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p resen t in your life? Get rid of them by believing God’s prom ises and obey ing God’s commands. See 1 Cor. 10 :13; Phil. 4 :1 3 ; 2 Cor. 9 :8 ; 12:8-10. It has been said th a t no one can tell w hether we ever see th ing s ju s t alike or not. There has never been so much eye trouble as now exists. Some have one eye near-sighted HEART OF and th e o th er far- [HiS LESSON sighted. O thers are T. Cl H orton near-sighted w ith both eyes, and most people are too near-sighted to get any vision of etern al things. In our lesson it is all summed up in two words— giants and grasshoppers, b u t these two words are very sugges tive to us. Our whole view of life depends upon our proper vision; upon seeing things as God sees them , look ing th rough God’s glasses. The prom ised land, as we term it, was land prom ised to Israel. God had prom ised to them a land flowing w ith m ilk and honey. There was no call for a com m ission to sit upon God’s prom ise, to verify God’s word. God h ad come down to m ake H is home w ith them and had prom ised to go before them . Where was th e song of Moses and M iriam? How soon we forget His gracious deliver ances, H is overshadowing providences. They had w hat we have in larg er meas ure, th e Word of God and the wondrous works of God, verifying His prom ise and testifying to His faithfulness. God accommodated H im self to th e ir lack of faith in H im and consented to th e appointm ent of a comm ittee of tru s tees to prove th a t He was tru e, th a t He had no t lied to them . We some tim es ta lk abou t grace as though it was an unknown qu an tity in th e Old Dis pensation. I t is Grace, from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. Why does He per m it us to live when we constantly doubt H is word, disbelieve H is prom ises? Why? There is no answer b u t the
answer of th e Cross,—He loves; He loves. We cannot te ll why, we cannot fathom th e depths of God’s unaccount able care for us poor, grumbling, fau lt finding children of His. And w hat of th e land? The m ajority rep o rt was th a t God had deceived them . The land could never suppo rt them ; th e re were walled cities and th e men were giants. I t was no t feasible to go up. Their rep o rt was a h alf tru th , which is always a devil’s lie. The m in o rity rep o rt recognized walled cities and giants, b u t the land was good and the grapes were a proof of it. The m ajority made two m istakes,— they exaggerated th e difficulties, and ignored Jehovah ’s power. The voice of th e people is not th e voice of God. M ajorities have sel dom been righ i. They were wrong in Noah’s day; were w rong here. They were w rong in Christ’s day and th e re fore they crucified Him. They are w rong today. The g rea t bulk of men reje ct Christ. God says, “This is my beloved Son, h ear H im .” They say, “Give us th e resu lt of scientific investi gation ; give us m an’s opinions. W hat does the professor say? W hat does the D. D. say? W hat is th e la test news from th e Chicago University abou t God and H is Word and H is Son?” They will no t have Christ to ru le over them today. “F ear not, little flock, it is your F a th e r’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom .” The little band says, “Let us go up a t once and possess it.” Us— m u tual action. A t once— prom pt action. Confidence— possess it. The n a tu ra l eye sees giants. The eye of faith sees God. Goliath is no t so very very big seen th rough David’s eye. If God fills th e vision, giants are noth ing. If giants fill th e vision, God is noth ing. The m ajo rity ru led and ten unbe lieving men filled ten hundred thousand w ith unbelief and discontent. They m anifested in g ratitud e and sedition. They denounced God and Moses and selected a grasshopper to lead them . They were ready to m u rd er Jo shu a and
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