SPEAKER_00: Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, choir and praise team, for leading us in worship today.
SPEAKER_01: We appreciate Casey and Jessica and David leading us this morning.
SPEAKER_01: What a great time to come and to worship the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Turn with me in your Bibles to Joshua chapter 24, and we are going to uh continue on our series in Joshua.
SPEAKER_01: We have three more weeks this week and next week are connected.
SPEAKER_01: And then the following week, we will finish out the book of Joshua and use that as a turn into a study on prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Before we head into our Chaffee campus startup and all of that, I think it's great for us to be focused on praying as a church, and we can never really focus on that enough as God's people.
SPEAKER_01: And so we'll be focusing on prayer, moving that.
SPEAKER_01: But we have these two weeks, and then and then that third week will be shifting.
SPEAKER_01: So today, what I want to talk about is the foundation of discipleship.
SPEAKER_01: Uh we will start as we start up our fall uh programming here in a little while.
SPEAKER_01: The information is in the bulletin, and you'll be seeing more of that.
SPEAKER_01: Men's and women's discipleship happens on those Wednesday nights.
SPEAKER_01: Awana is something we do in our children's ministry, and that is a discipleship type program that we have that teaches the kids how to use their Bibles, teaches them about missions, they memorize scripture, we're teaching them those spiritual disciplines.
SPEAKER_01: That word discipleship is a great word, but it's a really big word that has lots of meaning to it.
SPEAKER_01: It's become almost like a generic coverall word.
SPEAKER_01: So, for example, when we go out to a restaurant, uh my wife will say this to the waitress or the waiter or whoever it is, server will come up and say, Well, can I get you to drink?
SPEAKER_01: And she'll say, I want a Coke.
SPEAKER_01: Well, in a lot of places that just means a soft drink.
SPEAKER_01: But not in the Addison House.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, they'll say, Is Pepsi okay?
SPEAKER_01: And she will say, Absolutely not, in no way, shape, or form.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's pretty strong.
SPEAKER_01: Like, Coke is a very specific brand to her.
SPEAKER_01: But to a lot of folks, it's it's a bigger word.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's interesting in church life when you say discipleship, it's kind of the same way.
SPEAKER_01: To some people, that means training in the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: To some people, that means a program.
SPEAKER_01: That means something like our men's ministry deal on Wednesday nights or I wanna's or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: To some people, that means that's a very focused deal where you commit to a small group of three or four people and you work through a curriculum together.
SPEAKER_01: And so that word discipleship is really a fascinating word.
SPEAKER_01: We love all forms of that, and it's all great, but it's one of those words that has various meanings.
SPEAKER_01: What we find out, though, as you read scripture and you walk through scripture, the foundation of that word is really first and foremost rooted in the family structure.
SPEAKER_01: The foundation of all discipleship, as designed from the very beginning of Scripture and carried all the way through, is mom and dad as parents raising your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, as the scripture says.
SPEAKER_01: All throughout Scripture, God designed family and he designed it as the mechanism that we would learn about who he is, learn about redemption that comes through his provided Messiah, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And so the foundation of all discipleship is rooted in families.
SPEAKER_01: And it's important as we move into promotion Sunday next week, and we're excited about that, and all the kids are moving up one level, and many of them today went and met some of the people that they'll meet next week, and their new teachers and their rooms and all of that stuff.
SPEAKER_01: And all that goes on, it's exciting, it's a great day, but it is also an important day because as we come back from the summer, as school starts and we get back into our routine, it is vitally important as families that we push that routine back into all the things that we do to grow in the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And so promotion Sunday next week is a big week, and I hope you'll be here.
SPEAKER_01: Make sure friends around you are coming and everybody's coming.
SPEAKER_01: And it is families that do that.
SPEAKER_01: It is families that lead that.
SPEAKER_01: It is families that come, and family is the foundation of discipleship.
SPEAKER_01: Now I want you to see that today.
SPEAKER_01: Where we find ourselves here is at the very end of the book of Joshua.
SPEAKER_01: We are at the end of Joshua's ministry, if you will, or leadership.
SPEAKER_01: And so what's happened is, as we saw before last week, they have passed out their inheritance, and we talked about Caleb and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: So he's passed out the inheritance.
SPEAKER_01: All the tribes have gone into their areas, they've scattered out across the nation.
