Leaving a Godly Legacy Begins with Faith in God
Leaving a Godly Legacy Requires our Faith to Grow.
Growing Faith in God requires knowledge.
Growing Faith in God requires a willingness to obey.
Growing Faith in God requires courage.
With the earthquake that happened in the Indian Ocean last weekend and the resulting Tsunami that caused the death of over 120,000 people, it gives us pause sometimes to see the uncertainty of our futures.
I am certain that those who were vacationing at many of the coastal resorts in the minutes before the tsunami hit, were unaware that those were to be their last moments.
If they did know, I wonder if they would have lived their lives any differently? Had they thought of how there life
would be remembered?
would impact their children’s future?
may impact the futures of those who had in some way been touched by their life, whether good or bad?
As those people are buried in mass graves, their legacy is set, whether good or bad. Many of them will not even have grave stones marking their graves so their only lasting impact will be in the lives they lived.
Whenever you go out to a cemetery here, you see gravestones of people with the dates of a person’s birth and a person’s death. And in between those dates is usually a hyphen.
It is in the hyphen that legacies are left.
The hyphen, the time between our birth and death,
the time that we actually lived our lives,
that is where lives are touched and futures are transformed by our living.
I want you to think about that this morning.
I want you to consider, given the fragility of life and the uncertainty of our own futures,
The life we are living in the hyphen.
The legacy we are leaving to those around us
We do not know when the end will come, just as those in Indonesia did not know, but we need to be thinking about how we are living life in the hyphen that will be more than just a separator between 2 dates, but will leave a legacy that will impact the world around us well into the future and into eternity.
We are beginning a series today entitled “Leaving a Legacy.” Over the course of the series I want to talk about the different areas of our life and the different roles we have and how we can leave a godly legacy to not only our
our families and
friends,
but also the future generations and
The future of the church.
This morning, though, I want us to see where we have to begin to leave a positive, godly legacy that will have an impact not only on this generation and the one to come, but even beyond the next generation and even into eternity. To do that, I want to consider the life of Joshua.
We will be starting in Joshua 1 to look at his life as he began to lead the people of Israel into the promised land. Joshua was Moses assistant and after Moses died, he took over leading the people of Israel.
We will look at the way he lived his life and the effects that it had on those around him.
Joshua 1:6-9 (p. 151 in pew Bible)
6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
Leaving a Godly legacy requires Faith in God.
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
God is with those people who have faith in Him.
People in the Old Testament while they did not know the name of Jesus, put their trust in God and His provision for their salvation.
Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation--
Psalm 62:7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;
Isaiah 12:2 Surely God is my salvation;
Today, since the cross of Christ, our ultimate object of faith is still God. But the immediate object of our faith is the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Those in the OT put their faith in God and were cleansed by the blood of Christ when He died on the cross.
Romans 3:23-26
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished- 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
(from New International Version)
forbearance - the quality or an instance of enduring patiently or being tolerant.
Romans 3:25 (The Living Bible)
25 For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God’s anger against us. He used Christ’s blood and our faith as the means of saving us from his wrath. In this way he was being entirely fair, even though he did not punish those who sinned in former times. For he was looking forward to the time when Christ would come and take away those sins.
So it has always been by faith that we come into relationship with God and that He is with us.
If you want to live a life that will leave a legacy that will positively affect those around you and positively affect you too, then it must begin with faith in God.
Faith however is not a static thing. We put our faith in God initially by taking a step or our will accepting Jesus as our Savior. But our faith does not end there. It only begins there.
And our legacy should not end there.
Because Leaving a Godly Legacy Requires our Faith to Grow
Jesus talked about degrees of faith. The Disciples asked for their faith to be increased in Luke 17:5-6 and Jesus responded that it did not require much faith to do certain things.
5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
6 He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ’Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
(from New International Version)
We, like the apostles and Joshua need our faith grown. How does that happen?
We can see how that happens in Joshua.
First we see that
Growing Faith requires Knowledge
Joshua 1:8a Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night
God was wanting to help Joshua grow His faith because He had a great work for him to do and God knew that it would require faith.
God told him,hye I have told my servant Moses many things and he has written them down here. Meditate on these things so you know what I want you to do. These things are going to help keep you grounded and focused and keep your faith growing.
We need to be doing the same thing. If we are going to leave a godly legacy, we need to Meditating on the word He has given us.
If you have listened to me long enough, you know this is something that gets repeated often. Why. Because it is absolutely essential to a growing faith and a growing faith is essential to living a godly life and receiving the blessings of living that life.
