Deuteronomy 30, Remember That God Is Rooting For You
1. God Makes A Way Of Repentance (v1-4)
2. God Promises To Do A New Work For You (v5-10)
3. God Makes His Word Is Accessible To You (v11-14)
4. God Gives You A Clear Choice (v15-20)
Deuteronomy 30, Remember That God Is Rooting For You
Did you enjoy this teaching?
Let others know!
VIEW TRANSCRIPT
Well, I've titled the message this evening remember that God is rooting for you.
Remember that God is rooting for you.
The Book of Deuteronomy is really a book of remembrance, where Moses addresses the nation.
It's the second generation right before they're about to enter into the promised land and he says, guys.
Remember what you've learned.
Remember the things you've seen.
Remember the things that the Lord has said, Remember Remember, remember, and here again, we see this exhortation to pay attention to.
To the reality that God is on their side and is rooting for them now this idea this concept maybe isn't explicitly said or necessarily obvious, but it's what stood out to me.
It's the the things that were impressed upon me as I was reading through this chapter in preparation for tonight that.
That we need to be reminded that God is rooting for us.
He wants us to win.
He wants to give us victory.
He wants to pour out blessings in our lives and Deuteronomy.
Here in these last few chapters.
Really kind of.
Climax is here in Chapter 30 where God says I want to.
I've given you, you know the the options and the choices, and I want you to choose the option that I have for you, which is for your good and and the best for you.
It's your choice.
You have to make the choice but but choose.
Right, choose well and let me bless you and work in you.
I don't know if you spend a lot of time thinking about how much God is rooting for you, but I pray that as we work our way through this, you would allow the Lord to just stood up in your mind and get a little bit of an understanding.
God is saying to you, I'm rooting for you.
I want to do something amazing in your life and through your life.
And so there's four points we'll look at to help us remember that God is rooting for us. Point #1 here, found in verses one through 4 is that God makes a way of repentance.
It's here's the 1st and kind of easy way that we can identify and understand that God is rooting for us because he provides the path he creates the avenue for repentance again verses one through 4.
It says now it shall come to pass.
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 drives you.
And you return to the Lord your God, and obey his voice according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your hearts and with all your soul.
That the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.
If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven from there, the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you.
Here Moses.
Says when it comes to pass.
All these things come upon you. He's referring to this block of chapters that we've been reading this week. Chapters 27 through 30. It's a kind of a long exhortation from Moses, and every time I.
Get back through this portion of Scripture. I always look forward in Deuteronomy to chapters 27 through 30 because there it's so clear God lays out very clearly. Here's the blessings.
Here's the curse is if you love me and follow me.
Here are the things that I will do for you as a nation.
If you reject me and disobey, here's the consequences of that and and he just lays out with like incredible clarity in the chapters that go before this and so.
Now he kind of is summarizing.
He's wrapping up this message that he's been delivering to them, and he says when all this comes to pass.
When all these things come upon you.
The all these things is referring to the blessings that he promised.
But it also refers to the curses that he promised.
In Deuteronomy 27 through 29, God promised blessings.
And explained how those blessings will come upon them.
There were blessings that would come from obedience, and so when all these things come upon them, part of that was they were going to be blessed.
Governors going to do amazing things with their nation.
He was going to establish them and build them.
They were going to experience the blessings from obedience.
And you can look at chapter 27 and 28 and see.
The the blessings that God said, how, how they would be provided for how they would be strong in battle.
Their enemies would run from them and he he goes on and this, like all these different ways that he's going to bless them, and God says you're going to experience that.
When all of these things come upon you, including those blessings, you're going to experience my work in your nation in your life.
And of course, we see the nation of Israel go from this time in Joshua and then later on in judges.
To the peak of the nation under the leadership of David and Solomon and and you can see that they experienced these blessings.
You can walk through and see.
These things were fulfilled in their lives.
And so he says, when all these things come upon you.
The blessing and the curse.
And so they weren't just going to experience the blessings that God promised.
God also leadout the curses for disobedience.
And how will those curses come upon them?
Well, very simply by them disregarding the word of God.
Throwing out what God says and taking their own course and doing what they want to do, and it goes on as you read through chapter 2728 and 29.
