Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. If you
would turn with me to the book of Daniel, chapter three, please. Daniel, chapter three. Good verse one. Nebuchadnezzar
the king made an image of gold whose height was three score
cubits and the breadth thereof six cubits and he set it up in
the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. And then Nebuchadnezzar
the king sent together together the princes, the governors, and
the captains, and the judges, and the treasurers, and the counselors,
the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the
dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set
up. Then the princes, the governors,
and captains, the judges, and treasurers, the counselors, the
sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered
together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar
the king had set up, and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar
had set up. Then a herald cried aloud, to
you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that
at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, and flute, and
harp, and sackbut, and psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of
music, you shall fall down and worship the golden image that
Nebuchadnezzar, the king, hath set up. and whosoever falleth
not down and worshipeth shall the same hour be cast into the
midst of a burning, fiery furnace. Therefore, at that time, when
all the people heard the sound of the cornet, the flute, the
harp, and the cymbal, the psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the
people, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshiped
the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had set up. Wherefore,
at that time, certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews,
and they spake, and they said to King Nebuchadnezzar, O King,
live forever. Thou, O King, hast made a decree
that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, the
flute, the harp, the psych, the butt, the psaltery, and the dulcimer,
and all kinds of music shall fall down. and worship the golden
image, and whoso falleth not down and worshipeth, that he
should be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace.
And there are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs
of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and these
men, O king, have not regarded thee. They serve not thy gods,
nor worship the golden image, which thou hast set up. And then
Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage and fury, commanded to bring Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, and they brought these men before the
king. And Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true,
O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor
worship the golden image which I have set up? Now, if you be
ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute,
harp, psych, butt, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of
music, you shall fall down and worship the image which I have
made. Well, but if you worship not,
you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of the burning,
fiery furnace. And who is that God shall deliver
you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful
to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God, whom we
serve, is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace,
and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not,
being known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods
nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then
was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was
changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spake
and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven more,
seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded
the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
And these men were bound in their coats. their hosen and their
hats and their other garments, and were cast into the midst
of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's
commandment was urgent and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame
of the fire slew those men that took Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning
fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king,
was astonished and rose up in haste and spake and said unto
his counselors, did not we cast three men bound into the midst
of the fire? And they answered and said unto
the king, true, O king. And he answered and said, lo,
I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and
they had no hurt. and the form of the fourth is
like the Son of God. Let's pray together. Our Father,
we come before your throne of mercy again this night, thanking
you, Lord, for Christ, thanking you for all that he's done for
us. Enable us again this night, Lord, to worship him in spirit
and in truth. Enable us, like these three men,
to keep our eyes on him and worship him and him alone enable us to
serve the Lord with gladness. We ask Lord what a privilege
it is to do so. Lord, we. Bring before your throne
again tonight. Those names that we've mentioned
awful we ask special prayer requests for Brother Paul Hibbs we. Ask a prayer for Linda Martin,
Shelly McCarty. Lord, we. Bring before your throne
Scott Cross, Rhonda Parker, and Chase Parker,
Lord, Dee Parks. Thou knowest all things. We ask,
Lord, that it might be your will to raise them up, but Lord, we
give us the grace to kiss your hand of providence in all things.
Be with us in the remainder of this service. Lord, bless the
hymns to the glory of your own name, the preaching of the gospel,
to the edifying of your people and the saving of the lost. And
Lord, we know that salvation's of the Lord and we are just instruments
used in your will and purpose. Thank you, Lord, for all that
you've done for us in Christ. It's in his name that we pray
and ask these things. Amen. OK, Miss Judy, if you would
come at this time and. Turn with me if you would to
112 in the handbook. Him number 112. Blessed Redeemer. Up Calvary's mountain, one dreadful
morn, Walk Christ my Savior, weary and worn, Facing for sinners,
death on the cross, That He might save them from endless loss. Blessed Redeemer, Precious Redeemer,
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree Wounded and bleeding, for
sinners pleading Mind and unheeding, dying for me. Father, forgive them, thus did
He pray. Even while His lifeblood flowed
fast away, Praying for sinners while in
such woe, No one but Jesus ever loved so. Seems now I see Him On Calvary's
tree Wounded and bleeding For sinners pleading Blind and unheeding
Dying for me Savior and friend, how can my
praises ever find end? My tongue shall praise Him forevermore. Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer,
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree. Wounded and bleeding For sinners
pleading Blind and unheeding Dying for me Turn over to 126
if you would please, Rock of Ages 126 Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee. Let the water and the blood,
from Thy wounded side which flows, Be of sin the double cure Save
from wrath and make me pure Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know? could not atone thou must save
and thou alone in my hand no price I bring simply to thy cross
I cling while I draw When my eyes shall close in death
When I rise to worlds unknown And behold Thee on Thy throne
Rock of Ages, cleft for me Let me hide Before turning with me
again tonight to Joshua 24, I want you to look at Psalm 126 with me, verse 3. 126 verse three. That noise you're hearing is
the toilet downstairs. I know it's distracting. I flushed
it once and it stopped, but I guess it's still, what is it, air or
something in the line? Try to ignore it. Verse three, Psalm 126. The Lord had done great things
for us, whereof we are glad. Tonight, I wanna talk to you
about great things. Not great things that we've done,
but great things that the Lord hath done. We've mentioned many
times how some will stand on the day of judgment and say,
Lord, haven't we done many wonderful works? Great things in your name. But anything that we do is called
a work of iniquity. That's what the Lord called it. Everything we do is mixed with
sin and therefore corrupted. Only the Lord does great things.
