tion. He is not content with an inferior shRre of affection, He must be loved a,nd eeTTed with Rll our strength. "He t.Jmt loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of l\Ie.'· The trne disciple is ready to forsake all nnd follow Christ The will 0f the Lord is for him law, his only inquiry being, " Lord, what wilt Tho~ hnYc me to do?" 3. He is imm·rda.ble, and reqi,ii·es unvarying fidelity. "If ye forsake the Lord, then He _will do :i:ou h1;1rt after th~t. He hath done you good." He rewanls eYery man accordmg to Ins dom/i's, and VISlts transgression with punish- ment. The Israelites were fickle, moved like water by every passing breeze. God is not the son of man that He should repent. He cannot be false to His nature and look with pleasure on offenders. Past obedience is no answer to the charge of present guilt. ERch day brings its own need of sanctification. It is not possible, in ,God's se1Tice, to work so hard one week as to enable us to spend the next in idle- ness. nor ca.n wo accumulate a store of good works to cover deficiencies in a time of sin. " It ha.cl been better for them not to have known the way of 1ighteousness than to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them." II. THE PEOPLE'S DETERMINATION TO SERVE THIS EXACTING Gon. 1. Indicates a feeling that only such a Master is worthy of men's service. Conscience testified that worship should no~ be offered_ to othor th~n a perfect Being, and that such a Bemg could rightly clarm these !ugh prerogatives. The rock on which the veesel of m~-thology has been -wrecked is the evil character assigned to its deities, proving them the offspring ofhn.man imagination in a debased state. The remembrance of the past. and hopes and fears respecting the future incited the Israelites to con- tinue in their position as the Lord's peculiar people. And have not we experienced that to be the happiest day when we have thought most of God, and most fre- quently lifted our hearts in prayer to Him for guidance and succour? If called to renounce ease or sinful practices, have we not been amply repaid in the conscious- ness tha.t we have acted rightly, and are walking in the light of God's countenance ? To set upon the throne of onr hearts one who would be content with meagre ·devo- tion and occasiona.l conformity to righteousness might please for a while, but could not durably satisfy our moral aspirations. 2. Intimates a belief that God chiefly re- ga,·ds the sincere endeavours of Bis servants to please Him. The Israelites could point to Joshua's own demand in ver. 14--" serve Him in sincerity and in truth." "l1at is really displeasing to the Most High is wilful violation of His co=and- ments, or hypocritical pretences of loyalty when the heart is estranged. These He Yisits with severest condemnation. J eho,•ah declared Himself in the same com- mandment both a "jealous " God, and one "showing mercy," And tliough the disciples of Christ had often exhibited a spirit of worldlinesss, of impatience and nnbelief, yet their Master looking on His little company at the Last Supper could even after their unseemly dispute concerning precedence, recognise what was good in them and say, "Ye are they who have continned with Me in My temptations." He who knows all our works (Rev. iii. 8), appreciates the humblest effort to keep His commandments. 3. Suggests an assurance that imperfections of service cam, be atoned for by confession, sacrifice, and intercession. Joshua's assertion was q u:ite true. Neither the Israelites nor any other nation could serve the Lord perfectly. Limitations of knowledge and frailties of temper produce at least temporary devia- tions from the path of obedience. But the people no doubt remembered the pro- vision made in the law for sins of ignorance, the trespass offerings, the day of atonement " to cleanse them that tltey might be clean from all their sins before the Lord." Kor were they unmindful of the prayers which had been heard on their b~lialf when Moses pleaded for them, and the gracious forgiveness that had often followed tlieir national repentance. And what was dimly foreshadowed in the Levitical economy now blazes brightly for our instruction and comfort under the Christian dispensation. Jesus Christ hath by one offering perfected them that are 'sa'1ctilied. His perpetual priesthood is a guarantee for the final salvation of those i who come unto God by Him. " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." "Ye «re complete in Him.'' 4. Leads us to anticipate a period of perfect service. However the goodness of God may pardon our faults and, beholding us in Christ, take note of the direction rather than of the success of CII, XXIV, 20-83.] THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 860
~ur 11U?mpts1 it is impossible for us_ to. rest content with our present experience. The spmt cr~es out for entire em11nmpat1on from the thraldom of sin, anJ longs for the red?mpt1011 of the body. When shall we be conformed to the image of Christ, a.nd enJoy to tl(e full wh~t now we. kn~w only by brief moments of rapture and su~den hasty glimpses? ,, This quest10n 1s a?swered _by the promise of a "manifes• t11t10n of !110 sons of _God, when, m unswerv'?g obedienc~ to His Father's will, they shall reahse truest hberty. You who so delight m Chnst1an work as to wish you could sp_end all your t~e 11_nd e?ergy therein, lo~k to the years to come! "They serve Hun do.y and night m His temple." " His serv11nts shall serve Him and they shall see His face."-A. '
EXPOSITION.