It's great to be here this morning. Again, I appreciate y'all's patience with me. If I go blank and there's like a three second pause, it's not for dramatic effect. My mind has completely gone blank. I've already had that happen a few times this morning. It's, I think I'm a little overqualified, maybe, with what we've got going on at the moment. As the summer goes on, the battle against dehydration and overheating is no joke. All the hours we're putting in everything. It happens all the time. I'll be talking to someone, their system could be on fire, and I just, oh, sorry, what was that again? I appreciate y'all's patience and we're certainly happy to have Pastor with us this morning. I won't lie, as soon as Pastor told me that he was gonna be here for service and still had me set up for preaching, a little bit of sweat did just accumulate right at that moment he told me. So it's great to have Pastor here. We praise the Lord, been praising the Lord a lot for that recently. We're gonna be in the Book of Joshua. This is a passage, good night, I can't tell you how many times, especially with me working AC and I go into so many homes and one of the most common verses I see plastered inside a home somewhere is Joshua chapter 24. And it's Joshua 24, 15 is usually what I see plastered everywhere. And it's kind of funny because I'll be in some homes and I see this Joshua 24 and then I also notice there's a big liquor cabinet and the dad just got done smoking a cigarette and then you hear them cursing at each other and then all this other stuff going on. But the funny thing is, is they'll have Joshua 24, 15, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. But they don't have the full verse. They just have that one, Little phrase and statement there. And it's sad to say that so many Christians, they take so much of the Bible out of, not so much just out of context, but out of the magnitude of what is being stated. There's so much more behind Joshua 24, 15 and what we normally hear people quote all the time. And there's something in this passage and in this story that we see a little bit of what's going on in our own nation. And this is actually a passage, I just, every once in a while, I like to refresh myself and challenge myself and remind myself of the commitments I've given to the Lord. Because it's pretty easy to forget what we've promised to people. It's pretty easy to break those promises when we forget we've made those promises. You know what I mean? I guarantee there's plenty of promises I've given to Amanda just in our marriage. I'll take care of it, I'll take care of it. I guarantee there's another, for every one thing I've done, there's probably about a dozen things I've forgotten to do. Not that I mean to break promises, but it's easy to break those promises when you forget them. But what we're gonna do is we're gonna read a passage here in Joshua chapter 24, and then we're also gonna read a passage in Judges. And there's gonna be a few excerpts that we're gonna do. We're gonna start in verse 14 of Joshua 24, verse 14. And we're gonna read two verses there and then jump down. Now verse 14 it says, now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt and serve ye the Lord. Verse 15 says, and if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And then we'll jump down to verse 21. 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? So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone and set it up there under an oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us, for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us. It shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest you deny your God. So Joshua let the people depart every man unto his inheritance. In this last verse, we're gonna read and we're gonna look at one more passage and it says in verse 29, and it came to pass after these things that Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord died being 110 years old. Joshua 24 is an amazing chapter. There's so much to glean and to learn. So much, I mean, there's so much that if we applied to our lives on the daily, there's so much that we can accomplish being challenged and encouraged in the Lord through Joshua 24. But one thing that's actually really sad about Joshua 24 is we see what happens the next generation. And there's a picture that we have in America. I truly believe that one of the biggest mistakes we've made in America is not teaching the next generation like we should have. And it's something I've worked with a lot of youth across the U.S. in different ministries. These kids, they don't know. They don't know the story of Adam and Eve. They don't know any of this stuff. Even the times I've worked in public schools, I drop Bible verses all the time and they'd be like, what are you talking about? I've never heard of that. And they don't know the Bible story. Well, they don't know the Bible account. I won't call it a story because it isn't a story, it's an account. It's true. The passage I want us to read is in Judges chapter two. So Joshua 24 and Judges have a little bit of an overlap of time. Now in Judges chapter two, starting in verse eight, it tells us, and Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord died being 110 years old. This is literally that last verse we just read in Joshua chapter 24. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Aris in the Mount of Ephraim on the north side of the hill Gash. And also all the generation were gathered unto their fathers, and there were crossed another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Balaam. And they forsook the Lord, God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt. and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord unto anger. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Asherah. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies, round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, I thank you for your grace, Lord, for your mercy. Lord, I thank you for the fact that even in our own lives and even from generation to generation, Lord, that when we do make a mistake and we don't live the life in which you intended for us, Lord, that you don't just wipe us out. I thank you for your mercy. Lord, you are the picture of long suffering, dealing not only with Israel, but Lord, dealing with me. Lord, I thank you for all that you've done. Lord, I just ask that you use this time in your word. Lord, I know I'm probably gonna go blank in mind and have other thoughts try to combat what we're focusing on this morning. And Lord, I just ask that you Keep my mind sharp and keep it fresh. Lord, again, I just thank you for all that you've done. In Jesus Christ precious name I pray. Amen. How could a generation following a man that said, Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. And put away the gods which your father 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, and choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your father 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. It blows my mind to have a leader make this type of declaration and challenge, and you say, I'm on board. I'm with you. I'm gonna serve the Lord. But yet my children forsake him. Not only not know him, but to forsake God. And it doesn't make sense to me personally. I mean, it does and it doesn't. The people committed themselves to serve God, but the mouths of their children, it was declared that God was dead. Because their father said they chose God in their heart, but they didn't teach that to their children. The book of Joshua is an unbelievable book. Every chapter, there's something to get from it. And Joshua was, I mean, really, Joshua was a man that ever since you read of him in the Old Testament, going through Exodus, you're encouraged to see a man, man, Joshua just had it all together, all the time. I mean, there's maybe one chapter in all of his time that was, he stumbled a little bit, But man, it's hard to find a man of God in the Bible even that had a clean record like Joshua. And Joshua, the book itself just gives courage and has given courage to millions of thousands of believers, no doubt. It tells Israel and tells us as Christians to be strong and to be not afraid. teaches me that God wants me to be a conqueror in a victory that's already won. Because that was the life that Joshua lived. But sadly, the story of his people go from bravery to betrayal. And how did this happen? Let's look at the final chapter of one of the greatest legacies we see in the Bible. And the first scene of this legacy is the commitment that we find. He challenged them to not turn back to the way their fathers lived on the other side of the flood. Israel was notorious for complaining. Oh, good night. We know people like that too. Man, they could have sunshine, a cold lemonade, shade, a cool breeze, and just nothing to worry about for the day, and they're gonna find something to complain about. We all know people like that. Israel was no exception. They excelled in that life of complaining. But Joshua led them to a life of victory. And he challenged them time and time again. Now, of course, he challenged them to not turn back to the way their fathers lived on the other side of the flood. Joshua chapter 24, verse 15. And of course, we always go to the end of that verse, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. But there's more to this verse that we have to kind of unwrap and unravel. 2415 says, and it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord. Choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood. Now, the funny thing is, is the Israelites always kind of, they'd find something to complain about. Oh, we don't have water. Oh, we don't have this. We don't have that. And they'd always find a reason to gripe and complain. Oh, we had it so much better in Egypt as slaves. And the problem is Joshua had to deal with this problem just like Moses had to. And he had to challenge them. Do you really think it's evil to serve the Lord? Is it really, is God evil unto you? Has he not provided? And even Jesus himself, he talks about how, do not your fathers, which are evil, know to serve your... Of course, I'm just now thinking of the passage off the top of my head, but Jesus even challenges the Jewish nation and his followers, even evil fathers providing for their children how it's good and how so much more he'll provide for them. God is not, God is not evil. He has our best interest in mind. But the Israelites had that problem of thinking the worst, even in the best of circumstances. And he challenged them, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood. And there's a picture that we see here. that the Israelites could go back to the ways that they lived under the Egyptian reign. And there's a picture for us as Christians. I can't tell you how many times I've seen Christians accept the Lord Jesus Christ and sadly go back to the vices in which they lived. Serving the things and the people that they had served before and were challenged the same way When we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior and choose to live a life for God, we still have to choose not to serve the life in which we had before we were saved. Joshua not only challenged them to leave the gods of their fathers, but Joshua also challenges them to not compromise and to turn to the, to not turn to the gods of the people of the land. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood, or the God of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." And the interesting thing is, is there's a picture of, especially for us Christians, there's a picture of compromise. Because what actually eventually started happening with the Amorites, is there was a mixing. God was trying to keep them from introducing their cultures and their teachings together and to compromise. And that's what was going to happen. And what does happen if we study history with the Amorites, and whose land they dwelt. And not only was Israel challenged not to compromise, and the term is totally escaping me at the moment, but to not just mix in with those around us, but to assimilate. God does not want us to assimilate into this world. I know too many Christians Oh, well, if we play music this way, and we dabble a little bit of Jesus and God into it, but we keep all the music the same way it is with the world, I've been around those crowds. I've been around them. They have nothing. It's just a lot of emotion, flash in a pan. And we have to be challenged just as the Israelites were then. not to compromise. Now we see the Israelites could have easily just mixed in with the Amorites. They could have just assimilated themselves with the people and just compromise. All right, well, we don't wanna make things too difficult for ourselves or for them. We'll just take a little bit of here, give this to them and we'll just kind of compromise it. The Israelites could have easily done that. Of course, Joshua also challenged them to now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Joshua knew the danger. Joshua knew the danger and God had made it clear to him what would take place if there was that mixing, that assimilation. And Joshua challenged him to follow God unapologetically and without any doubt in him. And this is a beautiful picture of us. We can turn back to the life we had before we got saved. Back to those sins and lifestyles. We can also compromise and give unto the people we live around. Giving up parts of our beliefs in God so we can accept those things that are contrary to God. To live a lie or We can completely follow after the God of love, compassion, and mercy. Joshua led the people to a committed life, but Joshua knew that we needed reminders. Joshua knew we needed reminders. Good night. I need reminders all the time. I can't tell you how many times someone says, hey, what do you got going on this one day? I don't know. I got to look at my calendar. I've got no idea. I need reminders. Even when I'm working, I've got to remind myself while I'm working, I could look at something one second, walk out to the van to get a tool, get to the van and be like, why am I here? I can't even remember. We need reminders in our lives, not just in a practical way, but in a spiritual way. Of course, this leads me to the next chapter of this legacy, and the legacy of tribute and witness. Let's look at verse 24 to 27 of chapter 24. Verses 24 to 27. And the people said unto Joshua, the people, not Joshua, but the people said unto Joshua, the Lord, our God, not your God, not Joshua's God, our God will we, not you, we serve. And his voice will we obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and set them a statute and ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God and took a great stone and set it up there under an oak. that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said unto all the people, behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us. For it hath heard all the words of the Lord, which he had spake unto us. It shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. This would have been an amazing thing to see. And just imagine it with me for a moment. There's a hill. lush green grass, almost like a scene out of a movie. The grass ripples and waves and sways with the wind. And a lonely oak with a stone, a noticeable stone, not a stone that just seemed to be there, but a stone that would catch your eye enough to be like, why is it sitting there? Obviously someone put that there for a reason. But there's that lonely oak tree and a stone resting next to that place, a place of worship, a sanctuary unto God. It was beautiful, no doubt. It was a tribute and a reminder of what they had committed that day. What was it that Joshua did? Not only did he set up the scenic moment, but Joshua did a few things. He wrote into a few different writings of that time. He wrote into the personal laws and the rules of the land. Joshua took the time to actually say, all right, the law of the land says that we are going to serve God as a leader and based off of the people's promise, he wrote into the legal law. But not only did he write into the legal law of that time, he wrote the word of God. This promise they made was not only to be remembered by those that lived amongst the Israelites, but it was to be remembered by the spiritual. It was written into the Bible. This was something they were not going to forget very soon. And Joshua didn't stop there. He set that stone under the oak tree and committed it as a witness that what they decided to do. And this wasn't the first time Joshua used a stone in this way. Joshua, actually Joshua used stones as kind of a reminder throughout his leadership that he had with Israel. If we go back to Joshua chapter four and verse nine, and there's just a little snippet that we're gonna see right here. And Joshua set up 12 stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bear