Untitled Sermon

In your Bibles, please come back with me to .

There are many Famous Last Words in history. Maybe the best was. General John Sedgewick was a Union Commander in America. In 1864, looking over the battle, apparently his last words were, “Don’t be stupid, at that range, they couldn’t hit a ____.”

The Bible records many famous last words. But not to amuse us. In the Bible, people give their most important messages at the end of their lives. Jacob, Moses has a whole book containing his last words, Joshua, David, and of course our Lord Jesus Christ.

At the end of Joshua’s life, he gave two farewell speeches. His second one is the next chapter, 24. But the one we’re looking at is the first speech to Israel’s leaders. The 2nd one is a grand and official occassion for the whole nation, his state of the union address, you could say.

But our one tonight is more intimate, a fireside gathering, you could say. The elders gather round to hear Joshua’s very personal and passionate team talk before handing them the baton.

V1-2 set the scene, and it’s so important to feel the weight of this occasion. so picture the scene for me while I paint you the picture using the context.

Imagine you’re a Middle eastern man with a big family. You’ve many scars from years of fighting, but as v1 says, after a long time, the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them. It was years ago now that the elders divvied up the land and you’d started building your houses in peace.

But v1 continues Joshua’s by now old and well advanced in years, v2 He summoned all Israel – their elders, leaders, judges and officials.

You’d spent a long day in the fields with your labourers when a young lad runs up to you with the following message: our great leader Yeshua ben Nun is dying and summons you to Shiloh for his final will and testament. You quickly gather your things and make your way across the plains. You laugh to yourself in the glorious sunshine remembering how Joshua’d defeated mighty nations, wrestled from them this precious strip of land with such weak men in his army. But as the day comes to dusk, darkness descends on your mind. Like we all do when we come to a big transition, your thoughts wander… What’ll future hold without your leader, your loved one? Will these nations destroy us? what’ll happen to you and your family?

You arrive to a roaring bonfire roaring and the elders chattering among themselves. What will Joshua say?

Then, An eerie hush…as Joshua opens his mouth to speak…

Look at verse 5.

5 The Lord your God himself will drive them out of your way. He’ll push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.

What must be the first place we turn in a massive transition? Surrounded by uncertainty, what’s the only solid foundation to build your life on? Answer? The mighty promises of The LORD your God.

1) Feast on the promises of God (v3-5).

God’s promises are the theme of our passage tonight. We’ve just seen it in verse 5, but Joshua repeats it again in v10, then again 3 times in v14. Then again in v15.

He says feast on the promises of God.

But also, did you notice how many times the word LORD appeared in our passage?

When LORD is in capital letters like that, it means God’s personal name is used – YHWH. The God who makes covenants and promises. I counted 17 times in the Hebrew. God’s covenant name occurs more often than there are verses!

Again and again Joshua emphasises the covenant God. Cling to this God and his promises.

But why does he focus on this? Why is this so important?

The greatest threat to our future as families and as a church, isn’t missing out on the latest fad or advice. The greatest threat is that you’ll forget the one thing on which you can depend– the promises of God. How often in transitions do we look anywhere else for security …but none can be found.

When we stand on God’s promises, we harness the most potent force and being in the universe – YHWH, the LORD your God. When you come to the end of your life, you’ll never regret depending on his promises.

This has personal resonance for me. A few years ago, my last living grandparent passed away, my grandpa aged 90. But just before he died we had a big celebration for his 90th birthday. And naturally he wanted to say a few words. And do you know the main message Grandpa had for us? God is always faithful. Even though we’re so often unfaithful, he is always faithful. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to testify to that at the end of your life.

So clearly this is important. But why is it so hard to really believe God’s promises and live by them? Why do God’s promises feel weak to us?

Well I wonder what you picture when we speak of promises. Over the next few days, you’re going to see a lot in the news about promises. Not God’s promises, unfortunately. But politicians promises. And there’s only one thing more untrustworthy than a politician’s promise, and that’s the promise of an estate agent.

Or maybe you picture someone in your family who’s always making promises but never keeping them or coming through on them. Why? Because they don’t fight to keep them. Keeping a promise takes determination, it takes prioritizing, it take fight, it means saying no to many good things so that you can keep your promise.

So in contrast I love Joshua’s picture of God in verse 3. He pictures not a weak and passive God who makes promises willy nilly. He pictures a warrior God. Who’s fought for us, fought to keep his promises. The divine warrior. That’s our God!

Promises drive the Warrior God’s actions.

And if Joshua could say that God had fought for him, this side of the cross how much more can we say that God has fought for us in Christ? Jesus walked the long and lonely road to the cross, triumphing over forces of darkness. Death is the last enemy defeated, vanquished for us in the resurrection of Christ.

Just like Joshua we look to see how our Warrior God fought for us. That fills us with confidence that his future promises are rock solid.

So reflect on how Warrior God fights to fulfil his promises. Reflect back on how he’s fought for you in your life. , by law that fund must tell you these words: past performance is no indication of future returns. But not so with God. In the Bible, it’s like every prophet irequired to say the words: pat performance gives every indication of future returns

But wait aren’t these all God’s promises to Israel. How does any of this apply to me? Well in one way or another, all of this applies to you. Because says all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ! So if you are in Jesus, then all of these promises are for you too.

I wonder if you’re prone to forget God’s promises like the Israelites? Then what can you do to make them more central in your life? Write them on the doorframes of your house. Memorise them and recite them when you lie down and when you get up. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road. Impress them on your children., Those are Moses’ ideas from DEut 6.

Now let’s really drive this home. Let’s get the balm of God’s promises and really work them into our hearts tonight.

Are you downbeat about the lack of gospel progress around you? (: 18Jesus promises you: “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”).

Do you feel lonely? “Behold I am with always, to the end of the age.” .

Do you feel insecure? God says in Hebrews, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”

Do you feel discouraged about church life? , Jesus says where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am also.

Do you wonder whether you can keep going as a Christian? Jesus says to you tonight, “none can pluck them from my hand”

Do you struggle to see any fruit from God’s Word? , God says My word will not return to me empty.

Do you wonder whether God can really forgive what you’ve done? if anyone confesses their sin, he is faithful and just to forgive their sin and cleanse them from all unrighteousness. ,

Are you worn down by long-term attritional suffering?

Jesus says to you tonight, come to me all who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Don’t look to your own strength to build your life. Come back to the promises of God.

Feast on the promises of God.

Well that does that mean I can just stay in bed all day because God’s going to do it all anyway? It’s his promises so I can stay under the duvet. It doesn’t matter if I steer off course or shrink back.

Well let’s see what Joshua says in verse 6: “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning to the right or to the left.”

The exact words spoken to Joshua in ch1, he now passes on to his leaders. And that priority is careful obedience to what God commanded Moses. And you’ll see which commands to prioritise in particular in verse 7:

The answer is in verse 7: Don’t associate with these nations that remain among you;

Now that’s clearly not an issue of ethnicity, because Rahab and her family were from the nations and they were warmly welcome into the community. 2 weeks ago we saw the Gibeonites too joined. So what is the issue? Keep reading:

do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God.

It’s not an issue of ethnicity it’s an issue of worship. Don’t be like worship the idols of the culture around you. You’re called to be different, worship God alone.

2) Prioritise the worship of God. V6-12.

Now if we’re honest we struggle with the idea of worshipping today don’t we? How tribal of God telling me to worship him? Why should I bow before anyone else? No one has authority over me.

Well please notice something very important in verse 8 – it says you are hold fast to the LORD your God. Hold fast there is the same verb for husband and wife clinging to each other in . It is the strongest adhesive word in the Hebrew. Cling or glue yourself to the LORD your God.

BUT get this, the same word’s used in verse 12 to describe allying, or clinging to the surrounding nations and their idols.

So it’s not a choice between worshipping God or not, gluing yourself God or not gluing yourself to anything. If you don’t glue yourself to his promises, then you’ll find yourself sticking to idols, swamped by the false gods people worship around you.

Let me read you something by an incredibly insightful non-Christian, an award-winning writer called David Foster Wallace: There’s no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing a God like Yahweh to worship is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive.

If you worship money and things — if they’re your meaning in life — then you’ll never have enough. Never.

Worship your beauty or sex and you’ll always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you’ll die a million deaths before they finally plant you.

Worship power — you’ll feel afraid, and you’ll need ever more and more power over others to keep the fear at bay.

Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you’ll end up feeling stupid, a fraud, and always on the verge of being found out.”

So what are the idols of our surrounding culture that tempt you? What are the gods that you’re chase after?

Wallace is right – all of those idols’ll eat you alive. You will worship something. So you better make sure that you worship the only one worthy of worship, the only one it will liberate and delight you to worship. The LORD your God alone is worthy of worship.

Prioritise the worship of God.

And isn’t it fascinating what Joshua goes back to in verse 10? This is the first we started with. He goes back to the promises of God and he ties it our love of God. What is the link? What have God’s promises got to do with my actions?

God’s promises fuel our worship. You will worship God to the extent that you cling to his promises over the false promises of idols.

(We could add love God, obey God, cling to God…)

So let’s get practical. Before you go on that website whose promises you fall for every time. Before you send that message which you know is inappropriate. Before you rush off in your busyness, to do everything but the one thing you must do -worship God…ask yourself, what are these things promising me?

Are they promising to satisfy me? To solve my problems?

And then, just as you would a dodgy car salesman, start questioning those promises. Let’s be a bit skeptical and interrogate those false promises by asking, “If this promises to satisfy, then why do I have to keep coming back to them? Why do I find myself here again and again if it ever worked? If it’ll solve my problems, why do I seem to have the same problems after, but now with regret added as well?”

