The Tupelo journal., 1903-05-29

into the promised land may all be har-
monized with the experiences in the
Christian life. Those who persisted
in the wilderness typify those Chris
tians who through lack of faith and
obedience to God fail to enter into
the fuller and deeper experiences of
the Christian life; while those who
finally gained the promised land typify
the saints who are sanctified and who
in great faith and holiness begin the
conquest of the Jerichos of sin which
lie in the way to the possession of all
the land.
Paul in the seventh of Romans draws
a faithful picture of the saint who is
struggling through the wilderness ex-
periences. and when at last in utter de-
spair he exclaims: 80 wretched MAJ
that I am! who shall deliver ME
from the body of this death?" he sud
denly lifts his eyes and the vision of
the promised land of the higher Chris
tan life bursts upon his soul and he
triumphantly cries: 81 thank God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. And
then in the eighth chapter he glori-
ously unfolds the life of the saint who
has entered the promised land of full
blessing in Christ Jesus. He scales
height after height until at last all
the possibilities of that promised land
lie spread out in their rich beauty and
wide extent before him and he shouts:
We are more than conquerors,
through Him that loved us, for l am
persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor pow
ers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height. nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able TO sep
arate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus u Lord"
d UT to return to the children Of
l. Israel and the circumstances and
events surrounding our text. Wonder
full have been their experiences dur
ing the month which has elapsed since
they escaped from slavery in Egypt.
The wind has plowed a pathway
through the midst of the sea, the wa
tiers with a mighty roar of judgment
have swallowed up their relentless enc
mics. the wilderness tree has yielded
its boughs to sweeten the bitter wa
tiers of Marah, the camp has been made
at Elm under the sheltering grove of
palm trees and beside the gurging.
cool wells of water, and there the
weary people have rested. How God
always brings the soul to the GASES
of Elm after the trying wilderness
journeyings and the bitterness of the
pools of Marah have been passed! But
finally the cloudy pillar lifts and
moves on and the children of Israel
reluctantly strike camp and follow.
On into the wilderness of Sin they go
towards Sinai. The way is rough and
hard, and the food they have brought
with them is growing scarce. They
are face to face ~with-they thought
starvation and death, but instead
they were face to face with Gods full
ness and bounty. The barren sandy
wastes of the desert were to spread
the table and Heaven was to rain her
bread upon it from which the hungry
children could eat their fill and want
nothing, neither have anything over.
But notwithstanding that the cloud
was still lowering over and leading
them, assuring them of Gods pres
ence, forgetting how the mighty hand
of God had stricken Egypt, had divid-
ed the sea, had sweetened the pools
at Marah, had guided them to the re-
freshing gardens of Elm, they take the
last handfuls of corn from their bags,
and while the taste of the cakes made
therefrom is still fresh and sweet in
their mouths they fall to worrying
about the morrow and lusting after
the flesh pots in the land of slavery
which but so short a time before they
had left behind. And the cry which
goes up from that camp and beats
in rebellious 0iscOrd against the shell
tering, guiding cloud of Gods pres
ence is: would to God we had died
by the hand of the Lord in the land
of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh
pots, and when we did eat bread to
the full" And Paul, by whom was
revealed unto US the exceeding riches
which are in Christ Jesus. has declared
that sin these things they became fig
ures of us, to the intent that we should
not lust after evil things, as they
also lusted."
IT HE redeemed but unsanctifed be-
L lever stands before us. The blood
of the Lamb, Christ Jesus, has been
sprinkled upon the Intel and door
posts of his heart and he has gone out
of the lane where darkness and death
reign. He has had some blessed ex-
~periences. Oh, the sweetness and JOY
of those first days of the new life.
Jesus presence has been felt. He has
led ~unerringly. He has delivered
nightly when the Devil has pressed
hard. The bitter pools have been
made sweet, and the soul has rested in
the shade of the date palms of Elm
and drank of her refreshing waters,
but the Lord leads the soul out into the
wilderness again, and there in the place
of discipline the soul falls to lusting
after the flesh pots of Egypt. The
faith which has delivered, and the hone
which has led out towards the prom