Please turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy, chapter 26, found on page 248 in the Pew Bible. I'd say that this is the last in a series covering some of the great themes and impenitutes. We began looking at Genesis 1-1, and now we're really covering the last great address that Moses makes to the people. Next week, as we often do, Rich and I will be changing places. Rich will be preaching in the morning, continuing his study through the book of Acts, and really starting to look at how God uses Paul, Christ is working through him in the latter portions of the book, and I'll begin a new series in the evening. Children who want to draw a picture, you might draw a picture of a decision that maybe you or your family has to make. Sometimes it might be something important, a job, or surgery, or maybe just what color to paint your house, or something like that. A decision that has to be made. Let's turn our attention to the Word of God, chapter 26. looking at verses 16-19. This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You should therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have today declared the Lord to be your God. and that you would walk in his ways and keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice. And the Lord has today declared you to be his people, a treasured possession, as he promised you that you should keep all his commandments, that he shall set you high above all nations, which is made for praise, fame, and honor. and that you should be a consecrated people to the Lord your God, as he has spoken to you. And then turning over to chapter 30, really the very final words of the address that Moses makes to the people, beginning with verse 11. For this commandment, which I command you today, is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in that you should say, who will go up to heaven for us, to get it for us, and make us hear it, that we may observe it. Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, who will cross the sea for us, to get it for us, and make us hear it, that we may observe it. But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not obey, for they are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them. I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, for I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. in order that ye may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying his voice, and by holding fast to him. For this is your life, and the length of your days, that ye may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." There is a sermon outline on the back cover of the bulletin. As we go through life, we're faced with many choices, many decisions. And sometimes we may be aware that it's an important decision, you know, the IU freshmen as they determine what their major is, that's an important decision. I don't know, sometimes it's changed two or three times along the way, but it's an important decision. What will you major in? What will your career be? And maybe who will you marry? Sometimes the decisions are maybe not seen in such an important light. You know, you're wearing new shoes and you develop a blister and you decide you're going to stop by the drugstore and get a Band-Aid. Doesn't seem to be a very significant decision. Or you're getting ready for work and you spill some food on your clothes and you go in and and change your clothes and are a few minutes late to work. Or you're traveling down the New Jersey Turnpike and there's an accident and you get delayed and don't get to work. Or it's your turn to bring donuts to work. Or you miss your bus. Or it's your child's first day in kindergarten and you want to take them to kindergarten personally, and you're late for work. Well, all those were reasons why on December 11th, people that normally work in the World Trade Center got the link and weren't in the building when the planes crashed into them. They seemed to be insignificant decisions. But they're alive today because of those decisions. And so sometimes we may be unaware of the importance of our decisions, but sometimes we are. And for me, I think of a decision that was made in April of 1998. And for those who are not sports fans, I apologize for this, but it's the way my mind thinks. It was the NFL draft, the first day. And the Unanswered Polls had the first pick. And they knew they wanted a quarterback. And there was a raging debate about who was the best quarterback to land, who would be the best choice on that day. One was a quarterback from Tennessee, and his name happened to be Peyton Manning. And the other one that was regarded as his equal was from Washington State, and his name was Ryan Lee. And among the so-called experts, there was much debate. Which one of these two would be the better quarterback? Who would be better in the NFL? And most would concede that Peyton Manning was a more polished quarterback that could step in and help the team sooner. But the consensus was also that Ryan Leaf was more athletic. had more talent, ultimately would be the better quarterback, and wouldn't that be the man that you'd want to choose, that would give longer range results, that were better? Well, despite some who pushed the Colts to choose Leafa, they ended up choosing Manny. in San Diego that went second and ended up choosing Leaf. And if you listen to what they said after they