Identify the false promises you’re believing, interrogate them, and then ask what has God promised me instead? – “Blessed are the pure, for they will see God.” That is one of the most beautiful promise in Scripture. That’s a promise to build your life on. That’s a promise that you can lean on and use to drive out the impure idols in your heart.

God’s promises fuel our worship. You will love, obey and worship God to the extent that you cling to his promises instead of the false promises of idols.

So Joshua says to these community leaders prioritise the worship of God. The best possible gift to your family, to your spouse your children, the best possible gift to your church or circle of friends is your worship of God. Your love for him, your obedience to him. Your stickiness to him. And it’s God’s promises that will fuel your worship.

Let me finish this point with an illustration. I love the film Interstellar. I’m not a big fan of sci-fi, but this one by Christopher Nolan was compelling. It traces

Joshua’s second message: prioritise the worship of God.

But I wonder if you noticed something strange towards the end of our passage tonight. Do you remember the words we read: the idols will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes.

That’s shocking imagery. Something out of a horror film. Joshua’s motivational message started so optimistically with God’s promises. But look how it ends in verse 16:

“If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God which he commanded you, go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger, literally his nose, will burn against you, and you’ll quickly perish from the good land he’s given you.”

Joshua’s third point is: prepare for the judgement of God.

The beginning of his speech was so upbeat, but now the music turns to a minor key.

Joshua wants to wake us up tonight with a sharp warning. A threat really.

If you refuse to root out the idols in your life, if you resist God to the end, then your path will end in judgement.

So if nothing you’ve heard tonight has concerned you about the idols in your life, if nothing has touched you, then you need to watch out. Wake up. Because God’s anger burns against those who don’t heed his warnings. The self-sufficient the proud will suffer an eternity without God in hell.

But how is that fair, you ask?

Well doesn’t our justice require those who commit legal crimes to be punished? Then wouldn’t God’s justice require that moral crimes be punished?

And fascinatingly to see why God must do this, cast your eyes over v15: “But just as every good promise of the LORD your God has come true, so the LORD will bring on you all the evil he has threatened.” Joshua is absolutely emphatic, it’s the promises of God which also guarantee his judgement.

So our question now must be, is there any hope for us? Any hope for an idolatrous adulterous covenant-breaker like me?

The answer in this passage seems to be no. In the next chapter Joshua’ll even say you can’t serve God, you don’t have it in you! And if you make a study of the famous last words of leaders in the Bible, Jacob and Moses and Joshua’s last words all predict disaster and curse. Even fact, the very last word of the Old testament is literally cursed.

But I should say there is one ray of hope in the farewell speeches. In Jacob’s speech he has something mysterious words of hope for one of his sons – Judah. Jacob says from now on, keep an eye on the tribe of Judah, because a lion will come from it who will rule and bring blessing. And I think that answers why King David’s speech doesn’t have a prediction of curse at the end. Because he was in the tribe of Judah. And he knew a lion was coming. And as we keep reading, the New Testament glorious pronounces to the world, the lion from the tribe of Judah has come , and his name is Jesus Christ.

And as Jesus heads to his death, in his farewell speeches at the last supper, and the farewell discource in , there is no prediction of curse. Only a wonderful prediction of the promised HS living in his disciples’ hearts.

But how does Jesus deal with this promised judgement of God Joshua talks about?

Well up on the screen is this glorious verse from

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law (how?) by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

God’s promises drive his judgement, he’s said he will judge so must do so. But the masterplan of God was that the Second Person of God might take the curse upon himself. He would suffer exile outside of the city that Israel deserved. Oh and it overwhelms me when I read Jesus literally suffered whips on his back and thorns in your eyes as he wore the crown of thorns. But the difference was he did that not for his own adultery and idolatry but for mine. And for yours.

And what’s the result of him taking my curse? The next verse says:

14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.[1]

Friends this is glorious good news that Jesus brings us tonight. Because he took the promised curse, we get the promised blessing.

Jesus transforms the judgement of God from something terrifying to something comforting. Because the Jesus who will come again as judge is the same Jesus who’s already paid for my crimes with his own blood. I can’t wait for him to come and put all things to rights.

So prepare for the judgement of God, prepare by taking refuge in the Son, who takes the curse upon himself for all who trust in him.

Feast on the Promises of God. Prioritise the worship of God. Prepare for the judgement of God.

And if you do that, you’ll have the wonderful hope at the end of your life.

Let me close by telling you the last words of one other great leader, this one from the 20th century. Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones was a man who throughout his Christian life and ministry, feasted on the promises of God. By the end of his life It meant he was prepared for the judgement of God and eager to worship him forever. And as he lay on his deathbed, in his final hours, those close to him started praying for a remarkable recovery. He couldn’t speak so he just wrote the words “don’t hold me back from the glory”. May that be the longing of all our hearts tonight.