Famous Last Words
Pastor Jason West
November 17, 2024
Joshua 23:1 “A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years”
Joshua 11:15 “Just as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.”
I. Remember God’s
in the Past
Joshua 23:2-3a “Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, ‘I am now old and well advanced in years. And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake…”
A. Reflect On the
B. Consider How God Has Been at Work
(Joshua 23:3)
Joshua 24:12-14 “And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant. And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.”
II. Don’t
in the Present
A. Stick to God’s
Joshua 23:6 “Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left.”
Joshua 23:11 “Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God.”
Proverbs 4:27 “Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.”
B. Know the
Joshua 23:15 “But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the Lord your God has given you”
Joshua 23:16 “if you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”
Joshua 24:20 “If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”
Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”
III. Be Careful What You
in the Future
Joshua 24:14-16 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods”
IV. Don’t Take Your Faith
Joshua 24:19-20 “But Joshua said to the people, ‘You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.’”
Luke 14:28 “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?”
Joshua 24:21 “And the people said to Joshua, ‘No, but we will serve the Lord.’”
Joshua 24:22 “Then Joshua said to the people, ‘You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.’ And they said, ‘We are witnesses.’”
V. Renew Your
With the Lord
Joshua 24:24-26 “And the people said to Joshua, ‘The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.’ So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone and set it up there under the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.”
Judges 2:7 “And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel.”
Judges 2:10 “And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”