Deuteronomy chapter 30, the part that I want to focus on is beginning of verse number 10
and the title of the sermon tonight is taken directly from this passage, the words choose
life.
That's what God says down in verse 19, he says choose life.
Now starting at verse number 10 the Bible reads, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice
of the Lord thy God to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this
book of the law and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with
all thy soul for this commandment which I command thee this day it is not hidden from
thee neither is it far off.
It is not in heaven that thou shouldest say who shall go up for us to heaven and bring
it unto us that we may hear it and do it.
Neither is it beyond the sea that thou shouldest say who shall go over the sea for us and bring
it unto us that we may hear it and do it.
That the word is very nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou mayest do
it.
See I have set before thee this day life and good, death and evil in that I command thee
this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments and
his statutes and his judgments that thou mayest live and multiply and the Lord thy God shall
bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it but if thine heart turn away
so that thou wilt not hear but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them
I denounce unto you this day that ye shall surely perish and that ye shall not prolong
your days upon the land whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
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.
That thou mayest love the Lord thy God and that thou mayest obey his voice and that thou
mayest cleave unto him for he is thy life and the length of thy days that thou mayest
dwell in the land which the Lord swear unto thy fathers to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob
to give them.
What I want to preach about tonight is the fact that God gives us a choice.
There are people who don't believe this.
They think that we have no choice and God's in control and you know some people are the
elect and they're going to be saved no matter what you know this Calvinist type doctrine
and you know some people are chosen to be saved and other people are chosen to be damned
and you know it's all foreordained and there's no God's real clear in this passage I am giving
you a choice and he's even making oaths and swearing to them and he's even saying I call
heaven and earth to record this day in verse 19 he says that I have set before you life
and death.
If someone teaches that we don't have a choice then this would be a lie.
If God's saying look heaven and earth are witness I swear to you that I am setting before
you life and death and in reality it's already foreordained who's going to live and who's
going to die then this would be a lie but he says over and over again no I've given
you a choice.
You can either live or you can die.
You can be blessed or you can be cursed and you say well you know this isn't really a
salvation passage because this is talking about earthly blessings and earthly cursings
but here's the thing though in the New Testament the Apostle Paul quotes back to this scripture
and he relates it unto salvation in Romans chapter 10 and that shows that this same choice
of life or death not only does it apply to our physical lives and the blessings that
we have on the land where we live but also it has to do with eternal life or eternal
damnation because he said in Romans chapter 10 brethren my heart's desire and prayer to
God for Israel is that they might be saved for I bear them record that they have a zeal
of God but not according to knowledge for they be ignorant of God's righteousness and
going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves under the righteous
which is of God for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness by faith to all those
that believe on him and he said this he said don't say in your heart who shall ascend into
heaven that is to bring Christ down from above or who shall descend into the deep that is
to bring up Christ again from the dead but what saith he the word is nigh thee even in
thy mouth and in thy heart that's all a quote from this passage if you were paying attention
when we read and then he says even the word of faith which we preach that if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved so when it comes to salvation there's a choice
life or death when it comes to our lives there's a choice blessing or cursing life
or death and God lists all the blessings he'll give when we obey him and all the cursings
that we'll receive if we don't and he commands us to choose life he's saying look I'm setting
both before you but it's not that I don't care which one you choose it's not like God
just says well I'm setting before you life and death do what you want I don't care no
he says I'm setting before you life and death and then he begs us choose life he pleads
with us he implores us to choose life just like Jesus Christ when he was on this earth
was constantly pleading with people to be saved and he stood up and said if any man
thirst let him come unto me you know as the scriptures have said out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water and he stood up and cried out and he he begs people to be
saved it's not that God doesn't care it's not that God doesn't have a will he does have
a will he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance but
he gives us the choice now let me just go to some other scriptures where God gives us
a choice this isn't just an isolated scripture go to Joshua chapter 24 here's another famous
passage where God gives man a choice and he puts before them a couple of options and it
says in Joshua chapter 24 verse 14 now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and
in truth and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood
and in Egypt and serve ye the Lord and if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord
choose you this day whom you will serve whether the gods which your father served that were
on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell but
as for me and my house we will serve the Lord but he said it's up to you choose you this
day whom you will serve as for me and my house we will serve the Lord and the people answered
and said God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods you know on and
on throughout the Bible we can see choices that God gives to man look at first chronicles
chapter 21 another example first chronicles chapter 21 while you're turning there I'll
just quote for you from proverbs 3 verse 31 where the Bible says envy now thou not the
oppressor and choose none of his ways God is saying don't choose the way of the oppressor
and don't be envious of him look at first chronicles 21 here's where God gives David
a choice David is sinned David is done wrong a punishment is coming and God lets David
choose his punishment it says in first chronicles 21 10 go and tell David saying thus saith
the Lord I offer thee three things choose thee one of them that I may do it unto thee
