We turn in your Bibles to Joshua, Chapter 24. Joshua, Chapter 24 passage that we have looked at in the past this morning, I want to focus primarily, or at least by way of some application on verse 15, a familiar verse. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I don't want to just parachute our way into Shechem and pull this out of context.
So we'll look at the chapter as a whole. I'll just pick up reading in chapter 24 of Joshua, beginning in verse one. And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges and for their officers. And they presented themselves before God.
Joshua said to all the people, thus says the Lord God of Israel, your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the river in old times, and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river and led him throughout all the land of Canaan and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess.
But Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. Also I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt according to what I did among them. 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. So they cried out to the Lord, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. Your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time.
And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan. and they fought with you, but I gave them into your hand that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. Then Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel and sent and called Balaam, the son of Baor, to curse you. But I would not listen to Balaam, therefore he continued to bless you, so I delivered you out of his hand. Then you went over to Jordan and came to Jericho, and the men of Jericho fought against you. also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
But I delivered them into your hand. I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow. I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them. You eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.
Therefore, fear the Lord, serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. Serve the Lord. And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
So the people answered and said, far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods. For the Lord our God is he who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.
Joshua said to the people, you cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you after he has done you good.
And the people said to Joshua, no, but we will serve the Lord. So Joshua said to the people, you are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord for yourselves to serve him. And they said, we are witnesses. Now, therefore, he said, put away the foreign gods which are among you and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.
And the people said to Joshua, the Lord, our God, we will serve and his voice we will obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God. And he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.
Joshua said to all the people, behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord, which he spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God. So, Joshua, let the people depart each to his own inheritance. Amen.
Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Father, we come now to consider this passage of scripture. We pray for the ministry of your spirit. We pray that he would guide and direct us and help us, God, to take these things to heart. I pray, Father, that you would just bless your people here, that you would cause us to reflect upon the word of God, to reflect upon it not just on the Lord's day, but each and every day.
And Father, just bless us for your glory's sake. And we pray in Jesus' holy name. Amen.
Introduction
The book of Joshua, as I'm sure you're well aware of, deals with entering the land. We're studying the book of Deuteronomy, and presently we're in Deuteronomy chapter 5. on our Wednesday night studies. And what's going on in the book of Deuteronomy is that the children of Israel are gathered on the plains of Moab and Moses instructs them. That's essentially what the book of Deuteronomy is taken up with.
He is preparing them to enter into the land. Of course, when Moses dies, Joshua is his successor. Joshua is the military leader that makes good on the promise of God in terms of bringing the people in and seeking to dispossess the land of Canaanites. So they enter the land, they take the land, they possess the land, and then in the latter chapters, 22 to 24, Joshua exhorts them on how to retain the land.
In other words, he is calling them to fidelity, he is calling them to faithfulness, he is calling them by way of exhortation to walk in humility before their God and to engage in covenant faithfulness. Just go back for just a moment, just so you can see a helpful key to the book as a whole. It's in Joshua 21, verses 43 to 45. This summarizes the entirety of the book.
So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which he had sworn to give to their fathers. and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. That summarizes chapters 13 to 21. Verse 44 then says, The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that he had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them.
The Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. That summarizes chapters 1 to 12. And then the grand summary, the grand idea of this entire book is verse 45. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel.
All came to pass. So it's on the heels of that theology, it's on the heels of that summary, it's on the heels of that interpretation that Joshua then charges the people to faithfulness before their God in the land that he is giving them. Specifically, chapter 24 is a covenant ratification ceremony. It's held at Shechem.
Shechem is significant in biblical geography. Remember, it's at Shechem that God speaks to Abram. It is there at Shechem that God carves out for him Abram from amongst the peoples, and it's there that Abram first builds an altar to the Lord God. So, in a very real way, as they gather back at Shechem in Joshua 24, it is to highlight, it is to boldface and underline and show that, in fact, God is faithful to His wonderful promises.
