Choose You this Day Whom You will Serve

You may have a place which you visit annually, which marks the passage of another year. There’s something about different places which enable you to remember what you were thinking or praying at the time. This morning I want to look at Shechem, where Joshua ended up at the end of his life, at the age of 110. He wanted to communicate to the people to ensure they were clear in their stance before God.

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Shechem had many memories for Joshua and the people of Israel.

Genesis 12:1-6

The first place they dwelt was Shechem. And ringing in Abraham’s ear was God’s word that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

Genesis 35:1-4

When Jacob was at Shechem, again they were clearing themselves out. They had things which were wrong, and they gave to Jacob all the strange gods and Jacob hid them.

Joshua 24:1

Everyone was involved. They all came to meet with Joshua at Shechem, and his words were for everyone, young and old, all the tribes. Presenting yourself before God as a living sacrifice or to be examined of God is not a bad thing to do.

Joshua 24:2-3

Everyone would have identified with this comment.

Joshua 24:4-7

At the end of his life, Joshua recounted how God had brought them thus far. And as he did so, he identified the specifics – “I brought you out from those gods and brought you into this land.”

Joshua 24:8-12

This refers to the time where God used hornets. He will use anything to get our attention and maintain our protection – because of His love for us.

Joshua 24:13

All the way through, God provided, day in, day out. All the way through, He guided, day in and day out. Up to this point in time, God has given you the air to breathe, the ability to live and discover His purposes outworked in your life. he’s brought you thus far. When Joshua called the people together, he knew the people realised God had brought them there, but still there were those who carried with them traces of Egypt, and he was worried things weren’t clear cut enough thus far. There was something which niggled Joshua. He knew there had to be clarity of purpose, and a clear recognition of God’s foundation in their lives.

Shechem focused their minds because of its significance.

Look back over your life – how God brought you here, intervened in your life at that point. He may not be as much part of your focus as He was, but you can look back and see how He has bee faithful to you.

Joshua 24:14

It’s not possible to go forward without being 100% clear who you serve. It’s not possible to compromise. It’s not possible to hold on to links with the past, habits which recur. No – a wrong habit shouldn’t recur.

Joshua 24:15

“I don’t want you to be in any doubt before I leave this earth. I may only have a day or two to live, but I’m setting the direction for my house. I’m serving the Lord.”

He said he knew there were gods from the past, that there were gods from the surrounding Amorites ... but choose you this day who you will serve. It really matters to God where we stand, whether we are clear cut. It matters that we have the life of Christ inside us, being lived out in what we think, say and do.

Joshua 24:16-18

They knew what to say, what would please Joshua, and the phrases were trotted out. But he still had a niggle.

Joshua 24:19-20

Joshua saw through their pat answers. Sometimes people know what they are meant to say, but their heart doesn’t back up what they say. There’s a discrepancy between outside and inside. This was the niggle for Joshua. There was a blurring. “But there are circumstances which you can’t treat as black and white.” But the things we are talking about here are black and white. If God called you before Himself today, what would you say to Him? I know what I should be doing, I know I can say the right things, but in my heart, it isn’t clear.

Joshua 24:21-24

He nailed it. The first off-pat answer, he didn’t allow. He went down a level and got to grips with them. And they said they really would put away the strange gods and incline their hearts to the Lord. “His voice, we will obey.” That word obey has been erased in some people’s minds – “No one is going to tell me what to do.” But that attitude is from the gods of the other lands, or from the gods of the Amorites.

“His voice we will obey.” His – God’s. This is all about my relationship with God, listening to His voice and knowing that I need to obey Him. So I really can’t say the right things here and be something different outside. Even as I say those phrases, I run a risk, but I’ll take that risk. What happens in here is matched by what happens out there.

Joshua 24:25-29

What God said to the church in Laodicea reveals how God cannot stand a compromise position, with one foot in the world and one in the church. It gets to Him because He is all truth. His love draws you and me to be 100% for Him. It’s His work of grace inside which cleans us out, breaks the power of sin. We haven’t deserved it.

