2020-02-23 Joshua 23
Notes
Transcript
jsh 23:1-
1 A long time after the Lord had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, Joshua was old, advanced in age.
2 So Joshua summoned all Israel, including its elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and said to them, “I am old, advanced in age,
3 and you have seen for yourselves everything the Lord your God did to all these nations on your account, because it was the Lord your God who was fighting for you.
4 See, I have allotted these remaining nations to you as an inheritance for your tribes, including all the nations I have destroyed, from the Jordan westward to the Mediterranean Sea.
5 The Lord your God will force them back on your account and drive them out before you so that you can take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.
6 “Be very strong and continue obeying all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you do not turn from it to the right or left
7 and so that you do not associate with these nations remaining among you. Do not call on the names of their gods or make an oath to them; do not serve them or bow in worship to them.
8 Instead, be loyal to the Lord your God, as you have been to this day.
I. Generations come and go. The Lord remains.
I. Generations come and go. The Lord remains.
1 A long time after the Lord had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, Joshua was old, advanced in age.
2 So Joshua summoned all Israel, including its elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and said to them, “I am old, advanced in age,
3 and you have seen for yourselves everything the Lord your God did to all these nations on your account, because it was the Lord your God who was fighting for you.
jsh 23:1-8
A. Generations come and go. Our power remains the same.
A. Generations come and go. Our power remains the same.
3 and you have seen for yourselves everything the Lord your God did to all these nations on your account, because it was the Lord your God who was fighting for you.
jsh 23:3
Illus: We live in a world of constant change.
I’m only 38 years old, but the world I live in today is vastley different than when I was growing up.
When I was a kid, afternoons were filled with going over to the shelf with all the VHS tapes and picking one out only to realize that we needed to completely rewind it before it was available to watch.
I thought I was a big deal as a preteen when my parents installed a phone jack in my room so that I could have my very own corded phone.
As a junior higher, I remember waiting for a radio station to play a favorite song so that I could quickly press record on my cassette player creating the perfect mix tape.
When I was 16, my parents got pager for me to keep tabs on me while I was driving my stick shift Ford Ranger. My rule was that I had 5 minutes to call them on their land line or bag phone.
I can still hear the sound of aol using my dial up modem to bring lightning fast internet to my house.
Every generation is different. Every generation connects to the world differently. Every generation listens to different music, communicates differently, consumes media differently.
There is something truly astonishing about a God who is timeless. Yes, there are things that change, but God remains the same.
He is the power, identity, and life of believers and the church.
The gospel is the power of God, has always been the power of God, and always will be the power of God.
As we gather in church, yes things will change, but our God remains the same. The reason we gather has nothing to do with the temporal things that will be different tomorrow. The reason we gather is because we worship the God who was, is, and always will be.
There is great humility in understanding that we are not the only generation to embrace Christianity. In fact, in the grand scheme of of the history of the world, our generation is a footnote in God’s great work.
There is great humility in understanding that you are not the only generation to embrace Christianity. In fact, in the grand scheme of of the history of the world, our generation is a footnote in God’s great work.
10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.
13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.
6 “Be very strong and continue obeying all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you do not turn from it to the right or left
7 and so that you do not associate with these nations remaining among you. Do not call on the names of their gods or make an oath to them; do not serve them or bow in worship to them.
8 Instead, be loyal to the Lord your God, as you have been to this day.
9 “The Lord has driven out great and powerful nations before you, and no one is able to stand against you to this day.
10 One of you routed a thousand because the Lord your God was fighting for you, as he promised.
11 So diligently watch yourselves! Love the Lord your God!
12 If you ever turn away and become loyal to the rest of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry or associate with them and they with you,
13 know for certain that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out before you. They will become a snare and a trap for you, a sharp stick for your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you disappear from this good land the Lord your God has given you.
Jsh 23:6
B. Generations come and go. Our call remains the same.
B. Generations come and go. Our call remains the same.
6 “Be very strong and continue obeying all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you do not turn from it to the right or left
7 and so that you do not associate with these nations remaining among you. Do not call on the names of their gods or make an oath to them; do not serve them or bow in worship to them.
8 Instead, be loyal to the Lord your God, as you have been to this day.
jsh 23:
Illus: Following the storyline of the Bible it is not hard to see the repetative theme of the people.
God created people to love, know, and worship him. People do.
After a while, people choose to worship themselves, idols, or their ways over God. They wander away from God, and God hands them over the emptiness of their decision.
Things go from bad to worse until the gods of self worship and sin lead people to despair and brokenness.
