Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: Joshua 24:11-24 Nov. 3, 2024

Message: “The Choice!”

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro: 1. In a few days, our country will go to the polls to elect our next President.  It will be one of the most important elections in the history of our country. 

2. It reminded me of the story of Joshua. God used him to conquer the whole land of Canaan. God chose to give it to the Israelites instead. 

a. As most of you know, there were twelve tribes of Israel, and Joshua divided the land among them. 

b. That all happened before Joshua 24. 

3. By now Joshua was growing older and the work God had given him was accomplished. There was only one more task left for him to do. Or more accurately, he now had to explain to the people what God expected them to do. 

a. The truth of the matter is that all of us can only do what God calls us to do. But in the end, we also need to pass it on to those who will follow us.

b. In our passage this morning, Joshua was seeking to pass it on.

4. In Joshua 24:14-15, he says to the people: “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your fathers worshipped beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord is undesirable for you, then choose you 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 dwell. But for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

A. Let us begin by considering the choice they had to make. 

1. The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt when God sent Moses and rescued them. Since then, they had spent over 40 years in the wilderness. Now under Joshua, they finally were being given the land of Canaan, the land God had promised Abraham He would give them.

a. The Jordan River divided their passed life from the new life God was offering them. But there were false gods being worshipped on both sides of the river.

b. So Joshua offers them a choice. If they didn’t like God or the rules He had given them, they were free to choose from all the other gods around them.

2. But if they believed in the victory God gave them over the Egyptians and believed in the miraculous victory Joshua had in conquering Canaan, then God was asking them to choose Him. Simply put: “Choose you this day whom you will serve!”

a. Choosing whom you want to worship involves two different life styles. The world’s way was far different from God’s way.  The laws given to Moses were far different from all the evil practices around them. 

b. The same thing is true for us. The Bible often talks about our old way of life compared to the new way of life we are offered in Jesus. Jesus’ ways are far different. 

B. Joshua said: “Choose you this day whom you will serve.”

1. Whom we believe in is more than just a statement. The Devil believed in Jesus, but the Devil refused to obey and serve Jesus. 

a. In Joshua 1:8, God said to Joshua: “This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth. But you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do all that is written therein. Then shall your way be prosperous. Then you will have sure success.”

b. In the O.T., to choose to serve God was to choose to worship and follow the ways of God. In the N.T., to choose to believe in Jesus involves learning from Jesus and with His help seeking to live the way He wants us to live. 

2. For years our country was considered a Christian country because the majority in our country believed in God’s Word and believed in Jesus. Because of that, we have been richly blessed and have become one of the greatest nations in the history of the world.

a. But that is no longer true. The world’s ways have replaced God’s ways. His Word has been taken out of our schools and heathen ideas have been introduced instead. 

b. In fact, in our present day, a whole generation of people have risen up who do not really know or believe in the Jesus or the Bible. Our country has already taken a turn in the wrong direction. The blessing of God is being lost. 

3. In fact, we could even take this a step farther. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the missionary movement was on fire. Christians went everywhere sharing Jesus, offering His forgiveness, and calling them to a new way of life. 

a. Everywhere they went, they brought God’s love and blessed those nations. Hospitals and schools and agricul-tural help along with the gospel message helped to make the world a better world.

b. But in our world today, opposition to the gospel has resulted in persecution and hardships that are difficult to describe. And the whole world is turning away from the Bible and losing the blessing of God. 

4. On election day, it may appear to be a choice between to imperfect people who are offering their own solutions. But on a deeper level, it is also a choice between the world’s ways and God’s ways, between what the world believes and what God’s Word says. 

C. After calling the people of his day to choose between the world’s ways and God’s ways, Joshua makes a clear and powerful statement. He says: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” 

1. That is what Joshua did and he was blessed for doing so. I can’t make decisions for you and you can’t make decisions for me. Faith is a very personal thing. But each one of us must make this choice many times. 

a. What we do today will affect the decisions we make tomorrow. 

b. The decisions our country makes on Tuesday will affect our country for years to come. 

2. After Joshua challenged the people, he also warned them that this was a very important decision and he doubted many of them would follow through with it.

3. As it turned out, the whole generation that followed Joshua continued to follow the Lord during the rest of his lifetime. In fact, many of the older folks, called the elders of the people, continued on the right path after his death.

4. But Joshua knew the human heart. And this battle within the human heart eventually caused many to fall away. Israel often fluctuated between God’s blessings and His discipline. It happened over and over again in the O.T.

5. The good news of the gospel is centered on the death of the Lord Jesus for our sins. Praise the Lord He lovingly forgives all who repent and ask for His help. Because of His help and the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we are called to follow God’s lifestyle and not the world’s lifestyle. 

6. May God help us as a country make the right choice.