I. Goon MEN ARE NEEDED FOP. si.:cOND PLACES AS WELL AS FIRST. "\Ve cannot all be statesmen, ntlers, missionaries. There are many more humble positions than exalted ones. Twelve spyships for one lordship. Good men are needed for all stations. Men who fear to do wrong, who fear to grieve God, and who have no other fear. Complain not of an obscure Jot, of a slight opening for your powers; but do the duties of the lot, and avail yourself of the openings you have, and all will be well. II. Second, observe THE PERSEVERANCE OF SAINTS. He believed in his prime, he believes in his old age. Ready to follow God's leading then, ready now. '' As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in." There is, of course, a miraculous element in this persistence of physical strength and mental vigour at such an age. But it is only a miraculous extension of what is a blessed fact of daily experience. It is strange the vis inertim of souls. Forty years ago some were faithless, and are so now; others believing, they are so now. There is a tendency for the unjust to be unjust still, and for the righteous to be righteous still. Motion or rest alike tend to be eternal. Rise up ancl follow Christ, and you tend to follow Him on through countless ages. Forsake Him, and you tend to go on forsaking Him. This persistence of habit is nature ; but the persistence of better habit is partly grace as well. God keeps the feet from falling, daily charms the spirit afresh, while each step of progress in a goocl path reveals new reasons for choosing and pursuing it. Do not despair. Of Christ's flock none is lost. " They go from strength to strength ; every one of them appeareth before God in Zion." We may not, like Joshua, see eighty-five, and long before the life ends our powers may wither,; but grace will not.wither. III. Observe THE USEFULNESS OF SUCH A LIFE OF PROGRESS. Eighty-fi,e years of steady well-doing I of right aiming and right action I of the boldness of faith. Joshua and He were left alive, as a sort of leaven to leaven the whole lump of Israel, and they did it. One steady, progressive life of goodness-the same to-clay as yesterday-bow invaluable in a village, in a church, in any co=unity. If you would be useful, keep on. Remember Abraham Lincoln's policy for the conquest of the secession-it was to "keep pegging away." Seeming hopeless, it was crowned with success. IV. Lastly, observe, CALEB'S FAITH HAS A GRAND REW.l.RD. A manifold reward. 1. In the contagiousness with which it spread. It infects bis own family (see eh. xv. 17). It infects, as we have seen, many besides. 2. His faith has the oppor- tunity of proving its wisdom. That city, which was impregnable, be took ; aml these Anakim, who- seemed terrific, he mastered. Some men, some things, some forces may be stifled for want of opportunity. But God will always see that there is a cancllestick for the light. An "open door" for the "little strength '' which can enter it. 3. His faith gets an earthly inheritance of a noble kind. Hebron is his family's for an everlasting possession. '.fhe shortest road to get/ ing anything is deserving it. While the clever, the tricky, the greedy, the saving see only what they aspire to " afar off," the deserving go straight on and reach it. His property we can trace in the possession of bis descendants down to the time of Davicl (1 Sam. xxx. 14). It is not sufficiently observed how essential to goodness the courage of faith really is. Let Caleb's example commend it to us.-G.
EXPOSITION. CHAPTER XV, 1-63. the southern border of Judah. The word ti-ibe here is, as might be e:<P.ected from THE LOT OF JUDAH, Ver. 1.-The lot of the context i"lt:lr.> and not t:l::lty, Even to the tribe of the children of Judah. The first the border of -Edom. Th/ literal trans- twelve verses of this cha.pter define the lation, which makes the passage clearer, is, bounda.ries of Judah. With it compare "the border of Edom, the wilderness of Zin Num. xxxiv. 3-5, which gives the southern towards the dry region (i"1i1m from the border of the Israelitish territory, eorre- pponding closely with this IICCOU;Dt of extreme limit of the south" (l~'JJ). The TltE DOOR OF JOSHUA: [o!t. xv. 1-GIJ,'