८

THE

CHRISTIAN'S DUTY,

WITH

Refpect to both PERSONAL and FAMILY RELIGION.

PART III.

Jofh. xxiv. 15. And if it feem evil unto you to ferve the Lord, chufe ye this day whom ye will ferve, whether the gods which your fathers ferved that were on the other fide of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whofe land ye dwell; but as for me and my houfe, we will ferve the Lord.

T

HIS verfe is a part of the laft difcourfe wherewith Joshua the famed captain general of Ifrael entertained that people at Shechem, whither he had called them together, that he might fpeak his mind to them before his death, as we may understand from the beginning of this chapter.

And in this farewel difcourfe, he first reminds them of the humbling story of their forefathers idolatry, before the Lord called them, in the 2 verfe, and thence to the 14 verfe, he entertains

A a 4°

them

them with a fhort rehearsal of the Lord's remarkable kindness in the whole courfe of his providence to Abraham, and to his feed, for near the fpace of five hundred years; that is, from the time of Abraham's being called, to the prefent time, wherein his feed were put in the peaceable poffeffion of the land of Canaan, according to the promife made to Abraham. After this, in the 14th verfe, he infers, from the whole, a ferious exhortation to ferve the Lord, of whofe goodnefs they and their fathers had fo ample proofs, and to abandon thofe idols whom their fathers ferved on the other fide the flood, the river Euphrates, and in Egypt.

And in the words we have read, he preffes this exhortation,

1. By an argument. And,

2. By a declaration of his own refolution. The argument lies in the first part of the verfe, And if it feem evil, etc.

For opening it we are,

1. To fee what the argument is.

2. How it is expreffed.

3. Why it is fo expreffed.

As for the argument, it is shortly this: If while I exhort you to ferve the Lord, and abandon ftrange gods, I prefs you to nothing but what is evidently your intereft as well as your duty, then furely you ought chearfully and of choice to com ply: but fo it is clearly; for, what can be more evidently for your good, than to abandon idols, which your fathers found it their interest to leave, and which were not able to deliver you from your flavery in Egypt; and idols which were not able to defend their worshippers against you, and to cleave to that God of whofe goodness ye have

had

had large proofs, and your fathers alfo for a long tract of time? This is the argument.

Next. We are to look how it is expreffed; and we find that it is propofed,

1. By laying down a fuppofition, If it feem evil, etc.

2. By a fort of conceffion upon that fuppofition, Chufe ye this day, etc.

ye

have

First, We fay he makes a fuppofition, If it seem evil unto you, etc. that is, if after all that heard and seen of the vanity of idols, and the advantage of the Lord's fervice, ye can find just reason to think it for your hurt, I am not to hinder you from chufing where ye may do better Now, this fuppofition imports the evident abfur dity of the thing fuppofed, as much as if he had faid, If ye ferioufly confider things, it cannot but feem juft, reasonable, and for your intereft, to ferve the Lord.

Secondly, We have, as it were, a conceffion, Chufe ye this day whom ye will ferve; that is, if there be any with whom ye may be better, look out for them, and ferve them: and this, as the fuppofition, implies alfo a strong infinuation of the abfurdity of that which feems allowed, as much as if he had faid, 'Tis clear as the fun, if ye leave the Lord ye can no, where be fo well; and therefore were ye left to your choice, and did choose well, ye muft ferve God: reafon and intereft bind you to it.

That which we are now to confider is, why this form of expreffion is ufed; why is one thing in appearance faid, and the contrary meant? He fuppofes that it may feem evil to ferve the Lord, when he intends it highly abfurd that it fhould do fo: he refers it to them to choose another, when

he

Part III. he means that it is foolish to think of fuch a thing. For answer; This way of expreffing it gives the argument feveral advantages.

1. It clearly proposes a very advantagious and engaging difcovery of God, as one that in the propofal of duty has fuch a regard to man's ad vantage, that he would bid him do nothing but 'what is for his intereft; as if he had faid, If this were not for your good, and what may evidently appear to be fo, I would not prefs it upon you. Again,

2. This expreffion fets in a clearer light the abfurdity of that which he diffuades from. Had he preffed them only by a plain propofal of the advan tage of the Lord's fervice, they might have heard this without a due impreffion of the evil of the contrary courfe; but now they cannot mifs to look how hateful it is, when it is, as it were, propofed to them to confider and choose

3. Thus, by propofing what at present must appear deteftable, it not only obliges them to an acceptance of God's fervice, but to a plain and fuitable declaration of their abhorrence of the fer vice of idols. This effect we fee it had upon them. For they usher in their answer with a God forbid, which expreffeth a deteftation of the way refused.

4. This ferves to infinuate a fufpicion of them, which might oblige them to declare themselves with more plainnefs, and with more vehemency and concern; which might be a standing witness against them and their pofterity, when straying from God. Now, having opened this argument, we fhall next offer a few oblervations from it, and fo go on to the next part of the verte, which is the thing we design to infift on.

And

And of many obfervations we only offer the few following.

1. Every man is obliged to ferve fome god. This the argument not only fuppofes, but infinuates as a thing ridiculous or fo abfurd, that it is not to be fuppofed that any rational man can be guilty of rejecting all gods: they must serve God or idols.

2. The Lord binds no man to any thing but what is for his good, and what may, and will, upon due confideration, appear to be for it.,

3. The Lord will have fuch as ferve him, to do it upon a rational conviction of the advantage of his fervice; and therefore fays, If it seem evil unto you, go where you may do better.

4. The Lord fears not the iffue of a fair deliberation, and the serious consideration and comparison, both of what may be faid for him, and against him; and therefore he bids them look if they could, upon a due confideration, prefer idols to him.

5. Such as look well to idols, will foon fee the folly of them. 'Tis but look to them and ye must abhor them.

6. To be fatisfied who is to be preferred, God or idols, requires no long time to deliberate; 'tis but look and ye fhall be fatisfied. Choofe ye, this day. Ye may be clear on the point, fays he, this very moment before ye leave the fpot.

Thus far have we confidered the argument. We have next Joshua's own refolution; but as for me, and my houfe, we will ferve the Lord.

This being that which we had the principal regard to in the choice of this text, we shall more particularly notice every thing in it. And,

Firft, We have the thing refolved upon, and

that