Choose You This Day Whom Ye Will Serve,

Choose You This Day Whom Ye Will Serve,

But As For Me And My House We Will Serve The Lord

SUNDAY AM 11/28/1999

Joshua 24:14-24

14 “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!

15 “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the Gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of 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.”

16 So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other Gods;

17 “for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed.

18 “And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.”

19 But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

20 “If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign Gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”

21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD!”

22 So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses!”

23 “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign Gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.”

24 And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”

LET US BOW OUR HEADS

A man who owned a large manufacturing company visited a great city church during a business trip.

After the service he congratulated the minister on his service and sermon.

"But," said the manufacturer, "if you were my salesman, I’d discharge you.

And of course that raised a few questions from the Pastor.

You got my attention by your appearance, voice, and manner.

Your prayer, reading, and logical discourse aroused my interest.

You warmed my heart with a desire for what you preached.

And then you stopped without asking me to do something about it.

In business the important thing is to get them to sign on the dotted line."

There far too many preachers this day and age that too often fail just here.

Why you might ask?

They don’t want to cause an up roar in the church.

They don’t want to step on any toes.

So they will just sugar coat their words and make the people feel that as long as they come to church and pay their money everything will be all right.

My friends, I am hear to tell you this morning that the time has come for all men of God to ask the same question that Joshua asked!

In the words of Joshua they must say to their hearts, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve".

The words of our text today are the words of a great leader, Joshua.

For many years he had led the children of Israel, and under his hand God had given them possession of the land of Canaan.

He had faithfully directed their activities, and had been like a father to them.

Now his work was over, and God was calling him up higher.

He talks to the people about whom they are to serve, then he utters those immortal words.

“ Choose you this day whom ye will serve,

but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord”

The people replied by promising to serve the God of heaven and obey his voice forever.

Let us turn to Acts 5:29

29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.

Matthew 6:24

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Daily, we are always serving some God.

We might think that we are free creatures, but we are not.