Evening Sermon

January 20, 2008

AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE

Text

1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word."

The great prophet Elijah faced a serious spiritual problem with the people of his day. It was popular in those days to worship a god named Baal, a false god. Actually, Elijah was greatly outnumbered by the prophets of Baal. His message was falling on deaf ears.

The problem that he faced was not so much that the people had rejected Jehovah God. It is just that they liked to worship Baal also. They didn't think of themselves as forsaking their own religion, just being open minded about other ideas. The religion of the Baals seemed interesting.

So Elijah devised a great test, a test to prove that his God, the Lord Jehovah, was the one and only true God. He built and altar, and he had the priests of Baal build an altar, and they took turns calling upon their own god to come and consume the offering place on the altar.

1Kgs. 18: 24 "Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, He is God." So all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."

The prophets of Baal tried first. 1Kgs. 18: 25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it." 26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made."

Elijah started having fun with them. 1Kgs. 18: 27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.

I hope you remember the rest of the story. Elijah built his altar, flooded it with water just to prove his point, and then prayed to God.

1Kgs. 18:37 "Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!"

Joshua could have used a similar demonstration in his day. As Joshua finished the task which the Lord had given him, and as he prepared himself for his own death, he had one final challenge to give the people. It was a challenge of covenant loyalty. It was a challenge to remain faithful to Jehovah God, the God of Israel. Joshua 24 is Joshua's last sermon, given to all the people. v.1a

Joshua was about to die. He knew that. v.29-31

And on that day, he established a covenant. A covenant is a contract, a blood contract, a life and death agreement which involved the promise of faithfulness. And this great final sermon, given by this great leader of God's people, teaches us about the nature of covenants. First of all,

I. A COVENANT IS INITIATED BY A FAITHFUL AND GRACIOUS KING. This covenant, this contract signed with blood, established between God and his people, was established because God took the initiative to establish it. All of the stipulations and conditions of the covenant were based on the simple fact that, throughout history, God has been faithful and gracious to his people.

v.2-12 A long list of evidence that,

A. God has been faithful to his people throughout history. Every step of the way, God has acted on behalf of his people. And the emphasis is on what God has done. Don't think of OT Bible stories as just simple stories from which to derive a moral lesson by way of example. We have a tendency to do that, especially as children's stories. Here is the interesting story, and here is the moral of the story. That is not Joshua's intention. His intention is to describe accurately what God has done for his people.

In these verses Joshua is speaking a prophetic spokesman for God. He is speaking for God himself, using the word "I" over and over again. God himself is speaking to his people.

God is reminding his people of everything he has done. Those soldiers, so confident after their victories in conquering the land, were perhaps tempted to think about their own successes. God would have none of it. It would be difficult to stress the sovereign acts of God on his people's behalf more effectively at any length than these verses stress it.

And these verses show how fully,

B. God has been gracious to his people throughout history. v.13 They didn't earn it. In fact, they didn't earn any of it. Notice his description of Abraham:

v.2 "They served other gods."

When God came to Abraham, he was worshipping other gods. He was no different from anyone else. Gen. 6:5 "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

In fact, God knew that, "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

Abraham was no different. Abraham was a pagan. So why did God come to Abraham? Why did God choose Abraham? Because God is a god of grace. In love, God chose Abraham, and chose to bless his descendants.

This covenant between God and his people is founded upon the understanding that God has chosen his people in grace. He has not chosen his people because of the goodness in their heart or because of their good works. He chooses his people in love. And he remains faithful to them.

This covenant relationship between God and his people is initiated by a faithful and gracious king. I say all of that to emphasize that our covenant relationship with God today is no different. God has been faithful and gracious to his people of today.

Eph. 1:4 "...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence."

And we must never forget that God chose us, and God loved us, while we were still his enemies, while we were still by nature children of wrath.

Eph. 2:1 "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."

Eph. 2:4 "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast."

That is the gospel, just as true today as it was then. We have a relationship with God because God chose to have a relationship with us. And with that foundational understanding, let's examine this covenant relationship more closely, and look at it from the perspective of our responsibilities. God has initiated it, and he has given us responsibilities. If we are to be faithful to this covenant which God has initiated, what must we do?

As God's covenant people, as those whom God has saved people, how should we then live? As a Christian, how are we called to live? The answer:

II. A COVENANT INVOLVES OUR WHOLEHEARTED COMMITMENT TO OBEDIENT SERVICE. If you truly accept Jesus Christ as your savior, you are making that commitment. If you truly receive Jesus as your Lord, you are making that commitment. If you truly repent of your sins, you are making that commitment. That commitment is summarized in, v.24

It is a commitment of obedient service. And you can't come to God any other way!

