There are two sides to the Christian life, and it is of all importance to hold the due proportion in each. An even balance is greatly needed in Christian truth, in Christian life and practice as well. Many passages give us these things, of which we will note a few.

" Shall go in and out and find pasture "(Jno. 10:9.). From this beautiful passage spoken by the Lord we learn of these two sides, an "in" and an "out." These two places belong to all who have entered the door and are numbered among the saved. To interpret this in harmony with our place now as believers, the "in" is the place where the heart finds communion. It is the inner side of the Christian life. In this inside place the voice of prayer is often heard, and of praise and worship. Often the heart is fully occupied when the lips are silent. In this inside place the true occupation of the heart is with the Father and the Son, for we are called to the fellowship of both. Here we read and meditate; here we learn. This side comes first.

But there is also the other side, "and out," and this place is not at all inconsistent with the first. What God hath joined together, let us not put asunder. The "outside" is the testimony, the life of the believer before the world. A proper life and testimony only will be borne in this outside place when the inside is used aright. When the heart which is at home in the inside place, grows familiar with the interests of Christ, whose glory fills the Holy of Holies, a keen sense of what concerns Him will govern the life, as the face is again turned towards the world, and the need of men is seen. Then testimony and service are the result. A look within and we think of Jesus and His glory; a look without and we are made sensible of the fact that we are not in heaven yet. The world and Church lie before us and the interests of Christ in both meet us.

As to our acceptance we are in Christ, risen and seated in heavenly places. As to our bodies and our lives we are yet here and among men. ,When we think of eternity and the value of souls in view of that day, service follows. Thus these two places are so joined together that we cannot separate them, although we can distinguish them, and one is dependent upon the other-the "in" and the "out."

The same principle appears again in the epistle to the Hebrews:" Having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest" (Heb. 10:19). Here again Scripture introduces us into an inner place. And if in John 10:we saw the Shepherd and the sheep, here we see the High-priest and a whole family of priests. They are the same persons in each case. The Shepherd of John 10:is the High-priest of Heb. 10:, and the sheep of the one are the family of priests as happy worshipers in the other.

But when this inside place is discovered in Heb. 10:the same lesson as we gleaned in John 10:appears also. There is an outside place also, "Let us go forth, therefore, unto Him without the camp" (Heb. 13:13). Here again we are reminded of the other side of the Christian life. As we turn out we view the great mass of religious profession, and which may even bear Christian names. Yet if there are the same elements of Judaism that we see in this epistle, the heart true to Christ goes "forth unto Him without the camp." The responsible side of the believer's life now comes out. Discernment for this path of separation from evil, and strength and courage can only be received by those who know their place inside the veil. The world they discern readily, the camp also, and the place where Christ is, amid all the profession, is discerned also-"outside the camp."
A glance at Exodus will give us these two sides again, and help us understand Heb. 10:19 and 13:13. In Ex. 24:Moses goes up to the top of Mount Sinai, and there spends forty days with the Lord shut in; and there he enjoys communion. This is his within. But in chap. 32:he must return to the base of that Mount, where the people were, and there he is compelled to view the people in their departure from the Lord. Those forty days gave him a right idea of God's holiness, and hence he could form a right idea of things when he returned and found them contrary to God. He pitched the tabernacle outside the camp, and God vindicates this act of His faithful servant by descending in the cloud, and standing by his side (chap. 33:) At one moment we see Moses upon the top of the mount with God; at another we see him at the base, in the valley, and God there with him. At one time he is up where God was; next, God is at the bottom where His servant was. Now these two positions occupied by Moses give us in picture our double place, within and outside, as we have seen in Hebrews. Hence, a heavenly, a sanctuary-taught believer, as Moses was, learns ever the need of separating from God's people when their walk and association is not right; a needed lesson for us to-day (Ps. 77:13).

These same lessons are further taught in Ephesians literally, and not by parable nor type. In the first three chapters we get the heavenly position and relationship of each believer:"Seated in heavenly places in Christ."This is grace, all grace; but in the last three chapters, the believer is again brought back to the world and taught how he ought to walk. The first three chapters show our position through His sovereign grace; the next three, our responsibility, as associated with His name on earth. We wonder that souls can grasp the first to the neglect of the other.

This line of thought pursued gives us really the difference between the wilderness and Canaan in their typical lessons. They each have their lessons, and are but the two sides of the Christian life. As we stand on the line between the wilderness and Canaan at Kadesh-barnea, we can look in and out, and as we do so, learn the lessons each place is meant to convey. The whole land lies before Israel, and for us now. But it requires faith to enter into the enjoyment of our spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. This is one side of truth, and of the believer's life. Oh, that we all knew this important side. Enemies there are, as the book of Joshua shows and the epistle of Ephesians (chap. 6:); but the land flows yet with milk and honey, and we are exhorted to "arise and walk through the land, the length and breadth of it." But, as before said, this is only one side of things'" and again we must turn our faces toward the world and the reality of things on earth. We each have our experience, a fact made too little of by some and exaggerated by others. But to have an experience proper and Christlike, we need to know what the Canaan life is, and this enables the believer to return and take up his vocation in the earthly life and fill it to the glory of God.

A word more about this wilderness. A mistake that some right-meaning Christians have made is in supposing that there should be no wilderness for one entering into his heavenly portion. They have supposed the wilderness means failure, fighting, and lust. But this is not necessarily so, and was not so for Joshua and Caleb. True, if the people fail- and they did-it is brought out in the wilderness. But as they journey, even their failures prove the faithfulness of their God and His fulness and sufficiency for every need. And this is the other side of truth, needed in its place. After forty years, as they look back, and remember all the way, would they be without the benefit of any part of the lesson learnt ? Surely not. If they thought of themselves, after they have done all, they could only say, "We are unprofitable servants." But as they think of His love, proved again and again, and His power also, they could say, " What hath God wrought."
Forty years they journeyed, with Edom by their side (the flesh in us), and were commanded not to fight nor meddle with Edom, just as we are now exhorted not to fight nor meddle with "sin in the flesh," but turn away from it. "Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin" (Rom. 6:). Hence, neither for them nor for us did the wilderness mean a battle ground, but a blank desert, where they were made to feel all was not right. They were not yet home nor at rest in the land. Who, with a rightful balance and spiritual mind, cannot but feel this as we journey across our desert path ? Christ is not here. Sin-Edom-is, and there may be conflict, at times, if the eye and heart are not kept right. Amalek may appear; and he represents, as the grandson of Edom, (Gen. 36:12) the fleshly lusts. Edom (the flesh), Amalek (lust of the flesh); these two are to be found in the desert yet, but if we follow the word of our God, we will turn away from the one and not fulfil the desires of the other. Hence there is need neither of battle nor war. This is the important lesson Rom. 6:If we wish to enter the proper battle-field, we must pass onto Eph. 6:, our spiritual Canaan, and there we discover spiritual enemies and Satan the great master leader among that host, seeking to hinder our entering in to enjoy that good land, Here we need the whole armor of God, and faith, and energy, and courage to go in to possess the land. The Lord goes ahead as the Captain of our salvation. May we know this side, this inner side, better, and then we will better take up our responsibilities out-side before men. Let come what may, as we face the wilderness, the cloud of His presence will over-shadow and accompany us till the end. Then comes rest, perfect rest, and we will be home; no wilder-ness, because no sin, no thorn; every enemy driven out and overcome. God all in all. Christ and His glory supreme, and we following Him as happy subjects and worshipers forever. May we hold the truth well balanced, and be sanctified by both sides of it. A. E. B.