"Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise ogain; The eternal years of God are hers: But Error, wounded, writhes with pain, And dies amid her worshippers."
Most of all, we rejoice in bis mercy. "He will be mercirul to his land and to his people." We are the very persons who need Divine mercy; for lack of that mercy we die. 1'ot more urgently does the parched land need the liquid shower, than do we, who h,.ve so grossly si,rneJ, need Jebovah's mercy. Yet not more sure is the need than tl e supply. 'l'hat mercy is made amply secure to all who desire it. As certainly as light streams from the natural sun, so freely and copiously does mercy stream forth from Jehovah's heart. Tlierefore we do well to "rejoice and to be exceeding glad." Fo~ ~aith Jehovah, "I will pardon your unrighteousness, and your sins and your iniquities will I remember no more." God's revelation closes with the theme of ruercy.-D. Vers. 44-47.-Beligion a reality. The bulk of men treat religion as if it were ,1fancy or a myth. '!'hey deem it useful for the sick, the aged, and the dying, But for the healthful man and the active man of business it is voted a bore. Now, Moses puts religion in its right place when he declares it vital to human interests-vital, in the bigbest and largest sense. "It is your life." I. 'JUE OllJECTS AllOUT WHICH RELIGION TREATS ARE REAL, NOT SHADOWY, "It is uot a vain thing." The eye of man cannot embrace God's univ.erse, 'fhe material kiugdums are not all. God's creation extends above and beyond the reach:of mortal seuse. Witb respect to much that God has made, "eye bath not seen, nor ear heard, nor mind conceived." Science deals with one class of objects, ,religion with another cl.ass. The subject-matter of religion is the most excellent, substantial, and enduring. It treats of God, heaven, eternity, the soul of man-its sins and sorrows, the way to holiDese, the hope of e\·erla~ting life. These things come not under the cognizance ol OH. XXXII, 1-52.] TUE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 833
our sensuous organs; they are more substantial than the granite rock11--more real than jewels. II. THE TRUTHS CONOERNING RELIGION ARE AUTHENTIC, NOT ILLUSORY. They come to us supported by abundant evidence, both internal and external. TheJ come with a better tWo to boliof than any books of equal antiquity. If we reject Moses and Isaiah, we are bound, in self-consistency, to reject Thucydides and Herodotos, Bede and Gibbtn. But to every Christian, the most conclusive evidence is experimental. He has the "witness in himself." The truth, admitted to his mind, has elevated his tastes, enlarged his views, purified his affections, ennobled and beautified his whole nature. As light suits the eye and music the ear, so the truth of Scripture exquisitely suits the needs and aspirations of the soul. It meets a real want. III. THE HUMAN INTERESTS, WHICH RELIGION PROMOTES, ARE REAL AND PRECIOUS, NOT VAPID on FANCIFUL. These interests are internal and external; they reach to the family and to the utmost limits of human society; they embrace the present and the unbounded future. Reconciliation with God, the removal of sin, the development of man'ij best nature, the heritage of inward tranquillity, the conquest of care, the ex.traction of blessing out of sorrow, a hope that conquers death,-these are among the advantages obtained by religion. It makes men bP-tter husbands, better masters, better servants, better citizens, nobler, truer, wiser. It imparts a meetness for tlie society and the service of heaven. It brings advantage to every relationship and circumstance of human life. " It is not a vain thing; " it is life and health and joy.-D. Vers. 48--52.-" Obedient unto death.'' In Moses, Faith had achieved one of her most signal triumphs. From early youth to latest manhood, he had acted and "endured as seeing him who is invisible." No earthly or visible honour had ever enchanted bis vision. He hit.d lived very simply "in bis Great Taskmaster's eye." Therefore it was that he submitted to be deprived of the earthly Canaan without a murmur, "for he looked for a city which bad foundations, whose builder and maker was God." To him death was but a darksome passage to an endnring home. I. THE GODLY MAN DIES AT GoD's COMMAND. In this respect, Moses was a type of Christ, and bas left us an example deserving our imitation. It shoultl be enough for us to know that God requires H. It is no accident-no unforeseen event. Every circumstance touching the believer's death is wisely arranged by God. " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Our Elder Brother has passed the dark valley before us, and his presence lights up the once gloomy way. "I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." At the girdle of our Captain hang " the keys of death and of Hades." "He opens, and no man shuts." To the genuine disciple death is no terror. "It is my Father's voice I hear. I see his beckoning band. I feel hi~ sustaining arm." "Death is swallowed up in victory." II. THE GODLY MAN'S DEATH IS PARTLY JUlJICIAL, PARTLY MERCIFUL. To the Cull- grown and ripe Christian, earth has little attraction. Its joys pall upon the taste. We aspire after nobler and better things. "I would not live al way." A time comes in the good man's history when he wishes the probation to close, and the real life to begin. The heir longs for his majority and for the ancestral heritage. The believer dies because death is the most convenieot portal by which he can enter heaven. Yet judgment is mingled with the mercy. Moses was on the tiptoe of earthly expectancy-on the threshold of a great success, when God required him to relinquish all for heaven. To him it wa3 revealed, in clearest form, that earlier sin required this late correction. For Israel's sake, for the world's sake, and for Moses' sake, his trespasE must bear fruitage in loss and sorrow. In the very nature of things, it is impossiblr that men -can sin without privatio!l of some kind . .J..Ve may flatter ourselves, at times, that God bas winked at our folly, and that no ill consequeoce has ensued. But judge not prematurely. Possibly, in our last hours of life, the remewbrance of that sin will rob us of our peace, will impose some serious loss. In the moral realm, " whatsoever a man sows, that shall be also reap." III. 'l'HE GODLY MAN DEPARTS THIS LIFE FROM THE MOUNTAIN-PEAKS OF PERSONAL ATTAINMENT. '!'here were solitl reasons in the Divine mind (partly hidden and partly revealetl) why Moses should die upon the mount. He might bal'e viewed the magni• 634 TRE BOOK OF DttrT~RONOMV. (oa. t.xtttt. 1-29.