So, that's the specific context of Joshua 24. Now, as we enter in to consider it, we're going to do two things this morning. First, look at the review of covenant history. In other words, there is a particular way that covenants are founded or built or covenants are issued.
There is a review of history, what God the Lord had done in their past and why He is calling for faithfulness. We'll do that. Review of covenant history, chapter 24, verses 2 to 13, and then the demand for covenant commitment, verses 14 to 24. It's in that section that our verse appears.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Review of Covenant History
Let's look first at the review of Covenant history.
The Grace of God
The first thing to recognize is the grace of God. It's the grace of God. We review God's dealings with us. Let us not look at ourselves and how we've performed, and how we've merited, and how we've deserved God's favor.
No, we must first stop and see and marvel at the wonderful grace of God. Notice in verse 2. Joshua said to all the people, thus says the Lord God of Israel, your fathers, including Tara, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the river in old times, and they served other gods. There is a writing among the Jews that developed that says that Abram came to himself.
Abram realized the idolatry that his fathers were engaged in, and so Abram separated himself from such a venture. Obviously, to keep their hero, Abram, looking in the best possible light. Well, the hero of the Bible isn't Abram, is it? The hero of the Bible is God Most High.
The text is very specific. Abram dwelt with his fathers and engaged in idolatry. It is the Lord who called him out of Ur of the Chaldeans. So, before we get into the need for covenant commitment, God is tracing the marvelous grace of God Most High.
He was not raised in the church. He did not attend Sunday school. He was not committed to Bible study and prayer. He was not, therefore, rewarded for his good conduct.
You see, Abram didn't sit with his laptop while he lived in Ur of the Chaldeans and listened to good sermons on sermonaudio.com. He didn't click on Albert N. Martin. He didn't click on Paul Washer.
He didn't click on Derrick Thomas. He didn't listen to Sinclair Ferguson. He wasn't feeding himself with lectures done at Reformed Theological Seminary. He was an idolater.
He was a God-hater. He despised Yahweh of Israel. And what we are to appreciate in this review of covenant history is not the heroism of Abraham, but the grace of God most high. He was in that place of wickedness and abomination.
John Calvin says Abraham did not emerge from profound ignorance and the abyss of error by his own virtue, but was drawn out by the hand of God. The first element in our review of covenant history that is vital for us to appreciate. You'll see the New Testament is patterned on the same sort of a motif before Paul ever gets to the therefore of Romans chapter 12 and verse one. What does he do in chapters one to eleven?
But he highlights and portrays for us and depicts to us the grace of God. The grace of God. I hope you never get tired of that. If he did, you'd probably never admit it.
Need to refresh yourself. Why Abraham? Did he have the chutzpah? Did he have the wherewithal?
Did he have the determination? Did he have the resolve? Did he have the natural leadership ability? Did he have the characteristic?
Did he have the virtue of a man of God? No, he's an idolater bowing down to those things which are not God. And God calls him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and initiates the greatest promise ever made to this particular man. You see, what we're to appreciate in the scriptures is the one hero, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We're to appreciate the marvelous grace of God most high.
The Pace of God
Notice, secondly, with reference to this review of covenant history, this is a helpful reminder for us in our busy age where we operate according to the clock and when we take that mindset and we start to impose it upon God, we want God's blessings and we want them right now. We don't want to be like that widow, that importunate widow who continues to come back to the judge seeking verdict that will please her. She is held up by Jesus as a great example. Notice something about the pace of God, the way he works, the way he operates, the way that he engages.
Notice in verse three. Verse 3, Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac. It's a great statement, isn't it? It's kind of an interesting statement.
I multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac. Think about it. Usually you wouldn't say, I multiplied my whatever by one.
So we know what happens when we multiply something by one, we end up with one, right? It's kind of an interesting statement. It's not even as if Isaac had a whole bunch of progeny. He had Jacob and Esau.
But the time reference is interesting. After God promises to Abraham that he will multiply him, that he will give him a seed, it takes 25 years. Now again, for us looking back on biblical history, it doesn't seem like a lot, does it? I mean, 25 years, according to the Scripture, is like a drop in the bucket.
