Please turn your Bibles to Joshua. Joshua chapter 24, the very last chapter of Joshua. We'll begin reading from verse 18 through to verse 28. Joshua chapter 24, verse 14. through to verse 28. And now, therefore, fear the Lord and save him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your father saved beyond the river and in Egypt, and save the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to save the Lord, choose this day whom you will save. whether the gods your father served in the region beyond 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. Then the people answered, Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to save other gods. For it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites, who lived in the land. Therefore, we also, we will serve the Lord, for He is our God. But Joshua said to the people, you are not able to serve the Lord. for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after having done you good. And the people say to Joshua, No, but we will serve the Lord. Then Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves, that you have chosen the Lord to save him. And they said, We are witnesses. He said, Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel. And the people said to Joshua, The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and put in place statutes and rules from them at Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God. And he took a large stone and set it up there under the terabith that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, behold, this stone shall be a witness against you. for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore, it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God. So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance. Let's pray once again. Our God, we beseech your face this moment that as we open up your word, Lord, may your word be preached authoritatively, may your word be preached instructingly, may your word be preached in a manner that will encourage all of us, and may your word be preached with the aid of the Holy Spirit. Lord, cause that each one of us at the end of the day will draw some lesson and go with something home that we'll think about, meditate on in the course of the week and the months to come and years to come. Lord, speak to us and may your word be proclaimed in clear and simple terms. And may you glorify yourself in the preaching of your word for the sake of Christ. Amen. This month, I will be clocking nine years as one of the two pastors here at Kabwata Baptist Church. And as I was preparing in the course of the weekend today, it took me back to 2011 when I was set apart as one of the pastors at Kabwata Baptist Church. And as I look back at the last nine years of being a pastor here, I would like to draw your attention to the passage you've read and in particular verse 15 of Joshua 24 and verse 15. And this is something that I've been thinking through And this is something the Lord has been pressing upon my heart in the course of the month that has gone by and in the course of the year that has just gone by. And it is something that I would like to share with you this afternoon. And it is a need for us to resolve to save God. And I would like to encourage you on the need to make a resolve to save God, to stick it or to be faithful to that resolve and to ensure that God himself is glorified in our resolve. And like I said, it's an encouragement to all of us. It's a personal encouragement and challenge to myself as I reflect on the Lord's goodness and the goodness of the Lord in my life, thus far working with you as one of the pastors, but also just reflecting on the Lord's goodness and the Lord's faithfulness in my life over the last 24 years as a Christian. Joshua 24 and verse 15 was what the Lord was impressing upon my mind, upon my heart. It was what the Lord was impressing to bring to you this evening, especially in the month of February, as I clock nine years. And as I begin my tenth year, this is my pledge. before you and before God that I will serve the Lord as long as he grants me breath. But also, February, it's a month when I was born. And again, it's a time to reflect. And as I reflect on the last few years I've lived on earth, It is also a challenge to me. How have I saved the Lord? And I do not know what lies ahead. I do not know how many years I do have, but this resolve I'm making before God and before God's people that I will save the Lord faithfully as long as he grants me breath. Now a resolve is a firm determination to do something or a great determination of one's life to achieve a specific goal in life. And when we make results, we must be clear, we must be specific and we must be able to measure whether we are sticking to that resolve, but also that resolve must cause us to be ready to be held accountable should we fail to stick to that resolve. Now this is something that was seen in our passage this afternoon. Joshua has just summoned the people of Israel. The Lord has brought them into the land He promised. And He has settled them in the land. There is no more conquest. The wars are behind them. But also Joshua knows that he's an old man. Anytime the Lord may call him, home. As he reflects on where the Lord has brought him and has also brought them as a nation, he wants the nation of Israel to continue serving the Lord. And as he summons them, he