Joshua 24:14-15, 19-22 – The Five Greatest – Bible study

Joshua 24:14-15, 19-22 The Five Greatest This is one of the great passages of the Bible for it sets before us the important two choices of life \#14-15\. At this point, Israel made the correct choice but it will not be long until they change their choice. \#19\ Not only so, but Joshua also pointed out the difficulty in trying to serve God. It is not impossible but it is almost impossible! Why? Because to serve God requires complete and permanent submission. To follow God has never been a part-time duty. It requires laying it all on the line. \#20\ And Joshua went even further to tell the people what would happen if they did not choose God. He would do them HURT. It is my belief that American has made the wrong choice. I believe America has chosen other gods and turned away from the Jehovah of the Bible. 1. I do not come to this conclusion based on a single action America has done but based on a trend of actions that America has been making over a long period of time. 2. All of this relates to nations but for a nation to turn from God, its people must also be turning from God. We are some of those people. This morning, as I have time, let me ask and answer five questions about America. I. What is Americas greatest sin? A. There are many sins that America has committed. 1. We have removed Gods commandments out of our schools and government buildings. 2. We have removed prayer from most every public venue. 3. Even inside many of our church, we have ceased to teach concerning sin, righteousness, and salvation. 4. Our people are addicted to sex, drugs, alcohol, work, hobbies, and entertainmentand much if not most of our entertainment is blasphemous and anti-God. 5. We slay the unborn and make our weak in morals, mind, and body servants to the government and slaves to the flesh. 6. We have rewritten the laws of nature and marriage. 7. The sacred has been reduced to the silly and the silly has been exalted to the sacred. Right has been declared wrong and wrong has been declared right. Light is treated as the darkness and the darkness is treated as light. 8. For each one of these sins and for many others, American should bow our heads in shame, but I do not think any of these are our greatest sin. B. I believe that the greatest sin America has committed is that we refused to glorify God. 1. It is interesting that glory is used in some form or another almost 500 times in the Bible, but many of us have very little idea what it is. a. The most obvious answer is that glory is the radiance, the glow, that comes off of Gods person. (1) That is, God gives off a light that is called His glory. (2) However, Gods glory is not JUST a radiance. b. Gods glory is an outward manifestation of Gods goodness and worth. (1) That meansif you could see Godyou could see Gods goodness and worth as it radiates off of Him. (2) So Gods glory is not just a glow. It is who God is. (3) One cannot separate God from His glory. God is glorious because He is good and worthy. c. By the way, I dont think God is brighter on some days and dimmer on others. (1) Why? Gods glory does not vary because Gods goodness and worthy do no vary. (2) God is always good and always worthy so His glory is always so very bright. (3) In fact, it may be that the reason \#Ex 33:20\ tells us that no man can live is because Gods glory is so bright that human flesh cannot look upon it. 2. God is very jealous for His glory. Isa 42:8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. a. And while God has not "given" is glory to anyone, God does put it on display. b. God has created a circuit if you please for His glory to be seen, (1) Gods glory runs through His creation, all of the world and through every living thing. (2) And as with every circuit, a circle is formed and that which is running through the circle is supposed to return to its origin. (3) So you and I are part of a big circle and we are to be giving God the glory that He has allowed to pass through us. c. Woe to the person that attempts to redirect or steal Gods glory! (1) Whenever a person or nation attempts to keep or glorify something or someone other than God, God gets very upset. (2) That is why God hates (a) idol worship, (b) false worship, or even (c) no worship. (3) Those who do so are not giving God the glory that is rightfully His. (4) God call this blasphemy and America is guilty of great blasphemy! (5) We are allowing false religions, wrong religions, and no religions to take Gods glory. 3. By the way, there are other ways of stealing Gods glory. a. Denying Gods existence b. Saying things about God which are not true c. Attributing Gods goodness to another d. Ignoring Gods goodness e. Even saying Gods name in an unflattering way 4. As America become more bold to blaspheme Gods name and person, we steal more of His glory. a. This is the greatest of all sins. b. God will not allow it to continue forever. II. What is the greatest effect of Americas sin against God? A. Again, there are many effects. 1. The things that God placed into this world to bring Him glory are failing. 2. Everything God created, He created it to display His glory. 