so God came to David and said unto him thus saith the Lord choose thee either three years
famine or three months to be destroyed before thy foes while that the sword of thine enemies
overtake thee or else three days the sword of the Lord even the pestilence in the land
and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel now therefore advise
thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me and God is giving David a choice
here and when David makes that choice God acknowledges that choice and that's the punishment
that he brings we are given choices today it's not that we have no determining in our
outcome and we know whatever is going to happen is going to happen no he gives us options
and says choose he wants us to choose what's right but we have the option to choose either
right or wrong and we're the ones who are going to live with the consequences go to
Proverbs chapter 1 Proverbs chapter number 1 Proverbs chapter 1 and while you're turning
there I'll read for you a scripture from Isaiah 65 verse 12 where it reads therefore will
I number you to the sword and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter and this is real
similar to Proverbs 1 he says because when I called ye did not answer when I spake ye
did not hear but did evil before mine eyes and did choose that wherein I delighted not
so what's the problem here why are these people suffering why are they being punished why
the slaughter because he says I tried to reach out to you I called out to you and you refused
because you chose that wherein I delighted not you made the wrong choice and so when
we make wrong choices in our lives bad things are going to happen and it's not God's fault
it's not that there was just God's will for those bad things to happen no they're a result
of the bad choices that we made look at Proverbs chapter 1 in verse number 24 because I've
called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but you have said
it not 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 just because
I just randomly chose that these people are doomed is that what he's saying no because
in the next verse he says for that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the
Lord why are these bad things happening because they made the wrong choice not random not
foreordained but they made the wrong choice they would none of my counsel they despised
all my reproof therefore so they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with
their own devices now it's funny I was at the bookstore yesterday and I was looking
through a bunch of books and I was looking for a picture and it was like a Christian
book section or whatever in this bookstore or theology books and this book just kind
of caught my eye I was looking for something totally different but this book caught my
eye it said internal contradictions in the Bible and it was this book so I pulled out
the book and it's going to list off all the contradictions in the Bible and it says oh
man these fundamentalists you know they try to say that the Bible is God's word and it's
just so easy to prove the contradictions and I flipped through most of this entire
book and every single one of these I mean there wasn't even one where I was like oh
man that's challenging I mean it was like it was so dumb and just it was just ridiculous
and just to give you an example the reason that I'm bringing up that book I was looking
at is because one of them was this passage they brought out as a contradiction in the
Bible they showed a verse that said they that seek me early shall find me and then
they pointed to this verse where it says in verse 28 then shall they call upon me but
I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me see the contradiction
but the fools are not reading this passage for what he's saying they've already rejected
him repeatedly and that's what they're missing the context so it's easy just to pull a verse
out of context and say well this verse says if they seek me early they'll find me it's
talking about a totally different group of people at a totally different stage of their
lives okay and then over here it's talking about people who he said I called they refused
I stretched out my hand no man regarded it they hated knowledge they despised my reproof
that's why when they seek me early they won't find me because it's too late for them and
so the supposed contradictions in the Bible are just people who don't understand think
about if I handed you a book that you don't understand yeah you're probably gonna find
all kinds of contradictions in it because you just don't understand the book and the
Bible says the natural man received not the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness
unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned and the author
of the book was clearly just an unsaved scoffer and and that's what I wish I could think of
more examples that he brought out but that's the kind of stuff that was on like every page
of this book as you flip through it because you hear people say all the time oh the Bible's
filled with contradictions and you say show me one and whenever they show you it there's
always a way to show that it's actually not a contrary I mean people just that have zero
understand about well the Bible says thou shalt not kill over here but then it tells
him to kill an animal over here you know it's obviously when he says thou shall not kill
he's talking about murder and it defines it as murder Jesus quoted as thou shalt do
no murder and obviously he's not saying don't kill a plant you know don't eat don't cut
down a tree because you killed that plant okay obviously you got to get the context
of what he means there he says thou shalt not kill you know we're talking about killing
an innocent human being there are other places where he talks about executing criminals it's
not a contradiction it's just they don't understand the laws of God because they are fools and
to the fool you know knowledge is over his head it's too high for him he can't comprehend
it and so I just thought I'd point that out since I happen to be glanced at that book
yesterday but if you would flip over to first Timothy chapter two because I want to say
this I showed you some scriptures just where God's telling you choose in regard to salvation
in regard to blessings and cursings on your life just even in regard to a punishment that
David was going to receive God tells man choose and he even swears that he's setting
before us a choice and that there's life and death and there's good and evil and there's
blessing and cursing he'd be a liar if those choices didn't really exist if he's making
the choice and we have no choice then he'd be lying and God cannot lie look what the
Bible says in first Timothy 2 because I want to make this point God's will does not always
happen people have this attitude well if it's God's will it's going to happen and if
it's not God's will not going to happen who's heard people say that before of course people
say it all the time it's not true but let me show you a perfect example first Timothy
2 4 says this about God who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge
of the truth now let me ask somebody are all men saved will all men come to the knowledge
of the truth well then here's a perfect example of God's will not happening his will is that
all men would be saved and that they would come into the knowledge of the truth he says
for there's one God and one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus who gave
himself a ransom for all again the Calvinist says hey he didn't die for everybody but here
it says he gave himself a ransom for all elsewhere it says he tasted death for every man elsewhere
it said he's the savior of all men specially of those that believe elsewhere it talks about
even false prophets whose damnation slumber not it says they deny the Lord that bought
them why because he died for all men he's a ransom for all but that doesn't mean all
men are going to be saved God's not willing that any should perish do men perish then
there's another perfect example of God's will not happen think about the most famous prayer
in the Bible what's commonly referred to as the Lord's Prayer which is Jesus giving a
pattern unto his disciples of how to pray our father which art in heaven hallowed be
thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven why would we pray
for God's will to be done if it's automatically going to be done what's the point just to
do a vain repetition just an exercise of just thy will be done God well I know it's already
going to but I just like the way it makes me feel when I say that no the point of saying
thy will be done is because we want God's will to be done and the Bible says if we ask
anything according to his will he heareth us and if we know that he hear us whatsoever
we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him well but if you were
going to get it you're going to get no you have to ask for it because he said you have
not because you ask not so that proves that prayer is not just an exercise that we go
through he said you have not because you ask not and you ask and receive not because
you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lust so when we ask for things in prayer
we are changing something because if we don't pray we're not going to get anything we will
have not because we ask not and if we do not pray for God's will to take place then God's
will may not take place in any given situation or scenario but if we pray and seek God and
ask that his will be done he hears and answers prayer so it's not just this thing of it's
all foreordained God's will is set in stone look it's false and the Bible shows it to
be false over and over again here's another really good example of this go back to Esther
chapter 4 while you're turning there I'll read you another scripture along these same
lines Matthew 18 14 says even so it is not the will of your father which is in heaven
that one of these little ones should perish so it's not God's will that one of the little
ones perish but do some of the little ones perish yeah they do because God's will doesn't
always happen God's will you say what is God's will let me just demystify God's will will
simply means what you want just to put it in just plain English God's will is what God
wants that's what it means and we talked about my will we're talking about what I want that's
all so does does what God wants to happen always happen well you know what if God's
will always happens he's got he wants some pretty weird stuff because look at all the
weird stuff that's going on in the world why would God want all this weird perverted stuff
to go on he doesn't want it in fact he gets angry at stuff that happens and he looks down
sometimes and it grieves him at what's happening and one time it even said they repented me
that I've even made man upon the earth because he doesn't want them to do what they're doing
he doesn't want us to go out and live a wicked life he doesn't want people to be unsafe he
doesn't want you know poor innocent victims to be slaughtered or injured or corrupted
so this idea that God's will always happens is just it's just a doctrine of the ignorant
and it does not jive with the teachings of scripture Esther 4 13 this is a powerful example
and I have to just give you a real brief background in order to help you just understand where
we're at in the story but this is when Haman the wicked Haman wants to slaughter all of
the Jews this is back around the time that they've been scattered into all nations they've
gone into captivity of the Babylonians and then you know the Medo-Persian empire so they're
in places outside of the promised land and they're in captivity and Haman who's the second
in command of this great kingdom of 127 provinces you know basically the civilized world is
under this kingdom of Ahasuerus and his right hand man is Haman and Haman wants people to
bow down to him and do obeisance to him and the Jews they don't want to bow down to man
they only want to bow before the Lord that was back when they actually worshiped the
Lord you know before they rejected Jesus and so they won't bow down so Haman wants to kill
all the Jews he wants them wiped out and so Mordecai he tells Esther that he wants her
to go to the king and to intercede for the Jews that they would not be killed because
Esther is the queen and so she can go in and talk to the king and hopefully make something
happen to fix this but she's afraid to do it because of the fact that she's not supposed
to go into the king's presence uninvited she hasn't been invited a month and she's not
supposed to just waltz in there and start making demands and in fact the penalty for
going into the king's presence unannounced and just bursting in without an invite is
death unless he holds out the golden scepter departed and so she's afraid and doesn't want
to do it so Mordecai is rebuking her and saying look you need to do this and look what
he says in verse 13 then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther think not with thyself that
thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews because at this point the
king doesn't know that she's Jewish but he says you know don't just think that you're
going to escape for if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time then shall their enlargement
and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place but thou and thy father's house shall
be destroyed and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as
this now this is a very profound portion of scripture in these two verses but a lot of
people misunderstand this portion of scripture and I've heard people abuse this portion of
scripture and twist it to basically try to say this thing of hey we're all expendable
you know you've probably heard this taught we're all expendable and if you don't do it
somebody else will do it and that's what they take from this passage you know it's going
to get done no matter what it is it's going to get done you know if you don't do it somebody
else do it we're all expendable if it's God's will brother it's going to happen or how about
this well if it's really God's will for a certain person to hear the gospel they're
going to hear it I thought it was God's will that every creature would hear the gospel
I thought he commanded us to go do it but they think that they can just kind of sit
