Choose Life!

Introduction

We all have been given choices in life. . .

Our choices have consequences. . .

When I was a kid. . . touched the candle and was burned.

Rehoboam could listen to wise counsel and succeed as a king or listen to his friends and cause the people to turn against him.

Key Point: Choose life tonight by repenting of your sin and putting your trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

In Deuteronomy 26-30, Moses is closing his final sermon before the people began to cross over the Jordan to enter the promised land.

Throughout his three sermons, he has called them to remember God’s promises and provision so that they would rehearse his precepts and prosper in the promised land.

Now, in this final section, Moses tells the people what will happen to them if they obey or disobey the Lord as they enter the land.

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 describes the blessings that will be given to Israel if they obey the Lord. . .

A long life.

Abundance of food.

Victory over enemies.

Many children.

In short, obedience to the Lord will lead to abundant life.

However, Deuteronomy 28:15-68 depicts the curses that will be given to Israel if it disobeys the Lord. . .

A short life.

Shortage of food.

Disease, famine, pestilence.

Slaughtered before their enemies.

They will even eat their children out of desperation.

No one will come to their aid. No one will want them.

Exile

In short, disobedience to the Lord will lead to death. Those who reject the Lord by not obeying all his laws will be cursed.

This then sets the stage for our main text tonight in Deuteronomy 29-30, which is the climax of Moses’ final sermon.

In these chapters Moses declares that if obedience alone is the path of life; if death is the only alternative; if all Israel’s future hangs in the balance—then choose life (30:15–20)! It is not as though God has been unclear on what he expects of Israel (30:11–14) or on what will happen to them if they disobey (29:16–28), nor has he been unfaithful to them in the past (29:2–9). Nothing stands in the way of Israel’s taking the path of life.

Repentance and Forgiveness (30:1-3).

Deuteronomy 30:1–3 ESV

1 “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 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.

Even in the midst of exile and in a foreign land, if the people return to God and obey his voice, God will return to them, have mercy on them, and restore their fortunes.

Many times in Scripture, the Lord promises to return to his people if they return to him.

Zechariah 1:3 ESV

3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.

“Return” = “Repentance.”

Repentance: a gift from God enabling us to turn our whole lives away from sin to the point it changes how we think, believe, feel, and act.

Repentance is forsaking our sin.

Isaiah 55:7 ESV

7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Repentance is rending (tearing/breaking) of our hearts before the Lord in hating and mourning over our sin.

Joel 2:12–13 ESV

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

Man is born with his back toward God. When he truly repents, he turns right around and faces God. Repentance is a change of mind…. Repentance is the tear in the eye of faith.

Dwight Lyman Moody (Evangelist)

The wonderful blessing is that when God’s people forsake their wicked ways and turn back to him, God will forgive them and restore their fortunes.

How can God forgive the sins of Israel and still be just?

Because God knew Jesus would pay the penalty for their sin on the cross, he temporarily “passed over their sins.” (Rom. 3:24-26)

The Blessings of Repentance (30:4-10)

Deuteronomy 30:4–6 ESV

4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

No matter how far Israel had been scattered, it was not too far for the Lord to gather his people back to him.

When Israel repents and returns to God, he will graciously make them “more prosperous and numerous than their fathers.”

The key result of the repentance of Israel is that when they turn back to God, God will circumcise their hearts so that they can fully love and obey him with all their hearts and never turn away from him again.

The Lord will bring an abundant blessing and make Israel fruitful in every facet of their lives.

God takes delight in blessing his people.

Notice, the condition in verse 10. . . these blessings will come “when” Israel turns to the Lord with all their heart and all their soul.

These blessings will only come if the people repent of their sin and turn back to the Lord.

God’s Commandment Is Accessible and Clear (30:11-14)

Deuteronomy 30:11–14 ESV

11 “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.

The “commandment” God is referring to is his call for Israel to commit to love, serve, and obey the Lord alone when they enter the promised land.

This commandment will not be difficult to obey if the people forsake their sinful ways and return to the Lord with all their heart and all their soul, for if they do this, God will circumcise their hearts, allowing them to love him and obey his commands.

God’s command (to trust in him) is not only doable, but it is also accessible. It is not high in heaven or far across the sea. Instead, it is “near the people, in their hearts.”

Choose Life! (30:15-20)

Deuteronomy 30:15–20 ESV

15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 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.”

God gives Israel two choices.

They can either choose life and good by loving and obeying the Lord. . . or they can choose death and evil by not loving and obeying the Lord with all their heart and all their soul.

Response

Unfortunately, Deuteronomy 31-32 and Judges show that Israel failed to choose life, hear God’s commands and obey them. Instead, they turned away from him and worshipped and served the gods of the Canaanites.

God’s curses fell upon his people because of their disobedience.

We too have followed in the ways of Israel, forsaking God to delight in our sin.

Yet, Jesus, the true Israel, never chose death, but always chose life and obedience. He perfectly listened to all of God’s commands and completely fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law.

Jesus also became a curse for us and took the curses we deserved for our disobedience by taking on himself the wrath of God on the cross.

Galatians 3:13–14 ESV

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Today, God lays the same choice before us that he laid before Israel 2,000 years ago. . . life or death.

Paul picks up this theme and gives us a commentary on Deuteronomy 30 in Romans 10:1-13.

Romans 10:5–13 ESV

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 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. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Israel failed because they tried to attain the righteousness of the law through their obedience, instead of placing their faith in God and looking to him for their righteousness.

Paul says, like God said in Deuteronomy, that the righteousness based on faith is near to us. . . it is not high in heaven or down in the depths of the earth, but in our mouths and on our hearts.

Paul says the way we can choose life today is through trusting in Jesus because by doing this, we receive Jesus’ perfect life and his payment for our sins is counted for us.

We only have two choices. . .

“to accept or reject him, to believe on him or cry with the crowd, “Not Christ but Barabbas. Crucify Him!” There is no neutrality, no alternative or third choice. We cannot say “He is a nice man.” On the basis of Jesus’ claim, either we believe in him or we cry against him.”

God’s command is clear, the gospel call is easy to understand.

Choose Life!