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Introductory
"And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live."—DEUT. vIII. 3.
". . . So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."—ISAIAH LV. II.
"... Jesus answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."—MATT. iv. 4.
 hese three passages are linked together by the common thought that human life is perfectly conditioned when it is governed by the words that proceed from the mouth of God.
 euteronomy records the last messages of Moses to the children of Israel. In this particular passage he states the meaning of the varied circumstances through which God has permitted them to pass. "He humbled thee, suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna." To what purpose? "That He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord."
 saiah is the messenger of God to a people, who, through disobedience, have passed into captivity. Chapter Iv. records one of the messages in which he contrasts their state of life in captivity with the blessedness and joy experienced when living in perpetual obedience to Divine law. It is of this law he speaks when he says, "So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth."
n the New Testament we see Jesus, God's perfect man, passing through the severest temptation. Replying to the first suggestion of the enemy, He reveals the realm in which He lives when He says, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
 et the passages which indicate the common thought be lifted from their setting.
i. "Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord."
ii. "My word that goeth forth out of My mouth."
iii. "Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
hus is revealed the supreme verity upon which the Mosaic, Prophetic, and Christian economies were based. The methods have been different and progressive; the purpose has been ever the same. The creation of the Hebrew nation, its preservation, and all its magnificent ritual and organization were directed to the end of giving expression to the first divine intention of the blessedness of man, receiving his law from the mouth of God, and yielding unquestioning obedience to it.
he prophetic office was that of forthtelling this Word of God principally to those who were disobedient. Its exercise was ever characterized by fierce denunciation of rebellion, glowing descriptions of the glory of the Divine Kingship, and passionate appeals to a return to loyalty.
 esus, the author of Christian faith, lived from beginning to end without deviation or exception by the words proceeding from the mouth of God. In His passion-baptism He bore the penalty of the disobedience of the race, and in His resurrection took again His life, that He might communicate it to sinful men, that in its energy they also might obey the law of God.
 vidently, therefore, according to the consistent teaching of Scripture, man only understands the possibility of his being as he becomes acquainted with the law of God; and only realizes this possibility as he lives by the words proceeding from the mouth of God.
he reason for this is found in the fact that within the Divine intention, every human life moves through present probation to future purpose. Men are born, not merely for to-day, but for God's to-morrow. Issue and consummation are out of sight, and are perfectly known to the Creator alone. The trouble is that so many live as though the whole purpose of life were realized in the little day on earth. Yet men know that it is not so, that this passing life is preparatory and probationary. To-day men sow, to-morrow they reap. The reaping depends upon the sowing. If the ultimate end is to be in harmony with the will of the eternal love, they must obey the law proceeding from that love: they must live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
THE SUPREME DUTY OF MAN.
he supreme duty of every man is that he should discover and obey these words. If he live from day to day, from week to week, from month to month, and from year to year without reference to that law, hoping that after being regardless of, if not rebellious against it, he will at last slip into some happy state, then surely he must indeed be blind and foolish.
n the close of the Book of Ecclesiastes, the preacher says, "This is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole of man" (xii. 13). Not "the whole duty of man," as it was in the Authorized Version, but the "whole of man." That is to say, if a man fear God and keep His commandments, he is a whole man. Judged by this standard, how many there are that are not whole men. This very book of Ecclesiastes reveals the fact. "Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity." That is the sum total of life lived "under the sun," among things material and transient; life in a hemisphere. The whole man is realized when man "fears God and keeps His commandments." That is, when both hemispheres are recognized. He who lives without reference to the law of God fails to fulfil the possibilities of his own being. He is not a man until he lives by the words that proceed from the mouth of God.
n the Epistle of James is found a word of deep significance. "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all," (ii. 10). Placing this side by side with the passage already referred to in Ecclesiastes, there are two phrases with a common denominator, "the whole": "the whole man," "the whole law." Herein lies the explanation of the apparent severity of James's utterance. Men are apt to think that if there be ten commandments, of which they obey nine, such obedience will be put to their credit, even though they break the tenth. That, however, is to misunderstand God's purpose of perfection for man, and the consequent perfection of His law. The ten words of Sinai were not ten separate commandments, having no reference to each other. They were ten sides of the one law of God. The teaching of Jesus reveals the fact that these commandments are so inter-related that if a man offend in one point he breaks the unity of the law, and, therefore, of his own manhood. It is by "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God doth man live."
f these positions are established there need be no apology for a frank and honest facing of the Ten Commandments. They were the comprehensive words of God, uttered for the government of a people whose distinctive glory lay in the fact that they were a theocracy, under the immediate Kingship of the Most High, and whose recurring shame lay in their revolt from that authority. These words embody a perfect law of life for probationary days. They presuppose human failure and sin; and, therefore, they will have no place in the government of God in heaven. Not that man will do the forbidden things there, but the glorified nature of man will have put the committing of such things beyond the realm of possibility. In some measure the Christian dispensation antedates the heavenly state, for its whole genius lies in the fact that newborn souls share by that new birth in the motives and impulses of God.
 an still lives, however, both in his own personality and in his relation to his fellow-man, in perpetual touch with the old nature. The words of God are, therefore, of perpetual importance and value. He needs to be solemnly reminded that the law of the spirit of life in Christ sets him free from the law of sin and death, but not from the law of God. Every word of the Decalogue is repeated with emphasis and new power in the Christian economy.
n the series of studies now beginning it is proposed to consider the essential law contained in the ten words of the Decalogue, in every case endeavoring to trace the enforcement and emphasis of that law in the light of the Christian dispensation.
he severity of the law of God is the necessary sequence of His infinite love. The Eternal Heart purposes and seeks the ultimate perfection of every human being. To condone sin in any way, or excuse it, would be to make impossible the realization of that purpose. There is infinite significance in the opening words of the Swan Song of Moses, the lawgiver:
The Lord came from Sinai,
And rose from Seir unto them,
He shined forth from mount Paran.
And He came from the ten thousands of holy ones:
At His right hand was a fiery law unto them.
Yet, He loveth the peoples;
All His saints are in Thy hand:
And they sat down at Thy feet;
Everyone shall receive Thy words.
DEUT. xxxIII. 2, 3,
he fiery law is the most perfect expression of His love for the peoples. Let men then with reverent sincerity stand in the light of His law, that they may understand the perfection of His love.
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