Joshua 24:1-33

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Joshua 24:1-33

“And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. 4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea. 7 And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season. 8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son off Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: 10 but I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. 11 And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand. 12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. 13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. 14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. 16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 17 for the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: 18 and the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God. 19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20 If ye forsake the LORD. and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. 21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD. 22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. 23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. 24 And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. 27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. 28 So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance. 29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash. 31 And Israel served the LORD all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel. 32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. 33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.”

Introduction: History Is A Vast Early Warning System

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED628]

“Joshua chapter 24, Joshua is calling once again for all of Israel to come, it specifically names the leaders of the tribes and so forth, those that had specific responsibilities. And this time he calls them to Shechem, to give this last exhortation, but it’s interesting as he begins to speak in this chapter, Joshua we hear him say “Thus saith the LORD.” And for 13 verses he speaks in the first person, ‘I did this, I brought you out of Egypt, I did this,’ and the Spirit of God is speaking through him to the congregation, very interesting passage indeed. No doubt God had put it on his heart to gather them to Shechem, it was there where Abraham first dwelt in the land. Now they’re going to be reminded of their history, their relationship to Abraham and the promises made to him. It was at Shechem where Jacob bought a place, a parcel of ground for burial, where Joseph we’re going to hear at the end was in fact entombed. It was at Shechem, if you remember Jacob when he came back from Padam Aram came there, and ended up in trouble with the men of the city through Levi and Simeon. And then there’s a challenge made there to put away their strange gods and so forth, very similar strategy and challenge will be put before them this evening. It was at Shechem, which is between mount Ebal, mount of cursing, and mount Gerizim, the mount of blessing, where the whole nation had gathered, this nation, they had memories of that. It was not that long ago they had gathered in this valley and said “amen” to everything that God’s Word said in regards to if you do this, and you keep this, you’ll be blessed, the blessings on mount Gerizim, and they said “amen.” If you turn away, do this, and worship other gods, the curses will be there, they had said “amen” and agreed to that (cf. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, the blessings and cursings chapters for the nation of Israel). And then a great altar set up on mount Ebal where the curses were and a sacrifice made, of course, on that side of Shechem where their failure would be, and the blood was shed there, and how prophetic and what a picture it must have been for them. So they’re gathered, there are great reminders here. I think of those who go to Gettysburg, Civil War buffs will go there, they’ll go to Antiedem, different places, Gettysburg, what memories are there to take hold of, and they’re meaningful in many ways. We saw those on the 50^th anniversary of Normandy and the D-Day Invasion, Americans go there again after many, many years, and walking the beaches in Normandy, there were great interviews that took place, and there were tears and incredible emotions, there were things to be remembered that were very important. And that goes on all of the time, this convocation, this gathering is at Shechem, and God has definite reasons for that. Norman Cousins, author, says “history is a vast early warning system, history is a vast early warning system,” because now Joshua is going to rehearse their history for them so they understand their beginnings, their origins. Another philosopher, George Santayana said “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” A number of years ago in our Men’s Retreat in Sandy Cove, we asked the Israeli Ambassador from Washington D.C. to come and speak to us. He wasn’t a Christian, but just to come and speak with us, and give us a perspective. And he said “In Israel” and I hope that hasn’t changed [probably has], and I forget the Hebrew words, forgive me, it was the Nethanim, it meant “We see forward by looking back.” He said, “This is what our neighbours tell us, if they had this, they’d be happy,” and he said, “So we looked back and saw where they had had that, and they tried to kill us, so we know that’s not true. And they [the Arabs] tell us, if we move here, that there will be peace, we look back over our shoulder and saw when it was that way, and there was no peace,” they have a great context, a necessity to measure their future by looking back, because their past is not that far behind them. And here, as Joshua gathers them, he’s going to all of a sudden be filled with the Spirit and say ‘Thus saith the LORD,” and God will start to speak to the nation in a very dramatic and remarkable way.

God’s Promise To Abraham, His Seed & To Us: ‘I Will Bless Them That Bless Thee & Curse Them That Curse Thee’

It says “And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said unto all the people, “Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood [the Euphrates] in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.” (verses 1-2) now look, he puts on the mantle of the prophet here, we’re seeing this really for the first time. He’s going to take them back to Abraham, this is the LORD speaking now, “Thus saith the LORD,” look down in verse 6, you hear Joshua say “And I took your father Abraham” and we’re going to hear Joshua speak in the first person 17 times through these 13 verses, “I did this” and “I did that,” he’s filled with the Spirit of God, and he’s speaking in the first person. So this is a prophecy, this is from the LORD, he says here ‘Your fathers dwelt on the other side,’ now twice in these verses we hear “the flood,” the Hebrew is “the Euphrates” speaking of Abraham in the Ur of the Chaldees. He says “Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood, the Euphrates, in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor:” and look what God says, this is God speaking, “and they served other gods.” They were not Jews [Israelites, all 12 tribes, Pastor Joe, the Jews were only one tribe out of the 12. There is a false concept amongst evangelical Christians and Jews alike that Abraham was a Jew, forgetting that Abraham was the father, in that sense, of all 12 tribes. The Jews themselves seem to forget the other tribes and claim Abraham as their own “father.”], they were idolators, there were no Jews [Israelites]. Abraham is called by God, we’re told by Stephen in Acts chapter 7 and verse 2, ‘that the God of Glory appeared to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees,’ Abraham was worshipping idols, they were idolators there were no Jews [Israelites]. In fact Isaiah will challenge Israel, saying “Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD, look unto the Rock from which you were hewn and unto the hole, the pit, from which you were digged, look to Abraham and to Sarah that bear you, for I called them alone, and blessed him and increased him.” We’re told that it was God’s work, it was God’s sovereignty, that he chose Abraham who’d been an idolator, and Isaac and Jacob. Paul in Romans chapter 9 reenforces the argument, he says “Not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob I loved, Esau I hated.” We hear this reenforced throughout, God in his sovereignty looked down at this man, Abraham, worshipping idols in Ur of the Chaldees and his family, and he called him (now this is God speaking to the nation, you know, they’re gathered at Shechem), called him for his own purposes, and set him aside, and brought him into the land, right into Shechem, into Canaan, into this land. And by the way, God made a promise there that I don’t believe has been revoked, “I will bless them that bless thee, and I will curse them that curse thee,” (Genesis 12:3) and I find that nowhere in the Bible that’s been taken away. [Comment: There’s bit of World War II history which shows it hasn’t been taken away, the “thee” in Genesis 12:3 applies to both Abraham and all his descendants, Israel, and the Jews. Just before WWII started there were three Japanese ocean liners. One, the Hikawa Maru happened to pick up in Vladivostok a bunch of Jewish refugees who had travelled all the way across Siberia to escape Nazi Germany. The crew and waiters onboard this ocean liner treated these poor Jewish refugees like they were kings and queens, all the way to British Columbia where they were dropped off. When WWII started against the United States, all three Japanese ocean liners were converted to war-time uses, the Hikawa Maru into hospital ship. Two struck US mines and sank instantly, killing all onboard. The Hikawa Maru did strike a mine three times, and it only damaged its propeller, which was fixed in drydock. It was the safest ship afloat for a Japanese citizen to be aboard during the whole war. It is now moored in Yokohama Harbor as a museum ship, converted back to the ocean liner she was. “In 1940–41, before Japan's entry to the Second World War, hundreds of Jewish refugees from Nazi persecution fled to Canada and the USA via Japan, and many of them sailed on Hikawa Maru.^[1] In August 1940 a party of 82 German and Lithuanian Jews who had travelled via the USSR and Vladivostok reached Seattle on Hikawa Maru.^[5] Later, Rabbi Zerach Warhaftig and his family travelled east from Lithuania to Japan. They left Yokohama on Hikawa Maru on 5 June 1941 and landed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 17 June.^[5]^[6] He described the trip as "a summer vacation and with the war seeming to be so far away" although, he said "I didn't have a peaceful mind because of the strong responsibility I had to help the Jewish refugees with the troubles they faced."^[5]^[6]

In July 1941 the US and other countries retaliating against Japan's invasion of French Indochina ordered the seizure of Japanese assets.^[7] However, the USA gave assurances that the liners would not be seized so Heian Maru and Hikawa Maru continued their regular service to US ports.^[7] In October 1941 Hikawa Maru became the last NYK ship to visit a US port before Japan and the US went to war.^[7] She brought US refugees to Seattle, and on her return voyage she repatriated 400 Japanese nationals.^[7]

Wartime hospital ship

Hikawa Maru as a hospital ship, 1941–45

On 1 December 1941, a week before Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the Mitsubishi Zosen dockyard at Yokohama started to convert Hikawa Maru into a hospital ship, completing work on her on 21 December.^[1] She treated Japanese casualties from the US Task Force 8's attacks on Kwajalein and Wotje atolls in February 1942 and repatriated the seriously wounded to Yokosuka.^[1] On 15 June 1942 the Japanese cruiser Nagara brought about 500 Japanese wounded from the Battle of Midway to Hashirajima, where they were transferred to Hikawa Maru.^[1]

Three times Hikawa Maru survived being damaged by mines. The first was on 3 October 1942 while entering port at Surabaya, Java.^[1] She was repaired in port and departed on 10 October.^[1] The second was on 15 July 1944 when a magnetic mine damaged her off the Caroline Islands.^[1] She stopped in Davao in the Philippines on 19–26 July where her damage was inspected and on 1 August she reached Yokosuka for repairs.^[1] The third was on 17 February 1945 when she was leaving the Port of Singapore.^[1] Her stern struck a mine in the Singapore Strait but she returned to port and was repaired.^[1] In March and April the Mitsubishi dockyard at Yokohama made further repairs on her, and from 21 June to 4 July she was drydocked at Maizuru.^[1]