chose him, they said, well, if we'd had first choice, we'd have chosen Ryan Leaf over Peyton Manning. Well, the rest is history. Even you who are not big sports fans may know about Peyton Manning. He's a perennial outgrow. He's a record breaker. Last year, he led the Colts to a Super Bowl victory. Even at this age, he's sure to be in the Hall of Fame. He's accomplished that much already. In contrast, Ryan Leaf had a pretty dismal career. He never lived up to his potential. He was with four different teams in five seasons. He retired at the ripe old age of 26 from the NFL. Last heard, he was a quarterback coach and a golf coach. at West Texas A&M. That choice made all the difference. One enjoys, and continues to enjoy, tremendous success. The other is one of the biggest failures of all. And the choice that was made back then made all the difference to the cultural profession. They made the right choice. And it shows. As Moses addresses the people as they stand at the plains of Moab, looking across the Jordan, getting ready to go in and conquer that promised land. He gives them his final address. He's addressing them and addressing them in terms of a monumental choice that they're going to have. He will no longer be there to guide and lead the people. What will they do? What choices will they make? How will they live in the future? What will their lifestyle be after they've gone in to that promised land? And specifically, will they cling fast to the covenant? As God has been dealing with in terms of the covenant all the way along, a special relationship, unlike any other nation on the face of the earth, are they going to stay true to that covenant relationship or not? That's the most important question they will face as they go in and conquer the land. And the most important question that you or I will ever face in this life is what will be our relationship to God. Will we choose the right way? Will we seek Jesus Christ? And just as that choice that the Colts made nine years ago makes all the difference, the choice that you've made in terms of your relationship to God makes the entire difference in your life today. And so the first point we need to see as we look at chapter 26, verses 16 and 19, is the covenant is presented. It's being summarized here. It's pointing to the covenant that is being addressed. The relationship that God is having with his people, and the heart of it, there's a solemn obligation on the hearts of both. Taking oath of allegiance, God takes an oath of allegiance to his people, and his people take an oath of allegiance to God. And Moses, as he speaks, saying, you've done this, and God has done that. And so we can look at the first part and see, what has God done? What has God promised? only on the basis of a note. If you look at verse 18, he has promised that Israel is to be his people, a treasured possession, as he promised you. And then verse 19, he will set you high above all the nations for praise, fame, and honor, that you may be a consecrated people to the Lord your God. has established this relationship. It's a relationship on grace. God promises to be gracious to them, to see them as his own people, as his own children, that they have a special place. They are his prized possession. I wonder if any of us have a certain thing that we would consider our prized possession. You know, if you were told you could go inside your home and just get one thing and bring it out, what would be the thing that you would bring out? That you would most want to have? Well, that's what God is saying here. This is how I regard my people. As a prized possession. And as also he talks about as a consecrated people. And that word consecrated means set apart or holy. And it implies a people that are for God's use alone. You can think about the holy utensils, the consecrated utensils that were used in the tabernacle and later in the temple. They were to be used only for the service of God. The king, if he had a state dinner and had all sorts of royalties, couldn't go over to the temple and say, well, we need some of the platters there to use at my palace. He could not use them. The priests could not use them, except in the worship of God. They were set apart for that use and that use alone. And so Israel is God's people. in the same way are constituted exclusively for God. There is to be a relationship to God alone. So the second part is the people's obligation, their commitment. And their commitment is a loving obedience. The people are called on to love and obey and Moses points out, you made that promise. And he talks in verse 16 about these statutes and ordinances. And he's going back all the way through his message that begins in chapter 5. And we don't have time to read through the whole thing, but as you go through, there are lots of regulations and stipulations about what God's will is. And it begins with the Ten Commandments and then the application of those commandments. In verse 16 it says, you shall therefore be careful to do them. But notice it says, with all your heart and with all your soul. It's not a legalism, a blind doing of words that have been written down, but it's from the heart. out of love, out of devotion for God. As you worship God, as you love Him, as you desire to have sincere fellowship with Him, you want to do what pleases Him. And He's laid it out. And Moses has laid it out for