It's the exact opposite of all the blessings instead of the enemies fleeing from you in battle, you will flee from your enemies in battle.
Instead of having an abundant crop, you will have.
No crop and your crop will be taken from you. Instead of having blessings, you will have curses and that was God's promise to them for their disobedience or their disregard of him.
And so here, as we start out in verse one God saying, look both of these sides are going to be fulfilled in your life.
The Nation of Israel is going to experience the blessings of God and the curses.
Because of their obedience to God and then leader on their disobedience to God.
God knew in advance.
That they were going to reject him and turn away from him.
God knew in advance their rebellions and how they would fight against his rule in their life.
God knew in advance that it would result in their *******
To foreign nations.
The blessing and the curse, he says, which I have set before you.
When all of this happens, and then you remember.
Check out verse one again and you call them to mind among all the nation nations where the Lord your God drives you.
Here's what God saying, God saying, you're going to experience my blessing.
Then you're going to experience the curses to the degree, to the point that you will be conquered by a foreign nation.
You will be scattered.
To other nations outside of your territory outside of your land.
But from there, if you will remember.
These things that I have said when all these things happen, when all these things unfold and and and I think this is so important for us to consider because.
God is saying in events, he knows what's going to happen to them.
He's giving them an opportunity from that place of being scattered.
To repent.
He knows in advance they're going to rebel.
He knows in advance they're going to disobey.
He knows they're going to experience these curses, but but even in this disobedience to God and their, their correction in that God is not saying that's the end, it's over.
You don't get any more chances.
He is saying, I know I'm going to get a bless you.
I know I'm going to have to discipline you.
You know, but even though you're going to end up in this place in this spot.
I want you to know I want you to remember to think back and understand that you have an opportunity to get right.
That I'm not done with you that I've not given up on you, and it's not too late to experience God's blessings in your life. Verse 2 and you return to the Lord your God.
And obey his voice according to all that I command you today, you and your children with all your hearts and with all your soul.
God says, here's what she can do when you find yourself there in the pit of despair, I just said it 'cause it rhymed, but you find yourself there in the pit of despair.
You find yourself having been scattered, having your life just filled with curses because of disobedience to God.
We we could easily have this.
Idea have this perspective that God is enjoying the laying out of curses, right?
And I'll show you to disobey me and all you know we could imagine God having pleasure in the punishment.
But here God is expressing and acclaim.
That's not his heart.
That's not what he wants.
Instead, he's rooting for you.
To come back.
He says you have opportunity to return to the Lord your God.
You need to come back.
He's clear about it.
He's he's setting standards.
He's not, you know.
Just saying, well, just kind of, you know, give me a.
A fake show of love or adoration, he says.
Look with all your heart with all your soul turned back to me and loved me and obey me.
But you have the opportunity.
It's not too late.
Even in the midst of curses, to the degree that you are scattered to various nations, or in ******* and captivity to these other peoples.
It's not too late to turn back to the Lord to return to the Lord Witch.
He says how to do that to obey his voice with?
All of your heart.
And notice what God says in verse three that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity.
God says the result is even when you have disobeyed to the point of this harsh correction.
This driving out of the land.
God is saying I'm making a way.
I'm providing even in the law.
Even in the announcement of blessings and cursings, I'm providing a way for you.
To recover from that, rebellion to recover from that disobedience, the Lord will bring you back from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you and the idea thereof being gathered from all the nations.
It really speaks about the completeness of their desolation.
It it's not just that they were, you know, conquered and.
Picked up and moved, but the idea of them being scattered to all the nations really speaks of the completeness of their destruction.
It's not just like a little destruction, it's not, you know, a simple destruction.
It's just they.
They lost one battle or one war, but the idea of them being scattered to all the nations, really.
Lays out the point that this was a devastating loss.
They have been pressed.
They have been squeezed.
There's few of them here.
A few of them, they're scattered in all the different nations, right?
They're not just like, OK, the Group of Israel, now living in a different location.
They are individuals, families.
Maybe there's a couple of them together but but they've been scattered, they've been squeezed and pressed so hard as a result of their rebellion that they're just here in there in pockets.
And God says even from that state from that complete pressing that complete scattering.
It's not too late.
That you can return to me.
And I will bring you back from captivity.
