it, and planting and feeding the living principles which produce the
fruit of good living!

It is worth while to inquire what are the laws which God undertakes
to put into the hearts and minds of His willing children. In this
connexion we think of _the law of submission and obedience_. Religion
begins there. When seeking Salvation, either at the penitent-form or
elsewhere, we went down, submitted ourselves to God, so far as we knew
it, and declared that we would do what He wanted us to do.

We saw, felt, and accepted it as the settled thing for us that His will
should be the governing law; that must go on operating all along life's
way. Continuing to follow Him is as important as beginning to do
so--'If any man will deny himself, let him take up his cross, and
follow Me' That means continued submission to His government and
conditions of service.

In the days of Christ's ministry a large number of people gathered
around Him, but when they saw what was involved, 'they went back from
following Him'. We must see that the surrenders of the sanctified life
are not matters of a moment. There is a supreme moment when
consecration lays its all upon the altar, but every day brings its own
tests even to the most advanced among us. As in Abraham's experience,
the birds of temptation and beasts of prey seek to destroy or defile
the offering, and we have to hold on in our obedience, binding the
sacrifice with fresh cords to the altar.

Now, we must not miss the point of the Apostle's teaching, which is,
that when the law of God is stamped in the heart and mind, the spirit
of the law prevailing within us makes us desire to obey and serve, and
so we are empowered to sustain the claims of the consecrated life.

Then, there is _the law of faith_. It is spoken of in these verses. 'We
are to draw near in the full assurance of faith'; that is, with the
confidence that our approaches will not be in vain, because Christ has
opened the way by His own Blood; and we believe that the provisions are
at our disposal.

Now, faith is a law for the mind as well as for the heart. It is with
the heart that a man 'believeth unto righteousness'; but there must be
an intelligent perception of the facts and of the rightness of the
truth; there must be an apprehension of the reasonableness of God's
requirements before a man will happily submit, obey, and follow.

May I touch upon our own family sorrow in the death of a beloved son
and Officer in In