back and it's going to happen no matter what and they'll point this pass but that's actually
not what this passage is teaching what we see in this passage is that on the grand scheme
of things Mordecai knows that the Jews are not going to be wiped out how does he know
that because of the fact that God made certain promises about the Lord Jesus Christ the Messiah
coming from the tribe of Judah and coming from the Jews so you know they couldn't be
wiped out back then because that hadn't happened yet he also made that promise where he said
that the scepter would not depart from Judah until Shiloh come which is talking about the
Messiah coming okay he said it's not going to depart until Shiloh come and he talked
about the fact that you know of the seed of David is going to come the Messiah you know
his name shall be called the mighty God the everlasting father the government shall be
upon his shoulder so there are all these prophecies of what God's going to use the nation of Judah
to bring forth which would be Jesus Christ and be Christianity and that hadn't happened
yet so obviously God knows I'm sorry Mordecai even knows that they're not going to be totally
wiped out so that's why he says to her if you look down at verse 14 for if thou altogether
holdest thy peace at this time then shall their enlargement and deliverance arise to
the Jews from another place right now this shows us that there are certain aspects of
God's will that are set in stone and will happen no matter what right like for example
if God says hey you know Judah is going to continue being a nation and look he'd already
prophesied that after 70 years they're going to come home and when they come home they're
going to be rebuilt they're going to be a nation again and the sons of David are going
to sit on that throne until Shiloh come right that's all predicted that's all prophesied
no matter what happens God's will is going to take place in that sense right because
these big events that God has ordained have to happen they will happen God is not a liar
and he will not break any promises and all of his prophecies will come true none of his
words will fall to the ground but look at what else he says though he says but thou
and thy father's house shall be destroyed so you see here he's not saying God's will
is going to happen no matter what and your actions won't change it one way or the other
because they will change it for her and the people around her you see how that works the
big picture is going to happen no matter what the Jews are going to survive because
God was not through with them yet okay and by the way he's through with them now but
anyway that's another sermon but anyway you know but back then he wasn't so he you know
he said it's going to happen so this is where people get confused because they look at a
verse like this and say hey God's will is going to happen no matter what no on a grand
global level yeah there are certain things that are God's will that are going to happen
no matter what but the difference is how it affects you and the people around you that's
what's up for grabs and that's what you can change because you wonder what can I change
what influence do I have you know what are the choices I make matter a lot of people
will for example you know look at end times prophecy of the book of Revelation and when
we look at it we pretty much see that certain things are going to happen look is there any
way to stop there from being a one-world government is there any way to stop the Antichrist from
taking power and all nations worshiping him is there any way to stop all of these persecutions
that are going to take place in the tribulation no there's nothing you can do to change it
it's set in stone it's been prophesied but does that mean we're just helpless we sit
back we do nothing because whatever is going to happen is going to happen sit back and
enjoy the ride even so come Lord Jesus no because it affects you and the people around
you how you live your life you see broad is the way that leads to destruction and many
there be which go in there at because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leaves
on the life and few there be the finite and there's nothing you or I can do to change
that is there we can't go out and win so many souls that 51% of the people in this world
are saved and we're like it's no longer the narrow way it's the broad way because we did
so much soul winning that we actually tip the scale now 51% of people in the world are
saved you and I know that's never going to happen but does that mean what's the use no
because the point is that even though this whole world by and large is going to hell
in a handbasket our area doesn't have to be that way so in our area we can make a difference
in our city we can get people saved we can pull people out of the fire and we can make
a difference for us and our loved ones he says to Esther if you miss God's calling if
you don't do God's will for your life he's saying on the grand scheme of things the Jews
are still going to be saved God will bring deliverance from another place but he says
wait a minute you and your father's house will be destroyed so our actions affect us
and they affect the people around us they affect our spouse our children maybe even
our parents and siblings our friends our church members they affect the people around us and
it's not just all foreordained and well you know certain people are going to get saved
certain people are going to be damned no the soul winning that you did today or earlier
this week or that you're going to do this week that soul winning is changing people's
destination it's changing their eternal destination from hell to heaven and it's not just well
those people would have got saved God would have just found another way you know I wish
it were that easy for God to just find a way for people to hear the gospel clearly presented
to them oh he'll just find another way really because there aren't a lot of people going
out do it anymore we need to do it and we need to encourage other churches to do it
and we need to be on the front lines and we need to be you know right there in the battle
because of the fact that it's not this thing of God's will is going to happen just this
fatalistic whatever will be will be no on a grand scale yes but so what who do you care
the most about your family who do you care the most about people that you actually know
and see with your eyes your friends your loved ones and let me tell you something I care
more about this area than some area on the other side of the world that I've never even
set foot in I mean is anybody really here I mean is anybody here actually think like
well you know what people people in this area being saved or damned is less important to
me than people on the other side of the world people on the other side of the world it's
just kind of like you know I don't have any effect on that I can't really do anything
about that and you know I'm the type of person where if something's out of my hands and out
of my control and there's nothing I can do about it I don't sit around you know oh man
what are we going to do you know it's out of my hands but you know what there are certain