Pastor Warren Wiersbe says the purpose of chastening is restoration, not ruination.
God knows what his people will do, so he makes provision for them to repent and return.
He has done this for his people today.
This is the way that God works.
He still operates in a similar fashion.
He brings discipline.
He brings chastening.
I showed this.
I forget exactly when within the last couple weeks.
Hebrews chapter 12.
When the author of Hebrews makes the case, if God doesn't discipline you, then you're not his child.
He disciplines us when we're out of line when we are not walking with him and we experience the pressing and hopefully we don't resist.
To this degree right, the interesting thing about this, the blessings and the curses, the promises, and all of these things that we're looking at here in Deuteronomy.
You don't have to wait until rock bottom to to turn back and return to the Lord with all your heart, right?
That that's not a requirement that God says, OK, you've disobeyed.
So now I'm going to push you.
And you're just going to have to wait until you hit rock bottom.
Go through all the curses and and that's that's just it.
'cause you disobeyed one time.
That's not the way that it works.
Confession is an opportunity for us at any point to to come back and and be repentant.
And it's the shortest route.
Not to restoration.
To recognize we're on the path.
To recognize where we're experiencing the discipline, the chastening we're experiencing.
The conflict, as a result of our disobedience to God and so.
We can turn then we don't have to wait to the end of the road.
We can turn at the beginning of the path.
The first outpouring of discipline or curses upon our lives.
We we can turn back.
And return to the Lord with all our heart.
And God promises to restore, to bring us back from captivity.
He always is seeking to do that from the very beginning.
He wants to bring restoration as Pastor Warren Wiersbe said, not ruination.
He's not out to get you.
He's out to restore you to bring you health and to bless your life.
Of course we have a good example of that with the apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians and First Corinthians chapter five and Second Corinthians Chapter 2.
There's the guy involved in such sin, not even the pagans around them would put up with or look upon that sin favorably.
Paul says you need to deal with that.
You need to put him outside of the church.
Exercise church discipline.
You are the agent of God church.
To bring on some of the pressure to allow the guy to recognize where he's at to come back to the Lord and then later on in Second Corinthians Chapter 2, Paul says, OK, it's time.
Reaffirm your love to him, bring him back into the fold that the process worked.
He has repented.
He's turned back and received.
Forgiveness from the Lord.
It's time to receive the restoration of fellowship as well.
God makes a way of repentance.
He knows we're going to blow it. He knows we're going to disregard him. We he knows all of these things about us. But here's how you can tell that God's rooting for you.
He gives you a path back, a path of repentance, a path of restoration.
He makes sure that you still have opportunity.
No matter how low you go, even if you're scattered so much that you're press so hard there's just bits and pieces of you all over the place.
There's still the opportunity to come back, as it's often been said, no matter how far away you run from God, he's always one step back.
And the thing that I would encourage us in is we don't have to wait till the we've run so far away from God.
But even when you've just taken 2 steps away from God, he's always one step back.
He makes a way of repentance, 'cause he's rooting for you.
He wants what's best in our lives.
Well, moving on to verses five through 10, we get the second point to consider this evening and that is God promises to do a new work for you.
He makes a way of repentance.
He makes sure you have an opportunity to come back and recover.
But then he goes on to give promises and just try to stop and think about that and what that means.
God gives some incredible promises here in verses five through 10.
This is the people that have rebelled against God to such a degree that he has been forced.
To bring the Assyrian army.
Me and you guys remember perhaps the cruelty of the Assyrian army and the way that they treated their captives and the the way that they would deal with the nations that they came against.
It was not God ideal choice of discipline.
But their insistence on rebelling brought God to the place where he would use the nation of Assyria to take out the northern Kingdom.
The northern part of the Nation of Israel.
And then the Southern Kingdom, which after the.
The nation had split.
The southern Kingdom lasted a loot a little bit longer, but they also resisted God and rebelled against God and refused to listen to God so that God had to bring the nation of Babylon down.
To conquer them, to take them out of the land.
So then the land is left desolate, the land is left without inhabitant because of the discipline that God had to bring upon his people.
And and we would not fault God if he says, that's it, that you had your shot.
You rebelled to the point I had to take you out of the land that was your last chance.
I gave you several 100 years to repent and turn back and you didn't do it.
