The Gift Of Choice

Today on Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ.

The Broadway you can choose the narrow way you can choose to serve the Lord, you can choose not to serve the Lord given to the Savior going to serve the Lord and then chose not to serve the Lord. He will let you see you can choose to live in the promise letter.

You can choose to live in Sodom that's your choice of the greatest gifts God ever joining us today on this additional Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt fellowship and words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now shows us how God's word meets our world able came both sons of Adam and Eve able chooses God cane chooses murder and God lets him.

Abraham and Lot both pilgrims in the land of Canaan.

Abraham chooses God.

Lot chooses Sodom and God lets him. David and Saul, both kings of Israel, David chooses God saw chooses power and God lets him Peter and Judas both deny the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter chooses mercy. Judas chooses death, God lets him in every age of history and virtually on every page of Scripture, there is this truth that is revealed God allows us to make our own choices. Open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7 the last of the sermon on the Mount verse 13 Jesus speaking to the crowd were so familiar with our Lord mean we just sung that he was born to die to take the fall for us but in the interim in his ministry he reveals himself over and over and over again. There's culture for one reason so that they have the opportunity to choose him or not.

So in the sermon on the Mount in verse 13 Jesus says this enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is bra that leaves the destruction, and many are those who enter through it is a for the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and there are only a few that find it. He sorta sets the parameters but notice what he does import the listeners that are please enter please choose choose.

He says now you have to understand only a few will choose to go through the narrow gate. Many will choose the wide gate that leads the destruction, but they all get the choose verse 24 he says therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who has built his house on a rock in the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against the house, and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on a rock and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man was built his house on sand and the rain fell in the floods came, and the winds blew and slam against that house, and it fell in great was its fall. Jesus said here go my words here they are not Jews choose if you choose to act upon my words will be a wise man like someone to build his house on rock on bedrock in a matter what kind of storm game and held. But if you choose to reject my words then you be like a foolish man choose you choose. It's not just the New Testament phenomena gently back to the book of Joshua right at the last chapter the book of Joshua. Joshua chapter 24 verse 15 verse 15 Joshua speaking said if it is disagreeable on your site to serve him choose for yourselves today. Everyone knew this. Choose. He said it was disagreeable on your site to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves the day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your flock of the gods which your fathers served which are beyond the river with the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, I choose to serve the Lord just one understood.

Choose back. By the way it even gets more intriguing. Verse 21. The people said to Joshua know and we will serve the Lord and Joshua said to the people your witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen yourselves the Lord to serve them and they said we are witnesses. Now, therefore, put away the foreign gods which are in your meds and incline your hearts to the Lord God of Israel and the people said the judge.

We will serve the Lord our God will obey his voice, they said they chose.

But, by the way, when you read the rest of the story I chose not to.

And by the way, God let the way it is with you with me got much, there's very few things that can compare to the gift that God is given every human being the gift to choose choose you can choose the Broadway.

You can choose the narrow way you can choose to serve the Lord, you can choose not to serve the Lord given to the Savior going to serve the Lord and then chose not to serve the Lord. He will let you you conservative choose to follow God or you can choose to murder your brother see you can choose to live in the promise letter.

You can choose a living Sodom that's your choice. One of the greatest gifts God ever again, but there's no place in the Bible you find more impact about this particular choice than Matthew 27, which in turn with me now to Matthew 27 verse 27 then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorian and I gather the whole Roman cohort around them and they stripped him may put a scarlet robe on him and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and with a reed in his right hand. They knelt down before him and they mocked him, saying hello King of the Jews, they spit on him and they took the reading they began to beat him on the head and after they had mocked him, they took a scarlet robe off him and put his own garments back on him and may lead him away to crucify him.

And as they were coming out they found a man of Cyrene named Simon who may pressed into service to bear his cross, and when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull. They gave him wine and drink mix with gall and after tasting it, he was unwilling to drink and when they had crucified and they divided up his garments among themselves casting lots and sitting down.

They began to keep watch over him. There above his head. They put a charge against him, which read this is Jesus, the King of the Jews and then an interesting part of the story and at that time, two robbers were crucified with him one on the right one on the left. Do you ever wonder why to do you ever wonder why wasn't just crucified alone means crime is unique. Did you ever wonder why wasn't crucified was six or 10. By the way.

Normally, the moments crucified a lot of people to time. Did you ever wonder why to really given a thought. Did you ever wonder why he wasn't behind door number one her door number three and why he had to be a door number two. YZ crucified in the middle, wiser one Robert on his right one Robert on his left, thought about that. Could be that he's in the center to symbolize one of the greatest gifts God is ever given to human beings gifted choose to the criminals they had things in common. Obviously they're both found guilty of the crimes that are both condemned to die there. Both surrounded by the same crowd and they're both exposed to the same Savior, noticing, says, and those passing by were hurling abuse at him and wagging their heads and saying you are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. If you are the son of God, come down from across in the same way the chief priests also along with the scribes and the elders were mocking him and saying he saved others, he cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel, let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him. He trust in God. Let God rescue them. Now if he delights in him, for he said I am the son of God. The robbers who had been crucified with him were insulting him with the same words so everybody is choosing to abuse and mocking the Romans are abusing him. The crowd is abusing him.

