The Grenada sentinel., 1904-01-09
sCopyriekt. 1909. By ]. N. Edson.)

= the Promised Land at the first. Purifi-
i cation is necessary. In our blindness
/ and hardness of heart we may not real
ize it. The children of Israel did not
realize it. The next day after their re-
| bellion when they awoke to the fact that
| they had made grievous mistake in
not going forward in faith and obedi-
ence. they wanted to rush ahead But
it was too late! The opportunity was
gone! The nation must now be purged
before 1t could enter the land. But the
people did not realize it. ''They rose up
early in the morning, and gat
! them up into the top Of the noun
tain saying: Lo. we be here, and
will go up unto the place which the
| Lord hath promised; for we have
sinned." And despite all that Moses
could do they persisted, and great num-
bers fell before the swords of the enemy
\ ND in similar manner to-day Gods
n children often act Conscious at last
| that sin has hindered a forward move
for God; but not realizing that purif1ca-
! ton is necessary before they can 70
| forward. they rush blindly ahead and
| meet with disaster and defeat If the
Lord is found now it must he in the
| wilderness Of discipline where He
| commands His children to go. Back to
| the wilderness where you may be puri-
| fed and prepared for the next opportun-
ity of entering the promised land of
service! Every night and every day of
! those Ions forty years in the wilderness
were needed for the preparation of the
children of Israel for entrance into the
promised land. Every mile of the Jour-
ney had its purpose. Every experience
had it's lesson which would prepare and
fit for the entering into the land And
so it is with the Christian to-day. The
wilderness disciplines may be long and
hard and grievous, but it is all blessed
preparation for the work and service
lying just ahead. kejusal to turn back
to the wilderness at Gods command
means unpreparedness which brings de-
feat. The wilderness discipline means
preparation so that the Jerichos shall
fall before our onward march and the
hosts of the enemy shall flee in terror
It was sad indeed to see Israel refusing
to enter the blessed land of promise and
being turned back into the Wilderness
but after all the wilderness became a
blessedly helpful place because the Lord
was there.
THE wilderness with the Lord was
better than the Promised Land
without the Lord. The simple diet of
mamma which God gave was sweeter and
more wholesome than all the milk and
honey and fatness of Canaan without
the Lords blessing. The journey with
the Lord through the wilderness was far
better than to dwell in ease and COM
fort in a land apart from God. The Lord
in the wilderness! Think of what that
means! l may not be proud because of
the sad necessity which brought me
there. but being there, how glad ! am
that the Lord is there with me. Arey
In the wilderness, dear brother. dear
sister? Are you rebellious? Have you
shut your heart against God under His
discipline? In the wilderness many.
many rebellious souls perished because
they would not see God. The Lord was
there, but they would not believe it. In
your wilderness experience are Won
shutting your eyes to the Lord Who has
been forced to lead you there for your
good? Are you refusing to believe that
He is with you in the suffering. the trial.
the weariness the hardship, the danger?
Then remember the children of Israel.
See how God made the wilderness
blessing to them. Because His children
fail Him God does not Danish them to
the wilderness alone. No, blessed be His
mercy and love and great faithfulness!
He goes into exile with u.s. He. too.
turns His back on the land fowina<with
milk and honey and abides with US in
the wilderness until we are again ready
to enter the land. The Lord in the will
derness with us means that the punish
ment will be no more severe or long
than is for our good; it means that the
miserable dross of unbelief and rebel
lion which barred the pathway to the
Promised Land will be purged away, and
that we shall be fitted anew for the op-
portunity of entering when the door
shall again swing open.
p UT perhaps, like Caleb and Joshua
u and Moses, you are in the wilderness
not because of your own failure, or un-
belief, or rebellion. You are the inno-
cent sufferer for others wrong doing.
Does it not seem hard that these three
great men Of faith and obedience should
have had to suffer so? 1t may seem
hard and unreasonable to you to have to |
suffer because of what others have done.
but Moses and Caleb and Joshua were
needed in the wilderness, and so. too.
there may be a mission for you in the |
wilderness. There are two reasons, l |
believe, why these three men were glad |
to go back into the wilderness: First |
Of all, because the Lord led the way and |
was to be found only in that place, and |
second, because 1t was the place wheretI
they were needed most, Think Won thafSl