Notice that these works of the Lord, they're already done. The
Lord hath done great things. And he's done great things for
us. He's already done them. The work's finished. You know,
that is such a, Wonderful revelation if the Lord's revealed that to
you, the work's finished, there's not anything for you to do. These things the Lord hath done,
they're great things and they're not the great things in and of
or to the world, they're great things that the Lord has done
for sinners and he's done them for his people, chosen sinners.
Great things concerning their deliverance from captivity. That's
what this Psalm 126 is all about. It's when the Lord returned the
Jews from their captivity in Babylon. It was a freedom that
was lost, but returned by the Lord. Mankind lost everything
in Adam. Man didn't just stump his toe
in the garden when Adam fell. No, he died spiritually. We lost
everything. We were sold under sin, Paul
says. Like Gomer on the slave block,
we have nothing to pay our debtors. God's law and God's justice demands
perfection. No earthly man can pay the demand,
but a heavenly man can, the God-man can. The God-man did for his
people. He's the only one they could.
And like Gomer, we're found wanting. We owe more than we can pay.
But our Hosea and our heavenly husband, the Lord Jesus bought
us with a price and we belong to him. And now we're the servants
of God. Christ, my Lord, not only restores
all, but he makes his people one with him and the father and
we inherit all that is theirs. And isn't that a great thing?
Forgiveness of sin by the payment of another. Perfect righteousness
by the giving of another. Perfect acceptance by the doing
of another. That's why the believer's confidence
and assurance of salvation is found in the things that Christ
has already done. from the foundation of the world
before you and I were ever born, before we had ever done any good
or evil that God's purpose according to election might stand. It's
of God that calls. It's of God that wills, not because
man wills to be saved. Before there was a sinner, there
was a savior. Before there was a need of a
sacrifice, before man ever offended God, God provided for himself
a sacrifice and God provided himself as the sacrifice. And what a great thing that is. In Joshua chapter 24, you can
go ahead and turn there with me if you like. Joshua, as we
saw last time, declares the great things that the Lord had done
for Israel. But notice how he begins in verse two. He begins
by saying, thus saith the Lord God of Israel. In other words,
this is God's word to you. I am delivering to you God's
word, Joshua was saying. This is what the Lord says about
himself. That's what the Bible is. It's a book of what God says
about himself. Do we believe God's word and
what he says about himself? Tonight, I'm delivering to you
God's word. This is what the Lord God says
about himself. Joshua here is preaching the
gospel. That's what a preacher does.
He declares to you the things that the Lord says concerning
himself. We preach what our Joshua, the
Lord Jesus preached. What did the Lord Jesus preach?
He preached himself. And we preach Him and beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, He, the Lord Jesus expounded,
He preached unto them and all the scriptures, the things concerning
Himself. That's our message, Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Joshua in his last message here,
before he dies, is talking about what the Lord has done for Israel. what the Lord has done for His
people. Are you interested in what the Lord has done for sinners?
That's what all true preaching is. That's what true preaching
does. It points sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in
Him, your sin is put away. In Him, your sins are forgiven.
