If you would, open your Bibles
back to Joshua, chapter 24. Earl and I were talking at work
today, and he said, made this statement. He said, it's good
for man every once in a while to stop and take stock, look
back over his life, and look at all the ways the Lord's blessed
him. The things he's kept us from,
the way he's led us, It's just good to see how the Lord led
us up to this day. And I told him, that's what we're
going to do tonight. That's what Joshua was doing here at the
end of his life. Joshua knew that his death was
near. And Joshua didn't waste the time
that the Lord gave him. Joshua died just like he lived. He died trusting God and he died
encouraging Israel to do the same, to trust the Lord. And
Joshua uses his final breaths to remind Israel how we got here. How is it that we've come here
to the promised land? He reminds them how the Lord
has blessed them, and he reminds them to never stop worshiping
the true and living God. And that's what I hope to do
tonight, to remind us of the great things that God's done
for his people in his son, our Lord Jesus Christ. and to remind
us, to encourage us, to never quit worshipping him. Now, verse
1, Joshua 24, Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem,
and he called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads,
and for their judges, and for their officers, and they presented
themselves before God. Now, there is some significance
in Joshua calling the people to Shechem. He's calling Israel
back to their roots. He's calling Israel back to a
place of worship. Shechem is the place where God first made
promise to Abraham, I'm going to give you this land. And Abraham
built an altar and worshipped there. Years later, Jacob came
to Shechem. After he had met with Esau and
he'd gone and bought some property, he came back to Shechem. He built
an altar here and worshipped the Lord here. And now Joshua
is calling the children of Israel back to Shechem to worship. Just
like Jacob kept coming back to Bethel, Israel keeps coming back
to Shechem, to this place of worship. And this is a very solemn
occasion. The writers believe Joshua had
the ark brought from the tabernacle and set under an oak tree near
where he was where he would speak to the people of Israel. It was a very solemn occasion.
That's what tonight is. A very solemn occasion. Every
worship service is a very solemn occasion. Thus saith the Lord. That's what we're here to hear.
Thus saith the Lord. To hear the word of God. And
by God's grace, we've been brought back to Shechem. Back to this
place of worship one more time. To hear that old, old story of
grace and salvation to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
the title of the message is taken from verse 13, I have given you
a land for which ye did not labor. And what I would like to do is
look at this final message of Joshua to Israel in light of
this statement, I have given you a land for which ye did not
labor. And this land, this promised
land, is a picture of the land of salvation that God has given
his people in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a salvation for
which we did not labor. And I see six truths here about
this land of salvation, the salvation for which we did not labor. And
the first one is this. You dwell in the land of salvation
by sovereign election. Look at verse two. Joshua said
unto the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers
dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time. Even Terah,
the father of Abraham, the father of Nacor, they served other gods.
And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood
and led him throughout all the land of Canaan. Now you know
the Jews, you know their history. They like to brag that they've
never worshipped idols. And that's just a lie. Many times
they worshipped idols. But the fact of the matter is,
the very first Jew was an idolater. Abram was an idolater. And God didn't bring Abraham
to this land on his own. God said, I took him from his
father's house, or he never would have left. You'll still be there.
I took your father Abraham out of that, out of that idolatry.
And God didn't choose Abraham because Abraham was faithful.
You know, we think of Abraham, faithful Abraham. God didn't
choose Abraham because Abraham was faithful. Abraham was a wicked
idolater. That's who he was. And God called
him out of there. And every believer, we have the
same story as Abraham. You didn't come to this land
of salvation because you were good. We weren't. We were idolaters. We were wicked
idolaters. Whatever form it may have taken.
You say, I don't worship an idol. I don't bow down to some ceramic
figure. We were idolaters. Worshipping something other than
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's idolatry. And God found
his people and called you out of that. You didn't come to this
land of salvation because you were seeking God. You were just
like Abraham. You were seeking God. You had everything you wanted.
You had your idol. You were seeking God. And God
said, get out of there. Just like he did Abraham. And
you came to this land of salvation because God chose you. Because
God found you. and because God brought you to
this land of salvation. That's God's sovereign election.
But now why would God choose Abram and pass the rest of his
father's house by? When you start talking about
sovereign election, that's always the complaint to the flesh or
the objection of the flesh. Well, you're passing people by.
