The Consecration of the People
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
The time comes sooner, or later, when we must all lay down the yoke which we have been wearing for God. We cannot always serve, no matter how faithful we may have been, nor how successfully we may have wrought our task.
Joshua had been a valiant leader, and he had been faithful in all things. Now, at the end of his days he saw fit to gather all Israel together that they might present themselves before God. When they were all assembled he said, "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 Nahor: and they served other gods."
As we recount, step by step, the events of the time which led up to the present moment when Joshua stood before them, let us remember that it is God who is speaking and that Joshua is only His mouthpiece.
1. God's statement concerning Abraham. Joshua reminded the gathered elders, the heads, and the judges of Israel that God had taken their father Abraham from the other side of the flood, that He had led him through all the land of Canaan, that He had multiplied his seed, and that He had given him Isaac.
If you will observe these words carefully, you will see how God shows that it was He who had done these things.
We might ask if Abraham did not leave on his own volition, if he did not pass through the land of Canaan of his own choice, and if he was not the father of his own son, even of Isaac. From the human viewpoint we may see a great deal of Abraham's self-assertiveness, yet, we must fully recognize that Abraham was walking by faith in obedience to the command of God. When he went out of Ur of the Chaldees, he went not knowing whither he went.
The fact of God's leadership is, perhaps, more plainly seen in the statement, "[I] gave him Isaac." We remember that Isaac was the son of Abraham's old age and of Sarah's old age. He was the son of promise begotten under the miraculous power of God.
2. God's statement concerning Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. God says that it was He who gave two sons to Isaac. He says it was He who gave Esau Mount Seir to possess it. It was He who led Jacob and his children down into Egypt.
Beloved, we need to recognize God's hand in all that we are, and all that we do. It is not in a man to order his own steps.
3. God's statement concerning Moses and Aaron and the plagues. The Lord positively states that HE sent Moses and Aaron, that HE plagued Egypt, that HE brought Israel out from the land of bondage, that HE put darkness between His people and; the Egyptians, that HE brought the sea upon them and covered them, that HE brought them into the land of the Amorites.
Perhaps, each one of us would do well to ponder God's leading. As in the past, can we not see how He has gone before us? He has chosen the place for us to pitch our tents. He has sheltered us, protected us, provided for us, and led us.
The Lord will direct all your pathway,
Go where He leads;
He'll never forsake, never leave you,
He'll meet your needs.
He'll be with your mouth, and will teach you
What you shall say;
He'll crown all your labor with blessing,
Up, then, away.
I. UNADULTERATED GRACE (Joshua 24:13)
God has now finished speaking of the olden time, and has come to the present moment in which Joshua speaks unto the people. God says, "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."
Where is there a verse in the Bible more pregnant with the grace of God than this? They had entered into these riches, not through anything of their own worth, or because of anything they had done. It was all the gift of God.
1. "Ye did not labour." We sing, "Not the labor of my hands can fulfill the law's demands." "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy Cross I cling."
2. "Ye built not." The houses they entered were there when they arrived. There is a house which we one day will enter, which we have not, and could not build. Our Lord has said, "I go to prepare a place for you."
3. "Ye planted not." The vineyards and oliveyards were already there in the land of Canaan when they entered. Nor were these to be despised, for it was a land of great vegetation and fruit.
It is still true that everything we eat is the gift of God. We may plant, and we may sow, and we may harvest, but it is God, and God alone, who gives the increase.
Let us bow the knee before Him, the Author and the Finisher of our faith. Let us acknowledge Him as the Giver of all good things. What do we have that He has not given us?
II. APPRECIATIVE SERVICE (Joshua 24:14)
Joshua in the Spirit now says to Israel, "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."
1. The appeal. "Therefore." The word carries our minds back to all that God said about how He led Abraham, and multiplied him. How He sent Moses, and delivered Israel, and how He had brought them into the land, a good land.
Is there not another "therefore"? Have we not read, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God"? Surely the mercy of God is the Spirit's reason, upon which He asks us in full consecration to present our bodies as living sacrifices our reasonable, or rational service.
2. The method. "Serve Him in sincerity." The word "sincerity" means without any mixture of hypocrisy. God does not care for the worship of the lips if the heart is far from Him. We might give Him all kinds of silver and gold, but that would not satisfy our God if we were giving our love to another,
3. In fear. Joshua said, "Now therefore fear the Lord." To fear the Lord does not mean to be afraid of Him, but rather to be afraid to disobey Him. Therefore, the call is made, "Put away the gods which your fathers served * * and serve ye the Lord."
Let us all seek to examine our own hearts: in the light of all that God has done for us, what are we doing for Him? In the light of all that He is giving us, what do we give back to Him? Even now we can hear Him say, "I gave My life for thee, what hast thou given for Me?"
III. A CALL TO CHOOSE (Joshua 24:15)
We have before us now one of the outstanding verses of the Bible. It is one which most believers have memorized, at least, in part. "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."
1. The responsibility of choice. Neither Joshua nor the Lord demanded that the Children of Israel should choose to serve the Lord. God did not take a whip and drive them to obedience. He rather said, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve." This power of choice is given to every life. We are not Christians because we are forced so to be. We are Christians because we come to Him voluntarily. Moses had said before he died, "I have set before you life and death, * * therefore choose life."
2. A good example. Joshua did not command them to choose God, but he did say, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." He did, therefore, offer the strongest possible plea to them to follow the Lord in the way that he himself was fully persuaded to follow.
It is of little use for us to try to encourage others to do what we are unwilling to do. We must lead the way. We must show by our deeds as well as by our words that it is good to serve the Lord.
We might dwell at length on family Christianity. Joshua spoke for himself, and for his house. God give us more families where every member serves and loves the Saviour.