In Him, you have perfect righteousness. In Him, you have acceptance with
God. It's all about Him. Now, Joshua
wasn't given his own opinion. He was made a mouthpiece. That's
what a preacher is, nothing more. He's a God-made mouthpiece, just
a voice crying in the wilderness, warning sinners to prepare you
the way of the Lord. reminding those who hear and
believe concerning the great things that God has already done. And as we saw last time in verse
three, the Lord said, and I want us to see these things again,
so I mean to go over them again on purpose. But he said, I took
your father Abraham from the other side of the flood. I took
him from that idolatrous nation and that idolatrous family of
his. And this again reminds us that
Abraham was also a fallen, wretched man, a sinner saved by divine
intervention, by God divinely intervening in his life and mercy
and grace. The Lord God of Israel says,
I took your father Abraham. It was me, the Lord, I did it.
It was not Abraham that sought me. If we seek the Lord, it's because
the Lord enabled us to seek him. He gave us life and gave us a
desire to seek him. The Lord says, I took, I called,
I led Abraham. And every believer says the same
thing. It was God that called me. It
was God that set his affection on me. It was God that revealed
the gospel to me. It was God that gave me a desire
to seek Him. By faith, Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place where he should after receive
for an inheritance, he obeyed and he went out not knowing whither
he went. You know what we call that? Affectual
calling. God's calling is affectual. If
God calls you, you're gonna come. By faith, believe in God, he,
Abraham, sojourned in the land of promises in a strange country,
dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with
him of the same promise. Christ is that promise. Jesus
Christ is the promised one. Jesus Christ is the promised
land. When we talk about entering to
the land of promise, we're talking about entering into Christ, who
is the promised one. For he, Abraham, looked for a
city which hath foundation, whose builder and maker is God. Jesus
Christ is the sure foundation and the solid rock. Jesus Christ
is our inheritance. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
tabernacle in which we dwell. Christ is our city of refuge. The only reason Abraham did not
remain an idol worshiper, and the only reason that you and
I have any interest in the things of Christ is for the same reason,
because God took him out and God took us out. I shudder to
think where I would be without Christ intervening in my life.
The Lord continues and said, I led him throughout the land
of Canaan. I multiplied his seed. I gave
him Isaac. Who did? The Lord did. How can
men read the Bible and not see the salvations of the Lord? It's
God who leads, it's God who multiplies, it's God who gives all things,
especially life, He's the only one that can. Only God can give
life. That's why we should never complain
about anything. I'm talking to me now, I tell
you, all things are the result of His divine purpose. All things
are according to his goodwill and pleasure. God gave life,
Isaac, to Abraham and Sarah, who had no life left in them.
Their bodies were old, dead, and barren to giving life. Only God could do such a great
thing as that. He said, I gave Isaac. How did
such an old man, 100 years old, and a woman who was barren, 90
years old, give life? God said, I did it. I gave life. Have you been given life from
above? God did it. Is Christ your only hope of life
in eternal salvation? That's a great thing that he's
done for you. No less than 20 times in these
few verses, the Lord says, I did this and I did that, which all
led to your good. All of it did. Verse four, I
gave Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. I gave Esau a nation of his own.
I sent Jacob down to Egypt by famine. You remember that? I
brought Abraham's seed into slavery. I, the Lord, have done all these
great things. In verse five, the Lord said,
I sent Moses and also Aaron. It was God who sent the message
of deliverance to Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron. The Lord says,
I'm the one that plagued Egypt. Who sent all those plagues? God
sent them. Everything that happened to Egypt,
everything that happened in Egypt, everything that happened to the
Egyptians, God said, I did it to them. And after I was done
with them, He said, I brought you out. And not only you, verse
six, I brought out your fathers. I brought your fathers out of
Egypt. You know, when you look at Israel's journey from the
time they left Egypt until the time they possessed Canaan, the
Lord was involved in every step of it. And that's what Joshua
is doing here in these verses. He's preaching the gospel. He's
pointing men to Christ and saying, the Lord did this for you. That's
what we do in preaching. When the Egyptian army pursued
Israel, it was the Lord who again delivered them. Verse seven,
I brought the waters upon them. I covered them with the waters
of the Red Sea. He said, your eyes have seen
what I have done in Egypt. Not what they have done, what
did Israel do? They didn't do anything. Verse eight, I brought you into
the land of promise on the side of Jordan in the land of the
Amorites. I gave them into your hand that you might possess their
land. Verse nine, then Balak, the son of Zipporah, king of
Moab, arose and warred against Israel. And he sent Balaam, the
son of Beor, to curse you. And look, he says, verse 10,
I would not hearken into the voice of Balaam. I'm the one in control here. God doesn't answer unto man.