Well, that's true. God does pass people by. Why
did God choose Abram and pass the rest of that house by? Simply
because it seemed good in his sight. And I can promise you
this, I don't know anything about the rest of the people in the
house that Abraham was called out of, Tira's house. But I do
know this, God didn't pass by anybody in that house that deserved
his grace. He didn't. God chose to be gracious
to a sinner, Abram. And simply because it was the
good pleasure of his will. No one is ever saved. No one
is ever called. No one is ever chosen because
they're better than anybody else. Salvation is by grace. Distinguishing,
sovereign, electing grace. You dwell in this land of salvation
by sovereign election. Second, you dwell in the land
of salvation because God gave you life. Look, you're at the
end of verse 2. I'm sorry, the end of verse 3.
Let him throughout all the land of Canaan. I multiplied his seed.
I gave life. And I gave him Isaac. And I gave
unto Isaac Jacob and Esau. And I gave unto Esau Mount Seir
to possess it. But Jacob and his children went
down into Egypt." Now, God gave Isaac to Abraham. Abraham didn't
decide to have a son. Abraham couldn't decide to have
a son. God gave the child of promise to Abraham. When Abraham
was past having children, when it was impossible for Abraham
to have a son, God gave him a son. God gave life. He gave life to
that dead man and the dead womb of Sarah. God gave life. And there wouldn't have been
any life unless God gave it. God gave life. And God gave Jacob
to Isaac. Isaac just, I mean, he wasn't
an old man, but he didn't just decide to have Jacob. God gave
him Jacob. Now this goes back to sovereign
election. Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. Only God
would choose Jacob. None of us would have chosen
Jacob. Jacob is a scoundrel. I mean, if you worked with Jacob
and you saw that guy coming, you'd quit and turn down and
go away. I mean, this is not the kind of guy that we would
choose. But this is the kind of person,
a sinner, a sinful man. That's who God chose. And God
gave Jacob life. That's what he does. Everyone
God chooses, he gives them life. Now, some of us here may be able
to identify faith for him. Maybe one time you're prospering
in false religion and happy to be there until one day God calls
you. He calls you by his grace. He
sent a preacher to you and God gave you faith to believe that
message. And all that, you will say, is God's doing. That's God's
grace. His amazing, electing, calling,
saving grace. That's God's grace that did that.
Some of us can identify with Isaac and Jacob. We were children
born to parents who are believers, and they taught us the gospel,
just like Timothy's mother and grandmother taught him the scriptures.
But you know what? We were just as dead as that
heathen idolater carving out an idol out of a hunk of a tree
in the dark jungles of Africa. We were just as lost, just as
depraved, just as much an idolater. But one day, God moved in mercy
and grace, and he revealed himself to you. He gave you life. And
now you understood what you've been being taught. Now these
scriptures that you've been being taught from just a little child,
now they all make sense because you've got the key, because you
have Christ. And now that's who you see is
Christ. You don't see doctrine. You don't
see a moral code to live by. You see the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it is your heart's desire and thrill to worship Him. And
all that's God's doing in it. That's God's grace. It's His
same amazing, electing, calling, saving grace. God's grace. Wherever it is that God finds
His people, whether it's bound down to an isle, or it's in the
pew, if you want to call these pews, the pew chairs of Hurricane
Road Grace Church, it takes the same power, the same love, and
the same blood to cleanse us from our sin. And if anyone here
has spiritual life, you will agree with this statement. It's
because God gave it. God gives life. And I see this
here, too. God gives life when it pleases
him. God gave Jacob and Esau. He gave them to his parents,
and then he gave Jacob and Esau a portion. He gave Esau Mount
Seir to possess it. What's Jacob's portion? To go
down there to Egypt. God's going to bring the seed
of Abraham to the promised land, but he didn't do it directly,
did he? He did it in his time, for his purpose, in his way.
And that brings me to my third point. You dwell in the land
of salvation by God's deliverance. Look at verse 5. I sent Moses
also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt according to that which
I did among them. And I brought your fathers out
of Egypt, and ye came unto the sea. And the Egyptians pursued
after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red Sea.
