CHOOSE YOUR DESTINY : MAN’S AMAZING POWER OF CHOICE
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OUTLINE
1.RELIGION VS RELATIONSHIP
2.REASON VS REVELATION
3.RESISTANCE VS REPENTANCE
4.REPROBATION VS REFORMATION
5.RENUNCIATION VS RESOLUTION
6.REGRET VS REJOICING
7.RETRIBUTION VS REWARD
THE MESSAGE
CHOOSE YOUR DESTINY : MAN’S AMAZING POWER OF CHOICE
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1.RELIGION VS RELATIONSHIP
Man has a choice between a religion of rituals and ceremonies and a living and vital relationship with God. When God created Man and placed them in the Garden of Eden they had no religion but they had a relationship with God. God created Man for a relationship. Because of sin Man lost that relationship with God. Christ came to this world to die on the cross of Calvary for the sins of Mankind and to restore the relationship between God and Man. Christ did not come to start a new religion as one among the many religions of the world. Many people have great religious fervour but they have no relationship with God. Today we must make a choice whether we want a religion or a relationship with God.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Luke 18:10-14
"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ’God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ’God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
I Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Revelation 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
Matthew 7:21-23
"Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ’I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
2.REASON VS REVELATION
Man has a choice between reason and divine revelation to understand and know God. God is a Spirit and we need a spiritual revelation to know Him. Many try to understand God with their human intellect and reasoning and fail miserably. It is impossible for the finite human mind to comprehend the infinite mysteries of God. No single human being has the combined knowledge of all mankind. A scientist may be an expert in one particular branch of science but may be totally ignorant about the arts and even about the other branches of science. A mathematician may know nothing about botany. Since no man knows everything of all that is known to man how much less he would know about the mysteries of God which is not known to any man. Therefore we should not rely on human reason to know God but depend on divine revelation. Cornelius was a man who was hungry for God and God revealed Himself to Him . Even today we must decide whether we will strive in futility to know God through our reason or seek a divine revelation from God.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Matthew 11:25
At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
I Corinthians 1: 26-29
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,
so that no one may boast before him.
Acts 10:1-8
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.
He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.
One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!"
Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked. The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.
Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.
He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea."
When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.
Matthew 16:17
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
3.RESISTANCE VS REPENTANCE
Man has a choice whether to resist or repent when God is dealing with him. God speaks to us in many ways. He can speak to us through a sermon . a song, a testimony, a friend, a circumstance, an inner conviction , the conscience etc. We have a choice how we are going to respond when God speaks to us . Are we going to resist the dealings of God in our life and shut our ears from listening to His voice and choose to disobey Him. Are we going to harden our hearts when God is convicting us and choose to resist Him at our own peril. Or are we going to repent and respond to His voice in obedience and submission. Today we can make a choice to obey God and receive His blessings. The prodigal son went away from his father and soon found himself in dire need. Then he realized his error and repented and went back to his father in humility and submission and he was wonderfully restored. Today we face a choice whether we are going to resist God or repent before Him.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Acts 7:51
"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
Hebrews 4:7
Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."
Luke 15:17-20
"When he came to his senses, he said, ’How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!
I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’
So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
4.REPROBATION VS REFORMATION
Man has a choice whether to end up as a reprobate or a reformed person. The path we are following in our daily walk will determine whether we are heading towards reprobation or reformation. The life of Judas Iscariot is a warning to us. Judas listened to all the teachings of Jesus and saw all the miracles of Jesus and had a part in the ministry of Jesus and yet his life ended in tragedy. He was with Jesus but his heart was far away from Jesus. Today many are in the same condition .They are involved in so many religious activities and faithfully participate in every program yet their hearts are far away from God. Like Judas they would end up as a reprobate unless they repent. The Apostle Paul started as an enemy of the church and was severely persecuting the church until Jesus met him. After that his life was totally transformed and reformed and he ended up as a great apostle for God. Today we have a choice whether we want to end in reprobation or reformation.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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John 12:4-6
But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,
"Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.