Think about 25 years for you. Think about what you're going to be doing 25 years from now. Though maybe you shouldn't. Maybe some in the group don't want to think about what they'll be doing in 25 years.
That's a long time, isn't it? It's an amazing long time. We're conditioned by virtue of our own sinfulness and by virtue of the society that we live in that we want it. We want it right now.
God's pace isn't like ours. God doesn't snap to when we tell him to. God has his decree. God governs all things according to his sovereignty.
It is all in his plan. He didn't just snap his fingers and move Abram to Shechem and implement this ratification ceremony. What happened when Israel went into bondage? They were there for 430 years.
Quite a bit of time has passed since Genesis chapter 12 and Joshua chapter 24. God's promises are often fulfilled or after a long period of time. You're in the wrong business if you want a religion that delivers right now. You are under a sovereign God, whom the Psalter describes this way.
Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases. It's best to submit. It's best to enjoy.
It's best to realize that He has my good in His view. That Romans 8.28 isn't just something good for a fridge magnet, but it's something that ought to cause my heart to throb in the midst of good times, but in the midst of bad times as well. That my God will indeed cause all things to work for good. The pace of God.
The Ways of God
Notice thirdly, the ways of God. Again, sometimes mysterious to us, sometimes mesmerizing. To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, verse 4. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
Now again, it's something sitting in Shechem in Joshua 24 looking back on this event. It's something for us sitting in Chiluac in the 21st century looking back on this event. But somewhere along the line, maybe one of the faithful in Israel scratched their melon and said, what's the deal here? God loves Jacob and he hates Esau, and yet Esau has received his possession.
You see, sometimes we're super spiritual and we think land and agriculture and farms and all those things are beneath the people of God to concern themselves with. Again, it's easy to say that when you're in an affluent society in the 21st century and you really don't have to pray, God give us each and every day our daily bread. You should pray that and you do have to pray it. We get lulled to sleep by Costco's.
We get lulled to sleep by Superstore. We get lulled to sleep by Walmart. We just conclude that, hey, there's beans on those shelves. I can go get them whenever I want.
Think about these people at Shechem. Esau got his inheritance immediately. Not Israel. And what happens when he says, but Israel went down to Egypt?
Was it to conquer? Was it to subdue? Was it to gain victory and preeminence in Egypt? No, it was to be slaves.
It was to make bricks without supplies. It was to be treated harshly. It was to not know a Sabbath rest. It was to have oppression.
You think you have government problems today? They certainly had it in Egypt under Pharaoh. God's ways, brethren, at times are mystifying to the people of God. He doesn't always do exactly what we think he should when we say it.
There's an account of this or an instance of this or an illustration of this in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11, a passage that I've often thought that if there's a health, wealth and prosperity study Bible, they'll have to excise this. They'll have to remove it. They'll have to get rid of it. You can't put this section of Hebrews 11 in your health, wealth, prosperity Bible.
You can't put this in your study notes. You can't blame them for not having enough faith, because the point of the chapter is that they have faith. Look at Hebrews 11, verse 32. What more shall I say, for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah, also of David, and Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of the fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to fight the armies of the aliens, women received their dead, raised to life again.
You hear the health, wealth, prosperity guy saying, yeah, that's the gospel we preach. That's the good news we preach. That's the Christian life we preach. Victory, victory, victory.
It's the word we like today in the modern church. We like victory, don't we? We like victory. We talk a lot about victory.
But the text goes on. And it's not suggesting that these somehow had no faith. It's the hall of faith. You might read it this way, who through faith, verse 35, subdued kingdoms.
When we get to the latter part of verse 36, we'd say, who through faith others were tortured. Mystifying ways of God, huh? See, it's not always a walk in the park to be God's people, is it? It's not, you know, being attended by bluebirds.
Having them clothe you each and every day, chirping in your ear, helping you greet the day. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still, others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. Remember, this is through faith.
Or who threw faith? They were stoned. They were sawn in two. When we're studying this for our Wednesday night Bible study, the prophet Isaiah.