And when they cried unto the Lord, he put darkness between
you and the Egyptians, and he brought the sea upon them and
covered them. And your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt,
and ye have dwelt in the wilderness a long season." Now, God had
a chosen people. They were Abraham's seed. They'd
been promised this promised land, this land of Cain, the land flowing
with milk and honey. But those people didn't go straight
to that land. They went down into Egypt and
they found harsh, severe bondage in Egypt. And throughout scripture,
Egypt is a picture of sin. Israel was in bondage in Egypt,
just like every member of spiritual Israel was born into this world
in bondage, in bondage to sin and to the law. But God sent
a deliverer, and he delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt.
And God brought them out, and God led them every step of the
way through the wilderness to the promised land. And you all
know Israel's history well. Israel didn't do one thing to
set themselves free from Egypt. Not one. They just followed God's
instructions. The most active that they ever
were is they kept that land and washed it for four days. slew
his body, carved blood in the basin, roasted it with fire,
put the blood on the doorpost, and went in and ate that Passover
lamb with their shoes on their feet and their loins girt, their
staff in their hand. That's the most active they were. And when
God sounded the trumpet, they marched out of that place. And
they went to the Red Sea, and they stood still and watched
the salvation of the Lord. They didn't do anything to set
themselves free, and they never would have been free from Egypt
unless God delivered them. And that's what God does for
spiritual Israel. This was given to us as a picture
of how God saves his people from bondage to sin and bondage to
the law and delivers them from the power of sin. You had nothing
to do with putting away your sin, not one thing. Well, of
course you didn't. Sinners love sin. They don't
see the need to set themselves free from sin, and they don't
want to set themselves free from sin. We didn't have the desire
nor the ability to put our sin away. So God sent a Deliverer. He sent his Son. And Christ came
and he put the sin of his people away through the sacrifice of
himself. That's the only way sin could
ever be put away. And God sent a Deliverer to do
it. And now you dwell in the land of salvation. Because Christ
set you free from sin. You never could have set yourself
free. Christ your Savior. set you free. That's all his
doing. That's why you dwell in this
land of salvation. Fourth, you dwell in this land
of salvation in peace, because God's destroyed every enemy. Look at verse 8. And I brought
you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side
of Jordan. And they fought with you, and I gave them into your
hand, that you might possess their land. And I destroyed them
from before you. Let's skip over verse 11. And
he went over to Jordan, and came unto Jericho. And the men of
Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites,
and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the
Hyphites, and the Jebusites. And I delivered them into your
hand. Every enemy of Israel was destroyed,
all of them. Now Israel may have fought against
some of these enemies, but you know good and well It was the
Lord who won that battle. The battle's not yours, it's
the Lord's. And He delivered that enemy into
the hand of Israel. How many times do you read, they
came out to fight this enemy, the Lord delivered them into
Israel's hand. He told them, don't worry, you go out and fight
tomorrow. I'll deliver them into your hands. The Lord is the one
who defeated every enemy. And that's what He's done for
His people, for spiritual Israel. Every enemy of spiritual Israel
has been defeated. The law has been defeated because
Christ satisfied the law. So now the law has no claim on
anyone in Christ. The law says, let them go. The
law has no claim on anyone in Christ. God's wrath is defeated
because Christ took all of God's wrath for the sins of his people.
And he took it all until it was gone. God's wrath is not looking
for anyone in Christ. It's been satisfied in our The
world's defeated because Christ has overcome the world. Satan
is defeated because Christ crushed his head at Calvary. You see
the recurring theme there? Christ has defeated every enemy,
and that allows his people to live in this land of salvation
in peace. Fifth, you dwell in this land
of salvation because God's delivered you from false prophets. Look
at verse 9. And Balaam, the son of Zipporah,
king of Moab, arose and roared against Israel, and sent and
called Balaam, the son of Beor, to curse you. But I would not
hearken unto Balaam. Therefore he blessed you still,
so I delivered you out of his hand." Now, Balaam is the very
definition of a false prophet in scripture. If you want to
see what a false prophet is, you go read about Balaam. That's
a false prophet. He's in it for his belly, he's
for sale, he's a false prophet. Yet, you'll not read any statement
that Balaam made and think, that's heresy. You think, well, that's
true. Then why is he a false prophet? What Balaam didn't say made him
a false prophet. What Balaam left out made his
message a lie. And God delivered Israel from
that wicked false prophet. Now, why are you here tonight?
