Will YOUR Faith Outlive You?

You raised them in church. You raised him in church. In church. Every Sunday you were there. Folks would say, oh, those kids have, that family's kids have a drug problem. Mom and Daddy drove them to church. Every time the doors were open. Every Sunday, vacation Bible school, VBS. You remember that? Every time. Always there. You always knew the theme. You said you said the prayers at the at the dinner table. You actually sat at the dinner table. You can still see your daughter at six years old. Singing in the front row with her shoes on the wrong feet, but she's singing with all her heart. And now she's 40 years old, and she says she's spiritual. She's not religious. And she trusts the universe. What's worse? Your son doesn't say anything about God at all. He just says he's manifesting for this or that. And your grandchildren. They've never once been inside. Never, never once been inside a church. And maybe you're the father who wasn't there. You work double shifts just to keep the lights on and food on the table and wrong shoes on the feet. Or wrong shoes on the wrong feet. And now they talk to you about the weather and football. And really nothing that matters. And late at night, the question comes. When I'm gone, will any of this go on? Will my faith die with me? Here's what Joshua 23 and 24 show you today. You can't choose for your children. But faith that's told out loud, stories of faith that are said, they're repeated. While you're still here. While you're still kicking. While you're still able to tell the stories. That can outlive you. That kind of faith can outlive you. An old man about to die asks an entire nation to choose. Then he tells them the hard truth about whether they can choose for their children or not. This is True Word, Faith for Life with Dr. Sean. I'm Sean. Welcome. Good to have you. We're walking through the Bible, the entire Bible, in a year. We're walking the story of God one day at a time. And today we finish the book of Joshua, chapters 23 and 24. And if you're new, hey, you belong here. The full archive, the free Sunday blog, and the small group study guide, they're all free. And they're worth it at 10 times the price, which is free. Or trueword, faithforlife.com. TrueWordfaithforlife.com. True wordfaithforlife.com. There's a whole repository there. By the way, we are on Spotify and iTunes and iHeartRadio. All of them. We're on all of them. Audio only. So you don't have lick this mug. But I would encourage you to go there. But if you're on any other platform, if you're not a subscriber, I cannot more vigorously uh request of you to go to True Word Faith for Life with Dr. Sean YouTube channel. This one with about 4,000 subscribers. Click on subscribe, click on the little bell for all notifications, click on the thumbs up. Wouldn't ask if it wasn't absolutely critically important. Thank you for all of your comments. You all have been really vulnerable in your comments, and I really appreciate it. It means a lot to me. So um, welcome also to live chat. We have people chatting from all over the world, including uh some uh Muslim countries. And um so welcome, welcome, we're glad to have you. Uh Susan, Miss Susan, Miss Colleen, how about the sound? How's the sound doing? Miss Nicole, good early morning to you. I hope the coffee is good and strong. Robbie, good to see you. Puja Kamari, uh, good to see you. And Miss Tammy, I see you there. Miss Linda, good to see you, and all of the others. Um, we had a little over a thousand people listening yesterday. Um, and um, awesome. Tell your friends. So the question for the chat today, this is well, first of all, let me just say this. I just looked and it's Friday. I did, I just looked. Says it right there. Thank you, Mystical. Thank you, Robbie. Um, is tomorrow that holiday that comes in October? Bah. I wish it just like dust. I can't stand it. But anyway, uh, bottom line is we're almost finished with October. And then we come come into November, and I uh I I've written this the uh the Sunday summation and the blog and the study guide. I've rewritten it, rewritten it three times. But it's the longest annotated bibliography or annotated footnotes and and uh Trabian style bibliography of you've more resources on this week. Shocking, I know, than any other week that we've done up until now. And uh I really, really, really, really am ecstatic about Sunday and then next week, woof. We're getting after it numbers. But this one, this is where we are. Or no judges. Numbers, judges. We're going uh chronologically. So anyway, um, all that said to say, uh, it's been a pleasure to be with you this week. It's been a challenging week today. We'll be no different. Fair warning. So here's a question for you if you're in the chat or if you're in comments below, live or on playback, doesn't matter. Everything we do is is put on the live tab. If we do it live, it stays in the live tab. We don't edit those at all. Uh, we may cut off if there's a bunch of blah, blah, blah in the very beginning