OF DEU'fEfiONOMY, 147
greater delivcrnnce which God has now wrought for his Israel in Christ. We aro ootitlrd to put the greater for the less, and to plead the stron,,er clnims which tl,o redemption from sin and wrnth establishes on the redeemed siul. The cost of our enlvation id Christ's blood. What return can we conceivably make exbanstivc of our obligations to Father and Son for so great a sacrifice ?-J. 0,