What Are You Living For? pt 6
What are you living for? • Sermon • Submitted
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· 11 viewsThe command to "Be Holy" is a call to make a choice...will we commit to the Kingdom of God, or will we simply be involved with church?
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What are you living for?
What are you living for?
Life is a matter of choices, isn’t it?
Everyday we make choices....
Let’s face it — We are who we are today, BECAUSE of the choices we made yesterday. Amen?
This series has been about choices.... I hope you’ve caught on to that.
Through out this series, we have faced the same question, and it is what we are finishing with today:
What are you living for....the Kingdom of God, or yourselves?
Lev
“Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
We....God’s Children…the redeemed…the Ones who are saved…the Beloved…are called to one thing — holiness.
And let’s face it — Holiness is a choice!
From the very beginning, God has been calling us to make a choice.... To decide for ourselves how we will live....
In the Garden, Adam and Eve had a choice, eat the fruit, or don’t…obedience to God, or not...
Life is full of choices.
We cannot be holy, if we do not commit to being holy,... but....we cannot be holy on our own can we?
We make choices everyday, amen? In fact, this morning we made choices that will impact how the rest of our day turns out.
We choose whether we will get out of bed when the alarm goes off.
…whether we will take time to read the Bible and pray.
…what to eat for breakfast.
…whether to go to church or not (I applaud those who chose to be here…it will change your day)
…what to wear.
Everyday we make moment by moment choices, some good, some bad, amen?
Some choices are easy, some are not... Amen? Let’s face it, sometimes we make bad choices....choices that we will never be able to “unmake,” choices that effect the rest of our lives, but here is the good news — we are not stuck with those choices.
God can turn our choices around. There is only one “right” choice that we need to make.... And that is what Joshua’s focus is here — Make a choice!
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
but....we cannot be holy on our own can we?
Now, we can say a lot of things about Joshua as a leader....
He made some mistakes.....He didn’t train a successor, like Moses did with him, but one thing we cannot say is that he chose to commit himself to anything but God....
Think about that — Joshua was one of the Israelites delivered from Egypt with Moses.... He was sent as a spy, and he and Caleb were the only ones who said “We can do this because God is with us!” He saw the wilderness wanderings, saw God part the Jordan, led the Israelites into the promised land, saw God deliver them victory after victory just as He had promised....
Joshua was committed to God!
Holiness requires a commitment to God.
Joshua was demanding that the Israelites make a choice — Either commit yourselves to Kingdom of God, or commit yourselves to the world!
Joshua knew where he stood. Did they?
Look at their response:
Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
Joshua 24:16-
Now, you would think that would excite Joshua, right? After all, who doesn’t get excited about someone voicing faith in and commitment to God?!
But look at what Joshua says to them:
But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good.”
Joshua 24:19-
Why would Joshua say this?
I want you to notice where they are.... this is important.... look back at:
Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God.
Joshua 24:1-
What is important about Shechem?
Warren Weirsbe — “Shechem was the ideal location for this moving farewell address by Israel’s great leader.”
Shechem was “holy ground” for the Israelites.
— it was where God promised Abraham that his descendents would inherit the land.
— it was where they recommitted themselves to God under Jacob’s leadership…and Jacob had buried their idols.
— It was where they had reaffirmed their commitment to God back in .
— Yet here they are again…at Shechem…once again being called back to a commitment to God.
What happened to them?
Look at:
God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your clothes; then come, let us go up to Bethel, that I may make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak that was near Shechem.
Gen
Notice, Jacob tells them to “put away” their idols, their foreign gods. That term is “Destroy.”
The Israelites gave him their idols, their gods, but what did Jacob do with them?
Instead of destroying them, he simply “hid them.” He kept them....buried under the tree at Shechem.
Let me tell you, we cannot serve the Lord if we are still holding on to the things of this world.
That is why Joshua told them, “You cannot serve the Lord...”
The Israelites were still holding on to their idols. Notice that this passage is the third time that the Israelites had committed themselves to follow God alone.
