Whom Will Ye Serve?
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Whom Will Ye Serve?
(Joshua 24:15)
Logan Peters
Introduction:
1. The book of Joshua is a book of victory. It shows us the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites. With God, they were able to do many great things. The crossing of the Jordan, the fall of Jericho, defeating 31 Kings, and the conquering of all the land.
2. All the tribes have now inherited their land, refuge cities have been built, and the conquest is finally over.
3. In Chapter 24, we are at the end of Joshua’s life. He is addressing Israel and is offering to them warnings of what will happen if they fall away from God and is laying out the terms of the children of Israel’s new covenant with God.
4. (Joshua 24:15) – Joshua presents a decision to the children of Israel, and it can also be a decision that Christians today need to answer as well.
5. Who is it that we serve today? Are we serving the one, true God? Or are we serving a false god or idol?
6. This morning, we will look at three points from Joshua 24:15.
I. A Decision Must Be Made
A. After everything is laid out plainly before the children of Israel, Joshua now extends urgency to the people. They now have all the information they need, and Joshua pushes them to make the decision of whom they will serve quickly.
B. I want us to think about this situation as if we were trying to go buy a car.
1. You look for months and months and finally find the car you have been wanting. You like the price, it looks good online, and now it is time to go and test drive.
i. We know quickly whether that car is worth that amount of money.
2. This is the same idea the Joshua is giving. You have seen all the things God has done for us; you have seen the land he has given unto us. It is now time to choose. There is no need for hesitation, and no need to wait. You know in your heart at this very moment who you want to serve.
C. This reflects so many other examples in the Bible. This idea of seeing the value and power of the Gospel and then acting upon it is all throughout scripture.
1. Acts 2:37, 38, 41 – On the day of Pentecost, after Peter and the other eleven apostles spoke to the multitude, there were those who responded immediately.
i. Do we see the emotion and the desire of correction from the multitude? What must we do? How can we fix it?
ii. Peter gives tells them what needs to be done in verse 38.
iii. The people wait until the next service time, right? They gladly received it and were baptized that very day.
2. Even in Acts 8:36, after the Ethiopian Eunuch was taught by Philip, he understood what needed to be done. Here is water, what doth hinder me from being baptized? Not, “take me into the city first and we will find water”.
3. In both accounts, we can see there was a sense of urgency. Those who were being taught, acquired enough information that they were able to definitively decide that they needed to be saved. They saw the power of the Gospel and knew that something had to be done.
i. When we see that we are committing sin, we must make that correction, and we must do it quickly.
ii. Oftentimes what we do is that we want to wait. I know I am not saved, and I know what I need to do. But I think I want to wait a couple more years before I get baptized. Or if we have already done that, and we find ourselves in sin we wait before repenting.
iii. How dangerous is this! We do not know what tomorrow holds. We really do not even know what the next day will hold. Our souls are not something to take a chance on.
D. There will also be those who will decide not to obey, even after all the evidence is placed before them like the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-22).
And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
1. This rich young ruler had so much zeal and was ready to follow Jesus, until he had to give up his possessions.
2. The ruler did not see the power of the Gospel. Even with Christ there right before his very eyes, he did not see what was truly important.
3. We must be ready to make our decision. When all the evidence is placed before us, we must give an answer. The rich young ruler made his decision, but he made the wrong one.
II. A Master Must be Chosen
A. Reference back to Joshua 24:15 – If we just continue with the rich young ruler, we see that the decision to be made is very simple. Will we serve God, or will we serve an idol? Answering this question is essential to the rest of our lives. Even if we do not come out and say it, we can still fall under idol worship today.
1. There are so many different things in our lives that can be idols. These idols can be other gods from different religions, or they can even be everyday aspects of life that we put over the one, true God. I want us to recognize some different possibilities of idols in our lives, that if we are not careful, we can start putting them over God. Just a warning, we are going to start off light, and it might get kind of heavy as we go farther into it.
i. Our hobbies can turn into idols can they not? We all have hobbies, and things that we enjoy doing. But there is temptation in those things as well. We can get so wrapped up in those hobbies that we begin to neglect spiritual matters, and possibly completely neglect the church altogether. It is in no way wrong to have hobbies, but we must be mindful that we are not placing those hobbies above God.
ii. Along those same lines, here is the one everyone thinks about when we say the word “idolatry”. The M-word... Money (Matthew 6:19-24). Our treasures are not on this earth friends. Is it possible for us to get so enthralled with making money, that it becomes an idol? Absolutely. At some of my past jobs, there were men who would work 80 hours a week if you allowed them to. And for what? To make more money. The love of money is a disease (1 Timothy 6:10).
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
2. Can our families and even our own selves be idols? (Luke 14:26). As hard as it is to hear and think about, yes, our family can be our idols. As we just read, Christ tells us that he must come first. If we are to truly obey and follow Christ, then we must give our idols up. No, I am not saying that we need to abandon our families. I am not even saying all of this in a negative context. But to be a good spouse, parent, or grandparent, we must remember who is to be first in our lives.
