99
T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
“ Sin shall no t have dominion over you: for ye are not un der law, b u t under grace” (Rom. 6 :1 4 ). The b itter wail of defeat in Romans 7 can be changed into th e trium phan t cry of victory in Romans 8 . “The law of th e Spirit of life •in Christ Jesus h ath made me free from th e law of sin and d eath ” ( 2 : 2 ). And how can th e Canaan-life'becom e ours? On ju st the same principles th a t it became Isra el’s. God said to Is rael: “I will bring you ou t; I will bring you in ; I will give it you for a h eritage” ^Ex. 6 : 6 , 8 ). So “they got not the land in possession by th e ir own sword, n eith er did their own arm save them ; b u t thy rig h t hand, and th in e arm , and the ligh t of thy countenance” (Ps. 4 4 :3 ). “Not saved are we (from either the g u ilt or power of sin) by try ing ; it is no t try , bu t tru s t.” God Gives Courage to Joshua. Joshua 1:1-9. Memory Verse.— ' ‘The Lord thy God is w ith thee w hither soever thou goest.” Josh. 1:9. Approach.—Who would like to be a soldier? Show me how a soldier stands, how he salutes, how he holds his gun when marching and firing. How splendid to be a tru e sol dier and wear th e uniform , and do th e fine brave things a good -soldier is always ready to do. ELEMENTARY There was a splendid soldier once, Mabel L. M errill named Joshua. He was such a good soldier, so obedient and brave, th a t he was given command of a whole arm y while he was still a young man. (From , “Tell Me a T rue Story.” ) Lesson S to ry .-^L ast week we had such an interesting story about twelve spies whom Moses sent into the land of Canaan. Charles you tell us about them . T h at is fine, and how we adm ire brave Caleb and Jo shua who trie d so hard to get th e people to obey God and go into th e land and take it for th e ir own. A long tim e has passed and now Moses whom God had chosen to lead his people Israel is dead, th a t is he had gone home to live w ith God. Now God chose ano ther leader for H is people. Of course he m ust have a man whom He knows will obey Him and who is brave, so He chose Joshua. The Lord spoke to Joshua saying, Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore, do thou arise and tak e th e children of Israel over the Jo rd an river, into th e land which I gave them . Be strong and brave, and very careful to obey all th a t is w ritten in the book of the law, (Bible) so th a t thou mayest do well and prosper. And fear not, for I will he w ith thee to help thee wherever thou goest. Do you know boys and girls God is watching each one of us today, and He knows ju st th e boy and th e girl who always does th e things th a t please Him, so when He needs some one to become a leader for Him, He chooses th e ones who obey. Joshua obeyed and brought back a good re po rt as a spy, and God knew he would make a good leader to ta k e the place of Moses. And Joshua did all th a t God asked him to do, for he led th e children of Israel over the Jordan, conquered the walled city of Jericho, w ent into th e land of Canaan w ith Israel. Of course th ere were many h ard things they had to endure, and th e people living in the land of Canaan were enemies to th e children of Israel, bu t God took care of all his people, and fought th e ir bat tles for them , and protected them from all harm , ju s t as long as they obeyed Him. (Tell of the victory of Jericho, emphasizing Jo shua’s faith and dependence upon God). God always gives courage to those who will obey Him. In one of the cities named Ai th e children of Israel became frightened and ra n before th e ir enemies, and some of the people were killed. Then Joshua was in g reat distress and
(V. 5 ) Jo shu a had the experience of Moses’ lifetim e as an encouragem ent to his faith. Moses had many a trying tim e, many a hard duty, many a danger and difficulty; and th e God who had b rough t him safely and successfully th rough would not fail . . . nor forsake th e new leader. In every new difficulty before Joshua— and they were many and g reat— he could look back upon a g reater one from which God had delivered Moses. But all his streng th , as is all ours, was in God. The work was. im possible to him w ithout God’s presence. W ith God he could do all things. The C hristian has vastly g reater as surance of faith , infinitely more proofs th a t God will keep His promises. Not only thé whole h istory of Israel, and the sending of H is Son, bu t th e whole history of th e Chris tia n church testifies th a t God' will not fail nor forsake His children. Courage— not so much physical courage as moral courage— is greatly needed in our day to stand by w hat is rig h t a t all costs; to conquer besetting sins; .to resist the tides of fashionable w rong; to carry on God’s work and up hold God’s tru th . Courage doubles the power of every ef fo rt, of every weapon; inspires th e body and the sp irit w ith streng th .—Peloubet. (V. 8 ) Take heed. “W atch the way” (Nahum 2 :1 ). “W atch ye and pray” (Mark 1 4 :38 ). “W atch to see w hat he will say” (Hah. 2 :1 ). Be quick to recognize th e voice of th e Spirit, and in stan tly follow. To question, doubt and hesitate, is to lose.— Arnold. There are o ther paths to wealth, b u t no t to getting th e miost th is world can give. There are other ways to seeming success, to applause, to honors, to thrones, to power, to delights, but-no o ther to real success, to happiness, to use fulness, to goodness, to peace, to heaven.-—Peloubet. Only one condition is required of Jo shu a for th e fulfil m ent of these promises— streng th and courage. But this streng th and courage is no t physical, b u t the moral quality found in obedience to God. And even this is narrowed to one thing— the observance of th e w ritten law, knowledge of and meditation upon which will produce th is v irtu e w ith in him (vs. 6-9).— Gray. How refreshing, afte r th e study last week of Israel’s sad failure, to tak e up th is lesson of victory! The “ Golden Text” (Josh. 23:14) is golden indeed: "N o t.o n e thing h ath failed of all th e good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to DEVOTIONAL pass.” To be sure! As an expansion COMMENT of this, and as giving th e chief charac- John A. H ubbard teristics -of th e Canaan-life, read care fully Josh. 21:43-45: "And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which He sware to give unto th e ir fath ers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And th e Lord gave them re st round about, according to all th a t He sware unto th e ir fath ers: and th ere stood not a man of all th e ir enemies before them ; th e Lord delivered all th e ir enemies into th e ir hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which th e Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” F irst, th ere was possession. T h at which for a long tim e had been th e irs in prom ise now became th eirs in actual experience. F o r centuries th is word has stood for us be lievers of th is dispensation: “Blessed be the God and F ath e r of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who h ath blessed us w ith all sp iritu al blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (Eph. 1 :3 ). Note, “HATH blessed us . . . in Christ.” The Canaan-life for us means “ possessing our possessions”— “ th e unsearchable riches of Christ.” How different from th e w ilderness life of meagerness! (Look up Scofield’s m arginal reference on Josh. 1 :3 ). Then th ere was rest. How different from th e restless w ilderness wanderings! As then, so now-—-Canaan-life means real soul rest. There was also victory— not one enemy was able to stand before them . “The Lord delivered all th e ir enemies into th e ir hand .” Even so to-day, th ere is victory for believers.
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs