This morning we’ like to turn your attention to Joshua 24:14-28
Just before we get there let’s consider chapter 23: 1, because this scripture informs us that Joshua is now old and stricken in age.
This is Joshua’s Farewell to the Leaders and the following verses states:
“23 After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, 2 summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am very old. 3 You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you.”
Joshua was about110 years old the term stricken in years would refer to a physical feebleness. Plus in Joshua 24:29 Joshua dies and it is recorded that he was 110 years old.
At this point he has been Leading the People of God for many years since the death of Moses but Joshua realizes that his career is about over and so he calls the people together.
In the chapter 24 he gathers together all of the tribes of Israel to part of the land called Shechem. He did this under the command of God. Joshua feels it very important that he addressed the people one last time and to lay upon them the solemn charge that we find in verse 14 and 15.
“Joshua 24:14-15 14 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. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye 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.”
Therefore, fear Jehovah and serve him!
It is rather significant that he would gather them together at Shechem as we go back in history we find that Abraham had been commanded by God to leave his family and his land and journey to an area that God would show him and that was Shechem. (Genesis 12:6)
Shechem is the place where Abraham first settled. It is the land where he built an altar unto the Lord and offered a sacrifice unto God.
Later Jacob and his sons more or less settled in Shechem.
It was at Shechem Jacob purchased a field from Heron and began really the inheritance of these people.
According to the Bible, the curses that would come upon the people if they forsook the law of God were pronounced from Mount Ebal in Deuteronomy 27:11-26; the instructions are to stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce the curses, while Mount Gerizim is where the blessings are declared. Shechem was the land in between.
Therefore, most of these people that gathered with Joshua were people who had
been there on that awesome day -when from the top of Mount Ebal the men cried down
the curses that would come upon them if they disobeyed God and they responded:
Amen! Amen! Then, they heard the corresponding blessings coming from
Mount Gerizim. If they would follow the Lord and keep the Lord’s Covenant blessings would flow back to them.
Joshua read the law of God to them and they made a covenant to serve the Lord but that was a few years back and now they have settled in the land. Now they are beginning to prosper in the land and so often tragedy takes place in
the time of prosperity, because that’s when a person’s heart is often taken from the
Lord.
I find in a time of poverty we ware more or less forced to trust in God but it’s in the time of prosperity that people so often get their eyes off of God.
1 Timothy 6:9-10 King James Version (KJV) “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”
AND so these people be began to turn again to the gods that were brought out of the land of their fathers
Do you remember when Rebecca came out with Jacob she had stolen the the gods of her father? That was Genesis 31:19
Joshua here, is saying now put away these gods! The people had carried with them some of the Gods from Egypt! God said put these Gods away and serve Jehovah and if it seems evil unto you to serve Jehovah then choose this day just who you will serve!
Will you serve the gods other on the other side of the mountain, Will you serve the gods of the Amorites (in whose land you now dwell) ?
But Joshua says: As always, and in this last message to you, as for me in my house we will serve the Lord.
Now, the choice is yours!
Every man (Woman and Child) serves some god.
No person lives totally independent.
Every man bows his knee
Every person lives their life for some master passion, some guiding
Principle, some influencing concept, and every person has a god that
serves them.
To really find the god that you are serving you can finish this phrase for to me:
To live is to ……..
Now the answers will vary!
Here are some examples: you may be living for whatever to your Master passion,
You may be living for whatever gets you out of bed in the morning,
You may be living for whatever drives you towards goals,
You may be living for whatever gives you pleaser, whatever gives you the most happiness, or most successful.
Success people aim high and go for it. I hear things like I’m only satified if I’m at the top! If I’m the president of the company,
If I’m a millionaire by the time I’m 30!
Some say: for me to live is success
Others would say for me to live is pleasure!
If looking for pleasure some have told me the following: I’m out after a good time
Man, I’m looking for the action,
I want to find pleasure,
I want fun and they live their whole life for pleasure!
