As for me

The choice to follow God is the most important choice you will ever make in your life. Do you remember when you made that decision? I remember when I decided that I would follow God. I was in the youth room at First Baptist Church of Macclenny. The youth pastor was preaching about Hell and the A/C in the building was out in the middle of the summer. As we were all sweating and trying to breathe he presented the gospel and God’s great love for us. It was in those moments that I decided that I wanted to follow God. I want you to take a moment and think about that time when you gave your life back to the one who created it. Remember how you felt? Remember the promises you made to God about the way you would live? Where did that go? You know what I am talking about. Over the past days, months, years, or decades that excitement has faded. You have grown accustom to your life, you have experienced failures that made you feel week. You have experienced heart ache that has caused you to question, and you have lost that excitement in your faith. Today we are going to go back some 3200 years and are going to join with the Israelites as Joshua brings them a message in the same place we are in. The past few weeks we have been presenting the attributes of God and in those weeks it has been our desire to bring about a remembrance of what drew you to God in the first place. Today I want you to turn in your Bible to Joshua 24. In Joshua 24 we will see 3 aspects of the Christian faith. We will see God’s Provision, Mankind’s Problem, and Your Proclamation. Lets pray then we will get into the scripture together.

God’s Provision

Joshua 24:1–13 ESV

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. And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward I brought you out. “ ‘Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. And when they cried to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time. Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, but I would not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’

Have you ever had that person in your life that just never seemed to stop giving? Do you remember how that person made you feel? Was there anything you were not willing to do for that person?

When I started working at AT&T I was relatively young and not the most mature. As a matter of fact there are some in here who may say I still am not mature. I worked for a manager named Tim. Tim was one of the most patient people I have ever met in my life. I remember when he had to talk to me about something stupid I had done he would always start off with a story of something stupid he had done. He would then transition into whatever it was that I had done and how I had to fix whatever it was that I had done stupid. After this he would chat about my wife and how the kids were doing and he would really go out of his way to ensure that I knew he cared on more of a personal level than just being my manager. Tim was the one manager that all of us on our crew would do anything for. One time I was out of town and was working in the mountains. I was 400 miles from Jacksonville and no managers came with us on the trip. I got sent on my first job to the middle of nowhere. I was out there with my music loud, no cones out, vehicle unlocked, and I was not in uniform. As i’m out there air guitaring to Van Halen guess who comes walking up behind me. That’s right it was Tim. Instead of writing me up and sending me home like he could he chose to make it a teaching moment and reminded me that every time I though no one would show up that someone will probably show up. I remember Tim had to call me at 7PM and ask me to pick up the last repair. I was almost an hour away from the customer and likely would not end my day before 9:30PM. When I decided to take this ticket it was because I had reflected on all the times that Tim did something great for me and how he continuously saved my job even when he did not have too.

As Joshua is beginning this conversation with the Israelites he is reminding them of all of the great things God had done for them and how God had continuously come through for the Israelites. The fact that Joshua had to have this conversation with the Israelites points out 2 things. First, they forgot. The Israelites forgot all of the great things that God had done for them. Life continued on and they moved on and had things come up and they had to be reminded of why these other gods were nothing in comparison to God and what God had done for them. The Israelites were very short sighted and did not spend their time reflecting on God and what He had done for them for very long before moving on to the next thing. Second, you have forgotten. If you are in here this morning there is a very high likely hood that just like me you have forgotten all of the great things God has done for you. Stop for just a minute here and reflect on all of the great things that God has done for you. Let me help you here by listing a few of the great things that God has done for you.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Romans 8:28 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Psalm 33:11 ESV

11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

Psalm 32:8 ESV

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV

9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

God comes through for you. It is time to bring this back into remembrance. When we observe the Lord’s Supper it is a time of remembering the great thing that Jesus did on the cross. It is about remembering the great love that God has for us that He would sacrifice His son for you and for me. God continues to deliver to you without you deserving a thing. Today for instance you woke up, you continued to breathe. You likely got dressed in nice clothes and drove in a nice vehicle at least something with wheels to church. You came to a church where you likely will not have your life threatened for entering. You will leave today and are not very likely to be wondering if you will have food for lunch. God continues to bless you even on days you do not deserve it. God makes it rain on the just and the unjust and God loves you. Today I want to remind you like Joshua did the Israelites of all that God has done for you. When is the last time you took time to write down the things God has done for you? When is the last time you said thank you to God for what He has done for you? If you are anything like me it has been far too long and if you are anything like me you will find yourself in the same place sharing Mankind’s Problem.