things that are in our hands that's what we ought to get busy fixing and changing okay
so certain things we don't have the power to change you know and honestly I don't have
the power to fix the White House I can't do it if I just woke up tomorrow morning and
said you know what I'm dedicating my life to getting a godly man in the White House
every day every hour every minute every second I would fail I cannot achieve success I'm
serious but you know what I can't that's so therefore it's a dumb thing to just that's
what I'm going to do but certain things are just out of our hands and you know if I made
a goal I'm going to make sure that everybody in China hears the gospel that's not really
realistic for me you know living in Phoenix Arizona but you know what is realistic for
me to say you know what I'm going to knock every door in my subdivision and make sure
that they all hear the gospel and in fact I care more about people in my subdivision
because mine I affected my heart and I can say you know what hey let's knock every door
in Tempe let's knock every door in the valley in the Phoenix area hey maybe we can't knock
doors in a small town in Nebraska but you know what we can do the small town soul winning
in Arizona and hit up all you know we can in the lifetime of our church knock every
small town in Arizona every door and at least we did our vineyard here you know God's not
going to hold us accountable for stuff that we had no control over you know it's a court
you know if any as every man purposes in their heart in his heart so give he and the Bible
says if at first there be a willing heart it is accepted according to that a man hath
not according to that he hath not and you know God's not going to judge us for not doing
stuff that was completely out of our power and out of our control but there is so much
that is within our control and within our power you know it's funny because we're training
a lot of guys to someday pastor churches God willing you know we want to train more because
the harvest truly is plenty is in the labors are few and there are so many people that
are scattered as sheep having no Shepherd want to send out men of God to start churches
and cities across America today but you know when people ask me hey where should I start
a church what do you think about this place what do you think about that place you know
maybe I'm biased but I'm always leaning toward you know places that are close Texas California
New Mexico Nevada Oregon Washington you know what you know the East Coast other side of
the world just isn't as near and dear to my heart and that's just a human feeling for
me of just hey well this is my area or you know this is that was my hometown in Sacramento
or you know hey California that's that's right in our backyard as it were in 2015 and and
so what I'm saying is that yeah we're not going to get the whole world saved folks we're
not going to get the gospel to the whole world but you know what we can do we can get the
gospel to every person in the Phoenix area that is possible in our life that is humanly
possible and you know it's up to us whether we do it or not and so what he's saying to
Esther is your decision matters you're not expendable yes the great big thing is going
to happen no matter what but on a smaller scale you are holding in your hand the fate
of you and all your relatives and the people around you other people are going to suffer
if you don't do God's will look at it again with that in mind verse 13 then Mordecai commanded
answer as to think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than
all the Jews for if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time then shall their enlargement
and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place but thou and thy father's house shall
be destroyed and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as
this go to second Kings chapter 23 let me show you another example second Kings 23
is the story of King Josiah and King Josiah was a man who did a lot of great things for
God and he did the right things and and he inherited a country that was messed up and
sinful and he fixed it and he did a lot to fix it but here's the thing there were some
things that were just out of his hands he couldn't fix and part of that was the fact
that Manasseh one of the previous kings had shed a lot of innocent blood that God couldn't
pardon because there's all these innocent people had been killed and there had to be
a retribution upon the land and so because of that the destruction of Jerusalem and the
carrying away captive of the Jews into Babylon was foreordained it had to happen no one could
stop it there was nothing that could be done to avert that catastrophe but does that mean
that Josiah should just sit back and not even try no let me show you what Josiah did accomplish
look down at your Bible in verse one the king sent and they gathered unto him all the elders
of Judah and of Jerusalem and the king went up into the house of the Lord and all the
men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with them and the priests and the prophets
and all the people both small and great and he read in their ears all the words of the
book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord and the king stood by a
pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments
and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul to perform
the words of this covenant that were written in this book and all the people stood to the
covenant and the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second
order and the keepers of the door to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the
vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven and he
burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Caidron and carried the ashes of them unto
Bethel and he put down the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn
incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places round about Jerusalem
them also that burned incense unto Baal to the sun and to the moon and to the planets
and to all the host of heaven and he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord without
Jerusalem under the brook Caidron and burned it at the brook Caidron and stamped it small
to powder and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people and
he break down the house of the Sodomites that were by the house of the Lord where the women
wove hangings for the grove and he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah
and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense from Geba to Beersheba
and break down the high places of the gates that were in the entering of the gate of Joshua
the governor of the city which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city nevertheless
the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem but
they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren and he defiled Tophat which
is in the valley of the children of Hinnom that no man might make his son or his daughter
to pass through the fire to Molech so he closed out the abortion clinic there where they're
murdering their children.