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
3. Christ tells us in Matthew 6:19-24 that we cannot serve two masters. And in Luke 14:26, we cannot love anyone or anything else over Him. That includes us, friends. And to be honest, that is the biggest issue that faces the church today.
B. In a self-gratifying, self-reliant, and self-driven world, we must let ourselves fall into the trap of thinking everything is about me. Throughout His ministry, Christ teaches that people are not to lean and rely upon themselves but to seek after God and to follow Him.
1. Jesus did not tell us to follow our hearts, Jesus said to follow Him (John 10:25-29).
2. Jesus did not say to live our own truth, He said that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
3. Jesus did not say that if we are happy, that is all that matters. He said what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but lose his soul? (Mark 8:35-36).
C. Making ourselves an idol is very dangerous, but as we can see, it has infected the world all around us. We must choose our Master. We must choose who we will give our lives to. Is it going to be God, the Almighty Creator of the universe? The One who loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us for the remission of our sins? Or are we going to choose ourselves? Are we going to choose our families? Are we going to choose money or some other material thing? We must look inside ourselves at this very moment and decide, are we truly following God? Or are we still putting Him second?
III. A Servant Must Be Diligent
A. In Joshua 24:15 is one of the most powerful statements given by Joshua. “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. Despite the influence of others, Joshua makes it known whom he will serve. The service of the Lord is the most beautiful life that one can lead. Serving God is not only a blessing, but it takes hard work, dedication, and diligence.
1. In Mark 8:34, tells us our path. This is a life of serving diligently. There is not any vacation time, there is no retirement plan, and there is no earthly reward. Day-in and day-out, we must consciously choose God and the pursuit of His will over everything else in our lives.
i. We must deny ourselves. We must put away our worldly idols. The lives we think we should have. Denying ourselves means to give it all to God and to fully trust in Him.
ii. We must take up our cross continually. Does our cross get heavy? Do we get worn out? Do we sometimes question why we are even carrying the cross at all? But did He say to stop?
iii. We must follow Christ. Follow in His footsteps, follow in His teachings, and follow in His command to seek the lost.
2. This all describes Joshua in a sense does it not? Joshua spent much of his life learning from Moses and Aaron. He was there for the faithfulness and the disobedience of the children of Israel. It is evident from his last speech, that he knew where to keep his faith.
B. Just like Joshua, we must be diligent in our service to God. What does that look like? How can we accomplish that and be a true servant of God?
1. Find joy and satisfaction in laboring for the Lord (1 Thessalonians 1:3). How do we feel when there is an organized plan for the church here to help someone? How do we feel when we are asked to take a few hours out of our Saturday to come and do a service project? Are we complainers or are we doers?
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
i. How can we read and understand passages like James 1:22-25 where James tells us that we should be doers of the word and not hearers only. We “amen” it from the pew, and then when it is time to go out and do the work, we stay home.
ii. In Matthew 25:31-46 , Christ says inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, ye did it or did it not unto me. Being a servant of God means we are to help people. We are to be diligent by finding satisfaction in the work.
iii. If we are not being diligent, and we are being hearers only, I urge you to look back at Matthew 25:31-46 and see the result of it.
2. If we are to be diligent, we cannot give up when times get tough (Galatians 6:1-10).
i. What we sow here on earth, we shall reap at the last day in judgment. Paul says to not be weary in well doing, but to press onward. When we are feeling like there is nothing going right, push on and continue to serve all men, especially those of the household of faith.
ii. Even when we feel like we are in a stagnant place in our church growth, or reaching the lost, we must remember the most important thing: just keep going.
iii. Even if things around us seem to be falling apart, be diligent. Paul tells us so in 1 Corinthians 4:15-18. He says for which cause, (what cause? The cause of Christ), we faint not but though our outward man perishes, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Our faithful service to the Lord gives us reason to move forward and to never give up or give in.
Conclusion:
1. From our study this morning we see the leader that Joshua was. We see how faithful he was to God, and we see what the Israelites meant to him. He loved them and wanted them all to serve and follow God.
2. So, this morning, I must give you the task of answering the very challenge that Joshua gave to the children of Israel… Choose you this day who you will serve. Will it be the things of this world? Will you choose money? Maybe your career? Or maybe even your family? Or will you choose the one, living God. The God who loved us so much that he sent his only Son to die on the cross for our sins.
3. If you are here this morning and have not obeyed the Gospel, if you have not yet chosen to serve the Lord our God, all that He asks is that you:
a. Hear the word (Romans 10:17)
b. Believe (Hebrews 11:6)
c. Repent of your sins (Acts 2:38)
d. Confess Jesus as the Son of God (Romans 10:9-10)
e. Be Baptized (1 Peter 3:21)
f. Live faithful until death (Revelation 2:10)
4. If you have already done those things and realize that maybe you have allowed old idols to come back into your life. Maybe these are distracting you from being a true servant of God. We urge you to make those things right with God today.
5. Choose you this day whom you will serve. We’re ready, and God is ready to welcome you into the fold as His child.