“Serve the Lord” (Josh 24)

‘I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’ Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! (vs13-14)

The Lord Jesus bids us to worship God upon the basis of His perfections, and the fact that He alone saves sinners from hell into heaven and newness of life. We are to serve Him in sincerity, knowing that He accepts nothing less, and there's a reward in the end.

First, the Lord Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, is the only reason we're going to heaven instead of hell (vs1-13). He says, “I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant”, and again, “not with your sword or with your bow”, and again, “I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. Afterward I brought you out”. Surely, therefore, He must be good. He saved us, chose us, fought for us, and gave us eternal life, not because we deserved it, contributed to it, or in any way could have helped ourselves. The gospel is not a “cooperating” but a saving God. It is not Him helping you achieve your potential by a helpful push, but it is Him giving life to sinners who naturally hate holiness and would WILLFULLY perish. He has done it all. He is the SINGLE reason that sin doesn't whip you even now. He is why you no longer believe the lies of this world, and He is why you'll make it: His covenant promises, His goodness, His merit, and the power of Him only. Believe you this?

Secondly, He must be worshiped correctly, in response to the gospel (vs14-28). He says, “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!” We cannot believe Him as Savior and yet worship someone else as lord. We can't say, “Saved by grace”, and then live for self. If we're of God... if we know that He is good... then singular devotion is demanded. Francis Chan is in his book, “Crazy Love”, says, “Jesus' call to commitment is clear: He wants all or nothing. The thought of a person calling himself a "Christian" without being a devoted follower of Christ is absurd.” And, he is right. We read elsewhere, “let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor 5:7-8). If God is gracious, then let us believe on Him genuinely, unto newness of life. If God is the truth, then let us believe Him on His terms, receiving salvation for what it really is. Nothing could be worse than confessing Christ's goodness, and yet not believing it unto a new course of life in the house of God and among your family and friends.

Thirdly, there's a reward for worshiping God rightly, and it is experienced in the life to come more than in the present (vs29-33). We read, “Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance”, and again, “The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor... for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph”. These men died in faith, even as all must die, but their death only BEGAN eternal pleasures, for they served for a reward yet to come. It is the same with us!

Worshiping God ain't easy. It takes everything you've got, and then some. It is IMPOSSIBLE with men (Matt 19:26). But, in GOODNESS, God gives grace and glory (Ps 84:11). He saves, keeps, gives newness of life, and revives the heart by the word, forcing us by many infallible proofs to trust Christ again, and to love as we're loved. He saves us unto the Day of full salvation, when sin is destroyed, temptations are eliminated, and pleasure is enjoyed unfettered, unceasingly, forever. We wait for the reward, and we'll be rewarded soon.

Finally, you've heard He's good, heard to believe Him for real, and you've heard the excellent reward you'll receive. Do it.