or something like that. Um, we may cut off some of that to help people just click right in and have it start right at the beginning. But other than that, we don't edit. So this is for you. This is a question for you. Is there someone in your family you're praying every day will come to faith? It's a real question. Is there someone in your family that you're praying every day? Please, God. Let them hear your voice, let them see something in me. Let them let them hear something from me. That's from you. If that's the case, type praying if there is. Type home if they've already come. Joshua, who led Israel into the land, is old now. In chapter 23, he calls Israel's leaders together. Big meaning. In chapter 24, he gathers all the tribes at Shechem. Shechem isn't random, by the way. Didn't choose that just out of the blue. Hmm, what's a good city? What a, you know, who has a good continental breakfast, you know? Oh. Shechem. Not random. It's where Abraham built his, and you probably remember this. I have a super smart audience. Abraham built his first altar in the land. In Genesis 12, it's where Jacob bought a pre-piece of ground. You'll probably remember that too. Then we made a big deal out of that. Amen, Miss Nicole. Praying for three two are home. It's where Jacob bought that land. You remember that? You remember what a big deal all that mess was? It's in Genesis 33. You can also go back and listen to it. You can go back on any of the whether video or even uh on any of the podcasts, wherever you get your podcast, you can listen there. True word, faith for life with Dr. Sean S-H-A-W-N. And it and it's where in Genesis 35, Jacob told his household, put away the foreign gods that are among you. And he buried their idols underneath a great tree near Shechem. Joshua brings Israel back to the place where their ancestors were buried. It's where their ancestors buried their idols. And he asked them to do it again. Isn't that interesting? Thank you, Robbie. Isn't that interesting how? Here we are. We're back here at this place. I mean, it's no small trip to get there. Why there? Joshua brings Israel back. I mean, he's old. And he brings them back to where their ancestors buried their idols, and he asked them, remember that? Remember that story you've heard a million times for the ones that weren't alive when we did it? Oh, we're gonna do it again. Joshua 24 is built like an ancient treaty. Hittite treaties between a great king and a lesser king, they followed a pattern. Who the king is, what he's done for you, and what he requires. A written copy kept in a holy place. Witnesses, blessings, and curses. Joshua 24 hits nearly everyone, down to the written copy and a stone for a witness. This isn't a farewell speech, it's a covenant ceremony. Israel is signing again. So what does a dying leader ask for first? Chapter 23, verse 8, but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. The Hebrew word here is Devach. The word in Genesis 2, verse 24 When a man shall hold fast to his wife. Joshua's last charge is hold on to God like a husband holds his bride. Verse 14. And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. It's a euphemistic expression. Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. Everybody does this, everybody dies. And it's tricky. Good morning, saved by grace. I'm dying, and God never failed me once. Now, chapter 24, verse 2. Now, hey, and listen, hear this for what it is. It may sound like boring, boring with a bunch, and people will skip over it. But there's a lot in this. Chapter 24, verse 2. Long ago your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates. Terah, the father of Abraham and Noah. And they served other gods. Little history lesson for the people. Israel's family, look, it's the family tree of Israel didn't start holy. It started with God reaching into a pagan home. Remember, Avetaham. He was he was pagan. I know that shocks a lot of people, but it's true. Joshua retells the whole story. Verse 13. Don't miss this. I gave you a land on which you had not labored. You didn't earn that. I gave it to you. It was a gift. I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities that you had not built didn't build a bit of it, not a brick. And you dwell in them. That is your home that I have given you. This is what Joshua tells. Save by grace. We are glad to have you. And listen, listen, listen, and you will hear some stories. You'll have so many stories, you. You'll just have a whole big whole sack of stories. And we'll be glad to do it. Glad to have you here. Where are you listening from, saved by grace? What he's saying, what Joshua is saying here is everything you have, you were given. Verse 14. Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. A little bit tricky. The ESV or English Standard Version of the Bible says sincerity and faithfulness. The New American Standard Bible says sincerity and truth. The Hebrew is Tamin and Emet. Remember those words. Tammin means whole, nothing missing. Emet is truth that holds weight.

