And Joshua said unto all the people, 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 Nachor: and they served other gods.
After the people were gathered, Joshua began his final message, “Thus saith the Lord…” from verse three down to verse thirteen, Joshua speaks for God in the first person:
- I took your father Abraham
- I gave unto Isaac, Jacob, and Esau
- I sent Moses also and Aaron
Etc.
Everything he said in this segment rehearsed the history of Israel’s dealings with God. We can view this as the Word of God.
Beginning with verse fourteen, the person shifts from God to Joshua. It is an application of the message from God.
This is an excellent illustration of sound preaching. A preacher can confidently proclaim, “Thus saith the Lord,” so long as he is declaring what is written in the Bible. Let the preacher rehearse again and again all the words of God.
But let not the preacher end his message there. Let him at once move to the next, “Choose you this day…”
We are in no position to require men to do as we say.
- We can tell them about the choice we have made and
- We can urge them to make a choice and
- We can urge them to make it at once
We cannot force a choice upon them. But we can give them the choice.
May we never neglect to end the message with the choice.
To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.
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