Others have told me: For me to live is to develop my mind! My understanding, my mental capacities, and I feel that it’s important that we know as much as we can about the universe!
So some of you are now asking pastor what is the correct answer?
Let’s let the Apostle give us the correct answer.
Paul says in Philippians 1:21-23, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me”.
Life is a choice!
You choose to believe in Jesus Christ or you choose not to believe in Jesus!
People are smart. Intellectually I don’t think people misunderstand the gospel. I think it is easy to understand that God the creator sent Jesus Christ his son down to meet the cross called Calvary; so, that He could restore us and rejuvenate us from the inside out. People understands that. They understand that a rushing wind, the holy Spirit comes into the body and at that point, we are reborn.
People are smart and they understand. You are smart and you understand.
People also understand, because of the scripture, that Jesus Christ is coming back to get us.
However, we all have a choice!
People do not want to accept Jesus Christ and be reborn, because they do not want to live a life of self denial.
People to choose to live after the flesh. People choose to live the way they want to. People choose wrong. People choose evil over right. People choose pleasure and happiness.
However, they do not know the true joy that comes from serving the Lord.
But it’s a choice!
It has to be a sincere commitment. Joshua said to serve him in sincerity and in truth. (Verse 14)
To this end, God created us in his image. With the capacity of self-determination and self will. We have the capacity of choice!
He gave you and I choices and he gave us the capacity in order to make those choices.
Joshua laid out the alternates. He said it in this way: the gods that your father served on the other side of the river. The gods that you served in Egypt.
Or the gods of the Amorites. “Now dwell” (verse 15) Joshua says, and that means make your choice!
In other words, there are a lot of gods to choose from. They come from all areas and all walks of life. There is a lot of gods that you can allow to be the master and ruler of your life!
You can allow money to become your master passion in life. Money can be a factor that rules over your life!
Or you allow pleasure or you can allow other things to become the master passion of your life or the governing wheel of your life.
However, today we have become much more sophisticated. We don’t name our little gods that start with a lowercase G anymore.
You see, people still serve pleasure today. In the old days, they had a name for this god and it was Malik. Malek was the god of pleasure. You can still find this demonic God on the Internet today. With just a simple Google search his picture will come up and if you serve pleasure you can see his picture.
But, today we don’t name our idol gods per se, but they exists. It’s all around us. People burn their incense towards these gods. People still bow their knee to this god.
People refuse God and the church over money. They don’t realize that the god of pleasure takes their money too. For example, I’ve never went to the movies for free. I never went to a ballgame for free! I certainly did not go to Disney World for free. See the god of pleasure takes your money as well.
Scripture tells us to choose this day who will be Lord over your life.
In this final message delivered through Joshua, he tells the whole land that as for him and his household, they shall serve the Lord. Who do you choose this day?
Choosing Jehovah, like Joshua and his family, is the best choice. Choosing to accept Jesus Christ, as your sacrifice for sin is the best choice. It was the best choice to choose Jehovah in Joshua‘s time and it is our best choice to choose Jesus in this time.
As you go back in this chapter 24, Joshua has been giving them a brief summary of their history. All the way to Abraham’s call to approve to them how faithful Yahweh has been and will been. What God had promised Abraham had been fulfilled to them. Genesis 5:18
Today you and still count on whatever God has promised. We will see it come and unfold before our very eyes.
God gave us his word.
God gave us his promises.
As Joshua explains to the people they realize that Jehovah is a powerful God.
God had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.
Exodus 3:7; “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, I know their sufferings and I have come down to delver them out of the hand of the Egyptians to bring them up out of that land to a good
God had parted the red Sea.
Exodus 14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
God had fed them in the wilderness.
Deuteronomy 8:16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.
God was able to drive out all the inheritance of the land and give it to the Israelites. Joshua 11:23 So Joshua took the entire land, just as the LORD had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.
God gave them this for their inheritance.
Therefore, our God is the most powerful God.
As Joshua gave them this history lesson, he also gave them a lesson on how good God is.
God is provider!