Man answers unto God. Human beings are the ones who
fell and died, not God. Our God's in the heavens, and
he hath done, and friends, he still does, whatsoever he pleases. You know, many today preach Christ
as one who's pitiful and needs to be reconciled to us. If we
don't love Him, no one will. Poor little Jesus wants your
heart, won't you give it to Him? You know, to men and women, do
men and women really think that little of God? Verse 12, the
Lord said, I sent the hornet, just as He sent the frogs, just
as He sent the gnats, just as He sent the flies, just as He
sent the locust. He's in control of all these
things. In verse 13, the Lord said, I have given you what you
didn't lay before. Cities that you didn't build,
vineyards and olive yards that you didn't plant. Friends, this
is my father's world. It all belongs to him. It's lawful,
it's right for him to do what he wills with his own. It belongs
to him. It's his to do with as he pleases.
And then in verse 14, Joshua says, now, therefore, because
of all these things, we should fear the Lord, reverence and
worship Him, serve the Lord in sincerity and truth. Put away
the gods and idols of your fathers and serve you, the Lord. Be a bond slave of Jesus Christ. The life story of the sinner
saved by grace, his testimony is not unto us. His testimony
is to God be the glory. Why? Because he did it all, every
bit of it. Served the Lord, that's the message
of the Bible. All the Lord did, he did for
the salvation of his people, and all the Lord did was for
the glory of his own great name's sake. and out of love and gratitude
and thanksgiving, his people will serve him. They will consider
it a privilege to do so. That's what a true bond slave
does. Service to his Lord is for life. You know, the Mosaic Law allowed
the slave to voluntarily serve his master after his contractual
time as a servant was fulfilled. He got into debt, the man paid
off his debt, and he agreed to work for the man for a period
of time. But after that time was fulfilled,
If the bond slave declared, I love my master and my wife and my
children, which he had while under the service of his master,
and I don't want to go free, his master would take him down
to the judges and pierce his ear with an awl, and he would
be his master servant for life because he wanted to be. It wasn't
out of obligation, it was out of love. Folks today don't even
seem to know much about the word serve. Everybody's overworked
and underpaid. They think that God's in the
business of serving them. They do. He gives them good health
and vast wealth. Christ came to serve, but not
the way men think. Christ came to serve how? He
gave his life a ransom for many. That word serve means to carry
out, fulfill, do the will of your master. And being a bondservant
to the Lord means to attend to the Lord's word. It means to
attend to his desires, his will, and his purpose. That word serve
also means to worship. A true bondslave, a true bondservant
worships their master, serves their master. That's what it
means to be God's servant. Look back at Joshua chapter 22,
verse five. It says, but take diligent heed
to do the commandment and the law which Moses, the servant
of the Lord, charged you, to love the Lord your God and to
walk in his ways and to keep his commandments and to cleave
unto him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your
soul. Look at chapter, 23 verse seven,
that you come not among these nations, these that remain among
you, neither make mention of the name of their gods nor cause
to swear by them, neither serve them nor bow yourselves unto
them, but cleave unto the Lord your God as you've done unto
this day. And then here in chapter 24,
verse 15, Joshua says, if it seemed evil,
troublesome, worrisome, not a pleasure or delight unto you to serve
the Lord, choose this day whom ye will serve. This kind of worship,
friends, this kind of service, this kind of gratitude is absolutely
necessary for a true bond slave who loves his master more than
life itself. If serving God is undesirable
or if it's a chore to you, then Joshua was saying, go ahead and
choose to serve and worship your false gods. Choose this day whom
you will serve. Now that word choose means to
commit. Commit this day to whom you'll
serve. Yes, God does the choosing. You've not chosen me, the Lord
Jesus said, but I've chosen you and I've ordained you to bring
forth fruit. But when the Lord chooses, the
chosen sinner will commit to him. That's what the serving
of a bond servant is. It's a lifelong commitment to
serve your master. And Joshua says here, but as
for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord. Joshua's resolve
and his influence was for all Israel to serve the Lord. And
as he stands before the people of Israel this day, the last
time they'll ever speak to him in this way, that's the one thing
upon his heart is to serve the Lord. Don't you wish every sinner
could realize that salvation is the gift of God? Why he paid
our ransom and serving Christ is our reasonable service. He
chooses, he calls, he conforms. He chose us in Christ before
the world began. We didn't have anything to do
with it. God didn't look ahead in time and see that we were
gonna do good and choose us based on that. That would make salvation
of man. God calls us by the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified. He conforms us to Christ who
is our perfect righteousness. That's why we fear the Lord.