That was your last chance.
We would not fault God if he had that approach with the nation of Israel.
But you know, here's what God says, listen, I'm going to bless you and do good works in your life.
And you're going to forget that it was me who did it, and you're going to turn against me.
And you're going to bring about curses upon your life because of disobedience, and I'm going to call you to repentance.
But you're going to resist, and you're going to resist, and you're going to resist for several 100 years.
You're going to resist me.
You're going to spit in my face.
You're going to hate what I say.
You're going to kill the messengers that I send to call you back.
You're gonna fight against me every time I try to work in your life.
And you're going to experience.
The full judgment as a result.
But from there.
If you'll turn back to me.
I will do a new and exciting work in your life.
I promise God says, check out these promises in verse five through 10.
Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land with your father.
Yes, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your father's and the Lord your God will circumcise your heart in the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live. Also the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies.
And on those who hate you, who persecuted you?
And you will again obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruits of your body, and the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land.
For good.
For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, as he has rejoiced.
Over your father's.
If you obey the voice of the Lord your God to keep his commandments and his statutes, which are written in this book of the law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.
God here leaves out promises, incredible crazy promises when you think about it because again, he knows from the get go.
Going back to the first one, you're going to experience all these things.
God says.
You're going to experience the full extent of my blessings.
And then you're going to experience the full extent of the curses of disobeying me and running from me.
But even still.
Even when you fight against me that hard.
Here's some promises.
When you return to me.
God says I'm going to bring you back into the land in verse 5.
Scattered you out of the land I had to bring other nations to drive you out because of your rebellion, but that's it's not over.
It's not that was your last chance to be in the land that I promised to Abraham.
I'll bring you back to that land.
I'll replant you in this place and allow you to be established there.
You shall possess it, he says.
And I'm going to prosper you and multiply you more than your father's like. I'm not just going to bless you, but I'm going to bless.
Bless you, I'm going to doubly bless you abundantly.
Bless you.
I'm going to do a radical new work in your life.
And we could say why?
Why would God promise to do even better things for them after they had experienced the blessings of God and knew better but still rebelled against him?
God doesn't provide that answer, but we know the answer. It's 'cause of God's grace and his mercy towards us.
He doesn't deal with us according to our sin.
He doesn't relate to us according to our sin.
When we turn to him.
He forgives us.
He washes us and and we stand before him just as if we had never sinned and so he says to his people I'll bring you back into the land and you will possess it.
I'll prosper you and multiply you more than your father.
Then notice he goes on in verse 6 to say I will circumcise your heart.
The idea there is the the cutting away of the sinful nature.
I'm gonna help you.
To stay on track with me is what God is saying here.
I'm going to help you to stay on track.
I'm going to help you to stay away from sin.
I'm going to help you to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live.
A lot of people wrestle with.
Back in the Book of Exodus, when Pharaoh hardened his heart, pharaoh hardened his heart. Pharaoh hardened his heart and then God hardened Pharaoh's heart and it's like, whoa.
Did he take away Pharaohs choice? No, he confirmed. He reinforced Pharaoh's choice.
But God also does that same work.
For his people, when they turned to him.
Because going back to verse three, if they turn to the Lord with all their hearts and all their soul, then God says here's what I'm going to do.
I'm going to circumcise your heart.
To help you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, I'm going to strengthen you in your decision to walk with me in your decision to follow me in verse 18 says.
And you will again obey the voice of the Lord and do all his commandments which I command you today.
I'm going to help you be obedient.
Which is of course something that we are going to need.
The Nation of Israel is going to need help.
They ended up in the place that they were in because of their stubborn rebellion and so coming back to a place of obedience, it was going to be hard.
They were stubborn and rebellious, but God says look you turned to me with all your heart.
And then I will help you now listen.
The enemy loves to play with our minds.
So we give up before we even start because, alright, well, maybe I could turn to the Lord right now, but I'm thinking ahead to all the situations I'm going to have to face and all the things there's going to be so many challenges.
Ahead, and I'm not going to be strong enough to resist those temptations.
I'm not going to be strong enough to be, you know, able to follow through with what God is saying here.
And and we're we're thinking about what's happening down the road and so I can't do that so I might as well just give up now.