SPEAKER_01: They have done enough victory and enough defeating of evil nations and people groups in Israel that they can begin to do that.
SPEAKER_01: Now there are still peoples to be conquered and dealt with in the land of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: And so Joshua has given the instruction to the leaders of each of the twelve tribes.
SPEAKER_01: You need to continue to do this.
SPEAKER_01: You need to take care of the area that God has given you, that's your inheritance, and you need to drive them out.
SPEAKER_01: And then, as every leader does, he is casting vision and drawing the people to a commitment.
SPEAKER_01: So let me give you the context of this passage of scripture here.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: So, in at the end of his ministry, this is a nationwide call to faithfulness.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you read chapter 23, he begins his address, and it says this he called together all of the nation of Israel, including all of the leaders and the priests and everyone.
SPEAKER_01: And so he is making an inclusive statement.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone needs to come here and listen.
SPEAKER_01: He warns them, you are now going into your inheritance and into your tribe areas, and there are these evil nations among you.
SPEAKER_01: You must eliminate them and defeat them.
SPEAKER_01: Then he makes this statement You are not to let your sons and daughters intermarry with other people groups and tribes that serve evil gods, because if you do, I know how you grandparents are.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever your grandkids want to do, you're going to do.
SPEAKER_01: And I know that because now I am one, and that's exactly how I grandparent.
SPEAKER_01: My daughter's already telling me, Dad, you can't buy anything else and bring it to our house.
SPEAKER_01: Our house is not big enough.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: And so Joshua understands, and God understands through us listen, whatever your kids are doing, and whatever your grandkids and whatever your families get into, you're going to allow that because of the practical love you have, and you are going to begin to accept these false gods, and then you're going to worship them.
SPEAKER_01: And when you do that, when you allow them and you adopt that, then God is going to judge you for that.
SPEAKER_01: And so he warns them in that context.
SPEAKER_01: Then in chapter 24, we come to this passage, and he begins with giving a history lesson of God's provision and blessing for the people.
SPEAKER_01: And so he is leading up to the call to make the choice as families to teach your children to walk with the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And in doing that, he is making sure that we understand the context, and this is who God is.
SPEAKER_01: This is what he's done for you.
SPEAKER_01: This is his inheritance.
SPEAKER_01: This is how he has protected you.
SPEAKER_01: This is how he has defeated every enemy in front of you when you have followed him.
SPEAKER_01: And now we come to this statement from Joshua here in verse 14.
SPEAKER_01: And what Joshua does is he puts a very clear choice in front of the people.
SPEAKER_01: And he helps them understand with incredible clarity that following the Lord is a specific choice that you make.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Because of who God is, verse 14, therefore, because of what he's done for us, because of how he's provided, because of his blessings, therefore, fear the Lord and worship him in sincerity and truth.
SPEAKER_01: Get rid of the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt and worship Yahweh.
SPEAKER_01: But if you if it doesn't please you to worship Yahweh, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship.
SPEAKER_01: The gods your fathers worship beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.
SPEAKER_01: As for me and my family, we will worship Yahweh, God.
SPEAKER_01: Now that last statement is one, if you've been in church any amount of time, you would understand and recognize that statement.
SPEAKER_01: It is almost as famous as, you know, John 3.16 or a lot of those scriptures.
SPEAKER_01: When I grew up, my parents loved the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I grew up in a Christian home.
SPEAKER_01: That happened to be my testimony.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone's as different.
SPEAKER_01: That was mine.
SPEAKER_01: We had a little black brass plaque right over the doorbell to our house that said, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And so that is a famous statement.
SPEAKER_01: As what happens sometimes, the more familiar we come we become with a statement, the more it just sort of becomes this generic idiom for us, or this cliche or thing that we use.
SPEAKER_01: We don't mean to.
SPEAKER_01: This is a highly significant commitment and choice that Joshua is calling the people to.
SPEAKER_01: When he says, as for me and my family, we will worship the Lord, he has said in front of them this choice.
SPEAKER_01: You choose to worship God, or you choose to follow these idols.
SPEAKER_01: As for me and my house, we will worship the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We will serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And it's more than just me and mine.
SPEAKER_01: It is a very specific commitment that God has commanded his children to follow.
SPEAKER_01: And Joshua is pulling this commitment that everyone there will recognize that is, we are going to generationally commit to serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And as the leader of the family at that point in his family, it is my commitment not only to follow the Lord, but to drive that DNA and teach it through the generations of my family.
