The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-10-02
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM
MENTs FOR OCTOBER 6 BY
REV. /. W. HENDERSON.
Subject: Joshua, Israel's New Leader.
Josh. 1:1-11--GoldenT Text, Josh.
1:5-Memory Verse, Conn

Josh. 1:1-11--GoldenT Text, Josh.
1:5-Memory Verse, Com.
mentary.
The mantle of Moses falls upon the
shoulders of Joshua. For God re-
wards faithful secondary service. He
never leaves His people leaderless.
Joshua had been the sturdy assist:
ant of Moses in many a trying hour
He had served his leader with zeal.
And in the hours of service he had
gained fitness for guidance. The
faithful lieutenant who has learned
how to be led is fittest to lead. For
to be a good leader a a must know
how to be a good follower. He alone
is capable to command who has
learned to obey. Joshua succeeded
Moses because he was a patient and
jealous follower of Moses.
The want of a leader who was ia.
miliar with the ways of Moses and
with the spirit of the wanderers he
led, who was able to place his feet In
the footmarks of Moses and to con-
tinue, might have been fatal to the
realization of Israelitish hopes. In.
efficient management might have de.
stroyed the possibilities that were
Immediately the result of the Mosaic
wisdom and leadership. Visionless
guidance might easily have led to
disaster. The only way in which the
hopes of Israel could be realized and
the labor of Moses augmented was by
securing a competent leader to carry
on his work. The people were keep
ing their faces fixed Godward. God
had a leader in preparation, a guide
in reserve. He gave Joshua to the
people.
All that. God had commanded
Moses to perform and observe He
made obligatory upon Joshua. Joshua
was in no wise released from the rec
ognition of those moral principles
that God had made consistent with
the leadership of Moses. Joshua was
a successor in the leadership of an
established regime. He was not to
overturn the past. He was to fulfill
1t. His duty was not to reyolutionize
but to educate. His call was not to
a a new line, but to enlarge the
fame and the service of an old one.
In the task of filling Moses place
Joshua is guaranteed the abiding
presence and assistance of Almighty
God. LAS I was with Moses, so l will
be with thee: / will not fail thee, nor
forsake thee" So runs the biblical
record of the promise of Jehovah to
Joshua. This constituted the actual
strength of Joshua, as it had been the
secret of the ultimate success Of
Moses. Without this grant of divine
favor and supervision and enabling
the wisdom and vision and forceful-
ness of Joshua would have been inef-
icient to accomplish the full deliver
ance of Israel. With this evidence Of
mand with confidence.
The counsel of God to Joshua that
ne "be strong and very courageous"
was sound. Israel had suffered in the
past because of her instability. The
only reason why she was released
from the bondage of captivity and
from the terrors of the wilds was that
Moses had been strong and courag-
eous God knew Israel. He knew
the qualities that we're needed in Or
der to secure Joshua in his position
and to preserve to Israel the fruits of
victory over self and enemies and sin
that had been so hardly earned. Weak
leadership could have annulled the
measure of success attained. Vacil-
lation in the face Of the crisis or OF
opposition would have disqualified
Joshua for further service.
The lessons Of the Scripture we
have scanned are extremely and pres
emily practical. The recognition of
Joshua's fidelity by his elevation to
supremacy among his people is espe-
cially valuable as an indication to
youth of the right and age-long
method of progress and of the GER
tainiy that faithful ability eventually
is recognized and rewarded. The
need is for men who will obey in SUI
coordinate capacities, who will serve
in lieutenancies, who will learn to
command. The call of the hour is
for men who will strive not for revo-
luton so much as to enlarge tho
scope and the appeal and the influ-
ence of the eternal principles of
righteousness that have Numbered
through the ages from the mind of
Jehovah through the souls of men
For we are not released from the
hereditary mandates of God to hui.
mainly. The laws of Moses and
Joshua, as the principles Of Christ,
in their divinest and truest express
sions bind US. The world and
America needs men who would live
daily in the consciousness of Gods
shepherding. Men who possess ex-
detrimental knowledge Of His abiding
presence, men who will be strong.
men who will dare to be courageous,
very courageous" Only such mes
can lead or serve. Such men only
are fit to live.
The world and its history are full
of men who have tried to be captains
before they have earned the rank.
Most of the failures are men who
have ~endeavored to lead before they
had learned to serve. Humanity has
had a surfeit Of revolutionary leader.
ship that has kicked the foundations
of the centuries from beneath its feet.
The incapacity Of a leadership that is
without moral strength or without
the inspiration of a divinely directed
purpose has been so often proven that
men are no longer fooled.
The call of the age is for men of
the mold of Joshua. The man Of
surprising courage is the man of the
hour. Humanity stands upon the
confines of a new era. The olden
leaders will go home to God. Let
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