Mankind’s Problem

Joshua 24:14 ESV

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

The problem with us as a species is that we have a very short sighted mindset. You just like the Israelites have gods in your life. I don’t know what those gods are for you but I can tell you they are there.

In The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen retells a tale from ancient India: Four royal brothers decided each to master a special ability. Time went by, and the brothers met to reveal what they had learned.

"I have mastered a science," said the first, "by which I can take but a bone of some creature and create the flesh that goes with it."

"I," said the second, "know how to grow that creature's skin and hair if there is flesh on its bones."

The third said, "I am able to create its limbs if I have flesh, the skin, and the hair."

"And I," concluded the fourth, "know how to give life to that creature if its form is complete."

Thereupon the brothers went into the jungle to find a bone so they could demonstrate their specialties. As fate would have it, the bone they found was a lion's. One added flesh to the bone, the second grew hide and hair, the third completed it with matching limbs, and the fourth gave the lion life. Shaking its mane, the ferocious beast arose and jumped on his creators. He killed them all and vanished contentedly into the jungle.

The problems with mankind is that we create gods that devour us. The most common idols in America are:

Security

2. Wealth, Riches, Financial stability

3. Sports

4. Cars

I know what you are saying, “these are not idols and I certainly do not put these above God”. I hope this is the truth, there is a test you can use to see if something is an idol. There are actually 5 different tests you can use to evaluate if something has become a god in your life and I would be happy to share those with you at some time. The test that you should use right now is this.

1. The test of time and attention. How much time, devotion and unquestioned loyalty do I give to this “diversion”? What about passion and intensity of devotion and depth of loyalty? How much time and money go into this adulation, and at the expense of what other things?

The church must come clean. We are full of idol worship. Honestly our country is a reflection of our shallow faith. You want to know why so much time is spent on trying to elect politicians to office that will make laws that will make our country more godly? Because your personal responsibility can stop at the ballot box. You do not have to do anything to prove your faith except to tell others about the person you are voting for. The church is full of people who sit in their seats and say that they do not have false gods in their lives. Most of you sitting in here saying that you are not who I am talking too are exactly who I am talking too. I have gods in my life. I am standing in a place of confession before you this morning. I have given more of my time and my passion to things that I believe will make my life better. Remember the Israelites were no different. They began worshiping Baal because they believed that Baal would make their lives better. What areas of your life have become idols? Joshua called the Israelites out on the carpet. Joshua looked at his country and saw that something had to change. Are you realizing that something needs to change in America and I am afraid that it is not the politicians, it is the church. The church and “believers” have taken to idol worship in ways that they do not even realize are idol worship. You this morning can do one of 2 things. You can hold on to the idea that you have no idols and you can convince yourself that you are not like the rest of us who suffer with idolatry. You can also choose to lay those idols down. Joshua called the Israelites to lay down their idols. I am calling on us at Highlands Baptist Church to lay down our idols. Reflect on your life, find the idols, destroy the idols, and commit that time to serving God. Joshua called the Israelites to make their Proclamation.

Your Proclamation

Joshua 24:15–18 ESV

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond 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.” 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 fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in 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.”

What is your Proclamation? Will you today choose to worship God and God alone? Will you proclaim that to the world? Are you willing to actually lay down anything and everything that gets in the way of your dedication to God? Anything that you choose to devote more time and effort to than to God is an idol and must be rooted out. When you decide who it is that you are going to follow it must come with a proclamation. An announcement to the rest of the world that you are laying your idol down and going to serve the Lord. This morning I want you where you are sitting, between you and the Lord to make your pronouncement. Make it official with the Lord. When you are done and you are deciding that God is who you are going to follow I want each of you to stand. As you make the decision that God is the one that you want to follow and that you are willing to lay down all of your idols to follow Him stand in your place. Ken will lead us in worship this morning and as he does we will start from the seated position in prayer to God. As you make your decision I want you to stand and worship in song the God you have chosen to follow. If you are here this morning and you have never made the decision to follow God, I want to talk with you and help you to understand that decision. If you want to make God your only affection of worship I want to help get that started. My pronouncement is this, As for Me and My House we will serve the Lord God Almighty who Was and Is and Is to come, who laid His son down on the cross to save me from the sin I chose to live in. I will dedicate the life and breath in me to making Him known to the world around me and will work tirelessly to rid myself of the gods that my society has built into my life. What is your proclamation?