SPEAKER_01: It is one of the strongest statements of discipleship, of that learning to follow the Lord in all of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Let's take a few minutes and let's just kind of break that down and see what that looks like.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the first thing that I want you to see.
SPEAKER_01: Truth number one, that the foundation for a godly family is someone in the family who leads the family to choose.
SPEAKER_01: Again, he said, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship.
SPEAKER_01: And then he states his choice, but it is a choice, and it is a supernatural, passionate commitment to worship and serve Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: In our modern culture, we have lost the depth of the understanding of what that means.
SPEAKER_01: To follow God is a choice that you make irrevocably to follow him to the exclusion of all others.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to the choice as he describes it.
SPEAKER_01: Fear the Lord and worship him in sincerity and in truth.
SPEAKER_01: Get rid of the gods your fathers worshiped.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, he is saying, listen, you have an awe and worship of the Lord that drives you to worship him in sincerity, your motivations of your heart, and the purity of your worship to him.
SPEAKER_01: That is an important factor in our worship.
SPEAKER_01: You're also making the choice to worship him in truth.
SPEAKER_01: He has just given them and reminded them of the history lesson and rooted them in Scripture, and he is calling them to follow the Lord's commands, to know them and follow them.
SPEAKER_01: And then he says, get rid of everything else.
SPEAKER_01: Get rid of all those other things.
SPEAKER_01: That's the choice he's calling them to make.
SPEAKER_01: But Joshua stands before them and he says, I need you to understand, I have made this choice for my family, and what that means is I, Joshua, am going to walk with the Lord, and I am going to teach my children to walk with the Lord, and I'm going to teach them to train their children to walk with the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to do this with such passion that as far down the line as I can see, I am going to serve now with a passion and a commitment that is strong enough to last through generations of teaching and never get deluded.
SPEAKER_01: That's what that means to worship Him in sincerity and in truth and to get rid of every other idol.
SPEAKER_01: And following the Lord begins with a choice.
SPEAKER_01: And the first place of discipleship is in the family.
SPEAKER_01: And so God has built it that way from the beginning.
SPEAKER_01: And here, as they are becoming this nation, God is reiterating that command through Joshua.
SPEAKER_01: And Joshua is saying, it is my job as the leader of this family to make this commitment that I'm going to serve in every way possible so the generations that follow me follow the Lord with the same passion.
SPEAKER_01: Discipleship begins in a family.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I've said someone in the family.
SPEAKER_01: If your family is together and it's mom and dad and kids and all that, which is a lot of families, dad, it begins with us.
SPEAKER_01: But moms, you're a part of that.
SPEAKER_01: But dads, we lead and we move that way.
SPEAKER_01: But not every family looks like that.
SPEAKER_01: Some families are broken, some families have journeys.
SPEAKER_01: Some families have a mixture of people who are saved and not saved in the family.
SPEAKER_01: And all around our church, we also have people who could share incredible testimonies of they're a child, and they're the first one to get saved, and they begin to live for Jesus in that family, and then that family, through their influence, begins to follow.
SPEAKER_01: We have husbands whose wives haven't come.
SPEAKER_01: We have wives whose husbands haven't come.
SPEAKER_01: And when somebody in that family chooses to follow the Lord, and Jesus is beginning to be lived out in that family, think of all the ministry that God can do in that family.
SPEAKER_01: And through that first person that is that person of peace, the person of the gospel who comes into that family.
SPEAKER_01: So listen, whatever, whatever your family looks like, and whatever your background and heritage is, listen, no one can keep you from choosing to follow the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And following the Lord activates every promise he has ever made to his followers.
SPEAKER_01: That's part of why he begins with this whole history lesson.
SPEAKER_01: And so people understand whoever you are, if you will follow the Lord and if you will make that choice and then you will live that out in your family, that God will use you to bring the gospel into your family.
SPEAKER_01: But it is always someone who makes a supernatural, passionate commitment.
SPEAKER_01: Now, unfortunately, we have a lot of folks in modern American culture with all of the distractions and everything else that we have going.
SPEAKER_01: Man, we come this amount of time, that amount of time, we do that, we do that, we work all this in, we go on vacation, we play ball, we do all this kind of, we do whatever.
