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him to be a soldier. In view of the p resen t sp irit of trifling '•with infidelity and of feebleness of decision to obey th e Scripture, these la st words of Joshua should be laid to h e a rt.-—H. F. W. N either mention th e ir gods. There were g reat fascinations in idolatry which th e Israelites felt du ring th e ir whole existence. This tem p tation is not lacking today. How can we blame a people living more th a n 3000 years ago fo r yielding to it as they did?— Peloubet. v. 8. Cleave un to th e Lord. It is God’s will th a t we should press steadily on to our goal in obedience to Him, in channels of His choosing, w hether in sunshine or shadov , n eith er detained by pleasure no r d eterred by pain. We can no t dazzle th e world by our greatness, b u t we can please God by our goodness. We can so live, so suffer, so speak, as to constrain th e enemy to say, “Verily th is man has been w ith Jesus and learned of H im .”— P arker. v. 10. One shall chase a thousand. One man who is rig h t w ith God can chase a thousand.— Selected. v. 11. T ake heed therefore. We m ust always stand on our guard, for many a precious soul is lo st and ruined th rough carelessness.. Take heed th a t th e inw ard man be k ep t clean from the pollutions of sin and closely employed in th e service of God.-—Henry. v. 12. If ye cleave un to these nations. Compromise may make a good um brella for a tim e, b u t it is a poor roof. I t is only a tem porary expedient. — Lowell. F ailu re to keep God’s com mand of separation (2 Cor. 6:14-18) is w h at is bringing ru in upon th e Church of God today.— Torrey. Make m ar riag es w ith them . Between th e realm of holiness and th e realm of sin th ere is a kind of n eu tra l te rrito ry which belongs strictly to neither, and which slopes tow ard sin, and in point of fact most commonly furnishes recru its not a few to th e arm y of evil. How tru e th is -is still! Marriages between be
liever and unbeliever, friendly social fellowship on equal term s between th e Church and th e world—-who does not know the usual resu lt ?||-B laik ie. If men and women would remember th a t o f .all th a t concerns them in th is life, th e ir relation to God is infinitely the more momentous, and th a t whatever brings th a t relation in p eril is th e evil of all others to be dreaded, we should not find them so ready for entangling connections.— Exp. Bible. How we remember and respect the la st words of those who have been dear to us! They have a w eight which none others have. They have an influence for good upon our MY CLASS lives which seldom OF GIRLS comes in any o th er C lara Silliman way. The last words of g reat men a t th e close of a long and Successful life have had a deep and lasting effect upon thé lives of those who rem ained behind. So it was w ith Joshua, the aged servant of God, whose farewell message to his people we study in th is lesson. It was only when a generation th a t “ knew him no t” came, th a t Israel declined. Isra el Called to a G reat Council. Jo shua was hearing the end of his life. He knew his people were d rifting from God and determ ined to make one la st appeal to them before he died. He called them together in solemn assem bly and rem inded them th a t they would soon lose his counsel and the benefit of his experience and au tho rity , and urged stric t obedience to th e law of God, in which they set out so well. There was need for Joshua to sound the alarm . Israel had been in th e land long enough to feel th e com forts of th e ir re st and possession of Canaan and to be enjoy ing life. Times of p rosperity are th e tim es when people d rift from God and Israel was no exception. If the Israel ites had been alone in the world, they
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