Transcription
Or you can open your Bibles to Joshua chapter 24. We're going to go there in just a second, but first, I want to welcome everybody right now watching online and all of our campuses together. Come on, can we welcome here everybody that's joining us right now across all of our River Valley locations and online? We love each and every one of you. And like I said, we're going to Joshua chapter 24, but I just want to highlight last week's message from Pastor Rob on "Ever Since." Did anybody enjoy last week's message? Like, we need this. Like, we, we have a call of God on our life, and sometimes it can feel like, "Ever since I said yes, I'm experiencing a delay. I'm experiencing some doubt. I'm experiencing some trouble." How can I serve the Lord in my "ever since"? And I want to encourage you, if you didn't hear that message, go online and you can go on YouTube or rivervalley.org and be able to catch up.
But I, I want this to be a continuation this week of the "ever since" message. And Moses, he, he helped lead the people of God up out of Egypt. He was their deliverer, obviously, by the power of God. They went through all the plagues, they went through the Red Sea, and then they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. And before they got to enter the promised land, that's where they were headed. Moses passes the baton to Joshua, the next leader of the people of God, and they walk into the promised land. In the first half of the Book of Joshua is all about the conquering of the promised land. There were enemy armies, enemy nations, adversaries in the promised land that they had to clear out because it was, it was God's land, and He was gifting it to the people of God. And so the first half of the book is all about the conquering, and Joshua is known as more than a conqueror. Also, we as Christ followers should be more than conquerors in our "ever since." "Ever since I started following You, I am more than a conqueror. I'm an overcomer. I've got victory in Christ." This is our outlook.
The second half of the Book of Joshua is divvying out, uh, all of the land, dividing up the land between the tribes of Israel. Where are the families, where the tribe is going to live in the promised land? And what we're about to read is Joshua is now old, and he's about to die, and these are some of his last words. And he's going to lead the people of God after the deliverance up out of Egypt, after conquering the land, after finding out where we're going to live, he leads the people of God through a covenant renewal. And that's what we're talking about today. It was the end of one season and the beginning of a brand new season. In fact, in Joshua, it says God gave them rest from all of their enemies. They were ending the season of conquering, and now they're beginning a brand new season. And in transition of season, which we are right now in transition of season, is a great opportunity to rededicate your life to this following Jesus Christ.
Joshua chapter 24, verse 14 through 18. We're going to read these five verses together. Joshua's leading again the people of Israel in this covenant renewal. He says, "Now therefore, fear the Lord, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve." Putting a fork in their road. "Choose today whom you will serve, whether the gods of your fathers they served in the region beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house," famous words, "we will serve the Lord." Joshua said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Then the people answered. It required a response. "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord and serve other gods. For it is the Lord our God who brought us out, uh, us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in the way that we went and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore, we also will serve the Lord, for He is our God."
The title of this message is, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Let's pray one more time before we start. Lord, we thank You that Your presence is here right now. And I believe this is a prophetic message for our church today. As the seasons change, quite literally, I pray that we would be a church that's ready to renew our commitment to You. Lord God, above anything else, God, we are committed to You. There's no doubt that You're committed to us, but help us remind ourselves that we are here for You and for Your glory and for Your name. I pray that You'd speak to each and every heart and each and every household, that we will be people that serve the Lord. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Everybody said, amen.
I had the opportunity of officiating a wedding just yesterday, and it was pretty awesome. One of our young youth pastors, Pastor Jamer, who's at our Apple Valley campus, got married yesterday. He's not here, obviously. Calm down. You're like cheering like he's, he's not here. He's on his honeymoon. Jamer and Marissa were married yesterday. And can you, can you imagine? I mean, they were here. And just a side note, testimony of God's faithfulness, they did a four-song worship set, and six people gave their lives to the Lord. I thought it was four, I heard some people counted six. Six people gave their lives to Jesus at a wedding. Come on, we praise God that He's going after people making a decision, following. But they, they gave their vows, obviously, on a wedding day. You give your vows saying, "Hey, this is what I'm promising to you. This is what I'm committing to you." It's a marriage covenant. You've heard that before. It's a marriage covenant. This is, this is what I'm in for. This is what I'm promising. This is what I'm committing. You've got my life forever and ever and ever. And it's a beautiful thing. Can you imagine if, if Pastor James woke up today and said, "Hey, let's, let's just do our vows again. Let's just do it again." And then the next day, "Hey, let's do this again. Let's just say, let's just say it again." And every day of their marriage and on. Can you imagine if, go, go even further and be like, "Can you imagine if he held a vow renewal ceremony today?" Like, they're one day into their marriage and it's like, "Hey, let's, let's just, you know, let's just make sure. We got to make sure." I mean, that's, that's obnoxious. And, and thank God people don't do that. But listen, as a Christ follower, it is something that we should do every single day to renew our commitment to the Lord.
