News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-10-04
THE |. S. S. LESSON.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
OCTOBER :.

Lesson Text: The Commission o
Joshua" Josh. l., 1-9-GOIden
Text, Eph. vi, II - Com
mentary on the Lesson.
The book of Joshua tells Us of the entrance
| of the nation of Israel into the promised
| land the overthrow of the nations then II
the land, its subsequent division among th'
| tribes ard the appointing of cities o
| refuge The book closes with an account o
| the farewell address of Joshua and hL
| death, at the age of no years; also the dealt
| of Elea2ar, the son of Aaron, and the burla
| of the body of Joseph, which they haC
| brought with them from Egypt and carried
| all through their wilderness wanderlngS
| Spiritually the book teaches of the rest anC
| victories of faith, which it is the privilege OF
| every believer TO en- 10y and achieve, If they
i will only apprehend their position as dead
| with Christ, risen with Christ and seated
| with Him in the heavenl;es.
| l. After the death of Moses. Dead as
| far as any fW Their connection with Israel al
| that time was concerned, but personally he
| was glor.ousy alive What a deliverance tG
be free from the burden OF ruling and guiding
| that rebellious and unbelieving host; what q
\ gain to be ever IN the immediate presence OF
| Him who had APP cared to him at the bush,
and en- the mount and in the tabernacle, and
| to have personal fellowship with Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, EnOch and Noah ana the
| myriadS of the redeemed in glory. Although
our hope as Christians is not death, but the
| coming of our Lord Jesus, yet the glorleS OF
| the life between d. ath and His coming should
| carry us above all fear and enable us TO re-
| ioice in the prospect of being absent from
| the body and present with the Lord,
The servant of the Lord We are all
| either servants of sn or righteousness; we
| all were servants of sin, tut if, like Moses,
| We have turned our Ia ks upon the pleasures
| of Egypt and have taken up the reproach OF
Christ then lisen with Him and yielding
ourselves unto Him, we are servants OF God
and of righteousness Rom. VII
81 Lord spake unto Joshua, MoSes's
minister His servants pass out one by one
from this present world, Lut He ever liveUh,
and whether it be Moses or Joshua it is the
same Lord speaking to them and working
through them; and He is Just as ready and
willing to speak to and work through us as
He was i'll those days, and leaders are greatly
wanted Just now who viii lead His redeemed
from the bondage of Egypt and the wilder
ness life of unbelief into the restful and vic
torious life of faith in the Son of God.
,. ''Arise, 90 over this Jordan Joshua
might have asked how they were to cross
that river, but he had passed. through the
Red Sea forty years before, and he knew
that the Lord was able to make way, and
when God gave a command he had only to
obey.
The land which do give to them" God
delights to give and we glorify Him when
we take and are thankful He has given to
US His own Son; it is our part to receive Him
and thus become children of God John l.,
IL: He says: Come unto me and L will
give you rest it is onr part to come; the
rest is sure.
3 Every place that the sole of your feet
shall tread on" Thus He had said to Moses
(DeEt. XII, "A, and now be confines it to
Joshua. And yet when Joshua was old and
stricken in years there remained very much
land to lie possessed xiii, Il; and he had to
say to the people, How long are ye slack to
go to possess the and which the Lord God of
your fathers hath given you" xviii. 81 1t
was all theirs: they had only to go up and
possess it. for the Lord would fight for them
against their enemies and subdue them; but
it was necessary for them to set their foot On
the land.
In the spiritual life of Christians to-day,
while it is true that all things are ours, and
that every promise in the Bible is a bank
check signed by Jesus Christ, requiring US
only to indorse and present for payment each
promise as we need it, how sad is the APP
parent poverty of Christians, and how much
land Is yet to be possessed.
4. Into the great river Euphrates This
was the eastern boundary of the land given
to Abraham, but with the exception of
short period IN the days of Solomon, it was
never Possessed nor enjoyed. Gen. XIV, Is;
IL Chron. tx. 90 1t shall all be made good,
h'-vevcr. after the first resurrection, when
greater than O!omon, the true son of David,
shall ST on David's throne and reign over the
house of Jacob, and Abraham shall be proved
to be heir of the world. Luke l., -, So;
Rom. w., l3l.
5. 81 viii be with thee; will not fail thee
nor forsake thee" 1t was not question of
the power or skill of Joshua, but of Him who
sent Joshua. When Moses asked: ''Who am
| that | should go unto Pharooh.n the Lords
answer was: Certainly, l will be with thee;n
and when Moses said: ''Oh, my Lord, | am
not man of words lmarginl, but am slow
of speech and of slow tongue" the Lord
said unto him: "Who hath made mans
mouth! Have not |, the Lord Now there
fore go, and | will be with thy mouth and
teach thee what thou shalt say lex. iii,
II, II; w., lO-l2) So in our Christian life it
is never a question of what we are or what
we can do, but of what He is and what He
can do, for it is God who worketh in us both
to will and to do of His good pleasure. 1t
seems to me that the greatest promise in the
Bible for this present life is this one of the
presence of the Lord with us and that He
will never fail us nor forsake us.
D. lie strong and of good courage" The
presence of the Lord was reason enough WHY
he should lie strong and courageous the ne
cessIty of his being so is seen from the fact
that three times in this exhortation it is
not to be his, but the Lords who perfects
His strength in our weakness and enables us
to say: when | am weak then am L strong"
With an almighty, everything, ever present
leader there is no possible room for any of
His followers to be discouraged while they
see and rely on Him; but one look at self or
the difficulties of the way will always
weaken tnl discourage us, so that the only
way to be strong and courageous is to see
Jesus only and look steadfastly upon Him
Thou shalt cause this people to inherit
the land" Cnarginl. Jesus is the true Joshua,
who causes all His redeemed to inherit in due
tiG2e the Kingdom. Moses seems to repre-
SEN Jesus under the law and dying for the
sins of the people, while Joshua represents
Jesus in resurrection leading his people to
rest and victory. Because of the faithfulness
of God and the merits of the Lord Jesus all
His rede emed ones shall inherit His glory.
!. observe to do according to all the
law" This is the only way of true wisdom
and prosperity. God does not ask the sinner
TO keep his laws, but TO receive salvation as
a free gift in order that he may then keep
His commandments and do them and thus
have fellowship with Him There is too
much turning to the right hand or the left
on the part of those who profess to be Chris
tians, and too little of the following fully
seen in Caleb and Joshua. Nothing will do
but cheerful obedience to every command
and whole hearted surrender of spirit, soul
and body to Him who is ready to possess us
and live in us His own life over again.
3 Mediate therein day and night. that
thou mayest observe to dO.n They were 10
set their hearts upon the words of the law,
talk of them in the house and by the way
and teach them to their children, that thus
their days might be as the days of heaven
upon earth. If Jesus lives in us, possessing
us full Y, He i'll us will still delight to do the
will OF God, and rejoice more IN the word of
God than in all riches for He is Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, to-day and forever.
9. Have not | commanded thee" For a
soldier it Is enough that he has been COM
,nanied it is not his to ask or reason why
but only to Obev. How much more should it
e enough for the soldier of the Lord Jesus.
Such an one should know no fear nor dismay
but ever lie strong and of good courage, be
lieying that the Lord his God is with him
whithersoever he goetn.-LesSon Helper.
JOHN DUNN, the renegade Zulu
leader, has entirely renowned ciyiliza-
lion and has taken two on. tbraa 1ozo,