Here's what God says.
No, no, don't worry about down the road.
You decide right now with all your heart with all your soul to love me and return to me.
To obey me.
You do that right now.
And then I will help you to do all those other things.
I'm going to carry you down that path and I'm going to work on your flesh to to bring you to the point that you're able.
To walk with me and be obedient in the things that I've called you too.
God says I'm going to put curses on your enemies.
All those who have come against you and persecuted you and hated you.
You know, even though the Lord used the nation of Assyria and the Nation of Babylon, he also charged them with wrong.
They were God's instruments of discipline, but they also took it too far.
And and they didn't just do what God had allotted for them, but but they did.
So with hatred and with persecution, and and so God dealt with those nations as well because of that.
As opposed to the nation of Israel when they first went into the promised land, they were also God's instruments of judgment, right?
The inhabitants of the land God says I'm giving them 400 years to repent.
They didn't repent, so God says go in and you're my agents of discipline in their life.
That doesn't mean that Israel had to hate those people or persecute them, or come against them in that way.
But they did have to be obedient and do and follow the instruction that God had given to them.
Well, God said all of these enemies have come against you.
They've hated you.
They've persecuted you.
And I've allowed it because, well, of your status, your position of disobedience.
They took it too far.
It wasn't right the way that they treated you.
But you needed the discipline, so I allowed it.
But when you turn back to me.
All that hatred that has been extended towards you, all that persecution that has come to you.
I'm going to be turning that back upon them, and they're going to experience the judgment, the discipline.
Because they have been out of line in their attacks against you.
And then God says in verse nine you will abound in your work.
I'm going to make you abound in all the work of your hand, the fruit of your body, the increase of your livestock, the produce of your land.
Everything you do is going to be blessed.
When you return to me.
Now God promises all these things.
It's important to note it's not an unconditional promise.
Because in verse 10, he says if you'll be the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes, which are written in this book of the law.
If you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.
God says here's the requirement.
Here's what I ask of you.
I'm gonna do all of this and he leaves out this huge package of great benefits.
You are just going to be so incredibly blessed.
Here's what I ask of you, full allegiance.
You follow me, holy.
You turn to the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul.
You put all your attention, all your focus, all your adoration, all your passion upon me.
And I will work.
In your life.
The Nation of Israel experienced all the blessings that God had described.
They experienced all the curses that God had described in the previous chapters.
They have not yet.
Fully experienced all of these promises.
They have experienced somewhat of a regathering.
If you remember the history of the nation of Israel, again, it was split into two.
The northern Kingdom conquered by Assyria, the southern Kingdom conquered by Judah.
They're in captivity for 70 years after Babylon conquers.
But then they.
Come back, there comes a time.
There comes a point.
There's a group that heads back to rebuild the temple, and we have a good record of that in the Book of Ezra.
And then a little bit after that there's another group, another time where the Lord Stirrin up parts and.
Nehemiah leads a group back to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
And so we have a record of that regathering of them being put out of the land, and then being replanted in the.
Land of Israel.
But it wasn't the fullness of what these promises described in that return.
Back to the land of Israel.
Then later on a couple 100 years later, Rome conquers Israel once again, and now they're dispersed.
They are scattered.
All around the world.
It's kind of a previous generation for us, right?
Not many of us got to see it, but Israel has returned to the land and it was a big deal back in the 40s when when Israel returned the people of Israel returned to the land.
But at the same time, the spiritual side of the promises they are blessed in many ways, and they're established.
But the spiritual side of these promises have not yet been fulfilled.
And so it seems like this passage is really talking about something yet future.
Where in the middle of the tribulation period the nation of Israel will recognize that Jesus is the promised Messiah and they will turn to him and then the fulfillment of these things will be the return of Jesus and the Millennium and all of those blessings that God promises to them as a result.
And so you can kind of see God like laying out their whole history for them here in these chapters several 1000 years before they were going to unfold.
Well, as we look at these though and we understand these promises to Israel, we also understand these.
These are promises to us in a spiritual sense.
Where God says I'll do the same thing for you.
I will bring you back to the place that I have you, and I will reinforce your decision to follow me when you return to me from that place, I'll circumcise your heart.
I'll help you to love me and to obey me.
I'll fight against your enemies and the enemy that comes against you.
The one who hates you and persecute you.
I'll turn their curses and their persecutions back upon them, and you'll abound in your work.
And you can think about you, know spiritual gifts and abounding in the work of the Lord, but also in your life that God says I'm going to work in your life.
God promises to do a new work for you.
And so again, remember that God is rooting for you.
Even though he knows you're going to fall short, even though he knows perhaps you're going to rebel and run from God and Experience Rock bottom.
God says still from there, turn back to me with all your heart and listen.
I can do incredible things and I promise if you will turn back to me, I will do a new work for you.
Exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we could ask or think.
Moving on to verses 11 through 14, we get the Third Point to consider this evening, and that is that God makes his word.
Accessible to you and I did a little bit of a typo there.
I apologize for that.
God makes his word accessible to you.
Let's read verses 11 through 14 for this commandment, which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off.
It is not in heaven that you should say.
Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us?
That we may hear it and do it, nor 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.
But the word is very near you in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it.
God kind of anticipates the person who is at rock bottom.
The person who has experienced all of this trouble in desolation.
He anticipates that person is going to reach for an easy excuse.
How am I supposed to know what God wants?
It is too hard for me to figure out what God wants.
You know, look at the disaster.
How much damage has been done?
There's just no way to understand what must be done at this point.
And God says, that's not true.
Again, he's designed and fashioned the way of repentance.
He says the commandment that I give you today, it's not too mysterious for you.
It's not far off.
Going back to verse 10, if you'll be the voice of the Lord.
You begin to respond again to what God has said.
You turn your heart to the Lord.
And God says, I will do this for you.
This command, which I commend you today.
It's not too mysterious.
It's not too far out of reach.
It's not so strange that you're not going to be able to remember it or understand it.
It's not going to be some, you know, weird thing that you can't figure out.
Which is important because when we're involved in sin, our understanding is darkened.
We become dull in our spiritual senses and dense in our thinking capacity.
We we are affected by sin.
But Even so, God says.
The command that I'm giving you today.
You may wrestle with things and make excuses and say all kinds of things about how hard it is to return to the Lord, and you can't figure out what God wants and God says.
It's not mysterious.
That that's your heart making excuses.
That's your sinful nature, seeking the easy way out and not returning to the Lord, seeking to hold onto.
It's control of your life.
You need to understand it's not a great mystery.
What you should do or how you should return to the Lord?
He says it's not in heaven in verse 12 that you should say who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?
It's not like some great thing in heaven where you have to go visit some guru who has, you know, some understanding of these high things to bring down this mystery to a level that you can understand.
Someone has to ascend into heaven and find out so that we can then hear it and do it.
God says, no, that's not necessary.
It's not necessary.
Now, I'm not saying or trying to discourage anybody from, you know, seeking out advice or counsel or anything like that, but at the same time.
It's not a great mystery what you need to do when you're in that place.
Of devastation from rebellion.
It's not a great mystery.
You need to return to the Lord with all your heart.
You need to return to him.
It's not a great mystery that you have to ascend into heaven to figure it out.
And then in verse 13 it's not so deep.
That you have to go beyond the sea.
Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it?
You don't have to cross over the ocean. You don't have to reach the depths of the ocean. You don't have to, you know go so far go so deep you don't have to run around the earth or do 17,000 pushups. Or you know anything. It's not some great feats or some great mystery.
He says the word is very near you.
Everything that you need is very near to you.
It's in your mouth and it's in your heart.
That you may do it.
Now the apostle Paul quotes from this passage in Romans Chapter 10.
In regards to salvation.
In Romans chapter 10 verse 6.
Through nine, Paul says the righteousness of Faith speaks in this way.
Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven, that is, to bring Christ down from above?
Or who will descend into the abyss that is to bring Christ up from the dead.
But what does it say the word is near you in your mouth and in your heart?
That is the Word of Faith which we preach.
Notice how he applies it.
Verse nine that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Paul says, look when it comes to salvation.
It's not a great mystery.
What must I do to be saved?
It's not some strange thing and you have to climb some high mountain or go across the the sea or go to the depths of the abyss.
It's not.
It's not some strange, it's right.
It's right there in your mouth, it's right real close to you confess.
