Two Paths of Life
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As we get into our text today, i want to first lay out for you how we're going to handle the text:
You can see that our title today is "2 Paths of Life": And by the end of today, we'll have walked down EACH PATH...
But in order to do that...
we're going to walk thru the chapter (these verses) and see them for what they are...
and then we'll see that theres's 1 verse in this text that is gonna help catapult us onto the 2nd path -
and then we'll walk thru the chapter again but on that 2nd path.
So let's get started:
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
The first thing I want to look at here is this:
SLIDE: The Pursuit of Creation: A Costly Pursuit
The Pursuit of Creation
The Pursuit of Creation
I assume that all of us in here have been on both sides of this coin...
On the one side: We’ve all WANTED something that we just couldn’t afford! (anyone?)
Maybe your first car…OR the one you WANTED but couldn’t afford, so you settled...
Maybe a house (*Property Brothers - they show couples houses they CANNOT afford)
That’s the one side…on the OTHER side: Maybe we were set to SELL something we owned, and we were looking to get a certain amount of money for it!
You go to sell it, and someone comes to you and they low-ball you...
And you say - “Sorry, i need to get X amount of dollars for it”...
They couldn’t AFFORD it!
They didn’t have what it took to make the DEAL HAPPEN!
And this text here talks about how when it comes to the ATONEMENT of mankind before God...
that the ENTIRETY of the world itself - isn’t enough to MAKE THE DEAL HAPPEN...
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life,
Now this world BELIEVES the OPPOSITE of this text.
The world ABSOLUTELY believes that man can give to God the price of his life...
Meaning - the world believes that AS LONG as you GIVE YOUR BEST effort...
That as long as you’re SUCCESSFUL...
giving away something Here-n-There...
THEN you’re “DOIN ALRIGHT!”
That somehow - God will look at you and your worldly success…and He’ll RESPECT you for it…!
Respect you enough to say - WELL - great job…you may come into Heaven...
What does it say?
“Truly NO MAN can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life...”
8 for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
This is saying - the VALUE of man’s life is - insufficient to pay off it’s DEBT!
What’s the PRIZE?
God!
How do we get to God?
Perfection!
So if PERFECTION is what’s needed…how much VALUE does a man’s life have?
NONE!
Why?
SIN!
Trusting in my possessions....my money....my life....
is to TRUST IN - SIN...
And we ALL KNOW....
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is the path of the one who TRUSTS in his possessions!
The path to DESTRUCTION! - DEATH
*Recent Suicides (the promises of this world are being exposed)
It is a COSTLY pursuit....to pursue MONEY in this world…to pursue POSSESSIONS in this world!
And it leads to this...
SLIDE: The Pursuit of Creation: A Costly End
The Pursuit of Creation
The Pursuit of Creation
10 For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish.
Those who PURSUE riches...
who pursue WEALTH...
Their end is certain...
Any wealth they had accumulated - goes to another...
*Ever work really hard for something ONLY to have the reward go to someone else!??
This text says that ALL MEN die....
The wise - die
the fool - dies
Everyone ends up - in a box....THEREFORE - WHY ELEVATE possessions in this WORLD?
Now the WORLD says - “Life is Short - Play hard”… **they get the conclusion wrong
The Bible says - “Life is Short - Get right with God”
Everything you have....everything you own - will end up going to someone else...
Get right with God!
WHY?
Because the consequences of NOT doing so - not only affect you…but those who follow you!
SLIDE: The Pursuit of Creation: A Costly Legacy
The Pursuit of Creation
The Pursuit of Creation
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
*You ever find yourself in a situation where you look back - and realize that you had foolish confidence!?
I think teenagers are VERY prone to this...
*Rebel thru school - thinking they’ll be JUST FINE once school is over
Little kids often have FOOLISH confidence (*Trey thinking he will never get hurt)
what did v13 say?
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
Someone is ALWAYS - watching!
*Cavs - Once Steph Curry, or Clay Thompson, or Kevin Durant gets on a roll in a game - what happens?
EVERYONE on G.S. starts to gain CONFIDENCE!
It’s EASY to gain confidence when you feel like those on your team are PLAYING WELL...
WHEN things are GOING well for the team!
The same can be said about LIFE - it’s easy to gain confidence in the WORLD when the WORLD blesses you!
It can be easy to fall into TRUSTING the WORLD - when it seems to come through for us!
And we begin to BOAST in what we have...
and when WE do that....
we have to know - the world is watching (kids, co-workers, family)
And as it says
Those after us will approve of our boasts
EVERYONE in this room - when they die....will leave behind a LEGACY!
For someone like Adolf Hitler:
He left behind a legacy of:
Evil
Murder
Hatred
Bigotry
Racism
For the Apostle Paul:
He left behind a legacy of:
faithfulness
perseverance
Godliness
What about you?? Take inventory! It’s happening!
Men - what Legacy are you preparing right now?
Women - what Legacy are you preparing right now?
Those who come after us will approve of our boasts!
I think something we need to grasp in all of this is that Christianity is - PERSONAL!
Too the extent that we can say -
“All the people I have not lead to the Lord, are people that I’ve lead to hell.”
We LOVE to hear about predestination and think - NO WAY God would FORGO the opportunity to save someone if it was in His power to do so...
BUT Have we ever thought of this...