In brokenness, people see their need to love, know, and worship God and return.
The cycle continues.
It is easy to see they cycle in scripture, it is a whole lot harder to see in our own lives.
The step away from God through worshiping ourselves, idols, or our own ways is often clouded because allowed our sinful nature to have a voice in our lives.
You can worship yourself, make an idol out of religious practice, and follow your own way while still in this church building.
In fact the first step away from God was not straight into worldly idolatry, but to empty religious practice.
We must return to worshiping God and not religious practice. Generations come and go, and our call is the same… worship God, obey God, know God, love God.
8 Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.
II. God does not exist for your success.
II. God does not exist for your success.
9 “The Lord has driven out great and powerful nations before you, and no one is able to stand against you to this day.
10 One of you routed a thousand because the Lord your God was fighting for you, as he promised.
11 So diligently watch yourselves! Love the Lord your God!
12 If you ever turn away and become loyal to the rest of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry or associate with them and they with you,
13 know for certain that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out before you. They will become a snare and a trap for you, a sharp stick for your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you disappear from this good land the Lord your God has given you.
A. God is faithfully advancing His plan.
A. God is faithfully advancing His plan.
9 “The Lord has driven out great and powerful nations before you, and no one is able to stand against you to this day.
10 One of you routed a thousand because the Lord your God was fighting for you, as he promised.
11 So diligently watch yourselves! Love the Lord your God!
jsh 23:
Illus: Israel’s success was directly tied to their obedience to God. The same could be said of their failure.
The church’s success is directly tied to their allegiance and obedience to God alone.
I want to be clear about success for a moment.
Sucess is God accomplishing his plan of redemption on this earth.
God does not exist to build our church, we exist to build God’s church.
Far to often we are so busy trying to advance what we want that there is little to no place for what God demands.
We are so busy pursuing our owns wants in church, that we cease to worship God.
God is accomplishing His plan… he will accomplish HIS plan… the question for us is will we be used by God and experience His power.
20 For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in him. Therefore, through him we also say “Amen” to the glory of God.
21 Now it is God who strengthens us together with you in Christ, and who has anointed us.
22 He has also put his seal on us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.
2 cor 1:20-22
B. When you step out of God’s plan, you step away from his providence and into his wrath.
B. When you step out of God’s plan, you step away from his providence and into his wrath.
12 If you ever turn away and become loyal to the rest of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry or associate with them and they with you,
13 know for certain that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out before you. They will become a snare and a trap for you, a sharp stick for your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you disappear from this good land the Lord your God has given you.
jsh 23:
Illus: I regularly hear about the sadness that america is moving farther and farther away from the plan of God.
Personally I am more grieved that the church is moving farther and farther away from God.
Why our churches dying, baptisms becoming more rare? It is simple, we have ceased to follow God.
Where God calls us to share our faith, we are silent.
Where we are called to worship God we worship our preferences.
Where we are called to find our source of life and hope in the gospel, we look to every other place but the gospel.
Hear me, God will bless and give success to those who follow him… God will bring death to churches who have left Him.
Watch how easy it happened in Israel.
8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110.
9 They buried him in the territory of his inheritance, in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10 That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works he had done for Israel.
11 The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshiped the Baals
12 and abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them. They angered the Lord,
13 for they abandoned him and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths.
14 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he handed them over to marauders who raided them. He sold them to the enemies around them, and they could no longer resist their enemies.
8 Before the men fell asleep, she went up on the roof
9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you.
10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings you completely destroyed across the Jordan.
11 When we heard this, we lost heart, and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.
12 Now please swear to me by the Lord that you will also show kindness to my father’s family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign
13 that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.”
14 The men answered her, “We will give our lives for yours. If you don’t report our mission, we will show kindness and faithfulness to you when the Lord gives us the land.”
Jud 2:8-14
III. How will you live?
III. How will you live?
14 “I am now going the way of the whole earth, and you know with all your heart and all your soul that none of the good promises the Lord your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed.
15 Since every good thing the Lord your God promised you has come about, so he will bring on you every bad thing until he has annihilated you from this good land the Lord your God has given you.
16 If you break the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow in worship to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly disappear from this good land he has given you.”
jsh 23:14-
A. Who are you serving with your life?
A. Who are you serving with your life?
Illus: I know that today’s message was tough. It is a warning for us.
It is time for us to return to the Lord.
We all need to return to God.
Our church needs to return to God.
For our idolatry, self worship, self contentedness we must return to God.
Jsh 1:6-7
6 “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance.
7 Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go.
8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.