Joshua 24:14-31

Sermon transcript

And will you turn with me, please, this evening to Joshua 24. We’ll begin reading in verse 14. First, let’s pray together. Our Father, we rejoice that this is the day You have made, the day of resurrection, the Lord’s day. the day, as we just sang, when Jesus left the dead in His resurrection, when the empire of Satan fell gloriously. We come to express those triumphs as we consider Your Word, and we pray that we indeed will rejoice in that, even from this book, doesn’t explicitly speak of that resurrection. The salvation that we have in Jesus Christ, the rest that we enjoy now and look forward to for eternity is ours through the crucified and risen Savior. Lord Jesus, may we have a clear sight of You. Holy Spirit, may You open our eyes to these wonderful things.

We pray all of it in the name of our Savior, Christ Jesus. Amen. Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” And the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods. For the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight. and preserved us through all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.

And the Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites, who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.” Then Joshua said to the people, you will not be able to serve the Lord. For He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you. And the people said to Joshua, No, but we will serve the Lord. And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now, therefore, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.

And the people said to Joshua, We will serve the Lord our God and we will obey His voice. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Law of God And he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be for a witness against us. For it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us. Thus it shall be for a witness against you, lest you deny your God.” Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance. And it came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, The servant of the Lord died being 110 years old.

And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath Sarai, which is in the hill country of Ephraim on the north of Mount Gosh. And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua and had known all the deeds of the Lord which he had done for Israel. This is the word of God. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Now, I would venture to say that among our midst in this congregation, that if I were to go to each of your homes this evening, I would find at least one or two plaques hanging on the wall that quote Joshua 24, 15, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. For good reason, as it expresses this determination, not simply of individuals, but families to serve God covenant God who relates not simply to individuals, but to families and the church together as the family of God.

I happened to observe this morning in our house as I was reflecting upon the sermon that we have two plaques. I think we have three total, but we have two plaques with that verse on within three feet of one another. One in the above the doorway leading into our living room and the other one right at the front door, less than three feet away. Glorious truth expressed here. And one that bears opening up as we consider this book and this proclamation at the end of it, around the time of Joshua’s death, as it expresses to us this challenge, which I want to open this evening. Our faithful God, our gracious Deliverer, This God who is a divine warrior, who makes conquest on behalf of His people, He calls us to serve Him faithfully. Let’s consider this from this passage.

We know in this book that begins around the time of the death of Moses at a time when Joshua was already selected to be the one to take the people into the land. Moses wouldn’t be that man. Moses wouldn’t be allowed to go into the land. Moses would have to look at the land from afar off. Joshua would be the one to lead them across the Jordan River. And so in a manner that is calling our attention back to the time of the book of Deuteronomy and Moses’ farewell address as the people are poised on the plains of Moab getting ready to cross into the promised land, now what’s going to take place? Joshua was set aside for this. Joshua, whose name means the Lord is our salvation, was told how God would take him faithfully and the people into the land and to conquer them before all of the peoples, all of the lands before his own people.

That’s a book of conquest, a book in which God is set forth as this great warrior who would go forth before the people as a hornet to drive out all the nations. And yet he calls upon Joshua to be strong and courageous, whose name is the Lord is our salvation, who points ahead to the one Yeshua, Jesus, who is our salvation. And the last time I was here, as we looked at Hebrews 4, and we recognized that the rest that Joshua was leading the people into when they crossed the Jordan River to go into the land was not ultimate. There was another rest to come, the writer of Hebrews tells us about. It’s that eternal Sabbath rest that we enter into when we’re joined to Jesus Christ by faith. And yet, we’re looking forward to that day.

And so this book is all about that in the history of salvation as we’re pointed ahead to the ultimate salvation we have in Jesus Christ. And of course, as you remember from Joshua chapter 5, Joshua encounters Jesus Christ in what we know as a Christophany, an appearance of Christ as the commander of the Lord’s armies. Joshua says to him as he sees him, are you for us or for our enemies? And he says, I’m from the Lord. And Joshua falls down before him. And he’s told, take off your sandals. The ground on which you are standing is holy. This is the very Lord who had appeared to Moses in the burning bush in Exodus. This is the Lord who would go before the people, who would lead them graciously into the land in this book of deliverance.

