News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-11-15
THE [. S. S. LESSON.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
NOVEMBER IS.
Lesson Text: Helping One An
other" Josh. xxi, 1915 and
XXi;., 1-9-Golden Text: Gal.
vi, documentary.

Lesson Text: Helping One An
other" Josh. xxi, 1915 and
xxi:., 1-9-GoIden Text: Gal
vi, documentary.
43. "And the Lord gave unto Israel all the
| land which he sware to give unto their
fathers" If the ten spies who discouraged
| the people and all the thousands who perlshed
| in the wilderness could rise from their graves
and see their brethren and children in actual
possess on of the good land which they had
| refused to poss IS because of the giants and
walled cit es, an / Ca eb possessing and en- Joy
ing the very center and stronghold of the
| giants, they would surely be greatly sur
| prised, and perhaps ashamed of their unbe-
| lief. which had shut them out from this in
| heritance and if they should ask the jewellers
| therein how they oyercame he difficulties,
what answer could be given but simply this
| Our God fought for us, and we relied upon
| Him and Keyed Him"
| A. THE Lor gave them rest according
| to all that He sware unto their fathers" 1t
is as difficult for many Christians to learn to
rest, not in idleness but in activity, as it is
| for some swimmers to learn to float; but as
| surely as the latter finds that the water does
| bear him on its bosom when he quietly rests
| upon it, so surely does the Christian find that
I'VE who have believed do enter into rest"
| Heb. iv., 3 when in confidence we commit
|
| faithfulness of our covenant keeping God.
| Not only so, but we also obtain victory over
| all enemies, and lose all doubts and fears,
| and overcome beSetting sins. The Lord does
| tn for ui not S IMPLY for our Sakes that we
may en- oy this rest, but that we, naturally
| restless morta s, may, by this victory OF
| faith shew forth the glory of God and make
Him name, thus winning people to Him.
| A.. There failed not aught of any good
thing; all came to pass" The same glorious
| fact is stated in CHI. xiii II; | HI. viii, So;
| and no true believer shall ever be abe to say
| that any one thing has failed of all that God
has promised; all the failures are on our
side; we fail to believe Him, trust Him, rely
upon Him, commit all things to Him, obey
Him, follow Him fully, walk with Him,
thus we hinder Him from showing His
power on our behalf, and dishonor His Holy
Name
Oh xxi, /, 2 eye have kept all that
Noses the servant of the Lord, commanded
you, and have obeyed my voice in all that
| commanded you" When these two tribes
and a half asked Moses for their Inheritance
on the east of Jordan, he was afraid they
meant to enjoy Immediately their possessions
and thus discourage and cause discomfort
among the other tribes; but when they
ssured him they would only build cities for
their families and folds for their sheep, and
that they themselves would pass over armed
with the other tribes, and not return
to their homes until all the children of Israel
had Inherited every man his inheritance, tn n
Moses was content to let them possess the
land on the east of Jordan. Mum. XXXlll
So 40 OGO of them prepared for war, passed
through the Jordan with the other tribes.
Josh. iv, II, 49, Now that they have faith
fully kept their promise during these years OF
fighting and Subdung, Joshua Is about to
dismiss them to their homes with his bless
ing, and he first commends their obedience
to Moses and to himself
g. I'VE have not left your brethren these
many DAYS unto this day" Every delay on
ba Of hrpt pO nnicElV
and possess the land must have been great
trial to them, as their hearts would naturally
long to return to their homes and to their
families; thus their patience was manifested,
and their faith in God that the time of their
rest and return would come These tribes,
waiting for their own rest and assisting their
brethren to obtain theirs, is picture of zeal
for the welfare of others worthy Of our imi-
tation, and is surely recorded for that pur
pose.
f. "Now return We unto the land of your
possession" Let those who have been for n
long time separated from home and friends
and then permitted to return, describe the
feelings of those obedient ones now release
from their promise, that they might return
to their families let some one who was solz
dier from one to four years in our great
civil war, and is now n teacher in some Sun
ay-school, tell his scholars how he felt when
permitted to set his face homeward In the
case of these 40, 200 the joy would be at least
two fold there would be the joy of going
home, and also the JOY of conscious obedience
to God and His servants.
5. Take diligent heed to do, to love, to
walk to keep, to cleave unto, and to serve.n
Here are topics for a series of seven most in
structive Bible readings. Let me suggest a
few texts on the first two: Take heed-Heb,
iii, II; III. Pet. l., -; Nix. iv, "a; Lu. viii,
IS; Josh. xii. 5; ii. Chr xix, 6; l. Cor.
W. IL L. Ii s siii H. Jss l. b. Matt ~ Masf
Col iii 2 "a LODI, Tohn ,,T I rs Illus , yqg
and use them if time permit Observe that
tbeVI -GJ61h tt8' NS6uid haTe them ever Keep I
Him before them to love, walk with, cieave |
unto, serve and obey. All these precepts are
for us who are redeemed by the blood of the |
Lamb; the unsaved have only one thing that |
they can do, or that God requires of them, |
and that is, to believe on the Lord Jesus |
Christ, or in other words to receive Him as
their Saviour John j., l2), but being saved |
by thus receiving Him there are many things |
to do that We may the better know and en- |
joy Him, and commend Him to others.
3, z. so Joshua blessed them.n As the rep |
resentative of God he blessed them; thus
David the King blessed the people in the |
name of the Lord of Hosts q Sam. vi 49,;
thus Moses the man of God blessed the chill |
dren of Israel before his death (Deut.
xxxii, ~; and when Jesus was parted from
the disciples at His ascen sion it was while He
blessed them. The eviteS were chosen from |
among the children of Israel that they
might bear the Ark of the Lord, stand be- |
lore Un6 LOfu munster unto him, ana bless
in His name (Deut. X, s, -; and if will |
take the position of a Levite, separated unto
the Lord, finding in him our portion, our in
heritance, we shall not only be blessed our
selves, but made a blessing to others in His
name.
S. Return with much riches unto your
tents" Besides the conscious approval of |
God in their hearts. they return home with |
much temporal riches; cattle silver, gold, |
brass iron and raiment: they have not lost |
anything by helping their brethren, and |
serving the Lord with much self-denial. |
God will not allow those who serve Him to |
do it unrewarded.
9. They departed from Shiloh to go unto |
the land of their possession. That is equal |
to saying that they started on their journey |
from the place of the Tabernacle, from the |
presence of the Lord Let us always go forth |
on our journeys from the presence of Him |
who has taught us to acknowledge Him in |
all our ways, and we cannot fail to prosper
for His blessing shall go with us While the |
land was being subdued the headquarters of |
the Ark and Tabernacle were at Gilgal; but |
in CHI. xviii, l, we find them removed to
Shiloh and there they continued for about |
three hundred years, until the time of Sam
uel. Il Sam. iv.) Shiloh signifies peace. and
i'll Genesis Xix, TO- where it is first used, it |
refers to Israel's Messiah who is the Prince
of Peace. Let us abide in Him.-LeSson
Helper.