SPEAKER_01: And so there's not really a commitment, a supernatural, passionate commitment with the kind of passion that proceeds through generations.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever we do, our children will follow that trajectory and often with less passion than we do.
SPEAKER_01: If we have a mediocre commitment to the Lord, how does that last through generations?
SPEAKER_01: And where is the commitment in that that follows the choice and the command, fear the Lord and worship in sincerity and truth, and get rid of the God your Father's worship?
SPEAKER_01: So let's take a minute and look at the nature of this commitment.
SPEAKER_01: The nature of this choice.
SPEAKER_01: He says, as for me and my house, that specific isn't that a throwaway line.
SPEAKER_01: That specific statement is not something that's just a generic deal.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just like me and mine or whatever, but it is built on the command of God, how he has structured his followers and the nation of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: In Deuteronomy chapter 6, I want you to write the reference down, and I want you, if you want to turn to it, great.
SPEAKER_01: If not, you want to make sure that you just kind of listen and track with me as you hear this.
SPEAKER_01: Deuteronomy chapter 6 is a parallel passage, if you will, to this time where Joshua is sending the children out to live in their inheritance and to conquer their lands and to obtain the inheritance God has for them.
SPEAKER_01: Here in Deuteronomy chapter 6, Moses is at the end of his ministry in life with the children of Israel, and he is beginning to give them discourse and training and say, here is the law, and here's what you're going to do, and here's how this is going to work.
SPEAKER_01: And at the end of this, he goes this book, he goes off to be buried and to go home to heaven and passes the baton to Joshua.
SPEAKER_01: But here, Moses, at the end of his leadership, he is telling the children of Israel, when you go into Canaan, this is what you will do.
SPEAKER_01: And Joshua has just said, Now that we're in Canaan and we have passed out your inheritance, I'm going to remind you of the commands that Moses gave us.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen to this and how this is structured on families and generations of following the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 1.
SPEAKER_01: This is the command.
SPEAKER_01: The statutes and ordinances.
SPEAKER_01: And so now in Joshua's time, they have actually gone in, and he is reminding them of the very same thing.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 2, do this so that you may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life by keeping all his statutes and commands I am giving you.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen to generationally, your son and your grandson, so that you may have a long life.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen to the supernatural, passionate part of that commitment he calls.
SPEAKER_01: Do this so that you may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life.
SPEAKER_01: Not just once a week.
SPEAKER_01: Not just on a roller coaster every now and then, up and down, up and down, depending on what's happening, but all the days of your life.
SPEAKER_01: By keeping all his statutes and commands.
SPEAKER_01: It is a deep passionate.
SPEAKER_01: It's the same thing as Joshua says when he says that you are commanded to worship God in sincerity and in truth, and you get rid of all the evil distractions that would be in your family.
SPEAKER_01: Generationally, I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, so that you may have a long life.
SPEAKER_01: Then Moses says, Listen, Israel.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, listen up to me.
SPEAKER_01: Be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.
SPEAKER_01: And again, as if you're the first person in your family, you make that choice and stand on the promises of God.
SPEAKER_01: If you're the leader in your family, make that choice and draw your family on those promises of God.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 4, he says again, listen, Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, Israel.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
SPEAKER_01: He's the only one.
SPEAKER_01: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
SPEAKER_01: These words I am giving you today are to be in your heart.
SPEAKER_01: And then his very next statement, the continuation of this treatment, of this, of this, of this explanation of these commands.
SPEAKER_01: You have them in your heart.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 7 repeat them to your children.
SPEAKER_01: Repeat them, not just once.
SPEAKER_01: Once is not enough, not every now and then.
SPEAKER_01: Repeat them to your children.
SPEAKER_01: Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you get up.
SPEAKER_01: That's about all you got in the course of a day, right?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's all of it.
SPEAKER_01: He's put it all in there.
SPEAKER_01: Everything in the box is repeating to your children and teaching them about the person and the work of God.
SPEAKER_01: Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead.
SPEAKER_01: Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
SPEAKER_01: That is why people got those little brass things and put them right there next to the doorbell.
SPEAKER_01: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: They are writing them on the doorposts of their house.
SPEAKER_01: When our kids were little growing up, Janet prayed over and we together and selected Bible verses, and she created these pictures, and we put Bible verses over the threshold of every door in our house.
SPEAKER_01: Going into the bathroom, it would say stuff like this: creating me a clean heart.
