INCLINE YOUR HEART
Joshua 24:13-24 (KJV)
And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
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.
If ye 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.
We are looking this morning at one of the most familiar Old Testament passages I think anyone knows.
It’s been posted on the walls of homes for centuries.
Joshua 24:15 (KJV)
as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
· You will find it in a plain plaque form
· You will find it written in block script on a picture of a Colonial or new England house
· You will find it in a casual script on a picture of a farm house or perhaps
· You will find it in a calligraphy script on a picture of a Victorian mansion
I want to focus on that phrase in verse 23, “incline your heart unto the Lord….” And view that in a little bit larger context.
How does a person incline his heart unto the Lord?
First of all,
I. THERE WAS AN APPRECIATION FOR GOD
Joshua 24:13 (KJV)
And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
You will see this appreciation represented throughout the earlier verses of the chapter
God made them a people
Joshua 24:2-3 (KJV)
And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
God gave them a land
Joshua 24:4 (KJV)
And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
God brought them out of Egypt
Joshua 24:5-6 (KJV)
I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.
And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.
God parted for them the Red Sea
Joshua 24:7 (KJV)
And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.
God led them through the wilderness
Joshua 24:8-10 (KJV)
And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.
God gave them cities they didn’t build
Joshua 24:11-13 (KJV)
And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.
And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
One of the most spiritually productive things any person can do is rehearse again and again the reasons to be thankful to God.
· I keep a list of answered prayers
· I keep a list of miracles that have happened
· I keep a list of kind things that have been done for and to me
· I keep a list of people I love
I go through the lists, editing them, adding to them and reflecting upon them.
And I try to do that even on good days, not just on the days I need some cheering.
There is something phony about using the good hand of good to cheer yourself up on bad days, if you can’t also enjoy them on good days.
By the way, we ought also to review the lists of the things did for Israel regularly.
They are really the ones that have weight and authority.
· I like what God has done for me but
· I can trust the things the Bible says God has done for His people.
It was in response to that whole list of reasons to thank God that Joshua challenged the people,
Joshua 24:14-15 (KJV)
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 it was in response to that list of reasons to thank God that the Bible says,
Joshua 24:16-18 (KJV)
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.
Secondly
II. THERE WAS A FEAR OF GOD
Joshua 24:14 (KJV)
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.
There is a fence that every believer must balance in which, on either side he can get messed up.
On the one hand, we need to rejoice in the LORD.
We have to enjoy God eternally
We have to be thankful and mindful of
· His goodness
· His mercy
· His grace and
· His love
There ought to be in every Christian a sense that we can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
All Christian ought to feel free to call God “abba Father.”
On the other hand we must fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth.
Old Testament and New the Bible confirms
Our God is a consuming fire.[1]
We should feel free to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
But we must never come brazenly to that throne, thinking we somehow don’t need that mercy and that grace.
To incline my heart unto the Lord is to find that balance.
Thirdly
III. THERE WAS A CHOICE FOR GOD
Joshua 24:15 (KJV)
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.
I was saved by watching a TV evangelist – not the noblest testimony of salvation out there.
The evangelist preached his message:
· On the one side the forces of evil
· On the other, the Old Rugged Cross
He pointed his finger into the TV camera and commanded almost right where you are, kneel and call on the Lord.
I did.
I know I got saved. I knew it right then.
But years later I had doubts.
Then I met a pastor who criticized that sort of salvation experience. He called it “decisionism.
He traced it back to Charles Finney and he said it had its roots in an ancient heresy called Pelagianism.
I took the bait.
I bought the book and I entered into a discussion with him that lasted a few years.
If a person is not saved by choosing God, how is he saved?
After years of discussing with him what I learned was that all his crowd ever did was criticize the decision process, but their method of winning the lost still boiled down to them making a choice.
Here’s the thing.
The Bible says,
Romans 10:13 (KJV)
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
I understand that there is such a thing as a false profession, but if you ask the Lord to save you in sincerity and truth,
Whether you called upon him because you were
· Stirred by a sermon
· Read a tract or was
· Witnessed to by a loved one
There was a choice involved.
If you have never made that choice to call on the Lord and ask Him to forgive your sins and to save you, I am right there with Joshua, “choose you this day.”
Don’t put it off another day.
Fourthly
IV. THERE WAS A WARNING FROM THE MAN OF GOD
Joshua 24:19-20 (KJV)
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.
If ye 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.
I think this goes back to the fearing the Lord point.
And it reminds me that we must constantly be reminded that we are only able to come before the throne, because it is a throne of grace.
We may come bold to the throne of grace, but it is only
· To obtain mercy
· To find grace
· In time of need
My best days as a Christian are those days when I am most aware that:
· I need mercy and
· I need grace
“Without Him I can do nothing
Without Him I’d surely fail
Without Him I would be drifting
Like a ship without a sail”[2]
Finally
V. THERE WAS A DETERMINATION TOWARD GOD
Joshua 24:23-24 (KJV)
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.
There are three steps here
A. They left their old life
There can be no turning to God before there is a turning from something else.
People today don’t think they are religious.
They are the most religious in human history.
They worship the creature – namely self.
No one turns to God before they turn away from themselves.
B. They turned toward a new life
Consider, to be inclined toward a thing does not make one all in that thing.
To be inclined toward the Lord doesn’t mean a person is where God wants them to stay all their life.
When we turn to the Lord He justifies, saves and forgives us.
But He has much more in store for us.
C. They served God and listened to His voice
This is the process that every Christian has entered into.
We serve the Lord
We here and obey His voice
It’s called sanctification.
It’s the process of spiritual growth.
It’s the third element of the Great Commission.
Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV)
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Conclusion
I wonder, where is your heart?
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