of life in which he needs every jot and tittle of eternal truth to guide and protect him,—­when the enticement assumes this purely mental form and aspect, it betokens the most malignant and heaven-daring guilt in the tempter.  And we may be certain that the retribution that will be meted out to it, by Him who is true and The Truth; who abhors all falsehood and all lies with an infinite intensity; will be terrible beyond conception.  “Woe unto you ye blind guides!  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell!  If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book.”

2.  In the second place, we perceive, in the light of this subject, the great danger of not reducing religious truth to practice.  There are two fatal hazards in not obeying the doctrines of the Bible while yet there is an intellectual assent to them.  The first is, that these doctrines shall themselves become diluted and corrupted.  So long as the affectionate submission of the heart is not yielded to their authority; so long as there is any dislike towards their holy claims; there is great danger that, as in the instance of the pagan, they will not be retained in the knowledge.  The sinful man becomes weary of a form of doctrine that continually rebukes him, and gradually changes it into one that is less truthful and restraining.  But a second and equally alarming danger is, that the heart shall become accustomed to the truth, and grow hard and indifferent towards it.  There are a multitude of persons who hear the word of God and never dream of disputing it, who yet, alas, never dream of obeying it.  To such the living truth of the gospel becomes a petrifaction, and a savor of death unto death.

We urge you, therefore, ye who know the doctrines of the law and the doctrines of the gospel, to give an affectionate and hearty assent to them both.  When the divine Word asserts that you are guilty, and that you cannot stand in the judgment before God, make answer:  “It is so, it is so.”  Practically and deeply acknowledge the doctrine of human guilt and corruption.  Let it no longer be a theory in the head, but a humbling salutary consciousness in the heart.  And when the divine Word affirms that God so loved the world that he gave his Only-Begotten Son to redeem it, make a quick and joyful response:  “It is so, it is so.”  Instead of changing the truth of God into a lie, as the guilty world have been doing for six thousand years, change it into a blessed consciousness of the soul.  Believe_ what you know; and then what you know will be the wisdom of God to your salvation.

[Footnote 1:  “There are no profane words in the (Iowa) Indian language:  no light or profane way of speaking of the ‘Great Spirit.’”—­FOREIGN MISSIONARY:  May, 1863, p. 337.]