He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
John 13:21-27
After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me."
His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant.
One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.
Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means."
Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"
Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon.
As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. "What you are about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him,
Mark 14:21
The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
Acts 9:1-22
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest
and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.
"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.
Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered.
The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.
And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.
I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?"
Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
Proverbs 4:18
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
5.RENUNCIATION VS RESOLUTION
Man has a choice in the face of persecution and sacrifice for the sake of Christ whether he wants to renounce Christ or resolve to follow Him till the end. Many people followed Jesus for a time until one day he taught a difficult message. At that time they struggled to accept His message and went back from following Him. Many hearts are like stony ground which receive the Word of God with great joy but when difficult times come they cannot bear any tribulation for Christ. Jesus has already predicted persecution for His followers in the last days.He said that?he that endureth till the end shall be saved ? The Apostle Paul was certain that nothing can seperate him from the love of Christ.Today we have to make a choice whether we will renounce Christ or resolve to follow Him inspite of any persecution or tribulation.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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John 6:60-66
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you?
What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.
He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
Matthew 13:20-21
The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
Matthew 24: 8-13
All these are the beginning of birth pains.
"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Romans 8: 35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
6.REGRET VS REJOICING
Man has a choice whether he wants to regret or rejoice at the end of his life.
Everyone will depart from this world one day .At the end of our life when we look back upon our life do we want our hearts to be full of regrets or rejoicing. If we are not careful with the way we live today the day will come when we will look back with great regrets for the way we have lived. The opportunities we wasted , the time that was unutilized for worthy causes, the hatreds we had sown , the evil we have done, the talents undeveloped, the relationships destroyed etc. But if discipline our life and are determined to make our life count for God and man ,we will rejoice at the end of our life that we had lived a useful life and that many were blessed through our life. Then the Lord Himself will invite us to enter into the Joy of the Lord. But if we fail to order our lives we will be faced with eternal regret and sorrow and will end up in outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth .Today we have a choice whether we will end our course with regret or rejoicing.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Matthew 25:30
And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Hebrews 12:16-17
See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.
Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.
Matthew 25:21
"His master replied, ’Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Acts 20:24
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
7.RETRIBUTION VS REWARD
Man has choice whether he wants to experience God ‘s retribution and punishment or God’s reward and blessing on the Day of Judgement. Even during our lifetime on earth we must make a choice whether we want to experience God’s curse or God’s blessings . If we obey God and walk according to His commandments we will experience His blessings on earth and His reward on the Day of Judgement. If we disobey God and walk in our wicked ways we will experience God’s curse in our life and eternal punishment on the Day of Judgement. Every service we render to God in our lifetime will be remembered and rewarded by God. Let us abound in good works and in service to God and man knowing that God is faithful to reward us. Let us beware of doing evil and wickedness knowing that surely the Lord will punish all evildoers on the Day of Judgement. Today we must make a choice whether we want to receive retribution or reward from God on the Day of Judgement.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Revelation 22:12
"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.
Matthew 25:31-46
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, ’Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
"Then the righteous will answer him, ’Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
"The King will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
"Then he will say to those on his left, ’Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
"They also will answer, ’Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
"He will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Daniel 12:1-3
"At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
Deuteronomy 28:1-68
If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.
All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.
Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you.
The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.
The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.
The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.
The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.
The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.
The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.
The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.
The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.
Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.
The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.
At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.
You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.
Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them.
Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand.
A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days.
The sights you see will drive you mad.
The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.
You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you.
You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it.
You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.
You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.
You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.
Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.
The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.
He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.
All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.
They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.
Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity,
therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.
The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,
a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young.
They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.
They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you.
Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children,
and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.
The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter
the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities.
If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God-
the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.
He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you.
The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.
You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God.
Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.
Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.
You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life.
In the morning you will say, "If only it were evening!" and in the evening, "If only it were morning!"-because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.
The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.
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