SPEAKER_01: That kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Over our kids' doors, there were verses that she had prayed about that cast vision for their spiritual life.
SPEAKER_01: All of that was all over our house.
SPEAKER_01: Scripture needs to be over everything you do.
SPEAKER_01: You are teaching your children, repeating them to your children.
SPEAKER_01: That is the nature of the choice that he is describing.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 10: when the Lord your God brings you into the land, he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give you a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, and houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, and wells dug and you didn't dig, and vineyards and olive groves and all that.
SPEAKER_01: Be careful not to forget that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt and out of flavory.
SPEAKER_01: Fear your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name.
SPEAKER_01: Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.
SPEAKER_01: And so he is the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: And if you get to the end of that passage, here's what he says: I have set a choice before you.
SPEAKER_01: So when you come back to Joshua now, Joshua is simply reiterating the choice that has been there in front of the children of Israel from the very beginning when they started standing on the banks of the Jordan River, looking over into Canaan, and God says, This is how we will build a people and a nation, and how I will build the generations and the process of bringing the Messiah into the world.
SPEAKER_01: You are going to go be obedient, but fathers and mothers, you are responsible for your children and your grandchildren.
SPEAKER_01: You cannot abdicate that role.
SPEAKER_01: And so when Joshua stands before the people and he says, as for me and my house, he is making a deep, rich, powerful, ongoing life commitment that everyone understood exactly what it meant.
SPEAKER_01: He was saying, I'm going to follow God, and I am not going to follow his Amorites, and I'm not going to let that stuff in my house, and I'm not going to let my children marry outside of our faith and into these other pagan worship deals.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to do any of that.
SPEAKER_01: I am going to repeat to them daily.
SPEAKER_01: I am going to do it when they get up in the morning.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to do it when they go to bed at night.
SPEAKER_01: And as we're traveling, I'm going to do it.
SPEAKER_01: And everything else we do, I'm going to teach my kids and my grandkids.
SPEAKER_01: And if God leaves me here long enough, and my kids have kids quick enough, my great-grandchildren.
SPEAKER_01: You see the significance of the statement that he makes when he says, as for me and my family.
SPEAKER_01: Every family has to have someone who says, As for me and my family.
SPEAKER_01: Every family needs someone to say, it starts right here.
SPEAKER_01: I'm the one.
SPEAKER_01: As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Praise God.
SPEAKER_01: I come from generations of people who've done that.
SPEAKER_01: My father did that.
SPEAKER_01: But then it fell on me to be the one to do that.
SPEAKER_01: And one day it'll fall on Grant and Mabry to do that because our grandson Killian needs to know how much Jesus loves him and who he is.
SPEAKER_01: He's in church today because his mom and dad took him to church.
SPEAKER_01: I know that because they made a commitment.
SPEAKER_01: And I know that because their mom and dad made a commitment, and my mom and dad made a commitment, and Janet's mom and dad made a commitment.
SPEAKER_01: And generations before them made a commitment.
SPEAKER_01: Have you made that commitment?
SPEAKER_01: You may not come from those generations, and that is perfectly fine.
SPEAKER_01: God's grace is so awesome.
SPEAKER_01: We've just sung about it.
SPEAKER_01: If you're the first one, praise God, He will change your family tree through your choice.
SPEAKER_01: Make that choice.
SPEAKER_01: But somebody in the house has got to say nothing is more important in this house than Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you'll do that, just as God said, listen to the promises.
SPEAKER_01: It's a land flowing in milk and honey that God has promised them.
SPEAKER_01: Twice, he says, so that your days may be long and you may prosper and have a long life.
SPEAKER_01: We have studied in the course of this study in Joshua how many times God has reiterated his presence is available and he has firmed all of his promises.
SPEAKER_01: And a couple of weeks ago, we looked at how God had met every single promise.
SPEAKER_01: If you will make that choice for your family, I don't know how it will unfold, but God does.
SPEAKER_01: And if you make that choice and you choose to follow him and you choose to love him and worship him in sincerity, and you choose to understand the statutes and the workings of God, and you follow him because you love him in truth, and you get rid of all those idols and all of that stuff out of your house, and all of that stuff out of your life, and all of that stuff out of the life of your families, then I'm telling you, God will be faithful just as He has promised to you.
SPEAKER_01: You see, we are standing on the promises of God.
