Volume I
"Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven."
"Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin
against Thee."
LOIZEAUX BROTHERS
Neptune, New Jersey
FIRST EDITION 1880
TWENTY-SEVENTH PRINTING 1965
LOIZEAUX BROTHERS, Inc., PUBLISHERS
A Nonprofit Organization, Devoted to the Lord's Work
and to the Spread of His Truth
NEPTUNE, NEW JERSEY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PREFATORY NOTE
TO THE AMERICAN EDITION
As several persons in America have, without any authoritywhatever from me, undertaken to publish my four[1] volumesof "Notes," I deem it my duty to inform the readerthat I have given full permission to Messrs. LoizeauxBrothers to publish an edition of those books in suchform as they shall consider most suitable.
C. H. MACKINTOSH.
6 West Park Terrace, Scarborough,
May 1st, 1879.
The value and importance of the Word of God cannotbe over-estimated at the present moment. Its integrityand authority are being assailed from almost everyquarter and in every form of attack. "If the foundationsbe destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Ps. xi. 3.)
Infidel thoughts and principles are not limited to a fewliterary and speculative minds, as they were fifty yearsago, but are now asserted by many who ought to be thetrue guardians of Christianity and the defenders of theBible as a revelation from God.
In this way the multitude of the simple and unsuspectingare deceived. If the style of address be pleasing, fewcare to compare what they have been hearing with theholy Scriptures. The conscience not being aroused, theytake no further trouble.
But what of the state of immortal souls, under such aministry, in view of eternity? On whom does the weightof responsibility rest? Fine-spun theories will neverawaken a soul asleep in sin: the lost sinner must bebrought face to face with the plain Word of God and thesolemn realities of eternity. His voice must be heard.All is absolute, positive, and definite here, whatever infidelitymay say. "The Word of the Lord endurethforever."
The burden of the following pages, I am thankful tofind, is well calculated to meet and counteract the loosenessand indefiniteness of the prevailing teaching of thepresent day.
And this, I may also say, is the burden of the book ofDeuteronomy. The Jewish lawgiver presses with greatearnestness the Word of Jehovah on the heart of Israel.It is not a book of ceremonials, but the reminding of thepeople of their obligation to keep the commandments, thestatutes, and the judgments of the Lord.
This is the first moral duty of man in every age—implicitobedience and submission to the revealed will ofGod. Moses speaks to the children of Israel as a father,and appeals to them in the most tender and loving way."Hearken, O Israel," he says, "unto the statutes andunto the judgments which I teach you ... ye shallnot add unto the word which I command you, neither shallye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandmentsof the Lord your God which I command you." Andagain, he says, "Thou shalt bind them for a sign uponthine hand, and they shall be as frontlets