Born To Serve

WESTSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH

PASTOR: TERRY VAUGHAN

SERMON TITLE: BORN TO SERVE

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18 KJV

TEXT VERSE: JOSHUA 24:14-28 “NOW THEREFORE FEAR THE LORD, AND SERVE HIM IN SINCERITY AND IN TRUTH: AND PUT AWAY THE GODS WHICH YOUR FATHERS SERVED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FLOOD, AND IN EGYPT; AND SERVE YE THE LORD. AND IF IT SEEM EVIL UNTO YOU TO SERVE THE LORD, CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY WHOM YE WILL SERVE; WHETHER THE GODS WHICH YOUR FATHERS SERVED THAT WERE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FLOOD, OR THE GODS OF THE AMORITES, IN WHOSE LAND YE DWELL: BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD. AND THE PEOPLE ANSWERED AND SAID, GOD FORBID THAT WE SHOULD FORSAKE THE LORD, TO SERVE OTHER GODS; FOR THE LORD OUR GOD, HE IT IS THAT BROUGHT US UP AND OUR FATHERS OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, FROM THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE, AND WHICH DID THOSE GREAT SIGNS IN OUR SIGHT, AND PRESERVED US IN ALL THE WAY WHEREIN WE WENT, AND AMONG ALL THE PEOPLE THROUGH WHOM WE PASSED: AND THE LORD DRAVE OUT FROM BEFORE US ALL THE PEOPLE, EVEN THE AMORITES WHICH DWELT IN THE LAND: THEREFORE WILL WE ALSO SERVE THE LORD; FOR HE IS OUR GOD. AND JOSHUA SAID UNTO THE PEOPLE, YE CANNOT SERVE THE LORD: FOR HE IS AN HOLY GOD; HE IS A JEALOUS GOD; HE WILL NOT FORGIVE YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS NOR YOUR SINS. (He was trying to let them know that God was not a play thing. If you’re going to be about God’s business, you’ve got to be serious.) IF YOU FORSAKE THE LORD, AND SERVE STRANGE GODS, THEN HE WILL TURN AND DO YOU HURT, AND CONSUME YOU, AFTER THAT HE HATH DONE YOU GOOD. AND THE PEOPLE SAID UNTO JOSHUA, NAY, BUT WE WILL SERVE THE LORD. AND JOSHUA SAID UNTO THE PEOPLE, YE ARE WITNESSES AGAINST YOURSELVES THAT YE HAVE CHOSEN YOU THE LORD, TO SERVE HIM. AND THEY SAID, WE ARE WITNESSES. NOW THEREFORE PUT AWAY, SAID HE, THE STRANGE GODS WHICH ARE AMONG YOU, AND INCLINE YOUR HEART UNTO THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL. AND THE PEOPLE SAID UNTO JOSHUA , THE LORD OUR GOD WILL WE SERVE, AND HIS VOICE WILL WE OBEY. SO JOSHUA MADE A COVENANT WITH THE PEOPLE THAT DAY, AND SET THEM A STATUTE AND AN ORDINANCE IN SCECHEM. AND JOSHUA WROTE THESE WORDS IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW OF GOD, AND TOOK A GREAT STONE, AND SET IT UP THERE UNDER AN OAK, THAT WAS BY THE SANCTUARY OF THE LORD. AND JOSHUA SAID UNTO ALL THE PEOPLE, BEHOLD, THIS STONE SHALL BE A WITNESS UNTO US; FOR IT HATH HEARD ALL THE WORDS OF THE LORD WHICH HE SPAKE UNTO US: IT SHALL BE THEREFORE A WITNESS UNTO YOU, LEST YE DENY YOUR GOD. SO JOSHUA LET THE PEOPLE DEPART, EVERY MAN UNTO HIS OWN INHERITANCE.”

Joshua was basically saying: Choose you today, whom you’ll serve. But he had already made up his mind that as for him and his, they would serve the Lord. You men notice what he said. He said, “As for me and my house...” I believe the man is the leader of the household. The spiritual leader. Thank God Joshua didn’t say, “I have to check in with my wife.” Joshua was saying, I’m going to serve the Lord, my wife is going to serve the Lord and my children are going to serve the Lord. If you’re going to serve the Lord you might as well give it all that you’ve got. I’ll say this, you can’t serve God half the time. It’s not good to serve part of the time. We’ve got to learn to serve God all the time. He gave us His all and we ought to give Him our all. I want to ask you this question? Are you really serving God? I want to share a couple of positive scriptures with you today and then I want to share one negative scripture. You say, there’s negative scripture in the word of God? When I call it negative I’m saying you better listen to what sayeth the Lord. He’s trying to tell you what the right ways are and what the wrong ways are. So we’re going to start out with two positive verses.