Post-war service

Hikawa Maru and her permanent berth at Yamashita Park, Naka-ku, Yokohama

When Japan surrendered on 15 August Hikawa Maru was one of only two Japanese large passenger ships to have survived the war. The other was another hospital ship, Osaka Shosen Kaisha's Takasago Maru.^[1] Hie Maru and Heian Maru had been converted into submarine depot ships and were attacked and sunk in 1943 and '44.^[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikawa_Maru So God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants appears to be in full force, even to this point in time. Since the apostle Paul in Galatians 3:29 said all believers in Jesus were also the children of Abraham, the promise applies to Christians and Messianic Jewish believers as well. Has someone really wronged you? Don’t worry about it, I’ve seen over time those people don’t fare well at all, God takes care of all those things, he sees, and he acts over time, move on with your life and forget about it if you can.] We should pray for Jerusalem and the peace of that people, God has never revoked that Promise, that’s why we don’t have to worry about any terrorist nation, so he’s never going to destroy Israel, because there’s a bigger threat out there, it’s called ‘I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee,’ and we know who comes out on top. Ah, a little bit disconcerting to me that our new Secretary of State wants to divide Israel and do a land for peace deal again, and make Jerusalem the capitol of the Palestinian nation. [Israel’s Prime Minister, Arial Sharon, tried to divide Jerusalem once, he had a massive stroke that totally incapacitated him, only to die years later.] What Palestinian nation? It’s Israel, it was Israel thousands of years before there was a Palestinian, just, you know, we look at the world, don’t get me started, what are you trying to do here [loud laughter]. We know the last chapter, it’s wonderful. Abraham was an idolator, called a Haburi, Abraham the Hebrew, chapter 14, verse 13 of Genesis, but the Haburi was just a nomadic person, a person that kept flocks, attested by those who had farms and who tilled the ground. We’re not sure if the root of that is disputed, but it’s Eber from that particular family, which has the idea of being a vagabond [no, it’s Eber, which became Eberites, then to Heberites, to Hebrew, Genesis 11:11-16, “And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years…he begat Salah…Salah lived thirty years after he begat Eber” there are five generations between Seth, Adam’s third son and Abram, who became Abraham. According to Josephus, Abram was a wealthy man in Ur of the Chaldees.] But the Haburi, Abraham his family.

‘Thus Saith The LORD,’ and then 17 times he said, ‘I Did It, I Did It, I Gave, I Routed, I Drove Out, I Gave, I Called, I Did This, I Got’ The LORD’s Directly Speaking Through Joshua

And listen to God speaking here, he says “And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood” from the Euphrates “and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.” (verses 3-4) Notice, and “I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red Sea. And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I destroyed them from before you.” (verses 5-8) and “Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: but I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.” (verses 9-11) How many warriors are standing there listening to Joshua, who had been part of all of these things, and they’re thinking “LORD, you did this, LORD, this wasn’t us, LORD the walls fell down,” how fresh some of these memories were still in their minds. And isn’t it interesting “And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.” (verse 12) you know, Og and Sihon were 12 foot tall, no problem for hornets, “but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow” these warriors standing there, listening. “And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.” (verse 13) “Now therefore fear the LORD,” it’s almost like Romans, coming through the first 11 chapters, and getting to chapter 12, and having Paul say “I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, to present yourself a living sacrifice.” ‘I beseech you by what you just heard in the first 11 chapters of Romans, therefore to present yourselves according to those mercies, not according to yourselves, not according to your worthiness, not according to your spirituality, but by the mercies of God.’ Here you have the LORD as Joshua begins to speak, coming upon him by his Spirit, Joshua saying ‘Thus saith the LORD,” and then 17 times he said ‘I did it, I did it, I gave, I routed, I drove out, I gave, I called, I did this, I got,’ you know, the whole thing is grace, upon grace, upon grace, it’s God’s sovereignty, and he’s bringing them to the point where he’s going charge them, ‘And then serve the LORD.’ ‘You know, these other gods, the gods that were in Mesopotamia and Egypt, they never did anything for your fathers, they never carried them or sustained them.’ What logic is there then in ever turning back to them? And it’s something God has put on Joshua’s heart, this challenge now.

God’s Calling Of Us Is Distinct, It’s A Type Of Being Drafted Into His Service, Like A Military Draft

Look, I remember, I don’t know about you guys, I have the distinct impression that I didn’t enlist, I was drafted into God’s calling, into God’s work [I was too, I was a submarine sailor, I loved submarines, but God through a silly prejudice we diesel boat sailors had against the new nukes that were coming into service, tricked me into getting out, whereas if I had ever gotten onboard a nuke, that would have been it, I’d have done my 20 years in the Navy onboard nukes. God tricked me out of the service and then called me, I was drafted, and I had the distinct impression that that was exactly what had just occurred at the time I was drawn into the Body of Christ and baptized.] I was in another world, I was in another place, 1968 I went to Colorado University, my dad said “You’re going to college whether you like it or not, I was in World War II, I worked through this, I got my GED in the Navy,” I really didn’t have much choice, ‘You’re going to college,’ so I’ll go somewhere where it’s pretty, so I got accepted to Colorado City University, and everybody was out there to ski, my English class was taught by a television monitor, and the professor was in once a month, and the only people that were doing good in classes where Vietnam Vets, school was a breeze for them, they just got back from war, it was nothing. And I was in a different place. I tried out for the football team, I made the football team, I ran the mile 5-35 full uniform, helmet, pads, everything. It was a mile high [up there], they had drafted all these big Samoan guys for the line, they’re all falling down and puking, I’m huff, huff, huff. But then decided after a couple months, I don’t want to be here, just, I was in another world, send me some airplane money or I’ll start walking. Had to pay that off, took me two years, that was a big experiment. Got in the golden gloves tournament, and before it started blew my back out and was in the hospital in traction, and I was 93 in the draft, and my number was called to go to Vietnam, but I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t go to my physical, I was in traction in the hospital, I guess the Lord’s hand was in that [yes, it was], I don’t know. But then I couldn’t hang out with athletic friends anymore, so I started hanging with the druggy friends, and then blew my mind, there, in that world. Astroplains and LSD was my, you know, that world…my mom would talk to me and cry sometimes. And the Lord saved me, the Lord revealed himself to me in the middle of all that. I wasn’t seeking, I was in Mesopotamia worshipping idols, and the God of Glory called me, and he did the same in your life. It wasn’t because you were worthy, he wasn’t up in heaven saying ‘I gotta get down and die for that one, look at that one, that one’s a keeper, I gotta get down there.’ He looked at us and said ‘Nobody else wants them, they’ll look great on my mantle, what trophies of my work they will be.’ And he came into our lives, of grace and of election, and he drew us (cf. 1^st Corinthians 1:26-29), and he keeps us, and he leads us on our journey [my journal was a bit stranger after my calling, a strange, winding journey from my calling to now (see https://unityinchrist.com/author.htm)]. And he defeats our enemies, and he brings us into his promises, and there are no bragging rights, there are no entitlements in this program. People who run the church who act like they’re entitled drive me out of my mind, because it’s all blood-bought, it’s all blood-bought, and we are all sinners saved by grace. And nobody’s entitled to any of it. And we have the same history in many ways.