The chief priest describes the elders that all abusing him, and by the way, so were the two guys getting crucified with him there abusing everybody is chosen to abuse the son of God, as he hangs on the cross. Let us go to Luke chapter 23 and pick up the story. Verse 32 of Luke 23 to others. Also, criminals were being led away to be put to death with him and when they came to a place called the skull where they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying. Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing in the cast lots dividing up his garments among themselves and the people stood by looking on. Even the rulers were sneering at him, saying he saved others, let him save himself if this is the Christ of God's chosen one. The soldiers also mocked him, coming up to him and offering him sour wine and saying if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself now. He says there was also an inscription above him. This is the king of the Jews and one of the criminals who were hanging there was hurling abuse at him, saying, are you not the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other answered rebuking him and said do not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation, and we indeed are suffering justly, we are receiving what we deserve for our needs. But this man has done nothing wrong and he was saying Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom and he said to him, truly I say to you today you will be with me in paradise. While two guys, Ava started out the same place they were broke, hurling abuse men somewhere in this process. One of them made a choice that both of them did. I made a choice and he says the Jesus.

He praised Newman a sense, Lord, remember me. I'm getting what I deserve but please remember me and you know the story, and he gets all of the attention is almost like the celebrity criminal. What about the other guy how much attention does he get. He's hanging on a cross.

He's making a choice one is saved miraculously. The other is condemned eternally. Why not both. I mean, why didn't he just say both mean when that be a better story. It would see why Wendy save both of them. I mean after all, isn't that what he came to do.

He came to save the lost the sink out and save the lost.

Whether they are sick them out now save them. You know what I know Luke 15 Jesus gives a whole series of parables and he talks about a lost sheep in the lost coin, and the lost son and boy that Shepherd. He left the 99 behind me. When Eddie got that lost sheep and that woman she swept and swept and swept until she found that lost coin only up by the way, the father of the prodigal didn't go anywhere.

He didn't do anything. He dissuaded for choice receiving. The sheep was lost innocently. The coin was likely lost her responsibly. That's how she wasn't going to lost, but the prodigal he was lost intentionally, willfully chose to be lost was delivered him so his father gave him a choice could if he stayed in the land and sky after he squandered lived terribly. Yes, you chose never to come back. Yes, he could've father gives him his great gift choice. You realize in many areas of your life. You don't get a choice. Nobody ask you, and you don't get a choice of your gender in our world. You can sort of think that but you don't get the choice you don't get a choice of your IQ. You don't get the choice you don't get the choice of your place of birth you get to choose your parents. You don't get to choose your siblings. In fact, in the word of God you know never even get to choose whether you ever · because you will don't say from all that's not fair that's not fair.

Then well the fairness issue was settled completely in Eden. They had a choice they made it.

But ever since then. Just think of how wonderful the grace of God is any injustice in this world any sinful act in this world is offset by the privilege of getting to choose the destiny for the next world. Anything you ever done is offset by the choice that God gives you of where you're going to spend eternity. And it's a choice in the thieves on the cross. They have it. See, that's the grace of God in that wonderful thing no matter how much you flop failed, no matter how you filed your life up, no matter how many bad choices you've made. Just like a people and across you can actually spread of the Lord, remember me there only raised just think of it was the opposite. By the way, and that is you get to choose everything in this life.

It's all you but you don't have any choice in where you go for the next if I could choose anything in this life. Everything may just think what would you choose handsome choose to be handsome tall thin musically inclined, fast metabolism. You make all those choices we would but we don't get those. But we do get the choose about the next world. You see, look at that text.

He said indeed we are suffering justly, we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds.

But this man is done nothing wrong and he was saying Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom and he said to them, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. While anyone we know about this guy. Why no one thing he made a lot of bad choices in his life that's pretty clear that's usually high end up across I'm guessing he politely hung out with the wrong crowd. I'm pretty sure he had the wrong morals I'm certainly had the wrong behavior. In fact, I bet his light was a litany of bad choices we made one choice is one and he gets to spend all eternity. Celebrating the choice then amazing thing. 10,000 bad choices, ending up getting crucified one choice on the cross. He's dancing today. The grace of God. You see, we want to say no no him he has to spend all eternity dealing with the consequences of all of his bad choices now. Not all sway call paradise. Jesus says he celebrating on the basis of one choice to the gift of choice choosing. But think about it in this one sense one choice overcomes 10,000 bad ones is the grace of God and the gift of choice. Turn with me to John chapter 3 verse 16. Why does God give us the gift of choice.

He says for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him. Whoever chooses that's why he did it. I love them so much.

I give them a choice for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Verse 18. He who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe in him is judged already, because he is not believe in the name of the only begotten son, that verse 36. The last verse of the chapter. He who believes in the son has eternal life, but you does not obey the son will not see life, but the wrath of God will bite on him is a choice. One of the greatest gifts God has ever given human beings gift of choice. He let you choose.

And Jesus even tells us I by the way, where all comes down to what most people would choose not me broad you will choose me, but everyone gets to choose the greatness of the choice see all the things we are thankful to God for I am so thankful for the ability to choose not just choose Jesus Christ, but choose to live life as Jesus is abundantly. It's a choice you see the quality of your marriage.

It's a choice you make choices in the amount of joy and happiness. The amount of peace and hope in your life.

It's a choice you can choose to have it or you can choose not to. By the way, don't we know so many people to choose misery they choose it and got lots them because of the gift of choice. How can two men see the same Jesus and one chooses to mock him and the other chooses to pray to him. I don't know, but they did and when the one prayed Jesus loved him enough to save him. And when the other mock Jesus love him enough to let him lobster choice past you will never on the radio ministry of fellowship in the if you ever miss one of our broadcast or maybe you just listen to the message one more time.

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I'm Jason Denhardt thanking you for listening to fellowship in order