Schoolmaster to Christ
DEUTERONOMY CHAPTER 1

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 1 (KJV)

"These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan, in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red Sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahah. There are eleven days' journey from Horeb, by the way of mount Seir, unto Kadesh-barnea."

The inspired writer is careful to give us the bearings of the place where the words of this book were spoken in the ears of the people. Israel had not yet crossed the Jordan. They were beside it, and over against the Red Sea where nearly forty years before the mighty power of God had been so gloriously displayed. The whole position is described with a minuteness that shows how thoroughly God entered into everything concerning His People. He was interested in all their movements and ways. He kept a faithful record of their encampments – no circumstance connected with them was beneath His eternal notice. He attended to everything. His eye continually rested on the assembly as a whole and on each member in particular. He watched over them by day and by night. Every stage of their journey was under His immediate superintendence. There was nothing, however small, beneath His notice – nothing, however great, beyond His power.

So it was with Israel in the wilderness; and so it is with the Lord's church now – the body of Christ as a whole and each member in particular. A Father's eye continually rests on us; His everlasting arms always around and underneath us, day and night. "He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous." He counts the hair on our head, and with infinite goodness enters into everything concerning us. He has charged Himself with all our wants and cares. He wants us to cast every care on Him with assurance that He cares. Graciously He invites us to roll every burden over on Him, be it great or small.

All this is wonderful and full of deep consolation, eminently calculated to tranquilize the heart, come what may. The question is, do we believe it? Are our hearts governed by the faith of it? Do we really believe that the Almighty Creator and Upholder of all things, Who bears up the pillars of the universe, has undertaken to do for us throughout the journey? Do we truly believe that "The possessor of heaven and earth" is our Father; that He has charged Himself with all our wants from first to last? Is our whole moral being under the commanding power of those words of the inspired apostle: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely, give us all things?" To know little about the power of these grand yet simple truths is to be feared. We talk about them, discuss them, profess them, and give nominal assent to them. But, our personal history and daily life prove how feebly we enter into them. If we truly believe that God charges Himself with all our necessities – if we find all our springs in Him; if He is a perfect covering for our eyes and a resting place for our hearts, then how can we ever look to creature streams that so quickly dry up and disappoint the heart? It is one thing to hold the theory of faith, and altogether another to live a life of faith. We constantly deceive ourselves with the notion that we are living by faith, when in reality we are leaning on some human prop that sooner or later is sure to give way.

Is not this so? Are we not prone to constantly forsake the Fountain of living waters, hewing out for ourselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water? And yet we speak of living by faith, all the time professing to be looking only to the living God for the supply of our need, whatever that need may be, when in point of fact, we are sitting beside some creature stream, and looking for something there. Is there any wonder why we are so often disappointed? How could it possibly be otherwise? Our God will not have us dependent on anything or anyone but Him. In manifold places in His Word, He has given us His judgment regarding the true character and sure result of all creature confidence. For instance, consider the following solemn assurance from the prophet Jeremiah,

"Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall he like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited."

Now, mark the contrast. "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is: for he shall he as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river and shall not see when drought cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit" (Jer. 17:5-8).

Here, in language divinely forcible, we have both sides of this weighty subject clearly and beautifully put before us. Creature confidence brings a certain curse, ending only in barrenness and desolation. In order that we may learn the utter folly of turning away from Him, our God will cause every human stream to dry up, every human prop to give way. What figure could he more striking or impressive than those used in the above passage? "A heath in the desert"; "Parched places in the wilderness"; "A salt land not inhabited." Such are the figures used by the Holy Spirit to illustrate human dependence – all confidence in man.

On the other hand, what can be more refreshing than the figures used to set forth the deep blessedness of simple trust in the Lord? "A tree planted by the waters"; "Spreading out her roots by the rivers"; the leaf ever green; the fruit never ceasing. So it is with the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. He is nourished by eternal springs that flow from the heart of God. He drinks at the life-giving and free Fountain. He finds all his resources in the living God. There may be "heat," but he does not see it. "The year of drought" may come, but he is not careful. Ten thousand creature streams may dry up, but he does not perceive it, because he is not dependent on them. He abides by the ever-gushing Fountain. He can never want for any good thing. He lives by faith.

Let us clearly understand what the life of faith is, so that we may know if we are truly living it. We often hear this life spoken of in a less than intelligent way. Frequently, it is applied to the matter of trusting God for food and raiment. Certain ones who happen to have no visible source of temporal supplies, no settled income, no property of any kind, are singled out and spoken of as "living by faith," as if that marvelous and glorious life had no higher sphere or wider range than temporal things; the mere supply of our bodily wants.

We cannot protest too strongly against this unworthy view of the life of faith. It limits its sphere and lowers its range in a manner that is intolerable to anyone who understands anything about its holy and precious mysteries. How can we say that a Christian who happens to have a settled income is to be deprived of the privilege of living by faith? Further, how can we permit that life to be limited and lowered to the mere matter of trusting God for the supply of our bodily wants? Does it soar no higher than food and raiment? Does it give no more elevated thought of God than that He will not let us starve or go naked?

The life of faith must not be treated in this way. We cannot dishonor it that way, or allow such a grievous wrong done to those who are called to live it. What is the meaning of those few weighty words, "The just shall live by faith"? They first occur in Habakkuk 2. The apostle in Romans 1 quotes them, where with a master hand, he lays the solid foundation of Christianity. He quotes them again, in Galatians 3, where, with intense anxiety, he recalls that bewitched assembly to those solid foundations that, in their folly, they were abandoning. Finally, those weighty words are quoted again in Hebrews 10, where the inspired writer is warning his brethren against the danger of casting away their confidence and giving up the race.

From all this, we gather the importance and practical value of the brief but far-reaching sentence, "The just shall live by faith." And to whom does it apply? Is it only for a few of the Lord's servants who happen to have no settled income? We utterly reject such a thought. Rather, it applies to every one of the Lord's people. It is the high and happy privilege of all who come under that blessed title, "the just." We consider it a grave error to limit faith in any way. The moral effect of such limitation is most injurious, because the life of faith is one. From first to last, faith is the grand principle of the divine life. By faith we are justified, and by faith we live; by faith we stand, and by faith we walk. From the starting-post to the goal of the Christian course, it is all by faith.

Therefore, it is a serious mistake to single out certain people who trust the Lord for temporal supplies and speak of them as living by faith, as if they alone did so. Such are often held up to the gaze of many as some thing wonderful; and the great mass of followers are led to think that the privilege of living by faith lies beyond their range. In short, they are led into a complete mistake regarding the true character and sphere of the life of faith, and thus they suffer materially in the inner life.

Let us distinctly understand that it is our happy privilege, whoever we are or whatever may be our position, to live a life of faith in all the depth and fullness of that word. According to our measure, we may take up the language of the blessed apostle and say, "The life that I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Let nothing rob us of this high and holy privilege that belongs to every member of the household of faith. But, we often fail. Our faith is weak, when it should be strong, bold and vigorous. Our God delights in a bold faith. If we study the gospels, we will see that nothing so refreshed and delighted the heart of Christ as bold faith, a faith that understood Him and drew on Him. For example, look at the Syrophenician in Mark 7; and the centurion in Luke 7.

True, He can meet a weak faith – the weakest faith. He can meet an "If thou wilt" with a gracious "I will"; an "If thou canst" with "If thou canst believe, all things are possible." The faintest look, the feeblest touch is sure to meet a gracious response; but the Savior's heart was gratified and His spirit refreshed when He could say, "O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt;" and again, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."

Let us always remember this. We may rest assured it is the same today, as when our blessed Lord was here among men. He loves to be trusted; to be used, to be drawn on. We can never go too far in counting on the love of His heart or the strength of His hand. There is nothing too small; nothing too great for Him. He has all power in heaven and on earth. He is Head over all things to His church. He holds the universe together. He upholds all things by the Word of His power. Philosophers talk of the forces and laws of nature. The Christian thinks with delight of Christ – His hand, His Word, His mighty power. By Him all things were created, and by Him all things consist.

There is more. What rest, what comfort, what joy to know and remember that the Almighty Creator and Upholder of the universe is the everlasting Lover of our souls; that He loves us perfectly; that His eye is always on us, His heart always toward us; that He has charged Himself with all our wants, whatever those wants may be, whether physical, mental, or spiritual. There is not a single thing within the entire range of necessities that is not treasured up for us in Christ. He is heaven's treasury, God's storehouse; and all this for us.

Why then should we turn to another? Why should we, directly or indirectly, make known our wants to a fellow mortal? Why not go straight to Jesus? Do we want sympathy? Who can sympathize with us like our merciful High Priest Who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities? Do we want help of any kind? Who can help us like our Almighty Friend, the Possessor of unsearchable riches? Do we want counsel or guidance? Who can give it like the blessed One Who is the wisdom of God? Let us not wound His loving heart, and dishonor His glorious Name by turning away from Him. Let us jealously watch against our natural tendency to cherish human hopes, creature confidences, and earthly expectations. Let us abide by the fountain, and we shall never have to complain of the streams. In other words, let us seek to live by faith and thus glorify God in our day and generation.

We now proceed with our chapter and call attention to verse 2 – a remarkable parenthesis. "There are eleven days' journey from Horeb, by the way of mount Seir, unto Kadesh-barnea." Eleven days; and yet it took them forty years. How was this? We need not travel far for the answer. We need only look at ourselves. How slowly we move along the way. What windings and turnings. How often we have to go back and travel over the same ground again and again. We are slow travelers, because we are slow learners. Perhaps we feel disposed to marvel how Israel could have taken forty years to accomplish a journey of eleven days. However, with greater reason we should marvel at ourselves. Like them, we are kept back by unbelief and slowness of heart. But, there is far less excuse for us than for them, because our privileges are much higher.