God Wanted Them & Wants Us To Serve Him With Sincerity And Truth

The challenge, after reviewing all of this now comes in verse 14, “Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.” Some things are said here, listen, “fear the LORD” That’s not terror, you know, I had a good father, I feared him and loved him. Both those things were there, there was a real reverence. I grew up in a different generation, and the philosophy of the generation, I grew up in the 1950s and the philosophy was ‘beat him, beat him, and beat him, it’ll turn out good, just keep beating him,’ and I reverenced my dad. And it says ‘therefore fear the LORD,’ consider all of the things he just said, he said you should be in reverence of him, in awe of him, fear him, and serve him, we’re going to hear the word “serve” or a form of it 15 times now. This is a God who called you, you didn’t deserve to be called, this is a God who died for you before you were born, this is a God who paid for your sins and gave his own Son, he loved you so much before you were even conscious of him, he died for you when you were at enmity with him, he drew you, he saved you, washed you in the blood of his Son, and it’s all grace, in all of his power, stand in awe of that and serve him, serve him. And it says the way to do that is with “sincerity and in truth.” “Sincere” in the New Testament, the Greek word means “without wax,” it’s taken from a word that means “without wax,” because the sculptors in that day would work long and hard to produce a sculpture, and if one slip of the hammer and chisel might knock the end of the nose off, and then what do you do after all that, so they would take marble or stone powder and mix it with wax, and they’d fit it on there real good, and you couldn’t tell the difference, until a really hot day came along, and your statue’s nose is getting longer and longer, you know. It’s sinecere, it’s “without wax,” without anything phony, without anything that looks real that isn’t real, it’s sincerity, genuineness is the idea. “and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.” (verse 14) Those gods were not real, they didn’t do anything for your ancestors, you’ve come to the truth, if you want to fear God and serve him in sincerity and truth, the first thing that looks like is this: it’s the putting away of all the other gods that we had. Remember the 1^st Commandment, ‘I’m the LORD thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me,’ it doesn’t mean “before me” in line, a sequence of gods, ‘I’m going to be the # 1 God in your life, then you can have after me #2, #3, #4’ no, it means ‘in my presence, in my view, no other gods before me,’ as he looks at our life, there are to be no other gods, period, ‘I’ll have no other gods before me.’ Here he says the first thing, that serving him in sincerity and truth, the way that looks is you put away all of these other gods. You guys believe that? You guys have done that, you’ve put away all the other gods? It’s not a trick question, I’m looking for some encouragement here. Because there’s all kinds of other gods, look, in this culture (back then), you know there was Baal, the god of the sun, nature, ecology, I love to watch the discovery channel, sometimes it makes me crazy when they say 15 billion years ago, when this crawled out of the swamp, cut me a break, would you. I love that, but there are people who worship that. Mammon, there are people who worship at that altar, money. There are fitness gods, and that’s a losing battle, you can only do that for a while, that god don’t pay off, it becomes very obvious as time goes on. But I mean, look, Astarte was worshipped in pornographic scenes and pornographic sexual acts that’s plaguing our culture today. If we say that we’re worshipping the Lord and we’re doing that sincerely and in truth, pornography needs be out of our lives, no other gods. Money can’t be our god. Fitness can’t, self, can’t be our god [I just exercise to try to stay alive in old age, but to me it’s a pain in the butt to have to do what I didn’t have to do when I was younger]. We should take care of ourselves, I agree, but we’re warned, 1^st Timothy chapter 4, 2^nd Timothy chapter 3, that specifically, in the last days, people will be lovers of themselves to the point that it lists a whole concoctiny, you know, dark, wrong behaviour, and it even says they’ll be holding the form of religion when they do all this stuff, but denying the power of it. If we’re going to worship God in sincerity and in truth, if you have a relationship with somebody else, you don’t want a wife whose faithful to you 95 percent of the time, ‘Ya, she’s pretty good, man, if I grade her on a curve, she got a 95, and if my wife’s getting 100 she’s gone.’ Ya, she’s good 95 percent of the time, that’s not faithfulness. When we talk to another human being, we don’t want any phoniness. Isn’t it funny, even when I was in the world, selling drugs, you want a full-count, ‘I’m righteous, I give everybody a full count’ there’s something there. Now we’re talking about God, now we’re in the light, we’ve come to Jesus Christ, we’ve come to God, and he’s saying ‘You want to be genuine with me, that’s what I want, I want sincerity, I want truth, I want you to walk in the light, and that means you get rid of other gods, it means it’s time for them to go, I’m your God, and I saved you, and I washed you in the blood of my Son, and I care so much about you that I restrained myself, I’m omnipotent, I’m all powerful, I could have stopped the cross, I listened to him screaming [technically Jesus didn’t utter a word according to Scripture, not a sound, so much so it amazed the Romans] in pain crying out My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, and I restrained myself, I did it for you, I did all of that for you, I gave more than you will ever know or ever imagine, because even in the ages to come we’re still going to be learning of his grace and of his mercy,’ it says. “Therefore” it’s very logical, there’s a conclusion, therefore, God says, I want you to serve me genuinely, I don’t want any phoniness, I want you to walk in the light, I want you to do it with sincerity and truth, and what it means to me, first and foremost is you get rid of all your other gods, the idols, get rid of them, put them away. And look in verse 15, and look, you think that that’s not applicable to us, John says in his first Epistle says ‘Little children, keep yourself from idols,’ you know, that’s the New Testament.

