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“The
Greatest Choice You Will Ever Make”
READ IN THE BIBLE
(HEBREWS 11:24-26)
Choices! Choices!
Choices! We are faced with them
practically every day. Many choices we
make are minor in nature. Choices like,
“what shall we wear”, “what shall we eat”, “where shall we go”, etc? With these types of choices we give little
thought and concern if we make a wrong choice.
There are other choices we make which are more serious in nature. Choices like, “should I marry this person”,
should I attend this college”, “should I take this job”, “should I buy this car
or this home”, ‘should I invest my money in this fund”, etc? The results of a wrong choice in matters of
this type can be more profound and in some cases can have life long
consequences. “The Greatest Choice You Will Ever Make” however, has to do with
your eternal destiny. Many people are
planning carefully and working feverously because they have chosen to provide
for themselves a comfortable retirement in a coming day. This is good and wise in itself but it is
short sided indeed if no preparation has been made beyond the grave. HAVE YOU MADE THE CHOICE TO PREPARE FOR
ETERNITY AND THE WELL BEING OF YOUR OWN SOUL?
What God said to the nation of Israel He says to YOU also, (Deuteronomy 30:19) “I call heaven and earth to record this
day against you, that I have set before
you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live”. Are YOU aware that there is a choice
before you, a choice between life and death?
If you turn away and make no choice YOU ARE MAKING A CHOICE. To do nothing is to make the wrong
choice. To do nothing is to choose
death. This is because God says in His
Word, (Romans 3:9, 10, 12, 19, 23) “Jews and Gentiles,
they are all under sin”, “There is none righteous no not one”, “There is none
that doeth good no not one”, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory
of God”, “All the world is guilty (subject to the judgment) before God”. Notice that sin is universal. There are no exclusions or exceptions. ALL HAVE SINNED. Because God is holy and just He must and will
judge sin and the sinner. We read in, (Hebrews 9:27) “It is appointed unto men once to
die, but AFTER THIS THE JUDGMENT”. Dear
reader, in love for your soul we warn you, unless you get saved, ahead are
death, judgment, hell and an eternity to be spent banished from God in the
“lake of fire”. We read in, (Revelation 20:15) “And whosoever was not found written in
the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”. Is YOUR NAME in God’s “book of
life”? It can only be there if you have
deliberately “chosen life” by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and receiving
Him as your personal Savior. Dear reader, this is why God says in His Word, “Choose life”. You choose death by being disobedient,
by ignoring God’s warning in His Word. You choose death by remaining in your
sins. You choose death by deliberately refusing to make the conscious
choice to choose life. God urges you to
“choose life” because He said in, (2 Peter 3:9) that
He “Is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance”. It says also in, (1 Timothy 2:3, 4) “God our Savior who will have all men to be saved, and come unto the knowledge of
the truth”. These verses tell us
that it is “GOD’S WILL” that all be saved.
It is NOT GOD’S WILL that any perish in their sins. God has proven this by sending His beloved
Son to be the Savior of sinners. We read
in, (1 Timothy 1:15) “Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners. The question is what is “YOUR WILL”? Will you choose life? You
choose life by obeying the word of God.
You choose life by repenting
of your sins (this means to change your mind about your sins and your sinful
condition). You choose life by believing in and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ
as your own personal Savior. “The
Greatest Choice You Will Ever Make” is this choice between life and death.
In our main scripture
text in (Hebrews 11:24-26) we read about an incident in the early life of
Moses. He was faced with a very serious
choice. It was a choice that would change
the rest of his life as well as secure the eternal well being of his own
soul. It says in these verses, “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; CHOOSING rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward”. The choice that Moses made will
probably seem strange and illogical to most people reading this message. Moses could have had all the glory of Egypt. He was
the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter and thus brought up as an Egyptian
prince. How could he make such a choice,
to take sides with the slave nation of Israel and all their severe persecution in exchange for a life of wealth and riches in the
royal palace? Many would say there was
really no decision to be made and that the choice was very clear. Who would possibly choose slavery over the
opulence of the royal palace? Let us
notice two things about this incident in the life of Moses. First, the choice he did not make and
secondly, the choice he did make.
