Remember, when we came out of Egypt, the world, the Lord did all the fighting. He died on the cross, making an atonement for our sins. In order to do this He, the mighty Christ, had to stand alone against all the forces of Satan. But when we enter our land of promise we drive out the enemy as the Lord guides and helps us.

If Canaan is not a type of Heaven, then the land of promise is not Heaven. If the land of promise is not Heaven, if entering Heaven is not the goal of our pilgrimage in the world, then our thinking concerning the program and goal of salvation is in need of revision.

Right here the reader must make a choice. He can say, "Oh well, what does it matter? Heaven, the land of promise, the goal, Canaan, the rest of God—it is all the same thing. Let's get souls saved and on their way to Heaven. We can worry about the fine points later."

Such an attitude could be compared to a giant industry saying, "We don't care what our objective is. As long as the girls are happy and have enough coffee breaks we will get along fine."

Do you know what would happen? A more diligent industry would soon drive the careless industry out of business.

What if a runner exclaimed, "I am not sure where the finish line is; I am in good health and well trained and so I'll keep running to the best of my ability"? Do you know what would happen? He soon would tire and give up because he doesn't know where the mark is.

Suppose a family set out on a fine sunny day to travel to a distant city. The automobile was running well. The highway had little traffic. Everyone was well fed, healthy, and comfortable. They were looking forward to meeting friends whom they had not seen for several years.

Father is driving. The ten year old daughter in the back seat exclaims, "We should have taken the last turnoff. We missed our exit."

The Father responds, "Don't bother me. The weather is beautiful. The highway has little traffic. The car is working perfectly. There are several rest stops along the way where we can eat and refresh ourselves. Let's keep going."

This is the way it is in the churches. One older minister who for many years had preached the pre-tribulation "rapture" of the saints was confronted with the numerous inconsistencies associated with this doctrine. His response was, "Why don't you just let an old man be happy?" Another minister said, "We could not have been wrong all these years."

If you don't know where you are going you have no way of knowing when you get there. Also, you have no way of measuring progress. You don't know what you are doing!

This is the condition of the Christian churches of our day. They do not know where they are going. They have no idea there is a finish line let alone where it is. They have no way of measuring progress. Therefore they accept erroneous doctrines.

The enemy knows exactly what he is doing. He has been able to keep the churches in chains throughout Church history.

To be continued.