“But As For Me And My House, We Will Serve The LORD”

Joshua then says this “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (verse 15) because you will serve somebody. It’s like Bob Dillon said, you gotta serve somebody, it may be the devil, it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna serve somebody. What master’s you, what’s the passion of your life, that’s your god. Joshua says ‘If what I’m saying seems wrong, you don’t believe in serving the LORD then choose you, it’s an individual choice, this day who you will serve, because you’re gonna serve somebody,’ “whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” It is an individual decision, dads, foremost it falls on you, dads, foremost, the high priest in the home, and to say “but as for me and my house” Joshua’s saying it, “my house, my wife, my kids.” Now, the kid’s 14, he don’t want to go to church, kid’s 14 he don’t have a choice, he don’t have a car, he don’t have a job, he don’t have electricity, he don’t have food, he don’t have clothes, he don’t have nothing. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” Joshua makes a decision. He’s not saying ‘Hey, you guys can serve other gods if you want,’ that’s not really what he’s saying. He’s not saying ‘Make that choice if you want to,’ he’s saying, ‘sadly, you can make that choice.’ His encouragement is not to. But he says ‘As for me, I know where I stand.’ And look, you guys have to make those decisions. You know, here, in Calvary Christian Academy, you arrange your kids in a Christian school, and you let them go over to a friends’ house, then you find out their parents are showing What? They rented What movie? from our school, parents let them watch an R-rated what? You’re ten years old, they dropped you off at the Mall and left you there how many hours by yourself? You ain’t going there no more. ‘Well everybody does it.’ ‘Well everybody ain’t going to heaven, and everybody ain’t my kid. And I don’t want to be your buddy, I’m your dad. I got buddies, they’re older than you, and you got buddies and I don’t want to be buddies with them. I’m your dad, when you’re a man we’ll be buddies.’ I’m thankful that happens in my life with my sons and my daughters. But even in the Christian world, you have to make that decision, you have to make it, for your home, for your family. It’s individual. Joshua’s in the middle of a nation that saw all the miracles of God, and he’s saying to them, ‘you’re going to make a choice, you’re gonna serve somebody, your heart’s gonna be given to something, it should be the Living God who knows us and called us and has given to us time, and time, and time again, and proved his covenant with us.’ But the sad thing is, you have the capacity to turn in another direction. ‘Me,’ he says, ‘as for me and my house, we’re gonna serve the LORD.’