This is not to diminish the power of salvation. When, when I was six years old, I gave my life to Christ. I was saved. We believe it. I was saved. My parents believed it. Like, Lord, let it happen. I was saved at six years old. But I don't stand here today at 33 banking on that one decision that I made as a six-year-old. You know what I'm banking my salvation on? Not to diminish the power of that. I'm banking my salvation on this morning saying, "God, I'm in again. God, I'm with You again. You have my life again. Today is the day of salvation." Not just when I was six. Today's the day of salvation. And tomorrow, you know what day it is? The day of salvation. As Christ followers, it's like we are in this family, and we wake up every day with a brand new opportunity to state our vows saying, "We're in this. You've got my life." And it's not obnoxious. It's a different way of living, but it's the way that we get to live. And every single day, I'm not banking on what happened 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago. I'm banking on my commitment to the Lord today. He's committed to us, like I prayed. But I get to, I get to express my love and gratitude for Him today. We get to do it today.
This is a covenant renewal. It could feel obnoxious to the people of God that were brought up like Joshua. "We came with You. Like, we, we stuck it out in the wilderness. Like, we saw our parents die. Like, we're here. What are You talking about? Why, why? We just got to the promised land. Why are we doing this?" And Joshua knows the temptation to backslide, the temptation to fall into sin. The sin of the Egyptians, there were idols of the Egyptians still somehow made it to the promised land. There were idols that crept into the camp, worshiping gods of the Canaanites and the Amorites. Somehow, some way, through all of the miraculous that had happened in and out of Egypt and in the wilderness, now they're in the promised land after crossing the Jordan River, which is another miracle. It's an amazing story. Yet still, somehow, there's backsliding. Somehow, there's yielding and falling into temptation. And we need to be aware of that. It's a part of sin nature, and it's a part of our humanity that, yes, yesterday I was living for Jesus, but today I'm living for Jesus. This is who I am, and this is who I'm gonna be. That's why covenant renewal. Let's just walk through this renewal together. I think this is kind of a church covenant renewal day, saying we're going to be a church. We're going to be a family. I'm going to be a Christ follower that serves the Lord.
He says, "Fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and faithfulness." Sincerity means it means completely, wholly, entirely. It means, it means wholeness. With, with all that you are, with sincerity. Are you a Christ follower, following Jesus, saying, "He's got my life, wholly and completely"? In sincerity and in faithfulness. Faithfulness means firmness, sureness, reliability, or truth. This is the truth. This is how I'm living. I'm living and walking in the truth. It's who I am. Holy and in the truth. Christianity is different than other religions. It's not one that you can just, "Hey, let's get, get a little mixed bag of beliefs. Let's get just kind of whatever. People are as long as you know that's it. That's, you got that. That's good. You got that now. We're all kind of as long as we got a little higher power deal." Like, we're kind of all. Christianity doesn't afford you that. To be a Christ follower, you have to reject everything else as truth and say, "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life." If Jesus is just a way to eternity in heaven and not the way, then you have no way to eternity. We've got to believe in Jesus Christ as the way. He's the only way.
And as Christ followers living this out, I actually, uh, recently had a conversation with somebody that said, "Hey, I'm not an atheist, so I'm not a person of faith." I said, "It takes a lot of faith to be an atheist." But he said, "I'm not not an atheist. I just, I believe kind of. I kind of believe in everything. It's, love some of the Christianity, it's pretty good. Talk to the Buddhist guy, help me with some stuff." And, and maybe you've had these conversations in your neighborhoods or the workplace. You've had conversations like that. And you're trying to be, you're trying to, as a Christ follower, you're trying to be like friendly, like, you know, like, "I'm a Christian." And that's nice. That's. And you're like, tiptoeing around. Now, we're not going to be the Christ followers that go like, "Repent!" unless the Lord's saying, "Let's go." Sometimes it's, Christ follower, you've got to say, "I'm gonna die on this hill today." Because otherwise, they're dying. I'm just gonna, it's gonna get weird. I'm gonna say, "I believe that there's one way. There's one way. I've experienced it in my own life." Give your testimony and say, "Jesus is the way." The Holy Spirit wind in the sails is behind that, and you could change somebody's life. Saying, "I'm dying on this hill today," not to be mean, not to be obtrusive, not to be shaming or in somebody's face, but to say, "I believe in the way, and it's how you can love somebody."