The whole truth. God doesn't want part of you.

God doesn't want part of you. He wants all of you for real. He wants you to be sincere. Verse 15. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Notice what Joshua can't do. You can't choose for your children, but you can choose in front of them. In other words, you can live a life of faith every day facing the challenges of life. And in fairness, the challenges of faith. Because it is a challenge. Remember what I always say prayer isn't asking for an easy journey, it's asking for a strong back. When we labor in front of our kids, grown, young, doesn't matter what age, when we labor, when we're consistent, when we're humble, when we're sincere. That is that is when our children see, young or old. They see faith in a real light, not fake. Not pretend, not show, but real. But here's the thing you can choose in front of them. You can't make them have whatever faith. You can demonstrate it. You can say, hey, until you're 18 years old, if you're under this roof, you're going to go to church. And you're going to behave and you're going to be respectful. Once you leave this house, you make your own choice. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. And then you demonstrate it, you live it out. See, that's the problem much of the time. You say, My kids have departed from the faith. I don't know why. But then a lot of times they see us. They see the real us. Not the one we want everyone else to see, the real one. And it doesn't match the one we show to everybody else. You can't choose for your kids, but you can choose in front of them. Verse 16, the people shout, far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord. But then, verse 19, but Joshua said to the people, You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. The crowd just promised. And Joshua says, You can't. You can't do it. You can't. Look, he's not trying to discourage them, he's telling them the truth. A holy God can't be served halfway. And human beings on their own can't serve him all the way. They insist, and in verse 22, Joshua says, You are witnesses against yourselves. What you do and doesn't match what you're saying. Verse 23, then put away the foreign gods that are among you. They were promising God everything with idols still in the house. But then there's verse 26. Joshua writes these words in the book of the law of God, and sets up a large stone under the tree by the sanctuary. Verse 27. Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Not some of them, all of the words the Lord has spoken to us. A stone that heard everything. So did it last? Joshua dies at the ripe old age of a hundred and ten. And verse thirty-one says, Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua. Judges 2, verse 10. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord. One generation. Everything. Faith and your practice of faith in the one true God, one generation later. They didn't know the Lord. It happens that fast. Faith that stays in your head dies with you. Listen, I keep my faith private. I keep my faith private, you know. Faith in politics, we keep private, both of which you shouldn't. Faith that stays in your head dies with you. Real faith you can't keep in your head. You can't keep it quiet. You can't keep it a secret, nor would you. But faith, you tell out loud, can outlive you. Then verse 32. As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried Shahem.

Remember all those idols were buried there. Remember that.

And now at a hundred and ten years old. The bones? No, no, no. Not Joseph. No, he wasn't a hundred and ten. Joshua was. But they had toted those bones. And toted those bones. Verse 32, as for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they brought his bones. Amen. Don't bury me. Don't bury me in captivity. Don't bury me as a slave or even a recently freed slave. Don't bury me here. No, no, no. And they buried him and his bones. And Shechem. In Genesis 50, Joseph made his family promise to carry his bones home. I don't know what home is to you. I don't know what home is for you. But Joseph made his family promise don't even put my bones in this captive ground. Carry my bones home. The coffin waded through generations of slavery, then crossed the sea, and forty years of desert Israel kept that promise, and God kept his. The God who kept faith with Joseph's bones is keeping faith with your prayers for your children. Listen, maybe that gave you hope for someone you love. Hearing that, I don't know where you're listening to me from, but I encourage you to go to YouTube. Go to YouTube, True Word Faithful Life with Dr. Sean, SHAW, and one of about 4,000 subscribers. Click on subscribe, click on all notifications, the little bell, and then click on the thumbs up. And then join us Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Sundays at 6 30. Now Sundays are intense, and this Sunday is no different. On Saturday afternoon, check TrueWordfaithforlife.com. There's a free, free blog and study guide that covers the whole prior week and any resource that I used at all, even if a little bit. And I even have started starring them just to show you the ones that are super important. If you don't do anything else, look at this one. And some of them might have links where they will allow links. Maybe you just joined us. And you're afraid your faith will die with you. That your kids and grandkids won't carry it forward. Joshua 24 speaks right to that fear. The daughter who's spiritual and trusts the universe. She's not religious. The son who says nothing at all about faith. The grandkids, they've never set foot inside a church. And when there's a funeral that's in a church, they don't know what to do. They don't know what to wear. They've never been there. It is foreign land. The father who wasn't there because he's trying to keep the lights on and the belly's fed. You cannot choose for them. Joshua couldn't either. But you can choose in front of them, out loud, while you're still here. And you can tell the story. Joshua didn't hand Israel rules. He told them their family history with God at the center of every chapter. Your children can't inherit your faith. But they can inherit your witness. Look, I have a step for you today. And it's real. And I don't know how you're gonna take it. Truth be told. I just don't know. I thought about this and thought about this and thought about this. I gotta tell you, I struggle with it. I still do. When you're teaching a group this large, and it's not that large by comparison to a lot of others, but when you throw something out there and you say, hey, I want you to do this, and it falls on deaf ears. You're just doing a bunch of blah, blah, blah. And that demeans the purpose and the effort. But you can't make people, right? You can't make people do stuff. You can't tell me, so that's what we are. We're we're a little bit of an arrogant society. Even among believers. Sometimes, especially among believers. I'm just saying, take your trusty pen. This is your step for today. Hey, you can walk right past this. Pay no mind to it. You can. Write your Joshua 24. I can already hear it now. All right, write your own. Write your own Joshua 24. Yeah. Before dark, write one page. One page. My lands, you can write one page to a gr to a child or a grandchild, whichever it is. Start the way Joshua did. Go back long ago. Tell them where you came from, what God did in the moment you chose him. I'm not talking about a sermon. Just tell your story. People can't argue with your story. They can buck up against a sermon every day of the week. But when you're telling your story, let me just tell you what happened. Doesn't have to be eloquent. This is what kind of family I was in. This is what kind of home I was coming up in, and you don't have to tell all of it, but tell the important parts. And I saw this as it relates to faith. And maybe in your home it matched. The words matched, you know, when the preacher came to visit. There wasn't a mad scramble. Come on, get the cigarette ashtrays, get the cigars and pipes and get the beers out of, you know, out of sight. Spray some fragrance in there. Or maybe there was just a smile come across their face as they're sitting on the porch saying, hey, look at this. This is a pastor coming up the lane. Well, that's nice. And he's got got his wife with him, got him, got another couple with him. Well, were you expecting them? No. Wow, that's good. Well, I'll be delighted to visit with him. Maybe we should you have any tea in there? Or maybe it was sheer panic. I don't know. I don't know your life. But tell it. There's two different parts to mine. There's part one and part two. When I was a little kid and I placed my faith in Christ, I'm gonna give you a chance. It's simple. I'm gonna give you a chance to do it here in just a couple minutes. And then there was Mr.

Joel Martin looking across a parking lot on a naval base. And doing this.

Don't write a sermon. Write your story. Your story of faith. Don't pretty it up, make it real. But I want you to end it with one sentence. If it's true. Hey, don't write it if it's not true. This thing's gotta be true. It's gotta be true, or it's worthless. I want you to finish it with one sentence. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Come on, you can do that. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Look, and I'm giving you a choice here. You can do one of two things. You can send it, because maybe they're far from you now. Maybe send it this week. Definitely send it this week. But if you, if you could, if you would, have this little thing called FaceTime. Little messenger deal video. If they're far away, do it that way. If they're close by, invite them for some tea or whatever it is they like. And sit where you can see them and take out your paper and read it to them out loud. And they'll interrupt you 1,200 times. So start it off with: hey, listen, I got something I really need to tell you. I need to share this with you. And they'll interrupt you. Mom, dad, are you dying? Aunt or Uncle So-and-so, are you dying?

I don't know.

Hear me out. And then read the whole thing. And if you cry a little bit, that's okay. Have some tissues nearby. Read it to them out loud. I want you to remember Shechem and the field Jacob bought, where Joseph's bones were buried. More than a thousand years later, John 4, verses 5 and 6. Yeshua came to a town of Samaria called Sekar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. Yeshua sat down, tired by that field, and talked with a Samaritan woman whose family story was broken. She pointed up at Mount Gerazim, the mountain above Shechem, and said, Our fathers worshiped on this mountain. And he told her in verse 23, the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Truth. That's the word Joshua used as Shechem, Emint. Do you remember that word? Emit. On the same ground, Yeshua offered the wholehearted worship Joshua asked for. Joshua was right. We aren't able. But God. God promised a new covenant to the house of Israel in Jeremiah 31, verse 33. I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts. And in Ezekiel 36, verse 27, I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. What we can't do for ourselves or our children, Yeshua did. Jesus Christ did. He put his spirit in us to walk it out with him. Good days and bad days, but walk it out. He is able when we're not. And he's faithful to generations. The Apostle Paul or Shaul. He says of Israel in Romans 11, verse 29, the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. The God, who never let go of Abraham's children, isn't going to let go of yours. So here for you today, I have a challenge. And I have a choice. You can sit in silence, hoping your kids pick it up somehow. Hey, the Bible's, the Bible's up on the bookshelf. They can pick it up if they want. Hey, I don't want to choose for them. I want them to, I want it to be a choice they make. Hey, I don't want to be preaching at them. They get enough of that in the world today. The world is preaching all kinds of messages, and I'm gonna guarantee you it's not what's in that book. Sincartis, that is a question that is I can't even imagine why you'd want to ask it. But it makes me think maybe you're not listening. But I've done I've done many episodes on that. So you can search True Word Faith for Life with Dr. Sean YouTube channel, and you can search the episodes. If you type that in, boom, you'll find it. You can also go to Truewordfaith for Life.com, type that in the search bar, and you will find it. Look, you can sit in silence. You can hope that osmosis somehow or another your kids will get the message. You can. That's trying to look at a rope and hope it somehow ties a knot that will hold in the wind and the waves. It won't. But maybe it makes you feel a little bit better. And hey, maybe, maybe you're afraid to tell them because you're afraid they'll choose no. You have a choice. You can choose out loud in front of them today. You can keep a few idols in the house while you promise God everything. Listen, you can have your hurts, habits, and hangups while you promise God everything, and I'm gonna tell you what your kids see everything. Young or old, they see it. They see if you're incongruent. They see if your words are apples and aardvarks from what you tell them. Or you can put them away for real. Truly live in Christ, and you can carry your fear for your children alone. You can do that. You could. It's a choice. I'm not gonna boss you around. I can't boss you around. I don't have any authority. I can't enforce it. You could do that. You could carry your fear for your children alone, or you can hand it to the God who brought Joseph's bones home. Choose this day. Prayer is not asking for an easy journey, it's asking for a strong back. Pray with me. Holy God. Holy God, Almighty God. We choose you today. You know the names on our hearts. You know the ones we worry about at 3 a.m. when we wake up. The children who drifted. The grandchildren who don't know you. The years we weren't there. We can't serve you and in our own strength. We can't do it. I ask that you do in us what we cannot do for ourselves. Write your Torah on our hearts. Put Rakh Kadesh, the Holy Spirit in us. Your Holy Spirit. Show us where maybe we have some idols, some hurtsome habits, and some hangups that are keeping us from a close and real and sincere relationship with you. Show us what idols we're still holding on to, and give us the courage to bury them. It is amazing. Oh mighty God, Adunai Halloween, to even consider that you brought Joseph's bones home. And we ask that you bring our children home. Thank you for keeping the faith with Israel, generation after generation after generation. Thank you for keep keeping faith with them. And I ask that you keep faith with our Families as well. I pray this in the name of Yeshua Hamashiach, Jesus Christ, the risen Messiah, the great King, the Redeemer, your Son and my friend.

Yeshua.

Maybe today you're not the parent. Listen, amen to all of that that I just prayed. But maybe today you're not the parent. Maybe you are the one that drifted. Someone is still praying for you. Someone somewhere is still praying for you. And today is the day that you can come home. Pray this with me. Yeshua. No, I'm not kidding. If you have never placed your faith in Christ and you believe, pray it now. Solve this today. You don't know that you're going to have another day. Pray it with me, in sincerity and in truth. Yeshua, I need you. I believe you died and you rose again from this grave that you were placed in. I surrender my life to you today. Forgive me. Fill me. Lead me. My life is yours. I pray this in your matchless name. Amen. If you prayed that prayer today, type chosen. Type chosen in the chat. Type chosen and if you listen, you went back and you listened. On playback, I would love for you. I would love for you to type chosen in the chat so we can pray for you by name, number one, and then maybe call or go visit the person who's been praying for you. You know who it is. The person who's been praying for you all this time. Find a church family that opens the scriptures and loves Israel. Let me say this. I will help you. I will help you if you say, Man, I'm on an island here. As it relates to this, I'm on an island. I got nobody with me. Thank you, Robbie. Thank you, Stephen. Thank you, Miss Nicole. Thank you, Dewan. Good to have you. I will help you. I've helped people, countless people find churches, good churches. I've helped countless people come to an understanding of faith. I'll help you. I live to do it. With whatever breath is left in my lungs, I live to do it. Come on, a stone under a tree heard every word. A coffin crossed a sea and a desert, and God brought it home. Amen, Miss Tammy. God bless you. So important.

A stone.

And I was placed under a tree, a coffin. Can you imagine? Thank you, Stephen. God bless you. Thank you, save by grace, to God be the glory indeed. Thank you, Robbie. A coffin crossed a sea in a desert, and God brought it home. An old man stood up one last time and said, As for me, I will serve the Lord. Somebody you love is afraid their faith will die with them. Send them this encouragement today. Send them this link. All of Joshua is now in the Joshua playlist on YouTube. And it's it's it's everywhere. It's so easy. It is super easy to do. YouTube, truewordfaithfullife.com, true word faithfullife with Dr. Sean, someone with about 4,000 listeners or subscribers. You can find every single episode there. Now I want you to receive this heaven. This is a blessing from heaven. It has nothing to do with me. I'm repeating what has been repeated for thousands of years. I am going to repeat for you first in Lashanho Kadesh, which is the language of God, which is, of course, Hebrew. And it's the very same prayer that Yeshua was praying as he was mid-sentence raised to be with the Lord. Until he comes again. I'm nobody special, trust me. You can pray this over yourself. You can pray this over your family. I'll translate it. Don't panic. I'll translate it. It'll be easy peasy. Are you ready? Shalom. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Until Sunday at 6 30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. Until then, Shalom Bishem Yeshua. The shalom alephim. Shabbat Shalom.