Some of us have reason to be ashamed of the time we spend over our lessons. The words of the blessed apostle forcibly apply to us, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat."

Not only is our God a gracious and patient Teacher, He is also faithful and wise. He will not permit us to pass cursorily over our lessons. Sometimes we might think a lesson has been mastered, and we desire to move on to another; but our wise Teacher knows better and sees the need of deeper digging. He will not have us to be mere theorists. If need be, He will keep us on the scales year after year until we learn to sing.

While it is humbling to be slow in learning, it is gracious of God to take such pains with us, in order to make us sure. We bless Him for His way of teaching; for the patient way He sits down with us again and again over the same lesson.¹

"And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment unto them" (v 3). These few words contain a volume of weighty instruction for every servant of God, for all who are called to minister in the Word of God. Moses gave the people just what he had received from God himself – nothing more, nothing less. He brought them into direct contact with the living Word of Jehovah. This is always, or should always be, the grand principle of ministry. Nothing else is of any value. The Word of God is the only thing that will stand, because there is divine power and authority in it. No matter how interesting, how attractive at the time, all mere human teaching will pass away and leave the soul without any foundation on which to rest.

Therefore, it should be the earnest, jealous care of all who minister in the Lord's church, to preach the Word in all its purity, in all its simplicity; to give it to the people as they get it from God; to bring them face to face with the veritable language of Holy Scripture. Such a ministry will with living power fall on the hearts and consciences of the hearers. Such a minister's soul will, by means of the Word, be linked with God Himself; and his ministry will impart a depth and solidity that no human teaching could ever produce.

Consider the Apostle Paul. Hear him express himself on this powerful subject. "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellence of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among yon, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."

What was the object of all this fear and trembling? "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:1-5).

This truehearted faithful servant of Christ seeks only to bring the souls of his hearers into direct personal contact with God Himself. He does not seek to link them with Paul – "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed." One way that we can easily know false teaching and a false ministry is by observing that the minister's object is attaching of souls to himself. In a false ministry, the minister is exalted; God is shut out; and the soul is left without a divine foundation on which to rest. On the contrary, true ministry as seen in Paul and Moses, has for its object attaching souls to God. Only in this way can a minister find true place. Such a minister is simply an instrument; God is exalted; and souls are established on a sure, unmovable foundation.

Paul has more to say on the subject: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received-nothing more, nothing less, nothing different how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures."

This demands the serious consideration of all who would be true and effective ministers of Christ. The apostle was careful to allow the pure stream to flow down from the heart of God, its living source, into the souls of the Corinthians. He felt that nothing else was of any value. If he had sought to link them to himself, he would have sadly dishonored his Master; done them a grievous wrong; and he would suffer loss in the day of Christ.

But no; Paul knew better. He would not lead any to build on him. Hear what he says to his loved Thessalonians: "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe" (1 Thess. 2:13).

We feel a solemn responsibility to commend this grave and important point to the serious consideration of ministers in our age. If all ministers were to follow the example of Moses and Paul, regarding the matter now before us, we would witness a different condition of things in the religious world. However, the plain and serious fact is that organized religious institutions today, like Israel of old, have departed from the authority of His Word. Go where you will, and you find things done and taught that have no foundation in Scripture. Things are not only tolerated but sanctioned and stoutly defended, things that are often in direct opposition to the mind of Christ as revealed in Holy Scripture. If we ask for the divine authority for this, that or the other practice of this or that religious institution, we are told that Christ has not given us directions regarding matters of church government; that in all questions of ecclesiastical polity, clerical orders, and liturgical services, He has left us free to act according to our consciences, judgment, or religious feelings; that it is simply absurd to demand a "Thus saith the Lord" for all the details connected with our organized religious institutions; there is a broad margin left to be filled according to national customs and peculiar habits of thought. In this age, it is considered that religious people are free to form themselves into so-called churches, to choose their own form of government, make their own arrangements, and appoint their own office-bearers.

"Are these things so?" Can it be that our Lord Christ has left His church without guidance regarding such momentous matters? Can it be possible that in the matter of instruction and authority the Lord's church is worse off than Israel? In our studies of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, we have seen the marvelous pains that Jehovah took to instruct His people regarding the minutest particulars connected with their public worship and private life – the tabernacle, the temple; the priesthood, the ritual, the various feasts and sacrifices, the periodical solemnities, the months, the days, the very hours, all was ordered and settled with divine precision. Nothing was left to mere human arrangement. Man's wisdom, judgment, reason, and conscience had nothing whatsoever to do in the matter. Had it been left to man, how would we ever have had that admirable, profound and far-reaching typical system that the inspired pen of Moses set before us? What confusion, strife, division; what endless sects and parties would have been the inevitable result, had Israel been allowed to do what some would have us do in the Lord's church. But it was not so. The Word of God settled everything, "As the Lord commanded Moses." This grand and influential sentence was appended to everything that Israel did and everything they were not to do. Their national institutions and domestic habits, their public and private life – all came under the commanding authority of "Thus saith the Lord." There was no occasion or opportunity for any member of the congregation to say, "I cannot see this" or "I cannot go with that" or "I cannot agree with the other." Such language could only be regarded as the fruit of self-will. One might just as well say, "I cannot agree with Jehovah." The reason is simply because the Word of God had spoken with clearness and simplicity regarding everything, leaving no room whatsoever for human discussion. Throughout all of the Mosaic economy there was not anything left to the opinion or judgment of man. Man was not allowed to add the weight of a feather to that vast system of types and shadows planned by God's mind, and set forth in language so plain and pointed that all Israel had to do was obey – not to argue, reason, or discuss, but to obey.

But, as we know, they failed. They did their own will; they took their own way; they did "every man that which was right in his own eyes." They departed from the Word of God, and followed the imaginations and devices of their own evil heart, bringing on themselves the wrath and indignation of offended Deity, under which they suffered.

Israel had the oracles of God – oracles divinely sufficient for guidance in everything. There was no room left for the commandments and doctrines of men. The Word of the Lord provided for every possible exigency, and that Word was so plain that it rendered human comment needless.

Is the Lord's church worse off regarding guidance and authority, than Israel of old? Are Christians left to think and arrange for themselves in the worship and service of God? Are there any questions left open for human discussion? Is the Word of God sufficient, or is it not? Has it left anything unprovided for? Let us hearken diligently to the following powerful testimony: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3).

This is eternally conclusive. Holy Scripture contains all the man of God can possibly require to make him perfect, to equip him thoroughly for everything that can be called a "good work." And if this is true regarding the man of God individually, it is equally true regarding the Lord's church collectively. Scripture is all-sufficient, for each and for all. Thank God this is so. What a signal mercy to have a divine Guidebook. Were it not so, what should we do? Where could we turn? What would become of us? What hopeless confusion, to be left to human tradition and human arrangement in the things of God. What clashing of opinions; what conflicting judgments – because one man would have as much right as another to put forth his opinion and to suggest his plan.

Perhaps one might say, "Even with the Holy Scripture, we still have sects, parties, creeds, organized religious institutions, and schools of thought almost innumerable." But why has such occurred? Because we simply refuse to submit our whole moral being to the authority of Holy Scripture? This is the real secret of the matter; the true source of all sects and parties; all organized religious institutions.

It is vain for men to tell us that these things are good in themselves; that they are the legitimate fruit of free exercise of thought and private judgment. We do not and cannot believe that such a plea will stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. On the contrary, we believe that such freedom of thought and independence of judgment are in direct opposition to that spirit of profound and reverent obedience that is due our Lord and Master. What right has a servant to exercise his private judgment in the face of the master's plainly expressed will? None whatsoever. The duty of a servant is simply to obey, not to reason or question; but to do what he is told. He fails as a servant when he exercises his own private judgment. The loveliest moral trait in a servant's character is implicit, unquestioning, and unqualified obedience. The one grand business of a servant is to do the will of his master.

All this is usually admitted in human affairs; but, in the things of God, men think themselves entitled to exercise private judgment. It is a fatal mistake. God has given us His Word; and that Word is so plain that wayfaring men, though fools, need not err therein. Therefore, if we were all guided by that Word; if we were all to bow down to its divine authority in a spirit of unquestioning obedience, there would not be conflicting opinions and opposing sects – there would be no organized religious institutions. It is not possible that the voice of Holy Scripture teaches opposing doctrines. It cannot possibly teach one man this; another man that; and another something else. It cannot possibly furnish a foundation for opposing schools of thought. It would be an insult offered to the Holy Word of God to attribute to it all the confusion in the religious world. Every pious mind must recoil from such an impious thought with horror. Scripture cannot contradict itself . Therefore, if two men, ten thousand men or 100 million are exclusively taught by Holy Scripture, they will all think alike.

Hear what the apostle says to the church at Corinth and to us: "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (mark the mighty moral force of this appeal) "that ye all speak the same thing, and that there he no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment."

How was this blessed result to be reached? Was it by each one exercising the right of private judgment? No; it was this very thing that gave birth to all the division and contention in the assembly at Corinth, drawing out the Holy Spirit’s sharp rebuke. The Corinthians thought they had a right to think, judge and choose for themselves, and what was the result?

"It hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided?"