What Israel Was Incapable Of Doing We Can Do

Now, verse 16, the people now respond, it says, “And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;” they seem to be in the emotion of the moment, “for the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:” most of them were small children, but they have memories of Egypt, “and the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.” (verses 16-18) Now listen, now he answers them, “And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.” Aren’t you thankful that we’re under the New Covenant and Jesus Christ? I’m thankful. “If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.” (verses 19-20) now God is going to be true to his nature. Now he’s not saying to them ‘You can’t serve God.’ He’s saying ‘You can’t do this in your own strength.’ Look, Joshua remembers, back in Exodus 19, when God’s presence showed up on the mountain, all the people said ‘Hey, whatever he says, we’re gonna do, whatever God says, we’re going to keep his law, whatever he asks, we’re going to commit ourselves,’ Exodus 19, verse 8, you can read it on your own. But within a few weeks we have Exodus 32, and Moses is up on the mountain [with Joshua, by the way] getting the Ten Commandments, they’re down in the valley worshipping a golden calf, which after they said ‘You can count on us, God, you can count on us.’ And Joshua’s seen it over and over, and Joshua is at the precipice as it were of the years, looking back, realizing it’s all of God’s grace, and it’s all of God’s keeping. ‘You can’t do this because you said ‘We’re going to put our sword on and huff and puff and blow the house down, we’re going to do this on our own,’ he’s saying, ‘No you can’t, you can’t do it that way.’ [Comment: Look back to Numbers 11:13-29, read it all, it’s recorded specifically that God’s Holy Spirit was not given or even offered in general to the children of Israel, except for those God was specifically calling for a specific purpose. Joshua himself was here during this event in Numbers 11, he was the very man who said in verse 28, “And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his Spirit upon them!” (verses 28-29) Neither Israel of that day, or during Joshua’s day or from there on out ever had God’s Holy Spirit freely offered to them, throughout the period of the Old Testament, except for the few God was calling for a special purpose, like his prophets and a few righteous kings. Joshua knew the people wouldn’t continue to follow God, even in their unconverted state, all by their own effort. This is the major point Joshua is making to them. The Jews themselves know there is only one passage of Scripture in the Prophets that offers them any hope for salvation, through a massive physical resurrection back to physical life, where the Holy Spirit is then offered to them and all Israel who has died before the birth of the Messiah. That passage is found in Ezekiel 37:1-14. The Jews take this passage in Ezekiel and interpret it literally, as it should be. For more on this subject, see https://unityinchrist.com/plaintruth/battle.htm] Jacob, all of the wrestling of his life, all of his wheeling and dealing, all of the mistakes, in chapter 48 of Genesis, he talks about the LORD, he said “Who fed me all of these years,” the Hebrew is, “Who shepherded me all of these years,” Jacob an old man. And he was old enough that Pharaoh looks at Joseph and said, you know, ‘Pharaoh, this is my dad,’ and Pharaoh looked at Jacob and said ‘How old are you, anyway?’ he was worn. And looking back from that point, he says, ‘You know, this is the LORD, he shepherded me all of these years.’ Listen, we take young kids, in Sunday school, we have some saint whose 67 years old, and they teach that little kid, ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures,’ because that old saint realizes that, I think David wrote that as an old man, and I think, ‘This is incredible, ‘he leads me in paths of righteousness for his own name’s sake,’ it doesn’t have anything to do with me, ‘beside the still water, he restores my soul,’ I have nothing to do with it, ‘even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,’ it’s just the shadow of death, ‘I will fear no evil, for thou art with me,’ and we get so excited, it’s so real to us, and then we have some little kid going ‘the Lord is my shepherd, he maketh me lie down…’ and it’s going to be years before they see it from the same vantage point. David as an old man, he didn’t claim any of his resume’, it says ‘These are the last words of David, David the son of Jesse,’ not the King of Israel, not the Giant-killer, ‘the son of Jesse, the man who was raised up on high’ God’s grace, ‘the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel,’ not the Giant-killer, not the king, a man that God called, the son of Jesse, ‘and raised me up, the sweet psalmist of Israel.’ What perspective. And Joshua, knowing the prophecies of God, knowing at some point they’d turn away and worship other gods, challenging them, no doubt with all of his heart, so much so that the Spirit of God comes upon him, and he lays this challenge out in front of them, and they listen, and they say ‘We’re going to do it, God forbid we turn away and worship any other god, we’ll never do that.’ How many Christians that you know, that said ‘Well, God forbid that I should ever do that,’ and then the next thing you know, they’re out drinking, they’re sleeping around [they’re not real, born-again Christians, if that’s what they’re doing for a lifestyle], they’re doing the same old things, they’ve fallen back out, and you think ‘How could that happen?’ [the same way Joshua could know, because they never had the Holy Spirit offered to them or put in them, cf. Numbers 11:13-29] Some measure of pride, and some measure of self-confidence, some measure where there’s no brokenness. Ancient Israel was to start out every day with a morning sacrifice and end every day with an evening sacrifice, the blood of the Lamb every morning, and the blood of the Lamb every evening, that’s a very, very important way for each of us to live our days, to wake up in the morning, and before you put your feet on the floor you say ‘Lord Jesus, you paid for this day in your blood, thank you.’ And at the end of the day, you know you need to say by the end of the day, ‘Lord, I’m so glad for your blood,’ the Gospel’s way more alive at the end of the day than when we wake up, at least in our experience. He says ‘You can’t do this on your own,’ you know, I love the writer of the Book of Hebrews, he says, “Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time, as it is said, To day, if you will hear his voice, and harden not your hearts, for if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest [margin: “a keeping of a sabbath”] to the people of God, for he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:7-10) And that’s what Joshua is saying here, ‘You can’t do this on your own.’ Entering into the promises of God is something that takes place as we cease from our own works [which works? read Galatians 5:19-21, the works of the flesh], and we realize the calling and the power and the grace of God in our lives [i.e. becoming converted, born-again, and receiving the indwelling Holy Spirit into our lives, which Old Testament Israel was never given the opportunity to do, and Joshua knew it, that’s why he said what he said]. And you know what, sometimes it’s really hard for us to receive, isn’t it? Because nobody’s ever loved us that way, without strings attached. There is no human, there is no barometer or meter to measure his love, we receive it by faith, or we never enjoy the fulness of it. Look, and if you turn away he’s going to deal with you, just as he’s done good to you, verse 21, “And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD.” the conversations are getting shorter, aren’t they? “And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.” (verse 22) then Joshua speaking again, “Now therefore put away, he said, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.” (verse 23) the tenses here are incriminating, “put away the strange gods which are presently among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.” They’re saying ‘No, we’re going to serve the LORD, we’re going to do what he says,’ and then he says ‘Alright,’ and we can say it tonight, ‘We’re gonna serve the Lord, we’re going to walk with him,’ the same challenge is alive right now, ‘then put away, for you, for me, for all of us, put away the strange gods that are presently among us.’ Where are we compromising? Is he the Lord of all, because if he’s not, he’s not the Lord at all. Anywhere where you’re failing, you should be labouring there, you shouldn’t be blowing it off or having a cavalier attitude, ‘Oh I’ve been saved by grace, I can live in sexual sin, I can get high, I can gamble, I can do this.’ If you’re in sin you should be broken. And if you confess your sin, he’s faithful and just to forgive us, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and he will fill us with his Holy Spirit and then he’ll empower us. Because the message we have for this world, is that the cross and blood of Christ, his resurrection, his Holy Spirit are powerful enough to change a human life. [Comment: and the difference being, as I’ve been pointing out, and Joshua’s been pointing out here, is that these poor Israelites did not have that Holy Spirit offered to them at that point in history, the LORD, Yahweh, had not come as the saving Messiah, born from the virgin Mary in Bethlehem. They didn’t have offered to them what we have offered to us, as Pastor Joe is pointing out--we have a waaay different opportunity in front of us that they never had offered to them.] What news is there when we have to say to the world if that’s not true? God forgives us, he sets us free, he gives us a new beginning. Doesn’t he? I mean, look, I’m so glad when I get home and watch the news that I watch it through this lens, I have the Bible, it would be really depressing to watch the news if I didn’t have a Bible. It’d be really depressing to look in the mirror if I didn’t have a Bible [yup, being beaten silly with the aging stick, as Joe and I are experiencing, would be extremely depressing, without the knowledge the Bible gives us about the new immortally young and powerful bodies we will receive at the time of the 1^st resurrection to immortality (cf. 1^st Corinthians 15:49-54)]. It’d be really depressing to deal with my own heart issues all day if I didn’t have a Bible. He’s set us free. He said you’ll know the truth and the truth will make you free. And we say ‘Ya, I want that Lord,’ and then he says ‘OK, then let’s bring it right to the present, right here, right tonight, ok, all of us.’ Who walks out of here tonight and knows they’re involved in pornography, who knows they’re involved in a relationship they shouldn’t be in, they know they’re involved in alcohol or drugs [and I might add, alcohol abuse. Calvary Chapels don’t believe in any alcohol consumption, but they do know the Bible teaches the consumption of alcohol in extreme moderation is ok. But their ministry started out aimed at alcoholics and drug addicts, and remains so, nothing wrong with that.], they know they’re involved in something, they know they’re being deceitful, they know they’re taking money they shouldn’t take. Let’s do it now, let’s do it tonight, let’s do it tonight. Joshua says, you’re witnesses, you’re witnesses against yourself, because that means right now, put away the strange gods that are among you. “And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore put away, he said, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.” (verses 22-23) You see, it’s good, because laughing gets your heartrate up, so everybody’s brain is awake again, and we’re reiterating the same thing with an active brain right now. “put away the strange gods which are presently among you,’ look, “and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.” “And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.” (verses 23-26) Now by the way, they have unearthed a huge stone pillar in Shechem that many archaeologists think is this huge stone we’re reading about here. “And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.” (verse 27) Joshua sets up the stone and said ‘ok, this stone heard everything,’ Jesus tells us that every idle word, doesn’t he? This stone heard it all. That’s an interesting idea, tape is just crushed rock glued on a piece of tape, and it’s great for recording. Silicon, carbon, great for recording, this rock one day will be a testimony, Joshua says. They found a rock, isn’t that interesting? I wonder what was recorded in that rock? I wonder what’s reverberating. These pillars, here tonight, one day, these walls, testimony. Isn’t it interesting? How are things remembered, how are things recorded, it’s a whole other world, I don’t want to let my mind go there.

