Deuteronomy 4:14

That ye might do them.

Knowledge and practice

I. God is the one great source both of truth and of authority.

1. The office of every true teacher is to unfold the revelation of the Eternal, whether in nature, in history, or in the written Word.

2. The office of every true lawgiver and ruler is to expound and enforce the precepts and commandments of the Lord of lords. There is no sound knowledge, and no law worthy of reverence, which does not emanate from the Supreme.

II. True religion corresponds to the composite nature of man, as a being possessed of intelligence and endowed with will.

1. False religions are one-sided: they either embody certain theories and doctrines and neglect morality, or they prescribe certain services without basing them on eternal truth.

2. Judaism appealed to the understanding in its many statements regarding God and regarding human life; it appealed to the practical nature in its rigid prescriptions of duty, its rigid prohibitions of sin.

3. Christianity is the highest example of the combination of the doctrinal and the moral, laying a foundation of truth and love, and rearing upon it an edifice of obedience and holiness.

III. Acceptable obedience consists in at once receiving the Gospel and doing the will of Christ. An empty profession of faith and a soulless conformity of conduct are alike repugnant to a heart-searching God. The true Christian shows his faith by his works. (Family Churchman.)