And the conquest he did bring graciously as they found out at Jericho. But he was not a God to be trifled with. And Israel found that out very quickly in the battle of Ai when the sin of Achan led to the tragic defeat of the Israelites. He was a God who would be served faithfully. He was a God who would have His people honor Him. So by the time we get to the end of the book and Joshua gives his own farewell address, reminiscent of that of Moses in Deuteronomy. And he sort of goes over the history of Israel in chapter 24, beginning with the time of Abram’s calling out of Mesopotamia to go to the Promised Land. The ancient times. Your fathers lived beyond the river, namely, Terah the father of Abram and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.

The Lord took them away from those other gods unto Himself. And then we learn of Isaac and Jacob and Moses and Aaron and the people in Egypt and how they were delivered, how they cried out, we read in verse 7. And God delivers the people from this time of bondage into the wilderness in the time of the exodus to lead them into the promised land. And how they were brought through the land of the Amorites. As we read in verse 8, who lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with Him. And God gave them into their hand. You took possession of their land, the Lord says, when I destroyed them before you. And so the people cross the Jordan, they come to Jericho, and they were defeated, the citizens of Jericho. And then we read of the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Gergesites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

And God gave them graciously, all of them, into the hand of the Israelites. And we read in verse 12 of this glorious image of the hornet, I sent the hornet before you and it drove out the two kings and the Amorites from before you. but not by your sword, not by your bow, but through the divine warrior who would deliver. I gave you a land on which you had not labored. Cities you had not built and you have lived in them. You have entered into this rest. You are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.” Here is this glorious picture as it talks about the rest the people enjoyed in the land that looks ahead to the eternal rest we have in Jesus Christ. As the God who has faithfully brought them to this, look at what He calls them to in verse 14.

Seeing that this is something you enjoy right now because I gave it to you. Fear the Lord as His children, not as slaves who run from somebody they fear, but as children who run and fall down at His feet. Serve Him in sincerity and truth. And there’s much emphasis in this book of obeying the Word of the Lord. Put away the gods. And the people struggled with idolatry. Put them away. Put the gods which your father served beyond the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord. Put them away. But, hey, listen. If it seems disagreeable to you to serve the Lord, make your choice. Choose this day who you will serve. Whether the gods which your father served beyond, which were beyond the river, as Abraham is called, Ter and Abraham are called out of Mesopotamia. or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living?” Well, those gods across the river couldn’t keep the true and living God from calling out Terah and Abram.

They did nothing. The gods of the Amorites, what did they do to stop God from conquering them? Nothing. So, there was really no choice at all here. What’s there? And then the proclamation occurs. This plaque proclamation. As for me and my house, Joshua says, we will serve the Lord. We will faithfully respond to the faithful God. There’s no choice at all. And the people make it clear. And you have this deliberation that goes on in the chapter as Joshua tests them. And in so doing, challenges them again to turn away from their foreign gods. We will serve the Lord too. Far be it from us to forsake the Lord.” And Joshua says, you’re not able to serve Him. He’s a holy God. He’s a jealous God. He will not be trifled with. He will not put up with you trying to serve Him and your other gods.

He wants to be served exclusively. After He has done such good to you to deliver you and bring you into this land, He will turn against you. He will do harm to you. No! The people said, we will serve the Lord. And it goes back and forth in their determination. And in the days of Joshua and in the days following his death, the people do serve the Lord. But we know, and I had the opportunity to consider before you the book of Judges and that cycle in Judges of the people doing what was right in their own eyes, that eventually the people turn away from that. And yet the proclamation remains of Joshua in the people, as if to say, when he says, make your choice, there’s no choice at all. You know, if I, Yeah, if I could save you, okay.

Tell me what your favorite food is. I don’t know what it would be. I had some delicious lamb stew a few weeks ago. Maybe you like lamb stew with big chunks of lamb and potatoes and carrots. I say, okay, I’m going to put two plates before you. You choose which one you want. Here’s a A bowl of lamb stew, and over here is a bowl with dry, crusty, moldy, maggot-infested bread. Choose which one you want. Please, take your choice. Now, you have a choice to make. But there’s no choice at all. Joshua makes this clear. There is the one true and living God. And then there are the worthless idols. Powerless. Whatever they are. Isn’t that what happens in John chapter 6? Jesus who had fed the 5,000. The people come after Him for a meal ticket and He recognizes it and He tells them that they need to eat His flesh and drink His blood, which was utterly abhorrent to the Jew.