Why are you here instead of some free will religion that man's
made up, who's preaching and sending people to hell by the
millions? Why are you here instead of there? Because God delivered
you. That's the only reason. The one
and only reason. God's delivered you. from false
religion and from false prophets. Number six, you dwell in the
land of salvation. And this really encompasses,
this is all of it. You dwell in the land of salvation
because salvation is of the Lord. Look at verse 12. And I sent
the hornet before you, which dragged him out from before you,
even the two kings of the Amorites, but not with thy sword or thy
bow. And I have given you a land for
which ye did not labor, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell
in them, and vineyards and olive yards which ye planted not, do
ye eat." And Joshua reminds Israel how their every enemy was destroyed.
And it didn't happen all at once. One by one, their enemies were
destroyed. And to God's people, I ask you,
where are those, your accusers? Where are they? Where are your
enemies? Where's your sin? Where's your
guilt? Well, they're gone. How'd that happen? Did you defeat
them? Of course not. Salvation is of
the Lord. Now, the children of Israel entered
into the promised land. They crossed Jordan. Well, there
are enemies all over the place. And they go and take Jericho.
But there are still many enemies. They're all out there lurking.
and their powerful enemies. And they're not going to give
up their homeland easy. Now, it would make sense to you
and me for the Lord to strengthen Israel's army, strengthen those
fighting men, and enable them just to go out and defeat all
their enemies. That's not what God did. God sent a little insect
to drive out their enemies from in front of them. Just like you,
it makes sense to our natural mind for God to accept our best
efforts at Yeah, as long as we're sincere, as long as we've done
the best we can do, as long as, you know, the good things we've
done are more than the bad things we've done, that would make sense
to our natural mind for God to give salvation that way. But
that's not how God did it. God sent a substitute made under
the law to satisfy God's law for us. And we see the wisdom
of God in salvation and how God saves sinners. There's true wisdom.
Salvation through a substitute. is really the best way. It's
the only way that salvation can be secure. To substitute, God
can be both just and justify the ungodly. That's God's wisdom. And that's how God drove out
these enemies of Israel. Look back at Exodus 23. All these enemies of Israel weren't
defeated just in one day. It was little by little. And Exodus 23, verse 27, And
I will send my fear before thee,
and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come. And
I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. And
I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite,
and the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee. And I will
not drive them out from before thee in one year. lest the land
become desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against
thee. But little by little I'll drive them out from before thee,
until thou be increased, and inherit the land." The enemies
were still lurking out there, but you know what? God let them
alone for the time being. Now those enemies were planning
on Israel coming, they were trying to build defenses. They knew,
this is what Rahab told the spies, we know you're coming. The fear
of you fell upon all of us. We know you're coming. But instead
of wiping them out, God let them be. And during that time, they
served Israel. The enemies of God were serving
Israel. Those enemies were still planting
crops. They were keeping their houses up and keeping their cities
well maintained. They were taking care of their
crops and all their different possessions. They were taking
good care of them all. So when Israel came to the gates,
Everything was in good working order, and Israel could just
move in. When Israel came, the crops were
ready to harvest, or maybe they'd just been harvested, put in the
silo. All the houses and the cities and the roads were well
built. The vineyards and the olive yards
were right for the picking. Israel is not like the settlers
in our country. You know, when those settlers
went west in our country, Buddy, they had a rough road. I mean,
they went through forests. I mean, they had to wait a long
time before they'd go and cover wagons. Somebody had to clear
this place, you know? I mean, they had hard work clearing
trees and breaking up the ground so they could plant. There weren't
any roads. They had to build roads. There
weren't no houses for them to go out there and buy. They'd
go out and build it. This was hard work. Not Israel. When Israel came to possess the
land, the roads were all built. probably just been repaved. The
houses were built in good repair. And the ground wasn't just tilled
and ready to plant. It was ready to harvest. God
prepared everything for his people. And Israel's not like a victorious
army that destroyed their enemy. And then they had to come into
the city and, you know, rebuild. I looked at those pictures after
World War II, after the Allied armies defeated Germany. Well,
they're the victors. Well, what do they got? A pile
of rubble. Not Israel. That's not the way
God did it for Israel. They didn't have to go in and
rebuild. The enemy turned their back and ran because an insect
was chasing them. Only God would do that. And it
came time for Israel to possess the land. And I just imagine,
they come in to possess the land. And a family comes in to the
house, this will be their house. Dinner is just being prepared.