begins by giving accounts or causing them to bring to mind what the Lord had done for the nation. And he also points out the failures of their forefathers in serving God. And after he does that, he now calls the nation of Israel households, but also the nation at large, to make a definite and specific resolve to save God. And Joshua is careful to remind them of what God has done and also make them realise that the fact that now there is peace in the land, they've conquered the land, the Lord is prospering them. That's not the time to begin to giving up on serving God. That's the time to continue serving God in the times of prosperity. And Joshua presses it upon the nation of Israel. And he says to them, and if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your father, the gods your father served in the region beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But ask for me. and my house, we will serve the Lord." That's the resolve that Joshua makes. His resolve, his determination, his focus, his everything was that as long as he had life, he was going to serve the Lord. And it is that verse I want to open up verse 15 this afternoon and draw some lessons for us to meditate on. The first thing I want us to note is that a resolve to save God is a personal resolve. A resolve to save God is a personal resolve. And you begin to see the last part of verse 15 where Joshua begins with a contrasting word, but. And he says, but as for me, this is what I'm determined to do. And he's showing to us that God begins with individuals. God begins with individuals, God deals with individuals, and it's as a result of God dealing with individuals that as He deals with an individual, then His dealings begin to spread to others. And we see there that Joshua is personally committing himself to the service of God. He's standing before the nation of Israel, and he's committing himself that for me, this is my resolve and I want you all to see but also to hold me accountable. And he says, but as for me, I will serve the Lord. He's making an individual purpose. He's saying, this is my desire. This is my goal. This is my prayer that I, Joshua, will save the Lord. And the word save there, as we've noted in the past, the word save there is a complete verb. It is a verb that refers to hearted devotion. It is because it is a complete verb, it does not refer to occasional acts of obedience. It is a verb that requires wholehearted devotion or rather it's a verb that gives us the idea of this wholehearted devotion to one master. It is a verb that gives us this idea of perpetual service in total subjection to one master in a slavish manner. And so therefore this verb save cannot refer to acts, occasional acts of worship or service. That's not what Joshua is saying. He's saying I'm committing myself, I'm making this resolve and I'm determined that I have one master and I will give myself to this one master in a slavish manner and I will save this one master. And Joshua is ready to separate himself from the nation of Israel if there will be a hindrance to his resolve. He's ready and he stands before them and he's saying, if saving the Lord seems evil, let me tell you, me, this is my resolve. But also Joshua knows that the God he is making his resolve to save is the God that will strengthen him as he continues to serve this God. He knows that my strength will not be personal attributes. It will not be because the nation of Israel is running behind me. My strength will be in the object of my service, God. And the resolve Joshua is making here is similar to the resolve that Daniel makes in Daniel chapter 1 and verse 8, where the Bible tells us, And Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat. Where was Daniel getting the strength to make this resolve, to stand against the king, because he knew that the object of my service, God, is the one who's going to hold me, support me, and strengthen me in my purpose. Because ultimately, my goal is that this same God is glorified in my life. And therefore, because God is glorified in my life, this same God responds by strengthening me to serve him. And this is what Joshua is saying. And he's saying, God will be my strength. Because he is the object of my service. And he resolved to serve God. And this resolve inflamed all his affections towards God. And he's saying, but as for me, I will save the Lord. And Joshua was ready to oppose any kind of lukewarm service to the Lord. He's just recounting how God has been faithful to the nation of Israel. and he was ready to oppose any kind of lukewarm service before this God who's been faithful, who's been with them, this God who drove all their enemies until he finally brought them to the land in which they were. And showing to us that service in the Lord's kingdom is personal. It begins with a personal commitment, a personal resolve to serve God. It begins with us, as individuals, recognizing how faithful God has been, what God demands of us, what God requires of us, and then personally committing yourself To this God, before you think of others, you commit yourself before an all-knowing God, an all-powerful God, and say, Lord, in view of what you've done for me, in view of who you are as revealed in your word, I commit myself to your service all the days of my life. The proof that as individuals we love God is not only in the fact that we wake up every morning, say