peace, for your never-dying soul. Ought you not, then, to give the more earnest heed to the things you have heard, lest you let them slip? (Heb. ii. 1.) Ought you not to "lay up these words of the Lord in your heart, and in your soul? ” Ought you not to "bind them, as it were, upon your hand," that they may be always ready for use; and "between your eyes," that you may always fix your attention upon them? Ought you not, also, to "teach them to your children," that they may know them as well as you? and “talk of them," one with another, at home, abroad, lying down, rising up?" (v. 8-19.) Were such the case, would not your "days be as the days of heaven upon earth?” (v. 21.) Would you not be peaceful, happy, blessed, in all states, and in all conditions of life? Would not your spiritual enemies likewise flee before you? Would you not conquer them all, from day to day, by the strength and in the love of Jesus? Try, and see. Try, and see if the Lord be not faithful to his word, and able to bless your souls a thousand times more than you can ever conceive.

Like Moses, then, we put before you "the blessing and the curse." A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: and a curse, if ye will not obey, but turn aside from the way commanded you (v. 26—28). Oh, that there may be such an heart in us all, that we may fear the Lord our God for our good always, and love and serve him for evermore!

break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

4 Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.

5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:

7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.

8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you.

10 But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;

11 Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:

12 And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.

13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:

14 But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.

17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates.

the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:

18 But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.

19 Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.

20 ¶ When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

21 If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

22 Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.

23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.

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24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour upon the earth as water.

25 Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.

26 Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose:

27 And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.

28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.

29 ¶ When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;

To act in the spirit of these injunctions, in this cold and lukewarm generation, would be thought very strange and uncalled-for by numbers around us. But you must not take your opinions from man. You must never be guided by the maxims which are current in the world, if you would follow the Lord in truth and sincerity. It would be well if those persons, who are so ready to exclaim against what they call the bigotry and intolerance of others, would only take a lesson out of Moses's book, and learn to copy his example.

You hear many persons saying, Let other people alone; let every one do as he likes; let every one follow the opinions he pleases; one religion is as good as another; and all will do well at last. Now, if such people are right, Moses was wrong. If the case really be as these persons would have it; then where was the necessity of such exhortations, or of the people acting in the manner they were here taught to do? The proper answer to all such fallacious reasoning is, Away with such false notions; and such soul-destroying delusions.

True religion, the religion of the Bible, the religion of the gospel of Christ, is of an aggressive character. You must not be content with embracing it yourselves; you must carry it into the enemies' quarters, and aim the overthrow of every false system by seeking to bring men to the true faith. The extirpation of idolatry in the land of promise was as much commanded by God, as the land

itself was promised to them. The severity enjoined was not against the deluded people; but against the idols, images, and groves, which they worshipped. These were to be utterly broken in pieces and destroyed out of the place; and the true worship of the true God was to be upheld and maintained.

Does not this circumstance instruct us? Ought believers to have any thing to do with

from him, as the way, the truth, and the life; and thus cleave steadfastly to the Lord all the days of your life.

CHAPTER XIII.

1 Enticers to idolatry, 6 how near soever unto thee, 9 are to be stoned to death. 12 Idolatrous cities are not to be spared.

prevailing in the so-called Christian church? Ought they not to express their most decided abhorrence of them? Ought they not to keep at the utmost distance from them? Ought they not to protest most loudly against them? But ought they to rest there? Were the Israelites to be satisfied with overthrowing idolatry, in all its forms, in the promised land? Were they not also as strictly to follow, and maintain, the typical service of God with which they were entrusted? And how is the spirit of a false religion to be eradicated? By penalties, or the sword, or shedding of blood? Oh, no; but by the propagation of divine truth. "The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." (Luke ix. 56.) Let the truth be made known; let the Word of God be open and free to all; let the gospel of Christ be fully and faithfully proclaimed; let the truths thus revealed, and the blessings thus proclaimed, enlighten the minds, and possess the hearts of men; and all those things connected with a false or idolatrous religion will soon be thrown "to the moles and the bats." Men will find a power and preciousness in divine truth. They will come and walk in its light, and be happy and blessed for ever. The only effectual method to eradicate error is by propagating the truth. (Is. ii. 20.)

There is, indeed, a freedom in the truth; but not to sin. Meats and drinks may all be used, with temperance and thanksgiving, for the health of the body. But there is no permission for error; nor for any thing derogatory to the truth of Christ and the glory of God. You must worship and serve the Lord in his way appointed; not in your way devised. You must come before him in Christ; you must rely on Christ's sacrifice and death; you must be very careful that you be not drawn aside in any way, or by any means,

dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath 'spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;

8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither

shalt thou conceal him:

9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from

the house of "bondage.

11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

12 ¶ If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,

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13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;

14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;

15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. !

16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.

17 And there shall cleave nought of the 'cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;

18 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God.

EVERY person must expect trials. But trials are not all of the same kind; nor will they all come in the same way. Principles, profession, faith, practice, hope, all will be tried. If sound, they will endure the test; if not, the real state of the case will, sooner or later, be brought to light.

Moses is warning the people on this subject in the chapter before us. He supposes a case. A false prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, would arise, and seek, by blandishments and error, to turn them from the worship and service of the Lord. By art, or craft, or collusion, or deceit, infernal or human, he would give signs and wonders to confirm what he said. These signs and wonders would come to pass. What would follow? Many might be ready to say, "This man is the great power of God" (Acts

viii. 10), let us hearken to what he says; let us do what he bids.

In such a case, what is to be done? Would they be right in following the dictates of that impulse? Certainly not. Here is the trial. The Lord permits this impostor to arise to prove them, to know whether they love the Lord their God with all their heart, and with all their soul, or not. If the heart be sound, they will see through the delusion, and reject the impostor with abhorrence (v. 3).

Instances of a similar kind arise under the

gospel. Our Lord expressly tells us that such will be the case. "There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before." (Matt. xxiv. 24, 25.) Scuh impostors did arise; they arose soon after those words were spoken. They arose in the days of the apostles. They have arisen from time to time ever since. Our own day is not free from the potency of these delusions. We have seen men arise, under a specious garb, and with great pretensions, drawing away disciples after them; great signs and wonders have been done by them; whole neighbourhoods have been roused; hardened sinners have seemed to become penitent; blasphemers have learned to pray; converts have been multiplied; all men have wondered; yet, the whole has been a delusion; and presumption, licentiousness, blasphemy, and apostasy, have been the result.

Here is the trial of professing Christians. Are such men to be believed? Are their impositions to be credited? No; the Lord allows such deceivers to arise, that it may Such who are his, and who are not. appear as are sound in the faith will stand in the trial. The "elect" will not be deceived; but hypocrites and graceless professors will be carried away by the imposture, and perish in these fearful delusions.

Now, how ought the people of God to act in such cases? How ought they to regard such delusions? The manner in which such characters were to be treated in this chapter, may, at least, teach us these lessons. We ought to stand firm in the faith. We ought to hold such deceivers in the utmost abhor

E are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

3¶Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.

4 These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,

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5 The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the 'pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.

6 And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat.

7 Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you.

8 And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.

9 These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:

10 And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you. 11 ¶ Of all clean birds ye shall eat.

12 But these are they of which ye shall not eat the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,

13 And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,

14 And every raven after his kind, 15 And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, 16 The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,

17 And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,

18 And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

19 And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be

eaten.

20 But of all clean fowls ye may eat.

21 ¶ Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.

23 And thou shalt eat before the LORD

thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:

25 Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:

26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,

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27 And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.

28 ¶ At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:

29 And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and