Life’s Greatest Decision

Introduction

Life is full of decisions. Some more monumental, life altering, and significant than others. Early on in life, you’re confronted with sports allegiances. And don’t think those are a small thing. I mean, I became a Cincinnati Bengals fan when I was a little boy. Little did I realize how painful that journey would be. How much ridicule and disappointment. You all know, Aggies, y’all know it. Oh. Oh. I got a text earlier this week from one of our members saying, Are you going to be at the crawfish boil? And I thought, well, that’s odd. Why would Chris Hester be asking me about whether or not I was going to attend the crawfish boil? And then I saw that hideous shirt that he was wearing, just for me and Meredith.

Where they’re going to build a fence, a wall around Auburn. Make it not a part of Alabama. The most hideous shirt I’ve ever seen. Thank you, Chris, for that. You wasted your money on that one. But then there’s the choice of a brand new car. Maybe you’ve not done that yet. But perhaps somewhere along in your history, there will be the decision to buy a brand spanking new car. And you’re thinking about, I don’t want to buy a lemon. I want to buy something that lasts. After all, I’m paying this retail price off the market, a used car, you know, you don’t have that new car cost. So here you’re buying the brand new car for the very first time. Boy, I need, I’m thinking 10 years.

I’ve got to get 10 years out of this baby to recoup the cost of buying it brand new. Because I really like that first four years of 50,000 miles guaranteed quality, at least you hope. But there are bigger issues. The college choice, the career, and even greater, the spouse. Great choices. But I want to talk to you a minute this morning about the supreme choice. Am I going to choose spirituality? Well, what is that exactly? You’ve got to come back tonight for further answers on that. Spirituality as God regards it. Immortality. That is real living forever. And the welfare of my soul and the souls of others. This involves the supreme choice that I want you to make if you have not already made it. Because so many choose a different path.

They choose the path of whatever self wants. Whatever self desires, whatever self concocts as the best way to live life. I am the one who maps out my destiny. I know what is best for me. Now think about that. We have an eternal creator whose understanding is infinite, but yet I’m saying, no, you don’t have the answers, but smart old me, who’s been around for a whole long time, and I know you think I have at 56 years, but I really haven’t. But you compare that to the wisdom and eternity of God, and you say, nope, I’m going this direction because I have fun doing this. That’s what we do. I have fun going this route. It brings me pleasure. Are you today at such a crossroads?

We don’t consider these concepts and thoughts every day of our lives. But there are times in our lives where we think about which way am I going to go? What decision am I going to make? What am I going to pursue and accomplish in life? And ultimately, this question, this decision, is ultimate. There are probably some in this audience today who need to be grappling with this ultimate concern. Critical moments, though, unfold where the choice must be made. One such occasion in history is recorded for us in Joshua chapter 24. This is such an incredible statement that Joshua makes to the people that it is almost trite in how often it is quoted, it is on memorabilia and plaques on people’s homes. Choose today whom you will serve.

If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served, which were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Fathers, leaders, mothers. Have you made such a choice for you and for your house? Joshua’s charge is as relevant right now, today, as it was to the audience that heard it so many years ago. But you know, Joshua knew that this would not be an easy choice. He will say, and these are compelling verses in verse 19. Then Joshua said to the people, you will not be able to serve the Lord. Well, could we be a little bit more positive here, Joshua?

You will not be able to serve the Lord. Perhaps that’s a message that’s needed even now. It rolls right off the tongue. I’ll serve the Lord, we’ll serve the Lord. But he says, you need to understand something about that kind of a commitment and that kind of choice that God has some very real expectations, and that he’s a jealous God. He’s holy, he’s jealous. He won’t forgive your transgressions or your sins. Oh, I know God is a God of forgiveness, but if we’re just going to revel in rebellion, no, sir. Israel’s past had so demonstrated. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, if you choose someone else other than Him, then He will turn and do you harm? He will tear you into pieces, the psalmist says in Psalm 50.

And consume you after he has done good to you. And the people said to Joshua, no, but we will serve the Lord. Can Israel rise above her disappointing past and render unto God the wholehearted devotion he deserves and requires? And that’s really a question we need to ask ourselves as I presented this great decision that is before us all today. And we’re thinking in our own minds when I say it, I’m serving the Lord. I’ve chosen to serve the Lord. But will we? Do we appreciate the jealous and holy God that calls us? Can we rise above our disappointing past and render unto God the kind of wholehearted devotion that he both deserves and requires. How do we, how can we develop and maintain a whole heart investment toward God?

How can we know more consistency in holiness before such a God? And how can we settle into a constant, unwavering commitment and be a help to his people? Those are important questions for me to consider. Am I right now today investing my whole heart toward God and His service and submission to Him? How am I doing in holiness from day to day? Am I struggling? Am I knowing more victories than failures? Let us assess the status of our hearts. How constant are we in our participation among his people and in our contribution in every way to the welfare of souls, to the welfare of others. My sacrifice for you and your sacrifice for me. That’s what this body is designed to be about.

