"Fear not Abram, I am thy shield, and exceeding great reward." Genesis 15:1

Christ our Lord took up the substance of those words, and even strengthened them: increasing the scope of the covenant unto His. But what happens? Sooner or later, the children of this world hear the call of God, even as Abram did in the false light of Ur of the Chaldees, wherein he dwelled. The person hears this call, and like Abram of old, decides to clear out of this Babylonish world, and follow Christ the Lord. On his doing so, he hears and understands the scope and magnitude of the covenant unto those who belong to Christ.

But I repeat, what happens? The blessings of God pour down upon them: they are led and sustained by His Spirit. But like unto Abram, Isaac, and Jacob of old, the day dawns when the hour of temptation (or should we say testing) confronts them. These tests may come in any one of a thousand or more different forms, yet all reduce to the same: are the promises of God to be fully believed, or are they to be "interpreted"? Will the young Christian stand firm on the promises of God? Or will he, like the ancient patriarchs, go down into the allegorical Egypt? That Egypt typifies the people and all the conditions of this world, which are in the hands of Lucifer. It could all be summarized in those other words of the Lord, wherein He said, through His prophetic mouthpiece: "Cursed is he who trusts to the arm of flesh" (Jer. 17:5).

Instead of looking fully to God, the young Christian commences to look to the arm of flesh: to the people and the things of this world, all of which are typified by Egypt. So soon as the young Christian, or any Christian, turns to the beggarly elements of this world: to money, or to people in bondage to Lucifer (call it what we will), so long as he turns to any power or conditions in this world, instead of to Christ his Savior, well, then has he gone into the allegorical Egypt, and must suffer the consequences.

The Voice of Tomorrow (continued tomorrow...)