The Lord Jesus.
Believe in him that God has raised him from the dead and he says you will be.
Now, salvation that's of course our greatest need.
Everything after that, even recovering from a state of rebellion and devastation from you, know disobeying God is a lesser need, a lesser salvation than our salvation from sin.
And so here.
Here's pulsepoint.
It's not a great mystery.
It's not like some great feats of strength have to be.
Exhibited before you can.
Receive these promises from God.
God makes his word accessible to you.
Confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus.
Believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead and you will be saved.
FB Meyer puts it this way. The love and Grace of God are not concealed as hidden mysteries might be. There is no need to undertake a long and dangerous journey.
We have only to lift the heart to him in simple faith and confess him as our Savior and Lord, and we are assured of salvation from the penalty and power of sin.
God makes his word accessible to you.
He gives us everything that we need.
It's right there within our grasp and of course speaking about his word right that it's the gospel, but it's also the scriptures Paul tells us in Second Timothy Chapter 3, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.
It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the Man of God may be complete.
Thoroughly equipped for every good work God says here, I've made it right here for you.
It's accessible right here near to you.
It's in your heart it's on your lips it's in your hand you have everything you need to be equipped for every good work.
In the scriptures.
'cause I'm rooting for you 'cause I want what's best for you and I want you to experience my blessings in your life.
Well, we'll finish it up in verses 15 through 20 for point #4 this evening, and that is that God gives you a clear choice. Here's another way that you can tell you can understand. God is rooting for you.
Because he doesn't give you a great variety of things where you have a good chance of getting it wrong.
He defines for you a very clear opportunity.
He gives you the freedom to choose.
Please, but it's not a great mystery what you're choosing or which one you're choosing.
Or if you're choosing the right one.
You get to choose, but you know abundantly and clearly the choice.
That you are making.
Verse 15.
See I have set before you today life and good death and evil verse 16 and that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes and his judgments that you may live and multiply.
And the Lord your God will bless you in the land.
Which you go to possess.
Moses leaves out the truth for the nation of Israel, says, see, I have set before you.
Today, life and death, good and evil.
Here's your two choices.
And these are the same two choices that all of us have.
Any of us have all the time.
We can choose life.
Or death, good or evil?
Moses says here's the choice of life.
Love the Lord your God.
To walk in his ways and to keep his commandments.
Love God.
The choice is clear.
If you want life, if you want good then love God.
If you don't want to love God.
Then you're choosing death.
You're choosing evil verse 17.
If your heart turns away so that you do not hear and are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them.
I announced to you today that you shall surely perish.
You shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan, to go in and possess.
Here's the choices, they're clear.
When Israel starts down the path of rebellion, it's not because they thought they were serving God, they were trying to serve God and oops, they accidentally picked the wrong route.
Listen, that would be cruel for God to set things up that way.
So that you wouldn't know until 20 years down the line whether that was the right choice or not right now, God makes it clear he gives you a clear choice because he wants you to have the best opportunity.
And so he declares, the wages of sin is death.
But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Now choose.
He doesn't say, alright, you can follow this religion.
You can follow that religion.
You can follow that religion.
Here's 14 different religions.
I'm not going to tell you which ones right.
I'm not going to tell you which ones lead you to hell.
Just pick one and you'll find out eventually.
That would be cruel.
That would be unclear, right?
But instead.
Jesus tells us in John Chapter 3.
Hugh believes in Jesus is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he's not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.
Two choices believe in Jesus or don't believe in Jesus.
Not condemned or condemned.
Very clear.
Two choices, two options.
It's a very clear decision or choice that God gives us to decide.
Verse 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you.
That I have set before you life and death.
Blessing and cursing.
Therefore, choose life that you or that both you and your descendants may live again.
The choice is clear here.
It reiterates that.
And it's so important, he says, look, I call heaven and earth, heaven and earth will witness against you when you stand before God and heaven and Earth itself will say they were given a clear choice life and blessing or death and cursing.
Whichever one you experience, it's the one you choose, and it's not a great mystery.
It was your choice.
You had a clear choice and your major.
Choice and that's.
The consequences or the results of your choice.
And so God says, therefore.
Choose life why?
'cause he's rooting for you.