Here is an example of private judgment and its sad, but necessary, fruit. One man has as much a right to think for himself as another, and no man has a right to force his opinion on another. What then is the remedy? In flinging to the wind our private judgments, and reverently submitting to the supreme and absolute authority of Holy Scripture. If such was not true then how could the apostle beseech the Corinthians to "speak the same thing, and to he perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgement"? Who was to prescribe the "thing" that all were to "speak"? In who’s "mind" or "judgment" were all to be "perfectly joined together"? Had any one member of the assembly, however gifted or intelligent, the right to determine what his brethren were to speak, to think or to judge? No; there was one absolute – all were bound; all were privileged to submit to God’s authority. Human opinions, man's private judgment, conscience, and reason, are all worthless as authority. The Word of God is the only authority; and if we are all governed by that, then we will "all speak the same thing" and "there will be no divisions among us"; we will "be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgement."

Sadly, this lovely condition is not the present condition of the religious world; and therefore it is evident that we are not all governed by the one supreme, absolute and all-sufficient authority – the voice of Holy Scripture – that most blessed voice that can never utter one discordant note – a voice always divinely harmonious to the circumcised ear.

Here lies the root of the whole matter. Organized religious institutions have departed from the authority of Christ, as set forth in His Word. Until this is seen, time is lost discussing the ecclesiastical or theological claims of conflicting systems. If a man does not see that it is his sacred duty to test every ecclesiastical system, every liturgical service, and every theological creed, by the Word of God, discussion is totally useless. If things are to be settled according to expediency, according to man's judgment, conscience, or reason, then we may as well give up the case as being hopeless. If we have no divinely settled authority, no perfect standard, no infallible guide on which to base authority, then how is it possible for anyone to possess the certainty that he is treading on the true path? If it is true that we are left to choose for ourselves, amid the almost countless paths that lie around us, then farewell to all certainty; farewell to peace of mind and rest of heart; farewell to all holy stability of purpose and fixedness of aim. If we cannot say of the ground we occupy, of the path we pursue, and of the work in which we are engaged, "This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded" then we may rest assured we are in a wrong position, and the sooner we abandon it the better.

Thank God, there is no necessity whatsoever for His child or servant to continue any longer connected to what is wrong. "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. " But how are we to know iniquity? We know it by the Word of God. Whatever is contrary to Scripture, whether in morals or in doctrines, is iniquity, and we must depart from it no matter the cost. It is an individual matter. "Let every one"; "He that hath ears"; "He that overcometh"; "If any man hear my voice."

Here is the point. It is Christ's voice. It is not the voice of this good man or that good man; it is not the voice of a religious institution, the voice of the fathers, or the voice of general councils, but the voice of our own beloved Lord and Master. It is the individual conscience in direct, living contact with the voice of Christ, the living, eternal Word of God – the Holy Scriptures. If it is merely a question of human conscience, judgment, or authority, then we are plunged in hopeless uncertainty, because what one man might judge to be iniquity, another might consider perfectly right. There must be some fixed standard to go by, some supreme authority from which there can be no appeal; and, praise God, there is. God has spoken; He has given us His Word – our bounden duty, our high privilege, our moral security, our true enjoyment, is to obey that Word.

Not man's interpretation of the Word, but the Word itself. This is all-important. We must have absolutely nothing between the human conscience and divine revelation. Men often talk about the authority of the church. Where are we to find it? Suppose an anxious, earnest, honest soul, longing to know the true way, is told to listen to the voice of the church. He asks, "Which church? There are so many, and no two of them agree." How true. Organized religious institutions exist because of conflicting parties, contending sects, opposing doctrines, different creeds, customs, traditions, and schools of thought. Councils have differed; fathers have disagreed; leaders have anathematized one another. In some religious groups we have high church, low church, and broad church, each differing from the rest. In others, we have the established, united, and free church. Then, if the anxious inquirer, in hopeless perplexity, turns away from those bodies and seeks guidance amid the ranks of still other dissenters, is he likely to fare any better?

It is truly hopeless. Organized religious institutions have revolted from the authority of Christ, and cannot be a suitable guide or authority for anyone. In the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation, the Lord’s church is seen under judgment, and the seven times repeated appeal is, "He that hath an ear, let him hear." Does the Holy Scripture mean that we are to hear the voice of the church? No; the Lord would never direct us to hear the voice of that which is itself under judgment. Then what are we to hear? "Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

Where is this voice to be heard? Only in the Holy Scriptures given by God in His infinite goodness to guide our souls in the way of peace and truth, notwithstanding the hopeless ruin of the church, and the thick darkness and wild confusion of baptized Christendom. It is not within the compass of human language to explain the value and importance of having an infallibly divine and all-sufficient guide and authority for our individual path.

But let us never forget that we are solemnly responsible to bow to that authority, and follow that guide. It is vain and morally dangerous to profess to have a divine guide and authority unless we are thoroughly subject to it. This characterized the Jews in the days of our Lord. They had the Scriptures, but they did not obey them. And one of the saddest features in the present condition of the religious world is its boasted possession of the Bible, while the authority of that Bible is boldly overlooked and set aside.

We feel deeply the solemnity of this, and earnestly press it on the conscience of the serious students of the Bible. The Word of God is virtually ignored in this age. Things are practiced and sanctioned that not only have no foundation in Holy Scripture, but are diametrically opposed to it. Sadly, many are not exclusively taught and absolutely governed by Scripture.

All this is very serious, demanding attention by the Lord's people in every place. We feel compelled to raise a warning note regarding the subject. In fact, it is the sense of its gravity and moral importance that led us to enter into these notes on the Book of Deuteronomy. It is our earnest prayer that the Holy Spirit may use these pages to recall the hearts of the Lord's dear people to their true and proper place – the place of reverent allegiance to His blessed Word. We feel persuaded that what will characterize all those who walk devotedly in the closing hours of the church's earthly history, will be profound reverence for the Word of God, and genuine attachment to the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The two things are inseparably bound together by a sacred and imperishable link.

"The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount; turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea-side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto, Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (vv. 6, 7).

Throughout the book of Deuteronomy we find the Lord dealing more directly and simply with the people than in any of the three preceding books. In no way is it true that Deuteronomy is a mere repetition of what has passed before us in the previous books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. For instance, in the passage just quoted there is no mention of the movement of the cloud; no reference to the sound of the trumpet. "The Lord our God spake unto us." From the Book of Numbers, we know that the movements of the camp were governed by the movements of the cloud, as communicated by the sound of the trumpet. But neither the trumpet nor the cloud is alluded to in this book. It is much more simple and familiar. "The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount."

This is very beautiful, reminding us of the lovely simplicity of patriarchal times, when the Lord spoke to the fathers as a man speaks to his friend. It was not by the sound of a trumpet or by the movement of a cloud that the Lord communicated His mind to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He was so near to them that there was no need – no room for an agency characterized by ceremony and distance. He visited them, sat with them, and partook of their hospitality in the intimacy of personal friendship.

Such is the simplicity of the order of things in patriarchal times; and this imparts a peculiar charm to the narratives of the Book of Genesis.

But in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers we have something quite different. There we have a vast system of types and shadows, rites, ordinances, and ceremonies, imposed on the people, the import of which is unfolded in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing; which was a, figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation" (9:8-10).

Under this system, the people were at a distance from God. It was not with them as it had been with their fathers in the Book of Genesis. God was shut in from them; and they were shut out from Him. As far as the people were concerned, the leading features of the Levitical ceremonial were bondage, darkness, distance. On the other hand, its types and shadows pointed forward to that one great sacrifice that is the foundation of all God's marvelous counsels and purposes, by which, in perfect righteousness and according to all the love of His heart, He can have a people near to Him throughout the golden ages of eternity.

As already mentioned, in Deuteronomy we find comparatively little about rites and ceremonies. The Lord is seen in more direct communication with the people. Even the priests, in their official capacity, rarely come before us; and, if they are referred to, it is more in a moral than ceremonial way. Of this we will have ample proof as we pass along; it is a marked feature of this beautiful book.

"The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites." It is a rare privilege for any people to have the Lord so near; interested in all their movements and concerns both great and small. He knew how long they should remain in any one place, and where they should take their next steps. They had no need to harass themselves about the journey or anything else. They were under the eye and in the hands of One whose wisdom was unerring, whose power was omnipotent, whose resources were inexhaustible, and whose love was infinite. God had charged Himself with their care. He knew all their need and was prepared to meet it according to all the love of His heart and the strength of His holy arm.

So, we may ask what remained for them to do? What was their duty? Their whole duty was simply to obey. It was their high and holy privilege to rest in the love and obey the commandments of Jehovah, their covenant God. Here was the secret of their peace, happiness, and moral security. They had no need whatsoever to trouble themselves about movements, planning or arranging. Their journeying was all ordered by One Who knew every step of the way from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea; and they needed only to live by the day, in happy dependence on Him.

What a Happy position, privileged path, and blessed portion. But it demanded a broken will, an obedient mind, a subjected heart. If after Jehovah said, "Ye have compassed this mountain long enough," they had to compass it a little longer they would have done so without Him. His companionship, counsel and aid, could only be counted on in the path of obedience.

So it was with Israel in their desert wanderings, and so it is with us. It is our privilege to leave everything in the hands of not merely a covenant God, but a loving Father. He arranges our movements for us; He fixes the bounds of our habitation; He tells us how long to stay in a place, and where to go next. He has charged Himself with all our concerns, all our movements, and all our wants. His Word to us is, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." And what then? "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

But one may feel disposed to ask, "How does God guide His people now? We cannot expect to hear His voice telling us when to move or where to go." Surely it cannot be that children of God, the body of Christ, are worse off in the matter of divine guidance than Israel in the wilderness. Can God guide His children? Can Christ guide His servants in all their movements and service? Who would think of calling into question a truth so plain and precious? True, we do not expect to hear a voice or see the movement of a cloud; but we have something much better, much higher, and more intimate. We may rest assured our God has made ample provision for us according to all the love of His heart.