He said in verse number 11, and he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given
to the son at the entering of the house of the Lord by the chamber of Nathan Molech the
chamberlain which was in the suburbs and burned the chariots of the sun with fire and the
altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz which the kings of Judah had made
and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord did
the king beat down and break them down from thence and cast the dust of them into the
brook Caidron and the high places that were before Jerusalem which were on the right hand
of the mount of corruption which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtaroth the
abomination of the Zidonians and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites and for Milcom
the abomination of the children of Ammon did the king defile and he break in pieces the
images and cut down the groves and filled their places with the bones of men moreover
the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat who
made Israel descend had made both that altar and the high place he break down and burned
the high place and stamped it small to powder and burned the grove and as Josiah turned
himself he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount and sent and took the bones
out of the sepulchres and burned them upon the altar and polluted it according to the
word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed who proclaimed these words then he said what
title is that that I see and the men of the city told him it is the sepulcher of the man
of God which came from Judah and proclaimed these things that thou has done against the
altar of Bethel and he said let him alone let no man move his bones so they let his
bones alone with the bones of the prophets that came out of Samaria and all the houses
also of the high places that were in the city of Samaria where the kings of Israel had made
to provoke the Lord to anger Josiah took away and he did to them according to all the acts
that he had done in Bethel and he slew all the priests of the high places that were there
upon the altars and burned men's bones upon them and returned to Jerusalem and the king
commanded all the people saying keep the Passover unto the Lord your God as it is written in
the book of this covenant surely there was not holding such a Passover from the days
of the judges that judged Israel nor in all the days of the kings of Israel nor of the
kings of Judah but in the 18th year of King Josiah wherein this Passover was holding to
the Lord in Jerusalem moreover the workers with familiar spirits and the wizards and
the images and the idols and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in
Jerusalem did Josiah put away that he might perform the words of the law which were written
in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord and like unto him
there was no king before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his
soul and with all his might according to all the law of Moses neither after him arose
there any like him now look has this guy done a lot I mean this guy's destroying idolatry
destroying false religion destroying not even satisfied to do it in Judah he crosses the
border and goes into Israel and goes into Samaria and destroys altars that have been
worshipped there for centuries worshipping false gods and devils he's getting rid of
the queers he's getting rid of the wizards and sorcerers I mean he's cleaning house and
not only that he gets God's people to keep the Passover follow the Bible follow the law
make a covenant let's be God's people I love the Lord with all my soul with all my heart
with all my might and they say hey there was none like unto him before him or after him
I mean did this guy nail it or what I mean this guy just takes over and he just does
it right this guy is an amazing king king Josiah but look what the Bible says in verse
26 there's just certain things that we can't fix certain things you can't change doesn't
matter how good you are and Josiah is one of the greatest men not withstanding not withstanding
what the last 25 verses that we just read all that not withstanding the Lord turned
not from the fierceness of his great wrath did any of this fix they know he said now
I was saying the Lord turned not for the fierceness of his great wrath wherewith his anger was
kindled against Judah because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him with all and
the Lord said I will remove Judah also out of my sight as I've removed Israel and will
cast off the city of Jerusalem which I have chosen and the house of which I said my name
shall be there now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did are they're not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah so what do we see here did
he avert God's wrath did he stop Judah from going captive no because there's just that's
just out of his control but he did the best he could and in fact he did an amazing job
in fact he did a better job than any of the other kings so what did he accomplish you
know what he accomplished none of those bad things happened in his lifetime think about
that look God was going to destroy Jerusalem no matter what God's going to take them captive
into Babylon no matter what he said I will not turn away the fierceness of my wrath what
about the prophets he said look if Daniel Elijah and Job you know stood before me and
prayed for this people I'm not turning away the fierceness of my wrath so wait a minute
what did he accomplish you know what he did he turned the nation back to God in his lifetime
in his area and many people were saved many people are in heaven because of the great
works that Josiah did many people were saved many people are in heaven and the nation was
spared judgment temporarily because what you'll see a lot of times when God is just
dead set on destroying a group if they if people will turn unto the Lord and seek him
and do right a lot of times he'll postpone go to the last place we'll turn tonight Daniel
4 he'll postpone that and so what he did was he let them thrive and succeed and prosper
and and for the Lord to be worshipped and people to be saved and God's word to be proclaimed
even in the northern kingdom and all these great things happened but there's still an
aspect of it that can't be changed but the mistake we make is when we think oh nothing
can be changed it's all for her day no there are certain big events that are set in stone
that won't change but then there are other things that can for example wasn't it already
known by God God already knew and God already stated and God already predicted he said you
know the Son of Man must be rejected by this generation I mean didn't wasn't it ordained
that Jesus would be rejected by the Jews and crucified by them now a lot of people with
really weird doctrines such as John Hagee who believes that Jews who reject Christ are
