Joshua 24 Choose Today

I) Joshua 24: Choose Today Whom You Will Serve

A) File: Joshua 24 Choose Today.doc

B) Audio: Choose today whom you will serve

C) Series: Victory in the Promised Land.

D) Preached: September 9, 2007

II) Introduction:

A) Victory in the promised land:

1) Miraculous victories, fulfilled promises, worship and praise of God, great signs and wonders.

2) Sin in the camp, failure of leadership, but each time learning and moving forward.

3) 23 – Joshua is old and advanced in years. Canaan subdued but some pockets of people still remain.

(a) He is old, about to die

(b) encourages

(c) warns

4) 24 – calls together to shechem

III) The Present Choice: The central message: Verses 14-15.

A) A challenge to serve God – their present choice

B) Makes sense only in light of the past and the future.

IV) The Past Blessings: Verses 16-18

A) He delivered them from bondage in Egypt

B) He drove out the people of the land – gave them miraculous victories.

C) Joshua’s previous exposition of history in ch. 23:

1) 24:2-3 God’s sovereign choice of Abram and therefore His choice of everyone hearing Joshua’s voice.

(a) Promise to give Abram many offspring was kept.

D) 24:4-5 But they went down to Egypt – a failure of Jacob’s sons but God delivered them anyway. Forgiveness.

E) 24:6-8 He cared for them and delivered them from Egypt – a battle they did not fight! This was their salvation – it was a sign to Egypt and was heard of in the land.

1) But they lived in the wilderness a long time – another failure – but He delivers on His promise again. Forgiveness.

2) He began to give the land to them – battles they fought.

F) 24:9-10 God would not entertain a curse against them – Balaam even a believer – unable to curse the people.

G) 24:11-13 They miraculously crossed the Jordan, defeated Jericho and many other cities until finally they lived the dream He had cast for them:

1) A land of their own, vineyards, crops, cities.

H) This is their past: faithfulness of God! But they have been challenged with choice – a choice that will determine their future.

V) The Future Dangers: Verses 19-20

A) Joshua reminds them – they cannot serve the Lord. He serves them – the past is all about His faithfulness.

B) But what about this issue of forgiveness? Did he not forgive them in the past? Does He have a 2-strike policy?

1) He forgave the sons of Jacob because they repented and He continued to fulfill his promise to Abraham.

2) He punished the unbelievers in the wilderness and allowed them to die – but forgave the nation and took in the next generation in order to fulfill the promise.

3) The promise is being fulfilled – but the covenant (Dt. 28-30) shows clearly that their remaining in the land is conditional!

4) He promised if they served other Gods to take them out!

C) 23:11-13 – the danger is losing it all! It is a covenant condition – previous covenants were unconditional, that changed at Mt. Sinai.

1) This was the deal at Sinai, Moab, Mts. Ebal and Gerizim

2) Why the danger?

(a) Still much land to possess.

(b) Canaan controlled – kings defeated, pockets of resistance remain.

(c) The danger: that they would intermingle and accept some of their religious practices.

D) They had experienced past blessings, they stood under the promise of future danger, and this day Joshua presents them with this present choice.

E) Indeed the choice was made – V31 they served through Joshua and other elders.

VI) So What does this mean to us?

VII) Past Blessings

A) We’ve seen a parallel journey:

1) Salvation – the blood of the lamb. (first Passover)

2) Deliverance from the bondage of sin. (Egypt)

3) Battle against the spiritual Balaams. Satan the accuser can no longer accuse us – we are righteous.

4) Victory in our lives – ministries, gospel, gates of hell shall not prevail against us:

B) All that God has done in your life – salvation, sanctification, ministry. What are your personal past blessings?

1) Signs to others.

2) Is your past explainable only by an act of God?

C) All that God has done through the church This church – 200 years

1) drought, floods, civil war, world war, depression, world war again, civil rights movement, political differences, apostasy in den. entities / universities. Doctrinal debate, recession, energy costs – Still here.

2) No profit, no extra fringe benefits – a veritable money pit. Yet it is still here.

3) Only explainable if it has a merciful, loving, life-force behind it – only explainable if the gospel it has proclaimed is true!

4) Servants of the Lord sent out. Lasting impressions on many. Changed lives!

D) Through ministries associated with the church.

VIII) Future Dangers

A) Falling away – in the last days, many will fall away.

B) Losing the joy of salvation.

C) Trading the grace of God for legalism.

D) Not eliminating the enemy from our midst

1) individually

2) corporately

E) Losing our first love – losing our lampstand – Rev. 2:5

F) Rev. 2:14 – the teaching of Balaam – putting stumbling blocks in from of others.

G) False teaching – Timothy, Rev. 2:20

H) Spiritual death Rev. 3:1

I) Being Lukewarm – thinking we are rich when we should be poor in spirit.

IX) Present Choice:

A) Too many dangers to try to avoid.

1) Israel’s return from exile – a focus on the law – spiritually dead.

2) Our danger – focus on the law – making our own. We cannot focus on everything we must do.

B) The solution:

1) Always keep in mind the past.

2) Always be aware of danger in the future

3) Choose Today Whom You Will Serve!

X) Making this decision for the first time!

XI) Making this decision again publicly!

XII) Making this decision to join our tribe.

September 9, 2007,

“Choose Today Whom You Will Serve”

Joshua 24, Joshua presents the people with:

1) The Present ________________________. (24:14-15)

2) The Past ________________. (24:16-18, 2-13)

3) The Future ___________________. (24:19-20, 23:11-16.)[1]

What it means to me:

My Present Choice: ________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My Past Blessings: _________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My Future Dangers: ________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“History is His story!”

________________________________________________________________________________________________

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[1] 1) Choice; 2) Blessings; 3) Dangers;