There are three ways we are guided: by the Word; by the Holy Spirit; and by the instincts of divine nature. But, we must always bear in mind that the instincts of divine nature, the leadings of the Holy Spirit, and the teaching of Holy Scripture will always harmonize. This is of vital importance and must always be kept in mind. A person might fancy himself led by the instincts of divine nature or by the Holy Spirit to pursue a certain line of action involving consequences at issue with the Word of God. Thus his mistake is apparent. It is a serious thing for anyone to act on mere impulse or impression. By so doing, he may fall into a snare of the devil and damage the cause of Christ. We must calmly weigh our impressions in the balances of the sanctuary, and faithfully test them by the standard of the divine Word of God. In this way, we will be preserved from error and delusion. It is dangerous to trust impressions or act on impulse. Facts may be reliable, but Divine authority is absolutely infallible. Our own impressions may prove as delusive as a will-o'-the-wisp, or a mirage of the desert. Human feelings are untrustworthy. We must always submit them to severe scrutiny, lest they betray us into a fatally false line of action. Without a shadow of misgiving, we can trust Scripture; and without exception, we will find that the man who is led by the Holy Spirit or guided by the instincts of divine nature, will never act in opposition to the Word of God. This is what we may call an axiom in the divine life, an established rule in practical Christianity – would that it had been attended to more in all ages of the church's history; would that it was pondered more in this age.

But, in this question of divine guidance there is another point that demands serious attention. Not infrequently, we hear people speak of "The finger of Divine providence" as something to be relied on for guidance. This may only be another way of expressing the idea of being guided by circumstances, which is far from being the proper kind of guidance for a Christian.

No doubt, our Lord may decide to intimate His mind and indicate our path by His providence; but we must be sufficiently near Him to be able to interpret providence, or else we may find that what is called "an opening of providence," may actually prove an opening through which we slip off the path of obedience. Like our inward impressions, surrounding circumstances must be weighed in the presence of God and judged by the light of His Word or else they may lead us into terrible mistakes. Jonah might have considered it a remarkable providence to find a ship going to Tarshish; but had he been in communion with God he would not have needed a ship. In short, the Word of God is the one grand test and perfect touchstone for everything; for outward circumstances and inward impressions; for feelings, imaginations and tendencies – all must be placed under the searching light of Holy Scripture and there calmly and seriously judged. This is the only true path of safety, peace and blessedness for every child of God.

However, in reply to all this one may say, "We cannot expect to find a text of Scripture to guide us in the matter of our movements, or in every little detail of daily life." Perhaps not! But there are certain great principles laid down in Scripture which, if properly applied, will afford divine guidance even when we are unable to find a particular text. Further, we have full assurance that our God can and does guide His children in all things. "The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord." "The meek will he guide in judgement; and the meek will he teach his way." "I will guide thee with mine eye." He can signify His mind to us as to this or that particular act or movement. If not, where are we? How are we to get on? How are we to regulate our movements? Are we to drift here and there by the tide of circumstances? Are we left to blind chance, or to the mere impulse of our own will?

Thank God, it is not so. In His own perfect way, in any given case, He can give us the certainty of His mind; and, without that certainty we should never move. Our Lord Christ can intimate His mind to His servant regarding where He would have him to go and what He would have him do; and no true servant would ever think of moving or acting without such intimation. We should never move or act in uncertainty. If we are not sure, let us be patient and wait. It often happens that we harass and fret ourselves about movements that God would not have us make at all. A person once said to a friend, "I am at a loss to know which way to turn." "Then don't turn at all," was the friend's wise reply.

But an important moral point comes in – our soul's condition. We can rest assured this has much to do with the matter of guidance. It is "the meek he will guide in judgement and teach his way." We must never forget this. If only we are humble and self-distrusting, if we wait on God in simplicity of heart, uprightness of mind, and honesty of purpose, He will guide us. But it will never do to ask counsel of God in a matter about which our mind is made up or our will is at work.

This is a fatal delusion. Consider the case of Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22). "It came to pass, in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel" – a sad mistake, to begin with . . . "And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria? And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses, and . . ."

As we have it in 2 Chronicles 18:3, "we will be with thee in the war."

Here we see that his mind was made up before he ever thought of asking counsel of God in the matter. He was in a false position and a wrong atmosphere. Through lack of singleness of eye, He had fallen into the enemy's snare and was not in a fit state to receive or profit by divine guidance. He was bent on his own will, and the Lord left him to reap the fruits of it; and, except for infinite and sovereign mercy, he would have fallen by the sword of the Syrians, and carried from the battlefield as a corpse.

True, he did say to the king of Israel, "Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today." But what was it when he had already pledged himself to a certain line of action? What folly for anyone to make up his mind and then go and ask for counsel. Had he been in the right state of soul, he would have never sought counsel at all in such a case. But his state of soul was bad, his position false, and his purpose in direct opposition to the mind and will of God. Hence, although he heard from the lips of a messenger Jehovah's solemn judgment on the entire expedition, yet he took his own way and consequently almost lost his life.

We see the same thing in the forty-second chapter of Jeremiah. The people applied to the prophet to ask counsel regarding going down to Egypt. But they had already made up their minds regarding their course. They were bent on their own will. What a miserable condition. Had they been meek and humble, they would not have needed to ask counsel. But they said unto Jeremiah the prophet, "Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the Lord thy God.” Why not say, “The Lord our God"?

"Even for all this remnant: (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us;) that the Lord thy God may show as the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do. Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the Lord your God, according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the Lord shall answer you, I will declare it unto you: I will keep nothing hack from you. Then they said to Jeremiah, The Lord be a true and faithful witness between us; if we do not even according to all things for the which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us. Whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

How could the will of God be anything but good? – "we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our God."

All this seemed pious and promising. But mark the sequel. When they found that the judgment and counsel of God did not tally with their will, "Then spake . . . all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely; the Lord our God hath not sent thee to say, go not into Egypt to sojourn there."

Here the real state of the case clearly comes out. Pride and self-will were at work. Their vows and promises were false. "Ye dissembled in your hearts," says Jeremiah, "when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us unto the Lord our God; and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it." It would have all been well had God's response fallen in with their will in the matter; but, because it ran counter, they rejected it.

This is often the case. The Word of God does not suit man's thoughts; it judges them; it stands in direct opposition to his will; it interferes with his plans, and hence he rejects it. The human will and human reason are always in direct antagonism to the Word of God; and, if he really desires to be divinely guided, the Christian must refuse both one and the other. If we listen to them, an unbroken will and blind reason can only lead us into darkness, misery and desolation. Jonah would go to Tarshish when he should have gone to Nineveh – the consequence? He found himself "in the belly of hell," with "the weeds wrapped about his head." Jehoshaphat would go to Ramoth Gilead when he should have been in Jerusalem – the consequence? He found himself surrounded by the swords of the Syrians. In the days of Jeremiah, the remnant would go into Egypt, when they should have remained in Jerusalem – and the consequence? They died in the land of Egypt by the sword, the famine and the pestilence, "whither they desired to go and to sojourn."

So it must always be. The path of self-will is sure to be a path of darkness and misery. It cannot be otherwise. On the contrary, the path of obedience is a path of peace, a path of light, a path of blessing, a path on which the beams of God’s favor are always poured in living luster. To the human eye, it may seem narrow, rough and lonely; but the obedient soul finds it to be the path of life, peace, and moral security. "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." What a blessed path – may we always be found treading it with a steady step and earnest purpose.

Before turning from this great subject of divine guidance and human obedience, we must ask the serious student of Holy Scripture to refer to a beautiful passage in the eleventh chapter of Luke. We will find it full of valuable instruction.

"The light of the body is the eye; therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light" (vv. 34-36).

Nothing exceeds the moral force and beauty of this passage. First, we have the "single eye." This is essential to the enjoyment of God's guidance. It indicates a broken will, a heart honestly fixed on doing the will of God. There is no under current, no mixed motive, no personal end in view. There is only one simple desire and earnest purpose, to do the will of God, whatever that might be.

When the soul is in this attitude, God's light comes streaming in and fills the whole body. Thus it follows, if the body is not full of light the eye is not single. There is some mixed motive; self-will or self-interest is at work; we are not right before God. In this case, any light that we profess to have is darkness; and there is no darkness as gross or as terrible as that judicial darkness that settles down on the heart governed by self-will, while professing to have light from God. By and by, this will be seen in all its horrors, when "That Wicked shall be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming; even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love Of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thess. 2:8-12).

How awful, how solemnly it speaks to the body of Christ. Light not acted on becomes darkness. "If the light which is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" But on the other hand, a little light honestly acted on is sure to increase; for "to him that hath shall more be given" and "the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

This moral progress is beautifully and forcibly revealed in Luke 11:36. "If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark"; no chamber kept closed against the heavenly rays; no dishonest reserve – the whole moral being laid open in genuine simplicity to the action of Divine light; then "the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light." In a word, the obedient soul not only has light for his path, but the light shines out so that others see it, like the bright shining of a candle. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

We have a vivid contrast to all this in the thirteenth chapter of Jeremiah. "Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness." The way to give glory to the Lord our God is to obey His Word. The path of duty is a bright and blessed path; and the one who through grace treads that path will never stumble on the dark mountains. The truly humble, the lowly, the self-distrusting will keep far away from those dark mountains, and walk in that blessed path that is always illuminated by the bright and cheering beams of God's approving countenance.