SPEAKER_01: This is not some weird legalistic thing, and we're not some cult, and it's not some other thing to follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It is a God who loves you so much that he has made these incredible promises, and he has designed for you an inheritance of salvation and relationship and heaven and abundant life and all of that, and he loves you so much that he stepped out of heaven and died on the cross to pay the price for your sins, which is what prevents you from receiving those promises.
SPEAKER_01: He made those promises.
SPEAKER_01: When we sin, we reject him, and he went and died for us and took care of them, even though we had rejected him, so that when we accept him as our Savior, we reactivate all of those promises of God in our life again.
SPEAKER_01: For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, he loves you.
SPEAKER_01: And that commitment that you make is to follow a God who loves you and has promises for you.
SPEAKER_01: But you must choose.
SPEAKER_01: You must choose.
SPEAKER_01: Every person is required by God Himself to make the choice if you're going to follow Him or not.
SPEAKER_01: Deuteronomy, I have set a choice in front of you.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua chapter 24.
SPEAKER_01: Choose you this day who you will worship.
SPEAKER_01: That's the nature of the choice that you make.
SPEAKER_01: And it has got to be a choice that is a commitment to follow him.
SPEAKER_01: But when you follow him, listen, friends, God will do more with your life.
SPEAKER_01: He'll do more with your family.
SPEAKER_01: He'll do more through his promises than you could have ever possibly dreamed of.
SPEAKER_01: But you have to choose to follow him and to surrender yourself to him.
SPEAKER_01: Finally, I want you to see the consequences of that choice.
SPEAKER_01: The seriousness of this choice.
SPEAKER_01: If you go on and read through here in Joshua 24, here's what happens.
SPEAKER_01: We read our scripture, and he says, I've set before you this choice.
SPEAKER_01: Choose you this day who you will serve.
SPEAKER_01: As for me and my family will serve.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 16, the Bible says, We will certainly not abandon the Lord to worship other gods.
SPEAKER_01: And it has an exclamation point, which means they are going, We will not abandon the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We're all in, amen.
SPEAKER_01: For the Lord did all these things for us.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to Joshua's response in verse 19 when they make that proclamation.
SPEAKER_01: You will not be able to worship Yahweh because he is a holy God.
SPEAKER_01: He is a jealous God.
SPEAKER_01: He will not remove your transgressions and sins.
SPEAKER_01: If you abandon the Lord and you worship other foreign gods, he will turn against you.
SPEAKER_01: He will harm you, or in other words, judge you and completely destroy you after he has been good to you.
SPEAKER_01: Now that's a pretty serious response.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, all the people go, amen, we're going to follow the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And Joshua says, I don't believe you.
SPEAKER_01: I've been watching you all for long enough now, and you're pretty pedestrian on when you follow him or not.
SPEAKER_01: And you're going to just walk away like you've done so many times before, and he's going to judge you for that.
SPEAKER_01: And then they respond and they go, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, in verse 21, with another exclamation point.
SPEAKER_01: We will worship the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And then Joshua says this you are witnesses against yourselves that you yourselves have chosen to worship Yahweh.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, he says, Listen, you are making an oath, and I need you to understand the seriousness of it.
SPEAKER_01: And if you commit to follow the Lord, you have made an oath to follow him.
SPEAKER_01: And listen, when you walk away from the Lord, you are testifying against your own character because you committed to follow him, and now you've walked away.
SPEAKER_01: And they said, No, no, no, we get it, Joshua.
SPEAKER_01: It's serious.
SPEAKER_01: And then they went and they made an altar to commemorate this commitment of the people.
SPEAKER_01: This is a serious matter.
SPEAKER_01: It started with Moses and he cast vision for it and he required them of it.
SPEAKER_01: And when Joshua cuts them loose to go out and obtain their inheritance, he reiterates this choice and he says, This is really serious, y'all.
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you, if you walk away from God, this is not going to go well.
SPEAKER_01: If you fail, there are consequences to this choice.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you what.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't lead your family to follow Jesus, it is a terrible culture.
SPEAKER_01: You are abandoning your children and your grandchildren to.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all handle it.
SPEAKER_01: Lunch is coming after that.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is serious business that we have.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is your how much Jesus is enough for your children.
SPEAKER_01: Twice a month and once a month in Iwanas.
SPEAKER_01: That's enough.
