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TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
February 1925
T k e C on sec ra tion o f C ou rage in /H o lin e ss” by A Chapter from “ Conflict and Conquest Rev. J . C. Massee, D. D., P asto r T rem ont Temple, Boston
They have come to the hour of destiny. God’s purposes are ripening fast. His movements are sometimes slow to sho rt sighted men w ith th e ir brief span of hastening years, bu t His movements are c e r ta i n, and measured by the tape-line of etern ity ra th e r th a n by th e yard stick of time, they hasten on.
The volume from which this chapter is taken, consists of a series of sermons deliv ered by Dr. Massee in his own pulpit, which proved of unusual interest and helpfulness to the great congregations which heard them. The sermons are based on the Book of Joshua, the lessons found there being aptly applied to the experience and attainment possible to the Christian believer of today.
“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good cour age; be not affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for Jehovah thy God is w ith thee w h ith erso ^ ever thou goest.”— Joshua 1:9.
0 0 much c a n n o t be made of the fact th a t th e re is a constant analogy between the
historic experience of God’s peo ple and the cu rren t experience of His saints. W hat hap pened to Joshua and Israel facing th e ir entrance into the Prom ised Land is constantly happening to those who follow their Lord in faith today, as they face open doors of oppor- •tun ity and new crises in the enlargem ent of th e ir spiritual experiences of comm itment to and service for th e ir Lord. God’s people then faced unprecedented task s and unp re cedented difficulties, real and imaginary. Years of p repara tion behind them , they had come a t last to th e place where preparation must be tran slated into practice, where faith must vision itself in service, where anticipation m ust issue in realization. A New and Untried Way Moses is dead. Joshua has been appointed leader. The w ilderness way w ith its m iraculous provisions and its fam iliar experiences of providence lies behind. A new, un tried way lies imm ediately before them . Jo shu a is a cautious leader. He has sent his spies and they have retu rn ed w ith th e ir report. One is hot sure from reading the record b u t th a t th e ir repo rt was made up before they went into the land. It must be remembered th a t Joshua who commands now instead of Moses had been one of the two w ith Caleb forty years before, who spied out th is land and retu rn ed w ith a good report. While the twelve spies of Moses w ent th rough the land and made up a rep o rt from personal observation, and discovered nothing of the a tti tude of the people of the land toward the proposed invasion of th e land of Israel; th e two spies of Joshua went directly to the home of Rahab and lay there. The only new thing they discovered was the melted h earts of th e people, be cause of Jehovah the God of Israel. The stage was all set for th e ir report, and th e ir repo rt was perfectly tim ed for the event— the advance by Israel into Canaan. Be th a t as it may, th e command of God to go forward is imperative, and the command from God to move forw ard means always a crisis in the experience of His people, for it has been ordained of God th a t His people walk by faith, not by sight. The Unprecedented Task The task for Joshua and Israel is the conquest of a land and th e establishm ent therein of a Holy people as a te sti mony for God to all the world. It must ever be remembered th a t God’s reason for establishing Israel in th e land of the nations, lies in the fact th a t He has ordained them to be a holy priesthood. The nations are to learn of Jehovah through Israel. Their theocratic government is to be at once an example and a challenge to all nations. Their method of life is to be an exemplification of th a t heavenly wisdom which they learned from Him who makes th e ten t of meeting the capital of th eir national life and of th eir personal life as well.
Scripture has already unfolded the fulfilment of God’s pu r poses in th ree of th e seven g reat dispensations. He had appointed a chosen seed, ordained a chosen race, called a chosen fqmily, covenanted for a chosen land and promised for the fu tu re a chosen nation, a selected trib e and an appointed kingdom— or dynasty. Seth was the chosen seed; Shem th e chosen race; Abraham the chosen fam ily; Canaan the chosen land; Israel th e promised nation; Jud ah the selected trib e; and the house and th ron e of David the appointed dynasty. It will be observed th a t in th e se seven, the chosen land occupies the m iddle place. It was prom ised in perpetuity to Abraham as an inheritance for him and his seed. Its boundaries are fixed in Genesis 15:18. He confirms th a t g ran t now to Joshua and Israel. The th ree dispensations of promise lie behind in fulfilment. The th ree dispensa tions of prophecy lie before in anticipation. It will be observed th a t the chosen land is essential to the elect nation. There must be a place of settlem ent. Israel must have a “ local habitation and a nam e.” They have come to the place, then, of the completion of th e last step and the initiation of th e next step iii the providence, purpose, and program of God. They must go in to possess th is land if they are to be borne along on the cu rren t of God’s purpose, unhindered by any cross-currents of worldliness and sin. We, who look back, marvel a t the definiteness and the setting of th is whole wondrous transaction. Here join the stream s of history and prophecy, and th eir confluence makes both crisis and destiny for a people. The Crisis of th e W orld’s Religious H istory The Church and its.leaders, by direct analogy, if one may read the signs of th e times and in te rp re t th e sp irit of the age, today stand a t the crisis of the world’s religious his tory. We have not chosen this hour nor selected the line of sp iritu al battle w ith which we are certainly confronted in th e world. Yet we have come to th e place where Christian • faith and the Christian church can no longer consent to be on the defensive. We dare not perm it another to choose our battleground. Perhaps the one imperative of this hour for the Christian Church is th a t it assume an aggressive offensive, in the propagation of its faith. Our sp iritu al lib erties lay upon us sp iritu al responsibility to possess a posi tion for a holy people in whom the Holy Spirit shall pre serve and continue to voice the testim ony of Jesus. We dare not ta rry this side of Jordan. We cannot go back to the wilderness way of our aimless wanderings. We can no - longer live on th e provisions of the past. We must cross over and fight, or rem ain and perish. Their difficulties were all bu t innumerable and insuper able. F o r Israel th ere were a riv er w ithout a bridge and w ithout ferries; walled cities; armed enemies; untried
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