This is the path of the just, the path of heavenly wisdom, the path of perfect peace. May we always be found treading it; and let us never forget that it is our high privilege to be divinely guided in the minute details of daily life. However, the one who is not so guided will have many a stumble, many a fall, and many a sorrowful experience. If we are not guided by our Father's eye, we will be like the horse or mule with no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, like the horse, impetuously rushing where he should not, or the mule obstinately refusing to go where he should. How sad for a Christian to be like these. How blessed to move from day to day in the path marked out by our Father's eye; a path that the vulture's eye has not seen, or the lion's whelp trodden; the path of holy obedience, the path in which the meek and lowly will always be found.

In the remainder of this chapter, in the ears of the people and in language of touching simplicity, Moses rehearses the facts connected with the appointment of judges and the mission of spies. Here Moses attributes the suggestion to appoint judges to himself. The people suggested the mission of spies. That dear and honored servant of God felt the burden of the congregation was too heavy for him; and certainly it was heavy; though we know that the grace of God was amply sufficient for the demand; and that His grace was and is able to act as well by one man as by seventy.

Still, we can understand the difficulty felt by "the meekest man in all the earth" in reference to the responsibility of so grave and important a charge. Truly the language he uses to state his difficulty is highly affective.

"And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone" – surely not; what mere mortal could? But God was there to be counted on for exigency of every hour.

"The Lord your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. (The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you as he hath promised you!)."

Lovely parenthesis; exquisite breathing of a large and lowly heart – "How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?"

Here lay the secret of much of the "cumbrance" and the "burden." They could not agree among themselves. There were controversies, contentions and questions; and who was sufficient for these things? What human shoulder could sustain such a burden? How different it might have been if they walked lovingly together. There would have been no cases to decide and therefore no need of judges to decide them. If each member of the congregation had sought the prosperity, interest and happiness of his brethren there would have been no "strife," no "cumbrance," no "burden." If each had everything possible to promote the common good, the result would have been lovely.

But, it was not so with Israel in the desert; and what is still more humbling, it is not so in the Lord’s church, although our privileges are so much higher. Hardly had the assembly been formed by the presence of the Holy Spirit, before the accents of murmuring and discontent was heard. And what was it about? It was about "neglect," whether fancied or real. Whatever it was, self was at work. If the neglect was merely imaginary, the Grecians were to blame; and if it was real, the Hebrews were to blame. In such cases, generally, there are faults on both sides; but the true way to avoid all strife, contention and murmuring is to put self in the dust and earnestly seek the good of others. Had this been understood and adopted from the outset, what a different task the ecclesiastical historian would have had to perform. But it has never been adopted; from the beginning, the history of the church has been a deplorable and humiliating record of controversy, division and strife. Even in the presence of the Lord Himself, Whose whole life was one of complete self-surrender, the apostles disputed about who should be greatest. Such a dispute would never have arisen, had each known the exquisite secret of putting self in the dust, seeking the good of others. No one who knows anything of the true moral elevation of self-emptiness would seek a good or great place for himself. Nearness to Christ satisfies the lowly heart so much, that honor, distinctions and rewards are little accounted of. But where self is at work, we have envy and jealousy, strife and contention, confusion and every evil work.

Witness the scene between the two sons of Zebedee and their ten brethren, in the tenth chapter of Mark. Self was at the bottom of it. The two were thinking of a good place for themselves in the kingdom; and the ten were angry with the two for such thinking. Had each set self aside, and sought the good of others, such a scene would never have been enacted. The two would not have been thinking about themselves and there would have been no ground for the "indignation" of the ten.

But it is needless to multiply examples. Every age of the church's history illustrates and proves the truth that self and its odious workings are always the producing cause of strife, contention and division. From the days of the apostles down to the days in which our lot is cast, unmortified self is the fruitful source of strife and schism. On the other hand, we find that to sink self and its interests is the secret of peace, harmony and brotherly love. If only we learn to set self aside, and earnestly seek the glory of Christ, and the prosperity of His beloved people, we will not have many "cases" to settle.

Let us now return to our chapter: "How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden and your strife Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known [Men fitted of God, and possessing, because entitled to, the confidence of the congregation] and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes" (emphasis added).

This was an admirable arrangement. If it had to he made, nothing could be better adapted to the maintenance of order than the graduated scale of authority, varying from the captain of ten to the captain of a thousand; the lawgiver himself at the head of all, and he in immediate communication with the Lord God of Israel.

Here we have no reference to the fact that the appointment of those rulers was at the suggestion of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law (Ex. 18). Neither do we have any reference to the scene in Numbers 11. We call attention to this as one of the many proofs scattered along the pages of Deuteronomy that it is far from being a mere repetition of the preceding sections of the Pentateuch. In short, this delightful book has a character of its own, and the way facts are presented is in perfect keeping with that character. It is evident that the object of the venerable lawgiver, or rather of the Holy Spirit in him, was to bring everything to bear in a moral way on the hearts of the people in order to produce that one grand result that from beginning to end is the special object of the book – a loving obedience to all the statutes and judgments of the Lord their God.

To properly study the book now open before us, we must keep this in mind. When infidels, skeptics and rationalists impiously suggest discrepancies, the pious student rejects every such suggestion knowing that it emanates directly from the determined and persistent father of lies – the enemy of God's Revelation. No doubt, this is the way to deal with all infidel assaults on the Bible. Argument is useless, because infidels are not in a position to understand or appreciate its force. They are profoundly ignorant of the matter. However, it is not merely a question of profound ignorance, but of determined hostility. Therefore, the judgment of infidel writers on the subject of Divine Inspiration is worthless and contemptible. We need to pity and pray for them, while despising and indignantly rejecting their opinions. The Word of God is above and beyond them. It is as perfect as its Author, as imperishable as His throne. But its moral glories, its living depths, and its infinite perfections are only unfolded to faith and need. "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes."

If we are content to be simple as a babe, then we can enjoy the precious revelation of a Father's love as given by His Spirit in the Holy Scriptures. On the other hand, those who fancy themselves wise and prudent; who build on their learning, philosophy and reason; who think themselves competent to sit in judgment on the Word of God (and thus on God Himself), are given over to judicial darkness, blindness and hardness of heart. We can be sure that the most egregious folly and contemptible ignorance that man can display will be found in the pages of learned writers who dare to write against the Bible.

"Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (1 Cor. 1:20, 21).

"If any man will be wise, let him become a fool." Here lies the grand moral secret of the matter. Man must reach the end of his own wisdom, as well as of his own righteousness. Before tasting the sweetness of Divine wisdom, he must confess himself a fool. Though aided by all the appliances of human learning and philosophy, it is still not within the range of human intellect to grasp even the simplest elements of Divine revelation. Therefore, no matter the force of their genius or extent of their learning, when unconverted men undertake to handle spiritual subjects, especially the subject of the inspiration of Holy Scripture, they are sure to exhibit profound ignorance and utter incompetence to deal with the question before them. In fact, looking into an infidel book one is struck with the feebleness of their most forcible arguments; we see only Divine wisdom, beauty and perfectness in every attempt to find a discrepancy in the Bible.
 
We now proceed with the quotation: "And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgement; but ye Shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgement is God's; and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it."

Here we have heavenly wisdom; even handed justice; and holy impartiality. In every case of difference, all the facts on both sides were to be fully heard and patiently weighed. The mind was not to be warped by any kind of prejudice, predilection or personal feeling. The judgment was not to be formed by impressions, but by facts – clearly established, undeniable facts. Personal influence was to have no weight whatsoever. The position and circumstances of either party were not to be considered. The case must be decided entirely on its own merits. "Ye shall hear the small as well as the great." The poor man was to have the same evenhanded justice as the rich; the stranger as one born in the land. No difference was to be allowed.

This is important and worthy of attentive consideration; full of deep and valuable instruction. True, all are not called to be judges, elders or leaders; but the great moral principles laid down in the above quotation are of the utmost value to every one of us, because cases are continually occurring that call for their direct application. Wherever our lot may be cast, whatever our line of life or sphere of action, we are going to meet with cases of difficulty and misunderstanding between our brethren – cases of wrong whether real or imaginary. Therefore, it is needful to be divinely instructed regarding how we should carry ourselves in such situations.

In all such cases, we cannot be too strongly impressed with the necessity of having our judgment based on facts – all the facts, on both sides. We must not allow ourselves to be guided by untrustworthy personal impressions. They may be correct or they may be utterly false. Nothing is more easily received and conveyed than a false impression. Therefore, any judgment based on mere impressions is worthless. We must have solid, clearly established facts, facts established by two or three witnesses, as Scripture so distinctly enforces.

Further, we must never be guided in judgment by an ex parte statement. Even with the best intentions, everyone is liable to add color to his statement of a case. It is not that he would intentionally make a false statement or tell a deliberate lie; but, through inaccuracy of memory or one cause or another, he may not present the case as it really is. Some fact may be omitted, and that fact may so affect all other facts as to alter their bearing completely. Audi alteram partem (hear the other side) is a wholesome motto – not only hear the other side, hear all the facts on both sides. By doing so, we will be able to form a sound and righteous judgment. Our standing rule should be this: any judgment formed without an accurate knowledge of all the facts is simply worthless. "Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him" Meaningful, useful, needed words – in every age, at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances. May we apply our hearts to them.

Consider the important the admonition in verse 17: "Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man." These words reveal the true human heart, prone to respect persons; to be swayed by personal influence; to attach importance to position and wealth; to be afraid of the face of man.