IV. A NOTE OF THANKSGIVING (Joshua 24:16-18)
We are made to rejoice at the response of the people. They answered with one accord, and seemingly with all sincerity. "God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods." Their decision was made, and the reason for it is now given.
1. "The Lord our God, * * brought us * * out of the land of Egypt." They are praising God for what He had done for them, acknowledging in this their former bondage, the days of their taskmasters, sorrows, and sighs. It was out of all this that God had brought them.
2. "The Lord our God, * * which did those great signs in our sight." They had not forgotten the ten plagues. They had not forgotten the sight of the Egyptians being overthrown in the flood. They still remembered how everyone who looked up to the serpent was saved, and how the water was brought out of the flinty rock; how the quails were sent that they might have meat.
Would that we might all remember the wonderful signs and marvelous miracles which God has wrought before our eyes.
3. "The Lord our God, * * preserved us in all the way." They did not think that it was their own wisdom or power that had kept them. They were kept in the hand of the Almighty. So it is that we have been kept. We should never speak of the perseverance of the saints, but rather of "their preservation." Our security is in Him, not in ourselves.
4. "The Lord drave out from before us all the people." Here would be a great opportunity for boasting. They could have said that they conquered Jericho, but they did not feel that way about it. They recognized that their victories were God's, that they overcame because they were led In the train of the triumphs of the Most High.
V. THE WEAKNESS OF THE FLESH (Joshua 24:19-21)
Joshua had heard all their words with evident rejoicing, and yet he continued to advise them.
1. He discovered to them what the flesh could not do. He said, "Ye cannot serve the Lord: for He is an holy God; He is a jealous God."
Beloved, if we think that we of ourselves can serve God acceptably, we are altogether wrong. It is impossible for the flesh to please the Lord. The flesh is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and God is holy. If, therefore, we would, in our consecration, find ourselves acceptable, we must come confessing our sins, and our own weaknesses, and claim God's healing and cleansing power.
2. A determined "Yes" and "No." When the people said this, they were saying "Yes" to God, and "No" to every power that might turn them from Him. Beloved, there are many consecration meetings which are full of promises and halfhearted surrenders. None of these things please God. We must speak emphatically, positively, and with unmistakable sincerity. If we are going to yield to God with a great big "Yes" to all He asks of us, we must at the same time utter a great big "No" to every power of Satan and sin. "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other." The Word goes on to say that we must either serve "God or mammon."
Let this day be the day of our choice, and of our decision, and may God grant that it will be the day in which we unreservedly yield to God.
VI. A PRACTICAL CONSECRATION (Joshua 24:22-24)
1. We have before us an acknowledged witness. 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."
We wonder if the young people realize that when they, in the quiet of their own room, tell God that all they are, and all they have, belongs to Him, that there they make a witness against themselves if, perchance, they break that vow. It is better never to have given ourselves to God, than to have publicly acclaimed Him Lord, and then turn to other gods.
2. A necessary aftermath. Since the people had sealed their witness, Joshua made this call, "Now therefore put away, * * the strange gods which are among you." If we have given our life to the Master, we must put from us everything that is contrary to His will. Consecration of the lips and of the life must be followed by obedience. There are some who say, "I will go," but they go not. They say, "I will do this," but they do it not.
Let each one of us examine our hearts to see whether there is a sincere, unimpeachable desire in our religious profession. God grant that none of us may be professors until we are possessors.
When we do confess Christ and when we do affirm our allegiance and entire consecration, let us then put away all the evil from our lips and lives.
"The dearest idol we have known,
Whate'er that idol be,
Help us to tear it from its throne,
And follow only Thee."
VII. THE STONE OF WITNESS (Joshua 24:26-27)
When this wonderful time of consecration had passed, it was consummated by a setting up of a great stone. That day Joshua made a covenant with the people and set them a statute and an ordinance writing these words in the Book of the Law of God. This being done, Joshua took the stone and set it under an oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.
1. The stone set up. We do not know all that that stone may have had written upon it. We do know that it stood as a public declaration of the vow of Israel to serve the Lord.
In the church there is likewise a method by which our salvation and dedication are symbolized and publicly acclaimed. When we are baptized, we acclaim before the world that we are dead with Christ and risen with Him to walk in newness of life. If the Children of Israel sinned following their setting up of the stone of witness, their sin was doubly great. If believers sin after openly declaring their faith by their baptism, their sin is also doubly great. To Israel Joshua said of the stone of witness, "It shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God."
Let our baptism also be a witness unto us lest we deny our God. If we are tempted to go astray, and tempted to forget the Lord, let us immediately remember that hour when we acclaimed ourselves His own. Let us remember that other hour when upon the call of some "Joshua," some evangelist, or pastor, we went to the front and openly dedicated ourselves unto Christ and His service. With this accomplished, Joshua let the people depart "every man unto his inheritance."
AN ILLUSTRATION
Mrs. Howard Taylor said in an address at a convention of Student Volunteers at Toronto: "My cry had always been, 'O God, anywhere in the world I will go for You, but not to China; don't let it be China!' But it was China, and for the first time in my life I left home, my father and mother, and sailed with other missionaries. But I was alone as far as my heart was concerned. There came a moment when we weighed anchor, and the great ship moved slowly over the Bay of Naples, the shores of Europe growing dim in the distance. I was standing alone clasping to my heart the first home letters, I cannot tell you of the waves that overwhelmed my soul. Just then a sailor on the prow of the ship called to the captain on the bridge, 'All is clear now, sir; all is clear.' And the captain answered, "Full steam ahead!' The words rang through my heart, and I looked up into His face and said to Him, 'O Christ, all is clear now between my heart and Thee; all is clear now!" If you want to know something of the deeper joy of life you must go through a moment like that Edward B. Bagby.