Joshua's saying, he's saying, "Serve the Lord with sincerity and faithfulness." I want to get to the end of my life and hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Faithful servant. This is what it looks like. He then says, "Choose this day whom you will serve." And I just love this. I'm going to wake my kids up tomorrow and just flip the lights on and say, "Choose this day who you're serving." Because we've got to teach our kids what it means to be a Christ follower. And I'm not going to do that. That's crazy. Although my mom would turn on the light. She's like, "Get up, get up in the morning. It's time to ride." Like, but we've got to raise our kids. "Choose this day." Joshua is the leader of the, the people of God at the time. He says, "Choose to stay." Hey, choose to stay. And you want to know who he learned that move from? He learned it from his leader, Moses. Because when Moses is coming down from the mountain after getting the Ten Commandments, he hears, he hears something going on down there in the camp, and they're worshiping a golden image. While Moses is hearing from God, while Moses is getting the, the Ten Commandments, he's right there in the presence of God at the top of this mountain. It's not even that long that he's gone, and they somehow, course Aaron, Moses' brother, like, "Let's build a golden calf and worship it." Whoa. Somehow this is happening. We laugh, but my goodness, the idols that we build after a miracle, after an answered prayer, after what God does in our life, we quickly craft these things that we think can satisfy. They'll never satisfy. Moses comes down and he says, "Choose this day who you're going to serve." Same words. And he sends the Levites out, and they go and kill 3,000 men. Some of them are killing their brothers, fathers, and sons. And Moses said, "That was their ordination day." That's what it took to be ordained as a minister back then. Dear Lord. To put a fork in people's road. And Joshua's saying, "Hey, this is part of my job to put a fork in the road." And we're not going to let this creep in. And again, this isn't hammer-dropping. We're not living in the day of like, "Pull out your swords and let's get hacking." We're not doing that. The grace of God, the forgiveness of God is so amazing. He's paid it all. Yet we still have a responsibility to say, "Hey, this is the truth. This is the way. It's through Jesus Christ." "Choose today who you will serve." You have the authority to do that. As a mom, as a dad, as a leader in your neighborhood, you have the authority to present the gospel. You're putting a spiritual fork in somebody's road, and they can't ignore it. Ignoring it is choosing a way. You've got the authority and the, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to put a fork in somebody's road. They'll feel the presence of God, and they get to choose. They may not have another opportunity. And you think, like, "Well, because of a car accident, or because of a brain aneurysm, or because in that moment, if they choose to not follow the way of Jesus Christ, their heart could be hardened, their eyes could be blinded, and they may not have another chance where they are that sensitive to feel the presence of God." I'm not diminishing the power of God, don't mishear me. But I am saying there are moments in our workplaces, in our families, in our neighborhoods, where we can present the message of Jesus Christ, and it may be the most sensitive they will ever be that they say, "Yes, today is my day of salvation."
Joshua learned it from Moses, and he's doing it again. He also learned an incredible lesson in Joshua chapter 5. We see this, you know, because sometimes as Christ followers, we say, like, "God, are You for me? Are You for me? I'm out here trying to serve You. Are You for me?" And Joshua learned it's the wrong question to ask. Because he saw, he came up to a man with a sword drawn, and he came up to him and said, "Are You for us or are You for our adversaries?" And this man was an angel of God. Some people believe it was a theophany, which is actually pre-incarnate Christ. He's seeing Jesus. And he, Joshua asks, "Are You for us or are You for our adversaries?" And the angel of the Lord says, "No." Not answering the question. And what's he saying? Saying, "I'm not for you or for your adversary. Are you with the Lord?" And we as Christ followers, we need to know today, it's not about, "Hey, God, get on my side. Get, are You for me?" Yes, if He's for you, nobody can be against you. Yes, but for Him to be for you, you've got to be for Him. You've got to say, "This is who I am. This is how I'm leading my life. I'm a Christ follower. I'm in." It's not, "God, are You for me?" He is, when you say, "I am for the Lord. I'm on the Lord's side." Nice and quiet right now. This is perfect.
