WEBVTT 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:14.000 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. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:19.440 You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:21.280 Thank you for listening. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:25.519 Thank you, choir and praise team, for leading us in worship today. 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:29.760 We appreciate Casey and Jessica and David leading us this morning. 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:32.479 What a great time to come and to worship the Lord. 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:39.759 Turn with me in your Bibles to Joshua chapter 24, and we are going to uh continue on our series in Joshua. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:45.039 We have three more weeks this week and next week are connected. 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:53.439 And then the following week, we will finish out the book of Joshua and use that as a turn into a study on prayer. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:01:06.640 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. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:09.519 And so we'll be focusing on prayer, moving that. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:13.519 But we have these two weeks, and then and then that third week will be shifting. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:17.920 So today, what I want to talk about is the foundation of discipleship. 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:23.599 Uh we will start as we start up our fall uh programming here in a little while. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:26.640 The information is in the bulletin, and you'll be seeing more of that. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:32.159 Men's and women's discipleship happens on those Wednesday nights. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:47.599 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. 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:57.760 That word discipleship is a great word, but it's a really big word that has lots of meaning to it. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:01.920 It's become almost like a generic coverall word. 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:13.439 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? 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:15.919 And she'll say, I want a Coke. 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:19.759 Well, in a lot of places that just means a soft drink. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:22.159 But not in the Addison House. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:25.360 In fact, they'll say, Is Pepsi okay? 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:30.159 And she will say, Absolutely not, in no way, shape, or form. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:32.719 I mean, it's pretty strong. 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:35.680 Like, Coke is a very specific brand to her. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:38.000 But to a lot of folks, it's it's a bigger word. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:42.080 And so it's interesting in church life when you say discipleship, it's kind of the same way. 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:44.319 To some people, that means training in the Lord. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:46.000 To some people, that means a program. 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:50.879 That means something like our men's ministry deal on Wednesday nights or I wanna's or whatever. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:58.800 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. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.800 And so that word discipleship is really a fascinating word. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:09.439 We love all forms of that, and it's all great, but it's one of those words that has various meanings. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:25.599 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. 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:42.479 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. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:55.919 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. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:04:00.960 And so the foundation of all discipleship is rooted in families. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:17.920 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. 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:37.360 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. 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:41.120 And so promotion Sunday next week is a big week, and I hope you'll be here. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:44.480 Make sure friends around you are coming and everybody's coming. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:48.639 And it is families that do that. 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:50.720 It is families that lead that. 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:54.879 It is families that come, and family is the foundation of discipleship. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:56.720 Now I want you to see that today. 00:04:56.959 --> 00:05:01.360 Where we find ourselves here is at the very end of the book of Joshua. 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:06.079 We are at the end of Joshua's ministry, if you will, or leadership. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:14.240 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. 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:16.399 So he's passed out the inheritance. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:20.879 All the tribes have gone into their areas, they've scattered out across the nation. 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:29.199 They have done enough victory and enough defeating of evil nations and people groups in Israel that they can begin to do that. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:34.959 Now there are still peoples to be conquered and dealt with in the land of Israel. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:40.720 And so Joshua has given the instruction to the leaders of each of the twelve tribes. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:42.560 You need to continue to do this. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:48.000 You need to take care of the area that God has given you, that's your inheritance, and you need to drive them out. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:55.839 And then, as every leader does, he is casting vision and drawing the people to a commitment. 00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:59.600 So let me give you the context of this passage of scripture here. 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:00.480 Right? 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:07.839 So, in at the end of his ministry, this is a nationwide call to faithfulness. 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:20.240 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. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:22.879 And so he is making an inclusive statement. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:25.040 Everyone needs to come here and listen. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:33.199 He warns them, you are now going into your inheritance and into your tribe areas, and there are these evil nations among you. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:38.160 You must eliminate them and defeat them. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:57.120 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. 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:00.720 Whatever your grandkids want to do, you're going to do. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:06.079 And I know that because now I am one, and that's exactly how I grandparent. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:11.519 My daughter's already telling me, Dad, you can't buy anything else and bring it to our house. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:13.120 Our house is not big enough. 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:14.000 Right? 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:35.600 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. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:43.360 And when you do that, when you allow them and you adopt that, then God is going to judge you for that. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:46.079 And so he warns them in that context. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:55.759 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. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:08:04.720 And so he is leading up to the call to make the choice as families to teach your children to walk with the Lord. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:10.399 And in doing that, he is making sure that we understand the context, and this is who God is. 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:11.920 This is what he's done for you. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:13.360 This is his inheritance. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:15.120 This is how he has protected you. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:20.399 This is how he has defeated every enemy in front of you when you have followed him. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:26.959 And now we come to this statement from Joshua here in verse 14. 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:33.679 And what Joshua does is he puts a very clear choice in front of the people. 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:44.480 And he helps them understand with incredible clarity that following the Lord is a specific choice that you make. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:09:00.480 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. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:10.720 Get rid of the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt and worship Yahweh. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:20.080 But if you if it doesn't please you to worship Yahweh, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship. 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:28.320 The gods your fathers worship beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:35.519 As for me and my family, we will worship Yahweh, God. 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:43.440 Now that last statement is one, if you've been in church any amount of time, you would understand and recognize that statement. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:49.519 It is almost as famous as, you know, John 3.16 or a lot of those scriptures. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:52.639 When I grew up, my parents loved the Lord. 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:54.000 I grew up in a Christian home. 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:56.320 That happened to be my testimony. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:57.440 Everyone's as different. 00:09:57.600 --> 00:09:58.240 That was mine. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:05.039 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. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:07.440 And so that is a famous statement. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:20.720 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. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:21.519 We don't mean to. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:47.039 This is a highly significant commitment and choice that Joshua is calling the people to. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:53.600 When he says, as for me and my family, we will worship the Lord, he has said in front of them this choice. 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:59.519 You choose to worship God, or you choose to follow these idols. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:03.120 As for me and my house, we will worship the Lord. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:04.320 We will serve the Lord. 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:07.120 And it's more than just me and mine. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:12.320 It is a very specific commitment that God has commanded his children to follow. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:22.960 And Joshua is pulling this commitment that everyone there will recognize that is, we are going to generationally commit to serve the Lord. 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:36.720 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. 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:45.440 It is one of the strongest statements of discipleship, of that learning to follow the Lord in all of Scripture. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:49.759 Let's take a few minutes and let's just kind of break that down and see what that looks like. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.480 Here's the first thing that I want you to see. 00:11:52.720 --> 00:12:02.399 Truth number one, that the foundation for a godly family is someone in the family who leads the family to choose. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:09.679 Again, he said, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:18.879 And then he states his choice, but it is a choice, and it is a supernatural, passionate commitment to worship and serve Jesus. 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:25.679 In our modern culture, we have lost the depth of the understanding of what that means. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:36.720 To follow God is a choice that you make irrevocably to follow him to the exclusion of all others. 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:40.240 Listen to the choice as he describes it. 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:45.519 Fear the Lord and worship him in sincerity and in truth. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:49.360 Get rid of the gods your fathers worshiped. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:13:02.879 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. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:06.000 That is an important factor in our worship. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:08.639 You're also making the choice to worship him in truth. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:20.000 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. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:23.519 And then he says, get rid of everything else. 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:25.360 Get rid of all those other things. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:27.679 That's the choice he's calling them to make. 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:44.320 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. 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:59.919 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. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:08.000 That's what that means to worship Him in sincerity and in truth and to get rid of every other idol. 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:12.240 And following the Lord begins with a choice. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:18.320 And the first place of discipleship is in the family. 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:21.600 And so God has built it that way from the beginning. 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:29.120 And here, as they are becoming this nation, God is reiterating that command through Joshua. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:43.840 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. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:46.879 Discipleship begins in a family. 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:50.799 Now, I've said someone in the family. 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:58.879 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. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:00.799 But moms, you're a part of that. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:03.759 But dads, we lead and we move that way. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:06.480 But not every family looks like that. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:09.919 Some families are broken, some families have journeys. 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:14.320 Some families have a mixture of people who are saved and not saved in the family. 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:30.320 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. 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:32.720 We have husbands whose wives haven't come. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.799 We have wives whose husbands haven't come. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:47.039 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. 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:54.480 And through that first person that is that person of peace, the person of the gospel who comes into that family. 00:15:54.720 --> 00:16:04.879 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. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:11.440 And following the Lord activates every promise he has ever made to his followers. 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:16.320 That's part of why he begins with this whole history lesson. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:29.519 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. 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:37.759 But it is always someone who makes a supernatural, passionate commitment. 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:44.960 Now, unfortunately, we have a lot of folks in modern American culture with all of the distractions and everything else that we have going. 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:55.039 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. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:17:10.720 And so there's not really a commitment, a supernatural, passionate commitment with the kind of passion that proceeds through generations. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:22.160 Whatever we do, our children will follow that trajectory and often with less passion than we do. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:31.839 If we have a mediocre commitment to the Lord, how does that last through generations? 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:39.839 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? 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:43.839 So let's take a minute and look at the nature of this commitment. 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:46.240 The nature of this choice. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:52.160 He says, as for me and my house, that specific isn't that a throwaway line. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:55.440 That specific statement is not something that's just a generic deal. 00:17:55.599 --> 00:18:04.960 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. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:11.119 In Deuteronomy chapter 6, I want you to write the reference down, and I want you, if you want to turn to it, great. 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:16.240 If not, you want to make sure that you just kind of listen and track with me as you hear this. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:29.200 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. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:42.960 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. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:51.039 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. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:58.799 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. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:09.039 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. 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:15.519 Now listen to this and how this is structured on families and generations of following the Lord. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:17.759 Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 1. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:20.640 This is the command. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:23.359 The statutes and ordinances. 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:40.640 And so now in Joshua's time, they have actually gone in, and he is reminding them of the very same thing. 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:52.000 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. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:20:00.160 Now listen to generationally, your son and your grandson, so that you may have a long life. 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:05.519 Now listen to the supernatural, passionate part of that commitment he calls. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:10.240 Do this so that you may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life. 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:12.319 Not just once a week. 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:20.160 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. 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:24.240 By keeping all his statutes and commands. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:26.559 It is a deep passionate. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:39.440 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. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:45.359 Generationally, I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, so that you may have a long life. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:48.079 Then Moses says, Listen, Israel. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:50.559 In other words, listen up to me. 00:20:51.119 --> 00:21:01.359 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. 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:08.160 And again, as if you're the first person in your family, you make that choice and stand on the promises of God. 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:15.759 If you're the leader in your family, make that choice and draw your family on those promises of God. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:20.480 Verse 4, he says again, listen, Israel. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:22.079 Listen, Israel. 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:25.680 The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:28.160 He's the only one. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:33.200 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:38.640 These words I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:47.920 And then his very next statement, the continuation of this treatment, of this, of this, of this explanation of these commands. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:49.680 You have them in your heart. 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:53.039 Verse 7 repeat them to your children. 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:55.200 Repeat them, not just once. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:57.839 Once is not enough, not every now and then. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:59.680 Repeat them to your children. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:06.160 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. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:09.039 That's about all you got in the course of a day, right? 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:10.720 I mean, that's all of it. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:12.559 He's put it all in there. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:18.480 Everything in the box is repeating to your children and teaching them about the person and the work of God. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:23.279 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:27.440 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:31.920 That is why people got those little brass things and put them right there next to the doorbell. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:34.160 As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:37.119 They are writing them on the doorposts of their house. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:51.599 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. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:57.440 Going into the bathroom, it would say stuff like this: creating me a clean heart. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:22:59.359 That kind of stuff. 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:06.000 Over our kids' doors, there were verses that she had prayed about that cast vision for their spiritual life. 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:08.079 All of that was all over our house. 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:10.400 Scripture needs to be over everything you do. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:13.599 You are teaching your children, repeating them to your children. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:16.960 That is the nature of the choice that he is describing. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:32.480 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. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:38.079 Be careful not to forget that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt and out of flavory. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:44.319 Fear your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:51.200 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you. 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:54.079 And so he is the same thing. 00:23:54.240 --> 00:24:02.000 And if you get to the end of that passage, here's what he says: I have set a choice before you. 