A. We must willingly present ourselves to God. That is exactly what is going on here. v.1 "They presented themselves before God."

They were willing to say, "Here I am, use me."

This is a formal meeting. This was a meaningful ceremony, perhaps similar to a high school or college graduation ceremony. The people were presenting themselves to God to make a wholehearted commitment, just as we must do.

Additionally,

B. We must prove ourselves to be reliable and dependable. v.14

The climax of Joshua's message. This is the main point. This is what it is all about. We are supposed to fear the Lord and serve him. That is our responsibility. And look at the words Joshua uses. "In sincerity and in truth."

Word translated sincerity means completeness or wholeness or fullness. It means to serve the Lord completely, not half-heartedly. It means to serve his whole-heartedly, with integrity. It means that your heart's desires correspond to your outward actions. There is no hypocrisy, no self-righteousness. It just means that what you say is what you do, and what you do is who you are.

Such a person is faithful. He is reliable and dependable.

The second word used is the word for truth. It means to be firm and certain, to be established and faithful. Clearly, it means to be reliable and dependable. Joshua challenges his people to prove themselves to be reliable and dependable in their covenant relationship with God. He calls them to be wholehearted in that relationship.

And I believe that God would call his people today to exactly that same thing. We must prove ourselves reliable and dependable. In service to God, we cannot be people who say one thing and mean something else, or say one thing and do something else. People who quit, who fail to keep their word, and who cannot be trusted to fulfill their responsibilities. We must serve God with all faithfulness.

The Apostle Paul knew the importance of finding reliable men for work in the church. He writes to Timothy: 2Tim. 2:2 "And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."

Illus: Charles Spurgeon once began a sermon with this illustration: "I suppose I am something like Mr. Cecil when he was a boy. His father once told him to wait in a gateway till he came back, and the father being very busy went about the city, and amid his numerous cases and engagements, forgot the boy. Night came on, and at last, when the father reached home, there was a great inquiry as to where Richard was. The father said, 'Dear me! I left him in the morning standing under such and such a gateway, and I told him to stay there till I came for him. I could not wonder but that he is there now.' So they went, and there they found him."

Oh, that God would find such faithfulness in us!

So I challenge you this evening from this portion of God's word, to examine your own commitment to the Lord's service. Are you reliable? Are you one upon whom others can depend?

Can God depend upon you? Can the church depend upon you? I believe that God will build this church, and he will do so as we prove ourselves to be reliable and dependable.

And one key to becoming reliable and dependable is that,

C. We must not make our commitment lightly. In fact, Joshua really warns the people.

v.18b They make a commitment, but Joshua challenges that very commitment. Perhaps he saw something insincerity. Perhaps he thought they were too glib or didn't give enough thought to what they were saying.

So he responded, v.19-20

He challenged them, saying, "You're not up to the task." And they responded, I'm sure with more enthusiasm, "Yes we are." v.21

That's amazing. Today, we make it as easy as we can for people to come to Christ. We make it as easy as we can for people to join the church. We make it as comfortable as possible for people to profess that they are a Christian. Joshua made it hard!

Illus: Can you imagine someone joining the church, and giving their testimony of faith to the elders, and then hear from the elders: "You're not up to being a Christian. You don't know what your saying. You aren't taking this seriously enough, and so God isn't going to forgive your sins."

Could you imagine anyone doing that today? Maybe we should do it more, to emphasize that we must not make any commitment lightly.

People today might agree with what I just said about taking their commitments seriously, but as a result, instead of making a wholehearted commitment, they make no commitment at all. Many people are scared about making any kind of commitment because they are afraid that they won't be able to keep it. Yet to follow the biblical example, we see that our Christian growth is stimulated by making commitments, and by God's grace, working to keep them. My goal this evening in preaching to you, and Joshua's goal as this book was written, is not to scare you away from making commitments. But rather to encourage you make commitments, and to keep them.

Now granted, you must know yourself and know what you simply are unable to do. But God does call you to make commitments, and to prove yourself reliable and dependable.

The people of Israel did indeed enter into this covenant. And they did it with conviction. v.21

They understood that a covenant involves a wholehearted commitment to obedient service. And,

III. A COVENANT REQUIRES A CLEAR-CUT CHOICE BETWEEN MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE OPTIONS. Joshua faced the same problem as Elijah. The people of Elijah's day just wouldn't choose whom they would serve. They didn't really reject God, but they were kind of interested in Baal, too. The people of Joshua's day didn't really reject God, either. But they were still kind of interested in the gods of the Canaanites. They were kind of interested in the gods of the Egyptians, too, and even the gods of the their forefathers in Ur of the Chaldeans.