THE CHOICE MOSES DID NOT MAKE.
He did not choose
“the pleasures of sin for a season”. It cannot be denied that there is an amount
of pleasure in sin. Multitudes, these
days, are choosing “the pleasures of sin for a season”. Most people live for the present and for
passing pleasure. The places of
amusement and entertainment around the world are full to capacity. Thoughts of death and an eternity to be spent
somewhere are pushed to the back of the mind.
Please notice the words, “for a season”.
Sin is only “for a season”. It is
only for this life and how short a time it is in light of eternity. We read in, (James
2:14) “Ye know not what shall be on the morrow.
For what is your life? It is even
a vapor (a mist, a puff of smoke), that appeareth for a little time, and then
vanisheth away”. James reminds us
of the uncertainty and the brevity of life.
The gratification of sinful appetites will soon come to an end. The time of your end is uncertain but the
fact of your end is certain. Notice also
that Moses did not choose the
treasures of Egypt. Unlike Moses,
multitudes are pursuing worldly success and prosperity while at the same time
neglecting eternity and the well being of their own soul. The Bible, the Word of God, reminds us in, (Mark 8:36) “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain
the whole world, and loose his own soul”? “Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his own soul”? Dear reader,
is this a description of YOU, to gain as much of this world as you possibly
can? I know you cannot gain the whole
world but you can certainly lose your own soul while pursuing wealth and
success. Your soul is of incomparable
value and it would be a bad bargain indeed, if you lost your soul while
pursuing worldly success and riches.
Your eternal security depends on you making the right choices and
therefore not making the wrong choices.
Are YOU choosing your own way through life instead of God’s way? God says in, (Isaiah
66:3, 4) “They have chosen their own ways, and their soul
delighteth in their abominations”.
“When I
called, none did answer; when I
spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that which I delighted not”. God is calling YOU to repent of your sins
and to receive the salvation He is offering as a free gift through His beloved
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in, (Romans 6:23) “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.
Many today are ignoring God’s call and offer of salvation. To these God issues a warning in His Word, (Proverbs 1:24-31) “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no
man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my
reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not
answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: They would none of my counsel: they despised
all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat
of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices”. This scripture portion reminds us that
it is a serious mistake to reject God’s call to come to Him for salvation and
to make the wrong choice to “not choose the fear of the Lord”. We read in, (Romans 3:18) “There is no fear of God before their
eyes”. This is true of most people today.
Is this true of YOU?
Let’s consider next;
THE CHOICE MOSES DID MAKE.
Our scripture text in
(Hebrews 11:24-36) tells us Moses chose, “to suffer
affliction with the people of God”. There
was a two-fold reason why Moses made this choice;
- He “considered the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt”. (Hebrews
11:26a)
- “He had respect unto the
recompense of the reward” (Hebrews 11:26b)
These two reasons would
not be found in the thought process of the natural man. The natural man (sinful man) would naturally
choose “the pleasures of sin for a season”.
They would naturally choose “worldly success and prosperity” (the
treasures of Egypt). A man of the world,
making choice with natural reasoning and human ambitions only, would have no
hesitation or doubt when making these choices.
Moses choices however, were made out of faith in God. Faith has wider horizons. Faith looks beyond time into eternity. Faith looks up to God. Moses, in faith, could see and understand
that the choice was either, pleasures now for a season and eternal suffering
afterwards, or suffering now, if need be, for a little while, with pleasures
for evermore. We read in, (Psalm 16:11) “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in THY PRESENCE IS FULLNESS OF JOY; AT THY
RIGHT HAND THERE ARE PLEASURES FOR EVERMORE”.
Notice that these pleasures are NOT for a season but they are
pleasures for evermore. They are
pleasures to be found at the right hand of God.