‘And Joshua, The Servant Of The LORD, Died, Being An Hundred And Ten Years Old’

“So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance. And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.” (verse 29) This is his highest honour, it was said of his predecessor Moses, the old Moses, the servant of the LORD died. Now it says, ‘and Joshua, the servant of the LORD, died.’ That’s way higher than commander and chief of the Israeli armed forces, that’s way higher than anything else, that’s the highest honour bequeathed on the man, ‘Joshua, the servant of the LORD died.’ Remember, in Deuteronomy 31, God said to Moses, ‘Go get Joshua, I have something I want to say to him,’ and Moses comes to the Tabernacle with Joshua, and God rips Moses up and down, says ‘You did this, because of that you’re not gonna enter the land, and the children of Israel, after they go in they’re going to turn away, they’re going to worship other gods, I’m going to drive them out, I’m going to do this to them,’ and he goes through this whole thing, and then he says to Joshua ‘Joshua, be strong and of good courage, for I am with you.’ That’s it, what Joshua just heard was what he gives the rest of his life to is going to be a failure, he’s going to go in and fight the wars of Canaan, he’s going to divide the land, and after he dies they’re going to worship other gods, and they’re going to turn away. Joshua is encouraged, supposedly encouraged by this, ‘Joshua, be strong and of good courage, for I am with you.’ that’s supposed to weigh more than the rest. [Comment: And as Moses pointed out in Numbers 11:13-29, the people didn’t have the Holy Spirit offered to them or made available to them at this time in their history, other than those few God selected to give the Holy Spirit to. The entire Old Testament history of Israel is written living proof that you can’t obey God or his laws on our own, and as Romans 8 shows us, you can’t even have a love for God’s laws themselves, without the indwelling Holy Spirit (cf. Romans 8:7-9). The terms and promises of the Old Covenant never offered the Holy Spirit to those who were under it.] ‘I will fear no evil, FOR THOU ART WITH ME.’ it’s always to be the encouragement, ‘Joshua, the servant of the LORD,’ that’s success, in the final analysis, that’s success. “Joshua…the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.” Now look, interesting, he has no successor after him. Moses was clearly told Joshua would take the mantle. Joshua has no one, and it’s not God’s plan here, we’re going to enter into the era of the Judges. There are elders in Israel, that were godly men, Judges will come on the scene, there is the high priest and so forth, but Joshua the servant of the LORD, being an hundred and ten years old, he died. “And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.” (verses 30-31) there were those witnesses of that generation. And then it says “And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.” (verse 32) [which would be Ephraim & Manasseh, which Shechem was in the middle of, between the borders of those two tribes, which descended from Joseph] And a third one, “And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.” (verse 33) Isn’t it interesting, we end the Book of Joshua with an obituary. Three men died, all them buried in Ephraim, all three of them. All of them lived in a foreign nation, all of them had been ruled by foreign rulers, all of them had received the Promises of God in a foreign land, and made the journey. All of them are being laid to rest in their inheritance, and the God who made them the Promises is faithful, Joshua, ‘the LORD Is Become Our Salvation,’ Joseph, ‘God Shall Add,’ Eleazar, ‘God Shall Help,’ and what great names they had. And each one is laid to rest in his inheritance, having received the Promise of God, again, in a foreign land, each of them brought there. The testimony, God is faithful, God is faithful, he was faithful to each one of them, he emancipated them, he was faithful to them in their pilgrimage, he brought them into the Land of Promise, to the Promises of God, and each one of them was laid to rest, one day to rise again in the not too distant future (see https://unityinchrist.com/corinthians/cor15-16.htm), when the Messiah will come (see http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_2.htm and http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_4.htm and http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_5.htm). And each one, no doubt, laid to rest like Job saying, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the latter day he shall stand upon the earth, and though after worms have consumed this body, I will see him for myself and not another, these eyes shall behold him.” Joshua made that last step with complete confidence, he said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” And Joshua, ratified, the servant of the LORD, died at 110.

In Closing

Let’s do this, I’m going to make an offer to you, I’m going to have the musicians come. If you don’t know Christ, you’re here this evening, look, these walls will bear witness, I’m going to make an offer to you. You can receive his forgiveness tonight, you can pray tonight, and it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, doesn’t matter how dark you think your resume’ is, how huge the mountain of sin on your resume’ is, it doesn’t matter, he’s paid for it all on the cross 2,000 years ago. The question is, are you going to receive that. You can’t earn it, you can’t deserve it, you can’t be religious, you can’t huff and puff and blow the house down, you can’t light incense, you can’t go to Calvary Chapel, you can’t go to Mass, there’s nothing you can do to earn his love, you’re either going to receive it unmerited, undeserved, that’s how it comes, or you’re never going to receive it. He died in your place 2,000 years ago, and on that cross, he bore all of your sin, all of your past, all of your present, and all of your failings from tomorrow and next week and next month. He paid for all of your sins. You receive in faith, through grace or you never receive it at all. If that’s you this evening, when we sing these last songs I encourage you to make your way up and stand here, we’d love to pray with you, give you a Bible, some literature. Listen, believers, do we want to serve him? All of us? Do we want Revival here in our church? Do we? Then put away the strange gods which are among us, right now, each of them. It’s a challenge to me. Let’s stand, let’s pray, let’s lift our hearts. And the Lord condemned the Pharisees because he said “There are those who honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far away.” As we lift our voices in song, we want our hearts to be in this same direction. We don’t want them to be somewhere else. And we’re going to sing more than one song, we have a few extra minutes, if we’re going to freshly consecrate ourselves in the Lord tonight, say “Lord, here I am, fill me fresh with your Spirit, not because I deserve it, through the blood of Christ, in faith, I come, Lord, worthy of nothing on my own, to you alone Lord I come to your cross, to the first love that I received, undeserved, unmerited, that washed me and cleansed me in the day I was saved, it’s the same yesterday, today and forever.” I would encourage you to bring as believers, your hearts before him, and say ‘Lord, here I am, the strange gods that are in my life, that I’ve allowed there, I’ve become comfortable Lord, don’t ever let Christianity, Lord, become a culture to me, let it be a place with community of spirits Lord, your Holy Spirit, my spirit, let it be a place Lord Jesus, where I bow before my Saviour who shed his blood and gave his life for me, let it be a place Lord, where in my weakness I’m empowered in your presence because of your love, all that you’ve bestowed that I could never be worthy of Lord Jesus.”…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Joshua 24:1-33, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]