Sunday Sermon

It’s Choice Not Chance
Joshua 24:14-15

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! (Joel 3:14)  I sometimes think of myself as “Mr. Indecision” as I bounce back and forth between, “Do I or Don’t I?” … “Should I or Shouldn’t I?” … “Will I or Won’t I?”   However I’ve made a couple million decisions, and I like to think that my job (calling) is to help people, like you make good decisions.

I recall a man named Joe Ice early in my ministry when I was green behind the ears.  Joe was dying of cancer and I had visited him on several occasions sharing the Gospel with him.  Joe’s reply to me every time was, “Preacher I appreciate you visiting me but I can’t be saved.  Wish I could, but I can’t.”  I talked myself blue in the face sharing scripture and stories with this man … “thief on the cross” … “workers in the field being paid the same” … all in an attempt to help Joe choose to believe, but to no avail. 

On one occasion when visiting Joe he had a friend there who after I invited Joe again to confess and believe, said to me.  “You know what Joe and I believe in?”  Curiosity had me so I asked, “What is it you and Joe believe in?”  Joe’s friend with a wide grin across his face said, “We believe in gambling! We like winning money! That’s what we believe in, isn’t it Joe?”  In one of those God ordained moments I said, “Are you willing to gamble with your life?  If what I am telling you (Gospel) is true and you don’t believe, you lose your life and the payoff is hell and eternal punishment.  And if I’m wrong, well then it doesn’t matter.  But what if I am right?”  Joe’s friend replied, “Well I guess I will just have to take that chance.”  Neither Joe nor his friend to my knowledge ever believed and  a few weeks after this encounter Joe died.   

How about you?  Are you taking a chance on eternity, or are you choosing eternity?  Do the choices you make reflect the eternity in your heart? (Eccl 3:11 He has put eternity in their hearts) 

Everything you do is the result of a choice you have made, and though each of us makes literally thousands of daily decisions, there are 2 decisions you make every day that impact on the present as well as the future.

#1 … Decision of Life or Death … growing or dying (no coasting) … “choose life” (Deut 30:19)

#2 … Decision of Discipline or Regret … good choices -vs- bad choices … its “I’m glad I did” or “I wish I had or hadn’t”

Life, discipline, death and regret are decisions we have to actively choose each day.  So choose wisely! 

Listen to words of Joshua to Israel … they speak to “choosing” life and discipline.

Joshua 24:14-15 (ESV) “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua is “old and well advanced in years … about to go the way of the earth” … however he was not about to let chance be the deciding factor for the future … but rather choice.

Here’s the point …

“LEAD YOUR FUTURE BY CHOICE, NOT CHANCE”

Joshua speaks to the “faithfulness” of God and how He had “CHOSEN” … “DELIVERED” … “GUIDED” … “GAVE” … them … therefore there was no reason not to follow and serve Him, other than making bad choices.

Joshua reminds them of their …

• PAST … their fathers served other gods.
• PRESENT  … dwelling in the land of the Amorites & their gods
• FUTURE … not to forsake the one true God

With those reminders Joshua challenges them “CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE.”  

Joshua knew to choose to serve the past or what is presently surrounding them is living by “chance” … in the unknown, the unpredictable that deals in the land of probabilities.  You know … “This will probably happen so this I choose to serve.”

Joshua then looking upon the people knowing they are suspect to idolatry says … But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” 

Joshua exemplifies for us: “A man dedicated to God can be mightily used.”

“LEAD YOUR FUTURE BY CHOICE, NOT CHANCE”

The challenge Joshua poses is so very contemporary and applicable. 

We too live in a land of the gods of …

• consumerism … consumed with more and more
• materialism … obtaining the material is priority
• pleasure … lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2 Tim 3:4)
• knowledge … puffs up (1 Cor 8:1)
• traditions … lay aside the Word of God (Mark 7:8-9)  … etc.

The tendency is “SERVE SELF” is so deep seated in us isn’t it?  And in this world of duplicity what is needed is “personal responsibility” for our choices, behavior and actions.  Decisions don’t make themselves; you and I have to choose to make them.

• Obedience in sincerity and in faithfulness to God is crucial to your future.
• Separation … put away other gods is essential to your future.
• Serving … serve the Lord is foremost to your future.

Let us look around us … for not only who we might serve, but who we might show our serving God to as an example.

• Parents … serve the Lord for your children’s future.
• Grandparents … serve the Lord for your grandchildren.

“CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE.”  

God is asking each of us this morning … “Who are you going to serve … those gods or Me the one true God who has been with you in the past, is with you today, and will be with you tomorrow?”

