Don't Procrastinate In Choosing To Serve The Lord (Joshua 24:15)

Sermon on Sunday 1 Sep 2019 by Pastor Justin

Serving the Lord is a lifestyle. It is not just at Sunday service, or other church meetings.

The book of Joshua picks up where Moses left off in Deuteronomy. The first half of Joshua talks about division and conquest of the land of Canaan. The second half talks about settlement. We learn that victory comes by faith in God. It is not about military might but about faith and obedience in His word. In this last chapter of Joshua, he gives a powerful sermon about how God has brought the Israelites out of the land of bondage, provided for them, healed them, gave them the land of Canaan and delivered them from their enemies.

Fear the Lord. Joshua 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!" 

God told them about the blessing He provided. Joshua 24:13 - So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.

Jesus Christ came not to be served but to serve. Matthew 20:28 - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. In John chapter 13, Jesus washed His disciples feet, giving an example of serving one another. He also gave them the commandment of loving one another, so the world would know they were His disciples. Since Jesus was about serving, we ought to serve.

A genuine service cannot be separated from love. When we serve, we must serve with love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 - And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Joshua 24:15 - 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.

Moses did the same thing. Deuteronomy 30:19 - This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Joshua said, either you serve the Lord that brought victory to you, or the gods on the other side of the river. You have to make a choice. When you obey something, you are a slave to it. When you sin, you are a slave to sin. So say out loud "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". Everything you do, you do it unto the Lord. Colossians 3:23-24 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Joshua 24:16 - So the people answered and said: "Far be it from us that we would forsake the Lord to serve other gods." 

Count your blessings. Whatever you have right now, it is by His grace. It is not my your own might.

What is procrastination? Procrastination kills your vision, your dreams, your plans, your godly habits. It is acting willfully against something you are supposed to do. You put off doing something you are supposed to do. The first excuse is the demands and expectations of various aspects of your life - pressure from your job, your spouse. You "do not have time". But that is simply not true. Those who have no more time are those who are dead. Ask yourself - "Why am I not doing the thing I am supposed to be doing?" Typically, you might answer laziness and fear. But the root cause is your values. 

Our values and priorities reflect how we use our resources - time, money, strength and gifting God has bestowed upon us. Matthew 6:21 - For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Do your actions prove your love for God? When you proclaim, "God, you are my all in all", do you act this out? Do everything with God in the beginning. God is speaking to us this morning to reorder our priority in accordance with His will. 

Haggai 1:2 - Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: "This people says, 'The time has not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built.'" 

Procrastination reinforces difficulties. Remember the following things.

Don't procrastinate in reconciling with an offended brother.

Matthew 5:23-24 - Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. 

Ephesians 4:26-27 - In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

Don't procrastinate when it comes to sharing the gospel of the kingdom of God with the lost.

James 4:13-14 - Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Hebrews 3:12-13 - See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

Hebrews 3:15 - And it has just been said: "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."

We have many excuses. Luke 14:15-21 - When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and i must go and see it. Please excuse me.' Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.' The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'

Jesus took the advantage of every opportunity to do the will of God without procrastinating.

John 9:4 - As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

Sometimes God puts people in our lives who are not gentle, who are bitter, who persecute you, because God is giving you an opportunity to respond in obedience. The world is a pulpit.

Jesus did not let carnal Christians cause Him to procrastinate.

Peter, on the one hand, declared Jesus the son of God, but on the other hand later rebuked Him when Jesus explained His coming death as something that must happen. Matthew 16:22-23 - Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." 

Jesus did not allow shortage of resources to cause Him to procrastinate.

Matthew 15:33-37 - His disciples answered, "Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?" "How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven," they replied, "and a few small fish." He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when He had given thanks, He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

Don't procrastinate in choosing to serve the Lord.

You will not procrastinate because you love Him. Your only response is to fear Him, to serve Him. Edify one another and give God the glory. 

1 Peter 4:10-11 - Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

"Procrastination is the fertilizer that makes difficulties grow. Either eliminate or act upon the things you have been putting off." - John C. Maxwell