The Divine antidote against all these evils is the fear of God. If we keep the Lord before us at all times it will deliver us from the influence of partiality, prejudice and the fear of men. It will lead us to humbly wait on the Lord for guidance and counsel in all that may come before us. Thus, we will be preserved from forming hasty and one-sided judgments of men and things, that fruitful source of mischief among the Lord's people in all ages.

We now briefly consider the manner in which Moses brings before the congregation all the circumstances connected with the mission of the spies. Like the appointment of the judges, it is in perfect keeping with the scope and object of the book. This is what we might expect. There is not, there could not be, a single sentence of useless repetition in God's Book; there is not a single flaw, a single discrepancy, or a single contradictory statement. The Word of God is absolutely perfect as a whole and in all its parts. We must firmly hold and faithfully confess this in the face of this infidel age.

Of course, we do not speak of human translations of the Word of God, which must be more or less imperfect; though even here, we are filled with wonder, love and praise, when considering the way our God so manifestly presided over our excellent English Translation. Even living at the back of a mountain one can be assured of possessing the Revelation of God. We are confident in saying that this is just what we might look for at the hands of our God. It is reasonable to infer that the One Who inspired the writers of the Bible would also watch over its translation. The same God Who originally gave it to those who could read Hebrew and Greek, now offers it in every language under heaven. Blessed forever be His holy Name, it is His gracious desire to speak to every man in the very tongue he was born; to tell us the sweet tale of His grace, the glad tidings of salvation, in the very accents our mothers whispered into our infant ears those words of love that went home to our hearts (Acts 2:5-8).

If men were more impressed and affected with the truth and power of all this; we would not be troubled with so many foolish and unlearned questions about the Bible.

Let us now hearken to the account given by Moses of the mission of the spies – its origin and result. If the ear is open to hear and the heart prepared to ponder, then we will find it full of weighty instruction.

"And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do." The path of simple obedience was plainly set before them. They needed only to tread it with an obedient heart and firm step. They did not need to reason about consequences or weigh the results. All they simply needed to leave in the hands of God, and with steady purpose, move on in the path of obedience.

"And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea. And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doth give unto us. Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged."

This was their warrant for immediate possession. The Lord their God had given them the land – He set it before them. It was theirs by His free gift, the gift of His sovereign grace, in pursuance of the covenant made with their fathers. It was His eternal purpose to possess the land of Canaan through the seed of Abraham, His friend. This should have been enough to set their hearts at rest, not only regarding the land’s character, but also regarding their entrance on it. There was no need of spies. Faith never wants to spy what God has given. It argues that what He has given must be worth having; and that He is able to put us in full possession of all that His grace has bestowed. Israel might have concluded that the same hand that had conducted them "through all that great and terrible wilderness" could bring them in and plant them in their destined inheritance.

Faith would have so reasoned, because it always reasons from God down to circumstances; never from circumstances up to God – "If God be for us, who can be against us?" This is faith's argument; grand in its simplicity; simple in its moral grandeur. When God fills the whole range of the soul's vision, difficulties are never thought of; never considered. They are either not seen, or, if seen, they are viewed as occasions for displaying God's power. Faith always exults in seeing God triumphing over difficulties.

But on the occasion now before us, the people were not governed by faith; and, therefore they had recourse to spies. In tender and faithful language, Moses reminds them of this, "And ye came near unto me, every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come."

They should have trusted God for all this. The One Who had brought them out of Egypt; made a way for them through the sea; guided them through the trackless desert, was fully able to bring them into the land. But no, they wanted to send spies because their hearts did not have confidence in the true, living, Almighty God. Here is the moral root of the matter; and it is well that we thoroughly seize the point. It is true that in the history given in Numbers, the Lord told Moses to send the spies. But why did He do so? He did so because of the moral condition of the people. And here we see the characteristic difference and yet the lovely harmony of the two books. Numbers gives us the public history; Deuteronomy the secret source of the mission of the spies – it is in perfect keeping with Numbers to give us the former; it is in perfect keeping with Deuteronomy to give us the latter. One complements the other. We could not fully understand the subject, if we only had the history given in Numbers. It is the touching commentary given in Deuteronomy that completes the picture. How perfect is Scripture. To see, we need an anointed eye; to appreciate its moral glories, we need a prepared heart.

However, one may still question the spies, feeling disposed to ask, "How could it be wrong to send them, when the Lord told them to do so?" The wrong was not in the act of sending spies when they were told, but in the wish to send them at all. The wish was the fruit of unbelief; and the command to send them was because of that unbelief.

We see something of the same in the matter of divorce, in Matthew 19: "The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so."

Putting away a wife was not in keeping with God's original institution or according to His heart; but, divorce was permitted by the lawgiver because of the hardness of the human heart. Only the heart bent on making difficulty, finds any in this. Neither is there any difficulty in the matter of the spies. Israel should not have needed them. Simple faith would never have thought of them. But the Lord saw the real condition of things and accordingly issued a command; just as He later commanded Samuel to give the people a king, because their hearts were bent on having one.

"And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now, therefore, hearken unto their voice; howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them" (1 Sam. 8:7-9).

Thus we see that the mere granting of a desire is no proof whatsoever that such desire is according to the mind of God. Israel should not have asked for a king. Was Jehovah not sufficient? Was He not their King? Could He not lead them forth to battle and fight for them as He had always done? Why seek an arm of flesh? Why turn away from the living, true, Almighty God, to lean on a poor fellow worm? What power was in a king, except that which God might see fit to bestow on him? None whatsoever. All power, all wisdom, all real good was in the Lord their God; and it was there for them at all times, meeting their every need. To find all their springs, they needed only to lean on His almighty arm and draw on His exhaustless resources.

When they did get a king, "according to their hearts" desire, what did he do for them? "All the people followed him trembling." The more closely we study the melancholy history of Saul's reign, the more we see that almost from the outset he was a hindrance rather than a help. When reading his history from first to last, the truth of this becomes evident. His reign was a lamentable failure, aptly and forcibly set forth in two glowing sentences of the prophet Hosea, "I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath." In a word, he was the answer to the unbelief and self-will of the people. Therefore, all their brilliant hopes and expectations regarding him were lamentably disappointed. He failed to answer the mind of God; and consequently failed to meet the people's need. He proved himself unworthy of the crown and scepter; and his ignominious fall on mount Gilboa was in melancholy keeping with his whole career.

When we come to consider the mission of the spies, we find it to be like the appointment of a king, ending in failure and disappointment. It could not be otherwise, because it was the fruit of unbelief. True, God gave them spies; and with touching grace, Moses says, "The saying pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe." It was grace coming down to the condition of the people, and consenting to a plan suited to that condition. But in no way does this prove that either the plan or the condition was according to the mind of God. Praise His Name, He can meet us in our unbelief, though He is grieved and dishonored by it. He delights in bold, artless faith. In this entire world, it is the only thing that gives Him His proper place. Thus, when Moses said to the people, "Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged;" what would have been the proper response from them?

"Here we are; lead on, Almighty Lord; lead on to victory. Thou art enough. With Thee as our leader, we move on with joyful confidence. Difficulties are nothing to Thee, and therefore they are nothing to us. Thy word and thy presence are all we want. In these we find, at once, our authority and power. It matters not in the least to us who or what may be before us: mighty giants, towering walls, frowning bulwarks; what are they all in the presence of the Lord God of Israel, but as withered leaves before the whirlwind? Lead on, O Lord."

This would have been the language of faith; but it was not the language of Israel on the occasion now before us. God was not sufficient for them. They were not prepared to go up, leaning only on His arm. They were not satisfied with His report of the land. They would send spies, anything but simple dependence on the one living and true God. The natural man cannot trust God, simply because he does not know Him. "They that know thy name will put their trust in thee."

In order to be trusted, God must be known; and the more fully He is trusted, the better He becomes known. In this entire world, there is nothing so truly blessed as a life of simple faith. But it must be a reality and not a mere profession. It is vain to talk of living by faith, while the heart is secretly resting on some creature prop. The true believer exclusively has to do with God. He finds all resources in Him. It is not that he undervalue the instruments or channels that God is pleased to use; quite the reverse. He exceedingly values them as the means God uses for his help and blessing. But he does not allow them to displace God. The language of his heart is, "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock."

There is force in the word "only." It searches the heart thoroughly. To directly or indirectly look to the creature for the supply of any need, is to depart from the life of faith. And looking in any way to creature streams is miserable work – as morally degrading as the life of faith is morally elevating. Not only is it degrading, it is disappointing, too. Creature props give way and creature streams run dry; but they that trust in the Lord will never be confounded; will never want for any good thing. Had Israel trusted the Lord instead of sending spies, they would have had a different tale to tell. But spies they wanted, and it proved a humiliating failure.

"And they turned, and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out. And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the Lord our God doth give us."

How could it be otherwise? God was giving it. Why did they need spies to tell them that the gift of God was good? An artless faith would have argued, "Whatever God gives, must be worthy of Himself; we need no spies to assure us of this." But artless faith is an uncommonly rare gem in this world; and even those who possess it, know little of its value or how to use it. It is one thing to talk about the life of faith, and another to live it. The theory is one thing; the living reality another. But let us never forget that it is the privilege of every child of God to live by faith; and, further, that from the starting-post to the goal of his earthly career, the life of faith takes in everything that the believer can possibly need. We have already touched on this important point; it cannot be too earnestly or too constantly insisted on.