a prayer or read one or two verses. Because when the Pharisees read the scriptures, the proof of our love for God is seen in how we are willing to obey God Even if his demands upon our lives will result in personal costs, we are willing to serve this God. Our service to God must be born out of a personal love of this God and a sense of privilege to this God. God is interested in individual commitment. It's individual commitment which results in church commitment, national commitment, and world commitment. It is as individuals are committing themselves to serving God that that begins to spread to others. Someone has written and I quote, I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And what I can do, that I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I shall do it. It's a money one, yes, but what I ought to do by the grace of God, that I should do. And this is exactly the example we're seeing in Joshua's life. That a resolve to serve God is a personal resolve. But secondly, we note that a resolve to serve God is always a multi-generational in outlook. A resolve to save God has this outlook that the third or the next generation will also save God. It has this multi-generational in outlook. And where am I getting that? Back to Joshua 24 and verse 15. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. But as for me and my house, as a person who says, my household, we will serve the Lord. And Joshua is basically saying that while I'm personally committing myself to God, I also want those within my household to serve God as well. I also want the next generation to serve God as well. There's this outlook that even the future generation will serve this God. But let me be an example to them. And notice that as for me, is before we will. You see, it's, but as for me, then we are told, and my house, we will serve the Lord. Showing us the progression from personal commitment, you begin to affect or influence those around you. And by the Lord's grace, as he serves those around you, they too begin to see the need to save this God. And there we see that the initiative to save God was by Joshua and then passed on to his house or his household. Now the word house or household as used in this verse gives us the idea of those, your immediate family, or those closest to you, or those whom you have direct influence upon them, those to whom you exert some kind of authority or influence over them. And so Joshua doesn't just have in mind his household, his immediate family. He has in mind those who are directly under his authority, but also those who are close to him. That's the way this term is used in this particular passage. Remember, we were never told whether Joshua was married or not, but he still said, and my house, we will save the Lord. So he has in mind that those who are directly under his authority, he wants them to see his example of what it means to serve the Lord. But he also wants those around him, closest to him, to serve the Lord. But also he has in mind the entire nation of Israel. He is a leader of the nation. And they were all under his direct authority. And so that word encompasses all those. Now this word house is used several times in the scriptures. But two passages of scriptures will help us see that the word house is not just a reference to your immediate household or your immediate family. In 1st Samuel chapter 20, You don't need to tend to it, but you can take note of it. You remember in 1 Samuel, it's where Saul was trying to harm David. And David makes a covenant with Jonathan that if I get the news that my father wants to destroy you, I will let you know. I will not keep that from you and then David and Jonathan enters into a covenant and they promise each other that we will look after, David says Jonathan I will look after your household promising that even your offsprings, and you actually see in 1st Samuel chapter 20 and verse 42, where the word also now is reduced into offsprings. Those who will be of your line, those who will be of your tribe, those I will take care of. And in 2nd Samuel chapter 9, that we can tend to. David now is fulfilling the promise he made to Jonathan in 1st Samuel and chapter 20. Now, in 2nd Samuel, we won't read all of it. I just want you to notice something. 2nd Samuel chapter 9, let's read just the first two verses. 2nd Samuel chapter 9, verse 1 and 2. David is now king, and he initiates to show kindness to someone of the house of Saul. And the Bible reads, And David said, Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Now there was a servant of the house of Saul, whose name was Zeva. And they called him to David, and the king said to him, Are you Ziba? And he said, I am your servant. And the story continues. But you notice in verse 1, David's question is that, is there anyone of the house of Saul? He's basically saying, is there an offspring of Saul? Is there anyone who belongs to Saul who I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan? showing to us that the word house there is not just used to those immediately under you or your immediate family, but even to your offspring or those under. your direct authority because even the servant is referred to as of the house of Saul. Now this is the same word that is used in Joshua 24 and verse 15 when Joshua says but as for me and my house Joshua is basically saying, the next generation, that will come