the Ark of the Covenant stood, and they are there unto this day. This is the first time that we see Joshua use stones to signify something. And it was there to be an example of the 12 tribes of Israel making their way into the promised land. And it was actually there to be remembered. We also see in Joshua chapter seven and 26, and it says, and they raised unto him a great heap of stones unto this day, so that the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger, wherefore the name of the place was called the Valley of Achor unto this day. And the story of Achan's great deceiving rebellious decision to disobey not only not only disobey Joshua, but God himself. Joshua used those stones to represent the consequences of our sin and our rebellion, not for just our own lives, but those that we love. We also have Joshua 8.32, and the king of Ai, he hanged on a tree until eventide. And as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcass down from the tree and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city and raise there on a great heap of stones that remaineth unto this day. Again, Joshua using stones after God has done something great for them. Joshua 10, 27, and it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave's mouth, which remain unto this day." No doubt there was a continuous theme that was being used through Joshua's leadership. When there was an important decision, when there was a God providing for them in one shape or form, Joshua used that moment and remembered what God had done and put a stone in place to remind themselves of what God had done. Whatever it was that God was teaching them at that time, that stone was there to remind them. I don't know about you, but there are many things I drive around. I'm good night even with with work. It's actually really funny and ironic. There was actually a moment this week I drove into a neighborhood half the time most of the time I'm driving around with GPS. I hardly know where I'm going most of the time. But I can't tell you how many times I drive into a neighborhood and be like, oh man, I remember that park. I know where I am. There's that guy that lives right there. And man, he went to the Navy. And then he retired here. And it's funny how landmarks, oftentimes, And Amanda always asks me, what about this? Or what about that? And I can't recall much just out of memory like that. It's just not me. But as soon as I see something, I was like, oh yeah, all the details just come out. It's funny how our memories will be associated with something just so small as seeing a small landmark, something insignificant. I mean, they're rocks. They're not special, but the memories that we have associated with them make the difference. But the funny thing is those stones, as I was saying, they're insignificant. And Joshua, you remember when we had the 12 stones that we were just talking about a minute ago? Joshua actually lays it out. He explains to us and he explains to the Israelites the purpose of those stones. In Joshua chapter four and verse six, it says that this may be a sign among you that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, what mean ye by these stones? Verse seven says, then ye shall answer them that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever. That was the purpose. That was the purpose when God told Joshua, to use the stones in this fashion, Joshua realized that they can be claimed as a landmark. And I really didn't think of it, but the fact that we're going into Independence Day, I mean, I wonder what our country would be like if we just remembered. If we had simply remembered, for a good laugh, look at how much they were being taxed back in the day. Wasn't it like just 2% of tax? And they revolted and cut off their dependency from England and the revolution began over 2% tax. Oh, good night. I don't even really want to sit down and look at all the taxes we're getting today. I wonder what our country would be like if we truly remembered those landmarks. To remember. Joshua wanted to look at his child and be reminded of God's goodness. And just think of how we would respond if we were one of them. Your child would come up Dad, what's up with the 12 stones that we see every year? Why do we even go there? What gives? What's up with the 12 stones? And out of pure curiosity, they listen to the accounts of God's provision, God's miraculous working, and to keep in remembrance of everything that God had done. Now, but there is something interesting about all of these examples that we see that Joshua uses as stones. In each of these accounts, there's a phrase that we see. But the funny thing is, is chapter 24, that same phrase we see throughout the book of Joshua, we don't see this phrase used. And this is the spiritual fatal mistake made in their legacy. And if you were to go back and look at all of Joshua, there's a phrase, which is there unto this day. And it's funny because every time that God had done something in their lives, they remembered to go back. Someone went back to remember. Someone went back to visit. Someone went back to worship the Lord for what he has done. And the reason they know it was there to this day is because they went back to visit to this day. Joshua 4, 9. And Joshua set up the twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in this place where the feet of the priests which bear the ark of the covenant stood. And they are there unto this day. Joshua 7, 26. And they raise unto him a great heap of stones unto this day. Joshua 8, 29. And the king of Ai, he hanged on a tree until eventide. And as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded them that they should take the carcass down from the tree and cast it in the entering of the gate of the city and raise thereon a great heap of stones that remaineth unto this day. Joshua 10, 27. And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded, and they took him down off the trees and cast them into the caves thereon and they had hid him, and laid great stones in the cave's mouth, which remain unto this very day." God put that phrase in there for a reason. But he also didn't put something in Joshua 24. And you can read Joshua chapter 24, 24 times, but you will never notice that it says that they visited those stones again. If you were to, in fact, in Joshua 28, in Joshua 24, 28, and Joshua, let the people depart every man unto his inheritance. That's how they end it. I believe that God had done that on purpose. And the reason I bring that up, It's a lot easier to remember what God has promised to us. Oh, it's real easy to remember that, isn't it? It's easy to remember and go back to those times that God has put us through some hard times. But you know what's really hard? Is to remember the commitments we've made. The times we've gotten on our knees and committed our lives to God, made promises to Him, And the funny thing is, is I have to remind myself many times, because if I don't remind myself, I'll break more promises towards God than I will fulfill them. And I truly believe that there's a reason that God had it mentioned time and time again, that they went back to these stones, they went back to these stones, but the one stone that mattered more than all the rest, was the stone that represented their commitment to God. And they forgot it. And I truly believe that's the reason. I truly believe that's the reason that that next generation not only forsook God, but didn't even know God. Because their parents may have reminded them, oh yeah, God did this, God did that. But what did you do for God? What kind of promise? Our kids, and of course, it's ironic because what Amanda and I are, we've got coming down the line. I don't want to just talk about what God has done in my life. I want to talk about what I've done for God. I want to talk about what I have been able to accomplish because of God. Not for my glory. But I want Aubrey to know that God is real, not someone that I talk about, because if we only talk about what God has done in the past, how are they gonna know that God is here in the present? We are the example. We are the example to the next generation, to our children, not just our children. There are people that look up to every single one of us in this room. We are all leaders. And it may not be our own children. It could be peers. I can't say, I mean, even the past couple of weeks, it's been kind of weird. I've had multiple people younger than myself that have reached out to me that I don't see on a daily basis. And they've reached out to me and they said, Hey, Sam, I've got this going on. I don't know what to do. People that are over in Arizona. Some people here in Florida, people I haven't seen some in years, I haven't talked to in years, but we are leaders and we need to be Joshua's. We need to teach our children, not only the great highlights of what God has done for us, but what we've promised to God to do. And there's other passages in the Bible that talk about this. Proverbs 22, 28 says, remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set. I understand there's culture. There are landmarks that are cultural, but they shouldn't be gotten rid of so quickly. And I see this with people that are my own age, people I graduated Bible college with. They were so quick to throw the baby out with the bathwater as the saying goes. Oh, well, they had it all wrong back in the day and it's all just, oh, it needs to be all thrown out. There's a reason why a lot of those people I know that have taken that route aren't faring very well right now. And I don't want to see them like that. I don't glory in the fact that they have issues now because they've made those decisions. Deuteronomy 27, 17 says, cursed be he that remove his neighbor's landmark and all the people shall say, amen. Landmarks are there for a reason. They're there to be a boundary. They're there to remind us. But if we don't take the time to remember those landmarks, The only guarantee we have is that they'll be forgotten. If you notice, the next generation found in Judges knew who God was, but did not know Him. They knew Him like it was a fairy tale, but they did not know Him personally, nor did they know the decisions that their parents had made. I hope that can be a challenge for us. And it's a challenge to me, as I was saying, with little Aubrey coming on the way, I've got some big decisions to make. But the funny thing is, is I've already made the biggest decisions already. As long as I remember the decisions I made to serve the Lord, to honor him, All the other decisions I'll have to make will be pretty easy. I just hope and pray that I won't forget. And I hope and pray that we haven't forgotten. And especially as we go into independence, as we remember Independence Day, that we don't forget the landmarks. It's pretty easy. I know Amanda and I have talked about doing a little bit of grilling on Thursday. I'll actually, luckily, be able to have the day off, surprisingly. But aside from resting and enjoying a grill and maybe sitting back and listening to the obnoxious neighbors doing fireworks, I hope I remember the landmarks that were set by our forefathers in our own country. in our nation, a nation in which we should and could be proud of. Let's pray. Lord, I just thank you for what you've done for us.