SPEAKER_01: Now I'll cut them loose into school where you have all these kids that 30% of them are being abused by some family member in the house or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: Half of them are learning all kinds of language that you're not even sure you know the definition of, but third graders are saying regularly, and they come home in your house and they speak all that to you because some older kid told them, hey, go home and tell your mom this and see how she reacts.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Two times in church and once in a wana.
SPEAKER_01: Was that enough?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe I need to add one more wana to it.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, those are the kind of choices that we're making.
SPEAKER_01: We are making these choices about, ah, that's enough church, we're going to do this.
SPEAKER_01: That's enough church, we're going to do this.
SPEAKER_01: That's enough church, we're going to do that.
SPEAKER_01: We're making that choice all the time.
SPEAKER_01: Since COVID, the average church attendance, and we're pretty much normal, like everybody else, so all around, it's about 50%.
SPEAKER_01: So we've all made the call that 50% is enough, Jesus, and training with our kids to cut them loose in the world that we live in.
SPEAKER_01: Now let me show you exactly what scripture says.
SPEAKER_01: On Tuesdays, our businessmen, we're studying the book of Judges.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what the Bible says in the book of Judges.
SPEAKER_01: Look at this scripture.
SPEAKER_01: We put it on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: I wanted you to see this.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua sent the people away, and the Israelites went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance.
SPEAKER_01: The people worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua's lifetime, and during the lifetimes of the elders who were companions of Joshua, served alongside him, but lived longer than he did.
SPEAKER_01: They had seen all the Lord's great works he had done for Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Joshua, son of Dun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110.
SPEAKER_01: They buried him in the territory of his inheritance in the hill country of Ephraim.
SPEAKER_01: On on go to the next verse.
SPEAKER_01: That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors.
SPEAKER_01: After them, another generation rose up who did not know the Lord's or the works he had done for Israel.
SPEAKER_01: One generation.
SPEAKER_01: We will serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We will not abandon the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all are not able to make this commitment.
SPEAKER_01: If you walk away from the Lord, there's going to be judgment.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, no, no, Joshua, we got it, we got it.
SPEAKER_01: You guys are going to be witnesses now against yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, me, my house.
SPEAKER_01: Remember what Moses said.
SPEAKER_01: Teach your sons, teach yourself, your sons, and your grandsons.
SPEAKER_01: Generationally, he is pointing down the line.
SPEAKER_01: Do not let your children marry the Amorites and people who don't serve God.
SPEAKER_01: They will lead you astray.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, we got it.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the altar.
SPEAKER_01: We'll make an altar to our commitment.
SPEAKER_01: One generation who did not know the Lord or the works he had done for Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Parents in Joshua's time failed their children and their grandchildren.
SPEAKER_01: And the Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight.
SPEAKER_01: I told you I was going to preach for a few minutes.
SPEAKER_01: That's God's word right there.
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you just a couple questions.
SPEAKER_01: Especially to parents.
SPEAKER_01: When is the last time?
SPEAKER_01: Just a couple of simple questions.
SPEAKER_01: When is the last time you memorized a Bible verse?
SPEAKER_01: When's the last time you memorized a Bible verse?
SPEAKER_01: We'll serve the Lord! When's the last time you memorized a Bible verse?
SPEAKER_01: Just one.
SPEAKER_01: Some people went.
SPEAKER_01: Some people got real.
SPEAKER_01: Don't look at me, Pastor.
SPEAKER_01: Sure, some folks got felt I know better.
SPEAKER_01: Some folks got mad and bowed up.
SPEAKER_01: You legalistic Baptist preachers are always the same.
SPEAKER_01: Really?
SPEAKER_01: Just one Bible verse?
SPEAKER_01: One promise of God.
SPEAKER_01: How are you gonna repeat it if you don't know it?
SPEAKER_01: He said, write it on your hands, write it on your forehead, write it on your heart.
SPEAKER_01: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
SPEAKER_01: One Bible verse.
SPEAKER_01: Some people went, oh, those days are over, Pastor.
SPEAKER_01: I'm old, I can't do that anymore.
SPEAKER_01: Well, it seems to me like you memorize an awful lot.
SPEAKER_01: You already know what the razorback schedule is for this fall.
SPEAKER_01: You can remember the last time we beat the Longhorns and what the score was and who rushed for how many yards and who had how many sacks and why we won.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Your kid, your kids move your grandkids to a new house.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna sure remember the address, aren't you?
