not sever Uie connection between godliness and prosperity. It gives it a new ~anctir,n (~ 'l'im. iv. B?. Wern the ~bedience of_ ?o<l's children more uniform and perfect, an,! prnty more widely cl11Tused rn communities, the connection would be more manifest thnn it is. But on tho wl1ole, temporal prosperity occupies a lower relative place in the Now Testament than in the 01,1. 1. The spiritual man, ser-✓ incr Christ and witn~ssing for him amidst the evil of the world, is more frequently exposed ~ per- secut10n (Matt v. 11; x. 24, 25; John xv. 15-21). He has more occasion to take up the cross (Matt. xvi. 24). He may require to sacrifice all he has, with life itself for Christ's sake and the gospel's (Mark x. 29, 30). 2. Temporal prosperity is in e;ery caae subordinated to spiritual good (2 Cor. xii. 7-10; 3 John 2). Bacon's saying has, therefore, truth in it," Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New, which ca.rrieth the greater benediction, and the clearer revelation of God's favour." Adversity, however, even in the New Testament, is but a step to something higher. Spiritual compensationd now; hereafter, "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (Mark x. 30; 2 Cor. iv. 17). II. THE OPERATION OF THE BLESSING. It is viewed as pervadinrr every department of tl\e earthly life. H mingles itself with all the good man i~, with all be does, with the circumstances of his lot, with the powers of the natural worlu which con- stitute his environment. It rests on his person, on his household, on bis possessions. It helps him against his enemies, making him wealthy and powerful (Abraham, Job), and exalting him to a position in which others are dependent on him. It attends him in city and field, in his coming in and going out, so that whatever he does prospen (Ps. i. 3). These promises demonstrate: 1. That the proviuence of God, in the sphere of the outward life, is free, sovereign, all-em bracing. 2. That there is under this providence a connection between outward events and circumstances and spiritual conditions. 3. That, subordinately to higher ends, piety and virtue, under this providence, will be rewarded by prosperity. (See a valuable treatment of this subject in M'Cosh's 'Method of the Divine Government,' bk. ii. eh. 2.) Yet glorious as these promises are, they "have no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth" of the promises of the New Testament. Promises: 1. Of salvation (Tiom. v. 9, 10). 2. Of spiritual blessings (Eph. i. 3). 3. Of a heavenly inheritance ( l Pet. i. 3, 4). 4. Of" riches" of goodness which will remain unex.hausted through eternal ages (Eph. ii. 6, 7). 5. Of perfected transformation into the moral image of God (Ps. xvii. 15; 1 Cor. xv. 49; Col. i. 22; 1 John iii. 2). III. 'l'HE CONDITION OF THE BLESSING. Obedience (vers. 1, 2, 9, 13, 14). 1. Legally, perfect obedience. 2. Evangelically, obedience habitual and sincere, albeit imperfect. The meritorious ground of a believer's acceptance, and of the blessings he receives, is the obedience unto death of Christ (Rom. v. 19-21). Christ expiates his sins, and fulfils de novo the condition of the covenant. It is well to remember, as explaining anomalies in the histories of righteous men under the old covenant, that the promises in these verses were primarily national. They could be realized to the individual only in connection with the obedience of the nation as a whole. When apostacy provoked God's judgments, pious individuals suffered in the general calamities. They suffered, too, as drawing upon themselves the hatred of the wicked. Hence the development in- the Psalms and Prophets of the idea of the "Righteous Sufferer"-One whose afflictions are entailed on hiru by the hatred and inj11stice of the wicked, or who, innocent him- self, suffers as a member of the body politic. This idea, which has throughout a Me11sianic reference, culminates in the prophecy of the" Servant of Jehovah" (Is. Iii., !iii.), who, by the holy endurance of sufferings for others, makes their sin his own, and vicariously atones for it.-J. 0. Ver. 8.-The blessing that maketh rich. I. FULL STOREHOUSES, WITHOUT GoD's BLESSING, ARE NOT RICHES. God does not count a man rich further than the good things he has are of real and lasting benefit to him. Wealth unblessed of God is not to be desired. 1. Unblessed good is ill (Eccles. v. 10-15). 2. It turns to ill-is not enduring (Prov. xiii. 22), takes wings and leaves, is a curse to oll"spring (Eccles. v. 14, 15; vi. 2; Jas. v. 1, 2). II. Goo's BLESSING, WITHOUT FULL STOREHOUSES, MAKES RICH. 1. It enriches the little we h11ve. A man with a moderate competence, an,l peace aml comfurt in the use 436 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. [ClH, :U.Vlll. 1-68,
(lfit, may be rich~r than the man :whose me~ns are tenfold ~e~ter (Ps. xxxvii. 16). Z. II makes adYers1ty a means of spmtual enrichment. 3. It 1s itself the best of all rich<'B (Bab. iii. 17-19).-J. 0.