History or tradition says that it was Isaiah who was sawn in two. I can't even entertain that thought. The man who wrote Isaiah 53. The man who waxed eloquent on the servant of the Lord.
The man who describes his call to the prophetic ministry of chapter six. The day that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord often high, exalted, lifted up. He said, I saw the train of his robe, it filled the temple. And I heard these angels saying, holy, holy, holy.
The text doesn't just suggest that it's three times and then they're finished. It's constant antiphonal praise. I saw these angels, and this is what they said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is filled with his glory.
When Isaiah sees this, he has this sudden realization of his own wretchedness before a holy God. He doesn't say, wow, this is great, I'm going to write a book about this and make lots of money and go on Oprah. He says, woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, and I live amongst a people of unclean lips.
Why? Mine eyes have seen the Lord of hosts." God dispatches an angel and deals with his sin, atones for his sin, that that man would ultimately be sawn in two as a testimony to the depravity of man and ultimately to the glory of God. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. You see, as God rehearses covenant history here, or God, through the prophet Joshua, calls them to reconsider these things.
It doesn't always happen the way we might think. This isn't a neat and tidy world, is it? Do you ever see the mess sin makes of stuff? Oh yeah, the prison system, or those people over there.
What about the mess sin makes right there? Sin is a horrible thing. Sin is bad. Sin is wretched.
We cannot forget the fact that God operates in a sinful world. He makes the crooked straight. It is mystifying at times. It is perplexing at times that the children of Jacob would receive their possession and the children of Esau would receive their possession and the children of Jacob would have to go to slavery.
It doesn't make sense. It's what faith is all about. We realize that God Most High has all things under his control.
The Power of God
He then rehearses the power of God, verses 5 to 12. Remember, it's a review of covenant history. We look at the grace of God. We look at the pace of God.
We look at the ways of God. We look at the power of God. What did God do for you in your history? He brought you out of Egypt in the Exodus.
He protected you from the false prophet Balaam. He protected you from the kings of the Amorites. He gave you victory and he did it in such a way that nobody could praise you as an army, but would have to praise the God of Israel. He said hornets in.
This God is glorious in the display of his power. He not only delivers them, but he continually provides for them. Verse seven, it says, Then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time. Verse thirteen, I have given you a land for which you did not labor and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them.
You eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. You see, he provides in the wilderness. He provides when they go into the land. God is your provider.
He holds your God. Israel, this is what Joshua sang at Shechem. Look at who he is. He's gracious.
He works according to his time frame. He does it according to his particular will. And all the while, he sustains you. He upholds you.
He delivers you and he protects you. God is in the midst of the fire with you. Remember that in Deuteronomy, as we're going through that historical review, when they're out in the wilderness, it says that God is there with them while they're trudging in the wilderness. It was that they were there for judgment, the first generation sin.
And as a result, the first generation dies. The second generation is then wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. A bystander might conclude God forgave or God forsook them. God's done with them.
God said no more. I've killed your first generation, your second generation. You just wander out there for 40 years until you're good and ready, and then I'll receive you back. It says God's with them in the 40 years.
You see what Joshua's doing at Shechem? Behold your God. See your God. Marvel at your God!
You know what covenant faithfulness is built on? It isn't built on your power. It isn't built on your strength. It isn't built upon your ability.
It's ultimately grounded upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's built upon our understanding of who God is. He's the victor. He's the king. He's the hero of the biblical narrative.
We stand in the present, but we dwell on the past in order that we can be steadfast for the future. That's what they're doing at Shechem. That's the review of covenant history.
Demand for Covenant Commitment
Notice, secondly, the demand for covenant commitment. First, it is logical. It is a logical commitment. Verse 14.
A Logical Commitment
Now, therefore, fear the Lord. Now, therefore, fear the Lord. Serve him in sincerity and in truth. It's logical, isn't it?
You see what I mean by that? Everybody with me, everybody trafficking, look at what the text says. Now, therefore. We mean by logic, Jim, it means it necessarily follows.