People are saved by the WORD of TRUTH = the gospel of Christ...
SO — If i choose NOT to tell someone about Jesus Christ and all that He’s done for them...
then I’m PREDESTINING that person to hell!
I’m CHOOSING NOT to give them what they need for ETERNAL life!
Have we considered that?
Christianity is PERSONAL...
WHAT WILL YOU LEAVE IN YOUR WAKE!??
If those who follow you will BOAST in what you BOAST in...
Will their BOAST be IN THE LORD?
OR - are you placing them on the path of foolishness...
the path to - DEATH?
What have we seen so far?
We’ve seen that:
The Pursuit of Creation:
A Costly Pursuit
A Costly End
A Costly Legacy
But - good news...
There’s another way!
And v15 shows us that path...
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah
We saw before that - NO MAN can ransom another man or even himself before God!
BUT - GOD will ransom me...
How does that work?
It takes PERFECTION to attain perfection!
SLIDE: It takes God to attain God
It takes God to attain God!
That’s the very reason Jesus says this in John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
It took God Himself coming to earth in the flesh - to bring us to God!
GOD will ransom my soul! - through FAITH in Him!
And it’s through FAITH that we get placed on ANOTHER PURSUIT! Another Path!!
SLIDE: The Pursuit of the Creator: A Worthy Pursuit
The Pursuit of the Creator
The Pursuit of the Creator
Let’s look again at verses 5-9
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
We’ve seen that the Pursuit of Creation (money / wealth) is a silly pursuit!
A WORTHLESS pursuit - - why?!!
Because of ITS VALUE!
In the end - it does NOTHING for you - EXCEPT earn you DEATH!
*Good sports teams in Cleveland - BAD sports teams in Cleveland
Ever go to an Indians game back in 1987 - 88?
WOW! - NO VALUE!
Mankind is so far below the standard of PERFECTION....that anything we do to try and EARN a place with God -
- will result in what? - - INSUFFICIENT FUNDS!
TRANSACTION won’t take place!
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
And so we don’t PURSUE Creation - we pursue the CREATOR!
THIS - is a WORTHY cause!
WHY?
Because of the VALUE of the object of the Pursuit!
How valuable?
Think of this - The Bible doesn’t just command us to LOVE God more than we love money...
like - Here’s your level of love for money....so just love God more than that...
That’s not what the Bible says...
It says this...
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
**
THIS is how valuable He is!
To pursue Christ is to pursue your ONLY hope of salvation!
To pursue Christ is to pursue THE ONLY way to God!
He is INFINITELY valuable!!
And WHEN WE pursue a WORTHY pursuit like Jesus Christ...
we end up coming to a GLORIOUS END
SLIDE: The Pursuit of the Creator: A Glorious End
The Pursuit of the Creator
The Pursuit of the Creator
Back to verses 10-12
10 For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish.
Where we see here that those who TRUST in their possessions will perish...
We KNOW that those who trust in Christ - will not see death!
INSTEAD - they will INHERIT unthinkable RICHES....IN CHRIST!
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
On the one hand we have a PURSUIT of Creation leading to - DEATH, PAIN, ETERNAL SUFFERING....
and on the other hand..
We have the pursuit of the Creator leading to - LIFE, JOY, ETERNAL BLESSING
And so KNOWING this truth - Knowing that each of these paths has a final destination...
What do you think is the problem with the world!?
The world doesn’t LOOK BEYOND the GRAVE!
Remember - the world says = Life is short....PLAY HARD!
The bible says - Yes, Life is short - therefore, get right with God!
BECAUSE of what’s coming afterward!
THROUGH FAITH - In CHRIST - it will be a GLORIOUS END!
AND NOT ONLY THAT - but...
SLIDE: The Pursuit of the Creator: An Everlasting Legacy
The Pursuit of the Creator
The Pursuit of the Creator
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
Again - Here we see the plight of the FOOLISH!
....boasting in their possessions!
Not only are they lead on the path to DEATH...
BUT those after them will approve of their boasts! - now on their own path to DEATH!
BUT - if we PURSUE the Creator - Jesus Christ...
And those who follow us - approve of our boast...
Then, the Legacy we leave will NOT BE ONE of death, pain, and eternal suffering...
Our legacy will be one of LIFE....Eternal JOY....
Eternal PEACE
Eternal Happiness
Eternal Blessing!
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Paul here is speaking to his Legacy!
26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all,
27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
Paul was concerned about the type of Legacy he would leave behind!
Would he leave dead souls in his wake!??
Or did he finish the course....and complete the work that God gave him to do to testify to the Grace of God?
24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
And here we have words from a man who PURSUED the Creator!
who counted this pursuit as a WORTHY pursuit!!
KNOWING that it would lead to a GLORIOUS end! (even if it meant being beheaded!)
and in DOING so...
In LIVING this out - he left behind an EVERLASTING legacy!
Think if Paul would have RUN from God instead of pursuing Him...
PAUL had EVERY opportunity to IGNORE God as you do NOW....TODAY!!
There really are ONLY two paths/pursuits to this life...
Summary:
The Pursuit of Creation
The Pursuit of the Creator
Where do you fall?
Which path are you on?
Pursue creation - and death eternal awaits you!
Pursue the Creator - and life eternal awaits you!
Let’s pray