This may be particularly true of the parable of the sower, the basic parable of the Kingdom. We all know of the parable, of the four kinds of ground on which the Word of God, the living Seed, is sown. We realize only one kind of ground bears lasting fruit, and even then the crop varies from thirty bushels to the acre to one hundred bushels to the acre.

We do not say to ourselves, "This is what the Kingdom of God is. It is not about going to another place but about a change that takes place in us as Christ is formed in us." Our tradition concerning going to Heaven, as being what Jesus meant by the coming of the Kingdom of God, is so strong we cannot comprehend that salvation is not a change in where we are but in what we are.

Do you see what I mean? Truth is being emphasized today that has not always been in the forefront of Christian thinking.

Let me suggest at the outset that the land of Canaan, our inheritance, does not represent Heaven. Rather it is true that our inheritance, our goal, our mark toward which we should be pressing, is threefold:

Total, untroubled union with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Total conformity to the moral, and eventually the outward, image of the Lord Jesus.

The possession of the earth and its people.

This threefold goal is outlined in the twenty-fourth Psalm.

We presently are in the wilderness. Today the Spirit of God is urging us forward to the possession of our inheritance as sons of God, that is, union with God, conformity to the image of Jesus Christ our Lord, and the possession of the earth and its nations.

Since entrance into each aspect of our inheritance will be resisted bitterly by Satan, we are coming to a period of intense spiritual warfare. This also is suggested in the twenty-fourth Psalm.

The Lord Jesus Christ has been our Moses, the Good Shepherd. Now He is becoming our Joshua, the Lord, strong and mighty in battle. We are moving from the twenty-third Psalm to the twenty-fourth Psalm.

But the blessings of the Twenty-third Psalm will continue with us while we move forward into the Kingdom of God.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. (Psalms 23:1—NIV)

The Lord Jesus has been our Shepherd for many years. He shall continue to be our Shepherd even though He is coming now to us as the Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Lord.

We shall not be in want. The writer has been a Christian for over fifty years. On numerous occasions it seemed there was cause for despair for one reason or another. Yet as prayer was made the Lord brought us through. Never once! Never once has the Lord failed us!

I know enough about statistics to realize the probability that the deliverances that have occurred throughout my discipleship took place by chance is so remote as to be not worthy of consideration. There indeed is a living Lord Jesus Christ and He fulfills His Word on time every time. I have not wanted! Have you when you were obeying the Lord?

To be continued.