Sermon Central
-
You Decide Series
Contributed by Shawn Drake on May 12, 2010 (message contributor)
Summary: This is the 3rd sermon in the series "Conversations With God".
Family Worship May 2, 2010
Bel Aire Baptist Church
Series: Conversations With God [#3]
YOU DECIDE
Introduction:
Isn’t it interesting how we get mad at God when He doesn’t seem to be paying attention to us; but when He does answer our prayers, we don’t like how He does it? The bottom line is we are hard to please.
God wants us to follow Him- He wants us to trust Him- He wants us to grow stronger in Him- But, God isn’t going to make us do anything. He gives us the opportunity to choose between following a God Who is an eternal God, a personal God, a holy God, and a dependable God; or following our enemy who is rebellious, selfish, and a destroyer of anything that is good. You decide.
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
When you really look at things, there is only 2 roads we can take in life- The road that leads to life or the road that leads to destruction. God shows us the benefits and the consequences to our decisions; and then allows us to decide. It’s like road signs- They are given to us so that we will know the law and what potential dangers are ahead. You have to decide whether or not you will heed to the signs.
A sign that indicates that you are on the road that leads to life is…
1. Your faith. Faith is trusting in something that your senses can’t pick up on. Faith is doing things without being able to know the outcome. Without faith it is impossible to please God; but the opposite holds true- The reward for your faith, trust, and dependence upon God is that you will please Him.
A sign that indicates that you are on the road that leads to life is…
2. Your righteousness. That means to be right. Jesus said that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.
A sign that indicates that you are on the road that leads to life is…
3. Your humbleness. To be humble means to lower yourself, to realize that you are nothing. The Bible tells us that if we will humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord that He will lift us up.
A sign that indicates that you are on the road that leads to life is…
4. Your love for others. This is a key point- We are told to love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. We are then told to love your neighbor as yourself. How do we love God that way- By obeying His commands and loving others.
A sign that indicates that you are on the road that leads to life is…
5. Your desires. What motivates you? What is your priority? These things will show what’s important to you. The Psalmist tells us that, “God fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them (Psalms 145:19 NIV)”.
While we can see all of the wonderful blessings of following God, we also have to see the consequences of not. We see in our text that God punishes sin. God wasn’t punishing the Babylonians because of the fact that they were Babylonians. He was punishing them because He is a just God and He cannot look upon sin.
In Habakkuk 2:6-19, God gives them 5 warnings. Many of the Bible Translations use the word, “Woe”. These are warning signs of being on the road that leads to destruction.
A sign that indicates that you are on the road that leads to destruction is…
1. Your greed. God warns us to not try to gain things at the expense of others. We can lose those things just as fast as we gained them.
A sign that indicates that you are on the road that leads to destruction is…
2. Your selfishness. God warns us to not just think of ourselves and build for ourselves. Your selfishness will be found out.
A sign that indicates that you are on the road that leads to destruction is…
3. Your treatment of others. God warns us to not try to get ahead by destroying other people. The consequences of storing up things on this earth; (regardless of what happens to others) is you will get your reward here on this earth. Jesus told us to store up our treasures in Heaven.
A sign that indicates that you are on the road that leads to destruction is…
