TEXT:DEUTERONOMY 30:19, 20
INTRODUCTION: ILL.A certain lady went from village to village peddling her wares. Frequently on her journeys she would come to a fork in the road and would have to decide which road to take. She had a strange method for making her decision. She would take a stick, toss it into the air, and follow whichever path the stick seemed to be pointing to after it hit the ground. On one such occasion, the lady was seen tossing the stick into the air repeatedly. A curious passerby asked what she was doing. She explained her process and said, “The stick keeps pointing to the left fork and I wish to go to the right.” She had a choice to make, thought she had a method for making that choice, but in the final analysis, wanted to go the way she wanted to go, stick or no stick.
ILL. Another lady, a school teacher in New Mexico also had a choice to make. She met a young businessman. Their acquaintance grew into friendship, their friendship into love and their love into a decision to marry. The teacher was of age and was independent but wanted her father’s approval of the marriage. Surprisingly, the father was resistant to the marriage. He thought she ought to remain single. He was opposed, as he said, “on general principles.” Still, she made arrangements with the fianc to visit the ranch in Alamosa. When he arrived, the father said, “He will not enter my house!” The young lady was confronted with a choice. Would she give up her marriage to please her father, or would she risk his disapproval and marry the man of her heart God, in the text, sets forth a choice, “life or death, blessing or curse.” It is God’s intention for us, while still giving us the freewill choice, that we choose life. He even tells us exactly how to choose life:
1.WE CHOOSE LIFE BY A NEW BIRTH
A.THE NECESSITY FOR THE NEW BIRTH (3:1-5)
A. IT IS NECESSARY TO SEE (EXPERIENCE) THE KINGDOM OF GOD (John 3:3 KJV) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
B. IT IS NECESSARY TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD(John 3:5 KJV) Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
By the kingdom of God Jesus did not mean an earthly political kingdom. Paul described the kingdom of God in (Rom 14:17 KJV) For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
B. THE NATURE OF THE NEW BIRTH (3:6-13)
A. THE NEW BIRTH IS A SPIRITUAL BIRTH(John 3:6 KJV) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:7 KJV) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
.That which is born of the flesh (the old nature) is flesh, always will be flesh, and is under the wrath of God. That which is born of the Spirit (the new nature)
(2 Pet 1:4 KJV) Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.) You cannot produce a spiritual birth with physical means. This is why born of water in v. 5 cannot mean literal water, for baptism would mean applying a physical substance (water) to the physical being.
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This action could never bring about a spiritual birth. (Read again (John 1:11 KJV) He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:12 KJV) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:13 KJV) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
ALSO (John 6:63 KJV) It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.)
B. IT IS A SECRET BIRTH.(John 3:8 KJV) The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:9 KJV) Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be (John 3:10 KJV) Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things
No one can explain the wind, and no one can explain the working of the Spirit. Both the Spirit and the believer are like the wind. Nicodemus, instructed in the Law, should have known the truth of the renewing work of the Spirit.
2.WE CHOOSE LIFE BY A NEW BEGINNING OBEYING GOD’S VOICE: AFTER SALVATION
The word for “obey” means to “regard, or pay attention, or to consent to, or to heed” God’s word.
A. THE PRODICAL SON CHOOSE TO GET OUT OF THE PIN
1.The assured benefits attached to obedience. FATHER IS WAITING
2.To obey can cause a turmoil within us THE FLESH IS WAITING WHY It goes against natural human nature.
It is opposite of all our selfish tendencies.
It demands humble self-surrender.
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We all have a choice to make and often that choice brings unrest. BUT TO GET RIGHT WITH GOD IS THE GREATEST CHOICE YOU WILL FOR The Word Said As Many As I Love I Rebuke And Chasten YOU CHOOSE LIFE BY REPENTING OF YOUR SIN BECAUSE SOME SLEPT
3.WE CHOOSE LIFE BY A NEW BENEVOLENCE
1.The disposition to do good; good will; kindness; charitableness; the love,of mankind, accompanied with a desire to promote their happiness.
LIVING THE ABUNDANT LIFE FOR CHRIST PROMISE LAND LIVING IN OTHER WORDS
HOLDING FAST TO GOD AND HIS WORD
The word “hold fast” means “to cling or adhere, to abide fast, to follow closely.”
By Ruth to declare her commitment to her mother-in-law Naomi.
Holding fast to God is a
v determination to cling to, to grasp, to hold tight, to adhere, and to abide faithfully in Him.
v dedication to serve Him and to serve only Him and to serve Him no matter what.
ILL. John Milton, the English poet, who endured much suffering when at the height of his writing career his eyesight began to fail. Had he not been a devoted follower of Christ, he might have become bitter. Yet, as the darkness closed in on him he said, “My soul was thus bent to serve more acceptably my Maker.”
v deliberate shunning of anything that competes in anyway with Him as the Sovereign of our life.
v decisive fastening to Him as iron to a magnet, as a flower seeking sunlight
Holding to God means letting go of something else:
Godless self-will, self-seeking and self-determination needs to be relinquished. Relationships that defile and corrupt us need to be aborted. Attitudes that crowd out Christlikeness need to be crucified. WE HAVE A CHOICE TO MAKE.
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