from my house, my offspring, the generation that will leave from now, I would like them to serve the Lord, but as I do so, I want to set an example to them. And then he says, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And you notice the progression, is as for me, to we will serve. From personal service to family or communal or corporate service. From personal resolve praying that that personal resolve impacts those who are under your authority, those whom you are closely linked to, those who you closely associate with. And Joshua is calling them as well to the service of the Lord and he's hoping and praying that he will be a good example to his house. And the Bible does tell us in the same chapter and verse 31, chapter 24 and verse 31. And Israel saved the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua or those who lived even after Joshua and had known all the deeds of the Lord which he had done for Israel. And giving us this idea that while Joshua was alive His example had impacted the nation of Israel. He had impacted his house and the nation such that those who lived even after Joshua to a certain generation, they saved the Lord. But of course, we know in the book of Judges, Israel went back to idol worship. But as long as Joshua lived, Israel saved the Lord. But even the elders who survived Joshua, they saved the Lord. And I think that this resolve to save God is always multi-generational in outlook. You just, you don't want to be the last Christian in your home. You want to set an example that as the Lord grants you grace, those who are under your direct authority will see something of Christ in you, and therefore, they too will save the Lord. But you also want it to be that if God, out of His wisdom, does not save those from your household, that God will use your example to restrain the evil of the hearts of those within your household. You want the next generation to tell of the goodness of the Lord because they saw it. They heard it from you. They saw it in your service and you were a godly example to them. The psalmist in Psalm 44 prays that, O God, we've heard with our ears. Our fathers have told us what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old. That's what the Psalmist prays in Psalm 44. He's praying via historical fact. Their fathers taught them about the mighty acts of God, and surely he must have experienced something of the mighty acts of God, and he prays that God would do what he did in the days of their fathers, in their days. What we see in this resolve, that has the future generation at heart, shows us the love, the care of Christianity. Christian cares about others, or at least you must care for others. The Christian faith reaches out to others. and desires that others may come to know the God that I know and save him faithfully. And Joshua is concerned about the next generation. He's concerned that when he's long gone, will Israel still continue to save God? and he admonishes those who are present that they must be a good example to the next generation so that when they are all gone to their rewards, the next generation will say, oh Lord, we've heard what you did in the days of our fathers. We've been told about the mighty acts of our God. As a leader of the home, or as an older Christian, what sort of example are you giving to the next generation? I'm not talking about what are you teaching or telling them. What example are you setting? Because your words, must be supported with your service to God. Because God has brought people under your direct authority, but also God has brought people close to you, in the church, in the community, at work, at home. What are those who associate with you in that manner? What examples do they see? Can they say of you that you've put before them an example of true service to God? Or can you yourself say with Joshua, but as for me and my house, We will serve the Lord. All those under my authority, or maybe all those who work for me, all those who are close to me, my children, my nephews, or all those we support financially but they still value our opinion, they value our words. What sort of examples are we giving? Because sure, you want them to serve the God you've been serving all these years. You want them to know the love of God. You want them to know the mercies of God. You want them to experience the salvation that you found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you want to be an example so that even when you are long gone, they can talk about you as one who showed them how to serve God. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And Joshua is also telling the people of Israel, hold me accountable if me and my house, we fail to serve the Lord. Hold me accountable, I'm making a public proclamation Hold me accountable. But quickly in the third place, we see that this resolve centers on the pursuit of the infinite. This resolve centers on the pursuit of the infinite. And this is in the last part of the verse, but as for me and my house, We will save the Lord. We will save the Lord. Joshua is saying the object of our thesaurus in this service is God. And he's urging the people to do the same. The people of Israel had become called to the service of God. They had settled in the land. And now Joshua is saying to them, if serving God seems evil to you, then there are two choices you have. He's basically saying you have