1. Acknowledge Complete Indebtedness and God Dependency

I want to make five observations from this great text, this great challenge, as they stand at the crossroads of life’s supreme choice. There are several things that appear in this text that we need to take thought of. And number one is to acknowledge complete indebtedness and God dependency. I’ve been harping on that a lot. And I’m not sorry for it. Because I think at the foundation of everything that we are spiritually is an understanding that I could not be here without God. I’m not good enough. I haven’t been good enough. I’m not good enough still. I know there were some requirements that I had to meet, but in no way can I rise up out of the waters of baptism and say, look at what I’ve done.

It’s God’s mercy, his kindness, his salvation, the sacrifice of my Lord that makes that even possible. The washing away of my transgressions and the litany of mistakes that I’ve made before and after. Without the blood of Christ, I am nothing. Without his atonement, I am nothing. Without his ongoing mercy, I am hopeless. From the beginning. Where Joshua speaks of the call of Abram and mentions Tara, his father. It says, they served other gods. I don’t know if we can really appreciate God being called out from among his relatives and his people in Genesis chapter 12 unto a land that I will show you. He is coming from a pagan background. This is not a monotheistic situation. This is a polytheistic family, and he’s being called to serve the one true God and to do his bidding and to go where he beckons.

And Abram goes, and a promise is made to Abraham that affects the rest of history. Through your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Let us marvel at the faith of Abraham. But you know what follows in verses 3 through 13? Oh, and count it up. How many times the word I is found in the next 11 verses.

See if I’m right. And he’ll let me know one way or the other. I counted them several times. I took. I brought you out. I sent the hornet. I gained. I plagued Egypt, verse 5, by what I did in its midst. And afterward I brought you out. Verse 10. I was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I delivered you from his hand. I sent the hornet, verse 12. I gave you a land, verse 13, on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them. You are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. Seventeen times or thereabouts, God says, I did it. I did it. I did it.

Don’t think that’s an accident in the narrative. It is being made abundantly clear.

You are only here because of what I’ve done. Because I chose your father Abraham. Because I made a promise to him. Because I have helped you in spite of yourselves. And I have brought you to a place of abundance. A land that flows with milk and honey, as it is described, another place that’s you didn’t plant them. You didn’t provide him for yourselves. I did it. Remember, Jericho? I did it. Remember the battles that you’ve won. I did it. I was good to you and to my promise in spite of you. And a whole generation has died in the wilderness in spite of them. God has blessed them. And don’t ever forget. We have been blessed even more abundantly in spite of ourselves. God has saved me.

God has transformed me. He has redeemed my life from the pit. Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits. All that is within me bless his holy name. Why? He pardons your iniquities. He heals your diseases. He redeems your life from the pit. He crowns you. Want to be a king? He crowns you with loving kindness and compassion. He satisfies your years with good things so that your youth is renewed like an eagle. He has not dealt with you according to your sins. Instead, he has removed our transgressions far from us as from the west. I had to think about it. I think I got it right. So far, he has removed our transgressions from us, just as a father has compassion on his children, for he himself knows our frame that we are but dust.

2. Rehearse Constantly What God Has Done

Point number two from these same verses. I think we learned something here about how to keep our faith steadfast and strong, and that is that we need to rehearse constantly what God has done. You know, I went through all of those things. Oh yeah. Yeah, he did that, he did that, he did that. What were what were the families supposed to do to talk about God as they rose up and as they were to lie down and as they walked by the way and was to be over the doorpost of their house, and their life was to be about rehearsing what God has done. And I think it is our tendency to simply start taking all of that for granted. And that’s why we need to constantly be about examining the biblical record to remember all the things that God has done.

I think I could probably talk about atonement for a whole year and never exhaust. The riches of what is done. As Mike was reading from Hebrews, I got another whole sermon coming just on what Mike said about Hebrews chapter 7.

But I want you to think about something as we share to our children and to another generation that’s following after us the great things that God has done. It is not just about the great things that God has done in the past.

And what God has done in me. And what God has done in you.

It shaped my life. I went to Florida college. And there my faith became my own. And I was changed in a way that was new and different. It wasn’t mom and daddy’s faith anymore, it was mine. And I’ve been on a course ever since that has brought me in the path of great people. God’s people. And my character has changed, thankfully. And it’s not done changing. Because I’m on a course that my God has set me on. And I’ll never be the same. I am forever changed. And we need to talk to our kids about how the gospel has changed our lives. How it changes us still. And what worship means to us. The things that we think about as we sing and as we worship with God’s people.

3. The Recipe: Fear, Serve, and Put Away

Thirdly, I want to look at the verse that precedes verse 15. Choose you this day, whom you will serve. Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth. And put away the gods which your father served beyond the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord. You know what we have in verse 14? It is the recipe. It is the recipe for coming to God. Period. It is the recipe for serving God once we have come to him. Three elements. Fear, serve, and put away. Know who he is. Marvel at him, our God who is an awesome God and a consuming fire. You better know who he is and who you are in comparison. You fear God, and you dedicate yourself to serving him in his way, on his terms, with all that you have to give it, as we saw in Psalm 103.