Might say it this way, it is raining out or if I go outside in the rain, I will get wet. It's raining outside. I'm going outside, what necessarily follows. I'm going to get wet.
Based on who God is, based on what God has done, based on that reality in your life now, therefore, fear Yahweh, serve him in sincerity and in truth. You shouldn't be surprised by this. You shouldn't go, wow, that's an amazing implication. Boy, that's dazzling, Joshua.
That's something we've never heard before. Again, Paul does this very thing in Romans chapter 12 verse 1. Therefore, my beloved brethren, by the mercies of God, I beseech you. Present your bodies as a living sacrifice under the Lord, which is your rational service or reasonable service or spiritual service based on what God has done in Christ, based on the cross, based on justification by faith alone, based on the fact that Jesus is our second Adam, based on the fact that we have been we have been born again, that we have been justified freely by his grace.
It is a no brainer. It follows necessarily that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice. There should be no surprise in this arrangement. There should be no surprise to the people at Shechem that when you go into this land, you're to fear Yahweh, you're to serve him in sincerity, you're to trust him.
That shouldn't perplex you. That shouldn't puzzle you. That shouldn't cause you to go, wow, that's a bit of an odd thing. No, he demands loyalty upon those whom he has redemptively saved.
An Exclusive Commitment
Notice, secondly, it is an exclusive commitment, verses 14 and 15. Put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the river. And in Egypt, serve the Lord, and if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. Notice verse 23.
Now, therefore, he said, put away the foreign gods which are among you and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel. It is an exclusive commitment. He said, that's a bit of an interesting twist that Joshua gives them can either serve Yahweh or can serve the gods of the Mesopotamians or the gods of the Canaanites. You should pick which one.
Is that what Joshua is doing? Is he a pluralist? Is he foreshadowing something in the 21st century? You choose whatever God you want.
I don't want to ever impose your liberty. We don't ever want to impose on you. I want to tell you that every religion is lawful and every religion is acceptable. We don't want to offend anybody.
We want to describe an act of terrorism on a military installation as workplace violence. Is that what Joshua is doing? I think Joshua is engaged in what's called a reductio ad absurdum. That means reducing a position to absurdity.
In other words, the people would hear this and say, wait a minute, we are to serve Yahweh. We know that it's a logical commitment. Joshua is saying, serve the gods from the land from which you came or serve the gods in the land in which you're going. That's foolish, Joshua.
Absolutely. Any position that is not exclusively covenanted to the Lord God of Israel is foolishness. It's folly. It doesn't matter if you're a Buddhist, doesn't matter if you engage in Shintoism, doesn't matter if you're Roman Catholic, doesn't matter if you're Islamic, doesn't matter if you're a humanist, doesn't matter if you're an atheist.
All of them are equally foolish in the sight of the true and living God who has saved you, who has redeemed you, who has brought you out of this place so that your commitment to him is to be exclusive. You don't give in. part of your life. You don't give him part of your heart. You don't just show up on Sunday, but rather you serve in each and every day.
It is an exclusive commitment. This helps us to understand that this is the backdrop for what we find later in redemptive history. Remember Elijah at Mount Carmel? What does he say?
How long will you falter? How long will you halt between two opinions? If God is God, serve him. If Baal, then serve him.
Fisher cut bait. This is what Jesus says in Matthew 1230. He was not with me is against me. You know, sometimes young people or children or old people as well wonder, am I with the Lord?
Well, brethren, it's not that difficult to determine that. Are you with him? What's the first response of faith in Christ, according to that blind man? Let's just say he was holding a Bible study.
Was blind, but now I see. What was your first thing that you did? I worship Jesus. I don't worship myself.
I didn't worship my money. I didn't worship idols. I didn't go following after everything that pleased me, but rather I bowed before the Lord Jesus Christ. He was not with me as against me.
Either follow the Lamb or you do not. Serve or choose ye this day whom you will serve. Joshua's words are as appropriate today as they are on Shechem in Joshua chapter 24. No one can serve two masters.
