Final Words: Choose Life and Blessing

Text: Deuteronomy 30:1-10, 19-20

Theme: True life is found only when we live according to God’s purposes.

As I have regularly reminded you, the Book of Deuteronomy is a series of sermons Moses shares with the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. When you’re 120 years old, and you’re at life’s end you don’t mince words — you get right to the point of what you want to say. Here, at the every end of his last sermon, Moses gets to the most crucial thing Israel needs to know. The main thing they need to know is the main thing we need to know. He gives them the solution to the ultimate human problem. They need a circumcision of the heart.

I. RESTORED PEOPLE vs. 1-5

1. in these verses Moses is uttering a prophetic word — he gives them the bad, and the ugly, but also the good

a. Israel has not yet entered the Promised Land, and Moses is already predicting that they will fail to keep their covenant promise to God

2. with amazing precision that could only have come through divine revelation, Moses predicts their coming apostasy, the captivity that will result from it, but also their restoration to the land that would come with their repentance

A. THE HEBREW’S CHOICE — BLESSINGS OR CURSES

1. the Book of Deuteronomy is God’s blueprint for how he wants His people to live

a. that blueprint comes down to one word — holiness

1) God’s people are to be holy because their God is holy

2) to that end God laid down a whole series of moral, civil, and religious laws for Israel to live by

b. those rules seem daunting, so God sums it up for them, telling them, “Here’s the deal. Love me with all your heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, and that is the essence of the law”

2. if Israel obeys God, there will be blessings

a. the word blessing in Deuteronomy 30:1 refers to the good things God will graciously give His people when they obey Him

“ “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.” (Deuteronomy 28:1–6, ESV)

1) for Israel there are blessings in store for those who carefully do all the statues and the rules that I am setting before you today

2) the word blessing comes from a verb meaning to kneel

a) it ties one’s obedience to God’s statues and rules to a heart of worship in God’s people

b) we obey God’s commandments, not because there’s something in it for us if we do, but because our love for God finds pleasure in obeying Him

3. if Israel disobeys God, there will be curses

a. the word curse in Deuteronomy 30:1 refers to the afflictions God will bring upon His people when they disobey Him

1) for Israel, there are curses awaiting those who are contemptuous of, and who ignore all the statutes and rules that God has set before them

2) over in the 27th chapter of Deuteronomy, we read one dozen times where God says, Cursed be anyone who ...

4. just as obedience to the Lord meant receiving the Father’s blessing, so to disobedience to the Lord meant experiencing divine calamity

a. ultimately, Israel’s persistent disobedience and idolatry would result in their exile from the Promised Land

1) in Deuteronomy 30:30 Moses says that they will be scattered among the nations of the Middle East because of their sin — especially their sin of idolatry

2) the 1st and 2nd Commandments are very clear — You shall have no other God’s before me, and You shall not make for yourself an idol

b. the Israelites had no sooner gained control of the Promised Land under Joshua than they began a wholesale breaking of these commandments

1) it’ll be 650 years before the Israelites will fully apostatize, but when they do, first Assyria, and then Babylon will attack, destroy, kill, capture and exile most of Israel into the surrounding nations — just as Moses here predicts

5. but Moses also offers a word of hope

B. GOD’S CHOICE — HE WILL RESTORE HIS PEOPLE

“then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.” (Deuteronomy 30:3, ESV)

1. when the Israelites came to their senses in response to God’s discipline, they would return to the Lord

a. the Bible calls that repentance — it’s a sorrow over sin, a forsaking of sin, and a turning to the Lord

1) all three are necessary for repentance to be authentic

2. in vs. 2, Moses prophesies that Israel will turn to the Lord in repentance and when they do God will respond in three ways

a. 1st, He will restore their fortunes meaning he will end their captivity and return them to their homeland

b. 2nd, He will have compassion on them

1) the word compassion in vs. 3 is related to the Hebrews word for womb

2) it tells us that God has the same warm, tender feelings toward us that a mother has toward her child

“ “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” (Isaiah 49:15, ESV)

a) here is one of the beautiful truths of the Old Testament — when God’s people persist on turning they backs on, and forgetting the God of their fathers, the God of their fathers refuses to turn His back on or to forget about them

b) Israel will be the prodigal child, but God remains the faithful Father who has compassion on His wayward people

c. 3rd, He will gather His dispersed people, and bring them back into the land He swore to give them

1) just as it was God who scattered them because of their rebellion, now God will gather them because of their repentance

... God Is All about Restoring His People to Himself

II. RENEWED HEARTS vs. 6-10

1. God knows that His people will never serve Him with Him in holiness or love Him with all their heart, and mind, and soul if left the themselves

a. the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil are just too strong of a pull

b. thus, they will never love Him with their whole hearts until they have a changed heart

2. Deuteronomy 30:6 is the promise that, one day, God will circumcise their hearts

A. ISRAEL’S HEART PROBLEM

1. the Scriptures constantly remind us that men have a heart problem, that keeps them from loving God

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”” (Jeremiah 17:9–10, ESV)

2. according to the Bible, man is not just “a little bit bad” or “kinda naughty”

ILLUS. According to American blues rock band George Thorogood and the Destroyers we are Bad to the Bone. Remember the rock n’ roll classic? The opening stanza says -

On the day I was born

The nurses all gathered 'round

And they gazed in wide wonder

At the joy they had found

The head nurse spoke up

Said, "Leave this one alone"

She could tell right away

That I was bad to the bone

a. according to the Scriptures, men are remarkably evil, audaciously corrupt, and completely rotten to the core

b. such a view is diametrically opposed to the social theories of our day that maintain man is born essentially good, but is negatively affected by the environment or social conditions such as poverty, social disenfranchisement, or a dysfunctional home life

1) fix these, and a utopian society will evolve ... and all it takes to fix those problems are government programs, and lots and lots of money

2) just place a person in the right social and economic environment, and you’ll see just how good man is (according to the social scientist)

c. the bible says no — that’s a false view of man’s nature — man’s problem goes deep

“For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”” (Mark 7:21–23, NIV)

3. why is the human character in such appalling condition?

a. it is because of our fallen nature and the ravages of sin

b. while others speculate about the cause of wickedness and evil in our world, Christians know — or should know — that because of sin, men are capable of almost limitless evil

ILLUS. In 2008 philosopher, and religious scholar Jacob Needleman wrote a book entitled Why Can’t We be Good? The basic point of the book is that men instinctively know how they ought to live — yet they remain mysteriously helpless to innerly adopt the ethical, moral, and religious ideas they know they ought to live by. Needleman writes that social theorists are writing books about how we ought to live, and therapists are writing books about how we ought to live, and political leaders are writing books about how we ought to live, but they’re all just missing one point … we know how we ought to live; we can’t do it.

c. this is the ultimate problem with the human race

ILLUS. How else do we explain the Armenian Genocide, Nazi Concentration Camps, Soviet Gulags, the “Killing Fields” of Cambodia, “Ethnic Cleansing” in Bosnia, and Rwanda, and ISIS beheadings, or the Abortion industry where the executives of Planned Parenthood nonchalantly talk about selling baby body parts?

4. Israel had a heart problem, and so do we

B. GOD’S ABILITY TO CHANGE THE HEART

1. for Israel, outward circumcision of Jewish men was the primary sign of God’s covenant with Israel

a. this sign of the covenant was revealed to Abraham, and has been practiced by Jews ever since

b. but Deuteronomy 30:6 reveals the deeper significance of circumcision

2. God now requires His people to undergo a surgery on their hearts, and not merely a surgery on their flesh

“For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” (Romans 2:28–29, ESV)

a. when this circumcision of the heart takes place God says, that His people will finally love Him with all your heart, and with all your soul, and live

3. it is God who will perform this spiritual heart surgery

a. Moses writes The Lord you God will circumcise your hearts ...

b. here is God’s grace at work — accomplishing in us what we cannot accomplish for ourselves

c. you must remember that when the Hebrews spoke of a person’s heart they were referring to one’s entire character — not merely the organ in our chest that pumps blood

1) in Western culture the heart is the seat of one’s emotion

2) in Hebrew culture the heart is the seat of one’s self, the entire self — your emotions, your intellect, and your will

4. it’s not enough to obey God out of duty alone — to obey Him externally alone

a. we must also serve Him wholeheartedly and that can only take place when we’ve experienced a circumcision of the heart

b. then, and only then, vs. 8, can we “ ... obey the voice of the LORD and keep all his commandments that I command you today.” (Deuteronomy 30:8, ESV)

ILLUS. Most of us know the name John Newton as the man who first experienced, and then wrote about Amazing Grace. Newton also wrote many other hymns, one being Our Pleasure and our Duty. The last stanza says,

Our pleasure and our duty, Though opposite before;

Since we have seen his beauty, Are joined to part no more:

It is our highest pleasure, No less than duty’s call;

To love him beyond measure, And serve him with our all.

Newton understood what Moses is telling Israel ... when our heat is truly changed,

when our heart is wholeheartedly given to God, we will find pleasure in our duty, and our duty to God will be pleasurable.

c. before our hearts were circumcised by grace our pleasures were not found in our duties to God

1) before grace obeying God’s commands are burdensome

2) after grace obeying God’s commands are pleasing

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:2–3, ESV)

... God Is All about Restoring His People to Himself, and He Accomplishes This By Renewing Our Hearts

III. RIGHTEOUS CHOICE

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”” (Deuteronomy 30:19–20, ESV)

1. Moses now calls on heaven and earth as a witness to the proclamation he gives to the people of Israel

a. like a good preacher, Moses has set before his congregation the choices that lie before them — life and death and blessing and curse

1) if they choose life — which is obedience to God — there will be blessing

2) if they choose death — which is disobedience to God — there will be curse

2. his encouragement, of course, is choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him

a. choosing life meant deciding to enter into covenant relationship with the Lord

b. choosing life will be characterized by ... vs. 20

1) loving God

2) obeying God

3) faithfulness to God

IV. APPLICATION AND LESSONS FROM THE PASSAGE

A. GOD WANTS TO RESTORE SINNERS TO SAINTS

1. the world, the flesh, and the devil constantly pull lost sinners away from the God who offers them grace

ILLUS. J. R. R. Tolkien is best remembered for his timeless story Lord of the Rings. It’s a story of the epic struggle between the forces of good and evil, that centers on the life of a genial Hobbit, named Frodo Baggins. Frodo has been bequeathed a ring of immense power by his uncle, Bilbo Baggins. Though Frodo does not realize it at first, this ring is actually a source of incredible evil. It contains within it the wrath, fury and evil of the sorcerer Sauron, who represents the source of evil within Middle Earth. As the story progresses, we see that Frodo increasingly falls under the ring’s power. The ring has a kind of mind of its own and desires to return to its master, and bring with it all those under its influence. As Sauron’s minions search for this ring, Frodo finds himself drawn to them. The ring, which he wears on a chain around his neck, pulls him towards the power of evil. This evil ring around his neck, desires to return to its wicked master.

a. the world, the flesh, and the devil all stand in opposition to us coming to the Lord

b. they constantly draw us away God, from His goodness, and from His grace

2. like Israel, men readily turn their backs on God, become idolaters, and are under the wrath of God

a. the Apostle Paul tells us that all those outside of Christ are under the curse of God (Gal. 3:13)

b. to be under the curse of God means

1) we’ve been indicted — all have sinned and come short of the glory of God

2) we’ve been judged — the soul that sins, it shall die

3) we’ve been condemned — to the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth

3. Jesus came to reverse the curse

a. when Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life,” what he meant was that he had come to reverse this curse

1) Jesus came to bear “our sins in his body on the tree that we might live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24)

b. but Jesus only reverses the curse for all who will believe in him

B. GOD RESTORES US BY RENEWING OUR HEARTS

1. Israel could not perform spiritual heart surgery on their own, and neither can we

a. by grace, God sends His Holy Spirit into our lives making us alive in the Spirit (the theological word for that is regeneration) and birthing us from above

b. the new birth that Jesus told Nicodemus about, is the circumcision of the heart Moses told Israel about — they’re one and the same

2. something extraordinary happens when we confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead

a. our unbelieving hearts and self-worshiping minds, which were once hostile to God and viewed His law as enslaving and oppressive, are transformed

b. we find freedom, beauty, and pleasure in God Himself and in His Word

1) and, as Newton wrote, Our pleasure and our duty, Though opposite before; Since we have seen his beauty, Are joined to part no more

c. Hebrews 10:16 says that He puts His laws on our hearts and writes them on our minds

3. we become like children, desiring to respond to the perfect sacrifice of Jesus by worshiping our God in spirit and in truth and by following His example, which He empowers us to do through His Spirit

C. GOD CALLS YOU TO MAKE A CHOICE FOR HIM

1. so let me be like Moses ... setting before this congregation the choices that lie before you — life and death and blessing and curse

a. if you choose life — which is obedience to God — there will be blessing

b. if you choose death — which is disobedience to God — there will be curse

2. Moses says, It’s not hard ... “ “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” (Deuteronomy 30:11–14, ESV)

a. the Apostle Paul will quote this passage in his Letter to the Romans, and then, like Moses tell us It’s not hard ... “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9–10, ESV)

b. see?? It’s not hard!!

In every congregation of worshipers there are people who believe in the Trinity, and believe in the deity of Jesus, who believe that he died for their sins, who have been baptized, who celebrate communion, and who live by Christian principles, and yet they’ve never received the circumcision of the heart.

People with a new heart love and obey God for the beauty and attractiveness of who the Father is in Himself. They don’t love God because they have to ... they don’t worship God because they have to ... they don’t obey God because they have to ... they don’t serve God because they have to. They do all those things because they flow out of a heart the loves God wholeheartedly. If you’ve received the circumcision of the heart, praise God. If you have not, and would like to, it’s not hard!