Revelation 3:14-16

Revelation 3:20

It’s God’s love by His Holy Spirit which brings conviction. It’s God’s love which enables you to realise that to be neither cold nor hot, to compromise is wrong. I want to be clear cut.

What are the gods of this land? The god of fashion. The god of alcohol ...

Revelation 3:20

When Joshua brought all the children of Israel together – all tribes, old, young, male, female ... choose you this day who you will serve. I’ve solemnly and calmly made it. It’s fixed. It’s my decision. I’m open about it. I don’t care what others things. I’ve made my decision. It will outwork in my life and it will be for all of my life.

What a life Joshua had! 100% down the line. He’d gone in to spy out the land with Caleb. All the way through, straight as a die. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

You can’t go on saying, “No one is going to tell me what to do.” Because God has put His finger on your life even now, and is saying “Choose you. You can’t be down the middle, can’t be luke warm.” Forget anyone else. Choose you this day who you will serve.

We are coming to a time when we will have Bible studies, and I think God is speaking to you individually. I’ve spoken to quite a few people who want to get to know more what the Bible is about. He’s been speaking to people about how they should pray, what they should pray. So starting soon we will be looking at prayer. I think prayer will become the hub of what we are about, and the Bible will be treasured and studied.

Is that to make us into miserable people? You know as well as I do that that’s bond true. But we’re going to do what God wants us to do.

Choose you this day whom you will serve. Because you are serving something or you are serving God. There’s no middle path. We think we’re just enjoying the world, but the enemy of our souls isolates people in the assertion that we can do what we want to do, and just come occasionally to hear the word of God. Choose you. Don’t be isolated.

The opposite of this is a vibrancy, of Gods’ life inside you. And as we come together, that life is expressed corporately as well as individually. And as we lift up Jesus Christ, so He will draw others to Himself.

This morning it comes down to you and me before God. Choose you this day who you will serve.

Who is it going to be? Are you going to have a backbone? Are you going to respond to what the Holy Spirit has brought to your attention? Is it a case “I may or may not”? I know this word was fro this morning, and I know that in the stillness now, your decision in your heart will outwork something different in your life. Things will be different. “That your joy might be full.”

Going Forward in God

No matter how impossible the circumstances we face, God has provided a way for us as we go forward in Him.

Ephesians 2:5 – 6

As a Christian, you live knowing that Jesus Christ is the answer for everything. His life is inside you, and you know that you can trust God in any circumstances as you go forward. It’s a glorious thing to know your times are in God’s hand.

There was a particular time when the children of Israel faced an impossible situation. When you face the impossible God is able to see you through, He is able to fulfil His destiny in your life.

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Isaiah 51:15

It was an impossible situation, but He divided the sea. He rebuked the sea and, according to Nahum made it dry. It was not until 800 years later Isaiah wrote these words. This was an event of such significance that it was still recalled.

There came a time in the history of the children of Israel when their situation couldn’t have got any worse. They had been slaves of the Egyptians, ten plagues had been brought on the Egyptians, and still Pharaoh would not let them go. The Passover came and the firstborn of every Egyptian died, and the children of Israel thought that now they had made it. Pharoah finally agreed to let them leave Egypt.

There are some people today who need to realise that when it seems impossible to go forward, God is opening the way for you. God can sort things out.

Exodus 12:31 – 32

The following is history...

Exodus 14:1 – 5

Suddenly the Egyptians realised that they were letting their slaves go. To the Israelites it must have appeared that everything was sorted out for them but suddenly they were facing another problem.

Exodus 14:6 – 9

The Israelites must have been thinking “We thought it was sorted, Lord. There was an agreement. What are you doing?”

When the Passover happened the firstborn of every Egyptian family had died. But the one thing the plagues hadn’t touched was the army, and Pharaoh trusted the army.