still saved because they're Jews they're you know even though the Bible said think not
to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father for I say to you that God is able
to these stones to raise up children unto Abraham now also the axe is laid under the
root of the tree every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and the
I don't care if that tree says it's of Abraham it's going to be hewn down and cast in the
fire and speaking of stones being children of Abraham you know and by the way some some
rabbi or something is just as much a child of Abraham as a rock you could point to a
rock and say this is a child of Abraham because I mean God is able just as much as there he
could make that stone a child of Abraham as much as that guy is a child of Abraham and
he could make that stone a child of Abraham as much as that guy is a child of Abraham
but here's the thing about the stones remember this there was a prophecy where Jesus would
have that triumphal entry into Jerusalem and he said that if these people would hold their
peace the stones would cry out so there are certain things that have to happen sort of
like hey if you don't speak up Esther God will bring deliverance from another place
hey if you don't praise Jesus the stones will cry out because it's foreordained it has to
happen but then there are other things that we can control see yeah the Jews are going
to reject Christ and crucify him but wait a minute what about on an individual level
are you as a Jew living at the time of Christ just say oh well we're going to reject him
so I guess you know I'm just going to not be saved that wouldn't make any sense because
the Bible says he came unto his own and his own received him not but as many as received
him to them gave you power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his
name so look all the Jews didn't reject Christ did they in fact there are a lot of Jews who
got saved when Jesus came and preached now the majority rejected him but a lot of them
got saved so here's the thing it's still up to the individual to decide which side of
this equation they're going to be on are the Jews going to reject Jesus Christ yes but
there's a remnant that's going to be saved there's a remnant that was going to believe
in Jesus so it's still up to the individual to choose life or death if you're living at
the time of Christ and you're in Judea you have the choice to believe on Jesus and be
part of that believing remnant or to reject Christ and be part of the majority of Jews
that are going to be cast off by God but it's up to the individual there's a choice that
you can make but I was talking about the fact that God will sometimes delay judgment even
if it's just for sure going to happen he'll sometimes postpone it because of righteous
acts look at Daniel 4 24 this is the interpretation O king and this is the decree of the Most
High which has come upon my Lord the king that they shall drive thee from among men
and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field and they shall make thee to eat
grass as oxen and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven and seven times shall pass
over thee till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it
to whomsoever he will and whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots thy kingdom
shall be sure unto thee after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule so we
see an ordained judgment that God says is going to happen but look at verse 27 wherefore
O king let my counsel be acceptable unto thee and break off thy sins by righteousness and
thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility
so you say look judgments coming but you can hold off that judgment by doing right think
about this we live in America today America is doomed I have no doubt about that I can
stand up here and tell you you're an American but you're doomed America you are doomed there's
nothing you can do to fix it but let me tell you something that doesn't mean that we're
wasting our time winning souls and preaching the Bible and trying to turn God's people
back to him in this country you know why because we can be like a Josiah that basically promotes
rights and we can basically delay the judgment and delay God's wrath until after we're gone
I mean look just because America is doomed I don't want it to happen when I'm here you
know what I mean but not only that and you say well you know I don't even know if we're
going to postpone it but think about this though what about the fact that even if the
country is doomed we can be spared because not everybody in America is doomed America
in general is doomed you say why do you say that pastor why do you just think America
is doomed if there's nothing we do because of abortion abortion is enough we don't need
to talk about anything else just abortion end of story because the fact that the Bible
says that innocent blood cannot be cleansed except by shedding the blood of those who
shed it and that's never going to happen so therefore God's going to pour out his wrath
that why was Manasseh why was Manasseh under God's wrath and why did after all those
wonderful years with Josiah God still pour out his wrath because the innocent blood that
Manasseh shed and what we see today in America is just a mass and you know we could bring
up lots of other examples of why America is doomed but just that one is enough for tonight
just abortion is enough you can't just slaughter 3000 babies every day and God's just not
going to judge God's just not going to it's just not going to happen friend you know I
could be Joel Osteen up here and just tell you oh God you know God just loves you anyway
go and kill your kid and you know what you're still going to be blessed God is not mad at
you as Joyce Meyer's book is called God is not mad at you no matter who you are no matter
what you've done you know one of the rabbis that we talked to he said you know a lot of
people say that if you don't obey the commandments you're going to live a bad life I don't
believe that he said not only does he believe God won't punish people in hell he said God
won't even punish people on this earth God's just up there he just he just I mean whether
you've been naughty or nice you get your presents on Christmas morning with God I mean that's
that they just want you to think you know what God's just up there and he's just like
oh you know whatever just bless them you know whatever so what if they murder their children
so what you know what that's that's ridiculous that's not the God of the Bible you haven't
read them but if you think God's like that you've never read this book in this book God's
getting angry he's burning people up and he's just ranting and raving about them killing
innocent people and it's about and he specifically brings up the children infants he talks about
