Stay Strong in the Lord

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we're at Joshua chapter 23. The dude's gonna die soon. He's old. We get one of his amazing speeches, his farewell speech. So let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll listen to the farewell speech of this great leader of Israel. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the blessing it is to get to read your word, and we pray that your Holy Spirit would now please help us to understand it. Lord, we pray that you would please give us insight, give us understanding, give us wisdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Here we go, Joshua 23, short chapter, 16 verses, and all one speech, here we go. Now it came to pass, a long time after the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua was old, advanced in age. And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them, I am old, advanced in age. You have seen all that Jehovah your God has done to all these nations because of you. For Yehovah your God is He who has fought for you.
See, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the great sea westward. and the Lord your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight so you shall possess their land as the Lord your God promised you.
Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left and lest you go and among and lest you go among these nations, these who are remaining among you.
You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them. You shall not serve them nor bow down to them, but you shall hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. For the Lord has driven out from before you great and strong nations. But as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day.
One man of you shall chase a thousand. For the Lord your God is He who fights for you as He promised you. Therefore, take careful heed to yourselves. that you love the Lord your God. Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations, these that remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go into them, and they to you, know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you, but they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land. which the Lord your God has given you. Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts, that in all your souls, that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you.
All have come to pass for you, not one word of them has failed. Therefore, It shall come to pass that as all the good things have come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you, so that the Lord will bring upon you all harmful things until he has destroyed you from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you, when you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods and bowed down to them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which he has given you.
All right, so we need to ask ourselves, A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do? So A, what's this about? Joshua calls together all the leaders of Israel, their judges, their chiefs, their heads, all of them. He says, come on guys, come near to me. I'm old, I'm advanced in age. And He says to them, remember, right?
You have seen all that the Lord your God has done in all the nations because of you. For the Lord your God is He who has fought for you. He goes in verse 2, really verse 3, all the way down through verse 13, essentially reminding them of everything God had done for them. And so he tells them that they're to expel all these people, that they're to do these things, that they're to have courage, verse 8, therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses.
It's going to take moral integrity, courage to be able to carry out what God has told them to do. And he's telling them, essentially, he's the last leader that God has risen up. God has not done something like he did with Joshua, right? When Moses was about to die, there was a clear protege. There was a next person who was clearly going to take the reins and lead the people. But now it's going to be these chiefs, these heads, these individual tribes who are supposed to stay loyal to God, and it's going to take courage. So he tells them you need to do that.
And he says, beware of their gods, right? In verse 7, he says, don't let the Names of those idols be on your lips, right? Don't be using their names for Vows and for and for oaths right? No, they're not true Verse 8 but you shall hold fast to the Lord your God And then he encourages them.
I love how he does this right as you have done this day He's telling them you are strong. So stay strong. I'm about to die, but you I You stay strong, you the next generation. Remember, Joshua is 40 years older than most of these people. He's telling them, the next generation, it's your job now. You are strong, stay strong.
The Lord your God, right? He's good. The Lord's driven out from before you great and strong nations. But as for you, no one has been able to stand against you this day, right? He's saying this is how good God has been. He says one of you chased a thousand, right? The Lord did that. The Lord put that courage in you and the fear in them. Therefore, verse 11, take careful heed to yourselves that you love the Lord your God. I think that's what's at the heart of this, right? Where was their courage going to come, right? They had to keep that love for the Lord alive.
This is no different than what God says in Revelation, when he says to the church that in Ephesus, this one thing I have against you, that you've forgotten your first love. He says, if you forget your love, if you turn your back against the Lord, if you lose your courage to follow Him and take heed against Him, He says, Joshua reminds them what the curse was going to be.
What He did to the Canaanites who were in the land, He's going to do to you, and you're going to get kicked out. He's going to drive you away. He's going to become a snare to you. So that's what this whole section is about. It's this encouragement. with this reminder that the Lord's not an idiot. He's not going to be mocked. He's not going to be fooled. And they really do need to follow him. So that's what this is about.
This encouragement, this pep talk, this exhortation to love the Lord and take heed of His ways. What's the best verse? Well, in my Bible I have verse 11 underlined as the best verse in my Bible, but maybe you disagree. Maybe you'd underline something else. Go for it, let me know down in the comments. Let me know what would you underline. The last seat calling, what are we called to do? I might say the same thing to you today.
Have you forgotten your first love? Have you grown lukewarm? Were you once on fire for the Lord, but that intensity, that zeal is now just a ember? How will you rekindle that joy? You go back to him, confess to him, Lord, I love you. Please help me. I want to love you more. Go back, read your Bible, spend time with him, spend time in prayer. Many things may have encroached on your life, many obligations, many challenges, many time constraints. And what you once prioritized in your life has just kind of gone by the wayside. You pick up the book and read.
Will you just go and sing His songs? Will you get on your knees and purpose to pray to Him? Will you stay strong and courageous? Confess to Him, Lord. Lord, I have not loved you as I once loved you, but I want to love you, so help me. Go to Him. He does not want you to be lukewarm, but He wants you. He wants your whole heart. He loves you and He wants you to love Him. So pray that His Holy Spirit would stir up.
Get some people around you and confess it to them. Go to the Lord and tell Him. Remind yourself, sing some Psalms. Go back into your Psalter and look at those Psalms. Look at those songs that remind you of His goodness and His love and His grace and commit to memorizing those and singing His praises. Turn your mind towards Him. Remember that He is good.
Go and gather together. Maybe you've been a Christian for a long time. Maybe you need to get together your grandkids and just tell them all the good things that the Lord has done for you. Maybe you need to journal it out, outline it out, put together your testimony, maybe record it for your family.
The more you speak of all the good things He's done for you, the more your heart will be stirred because the Lord is good. So love Him. Love Him and take heed to walk in His ways. He's good and He loves you. He's given you His Holy Spirit. He sanctified you. He's washed you in the blood of His Son. He's elected you according to His foreknowledge.
So praise Him. Get down on your knees and worship Him where He is good. Remember the Lord's love and walk in His ways. Because the reality is, if we're lukewarm, If we're neither hot nor cold, what will He do? He'll spit us out. Love Him, brothers and sisters. Let's pray. Father, we confess to You that our fervency is often weak. Our zeal is lacking. Lord, our hearts grow cold and our minds numb.
Father, please, Take the embers, the coals that have turned white but still have glowing red in them, Lord, and we pray that you would fan it back into flame. Lord, we pray that you would add fuel to the fire, that your spirit would encourage, that we would cling to you with our dying breath and that as we are about to shut our eyes because our days are growing cold and our eyes are growing dim, that a smile would be upon our face because there's a resolve in our heart that you are good.
Father, thank you for your love. Thank you for your care. Thank you for who you are and all you have done for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. May you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And may you love others as you love yourself. May the Spirit work this in you. See you next time. Bye.