Rob's Expository Sermon Preparation | Joshua 24:1–27 (2)

Introduction:

· The Sunday after Christmas – what to do with it?!

· This text is perfect – it helps us look back, and look forward.

LET’S START WHERE JOSHUA DOES – BY LOOKING BACKWARDS.

I) The Reason for Worship

A. God’s Faithful Acts In Israel’s history

i. Transitions: Time to renew the Covenant

1. As Joshua nears the end of his life he seeks a covenant renewal (vs. 1)

2. Theme of Joshua: Persevering in the life Jesus has gained for us?

ii. a reminder for Israel: Telling the story of God’s Actions (vv. 2-13)

1. God faithfully…

a. …called a people for himself (vv. 2-4)

b. …Rescued a people from Egypt (vv. 5-7)

c. ….won the battles for his people (vv. 8-12)

d. …brought Israel into a land of flourishing (vs. 12-13)

2. God faithfully sustains his people today, at the end of 2021

a. …as we seek to obey Him – even in an increasingly difficult world

b. …as we experienced loneliness, grief, sickness, economic hardship

B. God’s Purpose for his Faithful Acts in Israel’s history (vs. 2, 14)

i. God Liberates His People for the Purpose of a loving relationship of loyal service

1. The theme: God leads Israel from pagan worship to a God-worship

2. God redeems His people to be worshippers.

NOW THE QUESTION IS – WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

II) The Nature of Worship

A. Worship Is Fear And Work (vs. 14)

i. Serving God means “Fearing” God

1. To fear God is to hold a view of God that recognizes his holiness

2. EXAMPLE: our view of God – small, trite, casual

ii. Serving God means “serving” God

1. The word is the same as in Eden: Doing all of our “work” as service

2. EXAMPLE: Joy to the world…no more let sin, and sorrow…thorns infest the ground

B. Worship is Wholehearted Loyalty to God Alone

i. Worshipping God means putting away other gods (vv. 14b-15)

1. Yet the theme in all of this – gods still in their midst! (see vs. 23)

2. Our fundamental problem: We serve and fear other gods!

3. We say…

i. That “the joy of the Lord is our strength” but look to partying to make us happy

ii. “God is my refuge and strength” but obsess about money

iii. “Behold what manner of love the father has…” but make ourselves anxious about how many “likes” and follows on IG

ii. Serving God means worshipping God above all else

1. God must be the one we look to as our…

i. …joy

ii. …identity

NOW, THIS INTROUDCES A MASSIVE PROBLEM.

III) The Massive Problem to Our Serving

A. “If these stones could talk…” (vv. 16-18, 25-28)

i. Joshua’s Shocking Response…

1. Joshua is brutally honest w. Israel’s overconfidence(vv. 16-18)

2. The stones: what would they have said? (vv. 25-28)

ii. And Our Present Reality

1. Like Israel we “speak” well, but our hearts, by nature, rebel

2. What would the “stones” bear witness to in our lives?

B. The Gracious Gift That we Might worship God

i. We Have a Greater Joshua that Forgives us when we Fail

1. Jesus is the greater Joshua who succeeds where every one of us fails

2. Jesus was utterly cut off and expelled in our place.

3. Therefore: know and trust the forgiveness that He has given to us

ii. Our greater Joshua brings us into the Promised Land

1. But see the faithfulness of God again who sends a greater Joshua…

i. …who delivers us from the enemy of sin and the reality of judgment

ii. Who wins the victories for us against the presence of sin today

2. Therefore, rest assured in the Promised Land that he has won for us

Transition:

Conclusion

· Therefore: Who will we serve?