The table's all set, stew's on the stove, just ready to eat.
And they say, let's sit down and eat. It's all prepared. That's
the salvation that God's people enjoy. The table has been set. The meal is prepared. God says,
come and dine. A land for which ye did not labor. No believer has ever dug a well
to get to water of life. Never. Christ put that spring
of living water from within us. Christ can come and meet and
drink. He that drinks of this water should never thirst again.
You don't have to dig a well. God's going to provide it. No
believer has ever built a wall for our defense. Christ is a
wall of fire about us. Salvation will God appoint for
walls and boulders. God's built a wall. You just
come rest. No believer has ever had to build
a house to live in. Except the Lord built the house,
they labor in vain to build it. Don't try to live in a house
you built. You live in one God provided. Look over at Isaiah
55. No believer has ever had to buy
spiritual food or drink. Christ is our bread. He's our
drink. He's our food. In Isaiah 55, verse 1, Oh, everyone a thirster, come
ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye buy and
eat, yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. You don't have to go out and
get a job and work to earn a paycheck to come buy this food. Come have
it without money and without price. It's food for which you
did not labor. has ever had to plant the tree
of life, God gives us that fruit freely, because Christ is our
life. No believer has ever had to weave
even a patch of our righteousness. Christ has imputed his righteousness
to his people freely, and it covers all of our nakedness,
and it'll never need a patch. We've got to weave to put on
it. It's perfect. No believer has ever had to sanctify
ourselves or keep ourselves holy. Christ is our sanctification.
No believer has ever had to go out on the battlefield and give
our life to obtain our spiritual freedom. Christ our Savior already
died. This is a freedom for which you
did not labor. No believer has ever had to meet
certain qualifications in order to be accepted by the Father.
We're accepted in the Beloved. This is a land for which you
did not labor. And if you labor to have any
of it, you can have none of it. Did you get that? If you labor
for any of it, you can have none of it. Salvation is free. It's a free gift of God's grace.
Salvation for which you did not labor. Now, that's our history. That's how we got here tonight.
Now what's your reaction to this message of grace? Look at verse
14. Joshua says, Now therefore, fear
the Lord, serve him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods
which your father served on the other side of the flood, in Egypt.
And serve ye the Lord. I'll tell you the reaction of
a believer to this message of grace is fear. It's reverence, reverent worship. disdaining all of our Savior,
disdaining all of His holiness and His greatness, disdaining
all of His mercy and His love and His grace, disdaining all
of His power that He would exert to save a sinner like me. You
just chew on that for a while. And to the child of God, That'll
make a servant. Give us a desire to serve him
out of a true and sincere heart. And by God's grace, and that's
what Israel says in the rest of this chapter, we are determined
like Israel was, we'll never worship nor serve any but Jehovah
out of a grateful, thankful heart. Before they have a chance to
say that, look what Joshua says in verse 15. And if it seem evil
unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day. whom you will serve,
whether the gods which your father served that were on the other
side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose lands
you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Now, salvation is a choice that was made by God. It's a choice
that flows from God's distinguishing, electing love. He first loved
me. And in response, I love him. Bob, I love you. I do. But it's
only because he first loved me. He first chose me. So I choose
him in response. I choose him. But only because
he chose me first. And that's every believer will
say that. Brother Henry used to say, preach
for a decision. And that's what Joshua's doing
here. Brethren, It's time to get off the fence. Now, you either
choose the Lord or you choose his enemies, one or the other.
There's no middle ground. There's no neutral ground. You
can't be like Switzerland. Switzerland's always neutral.
You can't be Switzerland. There's no neutral ground. Choose
you this day whom you will serve. And believers, by God's grace,
will choose to serve the Lord. Not because we're forced to,
but because we want to. Because when you really look
at it, there's no better way than to serve the Lord. There's
no better way than following Christ. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. It's a delight
to serve him. The way of Christ is the way
of life, the way of peace, the way of joy, the way of rest.
And any other way other than the way of Christ is death. and
misery and hard work and sorrow before you get there, and then
death. As for me, in my house, we're going to serve the Lord.
