If it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the LORD.

AT the first undertaking of any enterprise or business, we are not usually aware of the hinderances and difficulties which attend its

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accomplishment. The Israelites, to whom

Joshua addressed the words of our Text, had been redeemed by a mighty hand and an out

stretched arm, on the part of JEHOVAH, from the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage, and had been settled in the land of Canaan, the land which God had repeatedly promised to give them for a perpetual possession. After they had experienced such great deliverances that were wrought in their favour, and had seen so many blessings showered down upon them on every side, it might have been fairly expected that they would serve the LORD their God with willing minds, and unwearied vigilance, and grateful hearts. This, indeed, they engaged to do, and to observe all the statutes and judgments and ordinances which the Lord had commanded them. But, within a while, they became elated by their prosperous condition, and forgat his works, and abused his goodness, and grievously revolted from him, and turned aside to worthless idols. Moses had anxiously forewarned them of the fatal tendency of success and prosperity to corrupt the heart, and to make men unmindful of God, their gracious benefactor, and Almighty Sovereign.

The generation whom Joshua established in the promised land, seem to have acted in a pious and grateful manner for some time; but, before his death, he perceived that they were

beginning to turn aside from the LORD their God, and were liable to be ensnared by the evil example of their idolatrous neighbours. Being desirous, therefore, of giving them his affectionate counsel and dying admonitions, he gathered all the tribes of Israel to Sichem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, who presented themselves before God. There, after a recital of God's dealings with them, he, charges them with his last breath, saying, "Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood: or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the LORD.

This resolution which Joshua then made, to serve the LORD with his house, is one which ought to be adopted and maintained by all who are present this day, by every person individually for himself, and by all the heads of families, with respect to those who are com

mitted to their care. When we have considered, in the First place, what is implied in serving the LORD with our house; and, Secondly, the reasons which enforce this duty upon us, I trust we shall unanimously be ready to say, in sincerity and in truth, "As for me and my house we will serve the LORD.

I. This determination implies, that we should make the service of God the principal concern of our life and that all who have families, should commend the serving of the LORD to their serious attention, and instruct and guide them in the way of godliness,

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If we desire to serve the LORD our God in reality, we must put away all such things as are inconsistent with his service. As the Irsaelites were required to put aside all vain idols and evil pursuits, all the strange gods that were among them; so must we "lay 'apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness," all corrupt imaginations and ungodly practices.If we would serve the LORD acceptably, we must serve him with perfect hearts and willing minds, not suffering the objects of this present world to engage our affections, nor aiming to accomplish a thing which is impossible, that is,

a James i. 21.

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to serve two masters, the God of heaven and the unrighteous Mammon. If we have hitherto been employed in "serving divers lusts and pleasures," we must renounce that degrading servitude, and must resolve to have no other Lord or Master but the LORD our Creator and eternal King. We must serve the LORD from a principle of love, as being fully assured that we are bound to love him with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. We should sincerely desire that he may reign within us, and bring every thought and imagination into a cheerful subjection to his perfect law.

To serve the LORD, is to give him the honour due unto his name, while we are occupied in our various callings, and to worship him with pure and holy worship in the public assemblies, in the house of prayer, and also in our private devotions and family services. In the common affairs of life, we must always act as under a lively sense of his all-seeing eye. Our minds should be deeply impressed with an awful, yet encouraging, apprehension of his divine majesty. His fear should always be before our eyes that we may never sin against him. Our reflections and language ought to be in this strain;-'Is the business which I am now going to undertake,