T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
210
Twofold aspect of God’s work of grace in the believer
By W . GRAHAM SCROGGIE Spurgeon’s Tabernacle London, England
worthy purpose unaccomplished, and of divine design frustrated. I doubt not that Haran was a good place in which to liver There would be plenty of rbom and food for man and beast, and thus the family decided to sojourn there for a while, always in tending to continue the journey later on, but always putting off that event until for Terah it was too late. Not until after his death did Abram a»d Lot and their families go into Canaan. Terah, like all the others, fleft Ur of the Chaldees; but, unlike them, he never entered into the Land. He came out, but he did not go in. He made a goal of a stopping-place on the way. Being the head of the' family and their lord, he impeded the progress of them all while he lived. No Christian can stop like that on the journey without delaying others also, “for none of us liveth to himself” (Rom. 14:7). Two Great Crises In the life of Jacob, however, there were two great crises — the one at Bethel, when he was leaving home,
The Scriptures have three things to say to us with the utmost clearness: first, that God would deliver us from the bondage of sin; second, that He would bring us into a life of freedom and victory; and third, that it is pos ible for us to answer to His first pur pose, and fail of His second. And these three thoughts are all in this text, “He brought us out . . . that He might bring us in.” At the time Moses said that, the Israelites were “out” of Egypt, but they were not yet “in” the Land. Many never entered into Ca naan, but perished in the wilderness. This reflects the spiritual history of a multitude. Good Intentions Unfulfilled This experience, in part or the whole, is traceable through the ages. When Terah and his family left Ur of the Chaldees, their objective was the land which God had promised to show them. But the record tells us that “they came unto >Haran, and dwelt there . . . and Terah died in,Haran” (Gen. 11:31, 32). Here is an illustra tion of good intention unfulfilled, of
"He brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in" (Deut. 6:23). W ITHOUT exaggeration, t h i s . . . that he might bring us in.” God’s action and His intention in the his tory of Israel are here brought to gether. “He brought us out” of Egypt —there is the action; “that he might bring us” into Canaan—there is the intention. , Now, as “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4), we may ex pect to see in.the- essential purpose of God for Israel His purpose for all His people in all time, and thus for us as Christians today'. Especially to friends who remember the min istry of Dr. Scroggie in the Church of the Open Dooft Los Angeles, as well as dn other American cities that he visited, this message tram jha w i\v*i wM hrina uisviraXian and joy. n was prinrea some time ago in me juixcf o f Faith, a British publication. —EDITOR. S
brief statement may be said to summarize the message of the whole Bible. “He brought us out
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker