Success message f
Joshua 23: 23 Now it happened after many days, after Yahweh had given rest to Israel from all their enemies on every side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years, 2 that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, “I am old, advanced in years. 3 And you have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations because of you, for Yahweh your God is He who has been fighting for you. 4 See, I have allotted to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun. 5 And Yahweh your God, He will thrust them out from before you and dispossess them before you; and you will possess their land, just as Yahweh your God promised you. 6 Be very strong, then, to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, 7 so that you will not go along with these nations, these which remain among you, and you will not mention the name of their gods, and you will not make anyone swear by them, and you will not serve them, and you will not bow down to them. 8 But you are to cling to Yahweh your God, as you have done to this day.
11 So keep your souls very carefully to love Yahweh your God. 12 For if you ever turn back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you go along with them and they with you, 13 know with certainty that Yahweh your God will not continue to dispossess these nations from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you. 14 “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which Yahweh your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.
SERMON TITLE:
“Finishing Well: Stewardship, Commitment, and Legacy” Joshua 15–23
Well, we are finishing up today the part of our series that comes from the book of Joshua. In the passage we just read Joshua is 110 years old. He was 40 plus years old when he followed Moses out of Egypt with the children of Israel. He was 80 plus years when Moses died, and God appointed him the task of leading the children of Israel into the Promised land. Now he is 110. The land has been conquered. The tribes have gone to their inheritance. All Joshua has to do now is pass on responsibility to the next generation. This is how the book concludes, not with anything flashy, just faithfully taking the job that God gave him, and passing it to those who will continue when he dies. That’s really where the meat of life is lived isn’t it. Most of us just live fairly simple lives, hopefully lives of faith, following the Lord, and God’s will for us as we approach the end of our days, is that we pass it on.
In the ancient Greek world, especially in connection with the Olympic Games, there was a race unlike the ones we usually imagine. It was not merely about speed or crossing a finish line first. In certain ceremonial races, runners carried a lit torch from the starting point to the end, symbolizing the sacred fire associated with worship and civic duty. We get a glimpse of this race with the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. In the ancient race, victory was not awarded to the fastest runner, but to the one who arrived with his flame still burning. A runner could sprint ahead of everyone else, but if the fire went out before the finish, he lost. In the opening ceremony of our Olympics, they run it as a relay, passing the lit flame from one athlete to the other. The discipline required for this race is different—steady pace, careful protection of the flame, endurance under pressure, and constant attention to what truly matters. That image captures the heart of the Christian life. Faithfulness is not measured by how explosively we begin, how visible our progress is to others, or how impressive our early achievements appear. It is measured by whether, after years of hardship, distraction, temptation, and weariness, we still arrive at the end with our love for Christ burning bright. And were we able to pass that flame on to others. Like that ancient runner, the goal is not simply to finish—but to finish with the flame still lit for Our Lord.
Prayer
Father in heaven, we come before You this morning as Your people, grateful for Your faithfulness across generations. We thank You for the testimony of Joshua—a servant who walked with You from the wilderness to the Promised Land, who saw Your power, trusted Your promises, and who, at the end of his days, could say that not one word You spoke had failed. Lord, remind us today that it was never Joshua who fought for Israel, but You. It was never human strength that secured the land, but Your hand, Your faithfulness, and Your grace. As we open Your Word, help us to be strong and courageous—not in our own strength, but in obedience to what You have spoken. We ask that You would help us finish well, to keep the flame burning in our hearts. Let our lives testify that You are faithful, that Your promises endure, and that loving You is worth a lifetime. We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, our strength, and our everlasting hope. Amen.
Well, we’ve had a short drive through the book of Joshua in our Foundations of the Faith series. What we’ve done so far:
Throughout Joshua’s life, true success was tested not by conquest alone, but by faithfulness—humility like Rahab’s, obedience and submission to God’s commands, integrity and repentance when sin was exposed, discernment in decision-making, and perseverance when the work was not yet finished. From stepping into the Jordan to trusting God for the impossible, and from enduring setbacks to claiming promises even in old age like Caleb, Joshua’s story shows that success is measured by a lifetime of faithful trust in the Lord.
Today
The Test of finishing well.
SCRIPTURE READING — Joshua 23:11–14
“Be very careful… cling to the Lord your God… You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises of the LORD your God has failed.”
The book of Joshua is filled with battles, miracles, and great victories—but the last part of the book slows down. No more marching around walls. No more parting rivers. No more hailstones from heaven.
Instead, we see such exciting things as: Land surveys, Boundary lines, Instructions, Family inheritances, Long speeches, and Reminders. And to be truthful about it, most readers skim these chapters. But there are challenges here that we can really relate to, like: Can you be faithful when the excitement is gone? Because the Christian life is not just won in great moments of crisis or miracle. It is won in the daily faithfulness. And it is faithfulness in three areas illustrated in our passage: Stewarding what God gives, Keeping your commitments, and Preparing the next generation: In short faithfulness to the end of life is defined as stewardship, commitment, and legacy.
These last three tests are not dramatic—but they determine whether your success will last.
Let’s walk through them.
POINT 1 — THE TEST OF STEWARDSHIP
Joshua 15–21 “Joshua was Planning, adjusting, and working faithfully with what God provides.”
1. The Story Behind the Point
Once the major battles ended, the hardest work began: dividing the land, setting up boundaries, resolving disputes, establishing cities for the priests, cities of refuge, helping the tribes settle. Joshua had to divide the land and set boundaries. Let’s read a little bit so you can get a sense of what I’m talking about.
15 This then was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah by their families; even to the border of Edom the wilderness of Zin southward was the uttermost part of the south coast. 2 And their south border was from the shore of the salt sea, from the bay that looketh southward: 3 And it went out to the south side to Maalehacrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and ascended up on the south side unto Kadeshbarnea, and passed along to Hezron, and went up to Adar, and fetched a compass to Karkaa:
There are approximately 200 verses in Joshua that address the boundaries of tribes. And it is important work. It’s bland work, but important. As any of you know who have ever had a dispute with a neighbor over where the fence is to be built, you know that though boundaries are boring, they are important. Boundaries and…
There are a couple disputes that Joshua had to deal with in these closing chapters.
Zelophehad was a man of the tribe of Manasseh who had no sons, only daughters. While Moses was still alive, they approached him with a dilemma. If inheritance of land only went to sons, then their father could leave no territory in his name, since he only had daughters. In consult with the Lord it was determined that their father’s allotment could be in their names. In chapter 17 the daughters come before Joshua, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of Israel to appeal for the inheritance God had promised. In faithfulness to God’s word, Joshua granted them an inheritance among their father’s brothers.
Another conflict had to do with the size of the land inheritance one tribe received. The descendants of Joseph complained to Joshua that their allotted inheritance was too small for a people God had greatly blessed. Joshua responded that if they were indeed strong, they should clear and claim the forested hill country themselves. When they objected out of fear of the Canaanites and their iron chariots, Joshua affirmed their strength and potential. He charged them to trust God, take the mountain, and drive out the enemy despite the obstacles. He had to settle disputes and establish cities.
As Israel settled the land, God ensured that justice and worship were woven into the life of the nation. The Levites received no tribal territory of their own, because the priesthood itself was their inheritance, so cities were assigned to them throughout Israel for dwelling and ministry. At the same time, the Lord commanded Joshua to establish cities of refuge, where anyone who caused a death unintentionally could flee for protection and receive a fair hearing before the elders. These cities upheld both mercy and justice, providing safety from revenge while preserving accountability under God’s law. Boundaries, disputes, establishing cities for priests and for refuge.
All this stuff is not the stuff you put into an adventure movie. It has all the excitement of a civil court or a school board meeting. But one of the great tests of success is stewardship; you’ve been given something. We’ve all been given things; your spiritual gifts, your talents, your opportunities, your finances, your possessions, your time, your calling, your family.
The question of success in stewardship is in what you do with what God has given you. It’s the daily grind of one right decision, one right priority, one chore completed at a time. Like Jesus parable of the talents, we take the five talents God has given us, we invest them, and nothing dramatic, over the years, they gain five more talents. But often, when it comes to stewardship, especially as we age, we might more readily be compared to the servant who had one talent and hid it in the ground. God expects us to be industrious with all that He has given us.
Stewardship is about being faithful with what you have. The next test is about being faithful to what you’ve said. Will you keep your word.
POINT 2 — THE TEST OF FAITHFUL COMMITMENT
You might remember that when the children of Israel first entered the promised land they were attacked by a couple of kings, Sihon and Og, who ruled a territory east of the Promised land, east of the Jordan. Joshua led Israel’s armies to defeat these two kings, leaving their land vacated of their rulers. So, two and a half tribes talked to Moses. They wanted this land east of the Jordan to be their inheritance. But they made a pledge that, although they had already received the land they would inherit, they would still go forward with the remaining tribes to fight and conquer the remaining territory of the Promised land.
For years they kept that promise, leaving their families behind and sharing fully in the battles of conquest. Now, with the land at rest, Joshua publicly affirms their faithfulness, exhorts them to continued obedience to the Lord, blesses them, and releases them to return home to the inheritance God had given them. Finishing well is about daily stewardship and keeping your commitments.
As we approach the latter days of our lives, our success is not only measured by our stewardship of what we have, but it is also measured by our keeping the commitments that we have made. God blesses a people who keep their promises.
It seems like being a man or woman of your word is a relic from the past. We don’t find it valued highly today. People change their commitments based on their whim.
Groucho Marx “Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.”
Niccolò Machiavelli “The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.”
They don’t value keeping their word. But it is God’s value and it is part of finishing well. Can you imagine a world where everybody kept their word? Imagine living in a small town where there are no contracts, no signatures, no fine print. If someone says, “I’ll be there,” they show up. If they say, “I’ll pay you Friday,” you don’t worry—because their word is enough. Their reputation is built not on talent or talk, but on reliability. Over time, people learn who they can trust, not by what they say on Sunday, but by what they do on Monday.
That’s how Scripture describes integrity. Jesus said, “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no.” In other words, your word should carry weight—because it carries your name.
For Christian adults, this shows up in ordinary places. It shows up at home, when we keep vows even when feelings change, when we follow through with our kids, and when we don’t casually break promises because something more convenient came along. It shows up at work, when we do the job we were paid to do, show up on time, and refuse to cut corners—even when no one is watching.
It shows up in our finances, when we pay what we owe, give what we promised, and don’t make commitments we never intended to keep. It shows up in the church, when we serve because we said we would, prepare because others are counting on us, and don’t disappear when ministry gets inconvenient.
It shows up in friendships—keeping confidences, telling the truth, and having hard conversations instead of saying what people want to hear. It shows up in parenting and mentoring, when our children learn that words matter because they see us keep ours. It even shows up online, when texts get answered, commitments aren’t ghosted, and honesty carries into digital spaces.
Here’s the reality: every time we keep our word, we are either strengthening trust or eroding it. And trust, once lost, is difficult to rebuild. The world doesn’t need Christians who talk more—it needs Christians whose words can be trusted.
After faithfully fulfilling their commitment to fight alongside the other tribes until the land was secured, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned to their inheritance east of the Jordan. When they built a large altar near the river, the rest of Israel feared that they were abandoning their covenant with the Lord and prepared for war, assuming rebellion and unfaithfulness. The crisis revealed how seriously Israel regarded covenant loyalty, refusing to ignore even the appearance of disobedience. The story ended well because it turned out that these two and a half tribes didn’t build that altar as a place of idolatrous worship, but as a reminder for their future generations that their people on the east of Jordan were a part of the people on the west of the Jordan. They kept their commitment. Here’s what Scripture has to say.
Numbers 30:2 — The clearest command “When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”
Deuteronomy 23:21–23 — God takes commitments seriously
“Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.”
Psalm 15:1, 4 “Lord, who may dwell in Your holy hill? … He who swears to his own hurt and does not change.”
Proverbs 20:25 “It is a snare for a man to say rashly, ‘It is holy,’ and afterward to reconsider his vows.”
Matthew 5:37 “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”
Luke 16:10 “One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much.”
Stewardship is faithfulness with what you have. Commitment is faithfulness with what you promised. Legacy is faithfulness with what you leave behind.
POINT 3 — THE TEST OF LEGACY
Joshua 23 “Preparing the next generation to remain faithful to the Lord.”
23 And it came to pass a long time after that the Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age. 2 And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age: 3 And ye have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the Lord your God is he that hath fought for you. 4 Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward. 5 And the Lord your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the Lord your God hath promised unto you. 6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;
In the final words of Joshua, he does the same thing that Moses did, except in a condensed form. You remember that at the end of Moses’ life, he gathered the people around him and delivered a message, telling all that God had done for them, all that he had done, and exhorted them to remain faithful after he was gone. This is legacy. A person’s legacy could be defined in those kind of deathbed or final moments. Do you ever think about this. What if this was a requirement? What if we all knew, as Moses did, that he would die very soon, and we were required to gather all those who have been a part of our lives, those we have influenced, our family, those close to us, and deliver a speech to them with those three points; what God has done for us, what I have done, a call to remain faithful after my departure. I suspect that many of us might do okay with the parts about what God has done, and exhorting our loved ones to be faithful to God. The painful part would be recounting what we have done. Moses and Joshua, for the most part, were able to say, “I have faithfully followed the Lord, and fulfilled my calling.” I remember one time in Scripture, Samuel gave a similar speech.
1 Samuel 12:3 “Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.”
Can you imagine if you had all your people around you. Would you be comfortable saying something similar to them? “Can anybody here accuse me of wronging you in any way? Let’s air it all out right here.
Would a moment like that make you nervous? Sometimes you may know that your legacy is not going to be a good one. So, what do you do? Change who you are now. You may say, I don’t have enough time to change, or make any different, the die is cast. Well then you can spend the time you have seeking forgiveness, and trying to restore relationships.
Joshua’s final test is about Legacy — What Will Outlive You?
The next generation is always watching. They inherit your choices, values, and example. Your faith must become their faith This does not happen by accident. Joshua didn’t assume the next generation would “figure it out.” He told them clearly what to do. Legacy is not what you leave for people, but what you leave in people. If You can fight giants but lose your children if you don’t pass down your faith.
CONCLUSION — HOW DO WE FINISH WELL? Look around you at what you have been given. Are you being a good steward over it? Consider the commitments you’ve made in the past. Have you completely fulfilled your word regarding them? Look at those people who God has placed in your life. Are you leaving them a Godly legacy?
Joshua 24: 29 Now it happened that after these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being 110 years old. 30 And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash. 31 And Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who [j]survived Joshua, who knew all the work of Yahweh which He had done for Israel.
CLOSING PRAYER
“Lord, help us be faithful stewards of everything You’ve placed in our hands. Help us keep our promises with integrity. And help us build a legacy of faith that will outlive our years and shape generations to come. Give us Joshua’s courage, his commitment, and his heart for the next generation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”