their babies being offered in you know to these false gods and he over and over again
brings up Molech and and and the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and Tofed and these places
even in the passage that we read so that right there is enough to say our country is doomed
and damned and there's nothing we do about but but look I'm not up here to just give
you a hopeless message because you know what it's not a hopeless message look even in Sodom
God brought Lot out so you know my prayer is not for America to be spared because I'd
be wasting my time and my breath because if we ask anything according to his will he heard
this it's not God's will to spare America because America must be punished but you know
what I constantly pray and you know what I wish you would pray to as God's people you
know we should pray here's what I pray God don't destroy the righteous with the wicked
that's what I pray that all I say you know what God spare your people Lord when you
punish our nation Lord spare me spare my family spare the members of Faith Forward Baptist
Church and spare your faithful servants all across America that we don't even know Lord
don't destroy the righteous with the wicked you know that's what Abraham prayed he said
don't destroy the rights with the wicked and what did God do even though Abraham's prayer
was a little misguided you know the Holy Spirit will translate our prayer often into something
that makes sense and so what did God do instead of sparing the city he pulled out Lot he delivered
Lot you know you think of Jeremiah Judah's doomed he preached Judah's doomed there's
nothing we can do we're going to be destroyed but what did God do for Jeremiah spared him
protected him he made it out alive he made it out just fine you know God spared a lot
of people that were in a lot of danger in the Bible and he can spare you too and he
can spare us he can keep us safe you know and the Bible talks about that we should pray
that he would spare us and pray that he would keep us safe and deliver us look at all the
prayers in Psalms praying for deliverance and safety and being spared so this idea that
what we do doesn't matter of Calvinism is foolish doctrine that said oh it's before
ordained and what will be will be and blah blah blah it doesn't even make sense and it's
calling God a liar when he said I'm setting before you two choices choose life can we
change the whole course of the world and the whole course of Bible prophecy and God's gonna
be like oh man I'm gonna have to rethink the whole book of Revelation no it's not gonna
change it's gonna happen but you know what we can make a huge difference and we can make
a big change in our own life and in our family and in our area and that's enough for me I'm
satisfied with that I'm satisfied to go through my life win a bunch of people to Christ teach
as many people as I can the Bible and look I'm not saying I'm against foreign missions
you know what I want to reach foreigners too that's why I you know I try to preach stuff
and translate stuff into other languages and put it on the internet and kind of use that
tool to at least try to you know reach some people or if we can find a complex where there
are a bunch of you know Africans we went there with Swahili Bibles and talk to them about
the gospel look we want to reach everybody we can but you know what I'm just I'm just
happy if I can just go through my life and just win souls of the people that I that I
can win I can't learn every language in the world it's not humanly possible right but
I can learn Spanish I can learn German you know I can learn Hungarian I can learn a few
languages right that I can use to at least do some missions and reach some people I can't
make sure that every door in America gets knocked but you know what I can do though
I can make sure that every door in Phoenix gets knocked that's realistic for our church
and you know what we're not going to be able to start a church in every city in the world
but we could start a church in most major cities of America in our lifetime if we work
at it right don't worry about what you can't do don't sit around worrying about what you
can't change and what you can't fix worry about what you can and you know what that'll
keep you busy for the rest of your life because there's plenty that we can do and our lives
are not in vain and you know what what when you wake up tomorrow morning the decisions
you make tomorrow morning will affect you and the people around you they might not affect
the price of tea in China they might not affect the White House what you do tomorrow but you
know what it will affect you and you know what else it'll affect our church and you
know what else it'll affect your friends and family and your neighborhood and doesn't that
don't those people matter to you it's kind of hard for me to worry about eight billion
people it's just kind of too much for me to handle so that's why you know I'm just
gonna worry about the people that God brings across my path and the city where God has
placed me and that's enough what you do matters first of all if you're not saved choose life
you it's up to you don't just say well and how many times have you been soul winning
raise your head if you've been out someone had somebody tell you and when you ask them
do you know for sure if you die today you go to heaven it's up to God oh that's up to
God that's up to him you know what it's a lie it's up to you it's not up to he already
made the decision when he sent Jesus to die for you he already made the decision when
he loved you and sent his only begotten son into the world that you might live through
him now the ball is in your court and you need to choose life okay you're already saved
you have a choice blessing or curse you want to live under God's blessing or you want to
be cursed choose the blessing okay and then also when it comes to your neighbors your
friends your loved ones and our city choose life for them by going and warning them and
pulling them out of the fire hating even the garment spotted by the flesh there's a lot
that we can change let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father thank you so
much Lord for giving us a choice thank you for not making us robots and Lord I think
these Calvinists have just reduced you to the level of a human being because we as human
beings all we can make is robots and they're not even that good of robots but Lord you're
such an amazing creator because you can actually create a being that has free will which we
can't create a computer that has free will but you've created us Lord in your image with
the ability to choose and Adam and Eve you told them to choose and Lord please help us
to realize that we have the power to choose and that the choices that we make matter and
they may not affect the entire world but they definitely affect us and the people around
us Lord help us to make the right decisions in Jesus name we pray Amen