the people to see. And the encouragement is even in verses 18 and 19 of what God is going to do. And He's really saying, I'm going to fulfill those promises I made to the patriarch. Why? is that you should keep all his commandments. God has been gracious. And Rich pointed it out. And in 1 John it talks about how we love because God first loved us. That our response to God's grace is a loving obedience. Now the devil always tries to paint God's law as restrictive. as if that will of God somehow destroys our freedom, our enjoyment of life. But in fact it's the opposite. That real happiness is attained as we live in accordance with the will of God. What He knows is for our best. And we didn't go through, we read just a couple of portions, Rich did a chapter 28, you can look further there. about the blessings and the curses, and it goes on in great detail. What happens when life is lived without God? Well, it's not a very pretty picture. Immorality increases. Family is destroyed. Theft and corruption flourish. Individual security is lost. You live in constant fear. There's no constraint on the rich, and so the poor are exploited and suffer, and it goes on and on. That those who willingly reject God, suffer from these things. And we could look at Romans 1, and Paul makes that same point. Well, see, we need to see that in this, there's a sense of urgency. In chapter 26, Verse 16 says this day. Verse 17 says today. Verse 18 says today. You can go to chapter 30 and see today and today. Repeatedly, Moses is pointing out today is the time to act. You must not delay. You must not put it off. As you are aware of God's call to you, respond today. And last week I told the story of a middle-aged man down in Florida who'd had all sorts of health problems and heart trouble and actually died in the hospital to lose his life and started in on a healthy lifestyle and was feeling great. And the point I made last week is he forgot all that and he quickly died. But one of the things I didn't mention is that as he was recovering, he came in contact with Christians who shared with him his need for salvation. And he understood that need, but he was feeling so well. He decided he would wait. He would make a decision later on, now was his time to sow some wild oats while he felt great. And he died suddenly of a heart attack. And he had no chance, for he passed into belief. And often times a young person, someone starting college, You may think, well, I have plenty of time. I can think about God, I can think about Christ, I can think about religion later on. Now's my time to have some fun, to enjoy life. God is saying to you today, today is the day to decide. There's an urgency. As we go to chapter 30, the climax of Moses addressing the people, but really it's God's message to people in all generations. The climax, all that Moses has been leading up to in the 25 chapters that he's been addressing the people, boils down to this. Choose life. You have a choice, choose life. And encouragement is found in verses 11 to 14. That's what's required of the people to do. It's not something extraordinary. It's not something beyond and out of reach. You know, this choice of love, this loving obedience to God. This choice of life. Is it impossible? And he goes on to say, it's not in heaven somewhere. And back then to think of it being on the moon would have been impossible. Now we might think of it in the distant galaxy, or on the surface of the sun. How could we go there? How could we get and obtain this knowledge? Or who would be able to do it? There are no supermen that could actually travel and stand on the sun. Who would be able to do that? Or it's not beyond the sea, some impossible distance away, through a tremendous obstacle that they could not imagine crossing. The message is not like that. It's not that beyond any of them, but as verse 14 says, but the word is very near you, and in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may observe it. Moses was speaking that word to them. We have that word given to us in the Bible. We could think that what's required for salvation is too much and too great, but it isn't. It's not too much for a small child, let alone an adult. You can look around and see that the other religions were clouded in mystery. In ancient times they had mystery religions, where only the initiated could understand what was going on. And today we have things like Scientology, where if you get a book and read, it's incomprehensible. And we have in Bloomington the Dalai Lama come and speak. And if you listen to him, you wonder what he's saying. But God doesn't like that. When God says, do not steal, He means don't go into your neighbor's house, grab something that belongs to your neighbor, and take it home with you. It's clear to understand. And when he says, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, he means exactly that. And so, God's Word is something that could be stood, could be understood, and could be acted upon immediately. As the people heard, they were faced with a choice. Do we give our allegiance to God or don't we? What will we do? And then B, as we look at verses 15 to 20, there are two choices, two alternatives that are set forth. And the question that Moses is really addressing to people is which path will you follow? The two possibilities, the first is life and blessing and prosperity, and the