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to them . God has fought th e ir battles. God haS separated them from o th er peoples. They m u st keep separate. To b reak down th e p artition will be to invoke God’s w rath and bring judgm ent. It is no t easy to be tru e to God; to be tru e to H is W ord; to rebuk e; to warn. I t is no t easy to prophecy evil, bu t Joshua is tru e to his tru st. He will not lay down th e reins un til he has dealt faith fu lly w ith his beloved people. He charges them to drive ou t the enem ies; to live a separated life. There is danger in association w ith them. “Come out from among them and be ye sep arate,” is a New T estam ent mes sage also. There is no agreem ent of th e temple of God and idols. This law of God is as old as God Himself. Joshua understood it. He gave emphasis to it and how different would the h istory of Israel have been had th ey heeded it. And if you who read these lines can sense th e full meaning of it, how differ ent will be your life. Then Joshua g ath ers them to th e val ley of Sheckhem, memorable w ith h al lowed associations. Here Abraham had bu ilt his first a lta r to Jehovah. Here Jacob had buried th e idols, th e strange gods of his wives. I t was a place of purification and an appropriate place for Jo sh u a’s closing testimony. To Israel it is th e valley of decision. “ Choose you th is day whom ye will serve.” And it will be an appropriate tim e for the teacher to p u t the m atter definitely before th e class, as to confes sion of Christ as Saviour and of a sep a ra te life as a believer. We need never fear to make th ing s very definite and to urge a prompt, positive, ou t and out declaration. Israel prom ised b u t failed . th rough failu re to live th e separated life. May our Lord keep us from fail ing and falling as they did. PRACTICAL POINTS (1 ) Here is a solemn appeal for a sep ara ted life. (2 ) F reedom from foes is th e fru it of God’s victory, no t ours.
night. The verse was Daniel 5:12v The little gifl was mixed up a :'bit, and instead of read ing th a t “ an excellent sp irit” was found in Daniel, she :read it “ an excellent sp in e /’ The folks all laughed a t her¡ b u t th e g reat preacher declared th a t if she had not' read th e exact le tte r of th e Word, she h ad cer tain ly .brought them a very excellent ren d erin g of it, for w h at th e children of God heeded today, more th a n anything else, alnidst, >was an excellent spine, th a t would give them m oral courage. Jo shu a has grown old; grown old in service; grown old well. Men must grow old, b u t w hat a sorrow th a t so many grow old so poorly. There is s o m e th ing splendid HEART OF abou t th e nam e of THE LESSON Jo shu a; a fragrance T. C. H orton abou t his life and d e e d s . When you th in k of Jo shua you th in k of a strong, stu rd y soldier, a heroic ch aracter. He was a clean-cut, clear headed leader. The th o u g h t of Joshua, if you know him , is inspirational. You th in k of conflict, of service and of sacrifice and suffering. You th in k of danger and death. You th in k of splendid achieve ments and victory, and th en you th ink of th e God of Jo shua and of how th a t all he Wrought was in th e power of th e God of Israel. Here h e is on th e threshold of his d ep artu re for th e land beyond and he has some strong, searching words to say to th e chosen people. Jo shu a is tru e to th e people. He knows th a t dangers aw ait them and he lifts his voice in a message of w arning and admonition. Note some of th e strong expressions he uses—-“You have seen w hat th e Lord your God h ath done; Be very courageous to keep and do the commandments; Cleave unto th e Lord your God; One man of you shall chase a thousand; Take good heed to your selv es./ God has been very gracious
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