" No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." John 1:18.
Thus are we wholly shut up to the testimony, the character, life, words, of our Lord Jesus Christ for the knowledge of the true God. Every conception of God which does not flow out of what was manifested in Jesus is but human and heathenish. In four narratives, therefore, does God hold up for our contemplation the blessed person of His Son here on earth. Each time, He appears in a new character; but in each character, every event, every word, proclaims, "This is the true God, and eternal life." All Scripture flows out of these four Gospels, whether it was spoken before or after them, for Jesus is the center of all Scripture, holding it all in one as the hub of a wheel is the center of all its parts, and makes them one united whole. Thus, no man can rightly understand Genesis apart from the Gospels; and what is the Apocalypse but the claims of Jesus of Nazareth made good ?
It is the facts concerning Jesus in the Gospels which, received in childlike faith, impart eternal life to the soul, transform the sinner into a saint, and constrain the proudest will to fall at His feet, adoringly crying, " My Lord and My God! " And when, at the end, the redeemed are gathered around the throne of God, it will be in the measure in which they have apprehended, valued and loved the glories of Jesus as revealed in the Scriptures that they will know the eternal God who sits on that throne. Lord Jesus, draw the hearts of Thy people to Thyself, that we may know God, and be worshipers '' in spirit and in truth "!
"Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you. Josh. 1:3.
These were the words addressed to Joshua after Moses the servant of the Lord had passed into his heavenly rest. Joshua takes the command of that great host to lead them into the land of promise. Egypt and the great wilderness were both behind them, and the land flowing with milk and honey lay before them to go in and possess. What a suited word to encourage them this was! Enemies were there to be dispossessed and driven out, as the land could not be possessed without conflict and battle; but Jehovah's promise was, "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you." They needed now to add to their faith virtue -soldier-valor-and press on. The after-chapters show that for a time they made good progress, but later on their energies relaxed; they did not continue to add to their faith courage; they ceased, therefore, appropriating and enjoying that to which they had the fullest right and title; so, after a long time, when Joshua was well advanced in years, it was said, "There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed" (Josh. 13:i), and that wonderful leader felt constrained to exhort them in these words:"How long are ye slack to go to possess the land ?" (Josh. 18:3).
These lessons are for us today. The heavenly possessions which God has given us lie before us. They are ours by divine title, and we have but to put our foot upon them. But it takes holy courage to confess and practice the truth in a world of opposition like this. The land flows with milk and honey, for faith; but the prince of this world never ceases to oppose our enjoyment of it. Let us take fresh courage this year, and press on, being assured at each step that "every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon" shall be ours. A. E. B.