Regarding the mission of the spies, the serious student will with interest note the way Moses refers to it. He confines himself to that portion of their testimony which was according to truth. He says nothing about the ten spies. This is in perfect keeping with the scope and object of the book. Everything is brought to bear on the conscience of the congregation in a moral way. He reminds them that they had proposed to send the spies; and yet, although the spies had placed before them the fruit of the land and borne testimony to its goodness, they would not go up. "Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God." There was no excuse whatsoever. It was evident that their hearts were in a state of unbelief and rebellion.

"And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us [a terrible lie, on the very face of it] he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us" (emphasis added). What a strange proof of hatred; but then the arguments of unbelief are absurd. Obviously, if God hated them, how easy it would have been to simply leave them to die amid the brick kilns of Egypt, beneath the cruel lash of Pharaoh's taskmasters. Why take so much trouble with them? Why those ten plagues sent on the land of their oppressors? If He hated them, why not allow the waters of the Red Sea to overwhelm them as it had overwhelmed their enemies? Why had He delivered them from the sword of Amalek? Why all these marvelous triumphs of grace on their behalf, if He hated them? Such a brilliant array of evidence would have led them to an opposite conclusion, had they not been governed by a spirit of dark and senseless unbelief. There is nothing beneath the canopy of heaven as stupidly irrational as unbelief. On the other hand, there is nothing as sound, clear and logical as the simple argument of a child-like faith. May we always be enabled to prove this truth.

"And ye murmured in your tents." Unbelief is not only a blind and senseless reasoner, but a dark and gloomy murmurer. It neither gets to the right side, nor the bright side of things. It is always in the dark, always in the wrong, because it shuts God out, looking only at circumstances. They said, "Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we [but they were not greater than Jehovah] And the cities are great and walled up to heaven [he gross exaggeration of unbelief] and moreover, we have seen the sons of the Anakims there" (emphasis added).

Faith would say, "Well, so what if the cities are walled up to heaven, our God is above them, for He is in heaven. What are great cities or lofty walls to Him Who formed the universe and sustains it by the Word of His power? What are Anakims in the presence of the Almighty God? If the land were covered with walled cities from Dan to Beersheba, and if the giants were as numerous as the leaves of the forest, they would be as the chaff of the threshing-floor before the One Who has promised to give the land of Canaan to the seed of Abraham, His friend, for an everlasting possession."

But Israel did not have faith, as the inspired apostle tells us in the third chapter of Hebrews, "They could not enter in because of unbelief." Here lay the great difficulty. The walled cities and the terrible Anakims would soon have been disposed of had Israel only trusted God. He would have made short work of them all. But unbelief always stands in the way of our blessings; hindering the outshining of the glory of God; casting a dark shadow over our soul, robbing us of the privilege of proving the all-sufficiency of our God to meet our every need and remove every difficulty.

God never fails a trusting heart. It is His delight to honor the largest drafts that faith presents to His exhaustless treasury. His assuring Word to us is always, "Be not afraid; only believe." And again, "According to your faith be it unto you." What soul-stirring words – may we more fully realize their living power and sweetness. We may rest assured of this: it is impossible to go too far in counting on God. Our grand mistake is that we do not draw more largely on His infinite resources. "Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?"

Thus we can see why Israel failed to see the glory of God on the occasion now before us – they did not believe. The mission of the spies proved a complete failure. As it began so it ended, in deplorable unbelief. God was shut out. Difficulties filled their vision.

"They could not enter in." They could not see the glory of God. Hearken to the deeply affecting words of Moses. It does the heart good to read them. They touch the deepest springs of our renewed being. "Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The Lord your God, which goeth before you, he shall fight for you [only think of God fighting for people. Think of Jehovah as a Man of war?]. He shall fight for you according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God, who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and by a cloud by day" (emphasis added).

What moral force and touching sweetness is in this appeal. How clearly we see here, as on every page of this book, that Deuteronomy is not a barren repetition of facts, but a powerful commentary on those facts. We should be thoroughly clear regarding this. If, in the book of Exodus or Numbers, the inspired lawgiver records the actual facts of Israel's wilderness life, in the book of Deuteronomy he comments on those facts with a pathos that melts the heart. Here the exquisite style of Jehovah's acts is pointed out and dwelt on with inimitable skill and delicacy. Who would consent to giving up the lovely figure set forth in the words, "As a man doth bear his son." Here we have the style of the action. Could we do without this? No; it is the style of an action that touches the heart, because it is the style that so peculiarly expresses the heart. If the power of the hand or the wisdom of the mind is seen in the substance of an action, the love of the heart comes out in the style. Even a little child can understand this, though he might not be able to explain it.

But Israel could not trust God to bring them into the land. Notwithstanding the marvelous display of His power, faithfulness, goodness and loving kindness, from the brick kilns of Egypt to the borders of the land of Canaan, yet they did not believe. With an array of evidence that should have satisfied the heart, still they doubted. "And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, Surely, there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord."

"Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" Such is the divine order. Men will tell you that seeing is believing. But in the kingdom of God, believing is seeing. Why was it that not a man of that evil generation was allowed to see the good land? Because they did not believe on the Lord their God. Why was Caleb allowed to see and take possession? Because he believed. Unbelief always hinders seeing the glory of God. "He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief." If Israel had only believed, only trusted the Lord their God, only confided in the love of His heart and in the power of His arm, He would have brought them in and planted them in the mountain of His inheritance.

And so is it with the Lord's people now. There is no limit to the blessing that we might enjoy, if only we counted more fully on God. "All things are possible to him that believeth." Our God will never say, "You have drawn too largely; you expect too much." No; it is the joy of His loving heart to answer the largest expectations of faith.

Let us then draw largely. "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." The exhaustless treasury of heaven is thrown open to faith. "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." Faith: God's secret of the whole matter; from first to last the main spring of Christian life. Faith wavers not, staggers not. Unbelief is always a waverer and staggerer, and so it never sees the glory of God; never sees His power. It is deaf to His voice and blind to His actions; it depresses the heart and weakens the hands; it darkens the path and hinders all progress. For forty years, it kept Israel out of the land of Canaan; and we have no conception of the amount of blessing, privilege, power and usefulness that we are constantly missing through its terrible influence. If faith was exercised more in our hearts, we would witness a different condition of things in our midst. What is the secret of the deplorable deadness and barrenness throughout the wide field of organized religious institutions? How are we to account for our impoverished condition, our low tone, our stunted growth? Why do we see such poor results in our work? Why are there so few genuine conversions? Why are so-called evangelists today weak; and frequently cast down by reason of the paucity of their sheaves? How are we to answer all these questions? What is the cause? Will anyone attempt to say it is not our unbelief? No doubt, religious divisions have much to do with it; our worldliness, our carnality, our self-indulgence, our love of ease. But what is the remedy for all these evils? Our hearts can be drawn out in genuine love only by faith; that precious principle "that worketh by love." Thus the blessed apostle says to the dear young converts at Thessalonica, "Your faith groweth exceedingly."And what then? "The love of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth." Thus it must always be. Faith puts us into direct contact with the eternal spring of love in God Himself; and the necessary consequence is this: our hearts are drawn out in love to all who belong to Him, all in whom we can in the feeblest way trace His blessed image. We cannot be near the Lord and not love all who call on His Name out of a pure heart. The nearer we are to Christ; the more intensely we must be knit, in true brotherly love to every member of His body.

How is worldliness in all its varied forms to be overcome? Hear the reply of another inspired apostle. "For, whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God." Walking in the power of faith, the new man lives above the world, above its motives, above its objects, principles, habits, and fashions. He has nothing in common with it. Though in it, he is not of it. He moves away from its current. He draws all his springs from heaven. His life, his hope, his all is there; and he ardently longs to be there himself, when his work on earth is done.

Thus we see what a mighty principle faith is. It purifies the heart, it works by love, and it overcomes the world. In short it links the heart in living power with God Himself; and this is the secret of true elevation, holy benevolence, and divine purity. Therefore, it no marvel that Peter calls it "precious faith," for truly it is precious beyond all human thought.

See how this mighty principle acted in Caleb, and the blessed fruit it produced. He was permitted to realize the truth of those words, uttered hundreds of years afterwards, "according to your faith be it unto you." He believed that God was able to bring them into the land; and that all the difficulties and hindrances were simply bread for faith. And as He always does, God answered his faith. "Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal; and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in my heart [the simple testimony of a bright and lovely faith] nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God. And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me; as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced; if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said" (emphasis added).

How refreshing are the utterances of an artless faith; how edifying; how truly encouraging; how vividly they contrast with the gloomy, depressing, withering accents of dark, God-dishonoring unbelief. "And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, Hebron for an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel" (Josh. 14).

Like his father Abraham, Caleb was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and we may say with confidence that because faith always honors God, He always delights to honor faith. We feel persuaded that if the Lord's people could only confide in God, if they would draw more largely on His infinite resources, we whould witness a totally different condition of things from what we see around us. "Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" Oh, for a more lively faith in God, a bolder grasp of His faithfulness, goodness and power. Then we might look for more glorious results in the Gospel field; more zeal, more energy, more intense devotedness in the Lord’s church; and more of the fragrant fruits of righteousness in the life of individual believers.

We will now briefly look at the closing verses of chapter one. First of all, we see the actions of God’s government displayed in a solemn and impressive manner. In a touching way, Moses refers to the fact of his exclusion from the Promised Land. "Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither."

