But, blessed be God, the craft, the subtilty, the signs and lying wonders, all the resources of Satan, all the machinery of hell, are perfectly powerless with a heart that is governed by the love of the truth. A little child who knows and believes and loves the truth is blessedly shielded, sheltered, and divinely preserved from the blinding and deceiving power of the wicked one. If ten thousand false prophets were to arise and perform the most extraordinary miracles that were ever presented to the human gaze, in order to prove that the Bible is not the inspired Word of God, or that our Lord Jesus Christ is not God over all, blessed forever, or in order to set aside the glorious truth that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth from all sin, or any other precious truth revealed in holy Scripture, it could have no effect whatever on the very simplest babe in Christ whose heart is governed by the Word of God. Yea, if an angel from heaven were to come down and preach any thing contrary to what we are taught in the Word of God, we have a divine warrant to pronounce him anathema, without any discussion or argument whatever. This is an unspeakable mercy. It puts the simple-hearted, unlettered child of God into the most blessed position--a position, not only of moral security, but of sweetest repose. We are not called upon to analyze the false doctrine, or to weigh the evidence advanced in favor of it; we reject, with stern decision, both the one and the other, simply because we have the certainty of the truth and the love of it in our hearts. "Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams;"--although the sign or the wonder had come to pass--"for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." Here, beloved reader, was the all-important point for Israel, and it is the same for us. Then, now, and always, the true moral security is in having the heart fortified with the love of the truth, which is only another way of expressing the love of God. The faithful Israelite who loved Jehovah, with all his heart and with all his soul, would have a ready and conclusive answer for all the false prophets and dreamers who might arise--a thoroughly effectual method of dealing with them. "_Thou shalt not hearken._" If the enemy does not get the ear, he is not likely to reach the heart. The sheep follow the Shepherd; "for they know His voice. And a stranger"--even though showing signs and wonders--"will they not follow, but will _flee from him_." Why? Is it because they are able to discuss and argue and analyze? No, thanks and praise to God; but because "they know not the voice of strangers." The simple fact of not knowing the voice is a sufficient reason for not following the speaker.