for granted the nnderlying evangelical element above referred to. Without that, the "commnndnwnt" would but ha.ve mocked their weakness. And it is this evangelical element in Moses' "commandment" which comes clearly to light in Christ, and which is embo~ied_in Paul's doctrine of the "righteousness of faith." 'l'he words of this passage apply with increased force to the historical revelation of the Saviour. 'l'hey strikingly suggest: 1. That man needs a revelation. 2. 'l'hat ho instinctively craves for one: '' Wllo shall go up?" etc. 3. That he would sometimes make great sacrifices in order to get one: "Go up to heaven;" "go over the sea." Dut the revelation which man needs most of nil is the revelation of a Saviour. He wants to know how he can escape from sin, from guilt, from wrath, from bondage; how he can be restored to holiness, to peace, to blessedness. 'l'he "commandment," in its wider sense, gave him this knowledge in part; the full discovery is in the gospel. The Word, in the preaching of this gospel, as well as in the circulation of copies of the Scriptures, and the innumer- able opportunities enjoyed in Christian lands of getting acquainted. with the way of life, has now come ,cry nigh to us. It is in our mouths and in our hearts, while the salvation which the Word makes known is as readily available as the Word itself is simple and intelligible. "If thou shalt confess," etc. (Hom. x. 9). III. IsnAEL A1''ll THE PRACTICABLENESS OF OBEDIENCE. The word which Moses gave was one which cculd be obeyed-nay, obedience to which was easy, Only, however, pro,idcd there was circumcision of heart (ver. 6)-a sincere willingness to know and to do God's will (John vii. 17). To the natural heart the commandment is hard, and must always remain so. This, again, shows that the obedience Moses has in view is the spiritual, though not faultless, obedience of the believing and renewed heart'-the result of possession of and standing in the righteousness of faith. Only through faith relying on a word of grace, and apprehending mercy in the character of God, is such obedience possible. Ability to render it is included in that "being saved," which Paul posits as a result of believing with the heart in the crucified and risen Christ (Rom. x. 9). Observe, fnrther, how the Law, with all its apparent complexity and cumbrousness, resolves itself in Moses' hands into one "commandment" (ver. 11). It is this which makes the Law simple, just as it is the simplicity of the gospel that it reduces all " works of God" to the one work of " believing on him whom be bath sent" (John vi. 29). Amidst the multiplicity of commands, there was but one real command-that of loving the Lord their God ( eh. vi. 4; x. 12; vers. 6, 10, 16, 20), In love is implied faith-the knowing and believing the love which God has to us. Love is faith's response to the revelation God makes of himself to man. Faith is thus the condition : 1. Of justification. 2. Of acceptableness in obedience. 3. Of power to render obedience.-J. 0. Vers. 15-20.-.A. last word. L AN ALTERNATIVE. Life and death; good and evil (ver. 15); blessing and cursing (ver. 19). An alternative for the nation, but also for the individual. "Life" is more than existence-it is holy and happy existence. "Death" is not equivalent to non-existence. As respects the natural life, it is the separation of the living, thinking principle from the_ body! ~nd is ?ompatible_ with ~he survival of the soul in a future slate. As respects the spmtual hfe-tbat hfo which the believer has, and the unbeliever has 'Pot, even now, while yet both have conscious being (1 John v. 12)--death is the ces~ation in th~ soul ofal~ holy, ~pir\tual functions, implyin" indeed, a state of moral rwn, destruction, and d1sorgamzat1on, but by no means tb~ wiping out of consciousness. "Eternal death "-a phrase not scriptural, thou<rh "eternal punishment" is (Matt. xxv. 46)-is not held by any ono to mean "ete~nal existence in sufi'erin";" but it is believed that a being who exists eternally, and exists consciously, whether in actual suffering or not, may yet in a very true sense Le "dead." "Death," in this verse (ver. 15), is deemed compatible with experience of "evil." How strange that between such alternatives there should be a. moment's hesib1.tion ! Il. A WAilNING. (Vers.17, 18.) If the bea.rtisdrawn away from God, and turns ~o idols, i.e. sets up any other objects in God's place, a.nd forbears to give to God bis proper love and honour, he whose heart does this, or the nation if it does so, shall surely perish. 1. An awful end. 2. A certain end. 3. An end of which due wc,,rmng has been given. OU, XXX, 1-20,1 THfi: BOOK Oh' DEU'fERO~OM V.. 471
III. AN APPEAL. (Vera. 19, 20.) "Therefore choose life," etc. 011 which nQte : 1. That choico or moral determination underlies our salvation. 2. That choice underlies tho possibility of love to God. 3. That one deep choice in the heart's centre underlies all the separate acts of choice involved in a life of obedience. 4-. That the choico God wishes involves the choosing of himself, with a view to love him, to obey him, and to cleave to him. 5. That the choice of God is the choiee of life, ailll carries all lesser good with it.-J. 0.