The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 456

He came. The work is don&--done for all, without distinction of persons. Done- once and for ever, Hence-I. How large the encouragement to call on the Lord .Jesus and be saved! 2. Men need not remain unsaved. 8. Men onght not to remain unsaved. Vere. 16-20.-.A dread alternative. While handling substantially the same momer.tous themes, the aged lawgiver, as if the thought were oppressing him that he should very soon speak his last word, becomes more and more intensely earnest, an,! mingles a solemnity and pathos which may well be followed by those whose work it i~ to "warn every man, and teach every man in all wisdom," that they may "present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." Here is presented to us a series of considerations, which are cumulative in their force, and which should be deeply pondered in strict order of progress. I. HEnE IS A GREAT MABB OF TRUTH BET BEFORE ll!EN's C0Ns=cEB AND HEARTS. There are II few words and phrases here given, in form most short and simple, yet in meaning how august I how deep! how high ! They are such as thcse-God,-thc Lord thy God,-good,-evil,-life,-death,- blessing,-cursing. " Dread words ! whose meaning has no end, no bound." There are immeasurable, yea, infinite realities behind them. And having once been lodged in the conscience with the significance which is theirs, no power can dislodge them, nor can any one cause it to be to the man as if he had never heard them. II. 'l'IIERE IS A GREAT DUTY WHICH PRESSES ON MEN WITil WHOM THIS TRuTH IS DEPOSITED. (Seevers. 16, 20.) To love the Lord, to obey him, to cleave to him, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and judgments,- this is obviously the right course for men to follow. On many grounds. 1. The Lord God is holy, and all his commandments are so too; and it is intrinsically and manifestly right to follow what is holy. 2. As our Maker and Preserver, God has supreme claims on our loyalty of heart and life. 3. As our Lawgiver, he has the infinite right to require our obedience. 4. As our Infinite Benefactor, having commended his love towards us, having bought us with a price, he has a claim of love as well as a right of law. And it is not possible for a man to dispute this claim unless his nature is becoming so perverted that he begins to call evil good, or good evil. III, THERE IS A GREAT BLESSING WHICH WILL FOLLOW OUR LOYALTY il'D OBEDIENCE. This is so under the gospel, as really as under the Law. For the Law rested on a ha.sis of gospel, and the gospel brings with it its own law. How can it be otherwise? 'fhe gospel call is," Repent, believe, obey." This is the precise and immutable order. The grace of God teaches us that" we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope," etc. And we know what is the promised issue: "Godliness ••. bath promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." "For God is our life and the length of our days." Peace, joy, hope, and all joyful graces and blessings attend on e. life which is in accordance with God's will. IV. IT IS NOT POSSmLE THAT OPPOSITE MORAL COURSES SHOULD HA VE LIKE ISSUES. Men going in opposite directions, in a right line, on a plane surface, from the same point, can never meet. If to love and obey God be good and tends to good, then the reverse must be evil, and can work nothing but evil. And such ill effects must, for aught we know, go on forever e.nd ever, unless something or some being interposes(ver.18). The prolongation of Israel's life in the promised land, even though they reached it in peace, would depend on the continuity of their obedience to their God. They rebelled. Their kingdom was broken up; their people were carried capth·e ; and the sad story already rehearsed became theirs. And if now men quit the leadership of the Lord Jesus Christ, there will be-there must be, e. sorer condemnation than for those who rebelled against the Law of Moses (Heh. vi., ix., x.; John iii. 36). 'l'he outlook for the despisers of C~rist, in the next life is darkness without a gleam of the light of hope in the distant honzon. And even in this life nothing but woe can possibly be to him who striveth with his Maker. V, THERE ARE WITNESSES THAT WE HAVE NOT BEEN LEFT UNDIRECTED AND UN· WARNED. (Ver. 19.) Compare with this solemn_ adjuration of Moses th~t of ~aul in Acts xx. 26 27 • Phil. i. 8. 11 Heaven" was witness. For every warn mg gwen to men in God's N;me is known and received on high. "Earth" is witness, for the record of the warning is published to the world. And the warning itself was heard by 468 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY, [OH, XXX. 1-20,