The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1895-09-20
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON XII. THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, SEPT. 90.


Joshus xxiv. sl-Commentsry BY the
Rev. ID. n. stesrus.
IA. snow. therefore, fear the Lord, and
serve Him In sincerity and in truth. I"
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 s9). He assembled the people at
Shechem, and calling for the elders and
Judges and officers no reminded them Of
all the Lords goodness and faithfulness
and earnestly exhorted them to serve Him
sincerely. "Serve'' Is the key word to this
address. 1t Is found in some form at least
10 times In our lesson, and suggests very
strongly to us that we are saved I'm order
to serve Him who saves us. See Elk. iv, go,
%; Thess. l, Q; III Chron. xxx, IL. We
are also to serve always In the fear Of the
Lord, which includes a practical acquaint-
ance with Him and profound reverence
and cordial affection for Him prov. 1. z;
TX, 1O).
Is. "As for me and my house we will
serve the Lord" 1t Is evident from this
and the preceding verse that their ances-
tors beyond the river Or. W. were idola-
tors. 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 the 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. The race Is to
be run Cooking unto Jesus" which i'm
plies looking away from all else Heb. 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 the way and
brought them into the 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, "All that the Lord hath
spoken will we do" Elk. xix, 81, but they
broke their promises in few weeks and
were found worshiping golden calf. The
law which is holy and just and good can
not help us because the flesh is so weak
from. viii, 81.
10, 20. "And Joshua said unto the peo-
pie, Ye cannot serve the Lord, for He Is
an Holy God. He is a jealous God" They
could not serve Him in their own strength.
They could not serve Him and others, too
(Math. vi, 24) The people of an Holy God
He, . hcI 1T -
80; xxi, 8; l Pet. 1, Is, IS; lisa. vi, 8; Rev. w.
81. Just seven times is God called a jealous
God. Besides this verse see Elk. Xxx, IS; xxxiv
IA; Deut. iv, 24;v, 9; vi, Is; Nah. /, 2. Com
pare Jas. iv, B, r. W, margin. The word
translated Jealous" Is the same word that
Is also translated bought" or "purchas-
ed" so that the thought in Jealous" is
simply that Of claiming what is rightfully
His own. We are not our own, but bought
with price, that He may be glorified in
u.s. We are people for His own posses
sion Il Cor vi, 10, 20; Titus Ii, Ia, X. W.
We are to serve Him with a perfect or
whole heart Il Chron. xviii, 81, with hui
mility (Acts Xxx, 49, with gladness Cps. c,
%, with the Spirit (Rom. /, 81, and con-
tinually dan. vi, Is, 20). OF ourselves
we cannot do this, but Christ can, and
Christian should be able to say truthfully,
II live, yet not l, but Christ liveth in me"
(Gal. ii, 2O). 1t is written of Him, 1.-THE
Son of Man came to minister, II am
among you as He that serveth, "If any
man serve Me, him will My Father honor"
(Math. Xxx, %; Luke xxi, 81; John xii,
26). When we are fully yielded to Him
according to Rom. xii, 1, 2, He will work
In us both to will and to do phil. ILL., 49,
Heb. xiii, 21).
81. and the people said unto Joshua,
Nay, but we will serve the 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.
%. And Joshua said unto the people,
Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye
have chosen you the Lord to serve Him."
When we take stand for the Lord, 1t
must of necessity be against ourselves, for
we are by nature against God, The carnal
mind Is enmity against God for 1t Is not
subject to the law Of God, neither indeed
can be- (Rom. viii, y. Our Lord also
said, IF any man will come after Me, let
him deny himself (Math. xvi, gay. From
beginning to end Of the Christian life it is
q continued Stanu against sell IOf dOu.
Even Christ pleased not Himself" from.
Nv, 81. He never sought His own will, nor
His own glory (John vi, 80; viii, 5O), nor
did He ever take credit to Himself for
either words or works (John xii, 40; xiv,
10). Pauls notices were mot /, but
Christ, "Not I, but the grace of God
(Gal. ii, 20; Cor. XIV, 10). See also III
Cor. iv, IL.
go. "Now, therefore, put away the
strange gods which are among you and in
cline your heart unto the Lord God Of Is
rael." The idols, the old man, the weights
and besetting sins, are to be put away, put
of and laid aside (Eph. Nv, 22; Heb. xii,
1, 81 and eyes and heart must be ever unto
Him. We must be very sincere and truth
full through and through for He desireth
truth in the inward parts and under
standeth all the imaginations Of the
thoughts of the heart FPS. Ii, 8; Chron.
xviii, Q; Sam. xvi, ~. Here again we
are helpless and must pray "Inoline 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 obedient"
(Isa 1, 1917 In order to be pleasing unto his
Ia a.. 10 - -. a.