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:36.079 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. 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:44.319 You are going to go be obedient, but fathers and mothers, you are responsible for your children and your grandchildren. 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:48.160 You cannot abdicate that role. 00:24:48.400 --> 00:25:03.920 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. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:19.279 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. 00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:20.880 I'm not going to do any of that. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:23.119 I am going to repeat to them daily. 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:25.680 I am going to do it when they get up in the morning. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:27.759 I'm going to do it when they go to bed at night. 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:29.759 And as we're traveling, I'm going to do it. 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:34.079 And everything else we do, I'm going to teach my kids and my grandkids. 00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:39.519 And if God leaves me here long enough, and my kids have kids quick enough, my great-grandchildren. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:46.400 You see the significance of the statement that he makes when he says, as for me and my family. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:58.000 Every family has to have someone who says, As for me and my family. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:05.200 Every family needs someone to say, it starts right here. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:07.039 I'm the one. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:10.720 As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord. 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:12.240 Praise God. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:14.960 I come from generations of people who've done that. 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:16.799 My father did that. 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:20.640 But then it fell on me to be the one to do that. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:30.880 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. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:36.880 He's in church today because his mom and dad took him to church. 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:39.680 I know that because they made a commitment. 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:47.039 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. 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:49.920 And generations before them made a commitment. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:53.519 Have you made that commitment? 00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:57.920 You may not come from those generations, and that is perfectly fine. 00:26:58.079 --> 00:26:59.759 God's grace is so awesome. 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:01.039 We've just sung about it. 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:06.799 If you're the first one, praise God, He will change your family tree through your choice. 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:08.880 Make that choice. 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:16.640 But somebody in the house has got to say nothing is more important in this house than Jesus. 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:18.880 And Jesus. 00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:23.279 Now, if you'll do that, just as God said, listen to the promises. 00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:27.519 It's a land flowing in milk and honey that God has promised them. 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:35.279 Twice, he says, so that your days may be long and you may prosper and have a long life. 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:45.279 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. 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:50.880 And a couple of weeks ago, we looked at how God had met every single promise. 00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:58.000 If you will make that choice for your family, I don't know how it will unfold, but God does. 00:27:58.079 --> 00:28:24.079 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. 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:27.839 You see, we are standing on the promises of God. 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:34.319 This is not some weird legalistic thing, and we're not some cult, and it's not some other thing to follow Jesus. 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:56.880 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. 00:28:57.279 --> 00:28:58.640 He made those promises. 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:11.920 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. 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:23.519 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, he loves you. 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:32.079 And that commitment that you make is to follow a God who loves you and has promises for you. 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:34.880 But you must choose. 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:36.720 You must choose. 00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:48.079 Every person is required by God Himself to make the choice if you're going to follow Him or not. 00:29:50.160 --> 00:29:54.960 Deuteronomy, I have set a choice in front of you. 00:29:55.359 --> 00:29:58.079 Joshua chapter 24. 00:29:58.799 --> 00:30:03.920 Choose you this day who you will worship. 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:05.920 That's the nature of the choice that you make. 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:09.119 And it has got to be a choice that is a commitment to follow him. 00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:12.880 But when you follow him, listen, friends, God will do more with your life. 00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:14.720 He'll do more with your family. 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:20.480 He'll do more through his promises than you could have ever possibly dreamed of. 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:27.519 But you have to choose to follow him and to surrender yourself to him. 00:30:28.160 --> 00:30:32.400 Finally, I want you to see the consequences of that choice. 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:35.599 The seriousness of this choice. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:40.480 If you go on and read through here in Joshua 24, here's what happens. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:44.400 We read our scripture, and he says, I've set before you this choice. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:46.559 Choose you this day who you will serve. 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:48.400 As for me and my family will serve. 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:54.240 Verse 16, the Bible says, We will certainly not abandon the Lord to worship other gods. 00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:59.440 And it has an exclamation point, which means they are going, We will not abandon the Lord. 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:01.440 We're all in, amen. 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:03.920 For the Lord did all these things for us. 00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:08.240 Listen to Joshua's response in verse 19 when they make that proclamation. 00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:14.240 You will not be able to worship Yahweh because he is a holy God. 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:15.839 He is a jealous God. 00:31:16.160 --> 00:31:19.279 He will not remove your transgressions and sins. 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:26.720 If you abandon the Lord and you worship other foreign gods, he will turn against you. 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:33.920 He will harm you, or in other words, judge you and completely destroy you after he has been good to you. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:37.359 Now that's a pretty serious response. 00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:40.240 I mean, all the people go, amen, we're going to follow the Lord. 00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:43.759 And Joshua says, I don't believe you. 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:50.720 I've been watching you all for long enough now, and you're pretty pedestrian on when you follow him or not. 