As the people of God we cannot leave the future to chance, we must choose today to serve God.

“LEAD YOUR FUTURE BY CHOICE, NOT CHANCE”

Amen!

Wholly Following
Joshua 14:6-14

I’ve been reading again about the life of Jim Elliot. I had read of him while in seminary some 23 years ago, and at that point he had been dead 30 years, as he and four others were killed January 8, 1956 in Ecuador while attempting to evangelize the Waodani people. 

It is told that Elliot was a gifted writer and speaker and many of his friends were convinced that he should concentrate on building up the church of America.  However, Jim wanted God’s will not man’s and knew that he was being called to be a missionary.

What’s amazing is … 53 years later this man’s life in how he lived it, is still impacting others. How did he live you ask? The life and death of Jim Elliot was a testimony of a man committed to the will of God. He sought God’s will, pleaded for it, waited for it, and—most importantly—obeyed it. (Trent Arwine, “Amazing Christ” blog)

How are you and I doing with God’s will?  Are there days you wonder, “Do I even know what is God’s will?” … “Am I committed to knowing God’s will?” … “Am I obeying God’s will?” 

I have a question I often ask myself … “If I were to totally resign from myself, where would God use me?”  I have learned that the greatest hindrance to the will of God in my life is me.  Somedays I wish God would answer me and then other days I am afraid for God to answer me!  Who of us would say we are “wholly following” after the Lord our God?

Let me introduce to you another man whose aim was to do the will of God.

Joshua 14:6-14

Caleb was one who would say, “I wholly followed the Lord my God.” (vs 8,9,14)

Caleb was a “God Quality” (GQ) man dressed in faith, trust, hope, patience, commitment and confidence.  He was a “WHOLLY HOLY” guy and from his life’s story we learn …

“WHOLLY FOLLOWING MAKES HOLY FOLLOWERS.”

Caleb was not a “newbie” but a “golden oldie” (age 85) in the way of faith believing and following.

Caleb was there when …

• Israel made their Exodus from Egypt
• the people were complaining @ the Red Sea
• the people doubted the leadership of Moses
• Pharaoh came after them
• God did a miracle @ the Red Sea (parting & destroying)
• the people complained and wanted to go back to Egypt
• the people wanted to put Moses to death
• Moses met with God on Sinai
• the people had Aaron make the golden calf
• three thousand of the men died in sin
• the 10 Commandments were given
• Moses sends spies investigated the Promise Land
• 10 spies give a bad report … “We can’t do it!”
• he said, “We can do it!” along with Joshua
• God marched them out into the wilderness for 40 years

His faith and belief in His God never waned through the years

His name, “Caleb” means “attack dog”.  Have you tried reasoning with a “attack dog”?  There is no reasoning!  The “old dog” Caleb was just as tenacious now in his faith and belief as he was all the years before. 

Here’s what God had to say about Caleb … “But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.” (Numbers 14:24)

As his life of “wholly following” was marked by becoming fully convinced that the one thing he should do was to pursue the will of God.  Therefore he lived a “holy” (set apart) life in the midst of a people who needed a living example of following their God.

“WHOLLY FOLLOWING MAKES HOLY FOLLOWERS.”

Caleb’s belief separated from him from the “immoral majority.”

• his belief was his word … “as it was in my heart” (v.7)
• his belief was his life … “yet I wholly followed the Lord my God” (v.8)
• his belief was his future … “shall be an inheritance” (v.9)
• his belief was his hope … “the Lord has kept me alive” (v.10)
• his belief was his reality … “Hebron became the inheritance” (v.14)

Caleb believed his God!  He took God at His Word, then and now!  “So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day … it may be that the LORD will be with me.” (Joshua 14:12)

And the conclusion?  “Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb … because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel.” (14:14)

“WHOLLY FOLLOWING MAKES HOLY FOLLOWERS.”

 How are you doing in “wholly holy” following after God?  Where do we need to get a little more “attack dog” tenacious?

• Have a “wholly” personal relationship with God.
• Let God’s Word separate you in “holy” truth.
• Keep a biblical perspective on all your circumstances
• Have a clear sense of God’s purpose and will in your life.

Matthew 10:38-39 (ESV) And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  – Jim Elliot

As Christians we are not called to be a Jim Elliot or a Caleb, but we are called to know and do the will of God, obeying it unflinchingly at the center of all we do, think and say.

“WHOLLY FOLLOWING MAKES HOLY FOLLOWERS.”

Amen!

Credibly Incredible
Joshua 10:12-13

Do you want to hear something incredible?  We like to hear about the incredible, don’t we?  Hearing the incredible makes you feel good, but does it make us believers? 