Sometimes we look at situations which we thought were resolved, and fear comes inside. But fear not. Jesus Christ lives on the inside. Perfect love casts out fear. Don’t be afraid.

Exodus 14:10 – 12

The children of Israel were trapped at a dead end with 600 relentless chariots coming after them. There really was nowhere to go. There were over 1.5 million people, with the sea ahead of them, the wilderness behind, and the chariots approaching. What they thought was sorted out apparently was not. And the complaints and murmuring set in.

Exodus 14:13

“Fear not”. God used those same words with Abraham in Genesis 5, to Joshua, to Gideon, to Daniel.

Luke 12:31 - 32

Without God in this world, there is fear – fear of the economy, of the credit crunch, of the knife culture. You can’t but fear without God.

If you’re not a Christian, God wants to show you something. He’s saying that this Christianity you have heard about is something you need to get involved in. Jesus is speaking to you right now. You know you’ve been worried about the way things are, about your own life.

God is on the throne. Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God. He has a future for each person on this earth.

The children of Israel heard Moses say, “Fear not”.

Isaiah 26:3

The only way to get peace inside and going forward is in God.

You have only to look at the news these days, and it’s as though each day brings something worse than the day before. People are asking what is the answer, what is the way forward, what is the fabric of society meant to be? Do politicians have the answer? The more it goes on, the more imperative it is that we should not be silent about our faith. Jesus Christ is on the throne. He has the answer. There is a way for society He knows about. It involves one person at a time coming to know Him.

Ephesians 1:19 – 23

The reason why we have an empty cross is that when He went to the cross, He took our sin, broke the power of it, was buried and rose from the dead – and the power of God that brought Him up from the dead is the power which comes by His Holy Spirit to live within an individual.

God has everything under His feet. There isn’t one thing God doesn’t know about, and isn’t involved in. He loves you, and there is peace in heaven. There is never a ripple of any fear or doubt, because in heaven everything has been completed.

As you evaluate your circumstances, you can have confidence that God is taking you forward, that He will see you through. On our own, we can’t do it. The world does not have an answer. The children of Israel did not have an answer.

“Fear not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.”

Some of the children of Israel thought there was no chance it would happen. Others said they didn’t know how it would happen, but they believed.

Exodus 14:14

Forget your way of working things out, your way of coming up with an answer. It’s the Lord who fights for us and sees us through. Fear not, stand still. It’s the Lord who fights for us and we will see the salvation of the Lord. Don’t worry about whether it will work out or not. Of course it will.

Exodus 14:15-18

I wonder what Moses thought when God said that. He’d been used to miraculous power. He’d seen the burning bush. He’d seen the plagues. And now, something else miraculous was to happen – something we would still talk about today. God had the solution. It’s something you’d never dream of, because humanly speaking it is not possible.

Exodus 14:19

God provided a solution the children of Israel didn’t think of. In their mind they followed the cloud. Suddenly it was switched about. You think there is no way forward, but God has the solution.

Exodus 14:20-31

This was an incredible miracle because there was no way forward. Humanly speaking it was impossible. You may think that the situation you are facing is impossible, but God has prepared the solution. It doesn’t matter what anyone says. God knows what He is doing, and He has already provided a way forward for you in the circumstances of your life.

Philippians 4:19

The guarantee is that God is who He is. The God who has started a work in your life will complete it. And whatever your need, God will supply all that need.

Hebrews 11:29

I don’t think there was a motorway formed through the sea which they just strolled through. I think the people started, and as they went forward it moved apart, and they kept going. Each step they took, the miracle provision continued, by faith. And there were a lot of people, over 1.5 million. Step by step by step. Our God is a God of miracles. He has done everything, and it’s perfect to provide a solution for your life.

Ephesians 2:5 – 6

Jesus Christ living on the inside

His Holy Spirit lives in us now. And the pillar of fire is a type of the Holy Spirit, the protection. With Jesus Christ living on the inside, as you go forward, remind yourself that we have a God who makes the impossible possible. He will and He does. Everything begins and ends in Him.