It says, "Put away, put away the idols from the Egyptians, from the Amorites." The, the Egyptians is like the way that you were raised, because that's how their parents were raised. They were raised in Egypt, and they had customs, they had tradition that built up. Some of it was not God, God-honoring. And there's people in this room and watching at all of our campuses, maybe you were raised in an environment that was not good, it was not God-honoring. And maybe there's some tradition or habit or addiction or thought process that you've inherited because that's what you were raised in. And Joshua's saying, "The people of God, you've got to let the Egyptian stuff go." And there's people here, by the power of God, you've got to let the way that you were raised, it's not God-honoring. You've got to let that go. Be free from it. Also, the Amorites that were in the promised land, they had to conquer them, but they had inherited some of their stuff. And that might be the environment that you're in today. The people that you spend a lot of time with, your friends, are in the workplace, and there's habits, and there's thought processes, and there's conversation that's not God-honoring. And Joshua's saying, "The people of God, you've got to let that stuff go." Who you've been hanging out with. We just got to the promised land in this family, and you've been hanging out with the wrong people. You've got to let it go. And there's people listening right now, you've got to let things go that you've been, you've got, you, you're conforming to the world. And we don't, we don't need that. We, we need you to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We need to take our thoughts captive, make them obedient to Christ. Oh, it's like too much holiness preaching. Is this okay? I don't know.
First Corinthians 10:14, "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry." Like, run. We don't dabble. Just kind of, just figuring, just figuring that he just comes to, nope. Run. Why? Because God doesn't like us having fun? Like, why? No. Psalm 16:4, "The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply." Why should we flee from idolatry? Because the sorrow of those that are running after another God, it's going to multiply. It's because God's trying to protect you. He's trying to give you a life that you could never imagine. To give you peace beyond your imagination. He's trying to give you joy and hope for your future. But when we idolize things in our life and we start chasing things that are in this world that are not God, it's, oh, it's a way that says, "Oh, way. I've been trying this. Been doing this little practice. Been dabbling here." No. What's going to multiply in our life is sorrow. And God says, "I don't want that multiplying in your life. I want the peace of God to multiply in your life." Run from idolatry.
Where does your allegiance lie? Joshua starts as a leader. Which leaders go first? It's good. Hey, if you're going to choose another way, all good, but I'm, I'm going first. I'm just going to say it first. "But as for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord." "But as for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord." This is what we're doing. And for you today, Mom, Dad, grandparent, business leader, entrepreneur, teacher, you've got every opportunity to say, "But as for me and my house." Teenager, "As for me and my someday house, I'm living for Jesus." Every kid, "As for me, as for me, as for me, as for me, I'm living this out. I'm, I'm walking this out. I'm going to live this way." But to the parents and grandparents, to the spiritual moms and dads, you have a responsibility. A responsibility to think two and three generations deep. You have a responsibility. Your kids are not raising themselves. Although we've got a lot of kids raising themselves these days. You have to raise them. You have to lead them. Teach them the Bible. Teach them the way of the Lord. Teach them the way to go. We just sang a song earlier today talking about, "Write it on the walls. Get, get this thing everywhere. Get, get this all around. Get it in their hearts." We gotta, we gotta raise our kids in the ways of the Lord. This is what we're doing. And it's your responsibility. You're not being mean. You're not being authoritative. You're not being grumpy. You're being a leader. You're being godly. You're being full of character. You're being what God has called you to be by raising your kids in the ways of the Lord. Saying, "But as for me and my house, we're serving the Lord."
And we're transitioning seasons. The weather will begin to change. School is about to start. Activities are about to start. Things are changing. And right now is the perfect time to say, "Family, this is what we're about. This is what we're doing." Just going to remind you, whatever comes our way this season, this next season, "But as for me and my house, we're serving the Lord." This is what we're doing. This is who we are. And we need families. I love that Joshua is not like, "We're the people of Israel." But, "As for all of us, we're serving the Lord." And there's a lot of Christians that say, "I'm, I'm a Christian. I'm a part of the Church of Jesus Christ. I'm a part of, I'm a part of River Valley." So that's cool. No, you dial it into you and your family. Joshua's like, "It's not about just the people of God. You've got idols in your tent." So it's a family matter. Great show, by the way. It's a family matter. It's a family matter. Mom and Dad, say, "This is who we are. We're getting the idols out. We're getting the distractions out." It matters what music you listen to, what movies you watch, all of that. If the Holy Spirit has not given you the faith and the freedom to do it, get it out. If you don't have the faith for it, do not. It's gonna, you're gonna open the wrong door. Live in faith, living freedom. "As for me and my house." Not trying to come at you. This is fun. Two or three generations deep.