3. As the glory passing through them diminishes, they are less able to do what God put them there to do. B. For example, the church is failing. 1. The church was placed on this earth to glorify God, but as we cease to do that, our effectiveness, our abilities, our power diminishes. 2. The church today is too worldly, too prayerless, too Wordless to glorify God. 3. I am throwing any stones at you that do not also hit me. 4. American Christians today are more worldly than lost folk were 50 years ago. (a) You would not have caught the unsaved of 50 years ago dressing like some of the Christians of today. (b) This is true of our entertainment, our vocabulary, our dating habits, our voting record, our work ethic, and more. (c) You can say things like, "They just didnt know any better" if you want, but the truth is that they had more power with God in those days than we have today! (d) People are quick to say, "God doesnt care about those kinds of things" when ALL of the evidence says He did and He does. 5. But it is not just our living habits. It is our spiritual habits as well. (a) Do we devote more of our time to the world or to Jesus? (b) Take a test. To be fair, eliminate the time that you spent at work or school and then figure up how much time this week you spent in worship verses how much time you spent in the world. Add church, prayer, Bible reading, meditation on the things of God, witnessingeven add the time you spend doing physical labor for God. Is it even 10% of the time you spent living and enjoying the world? C. Other things are failing as well. 1. Peace and goodness are failing. (a) The amount of peace and goodness we have on the earth are directly related to the glory this world is channeling back to God. (b) America has lost its peace and goodness. (c) Do you have any idea how many mass shootings America has had in 2016? (1) As of April 1st, there have been 86 mass shootings in 91 days. (2) There have been 292 wounded and 124 killed. https://massshootingtracker.org/data 2. Health is failing. (a) Every year there are new diseases. (b) We ask, "It is immunizations? our diet?" (c) It may just be that we have chosen the wrong god! III. What is Americas greatest loss? A. Discernment – The ability to sense truth. B. Discernment has two levels, the secular and the spiritual. C. In the secular world, we call discernment understanding. 1. People today lack the ability to connect the dots between cause and effect. 2. People dont see debt as a danger not only to our personal finances but to national existence. 3. People do not see sex as Gods reward to marriage but rather has a recreation. 4. People do not see self control and respect as a virtue but rather as a weakness. 5. People do not see the anarchy they are creating is one that will engulf them as well. (Man cannot rule himself without authority over him for he will always do what is right in his own eyes.) 6. America has chosen the wrong god and because of it, America is headed for a great fall. D. In the spiritual world, we call it discernment. 1. Christians today lack the ability to discern their spiritual enemy from their spiritual Ally. 2. Friend, God is not our enemy. God is our Ally. IV. What is Americas greatestand onlyremedy? A. Repentance 2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. B. Repentance is a process. It has stages to it. These stages can occur in a short time span or be spread out over a long time period. 1. Recognize – See the problem. 2. Responsibility – Take yours. a. As a created being, you are responsibility for giving God all of the glory you can. b. That is in the way you talk, worship, dress, and live. c. And even if you are going those mostly correct, you can pray in such a way as to influence the world for Christ. (1) Prayer is a tug-of-war where the world and the devil are pushing God out of the world and you are pulling Him into it. (2) We must pray as though our very existence depends upon it! 3. Remorse a. Remorse is sorrow. b. We must be smitten with grief at our sins, especially the sin of stealing Gods glory. c. This remorse must run deep enough to ache our soul into making some changes in the way we live. 4. Release a. We must release our grip on this world. b. We are holding on to the very things that Jesus died to free us fromthis generation of Americans perhaps more than any other! (1) What part of this world have we turned away from? (2) What have you given up for Jesus? List them. (3) And dont bother listing the things you would give up if you had to. Just list the things that you have given up so that you can have a closer walk with God. (4) Then start a list of the things that you should. 5. Return a. Return to God. b. Return to the Bibleread it. c. Return to prayer – talk to God but then start working to pull Him into this world. d. Return to holiness. Separate yourself from the world and dedicate yourself to God. V. What is the greatest assurance we have? A. The greatest assurance is that God loves us. B. Because God loves us, He will forgive us. C. Because God loves us, He will use us. D. Because God loves us, He will help us. E. We put have to chose Him. "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.