They are pleasures that result in “fullness of joy”. Moses looked off, away into the future. He saw, by faith, beyond worldly attractions
and worldly ambitions and the temporary pleasures which could have been his as
an Egyptian prince. Faith makes the invisible
visible. That which is not
comprehensible to human thought and reasoning becomes crystal clear to the eye
of faith. Moses “considered
the reproach of Christ”. The
reproach of Christ speaks of Calvary and the Savior’s suffering and death on
the cross for our sins. It is a wise
person who considers the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ when making
choices for the future. One of the
reasons is because of what we read in, (John 3:16) “For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. In condescending grace the Son of God
came down from heaven. The incarnation
of the Son of God was a great mystery.
God became man. Deity took on
humanity. The high and lofty One of
heaven became the lowly man of Calvary. We read
in, (Hebrews 2:14, 9) “Forasmuch then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the
same”. “We see Jesus, who was made a
little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and
honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man”. We
mention again, (1 Timothy 1:15) “Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners”. In order to provide salvation for sinful man He
would have to go to the cross. He came
to die. We read in, (Philippians 2:8) He was, “Obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross”.
It says of Him in, (Isaiah 53:7) “He was
oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as
a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth
not His mouth”. In His obedience
and humility He was blindfolded, buffeted and beaten. He was reviled, reproached and rejected. It was written prophetically, (Psalm 69:9) “The reproaches of them that reproached thee are
fallen upon me”. The reproach the
Lord Jesus suffered was due to His zeal for God. This causeless hostility and reproach came
from sinful men who had no regard for God and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God. But, Christ not only suffered at
the hands of sinful man, He also suffered, on the cross, at the hands of a Holy
God. The wrath and judgment of God was
poured out upon Him when God made His soul and offering for sin. We read in, (Romans
4:25) “He was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification”. The gospel, the good news of God is
that which we read in, (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4) Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures; He was buried, and He rose again
the third day according to the scriptures”.
Death and the grave could not hold the Savior for He was the
holy, spotless, sinless Son of God. The
resurrection of Christ and His subsequent ascension back to heaven are truths
found throughout the Bible, the Word of God.
To Moses, and any other man of faith, adversity suffered for Christ is
greater than worldly prosperity. Moses
saw that being connected with the reproach of Christ was greater riches than
were in all the treasures of Egypt. It
also says of Moses “He had respect unto the recompense
of the reward” (Hebrews 11:26b). In
faith he weighed the riches of Christ against the treasures of this world and
esteemed the former greater than the latter. He knew what every believer comes to know,
that when one is a child of God, they become heirs; “heirs
of God, and joint-heirs with Christ”. (Romans 8:17). The Psalmist could say, (Psalm 119:173) “I have chosen thy precepts”. He said also, (Psalm
119:30) “I have chosen the way of truth”.
It is a wise person that makes these same choices. It is a wise person who chooses the Word of
God as their guide and chooses “the way of truth” as their means of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is “the way of truth”. We read in, (John
14:6) “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the father, but by me”.
In closing I would
remind you that God has done everything necessary to provide salvation for
you. In eternity past, before the world
was brought into being, it was ordained that the Son of God would become
incarnate, “God manifest in the flesh”. We
read in, (1 Peter 1:19, 20) “Christ as a lamb without blemish
and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world”. God
identified His beloved Son to be the “Lamb of God” who would be sacrificed on
the cross for our sins. Thank God, God made the right choice. We read of His choice in, (Matthew 12:18) “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom
my soul is well pleased”. Through
His sacrificial death on the cross all the righteous demands of a holy God have
been satisfied and the way of salvation has been made available. Jesus Christ is God’s way of salvation. (Acts 16:31) “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved”. God says, “Behold Him”. Pay attention to Him. YOU
are traveling the “highway of life”, passing through time on the way to
eternity. There are only two
destinations before you. It will either
be eternal joy in heaven or eternal sorrow in hell. Now that you have read this message you have
come to a “crossroads” on your life’s journey.
Which way will you go? What
choice will YOU make? We read in, (Joshua 24:15) “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. Will YOU make the right choice like
Joshua? There is urgency about this
matter. The choice needs to be now and
the choice needs to be for the Lord Jesus Christ to be your Savior. Will YOU believe in Him and by a
definite act of faith, receive Him as your own personal Savior? Please give this matter your most serious
attention. Your eternal destiny depends
on your decision and the choice YOU make.
Christian Messenger