That's why we serve Him in sincerity and truth. That's why we must
put our idols away. I think about Shadrach and Meshach
and Abednego. We won't be careful to answer
you on this matter. We're not going to serve. We're
not going to bow down to your golden image. We're not going
to serve your gods. We're going to serve, and we're
going to trust our God, and we're going to trust Him to take care
of us, regardless of what you say you're going to do. A child
of God will not fear what man can do unto Him. He fears what
God can do unto Him, and he knows that being a bondservant of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that Christ's going to take care of him. Everything's
going to be all right. We must put away the gods of
our imaginations along with all the other things that interfere
with our worship of Christ. And actually everything that
we allow to interfere with the worship of God is what we make
an idol. Oh, I tell you, if the Lord came
and pointed out all our idols to us, we would absolutely be
shocked. As Joshua prepared to leave this
world, the sole desire of his heart was to proclaim this needful
truth to all whom he dearly loved. Our master, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is the one thing needful. He has the words to eternal life.
Where else would we go? Put away anything and everything
that would distract you and keep you from serving him. Now you
know what those things are. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness and all these other things be added
unto you. True worship is a voluntary act. No one will ever worship the
Lord out of threat of loss or gain of reward. It just won't
happen. Joshua doesn't say you must worship
the Lord. That's something that we must
freely and willingly do. Joshua said that only the Lord
must be worshiped. He didn't say that we must worship,
but if we are to worship, it's only the Lord that we are to
worship. And the words there, if it seemed
evil to you, to serve the Lord, it simply means if it's burdensome
to you. Is it burdensome for you to serve
the Lord? Not a believer it's not, it's
a privilege. Is it a burden for you to come
and hear the gospel preached? If it is, then you need to reevaluate
things. Does it seem troublesome and
unpleasant to you When you come to worship, our
Lord is not in need of such worship. Worship's only acceptable when
it's freely done, though. But you cannot worship God in
spirit and truth and cleave to your idols. Can't do it. You
can't serve God and man, and you can't love God and the world. The believer commits and says,
that's for me and my house. We will serve the Lord. Now the response of Israel here
is worthy of our emulation. Verse 16, and the people answered
and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve
other gods. For the Lord our God, He it is
that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt from
the house of bondage. and which did those great signs
in our sight and preserved us in all the way wherein we went
and among all the people through whom we passed. The Lord did
it all, we acknowledge that. Verse 18, and the Lord drove
out from before us all the people, even the Amorites, which dwelt
in the land, therefore we also serve the Lord, for he is our
God. Such is the heart of the true
believer. But I would have you to notice
in those three verses there, that nothing is said of Israel
about the putting away of their strange gods. And here's the
amazing thing. When Israel responded in this
positive manner towards the words of Joshua, there were still strange
gods among them. Verse 22, Joshua said unto the
people, You are witnesses against yourself that you have chosen
you, the Lord, to serve him. And they said, we are witnesses.
He said, now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which
are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.
And the people said unto Joshua, the Lord our God we will serve,
and his voice will we obey. Israel said, God forbid that
we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, but they still
housed other gods, making them eyewitnesses against themselves.
And in verse 19, when Joshua said, you cannot serve the Lord
for he is a holy God, he's a jealous God. He will not forgive your
transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve
strange gods, then he'll turn "'And do you hurt and consume
you, actor, "'that he hath done you good?' And the people said
unto Joshua, "'Nay, but we will serve the Lord.'" Now, Joshua
is not saying here that they cannot serve the Lord at all.
There's no restrictions. from serving the Lord. But what
Joshua is saying here is if you conceal and you give sanctuary
to these idols in your homes and in your hearts, you cannot
truly serve the Lord. And you can't, you cannot serve
God and mammon. You can't have two masters. You
can only have one. This is a transgression that
the Lord will not forgive. and that's forsaken Him for what
you regard to be a rival. God will have no rivals. The
reason why you cannot serve the Lord along with idols is because
the Lord is holy. And in the context of these verses,
that word holy means separate and unique and singular. You
see, there's no God but God. And he alone is worthy of our
worship. And he says he's a jealous God.
Honor and glory belong to the Lord alone. And he's entitled
to worship. And he's entitled to our service.