second is death and being under the curse and misfortune. And he calls upon the people to choose. It's the most important choice they will face. They'll have choices as they go in the land, what city they would pack, how to divide up the land, and all sorts of things. But the fundamental choice they will make was whether or not they will choose life or whether they will choose death. And that's the most important decision you or I will make as well. And we don't have time to go through And look how Moses has developed this. But he's gone through and talked about the law and explained it to them, what's been required. He's talked about the history of God's dealing with his people, the graciousness in redeeming them from slavery in Egypt and preserving them in the wilderness. He's talked about the basic operating principle of the relationship with God, which is that of love. And so you can go through and look at the number of places, and even in chapter 26 that he read in chapter 30, it talks about love, how it's been set forth. And he's talked about two futures, the blessing and the curse. In Richard from chapter 28, the people were to stand on two mountains. as these blessings and these curses were read. And to realize those were the two alternatives. Depending on their choice, one or the other would happen to them. You could even look at chapter 28 because there are talks about the curses. There's also an altar there. Because how is that curse removed? It's removed by a sacrifice. The choice is now before the people. God has chosen them, but as we form believers, we recognize human responsibility. They have a choice to make. We're aware that God enables them to make that choice. But the people are to repent, and to believe, and to love God. God doesn't do those things for them. That choice is put before them. Will they do it? Or not? Which choice? And what does choosing life mean? Well, it's defined for us in verse 20. By loving the Lord your God, and holding fast to Him, and keeping His commandments. Acclaimed! And that's the sense of that word, acclaimed to God. It's more than a verbal affirmation. More than saying, you know, the Lord is our God. Naturally, at Moses' point in chapter 26, you've made that. You've said that the Lord will be your God. But the challenge is, are you going to live based upon that decision? Is your life totally given over to God, or not? And if it isn't, then you can expect all these curses, all the misfortune that's being talked about, especially in chapter 28, is going to come upon you. Now of course, as we read this, there's only one If you were to ask the General Manager in San Diego, if you could have chosen Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf, who would you choose next? There would be only one logical choice to say, if we had, we would have chosen Peyton Manning. or at least Tom Brady. We've made the wrong choice. It's obvious from the perspective of history. As we look at what's involved, of whether you listen and obey and cling to God or not, the choice is obvious. And still many choose to disobey and to turn their backs on God. And that was part of the story of Israel's history, is that they too often turned away from God. And today, we're given that same choice of life or death. And for us, it's made even clearer. Rich read for a moment, it's a call really to respond to the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Do you and I accept and confess Jesus Christ as our Lord, and thereby choose life? Or would you reject His claims, refuse His Lordship, want to do your own thing, and thereby choose death? It's not something that is beyond us. We don't have to figure out great mysteries. We don't have to go into the heavens, into the depths of the oceans. We simply need to repent and believe in Jesus Christ and live for Him. And we do that in the Chosen One. Two applications. First, if you've never done so, Maybe one of the children, maybe a visitor here, maybe a student. If you've never done so, today, today is the day to commit yourself to Jesus Christ, to trust him for your salvation, to receive him as your Lord, to look to him for your life, and seek to please him. For those who are against us, today is the time to recommit your life. Recommit your life to delighting in Christ. Delighting in service to him. Delighting in having him be the Lord of your life. Of putting him first. And of reservedly first place in your life. It is the path. to life, to prosperity, and blessing. Heavenly Father, you know what is in the heart of each one of us here. Those who have committed themselves to you to that path, the repentance of sin, and belief in Jesus Christ. Thank you for each one who's done that, and pray that they would recommit, that we would recommit ourselves to you. We know it's easy for other things to displace Christ from being Lord in our lives. help us by your spirit, that that would not be true. I believe we would love you, love your son, love your spirit, with our entire being. And Father, there may be some or even one who has never made that commitment, who thinks that they have time that it may be something I can think about later. Convince them and convict them that now is the time, that as they have sinned against the Holy God, that now is the day to turn away from that sin and to turn in faith to Jesus Christ. It's in His name we pray. Amen.