Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-09-21
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON XII. THIRD QUARTER. INTER
NATIONAL SERIES. SEPT. 20.


Text Of the Lesson. Joshua xxiv. Haas.
Nsmsry Verses. sa-sx Golden Text.
Joshua xiv. - Commentary By the
Rev. d. NJ. stearns-
II. "Now, therefore, fear tho Lord, and
servo Him In sincerity and In truth. =
Joshua had fulfilled his mission and had
now come to the end OF his sojourn in the
mortal body. being about ITO years old
(verse asl. He assembled the people at
Shcchcm, and calling for the elders and
Judges and officers he reminded them OF
all the Lords goodness and faithfulness
and earnestly cxhorte,l them TO serve Him
sincerely. Serve Is tho key word to this
address 1t Is found In some form at least
IL times In our lesson, and suggests very
strongly to us that we arc saved In order
to serve Him who saves US. See Ex- Nv, go,
IS; Thcss. l, o; II Chron- xxx. II. We
are also to serve always in the fear of the
Lord, which includes practical acquaint-
ance with Him and a profound reverence
and cordial affection for Him PROV. |, 4;
TX, 10)
Is. 'sAs for me and my house we will
servo the Lord" 1t is evident from this
and the preceding verse thar their anccs-
tors beyond the river (R- W were idola-
ters From such as these Abram was
called out. God does not compel. but He
sets before US the right and the wrong,
drawing US strongly TO the right by His
Holy Spirit, yet leaving us TO choose. The
leaders, like Joshua, must make tho choice
first, for the people cannot be expected to
choose the good IL the leaders do not. II
all teachers and preachers were as decided
and whole hearted for God as Joshua there
might be less worldliness In many places,
We are all too apt to consider what others
do and follow them. We should have
Joshua's spirit OF whole heartedness for
God regardless OF others. Tho race Is to
be run Hooking unto Jesus" which i'm.
plies looking away from all else tHeb. xii,
l, ~.
1918. Therefore will We also serve the
Lord, for He Is our God" This Is the
conclusion Of the peoples reply to Josh
ua's words They acknowledge that the
Lord their God brought them out OF
Egypt, preserved them In all tho way and
brought them into tho land. Therefore
they should certainly serve Him. and not
other gods Their fathers had, however,
made as good resolutions as these at Horeb
when they said, IAN that tho Lord hath
spoken will we do" lex. xix. 81, but they
broke their promises In q few weeks and
were found worshiping q golden calf. The
| law which is holy and just and good can
not help us because tho flesh is so weak
(Rom. viii, 81.
10, go. And Joshua said unto tho poo
pie, Ye cannot servo the Lord, for He Is
an Holy God. He Is jealous God" They
could not serve Him In their own strength.
| They could not serve Him and others, too
| (Math. vi. s4). The people Of an Holy God
must be holy people Q,ev. XIX, Q; TX, 4
| 80; xxi, s; l Pet. |, is, IS; Isavi, 8; Rev. Nv,
| 81. just seven times is God called a jealous
| God. Besides this verse see Elk. III, %; xxxiv,
IA; Deut. iv, 24;v o; vi, Is; Nah. l, 2. Com
pare Jas. iv, 8, r. ", margin. The word
translated jealous Is the same word that
Is also translated bought" or ''purchas-
ed" SO that tho thought In jealous IL
simply that Of claiming what Is rightfully
His own. We arc not our own, but bought
with price, that He may DO gloriled In
us. We are o people for His ewn posses.
sion Il Cor. vi, 10, 90; Titus Il, IL, r. w.
We are to serve Him with o perfect or
whole heart Il Chron. xviii, o., with hui
mility (Acts XIX, 1917 with gladness FPS. G,
| 81 with the Spirit from 1, o. and con
tinually (Dan. vi, 10, 20). OF ourselves
we cannot do this, but Christ can, and
Christian should be able TO say truthfully,
II live, yet not ], hut Christ liyeth In me''
| (Gal. ii, 20). 1t is written Of Him, "The
Son Of Man came to minister, II am
among you as He that serveth, II any
man serve Me, him will My Father honor"
(Math. xx, rs; Luke xii, 81; John xii,
e6l. When we are fully yielded to Him
according to Rom. xii, |, =, He viii work
in us both TO viii and to do (Phil. II, 18i
Heb. Kill, 2D.
VI. "And the people said unto Joshua,
Nay, but we will serve tho Lord" They
seem very sincere and determined by His
grace to serve Him, and We find that they
did serve Him all the days OF Joshua, and
Of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had
seen the great works OF the Lord that He
did for Israel (verse 81; Judg. II, y.
80. "And Joshua said unto the people,
/ Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye
have chosen you tho Lord to serve Him,
When we take q stand for tho Lord, II
must OF necessity BIO against ourselves. for
we are by nature against God, "The parnal
mind Is enmity against God, for 1t Is not
subject to the law Of God. neither indeed
said, 'sn any man viii come after Me, let
him deny himself (Alath. xvi 24). From
beginning to end OF the Christian life 1t Is
q continued stand against self for God.
aEyen Christ pleased not Himself' (Rom
Nv, 81. He never sought His own will, nor
His own glory John vi, IS; viii, 50), nor
did He ever take credit to Himself for
either words or works (John XII, 49I xiv,
nt n lint
Christ, - "Not i, but the grace OF God
| (Gal ii, 20; Cor XIV, 10). SEQ also II
| Cor. iv, IL.
49, "Now, therefore, put away the
strange gods which arc among YOU and tn,
cline your heart unto tho Lord God OF Is
rael The Idols, the old man, the weights
and besetting sins, are to be put away, put
off and laid aside (Eph w. 2s; Heb. xii,
| /, 81, and eyes and heart must BIO ever unto
Him. We must be very sincere and truth
full through and through, for He desircth
truth in the inward parts and under
standeth all the imaginations Of the
| thoughts of the heart (ps. II, @; Chron.
xviii, o; Sam. xvi, ~. Here again we
are helpless and must pray Incline my
heart unto Thy testimonies.
"a "And the people said unto Joshua.
The Lord our God Will we serve, and His
voice will we obey" The faithful servant
has only to be willing and obedlent"
lisa. l. 19) In order to be pleasing unto his
Master. 1t is ours TO be wise enough TO
hear only His commands and faithful
enough to do them; He will see to all tho
results and success, ~ Ho counts Il, Il
sure. There are many voices today, but we
must take good heed to hear only His voice.
g5 $50 Joshua made q covenant with
the people that day, and set them statute
and an ordinance In Shechem." Then he
set up a stone for witness Compare
Gen. xviii, Is; Ex. xiv, 4; Joshua Nv, 9,
| O., then sec Deut. xxi, /; lisa. l, Q, etc.,
~ to inanimate nature being witness to
words and actions. But best Of all remem-
Der the Stone of Israel, " who Is the faith
] full and true Witness" (6cn. xix, "a; Rev.
Ill, 14) and live wholly and always unto
Him.