God is deliverer!
God is wonderful!
God is stronger!
God is the leader of the army!
God delivered them according to his power, his mite, and what God have his people what he wanted for them.
And guess what, this morning, he is no respect of person. Therefore, he is still the god of yesterday.
He is still the God of today and he is the god of forevermore.
God is faithful.
God wants and delivers the best to his children.
God is a good God.
Now, with all of this being said, with all this being understood, Joshua makes the proclamation, “as for me, and my household, we will stand up and serve the Lord God.”
He is all sold out folks! With his every being and every breath, he loves God. Today, do you love God that much? Do you love God that so much that you will serve him until the end? He deserves our very best and our total commitment to him.
Accept Him today! Submit your whole person to Him today and get a fresh renewing of that holy ghost!
It is these final days that we need Him the most. Don’t turn back! Pull, push, and press forward.
Let’s get back to the message of Joshua!So, today we have established that today is the day of salvation. Today, is the day that you must choose.
However, if you choose not Jesus Christ, then you’ve already made the choice to choose Satan.
You know, if I had a week that I can spend with each family I believe we could figure out who you are serving today.
Observing a persons life, you can very easily tell who they are serving.
And with a careful observance of your own life you can tell who you were serving.
You have already bowled your knee to some god. We oughta take a look at the god that we are serving. Then, we need to make a determination if that is the god we want to serve? Ask yourself, do you want to give your life to this? Do you want this to control your life?
We are saying that if you choose to serve a false God Then choose this day to serve the true and living God.
The God who is alive.
The God, who is faithful.
The God who understands you.
The God that has created you.
The God that has created a heavenly home for his chosen ones.
Choose to serve the Lord.
Choose to bow your knee to Jesus Christ. Choose today before it is too late.
Joshua said, as for me and my house, we choose to serve the Lord.
Joshua spoke for himself and for his family, but in reality, we can only speak for ourselves. There comes a day that each person must choose for themselves.
Take my family for an example. I dedicated my children too the Lord Jesus Christ. I promise to raise them in a house totally sold out for Jesus Christ, but as they grew up and now are over the age of 18, they are starting an adult, and each one of them must choose for themselves who they will serve.
Choices! We all have choices to make, and that’s why we should pray before we make choices. As I look over my life, I can see some of the wrong choices that I made, and only if I would’ve listened to the Holy Spirit, the consequences of those decisions Would’ve been alleviated.
Sometimes, when we make our choices, we make rash decisions, instead, yielding to the spirit however, as you grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, you become more in tune with his Spirit , and you make less decisions without him.
Choices everybody has them, and everybody messes up every now and then.
For example, my high school teacher, that I loved, rode around in a yellow hummer. I wanted to be just like her therefore, I bought a hummer. It was in the shop more than it was at home and so my husband sold it! He would say that was the worst decision we’ve ever made.
I’m sure you’re thinking right now. The Holy Spirit has shown you a decision that you’ve made and it turned out to be a poor decision. Maybe it was a decision that God told you not to make. Maybe it was a decision to sin and the sin took you further than what you wanted to go.
Well, let me tell you something about God, he brought this to your mind just so he could forgive you! All you have to do is ask and stop rejecting Jesus Christ.
Often times, poor choices, lead to consequence. This time, your choice is to leave here with Jesus or to leave here still serving your idol gods. This time, your consequence will lead you to a place called Hell. God is a loving God and he doesn’t send anyone to go to Hell, but we can choose ourselves, heaven or Hell. The choice is yours and it’s laid out before you.
The Holy Spirit would like for me to put it this way:
If money is your God, it won’t save you; nor, can you take it with you.
If pleasure is your God, it’s only four season, and it can’t save you.
If your intellect is your God; it can’t save you.
There is only one God that can save And today that is Jesus Christ. And his name means “Jehovah is our salvation.”
And he came to seek and to save those who are lost.
Therefore, the only wise choice you can make is to choose Jesus Christ.
Choose to believe and receive.
Let us pray!
