DISCOURSE II. FAMILY RELIGION IN GENERAL. A JOSHUA XXIV. 15. · As for me and my house, we will serve MORE ftriking fcene can fcarcely be beheld, than that exhibited to our view in the hiftory before us-Joshua, the fervant of the Lord, and the fucceffor of Mofes, at the head of a numerous household, with a countenance which piety and age had made ferene and venerable, publicly announcing his own perfonal regard to religion, and offering his example in the government of his family to the imitation of all the tribes of Ifrael. The affembly was large: it confifted of the people in general, with their elders, heads, governors, and officers. They all felt the obligations they owed this great and good man, as their captain and leader, their ruler and judge; and were in a difpofition, as the event fhewed, to receive the inftructions he should give them. He puts them in mind, therefore, of what God had done for their forefathers and for them, the fignal miracles he had wrought in their favour, the glorious victories which through his interpofition they had obtained, and the happy fruits they had reaped from them. And he then with great earneftness and affection entreats them to fear the Lord, and ferve him in fincerity and truth, totally renouncing the idolatrous practices of the heathens. So he adds, in the verfe of which our text is a part, "feem evil unto you to serve the Lord, chufe 61 66 "If it you this day whom ye will ferve, whether the gods which your fathers ferved on the other fide of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whofe land ye "dwell." The manner of his address is at once authoritative and perfuafive. It is as if he had faid, "If, after "you have duly weighed the facts which have been "laid before you, and those of which you have been "yourselves eye-witneffes, it should seem unreafona"ble, or any way prejudicial to your intereft, to serve "the Lord, Jehovah-the God that rescued you from "the cruel yoke of Pharaoh, led you through the wildernefs, and put you in poffeffion of this fair and fruitful country; chufe you this day whom you will "serve. Confider under whose protection ye will put "yourselves, and whom it is moft eligible to worship, "whether the gods of your ancestors, Terah, Na"hor, and others from whom your father Abraham fprung, or the gods of the Amorites, in whofe land 66 66 66 ye dwell, and who were utterly unable to defend "their worshippers, or themfelves, against the vengeance of Jehovah, the only living and true God." In fuch terms does he expofe the great fin and folly of their becoming again idolaters, and at the fame time teach them the infinite reasonableness and importance, not only of their profeffing the true religion, but of their acting therein upon the grounds of the moft deliberate confideration and choice. He then adds in the text, But as for me and my boufe, we will ferve the Lord. As if he had said, "Whatever effect thefe my reafonings and perfuafions 66 may have upon your minds, whether ye adhere to "the true religion or renounce it, I am come to a point "with myfelf upon the matter: it is my free, deli"berate and firm refolution to ferve the Lord, to avow "Jehovah for my God, in the face of the whole "world, to render him the worship he has required, to aim at univerfal ohedience to his commands, and "to endeavour, to the utmost of my ability, to pro"mote his interefts among mankind. This was the "refolution I formed in early life; to this refolution I "have hitherto adhered; and, by the grace of God, "I am determined to abide by it to the end of my days. "Nor am I fingular in this refolution: my family agree "with me in it. They are all convinced it is both their 66 duty and intereft to ferve the Lord. There is not a diffenting voice among them. And as to thofe of them who are not yet capable of difcerning good "and evil, I will train them up in the fear of God. By my authority I will reftrain them from vice and "fin, and oblige them to comply with the external "forms of religion. By my counfels and inftructions "I will endeavour to fix falutary impreffions upon "their young and tender minds. By my example I "will allure them to the practice of virtue and piety. "And my inceffant cries fhall afcend to heaven for the "bleffing of God on thefe my well-meant exertions "for their good. As for me and my houfe, we will "ferve the Lord." 66 66 What What a noble refolution was this, and how happily expreffed! Never did Joshua appear to the eyes of the pious Ifraelites in a more venerable point of light than upon this occafion. His attitude, voice, countenance, and manner of addrefs, we may be fure, all strongly marked his ardent zeal for the glory of God, and the tender ferlings of his heart for their real good. Nor was the effect inconfiderable, which this last fermon of his produced on the minds of this large and folemn audience. The people answered and faid, "God forbid, that we should forfake the Lord, to "ferve other gods. We will ferve the Lord, for he " is our God *." And now the object we have in view, is to perfuade you, Sirs, and ourfelves, with great fincerity and cheerfulness, to adopt the language of the text. And should we fucceed, how glorious will be the confequence! You will be happy and honourable in life, in death, and to all eternity. Yea, I will add,—a thought which cannot fail of infpiring every ingenuous mind with ardour,-you will be the inftruments of making multitudes around you happy alfo. Let us then confider more particularly, FIRST, The import of this refolution which every good man, who is mafter of a family, forms in regard of himfelf-As for me I will ferve the Lord. And, SECONDLY, The influence which this refolution, rightly formed, will and ought to have upon his temper and conduct towards those under his care, "I will ufe my endeavours that my house alfo may ferve "the Lord." FIRS Ver. 16, 18. FIRST, Let us confider the import of this refolution in regard of the mafter of a family himself. What we here mean is, to give a clear and compendious account of Perfonal-religion; and the rather as this is the true and proper ground of Family religion. For if he who prefides over a house is himself an utter ftranger to the fear of God, it is much to be apprehended that there will be little of it among those under his care. Our ideas we will clafs under two heads-What it is to ferve the Lord-and the principles upon which every Chriftian man is disposed so to do. I. As to ferving the Lord, it is a phrafe that comprehends in it the whole of our duty; the main branches of which are-the worship of God-the living a holy life-and the ufing our influence to promote the cause of religion in the world. God is to be worshipped. This is the main idea meant to be conveyed in the text, as is evident from the occafion on which the words were fpoken, namely, the propenfity of the Ifraelites to idolatry. Jofhua wished therefore to diffuade them from this great evil, and to engage them to the worship of the only living and true God. The modes of worship indeed under the prefent difpenfation are different from those of the former, not tedious and expenfive, but plain and fimple. We are to offer prayer and praife to God, in his house, in our own houfes, and in our retirements. We are to profess our faith in Chrift, through whofe mediation we look for pardon and eternal life, by a submission to the two inftitutions of baptism and the Lord's fupper. And we are devoutly to attend the |