Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1907-10-09
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,
Lesson Il.-Fourth Quarter, For
Oct. 10, 1907.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

Rev. D. M. Stearns.
copyright, 1907, by American Press Association
The entrance to the land of promise,
with all Its suggestive and practical
lessons for us, is fully told in chapters
II to V, inclusive. The section assigned
as our lesson is little portion Of the
story, with special reference to the
place of the ark of the covenant In
connection with the crossing of the
Jordan, and verses %, "a, of chapter "
tell us that the drying up of both the
Red sea and the Jordan was In order
that all the people of the earth might
know the hand Of the Lord that 1t Is
mighty and that Israel might fear the
Lord their God forever.
In lisa. kill. 11-14, We read that He
divided the waters for Israel to make
His name glorious In the eyes of oil
people, that knowing Him they might
trust Him. However He may show
His power and might there are but
few who put their trust In Him, ana
vet He is never discouraged. The peo-
pie of Jericho had heard of the great
ness of the wonder working God OF
Israel, and yet they all persisted in I'M
belief except Rahab and her household
Gil. Oil; vi, 21), she having turned from
her sinful ways to put her trust In the
God of Israel 0Heb. XII, 81. 1t is most
instructive to note that the word trans
lated "lines In chapter II, 81, Is the very
word which Is translated expectation"
in Ps. xii, 5. When our expectations
are scarlet BOUNDED upon the blood,
they are indeed well founded. All else
is sinking sand.
The expression "early In the morn
ing" Oil, 1; vi, IL; vii, 16; viii, 1O re-
minds us Of the many morning stories
In the Bible, and notably Of the saying
concerning Israel in Ps. xlyi, 5, margin,
"God shall help her when the morning
appeareth." That they passed over
after lodging three days by jordan
Oil, 1, q cannot but cause us to think
Of the power of His resurrection, His
death and resurrection, and ours with
Him, being so clearly set forth by the
heap of twelve stones left In the bed
of the river and the other twelve car
ried from there and set up at Gngal
dv. $40. The crossing of Jordan CAN
not typify literal death any more than
Canaan can typify heaven, for In
heaven there are no JerichOs to be
taken nor enemies to be subdued, but
Canaan typifes the rest into which we
enter here when once the great truth
grasps us that as believers In Christ
Jesus-that is, those who have truly re-
ceived Him John |, 12)-we are looked
upon as crucified with Christ and risen
with Him Gal II, 20; Rom. vi, 4, IL;
Col. Iii, 1-3; Heb. iv, SD.
The words 'Ye have not passed this
way heretofore" Dill, a are most ap-
propriate as we enter upon any new
experience, in fact every morning, for
is not every day a new experience to
each of us? And we need each day to
be taught the way wherein we may
walk and the thing that we may do
Jer. xiii. 3; X, 23). They were TO
watch the ark of the covenant of the
Lord their God verse 81, and our only
safety is in seeing no one but Jesus
only" and running with patience look
ing unto Jesus Mark, TX, 8; Heb. XII,
1, q, who when He putteth forth His
sheep goeth before. The heart of this
chapter is the ark, which is mentioned
In it ten times and Is the most won
drous type of Christ in all the taber-
nacle, pointing Him out as the God
man, our righteousness, the end OF the
law for righteousness, who alone re-
veals God and by whom alone we have
access to God. If God Is to do Won
ders in us and through us. we must be
wholly separated unto Him (verse D;
IL Cor. vi, 14-1S; vii, L. Elk. xix, ., q;
XXXiii. 16). and for such willing ones
He is ever looking Gil Chron. XVI, %.
1t Is not seen in the lives of many that
there is q living God, living Father,
come to live in us and work in us and
through us Verse 10; John vi, 81;
Thess. 4, 8, 10), but this is what should
be seen and what we are redeemed
for. He is the great wonder working
God, and where He finds yielded
spirit soul and body, there He will be
glorified Rom. xii, l, p. The God OF
Elijah and Daniel was seen through
them to be the living God, and He was
glorlfed in them. So should it be with
us.
At the command Of Joshua the priests
took up the ark Of the covenant OF the
Lord of all the earth and went for
ward till their feet stood in the waters
Of the river; then the wonder happened,
and the waters were piled up in
heap on the right hand, while the rest
flowed away to the Dead sea, leaving
the bed of the river dry, and the priests
bearing the ark stood firm on dry
ground In the midst Of Jordan till all
Israel had passed over, and all was
finished that the Lord had said. Not
until the feet of the priests who bore
the ark stood again on dry land did
the river resume its course Nv, 10, IL.
II, 49,. If we would but lay to heart
all that is written concerning our
Great High Priest and the value Of
His finished work, our lives would be
sure to manifest the wonders of His
grace to others, and they would want
to know Him too. If we had PauPs
ambition that Christ should be magni-
fed In our bodies whether by life or
death phil. /, 2O) we would be able to
say as he did. ''rhey glOrifed God in
me" (Gal. !. pa. The secret Of all
yoshua's greatness was the presence Of
God with him as He had been viii