And that's exactly what he expects from us. They said, God forbid,
be it far from us to worship idols. And Joshua tells them
in verse 21 that their words are binding words. You know,
it's better not to make a vow than to make a vow and break
it. That's scriptural. Better not to make promises and
not keep the promise. It's worse to do so. Your vow will stand as a witness
against you in the end if you don't do what you promised. Verse
25, so Joshua, now look at this. So Joshua made a covenant with
the people that day. And he set them a statute and
an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words
in the book of the law of God. And he took a great stone and
he set it up there under an oak that was by the sanctuary of
the Lord. Every time they came to worship
the Lord in the sanctuary, they saw these words. In verse 27,
and Joshua said unto all the people, behold, this stone shall
be a witness unto us. For it hath heard all the words
of the Lord, which he spake unto us. It shall be therefore a witness
unto you, lest you deny your God. So Joshua let the people
depart, every man unto his inheritance. And upon Israel's promise, Joshua
puts them in mind of the covenant thou shalt not make. other gods
before me. That was the first commandment
of the 10. Thou shall not make any graven
image. Thou shall not bow to them. That
was the second. And Joshua wrote the words of
the law on a stone and it stood as a witness by the sanctuary
of the Lord. We're free to worship the Lord
and we're free to put away our idols and we're free to enjoy
the benefits and the blessings of God's grace. May the Lord
be pleased to enable us to cast down our idols. Destroy anything
other than Christ that we might lean upon. It's so easy to get
caught up in this world and the things that it throws at you.
And there's a fine line, a real fine line between the things
that are necessary in this life. and the things that we consume
upon our lust. And it's so easy for us to justify
things, isn't it? But anything, even those things
that seem innocent and harmless, if they're put before our worship
of Christ, are given precedent over that, they become rivals
to Him. And God's Word is clear. Thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and only Him shalt thou serve.
To worship the Lord is to serve the Lord. Same thing. And to
serve the Lord is to worship him. Worship is an expression
of reverence and adoration. Service to our master is the
same thing. You'll truly serve the one whom
you worship, and you'll truly worship the one that you serve.
And as for the child of God, the believer, to worship the
Lord is to serve one another. How do you know that you've passed
from death to life? Because of your love for the
brethren, your service to one another, your concern for one
another. You know, to worship the Lord
is to serve his church. And to worship is to serve his
gospel. The Lord had done great things
for us. He deserves all the honor, all
the glory, And we're glad that he's done great things for us.
Aren't we glad? We're happy about the things
that he's done for us. How do we show it? We serve him
with gladness. You know, in the last two chapters
of the book of Joshua, that word serve is used 14 different times. Lord, help us to serve you. That's my desire. I want to serve
the Lord, I really do. And I wanna serve Him in sincerity
and truth. I wanna serve Him for God's glory
and our good and for Christ's sake. Well, we're about to finish
up the book of Joshua, maybe one or two more studies, I'm
thankful. But the Lord has blessed us in this study. I hope it's
been a blessing to you as it has been for me. Judy, why don't
you come? Let's sing 463 in closing. You don't have to stand. You
can remain seated. Let's sing this hymn together. John Hibbs, if you would, at
the end of this hymn, dismiss us in prayer. 463, please. ? Who can share the heart like
Jesus ? By His presence all divine ? ? True and tender, pure and
precious ? ? Oh, how blessed to call Him mine ? ? All that
thrills my soul is Jesus ? He is more than life to me The
fairest of ten thousand In my blessed Lord I see Love of Christ
so freely given ? Grace of God beyond degree ? ? Mercy higher
than the heaven ? ? Deeper than the deepest sea ? ? All that
thrills my soul is Jesus ? He is more than life to me And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see What a wonderful redemption Never can a mortal know How my
sin, though red like crimson, Can be whiter than the snow. All that thrills my soul is Jesus,
? He is more than life to me ? ? And the fairest of 10,000 ? ? In my blessed Lord I see ? Verse
four is the last. ? Every need His hands supply
? might see. Lord, His strength divine relying,
He is all in all to me. All that thrills my soul is Jesus,
He is more than life to me, and the fairest of ten thousand in
my blessed Lord I see. Our gracious Heavenly Father, Thank you for this day. We thank
you for the message that we just heard. We pray Lord that you
would teach us our need of thee. We pray that you would teach
us how to praise and worship thee, to look to thee for all
things. We ask that you bless those that
are mentioned here for prayer and life, those that we pray
for regularly. Bless the sick, and the needy,
and all who wish to pray to the Lord. We ask, Lord, for forgiveness
of our sin. We ask for your guidance in everything
that we do. We pray, Lord, that you would
teach us to lay our cares on thee. That you would teach us
to seek you out while you might still be with us. We pray, Lord,
that you would watch over us, protect us throughout this week.
Amen, you're dismissed.