A Serious Commitment
And then notice, thirdly, it is a serious commitment, a serious commitment. Notice in verse 16. So the people answered and said, far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods. They're tracking, aren't they?
They're following. You can see the light bulb on over their heads if you were witness to this. That's good, isn't it? It's beautiful.
What any evangelist would want to hear. Right? Look at what they say. So the people answered and said, far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods.
For the Lord our God is he who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for he is our God. That is a blessed response.
They are, in the language of the United States Marine Corps, gung-ho. They're zealous. They want to follow. They want to serve.
They've raised their hand. They're ready to walk the aisle. They're ready to sign the card. Certainly all that counts now is that Joshua bring them in, have them sign, have them bow their head and say the sinner's prayer.
Isn't that legit, Joshua? Isn't that what every evangelist wants? Isn't this what Billy Graham was was urging people to do? Joshua's response is puzzling.
With the mindset that we possess, Joshua said to the people, you cannot serve Yahweh. You can't do this. There's no way. You don't understand.
You haven't counted the cost. You haven't realized his holiness. You haven't realized your sinfulness. We preach a God without wrath, to sinners without sin, and we just present a better life.
Joshua won't have that. He says you cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you after he has done you good. Again, the negativity, Joshua. They heard, they listened, they respond favorably. And then you come as the big meanie and say, you can't do it.
He won't forgive you. He won't let you. He's going to visit you with harm. He's going to visit you with judgment.
That's what Joshua's doing. He wants to shatter the vain confidence of men. who want to add Jesus to their already complete life because it's something they should do. Words of Ralph Davis, he says, Joshua seeks to put down that blathering self-confidence that makes emotional commitments rather than shutting its mouth and counting the cost. You see, we'll see that Joshua doesn't say you can't come, you can't have forgiveness.
They're going to ratify the covenant. They're going to erect a stone or put up a big stone as a witness to this particular situation. You might meet people like this today. You might meet people that float from emotional experience to emotional experience to emotional experience.
In the world of sports, they call them fair weather fans, right? If the Canucks are doing well, we're Canucks fans. If they start on the decline, well, then we'll root for whoever else. there is out there, the land of hockey. There's professing Christians like that, too.
We will serve Yahweh as long as our houses are full, as long as our cars are running, as long as our children are happy and well adjusted, as long as I have mine. But as soon as a trial comes, as soon as a difficulty comes, as soon as a hardship comes, where is God? There is a blathering self-confidence There is a blathering emotional commitment. Covenant faithfulness is not seen on the mountaintops, it's seen in the valleys.
It's not seen on the sunny days, but in hurricanes. It's not seen when everything's going right, but when everything's going wrong. You see on Shechem, If you have this idea that you're going to wander into the land of promise and it's only going to be blessing, it's only going to be good, it's only going to be happiness, this is all you are expecting, you're wasting your time. Again, our Lord takes up this same message in Luke's Gospel.
He talks about discipleship and he uses two illustrations that show us the need to count the cost. Which man builds a building without first counting the cost, without making sure he can buy the lumber, without making sure he can hire an electrician, without making sure that he can finish the job? What man goes out to battle if he hasn't first surveyed the enemy army? We stand back and say, you're foolish, you're crazy, you're taking 10,000 men into battle against 20,000.
You've got pea shooters and they've got M-16s. You're going to lose. Jesus talks about discipleship in that way. If you're not a Christian and you want to believe the gospel, by all means do.
But I don't want to tell you everything's going to be rosy. Everything's going to be peachy. You're going to skip every single day of your life. Now, there's a rosy, peachy, skippy disposition that always pervades the heart and the soul of the believer.
That doesn't mean all of your issues are going to go away. Right. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." Covenant faithfulness, my dear brothers and sisters, is seen more in adversity than in blessing.
That's what Joshua's getting at. He's not saying there's no mercy for you, there's no hope for you. He's saying you need to put up or shut up. You need to count the costs.