The people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.”
Joshua 24:
Yet, in the very next book, we find them again holding on to their idols.
Moreover, that whole generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them, who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and worshiped the Baals;
The Israelites were involved with the Kingdom, but they were not committed to the Kingdom.
Look at what Joshua says to them in vs 23
“Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
Joshua is challenging them to be FAITHFUL.
Let me tell you:
— If you are not faithful to God, you cannot be faithful to His Church.
— If you are not faithful to God, you cannot be faithful to ministry.
— If you are not faithful to God, you do not have the ABILITY to be Faithful.
Idols in your life will cause you to be unfaithful to God. It’s that simple!
So…how do we know if we have idols in our lives? How do we gauge our faithfulness to God?
If staying at home on Wednesday doesn’t bother you....
If staying home on Sunday doesn’t bother you....
If not being a part of the small groups doesn’t bother you....
If not helping/serving with outreach activities doesn’t bother you.....
If you are ok with just hearing the Word every now and then.....
If you aren’t desperate for people to find and know God.....
Then let me tell you....you are involved with the church, but you are not Committed....
We are faithful to those things that we are committed to.
Have you ever tried to lose weight? If we are not committed to lose weight, we will not be faithful to the process.
The same goes for school....health....overcoming disease....and holiness.
If we are not committed to it, we will not be faithful to the process.
Joshua leaves no room here for half-heartedness…there is no room for unfaithfulness in the Kingdom of God…Joshua’s standard of service is: “with all faithfulness”
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
Joshu
Joshua does not leave room for “casual faith”....for serving God when it is convenient....when things are going well…or when life is easy.... God does not allow for Faith “on our terms.”
God calls us to commitment to His Kingdom.
We need to understand something here:
There is a difference between being committed to the Kingdom, and simply being involved in church.
You do understand that there is a difference there, right?
Let’s take breakfast as an example:
A traditional breakfast is: Eggs — bacon — sausage — potatoes — pancakes...
When we consider the eggs and bacon, there is a difference in how each of them made it to the plate....
The chicken simply laid the eggs — whether scrambled, over easy, sunny side up, an omelet — the Chicken was only involved.... at the end of the day, it is still in the coup.
The pig however… regardless it is ham, bacon, sausage…had to give up its life.
The pig was more than just “involved” — it was fully committed.... The pig had to give up its life to provide breakfast for us.
Church, the only way that we are going to experience the fullness of the Kingdom of God is if we are willing to commit ourselves completely to it.
Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
God called Abraham out of the land of Haran....out of the idolatry of his ancestors....to commit to Him...
Abraham had a choice to make…so did the Israelites....and so do we!
The choice is ours
We have the responsibility to choose. “Choose this day whom you will serve.” It is not the responsibility of MOM — DAD — PREACHER — CHURCH — NEIGHBOR — FRIEND — it is your responsibility.
Will you commit your life to God’s Kingdom, or not?
It is not an easy choice, but it is a choice that has to be made.
What are you living for?
The choice is ours....either we will choose to continue living in the brokenness, loneliness, and destruction of this world, or we will choose to live in the power and freedom of God’s Kingdom.
James A. Stewart — “Revival is the people living in the power of an ungrieved, unquenched Spirit.”
Because of God’s Grace — we have been invited into a relationship with Him.... Because of God’s grace, Jesus came…died for us…and bridged the chasm that separated us from God....
Because of God’s Grace…we have been invited into a restored relationship with God — we have been invited to reunite with the “Holy and Jealous” God of Joshua....
That is the heart of the gospel....
Now is the time for us to make our choice.....
Will we commit fully…and completely…to our relationship with God? Will we see the process through and remove the idols and worldly “gods” from our lives, and seek to live for God and His Kingdom?
or will we remain in the world?
If we want to experience....truly experience....the glory of revival in our lives, then we MUST choose to commit ourselves COMPLETELY to God’s Kingdom.
What are you living for?