And He’s putting them to the test. And they are offended and they turn away from Him when what He was calling them to was to believe upon Him. not to follow Him so that they could have their bellies filled. And these multitudes turn away, and He says to His immediate group of disciples, will you also go away? Do you remember what Peter said? Peter, the one who often took the lead and spoke up very quickly, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. You can serve the Lord or not. But where will you go? You know, this challenge of Joshua in Joshua 24 is About a complete, a complete challenge of you’ve got to make a life choice here. Who are you going to serve? But that is a choice we’ve got to make every day.

In the Lord. If you’re truly trusting in Him, today, are you going to be faithful to the One who’s been so faithful to you? Or are you going to serve a God of your own making who’s not the true God, a God who’s Easily pacified. And so we can easily turn to other things. We can turn to what is the most prevalent idol. We don’t have little statues that we worship typically, though they exist in the Christian faith, quote unquote. But we have our other gods that we struggle with. Our other idols, the most prevalent of which is the one we see when we get up and look in the mirror every day, the God of self. Why is it that we get so upset when things don’t go our way? Why is it that we become so easily angered when we’re treated unjustly?

Because we struggle with the God of self. Why is it that we so easily turn to doing what we want? Why we struggle with the spirit of the Book of Judges of doing what is right in our own eyes rather than what is right in the eyes of the Lord? Why is it that we want to make the Christian faith a lot easier than it is set forth in the pages of Scripture? Because we struggle with the God of self. which in turn is connected to seeking the pleasures of this life rather than God or being more concerned with our position in life or our prestige or what stuff we have and the cares of this life that so easily can consume us, which Jesus speaks of time and time again. We struggle with these false gods more than we may imagine.

And notice, as Joshua makes this choice, as he asks, or he sets forth the challenge, choose this day whom you will serve. As for me, And he didn’t stop there, did he? As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. He makes this determination. And you have this idea that is so clearly set forth in the scripture that God is not simply this covenant God who says, I will be your God and you will be my people. isn’t just a God of individuals, but a God of families. And there’s this concept of headship within families where the Lordship of Jesus Christ is established in families. Could Joshua guarantee that everybody in his household would serve the Lord? No. But as far as he was concerned, as far as he before the Lord As he set forth in this determination to serve God, his house, his home would be one where the Lord would be first.

And so the call comes to us in our homes for that. And I know there are situations where you have one spouse who’s a believer and one who isn’t. And there is brokenness that occurs. And and we have Children who can rebel and turn away from the Lord. But that doesn’t mean it’s okay for us to simply say, well, you know, you know, I don’t want to jam things down my child’s throat, which is true. So I’m not requiring that they go to church with me. And I’m not going to require that they do family worship with us. So long as they are in your household, this idea remains and this call remains to be like that of Joshua. to do all that we can to see that our children are serving the Lord. Because God relates to them as their God.

There is this idea of covenant solidarity in families. There is in this determination, at least in an indirect way, a support for baptizing all of the children of believers as God makes promises to them. But as we see in the beginning of the book, not only do those promises hold the good word of which he speaks, Joshua does, but the threatenings as well. And yet this is a God who relates to families. And as we recognize that, we recognize the need to support one another in the congregation as they seek to raise their children, and others in the Lord, as they would seek to do all that they can by the grace of God to see to it that their families will serve the Lord. They will direct them in the ways of Jesus Christ.

They will set before their children the sweetness of Christ in their lives. And so the call comes every day to us. Choose this day who you will serve. May we be mindful of that. That you don’t maybe have such a plaque hanging in your house. You know what I find with those things? Nothing wrong with them, but you know what I find with them? They become so common that we just walk past them on a daily basis and not think about them. And may this challenge not simply be hanging on your wall, but in your hearts. Let’s pray together. Father, we thank you for this book of Joshua. We thank you for the promise of salvation, the rest that is to come through our Savior, Jesus Christ. May we truly look to him. May we look to you, Lord Jesus, the one who has brought us into this rest.

And the one who has given us the eternal rest that awaits the people of God, this Sabbath rest. In your faithfulness, by your grace, may we respond to that with our faithfulness, with the determination that we will serve the Lord, that we will encourage one another in this way. We ask it all in your name. Amen.

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