He'd fail. any evangelistic class that was held today. No, Joshua, when they raise their hand and they're ready to come forward, you just reel them in. You just bring them in. Get them working to a ministry.
Have them serve something. Do something. Get them going. Joshua says, wait a minute.
You cannot serve the Lord. It's interesting that Shechem teaches us something that the Sermon on the Mount teaches us as well. Our need for grace. Our need for grace.
Haven't we seen that time and time again in the Sermon on the Mount? It's not just this code of ethics on how to be pure like Jesus is pure, but it always tests us upon the mercy of the pure one. Shechem does the same thing. You can't go into this land, you can't serve Yahweh, you can't engage in this covenant faithfulness without God.
Do you ever sense that when you're singing from our hymn book? Have you ever sang some of the hymns and wondered, how in the world can I do this? Just looking this morning at 133. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise.
I love the sentiment, and I love that it's in what's called the optative mood. It's sort of like a prayer, oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise. But if you ever thought soberly and seriously, I'd like one tongue that actually did it consistently. I'd like this one to do it.
I think Wesley felt something of that in stanza two, because he says, my gracious master and my God, assist me to proclaim. I can't do it without you, God. I can't live this sermon on the Mount without the Spirit. I can't go into Canaan and dispossess the land and honor and serve my Lord and sincerity without the Lord.
Or what about the hymn? My Jesus, I love thee. I know thou art mine. For thee, all the follies of sin, I resign.
Can you say that honestly? Really? For thee, all the follies of sin, I resign. That's scary.
That's difficult. Unless the Spirit is in me. Unless the Spirit dwells in me. Unless the blood of Jesus cleanses me.
I can't do this. See, that's what Joshua highlights here. You can't come to Christ without Christ. The godlessness of free will.
Teaching men they have it in their ability to choose for Jesus. When the scripture says, no one can come to me except the Father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up. And you being dead in your trespasses and sins, he made us alive. You see, from first to last and all the way in the middle, we are constantly dependent upon grace.
That's how we should view Joshua. We shouldn't think that he'd fail the Billy Graham School of Evangelism because he failed to secure these decisions. We should hear him like we hear our Savior. You need to count the cost.
God's done this. God's redeemed you. God's brought you out of the land of Egypt. When you go into that land of Canaan, you're not to have other gods.
You're not to bow to idols. You're not to pray to Baal. You're not to engage in the sexual immorality of that nation. You're not to engage in the sorts of social injustice that predominates there.
We talked about this on Wednesday night in our study of the second commandment. You know what happens where idolatry pervades? Social injustice. It's an amazing thing when we get to the land of Canaan, the children of Israel have to go in there and dispossess the land.
The idolatry that men entertain, the idolatry that men pour their efforts into results in wickedness and sin. We want to treat the symptoms of wickedness and sin and never deal with the root issue, which is idolatry. The Apostle Paul says the same thing in Romans 1. After saying, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
Don't miss the order. It is ungodliness and then unrighteousness. That is precisely what Paul develops in Romans chapter 1. Who, although they knew God, They neither honored Him, nor were they thankful to Him.
Therefore, God gave them over. And what do they do? They exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image of corruptible man, for four-footed animals, for creeping things. It is because of that commitment to idolatry that all of the sins follow.
See, we want to treat sexual immorality in our generation. We want to treat homosexuality in our generation. We want to treat drug abuse in our generation without ever touching the root problem. These are symptoms of a nation given over to idolatry.
What happens? This man who was born blind believes, and what does he do? He worships Jesus. So the problem of our generation is one of idolatry.
Again, trace out chapter one in the book of Romans. Why does God give them over? Because they reject him. They don't even like to retain the knowledge of God in their mind.
So what does he do? He hands them over. He gives them over. He gives them over three times.
What we are witnessing today, brethren, yes, sexual immorality is right. Drug abuse is right. Shootings and murders and all those sorts of things. Those are pervasive.
Do you know what man needs? The gospel. He needs to hear Christ. Needs to hear of Jesus.
Needs to believe on Jesus. Needs to be reoriented. Needs to be brought to the place of genuine worship. Needs to bow before God Most High.
