much more precious than of gold that perisheth . . .” What a wonderful New Testament truth that God is interested in you and me and that every trial that comes into your Christian life and mine is some thing to God which is more precious even than gold which is only a mone tary thing and will one day be pass ing away from this world. Yes to know the Lord and to permit Him to test us and to try us, and to recognize His glorious experience, is the greatest thing in all the world. Here obstacles turn out to be a blessing. We are not to be discouraged in the face of the big spiritual walls before us and the mighty mountains that loom up. God often permits them to come into our lives for the good of our faith. We are told to hold on by faith knowing that spiritual victory is a wondrous and a glorious certainty. The basis of our faith is clearly dis covered when we read in Joshua 6, verse 2, “And the Lord said unto Joshua, See / have given unto thine hand the city of Jericho, and the king thereof, and the m ighty men of valour.” It is the Word of God which really counts. Here the Lord speaks and speaking it becomes the Word of the Lord and those great walls of Jericho are still intact but they are just as good as down and so long a? we have a promise from the Book, we need have no worries at all. God is faithful and He will never go back upon His choice and His wonderful, wonderful Word. Many people criticise the Bible and they seek to discredit it in an effort to destroy the foundations of believing faith and thus leave men stranded without any hope. We have given what God said to Joshua and what more does any man want than that we take faith in what the Lord is able to give. 8
FAITH TO OVERCOME (cont.) doubt deep in your own human heart that there is a desire to dwell in the place of God’s appointment, in a land flowing spiritually with milk and honey and where victory in Christ may wondrously be found. Half-hearted liv ing for Christ neither leads a soul here nor there. We urge you to cast yourself wholly upon the Lord and discover how He responds to your faith in granting victory over the wilder ness in which you spiritually happen to be wandering. And then there’s another aspect of this great subject before us. We see the victory of faith that overcame when the people of Israel came to the land of Palestine. In Hebrews 11, verse 30 we read, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven clays” Now you see having crossed the swol len river Jordan the second generation of the children of Israel came to the shores of the land of Canaan which was the Promised Land and it was not until then they discovered that sailing was not altogether smooth. There were real difficulties but faith must have its testings and we can prais.e God for all of this. The first thing that we read concerning them is found in Joshua 6, verse 1, “Now the city of Jericho was straitly shut up because of the chil dren of Israel: and no people went out, and no people came into the walled city of Jericho.” There was a great wall and it must have proven to be a real trial to the faith of Israel who had been told by the Lord that they were only to overcome and capture the land of Jericho. You remember here Peter writes long, long ago in I Peter chap ter 1, verse 7, “The trial of your faith, being
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