SPEAKER_01: You guys can remember how to catch every crappie in every lake within 200 miles.
SPEAKER_01: One Bible verse.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just take that average since COVID of 50% attendance.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to get you to come to church.
SPEAKER_01: Please understand.
SPEAKER_01: That's between you and Jesus, alright?
SPEAKER_01: This is not a legalistic thing, but Jesus said, He it is who loves me, who keeps my commandments.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrews 10 said, forsake not the gathering of yourselves together, as is the habit of some.
SPEAKER_01: How are we going to raise our children and create a people of God and all of that if we're not like 50% is enough?
SPEAKER_01: Just in your head, what do you think your attendance has been over the last?
SPEAKER_01: I know it was summer, vacations are cool.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody should go on a vacation, right?
SPEAKER_01: Let's just take six months.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what your average attendance is?
SPEAKER_01: We we do, it's in the computer system.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what it is?
SPEAKER_01: Is it greater than 50%?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, if yours is under 70%, what is your children's attendance in church?
SPEAKER_01: After them, a generation rose up who did not know the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, I'm not trying to, I'm not trying to get on to you.
SPEAKER_01: But I am trying to be clear about the seriousness of this choice that we make as for me and my house to follow the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Next week we're gonna unpack that choice in some more detail, and we're gonna walk through that whole worship and sincerity, worshiping truth, get rid of idols.
SPEAKER_01: But listen, we we we at some point have got to get that motivation down.
SPEAKER_01: And listen, it's hard.
SPEAKER_01: I know it's hard.
SPEAKER_01: It's hard.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's a lot going on, there's all kinds of stuff, there's distractions, you're running against the stream of culture.
SPEAKER_01: I get all that.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it is.
SPEAKER_01: It's all hard.
SPEAKER_01: But listen, these the reason this book of Joshua is so powerful is because these are people who are working to obtain the inheritance that God has promised them in a culture that was against them and filled with evil around them.
SPEAKER_01: And yet God's promise is so powerful that he said, nothing in that culture will ever stand against you if you will just follow me.
SPEAKER_01: If you will just trust me, greater is he who is in you than he that is in the world.
SPEAKER_01: He had told Moses, he had told Joshua, they had repeated it, he had proven it how many times?
SPEAKER_01: Joshua rehearsed it for them in the first 13 verses when he gives his history lesson.
SPEAKER_01: In one point, he says, We defeated one enemy because God sent hornets and killed the other army.
SPEAKER_01: If God can send hornets to kill the army, don't you think he can choose any way he wants to and have myriads of ways to defeat whatever is against you and your family.
SPEAKER_01: The promises of God are awesome, they are undeniable, and as his character, as holy God, he can never walk away from a promise that he has made to his people.
SPEAKER_01: And not only that, he wouldn't ever try or want to, because just as we have sung tonight, grace, grace, God's grace for us as his children.
SPEAKER_01: That's how much he loves you.
SPEAKER_01: That's how much he wants for you and your family.
SPEAKER_01: That's how much he wants you, dads, especially, and moms, to see your children flourish and to walk with the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: If you're you're a student, if you're a single person, if you're the first person in your family that's ever gotten saved, listen, God will work and work through you and bring Jesus and grace into your family if you will make that choice.
SPEAKER_01: We have testimonies all over our church of people who've been the first person in their family to come to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And you can be that too.
SPEAKER_01: But you got to choose.
SPEAKER_01: For God so loved the world, he gave his only son.
SPEAKER_01: Whosoever believes in him.
SPEAKER_01: You have to make the choice.
SPEAKER_01: I want you.
SPEAKER_01: A moment I'm gonna pray.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna stand and sing.
SPEAKER_01: God's people gonna stand and sing a testimony.
SPEAKER_01: If you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, I'm gonna ask you to place your faith in the promise of God that He gave His only Son because He loves you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus died in your place.
SPEAKER_01: And if you'll give your life to Him, He'll save you.
SPEAKER_01: If you're already saved, I'm I've tried to do my best to read this passage to you and put these together where you can see the choice that God says before us.
SPEAKER_01: The dangers, but also the blessings of God.
SPEAKER_01: This is a time for you to make that choice.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we love you and we thank you for Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We ask now you give us the freedom to respond.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: And all God's people said.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this message has been a blessing to you and helped to strengthen your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to chapter and first, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.