Paul wrote to Timothy. I just, I love this passage because he's really trying to teach Timothy the, the concept of thinking generationally. Because this young guy, remember, "Don't let anybody look down on you because you're young." Teaching this young guy to think beyond himself, to think generationally. And how does he do that? He mentions his mom and his grandma. Second Timothy chapter 1, verses 3-7. The keys can come. Paul says this to Timothy, "I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors." Already he's just referencing his ancestors. He's, he's just, "I'm just trying, Timothy, I'm trying to understand. There's a generational thing. We gotta pass on this faith." "I thank God who I serve, just like my ancestors, with a clear conscience. As I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. And I said, I remember your tears. I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith." Sincerity, your sincere faith, your wholehearted, truth-living faith, a faith that first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I'm sure dwells in you as well. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control." Paul's teaching generational living, passing on the faith. And even just, just feel like a tangent, the laying on of my hands. Mom and Dad, you need to lay hands on your children, and you need to pray over them. You need to pray in the Spirit over them. You need to believe God's best for them. You need to send them into the call of God that's on your life. I know there are parents right now grieving because they've sent their kid out. You've raised them in the way of the ways of the Lord. You've now sent them out. You've done a great job, and the Lord is on the case to guard them and to cover them and to create them into the leader that He's created them to be. You've done a good job, parents. You've got an opportunity. And again, spiritual parents, you've got people that you're discipling. Teach them how to disciple other people. But lay hands. We believe in the laying on of hands. There's something in good, healthy physical touch that we can, we can pass off a mantle on the people. It's, it's amazing. There's, there's a spiritual transfer that can happen as we pray over people.
The end of this passage, these five verses, then the people's response. And I just love it because it just proves the fact that as, as a leader, as a spiritual leader, you have the opportunity to put a fork in somebody's road. And I, I'm grateful for parents that put spiritual forks in my road all along the way, making me make a choice, helping me out of the holes I would just dig myself into. And Joshua puts the fork in their road. "Choose this day. For me and my house, I'm serving the Lord." And then he waits for a response. And church, this message requires a response from you. The seasons are changing. Not just the weather, but the seasons are changing in our country, in our state, in our church. This is a prophetic message of what is to come. And you've have an opportunity right now to choose this day who you will serve. Who will you serve? "As for me and my house, I'm serving the Lord." But for you, "As for you and your house." And the people respond, "We will serve the Lord. We will serve the Lord." They do, though. They note all that they had been delivered from. "We're going to serve the Lord because He got us up out of Egypt. We're to serve the Lord because He protected us from all of our adversaries." Which is, I think, level one. But level two is, "I'm serving the Lord just because of His character. I'm serving the Lord not because He's done anything for me, but because He is God." He's got my life. Just because He's God. Not just because He saved me or delivered me. He's it because He's God. "As for me and at my house, I'm serving the Lord just because He is God. He is the only one."
So Lord, I thank You right now that we can open scripture that's alive and active, and You can speak thousands of years later to our hearts in a very real and relevant way. And Lord, I just pray right now that as we head into a change of season, this is an opportunity for every household, every individual, for our covenant renewal to say, "God, I'm in again. God, You have my heart again. You have my life again. You have my mind. You have my resource. You've got all my gifts. You've got everywhere I go. You've got everything I think about. You're in the middle of every conversation that I have. You've got it all." It's wholeheartedly. It's wholeness, and it's truth. I'm following the truth. I'm going to live out the truth. I'm going to speak and believe the truth. I'm going to act out the truth. This is who I am. At this fork in the road, I'm renewing myself to You. Not to remind You, but to remind me that this is who I am and who I was created to be. I was created in Your image. I was created with a purpose. I was created with gifts. And this is for everybody listening to this prayer. You were created in the image of God. You were created with a purpose. You were created with gifts and talents and a call of God that's on your life. And luckily, His hand is on your life to help you accomplish all that He's created you to accomplish. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and do what you've been created to do. Lord, I just pray that You would speak to hearts, and there would be moms, dads, grandparents, teenagers, kids right now saying, "God, as I enter this next season, You've got my heart. You've got my life. I don't care what anybody else is doing around me. I'm living for You. I'm living for You." Lord, I just pray that it would be still in our hearts, that it would not be shaken, it would not be sifted, it would not dissolve, it would not fade away, it would not be a fad, it would not be emotionalism, but it would be so rock solid in our heart that we cannot shake it for the rest of our life. That this is who we are. We will stand alone on the word of God. We thank You for what You're doing in our church. We thank You for what You're doing in our families. And we believe this next season is going to be an overcoming, victorious, thrilling, and adventurous, full of salvation. We believe it in Jesus' name. Everybody said, amen. And amen.