He needs to come through Christ. He needs the power of the Holy Spirit. And then those symptoms, those symptoms will be cleansed, will be changed, will be redirected, if you will. You see, that's what Joshua does at Shechem.
I don't want you to just have emotional fits of fancy. You see that sometimes again. I don't want to pick too much on the church but. How come faithful attendance at the Lord's Day and church service isn't enough.
It is enough. I've seen this, you know, kids and I want to pick on kids, but sometimes young people go to a go to a camp or go to a conference. They get all fired up and all charged up. They come back and they pray for a few days.
That's not what God is calling for, praying for a few days, calling for covenant fidelity. He's calling for long haul. He's calling for marathon runners. He's calling for people. that not only engage in the triumphs associated with Christianity, but are willing to be sawn into if necessary.
Are willing to walk around destitute. Are willing to walk around without a place to lay their head. You see, that's what Joshua is impressing upon the people at Shechem. I don't want your emotional high.
I don't want you to just get caught up in the feeling. I want you to realize that when you serve Yahweh, it is a whole soul commitment. If you're not into that, then go to the Amorites. Go back to Egypt.
Baal doesn't call for exclusivity. Asherah doesn't call for exclusivity. Jehovah does. Well, brethren, that's where we're at.
So for the next two hours, we're going to develop verse 15. Just kidding. Just kidding. We'll roll that over into this evening.
Verse 15, specifically the emphasis on family religion. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. A familiar statement that demands some attention that God willing, we will open up tonight. Well, having looked at this,
Application: Repent and Believe
I want to call your attention in closing. Back to verse 19, Joshua said to the people, you cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you after he has done you good. And the people said to Joshua, no, but we will serve the Lord. So Joshua said to the people, you are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord for yourselves to serve him. And they said, we are witnesses.
Now, therefore, he said, put away the foreign gods which are among you. Grace upon grace, isn't it? Isn't that a statement of grace upon grace? Don't just review grace in your covenantal historical background.
But right now, Joshua says at Shechem, put away the foreign gods. Joshua knows the score. He knows who he's dealing with. He knows that there's a bit of Egypt in the hearts of these people.
He knows there's a bit of Canaan in the hearts of these people. So what does he say? Repent. Repent.
Forsake. Get rid of. Put away. We might bring it into the 21st century and say, get rid of the mammoth.
Get rid of the family, not realistically, but sometimes people worship their families. Get rid of the business venture. Again, I'm not calling for you to go and engage in poverty. It's a matter of allegiance.
What demands your attention? What gets your time, talents, effort, money, all of that? This is what Joshua is saying at Shechem. Repent, get rid of it, turn away from it, forsake it, and come to the Lord God, Most High.
Come to Jesus Christ. Believe the gospel. Receive the forgiveness of sins. Enjoy the righteousness that avails with God.
A righteousness that you could never produce, but that is given freely through faith in Christ alone. So let's move from Shechem to Chilliwack. The call does not change. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Turn from your sins. Put away the gods. Put away the idols. Put away the things that demand your attention and your allegiance.
Get rid of them and come to the Lord of glory. And He will, in fact, receive you. That's good news. Whether we're in Shechem or whether we're in Chilliwack, that news just is good.
So believe the Gospel and you will, in fact, be saved. And you will be a worshiper of the true and living God. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank you for your word and thank you so very much for the lessons that we learn here concerning your character, concerning your power, concerning your grace and your kindness and your love. Our father, we just pray that you would fill each one of us with your spirit, fill each one of us, Lord God, with the spirit so that we may live as you call us to in the new covenant. We thank you for our covenant head and our mediator and the one in whom our Salvation is grounded, even our Lord Jesus Christ. We give all praise and glory to you for this wonderful gospel.
We pray that others would believe. I pray even now, Father, that you'd open hearts, do that work which is impossible with men, but is possible with you. Cause them to see that Christ alone can save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him. And we pray that you would exercise this power even now for your glory's sake and for the good of people.
We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.