What do those blessings include?
Peace
Joy
Assurance of God’s presence and salvation
Strength in overcoming trials
And as we experience those and continue on in living this life, we end up leaving a godly legacy.
Well, that is one aspect of a growing faith. Another aspect is that
A Growing Faith Requires a Willingness to Obey
Joshua 1:7b Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you
Joshua 1:8b Be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Now you may say “Who doesn’t want to obey what God says?”
I would argue that there are lots of people that don’t want to obey all of what God says and unfortunately some of those are even Christians.
Now there are many people who want to obey some of what God says, but not all.
They will obey the things that are easy to do or even moderately difficult.
But there are people who do not even want to do anything hard God would ask them.
Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice Isaac. He was willing right up until God stopped him.
After a little convincing, Moses was willing to go to Pharaoh.
Daniel was willing to pray in the face of being fed to the lions.
And Joshua. Joshua was willing to lead the Israelites into battle to take the Promised Land in the face of bigger armies, better equipped armies, protected armies. And he was willing to be obedient in spite of what most Generals would say is not the best of battle plans.
Walk around Jericho once each day having the priests blow trumpets for 6 days and then walk around 7 times on the 7th day and have the priests give a long blast on the trumpets and have the people give a great shout and the walls will come down and you will take the city.
Doesn’t sound like the most thought out plan from a military perspective, but it would show if Joshua had a willingness to obey the Lord.
Are you willing to obey the Lord in whatever He says?
What about
If he told you to move from where you are and he would show you where He wanted you to live when you got there? – That is Abraham
What if He told you to quit your job and trust Him to provide?
What if He said that activity you are participating in is not glorifying to me so I want you to stop it even though you think that is where some of your joy comes from?
Is that your desire? Do you want to obey God in everything? Even in times you don’t understand?
This is another aspect of living a Godly life and leaving a godly legacy.
The last aspect that we see here is that
A Growing Faith Requires Courage
Joshua 1:6 "Be strong and courageous
Joshua 1:7 Be strong and very courageous.
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
God knows that to grow our faith will require courage. But He helps us with that courage.
Often times He wants us to take that courageous first step and then He does the rest.
In Joshua’s case, moving forward on a plan that did not seem like the best military option showed his courage.
Can you imagine spending 40 years in the wilderness and then talking to your army and saying
“Ok, here is the plan. Walk around the town once each day for 6 days.
7th day walk around 7 times.
Blow trumpets long
Shout.
And then the walls will come down and we will have victory over Jericho.
I imagine myself thinking, that everyone would think I am a fool. It took courage to do that.
I can tell you that it is going to require courage to take steps of obedience.
There are going to be times in our life that we find ourselves in situations where sin has gotten hold of us.
Maybe we find ourselves in a living situation that does not glorify the Lord even though society may think it is ok.
Maybe we have some sin in our life that we can easily rationalize as not being that bad even though we know it is wrong.
There will also be times when it is not necessarily sin, but the Lord’s leading to do certain things that will require courage.
Maybe we find ourselves being prompted by God to step up our service in helping with the church but that will require sacrifice of other things.
Maybe we find ourselves prompted to share what God has done in our life with others.
We need courage to have a growing faith. We may have had courage in the past, but God continually gives us new situations that need us to act courageously. That is how he grows our faith.
Conclusion
So, If we desire to leave a Legacy that will impact positively our families, our friends, the future generations of the church for eternity and beyond, then we need to begin with faith and that faith must continually be growing through increasing our knowledge, our willingness to obey, and having the courage to take the steps that God desires.
Let’s take a look at what happened to Joshua and the effects that his life had on others around him and even on us today.
Turn to the last chapter of Joshua, Chapter 24. Here is how it says that Joshua’s life wrapped up and the effects of his life.
Joshua 24:28-31 (p. 169)
28 Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.
29 After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 30 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
31 Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel.
Because of the life that Joshua lived in obedience to the Lord, the whole nation of Israel followed his example. Not just during his lifetime, but those who were effected by him continued to follow his ways after he died.
Why? Because Joshua Kept growing in the word, in his willingness to obey, and in his courage.
Joshua made a choice. A Choice to serve the Lord. We see that in his actions at the beginning of his leadership of Israel.
Near the end of his life he told the nation that they had a choice to make. The same one he made. The same one you and I need to make. Here it is recorded a few verses before the end in Joshua 24:14-15.
Joshua 24:14-15 (p. 169)
14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Legacy is about people following your ways because they witness your way of life. I will close with the words of Joshua I just read.
15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