a dilemma. You either save the gods of your fathers, the ones they saved, on the other side, the idols of your forefathers, or the gods of the Amorites, the people that you chased out of the land. Those are the options you have. If you don't want to pursue the infinite God, then you have to choose between the God of the Amorites, or the God your forefathers saved on the other side. And he's saying to them, make up a conscious decision to pursue God. Commit yourself to this God. Don't give half service to this God. And Joshua is saying, me and my household will have this single devotion. We'll have this selfless devotion. We'll have this sacrificial devotion to the Lord. Our service will be focused on God. And we'll be selfless in our service to God. And Joshua is saying this is a resolve I'm making. We will pursue God. And brethren, our pursuit of God must arise from a biblical view of who God is. If we are going to pursue God, we must know what we are pursuing. We must know who is this being that we are pursuing, and he has revealed himself in the scriptures. And if we are going to save God, if we are going to pursue God, then we must know who this God is. And the only way to know who this God is, is if we saturate ourselves with His Word. And if we saturate ourselves with His Word, then we will know that saving this God is a great privilege. because we are saving the most powerful being in the world, one who does as he pleases, who doesn't need to seek permission from anyone outside of himself, and yet he delights to see us saving him faithfully. He delights to see his children calling upon him and obeying him in true devotion to God. A. W. Toza writes, and I quote, as the knowledge of God becomes more wonderful, greater service to our fellow men becomes more imperative. Who our master is will determine how we serve him. End of quote. And Tosa is basically saying, when you begin to know this God, greater your service to this God will be. When you know something of this God, then you realize that He demands my all. but also that it's a privilege to save this God. He needs nothing outside of himself, yet he delights in us saving him. And our service to God must be tokens of our love to this God, must be the overflowing of our hearts, the overflowing of our hearts when we think of our great salvation in Christ. And we must long to be with Him And that longing grows as we save him. Is God the one you are pursuing? And how is it showing in your service to him? Oftentimes, The reasons we give for a failure to serve God or to do something that God requires of us makes me think that, you know, we make statements without realizing the implication of the statements that we're making. So you hear people say, look, I'm working or I have school. or my children, which are genuine. But the implication of you saying that I failed to attend the service of God because of school, because of family, or because of work, is this. You're saying, God, if you took away my family, my work, and my school, I'll be more useful in your kingdom. That's the implication. without realizing. That's what we say. That's what we imply. That these blessings you've given me have become an hindrance to your service. And Lord, if you can take them away, probably I'll be more useful. Now, do you think you'll be more useful if the Lord took those things away from you? Let's make a resolve to serve God within the demands of life that He presses upon us. He's a wise God. He knew that we are those things at a particular time, yet He still demands that we serve Him. So if you're failing to balance your time or to find time to serve God, go before this God and plead that he helps you on how best you can balance your time and be of service to him and be of service in his church. There will never be a time in life when you have nothing to do. There will always be something in our lives. Yet God still requires us to save him. And as we pursue God and increase in our knowledge of this God, greater service to this God will be imperative because we will realize that my service to God can be better. I can grow in my service to God. And therefore, God, help me to balance things in my life. Help me to save you. Lord, cause me not to use your blessings as an excuse to fail to save you. Lord, help me to find time So that through my example, the next generation will save you. Life on earth has all its demands. And those demands continue to increase. But God still requires us, or still demands that we save you. for that this evening we can all make this resolve that Joshua made as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. And this resolve is urgently needed especially as the years pass We don't know how much time we have on earth. And hence the need to make this resolve to serve God. So that should the Lord return today or tomorrow, at least I would have made this resolve to serve God. We'll be singing a hymn in closing, which is basically calling all of us to make a resolve. I am resolved no longer to linger, charmed by the world's delight. Things that are higher, things that are nobler, these are the good my signs. And the hymn writer did recognize that we only have one life and we can only give that one life in service to one thing. And all that will give that one life to the service of God. Because ultimately, that's the only thing that will count beyond the grave. Amen.