I remember hearing Marilyn Laszlo who at the time was a missionary with the Wycliffe Bible Translators.  She had served in Papua New Guinea in the Hauna (How-nah) village among the Sepik (sea-pick) Iwam people (known for head hunting) for 24 years (1967-1991).  In that time she helped translated the book of Genesis and a panorama of the New Testament.  She told of the “printed” Word of God coming to Hauna (How-nah) by way of a small motor boat filled with boxes of “Bibles”.  Miles from the village and a lot of river to navigate through Marilyn told of how they ran out of gas.  She said she went from sitting to kneeling and praying that God would allow them to make it to the village.  In belief she spoke to the others in the boat, “We will make it. Try starting the motor.”  Incredibly the motor started and they made their way to Hauna (How-nah) village where the people were lined up on the banks chanting, “The Word of God” is arriving!”    

Marilyn says … “The greatest reward is always somebody coming to know the Lord. The final climactic reward is leaving them with the Word of God. If we’re going to leave anything with anybody, it’s the Word of God. God’s Word can’t be destroyed.”

In hearing this story I said to a friend … “Wasn’t that an incredible story!”  To which my friend replied, “Yea, but I can’t believe that about running out of gas.”

“We Christians have allowed the spirit of secularism (skepticism) to seep into our lives so that there is little faith left.” – Life Commentary on Joshua

How about you? How “credibly incredible” is faith working in your life?  It is enough to … move a mountain, a tree or a roof for a friend to be healed?  Is your belief system credible enough to believe a boat motor that ran out of gas can run … a person giving 24 years of their life to translate and transmit God’s Word in a tribal village? How incredibly credible is your faith?

In Joshua chapter 10 we find Joshua & Co fighting maybe the battle of their life.  Five Kings (Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, Eglon) have combined their forces as the scripture say … “Then the five kings … gathered their forces … and made war.” (vs.5) … “So Joshua went up, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.”

The battle scene might have looked like something from “Lord of Rings” with all the engagements of war … marching troops, swings swords, and God fighting for His own … “the Lord threw down large stones.” (vs. 11)

In the heat of the battle Joshua prays … 

Joshua 10:12-13 (ESV) At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” ¹³ And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.

Joshua prayed believing his request, no matter how incredible it might sound, would be granted.  Here’s the point …  

“CREDIBLE BELIEF INCITES INCREDIBLE PRAYERS”

Where does such “credible belief” come from?

• Credible Belief Begins with Taking God at His Word

God had told Joshua … “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands.” (vs.8)  Are you taking God at His Word?

• Credible Belief Believes Nothing Is Too Hard for God

Jeremiah 32:17 (ESV) ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

Jeremiah 32:27 (ESV) “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?

• Credible Belief Believes God Is Faithful

Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; ²³ they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

When you take God at His Word, knowing nothing is too hard for God, because God is always faithful … then you can pray the incredible.

“CREDIBLE BELIEF INCITES INCREDIBLE PRAYERS”

The sun and moon stand still … can you believe it?  Are we to ask God for the sun and moon to stop?  Praying the incredible is not about the “sensational” as JOHN BUSH said, “It’s not about Santa Claus type of requests.” 

Praying the incredible is about faith and belief in God, who He is and what He can do.  Marilyn believed that and so did Joshua.  Do you believe that?  Do I? 

What battles are we fighting that we need CREDIBLE BELIEF that INCITES INCREDIBLE PRAYERS?

The battle of Joshua was for more than military or political victory.  The battle was to stretch the faith of Joshua & Co, and to expand the influence of His sovereignty.

The battles we fight are given to us so that we might see how God “CAN” help us through the most difficult times in life.

The Scriptures are baiting us, hoping some of us would stand up with credible belief and thus incite us to pray incredible prayers.

Joshua stood and prayed … “in the sight of Israel” … my question is “Who sees our credibly incredible faith?”

Let’s begin at home …

• Husbands & wives … show each other credible belief
• Parents … show your children credible belief
• Children … show your parents credible belief

Let’s go to church …

• Pastors … show the body life credible belief
• Deacons … show those you serve credible belief
• Members … show one another credible belief

Let’s take it to the streets …

• Neighborhood … show your neighbors credible belief
• Employees … show your employer/employees credible belief
• Friends … show your friends credible belief

When you and I do such we will see the “credibly incredible!”

Where and when will you begin to pray for the incredible?  Let your belief lead you there and then pray believing.

“CREDIBLE BELIEF INCITES INCREDIBLE PRAYERS”

Amen!