We All Have a Choice
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· 1 viewMay 15, 2022 Evening Worship
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good evening and welcome back!
Tonight we are going to be looking at a passage found in Deuteronomy 30, verses 14-18 at a challenge that Moses presents to the Israelite people.
As we know, Moses had been leading these people toward the Promised Land for some time now.
He had seen first hand how their stubbornness and sin was going to keep them from ever seeing the land they were striving for.
And we reach a point where God gives Moses a message for the people of Israel.
This message is a message of judgment and condemnation, but also a message of Hope.
And that hope was that one day they would return to God and the Promised Land would become a reality for them, or at least their children.
However, in order to realize that hope, certain conditions had to be met.
Certain choices had to be made.
And tonight we are going to talk about those choices and how we also have a promise of hope.
However, just like the Israelites, that hope is dependent on the choices we make.
And as we get into this, one thing to keep in mind is that Moses is talking to his people, the congregation.
And tonight we are talking to the church, not really to strangers, but those who are here week after week.
Those who call themselves, Christians.
So, let’s get into it and see where it leads us.
Again, Deuteronomy 30, starting in verse 14, the Bible reads . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
Path to Salvation/Restoration
Path to Salvation/Restoration
So, right up front here we see the gravity of their situation and the circumstances they are facing.
They have to make the choice on what direction they are planning on going.
Whether they want to follow God or follow their own way.
And this choice or really series of choices they are called to make wasn’t contained in just these few verses.
It is something they had to decide each and every day.
And Moses’ charge to them didn’t start in verse 15 either.
If we back up to the beginning of the chapter we find where it really begins.
And Moses warns them that they will have troubles and hardships.
But it is in those troubles and hardships when the test really begins.
In verse 1, it says . . .
When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,
And digging into the context here, Moses is warning them that after all the blessings and curses of life have come.
When things have went as far as they can.
When the people have been scattered as far from God as they could get.
They will remember his words to them.
They will remember God’s commands.
Their first love will come to remembrance.
That sweet mercy of God will come to mind.
Those days fleeing from Egypt when the Lord saved and secured them will be brought to their minds.
They will remember all the good that God had done.
They will remember from where their help comes from.
And they will remember Who can save them and provide for them.
And Moses Goes on . . .
and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today,
Notice he tells them when you and your children return to the Lord...
Not “if” but “when.”
Then they will truly be on the right path.
But look at what they have to do to get on the right path.
Obey Him with all their heart and soul.
Folks—Moses is talking about repentance here.
That’s all it is in a nutshell.
That is all it takes to be restored by God.
It has always taken repentance—following after God.
That is it.
And look at what happens next . . .
then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.
God will have compassion on them.
He will gather them from where they have been scattered.
No matter how far they’ve gone, how far they’ve wandered, He will find them and He will bring them home!
He will bring them home to the Promised Land.
Home, to never leave again.
Home to live and for Him to do thee good and multiply thee above thy fathers.
And it is no different for any of us as well.
The world wants to tell you that you've been too bad.
Done to many things.
Wandered too far from God.
Just going through the motions of things.
Put things in your head like, "they will call you hypocrite," "they will make fun of you," "they will mock you . . . "
"God won't forgive you," and on and on and on . . .
LIES-THEY ARE ALL LIES.
No matter where you are at, how far you've gone, what you are thinking right now,
God will come get you.
God will save you, God will restore you.
All we have to do is:
Obey His Voice.
Do what He says.
Obey and follow Him completely.
And that my friends is what we also share with our loved ones who are wandering in the wilderness right now.
Remember these verses . . .
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
And . . .
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
That is all it takes.
Path to Sanctification
Path to Sanctification
It doesn't end there though.
That is just the beginning.
People think that is where it all ends and that is why they end up backslidden and in a bad shape.
There is more to this Christian walk.
That is also why Moses' discourse didn't end in verse 5 . . .
We call it Entire Sanctification.
The Second Work of Grace.
Look at verses 6-10 now . . .
The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Now, let’s break that down a bit, back to verse 6 . . .
The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
The circumcision of the heart.
Again, God does the work.
We submit to God and He will circumcise the heart.
God will purify our heart, cutting away the evil, sin, and death that is in our heart.
The result is a pure heart.
A heart for God.
A heart that is submitted fully to God.
A heart that desires to please God and serve God.
And from there we are granted victory . . .
The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.
So, who are our enemies?
It's not that neighbor that keeps throwing grass on your yard.
It's not that boss you don't like.
It's not those who would just as soon cuss you as look at you.
The enemy is Satan.
He is the one pulling the strings, trying to draw you into a life of sin and away from God.
He is the one accusing you and trying to hold you down.
Know your enemy and know how to fight him as well.
And how do we do that?
You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today.
There it is again, obeying the Lord and following all of His commands.
And as a reward for our faithfulness to God . . .
Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers,
Our lives are blessed because God is in control.
God desires to bless us and when we follow Him, He can bless us.
However, it really all depends on the choices we make . . .
if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
The Choice
The Choice
Notice the word “If” in that verse.
“If” we do these things, then God is opened up to do His work in us and through us.
And here is the choice Moses gives to the Israelites and to us by extension . . .
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
So, the ability to make a wise choice is not some far off concept.
Not some mystery or obscure thing of the Bible.
Not something that it takes a scholar to understand.
The Word is very near to us.
We are surrounded by God's Word.
We can taste it.
We can feel it in our heart.
We have no excuse to not obey it.
It is given here, today, plain and clear.
So . . .
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
However . . .
But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
Altar/Challenge
Altar/Challenge
So, those are the two options.
Almost like the option Joshua had . . .
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
And the choice that Jesus gave us . . .
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
We have a choice to make.
Moses finishes up with this . . .
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
We have all been presented with a choice.
Do you choose life?
Or, do you choose death?
IT IS YOUR CHOICE
Let’s pray . . .