THE KING’S BUSINESS
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to be possessed.” “Not as though I had already attained or' were already made per fect” (Phil. 3:12). “Thou and" etc. If we move forward others follow. If we stay they, too, will lag. “I do give." Long prom ised, now it is- given. All is of grace. Not by force, but by faith the believer possesses; not by his getting, but God’s giving. It takes some strength to take, even this is of Him (Eph. 2:8). All man’s energetic activity, in all things, is but tak ing what God gives. The assurance that •God has given what we go.to take makes faith’s enterprise unique,—it cannot know failure, defeat, or disappointment. V. 3. “Every place,” etc. Plant your foot on it and it is yours. Faith’s foot print is the seal of pre-emption, the King will honor it. Israel never reached the charted boundaries (v. 4) because they never planted the standard there. P lant YOUR FOOT O ff EVERY PROM ISE V. 5. “There shall not,” etc. Invulner able and invincible the man of true faith must be always victor. Even Achilles, dip ped in the Styx, had his vulnerable spot, but no firey dart can pierce whom God has sanctified. Giants are grasshoppers; Jor dan’s flee; city walls crumble before such a man. “With thee.” What an Ally! Je hovah “thy shield and buckler,” the Lord of hosts to rearward, on our flank, and in the van. “I will not fail thee," etc. 'Enough. “Arise, go over,”- “Lo, I am with you al ways.” V. 6. “Be strong,”, etc. Three times given (vs. 6, 7, 9). “Fear not” is Heaven’s common salutation. “It is I, be not afraid.” “Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe.” Not a call to bodily strength. No man can add a notch to his physical force. This 'is a call to moral fortitude. Yet wonderfully moral courage tends to increase physical endurance; calms and conduces to physical health. “Godliness is profitable to all things.” Strength flows from conscious right; from conviction of being in the way of duty; of fighting with God and for Him; of confident well doing and assured tri umph. “Turn not," etc. “Hold stra ig h t in th e W ord th y course.”
II. T h e N ew L eader ,—J o shu a . l' His Name and Record. Joshua, Je- hoshua, or Jeshua (“Jehovah is salvation”), was, also, Oshea, and Hoshea (salvation). About 83 years old at the death of Moses he had been born a bondman in Egypt, an Ephraimite, the son of Nun, he was a prince in Israel (Num. 13:1-3, 8) ; a victor at' Rephidim (Exod. 17:8-16); was re ceived into glory (Exod. 24:13-15) ; full of faith (Num. 14:6-9) and of the Spirit (Num. 27:18); he had been Moses’ min ister (secretary and attorney-general) and so under his training. 2. His Typical Significance. In name (“Jeshua” is “Jesus,” in Greek) office and work he foreshadows our Lord, the succes sor of Moses (the law), the Captain of our salvation, the spoiler of principalities and powers (Col. 2:15), the divider of the gifts of God (Eph. 4:7, 8), in whom no fault is found (for Joshua’s record is clear). II I. T h e C all of t h e N ew L eader (Joshua 1:1-9). 1. As God called Moses to bring out, He now calls Joshua to bring in. He saves from sin and calls to holiness: re deems from bondage to lead to rest (Heb. 4:3). 2. Textual Comments. Open your Bible. V. 1. No man’s death stays God’s course. "Men m ay come and m en m ay go, B u t I go on forever.” God lives, “Boer of all these things.” Men are His tools. He lays one aside but has ready another better adapted; an Elisha to succeed Elijah; a Solomon to complete the work of David; a Paul to substitute for Stephen; a Joshua for Moses. "Ser vant," etc. The noblest title. Nothing higher in heaven or earth, in time or etern ity. It ennobles every work however “hum ble,” and is the crown of song in glory (Rev. 15:2, 3). This peerage is open to all. V. 2. Beyond Jordan is"no place to set tle. “This is not your rest.” God’s ser vant must go forward. Present victories and possessions should not content us. “Still there’s, more to follow,” “much land
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