Now, I would hope that that just makes
the blood boil of every man in this room. Men are the leaders
of the home, the priests of the home. As for me and my house,
we're going to serve the Lord. Now, if you let me give you a
piece of advice, especially you young fathers, fathers of young
children, God's way is for families to worship together. That's God's
way. And the head of the home sets
the tone. He does. It's not the wife's
responsibility to set the tone. The head of the home sets the
tone. That's the responsibility of the head. This is what's going
to happen in my home. I'm right, aren't I? That's the
head of the home's responsibility. And families are to worship together.
And I tell you, young parents, you bring your children to the
worship service. And I know things happen. Kids
have work. They've got activities. And I
know things prevent it from time to time. But as a rule, bring
your home to the worship service. Make sure when those doors close
in these Sunday school rooms, on Sunday morning, your children
are in there, if it's at all possible, and bring them here
to see the worship of the Lord, to hear the worship of the Lord,
to see how believers talk and bring them to the worship service.
And I know some of them may not like it. Don't leave it open
for debate. Ever. Ever, ever, ever. Just
bring them. Kids don't like to go to school
or eat the vegetables either, but you make them for their own
good. Don't make this optional. This is not optional. When I
was, I don't know, I must have been 13, 14, 15, somewhere in
there, my little brother Jonathan decided he didn't want to go
to church. So what he did, he didn't say,
Al, I'm not going to go. He started getting sick every
Sunday morning and every Sunday evening. I mean, it was this
big thing. Al, the kid said, he's not sick. Why does he fainted? It seemed like a long time of
this. I pulled him aside and said, let me tell you something
as your big brother. You're not going to win this
battle. Just put your clothes on and go get in the car because
you're going. Whether you make it with a fight
or whether you just get in the car and go. One way or another,
you're going. I've lived in this house long
enough to know that. Your children should know the same thing. This
house is going to serve the Lord and worship the Lord. Could be. They'll sit here long enough,
something will sink in to their head. And maybe, maybe, God will
move in grace and make known their heart. Could be. Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. As for me
and my house, we'll serve the Lord. I hope you don't think
I was on my soapbox about that, but that's vitally important.
Now let me give you this in closing about serving the Lord. Israel
told Joshua in response, we'll serve the Lord. Well, how do
I serve the Lord? Well, first of all, we serve
the Lord in humility. It's impossible to serve the
Lord in pride. The Lord hates pride. We serve
the Lord in humility. Second, we serve the Lord in
gratitude, out of thanksgiving. It's impossible to serve the
Lord like Nebuchadnezzar. Look at this great house I've
built, these gardens I've built. It's impossible to serve the
Lord that way. Better thing to do is go out
and say, Lord, thank you. Thank you for giving me these
beautiful gardens, this beautiful creation. Thank you. That's the
way we serve the Lord out of a grateful and thankful heart.
Third, we serve the Lord in faithfulness. You can't serve the Lord wavering
and halting between two opinions. Choose you this day whom you'll
serve, and be faithful, be dedicated to follow him and serve him.
And you serve the Lord by serving coming generations. Well, now,
how do you do that? By preaching the gospel to them.
By doing what we're going to do next week. Bible school. By
teaching them the gospel. That's how we serve these coming
generations. Look over at verse 31 of this
chapter. They'll serve the Lord, and they'll
serve the Lord as long as they have leaders that knew Joshua. And you know Joshua is the Old
Testament name for Jesus. God's people will serve the Lord
as long as their leaders know Joshua, know Jesus. Look here
at verse 31. And Israel served the Lord all
the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived
Joshua, which had known all the works of the Lord. that he had
done for Israel. And I tell you when Israel started
worshiping idols, when they had leaders that didn't know Joshua.
And when they started following idols and worshiping idols, it
was because of bad leadership. The thought was in the pulpit
and with those heads of homes. They quit saying, as for me and
my house, we're serving the Lord. And last, you cannot serve the
Lord unless you remember this. We can't serve the Lord in our
own strength. You can't serve the Lord in your own strength
anymore than you can put away your sin by your own strength.
The only way we can serve the Lord is in his strength. And
I pray that the Lord will give us as a congregation the strength
and the wisdom and the faithfulness to serve him, to serve him out
of a thankful heart for this salvation that he's given for
which we did not labor. All right, well, I hope the Lord
blesses that to His glory and to your good.