You fear, you serve, and you realize there are things that must be jettisoned from your thinking in your life. There are things that must still be put away. To remove all that remains of wickedness, James says in chapter 1 and verse 21, and receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. Fight against everything that is less than what he desires, because your adversary will not leave you alone. He did not leave Israel alone. The recipe for making life supreme decision and sticking with that path is to fear and serve and put away and meet that responsibility today. Do it now. Just for today, help me to walk the narrow way. May my words bring honor to your name. Now is always the right time to choose, to rededicate, to recommit, to be revived.

4. It's Always Time for Revival: Choose Today

I don’t know where the whole gospel meeting term came to be. I don’t even know what that means to people anymore. It’s a good news meeting. I’m not sure if they even get that. It is. It’s a meeting about the good news where somebody’s come to proclaim the good news, but it used to be called a revival. I don’t know what it was called before that, but I do think gospel meetings can revive people’s spirits. I was just in one in Louisville, Kentucky, and I saw the revival in the people. I had a 93-year-old sister named Captola come up to me after I preached the sermon when I awake, talking about starting each day with God first and foremost. And she said, I needed that.

Still trying to serve the Lord better. It’s always time for revival. I see every assembly as a time for revival. The urgency of today, the urgency of today should always be felt and appreciated. There was an urgency today.

Today, among his people. Choose today.

5. Follow Your Spiritual Leaders

And as our brother Whalen said, you just have to be faithful for today. And finally, follow your spiritual leaders. I’m not saying follow them blindly. Because the blind follow the blind, they both fall into the pit. There can be blind guides. Jesus warns about that in Matthew 15. Every plant not planted by my heavenly father shall be rooted up. Matthew 15, 13, I can still hear Robert Jackson preaching that years ago. Every plant not planted by my heavenly father shall be rooted up. It was awesome. Wish you could have heard it. Better than what I just did. But I’ve loved verse 31 for a long time. Remember Joshua had said, you can’t serve the Lord. He’s a holy and jealous God. Well, we’re going to serve the Lord.

We’re going to do it. And verse 31 says, And Israel did that. They served the Lord. Now, the future generations, they did not as well. And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua. And all the days of the elders who survived Joshua and had known all the deeds of the Lord. Okay. They had known all the deeds of the Lord which he had done for Israel. There’s something about that. Joshua and the elders of Israel, this new generation, remember they had been purged. The old generation had died away in the wilderness. This new young, more faithful generation. They were influential. And the people served the Lord because of that. Have you thought about the fact that other younger people are watching you?

Sorry, as you get older, that’s just the role you occupy. Our young people are watching us. They need to see faith in us. They need to see that our God is real. They need to see consistency in us. They need to see that your spirituality is genuine. And they need to see it not just on Sunday, they need to see it in your home. They need to see it in the way that you treat them and the way that you treat your spouse. They will make observations about how real and how strong your faith is and never say a word. How many young people have left the Lord because of churches who were fussing and fighting and not behaving as the Lord’s people should, and who are cranked about everything?

You think that doesn’t influence people? It does. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re a preacher or elder, deacon, or Bible class teacher, every member here wields influence. Do you see this great role? Look beyond your own circumstances. Even those of you who are younger. How are you influencing others by your religious choices? I mentioned Brother Wayland, our leader who still speaks to us. I was preaching Sunday afternoon. Boy, that was tough. I’d preach two sermons Sunday morning on Eastern time, which means earlier. I mean, I’m preaching, I really should just now be getting out of bed and I’m preaching, you know. And so then they say, oh, by the way, our service this afternoon is at 2.30. No problem, because we have a potluck. Okay, so you go from that to preaching again at 2 30.

That’s so common. And here comes, you know, my aunt comes over from Southern Indiana, and with her is Nancy Mary. I’ve known Nancy since I was four years old. And her husband Dave. Influential people in my life. Dave was the longtime principal of an elementary school in Georgetown, Indiana. Served as one of the elders at the Charlestown Road Church in New Albany, was always someone when I was a little kid, besides my parents, besides the other godly people that I knew, I always looked up to Dave. And I always thought, how did he become such a man? So steady, so good. And I remember thinking one day I when I grow up, I want to be like Dave. And Dave just went on to his reward.

Conclusion

But is there someone you look up to and you say, I want to be like them? Are you one of those people that someone is looking up to saying, I want to be like them? It is an awesome responsibility. In reality, every assembly places us at the crossroads of choice. And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore put away the foreign gods which were in your midst and incline your hearts. There it is. There is the choice. Incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel. And the people said to Joshua, We will. We will serve the Lord our God, and we will obey his voice.

Will you incline your heart as you sit at the crossroads? Will you choose the path of growth and new resolves and cultivate faith? Will you choose supremely? Let’s stand and say.