He wants you to have life and blessing verse 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey his voice, that you may cling to him, for he is your life and the length of your days, and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your father to.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
To give them.
Choose life, he says in verse 19.
How do you do that?
Love the Lord your God.
Obey his voice it's.
It's clear there's no mystery here, it's.
Not some great hidden thing.
God leaves it out for you.
And some people have a hard time with the idea of.
What Jesus said in John 14.
I am the way, the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me.
And some people resist that it seemed so restrictive it seemed so narrow seemed so minded, but.
Another way to understand that is it's so clear.
As I was reading through this, I know it's kind of silly and probably some of you haven't even seen it, but that that scene in Indiana Jones where he's got to select the right cup.
The cup isn't the right word.
There's another word, but it's not goblet either, it's anyways, so he's got to select the right one, right?
And then the other guy.
Selected and he dies in a gruesome way and and so he's got to pick the right one, right like that would be cruel for God to base your restoration or your salvation upon something like that and said, God said.
There's two choices I'm going to tell you which ones which I'm going to label them.
There's going to be, you know, clear signs warning signs over the one that will destroy you.
It's going to be.
Easy for you to discern which ones which you get to choose, but you know what you're choosing.
It's not a mystery.
Paul tells us in first Timothy chapter two there is one God and one mediator between God and men.
The man Christ Jesus.
In case there's any mystery about which Jesus were talking about, the one who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.
The one who died for us that Jesus is the one mediator between the one God and all of humanity.
One God, one mediator.
It's Jesus, it's very clear.
Beyond that choice beyond that initial, you know salvation and believing in Jesus.
We also have the walk with God and and again God still makes it very clear.
Paul tells us in Galatians Chapter 5 the works of the flesh are evident.
The works of the flesh are evident, and he goes on to list a bunch.
You can tell there's no big mystery about what the works of the flesh are.
And then the fruit of the spirit.
That's evident, there's.
No law against these things.
These things are good.
You walk in the spirit and you bear this fruit.
It's clear.
There's no mystery.
It's not ambiguous.
You walk in the flesh.
And you bear that fruit.
It's clear there's no mystery.
You have a clear choice.
And your heart may lie to you and try to tell you that the choice is not clear, right?
Your sinful nature might scream at you and try to drown out and pretend like it's not clear.
But God says.
There's life and there's that you only have these two choices and you know which ones which.
So choose life.
God is rooting for you, remember that.
Again, God tells the Nation of Israel when you find yourself.
You're in captivity, in a foreign land because of your long and stubborn rebellion against me.
Then call to mind these words, remember.
I'm rooting for you.
There's a way of repentance.
I've made sure that you've had that opportunity.
And I promise if you turn back to me and you repent, I will do a new work in your life and even greater work than I did in the times of blessing that happened before.
It's not a great mystery that you can't reach or you can't understand or figure out.
My word is accessible to you.
Seek me and you will find.
God says I'm giving you a clear choice.
You can turn to me and experience my blessing.
You can surrender to me and experience all that I have for you, life and good.
Or you can.
Rejects me.
You can deny me and experience the curses and the evil that will come from a rebellion against God.
God says I don't want to do that.
That's not the best.
That's not my choice.
My choice is to choose that you would choose life.
You get to choose.
But let me make it clear.
God says one is life, one is death.
I want you to choose life.
Let's pray.
But I pray that you would help us tonight, but as we wrestle with things in this life, and as we face battles in our day and temptations around us, where the enemy does the best that he can.
To try to bring confusion to the clarity that you've provided.
To try to make it seem like it's a mystery to try to make it seem like it's too hard, what?
Because he can't take away from us what you have for us.
All he can do is try to convince us to give up ourselves.
And to not follow.
The word that you've given to us, I pray God that you would help us to see through the deception and the lies.
But bring clarity, Lord, even though you've already made it clear, Lord, we pray for even more clarity, God that we'd be able to to see through the deception of our sinful nature, the deception that the enemy wants to bring against us, or that we would see clearly you want what's best for us.
And so you've laid before us, life and good.
Promises to bless.
Lord, teach us to hold fast to you.
To respond to your word and to love you with all of our hearts.
You want what's best for us.
Help us Lord to walk with you.
And receive it.
I pray this in Jesus name.