Nevertheless, God did not leave Himself without witness of His faithfulness. At Mount Sinai the law was in the hand of the same Mediator, Jesus, to whom we come when we come to Zion; and from the Rock in Horeb, which is Sinai, flowed the living stream, the water of life from the heart of Christ. Ex. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4. There they had not merely the picture, but the reality, of Mount Zion. Every soul whose heart there turned to the Lord, would have beheld His unveiled glory, even as Moses did, and, being transformed by it, would have found the ministration of righteousness, instead of the ministration of condemnation. “His mercy endureth forever;” and even upon the clouds of wrath from which proceed the thunders and lightnings of the law, shines the glorious face of the Sun of Righteousness, and forms the bow of promise. [Sidenote: “The Son Abideth Ever.”] “Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” “The bond-servant abideth not in the house forever; the son abideth forever.” John 8:35, R. V. Here is comfort for every soul. You are a sinner, or, at best, “trying to be a Christian,” and you tremble with terror at these words, as you realize that you are in bondage,—that sin has a hold upon you, and you are bound by the cords of evil habits. Ah, you must learn not to be afraid when the Lord speaks, for He speaks peace, even though it be with a voice of thunder! The more majestic the voice, the greater the peace that He gives. Take courage! The son of the bondwoman is the flesh and its works. “Flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” But God says, “Cast out the bondwoman and her son,” and if you are willing that His will shall be done in you as it is done in heaven, He will see that the flesh and its works are cast out from you, and you will be “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” That command which so frightened you is simply the voice commanding the evil spirit to depart, and to come no more into you. It speaks to you victory over every sin. Receive Christ by faith, and you have the power to become the son of God, heir of a kingdom which can not be moved, but which, with all its people, abideth forever. [Sidenote: “Stand Fast, Therefore.”] Where shall we stand?—“In the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.” And what freedom is that?—It is the freedom of Christ Himself, whose delight was in the law of the Lord, because it was in His heart. Ps. 40:8. “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Rom. 8:2. We stand only by faith.