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:55.440 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. 00:31:55.599 --> 00:32:02.240 And then they respond and they go, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, in verse 21, with another exclamation point. 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:03.759 We will worship the Lord. 00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:12.720 And then Joshua says this you are witnesses against yourselves that you yourselves have chosen to worship Yahweh. 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:17.440 In other words, he says, Listen, you are making an oath, and I need you to understand the seriousness of it. 00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:21.119 And if you commit to follow the Lord, you have made an oath to follow him. 00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:34.079 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. 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:36.640 And they said, No, no, no, we get it, Joshua. 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:37.440 It's serious. 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:45.039 And then they went and they made an altar to commemorate this commitment of the people. 00:32:45.519 --> 00:32:47.359 This is a serious matter. 00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:51.839 It started with Moses and he cast vision for it and he required them of it. 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:59.920 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. 00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:05.200 I'm telling you, if you walk away from God, this is not going to go well. 00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:10.559 If you fail, there are consequences to this choice. 00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:12.240 Let me tell you what. 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:21.200 If you don't lead your family to follow Jesus, it is a terrible culture. 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:26.000 You are abandoning your children and your grandchildren to. 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:06.640 Y'all handle it. 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:08.559 Lunch is coming after that. 00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:12.320 I mean, this is serious business that we have. 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:17.840 I mean, this is your how much Jesus is enough for your children. 00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:21.840 Twice a month and once a month in Iwanas. 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:22.480 That's enough. 00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:32.000 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. 00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:47.440 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. 00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:48.719 Okay? 00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:51.119 Two times in church and once in a wana. 00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:52.559 Was that enough? 00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:56.400 Maybe I need to add one more wana to it. 00:34:56.559 --> 00:34:59.039 I mean, those are the kind of choices that we're making. 00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:03.039 We are making these choices about, ah, that's enough church, we're going to do this. 00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:04.320 That's enough church, we're going to do this. 00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:06.079 That's enough church, we're going to do that. 00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:08.400 We're making that choice all the time. 00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:16.079 Since COVID, the average church attendance, and we're pretty much normal, like everybody else, so all around, it's about 50%. 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:27.840 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. 00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:33.360 Now let me show you exactly what scripture says. 00:35:34.159 --> 00:35:38.880 On Tuesdays, our businessmen, we're studying the book of Judges. 00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:42.719 Here's what the Bible says in the book of Judges. 00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:43.599 Look at this scripture. 00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:45.280 We put it on the screen. 00:35:45.599 --> 00:35:47.360 I wanted you to see this. 00:35:48.400 --> 00:35:55.840 Joshua sent the people away, and the Israelites went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. 00:35:56.079 --> 00:36:06.400 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. 00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:10.559 They had seen all the Lord's great works he had done for Israel. 00:36:11.599 --> 00:36:16.559 Joshua, son of Dun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. 00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:20.800 They buried him in the territory of his inheritance in the hill country of Ephraim. 00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:22.800 On on go to the next verse. 00:36:24.159 --> 00:36:28.880 That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. 00:36:29.519 --> 00:36:39.519 After them, another generation rose up who did not know the Lord's or the works he had done for Israel. 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:42.960 One generation. 00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:45.280 One generation. 00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:48.719 One generation. 00:36:49.519 --> 00:36:50.639 We will serve the Lord. 00:36:50.719 --> 00:36:52.559 We will not abandon the Lord. 00:36:52.960 --> 00:36:55.599 Y'all are not able to make this commitment. 00:36:56.320 --> 00:36:58.800 If you walk away from the Lord, there's going to be judgment. 00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:01.599 No, no, no, no, no, Joshua, we got it, we got it. 00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:04.639 You guys are going to be witnesses now against yourself. 00:37:04.800 --> 00:37:06.559 Remember, me, my house. 00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:07.840 Remember what Moses said. 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:12.239 Teach your sons, teach yourself, your sons, and your grandsons. 00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:15.039 Generationally, he is pointing down the line. 00:37:15.280 --> 00:37:19.679 Do not let your children marry the Amorites and people who don't serve God. 00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:20.880 They will lead you astray. 00:37:21.039 --> 00:37:22.159 No, no, no, we got it. 00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:22.960 Here's the altar. 00:37:23.039 --> 00:37:24.880 We'll make an altar to our commitment. 00:37:25.199 --> 00:37:31.920 One generation who did not know the Lord or the works he had done for Israel. 00:37:33.599 --> 00:37:41.599 Parents in Joshua's time failed their children and their grandchildren. 00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:47.199 And the Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight. 00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:52.960 I told you I was going to preach for a few minutes. 00:37:54.159 --> 00:37:56.000 That's God's word right there. 00:37:58.800 --> 00:38:00.639 Let me ask you just a couple questions. 00:38:01.199 --> 00:38:02.800 Especially to parents. 00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:05.760 When is the last time? 00:38:05.920 --> 00:38:08.239 Just a couple of simple questions. 00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:12.880 When is the last time you memorized a Bible verse? 00:38:15.760 --> 00:38:18.800 When's the last time you memorized a Bible verse? 00:38:20.880 --> 00:38:27.519 We'll serve the Lord! When's the last time you memorized a Bible verse? 00:38:28.239 --> 00:38:28.880 Just one. 00:38:31.519 --> 00:38:32.960 Some people went. 00:38:35.280 --> 00:38:36.559 Some people got real. 00:38:37.360 --> 00:38:38.719 Don't look at me, Pastor. 00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:48.559 Sure, some folks got felt I know better. 00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:52.800 Some folks got mad and bowed up. 00:38:53.440 --> 00:38:57.679 You legalistic Baptist preachers are always the same. 00:38:59.280 --> 00:38:59.760 Really? 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:01.679 Just one Bible verse? 00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:03.679 One promise of God. 00:39:05.440 --> 00:39:10.480 How are you gonna repeat it if you don't know it? 00:39:11.440 --> 00:39:15.360