They just couldn't pick one god and remain loyal.

People today aren't much different. Few people today really reject God, but they are kind of interested in the gods of our age. Many people today want to be religious, they just don't want to be limited and restricted. They want to follow God, but not everything God says.

The god of our age is a familiar one, his name is mammon. Many people today want to claim the name of Christ, at least for a while on Sunday morning, but 6 3/4 days of the week they serve the god of mammon.

The god of personal pleasure is also very popular, and we even bring him right into our church. We evaluate our church by the amount of personal pleasure it brings us. And we stay away if there is an alternative source of personal pleasure. Many people are far more loyal to these gods than to the one true and living God, the creator of heaven and earth.

A covenant requires a clear-cut choice between mutually exclusive options. You can't have it both ways. In Jesus' words, you can't serve both God and Mammon. You can't divide your loyalty. You can't remain loyal to mutually exclusive options. Indeed, God says, first of all in his giving of the law, "You shall have no other gods before Me."

So you must choose whom you will serve. You must choose if you want to serve God, instead of serving mammon. You must choose if you want to serve God instead of serving personal pleasure. And in that clear-cut choice,

A. We must put away anything that competes with God for our devotion. v.14 Put away those gods. Don't hang onto to them. Don't try to combine them with your faith.

v.22-23 Oh that the Christian church in this country would do just that.

What competes with God for your devotion? Illus: When I was a child, that was an easy question. It was baseball. I lived and breathed for baseball. I can still remember when my older brother asked me one day if I was willing to give up baseball if God wanted me to. As a 12 year old, that question did make any sense to me. What did God have to do with baseball?

God had a lot to do with baseball. And five years later, in the pain of a great disappointment, God took away my devotion to baseball. Indeed, until then, baseball had competed with God for my devotion.

It is very easy to tell what people are devoted to. Best way is to look at how they spend their time and how they spend their money. That is how you find out what is most important. The trail never lies.

You can tell what people are devoted to by observing their priorities, too. What happens when you have a conflict, two things that you're supposed to do at the same time, or two places where you would like to be. Most of the time, your choice will determine which you are devoted to. Your priorities will demonstrate your devotion.

And we must put away anything that competes with God for our devotion.

B. And we must make a specific commitment to be devoted to God. That is what Joshua is doing here. He is challenging the people to make that commitment. He was challenging them to make a choice.

v.15 Not a real choice, as if they could chose whatever God they wanted. Not like many liberal minded parents of today who say, "I want my children to decide their religion for themselves. I don't want to influence that decision. I'll let them make up their own mind."

That's a horrible attitude, and not what Joshua is saying here. Here is giving the people the opportunity to make the choice of commitment. And they responded well. v.16-18

There are many ways to apply this today. Let me say this personally. We should never take the choice away from someone. In other words, we should never force someone into doing something they don't want to do.

As a pastor, I may well challenge you to do many things, but I will not try to talk you into it. I hate pressuring people to do things, I will not nag people to do things. In the church, I would rather that something not get done, than to try to force someone into doing it by pressure.

Reason for that--We must make a specific commitment to be devoted to the Lord. We must choose this day whom we will serve, and continue to make that choice every day of our lives.

But what if no one volunteers? Then it won't get done, until God moves in someone's heart to do it, or sends someone else to do it. That is my approach to the work of the church.

You must make a specific commitment to be devoted to God. And I exhort you to make that commitment, just as Joshua does. I exhort you to choose whom you will serve, and to stop straddling the fence. But the decision must be yours.

So today, chose whom you will serve. That choice must be an all or nothing proposition. And that is what is so intimidating to us. But that is the exhortation of God's word. Will you serve the Lord, with all your heart? Will you be devoted to him with all your heart? Will you give him everything you have--your money, your time, your talents and abilities?

Will you make God the God of your life, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day? Will you give to God one day in seven, the whole day? Will you give him the firstfruits of all your income? Will you give him your talents and abilities, so that he can use you in ministry of some form or another?

Our covenant relationship with God requires that each of us make clear cut choices. Those choices are just for prophets, or for pastors and missionaries today. Elijah speaks to all of us today as loudly as he did in his own day, when he said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."

To use the words of Joshua, "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve."

May each of you respond, with whole-hearted commitment, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

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