Mark the words, "for your sakes." It was needful to remind the congregation that it was on their account that Moses, the beloved and honored servant of the Lord, was prevented from crossing the Jordan and setting his foot on the land of Canaan. True, "he spake unadvisedly with his lips;" but "they provoked his spirit" to do so. This should have touched them to the quick. They not only failed to enter in themselves through unbelief, but they were the cause of his exclusion, as much as he longed to see “that goodly mountain and Lebanon.”

Let us never forget that the government of God is a grand and awful reality. The human mind may marvel why a few ill-advised words, a few hasty sentences should be the cause of keeping such a beloved and honored servant of God from that which he so ardently desired. But it is our place to bow the head, in humble adoration and holy reverence, not to reason or judge. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Absolutely! He can make no mistake. "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou king of nations." "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints; and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him." "Our God is a consuming fire;" and "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Does the face that as Christians, we are under the reign of grace interfere in any way with the action and range of God's government? By no means. It is as true today as it ever was that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Therefore, it would be a serious mistake for anyone to draw a plea from the freedom of God's grace to trifle with the enactments of God's government. The two things are distinct and should never be confounded. Grace can freely, fully, and eternally pardon, but the wheels of Jehovah's governmental chariot roll on, in crushing power and appalling solemnity. Grace pardoned Adam's sin; but government drove him out of Eden, to earn a living by the sweat of his brow amid the thorns and thistles of a cursed earth. Grace pardoned David's sin; but the sword of government hung over his house to the end. Bathsheba was the mother of Solomon; but Absalom rose in rebellion.

So it was with Moses. Grace brought him to the top of Pisgah and showed him the land; but government sternly and absolutely stopped his entrance. Also, it does not touch this mighty principle to be told that in his official capacity as the representative of the legal system, Moses could not bring the people into the land. This is true; but it leaves untouched the solemn truth now before us. Neither in Numbers 20, nor in Deuteronomy 1, do we have anything about Moses in his official capacity. It is him personally before us; and he is forbidden to enter the land because of having spoken unadvisedly with his lips.

In the immediate presence of God, we need to deeply ponder this great practical truth. We may rest assured that the more truly we enter into the knowledge of grace, the more we will feel the solemnity of government and entirely justify its enactments. Of this we are fully persuaded. But there is imminent danger of taking up the teaching of grace in a light and careless manner, while the heart and life are not brought under its sanctifying influence. This has to be guarded against with holy jealousy. There is nothing in this entire world more awful than mere fleshly familiarity with the theory of salvation by grace. It opens the door for every form of licentiousness. This is why we feel the necessity of pressing on the conscience of serious students the practical truth of the government of God. It is at all times most salutary, but particularly so in this age when there is such a fearful tendency to turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. Those who fully enter into the deep blessedness of being under the reign of grace also justify the actions of God's government.

But, from the closing lines of this chapter we learn that the people were by no means prepared to submit themselves under the governmental hand of God. In short, they would neither have grace nor government. When invited to go up and take possession of the land, they hesitated and refused to go, even with the fullest assurances of God’s presence and power. They completely gave themselves up to a spirit of dark unbelief. In vain did Joshua and Caleb sound in their ears the words of encouragement; in vain did they see the rich fruit of the goodly land; in vain did Moses seek to move them by soul-stirring words – they simply would not go up, when told to do so. So, God took them at their word. According to their unbelief, so it was unto them.

“Moreover, your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness, by the may of the Red Sea.”

How sad; and yet, how else could it be? If they would not go up into the land in simple faith, there remained nothing for them but turning back into the wilderness. But to this they would not submit. They would neither avail themselves of the provisions of grace nor bow to the sentence of judgment.

"Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the Lord; we will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapon of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill."

This looked like contrition and self-judgment; but it is easy to say, "We have sinned." Saul said it in his day; but it was hollow and false. He said it without heart, without any genuine sense of what he was saying. We may easily gather the force and value of the words "I have sinned," from the fact that they were immediately followed by, "Honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people." What a strange contradiction, "I have sinned" yet "Honour me." If he had really felt his sin, his language would have been different. How different his spirit, style and deportment. But it was all a solemn mockery. Visualize a man full of himself; making use of a form of words without one atom of true heart-feeling. Then, going through the empty formality of worshipping God in order to get honor for himself. What a picture. Can anything be more sorrowful? How terribly offensive to Him Who desires truth in the inward parts, and Who seeks those to worship Him in spirit and in truth. The feeblest breathings of a broken and contrite heart are precious to God; but how offensive are the hollow formalities of a mere religiousness, the object of which is to exalt man in his own eyes and in the eyes of others. How worthless is mere lip confession of sin when the heart does not feel it. Yes, it is easy to say, "We have sinned;" but so often it is no more than hardness of heart. The conscience feels that a certain act of confessing the sin is necessary, but there is hardly anything that more hardens the heart than the habit of confessing sin without feeling it, a stereotyped acknowledgment of sin; the mere habit of hurrying through a formula of confession to God.

Thus it was with Israel at Kadesh. Their confession of sin was worthless, because there was no truth in it. Had they felt what they were saying, they would have bowed to the judgment of God, meekly accepting the consequence of their sin. There is no finer proof of true contrition than submission to the governmental dealings of God. Look at the case of Moses. See how he bowed his head to God's discipline. "The Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it."

Here, Moses shows them that they were the cause of his exclusion from the land; and yet he utters no murmuring word, but meekly bows to the divine judgment, not only content to be superseded by another, but ready to appoint and encourage his successor. There is no trace of jealousy or envy here. For that beloved and honored servant, it was enough if God was glorified and the need of the congregation met. He was not occupied with himself or his own interests, but with the glory of God and the blessing of His people.

But the people manifested a different spirit. "We will go up and fight." How vain and foolish. When commanded by God and encouraged by His true-hearted servants to go up and possess the land, they replied, "Whither shall we go up?" And when commanded to turn back into the wilderness, they replied, "We will go up and fight."

"And the Lord said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies. So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up into the hill. And the Amorites which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah."

It was impossible for Jehovah to accompany them along the path of self-will and rebellion; and without God’s presence, Israel was no match for the Amorites. If God be for us and with us, all is victory. But we cannot count on God if we are not treading the path of obedience. It is simply the height of folly to imagine that we can have God with us if our ways are not right. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe." But if we are not walking in righteousness, then it is wicked presumption to talk of having the Lord as our strong tower.

God can meet us in the depths of our weakness and failure, provided there is genuine and hearty confession of our true condition. But to assume that we have the Lord with us, while doing our own will and walking in palpable unrighteousness, is nothing but wickedness and hardness of heart. "Trust in the Lord, and do good." This is God's order; but to talk of trusting in the Lord while doing evil is to turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness, placing ourselves in the hands of the devil who seeks only our moral ruin. "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." When we have a good conscience, we can lift up the head and move on through all sorts of difficulties; but attempting to tread the path of faith with a bad conscience is the most dangerous thing in this world. We can hold up the shield of faith only when our loins are girt with truth, and the breast covered with the breastplate of righteousness.

It is of utmost importance that Christians seek to maintain practical righteousness, in all its branches. There is immense moral weight and value in the words of the apostle Paul, "Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and men." He always sought to wear the breastplate and to be clothed in that white linen which is the righteousness of saints. And so should we. It is our holy privilege to day by day tread with firm step, the path of duty, the path of obedience, and the path on which the light of God's approving countenance always shines. Only then can we count on God, lean on Him, draw from Him, find all our springs in Him, wrap ourselves up in His faithfulness, and thus move on in peaceful communion and holy worship toward our heavenly home.

Again, it is not that we cannot look to God in our weakness, failure, and when we have erred and sinned. Praise His Holy Name, we can; and His ear is always open to our cry. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn. 1).

"Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice; let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared" (Ps. 130).

There is absolutely no limit to God's forgiveness, because there is no limit to the extent of the atonement, no limit to the virtue and efficacy of the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, which cleanses from all sin; no limit to the prevalence of the intercession of our adorable Advocate, our great High Priest, Who is able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by Him.

All this is true and largely taught and variously illustrated throughout the inspired Scriptures. But the confession of sin and its pardon must not be confounded with practical righteousness. There are two distinct conditions in which we may call on God; we may call on Him in deep contrition, and be heard; or we may call on Him with a good conscience and an uncondemning heart, and be heard. But the two things are distinct; not only in themselves but they both stand in marked contrast with indifference and hardness of heart that presumes to count on God in the face of disobedience and practical unrighteousness. This is dreadful in the sight of the Lord, and brings down His heavy judgment. Practical righteousness He owns and approves; confessed sin He can freely and fully pardon; but to imagine that we can put our trust in God while our feet are treading the path of iniquity is nothing short of shocking impiety.

"Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these. For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgement between a man and his neighbour; if ye oppress not the stranger the fatherless and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt; then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder and commit adultery and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?" (Jer. 7)

God deals in moral realities. He desires truth in the inward parts; and if men presume to hold the truth in unrighteousness, they must look out for His righteous judgment. It is the thought of all this that makes us feel the awful condition of organized religious institutions. The solemn passage that we have just culled from the prophet Jeremiah, though bearing primarily on the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, has a pointed application to the Lord’s church. In 2 Timothy 3, we find that all the abominations of heathenism, as detailed in the close of Romans 1, are reproduced in the last days under the garb of professing Christians, in connection with "a form of godliness." The end of such a condition is unmitigated wrath. The moment is rapidly approaching when all the beloved and blood-bought people of God will be called out of this dark, sinful, so-called Christian world, "to be for ever with the Lord," in that sweet home of love prepared in the Father's house.

These are true sayings of God. From cover to cover, The New Testament sets forth the solemn truth above enunciated; and we should refuse to accept any system of theology that teaches differently.

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