I want to read some verses from the Word of God. We're turning to the book of Genesis in the chapter number 13. 13th chapter of the book of Genesis. And can I thank you for coming and sharing with us in this special service this afternoon. That's Genesis and the chapter 13. And it says in verse number one of this chapter 13, and Abraham went up out of Egypt and he and his wife and all that he had and brought with him into the south. And Abraham was very rich in cattle and silver and gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel onto the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Ai. unto the place of the altar that he had made there at the first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together, for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle. and the Canaanite and Perzite dwelt then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen, for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take to the left hand, then I'll go to the right, or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plains of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zohar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan. And Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan. Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent towards Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked sinners before the Lord exceedingly. And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward and southward, eastward and westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it, the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar. the Lord. And God will have his blessing to the reading of his precious word for his name's sake and for his glory alone. Amen. Let's just have a wee word of prayer and just commit ourselves unto the Lord. Eternal God and gracious heavenly father, we thank thee today for thy goodness to us. We thank thee for bringing us together. We thank thee for the opportunity of opening thy word. And so to this end, I pray oh God that thou will give me in the ministry of the word that thou hast called me to give. And we pray that thou will truly bless us as we meditate upon thy truth. For we pray in Jesus' precious name and for his glory. Amen. A way back in the Old Testament, we find indeed that God spoke unto his servant, unto Moses. And it came the time for God to call Moses and call him home. And Moses realized that it was coming near the end of the journey and near the end of his ministry. And he said these words in Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 19. He says, I call heaven and earth to record this day that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that both thou and thy seed may live. And then over in the book of Joshua, and in the 23rd chapter of the book of Joshua, we find that once again that God is coming near the end of the journey for God's servant in Joshua chapter 23, and down there uh in in the verse or rather chapter twenty-four. It says this in verse fourteen. Joshua chapter twenty-four verse fourteen. Now therefore fear the lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth. And put away the gods which your father served in the other side of the flood and in Egypt and serve the lord. And it seem evil unto you to 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. I want to speak to you today upon choices. Life's choices. You notice what Moses said, I've set before you life and death. Choose life. And then Joshua's saying, choose these, giving a challenge, and both these men are coming to the end of the journey, but they're giving a final challenge unto the people. And he says, choose ye this day whom ye will serve. He said, as for me, my house will serve the Lord. Now, life is a total of choices, an infinite amount of choices. We choose when we'll go to bed. We choose when we'll rise. We choose what or when we will eat. We choose what we wear. We choose what to do with our time. We choose where to work. And of course, you even chose this afternoon to come to this meeting. You made your choice. Some of the choices that people make, you know, they regret. Some of the choices they make, in actual fact, not only will they regret, but those choices will even follow after them and even hunt them for the rest of their lives. Choices sometimes can be easy to make, but there are other choices that are difficult to make, hard to make the right choice. Some choices are small and yet no choice is small because some of those things that you think are small choices that you've gotta make can have a tremendous significance in your life. So it's important to make the right choice. I wanna talk about three men in the scriptures who made their choice. First of all, we read today in the book of Genesis, The story there is the story of a man he's called Lot. Now, let's put it in its place and in the proper context. God called Abram to leave his father's house, his country, his kindred, and to go into a land that God was going to show him. Well, he got up, the Bible says, by faith, he did. But as he was about to go, his father said, I'm going too. Now, God had told him to leave his kindred, God had told him to leave his father's house, but his father says, no, I'm going too. And so instead of him being able to go on his own, his father, he made his way, or rather he was going to take that journey with his son. And of course, we find that terra means delay. That's what his, that was his father's name was called, was Tira. And in actual fact, he was well called because it was through that, there was a delay, and by taking Tira with him, there was a delay of at least five years in his life because they went as far as to Haran. And when they got to Haran there, and Haran means parched, when they got to Haran, God didn't say stop here, but Father said, let's stop here. And of course, we find that he stopped there, not because God said it, but because his father did. We've got to be careful who we're listening to, whose advice we take. And here was father saying one thing, here was God saying the other. What do we do? Well, the Bible tells us we're to honor him. We're to honor the Lord. and were to follow the Lord. And that was a choice, in actual fact, that was being given to the people. He says, I set before you life and death. He said, choose life. That's what Moses was pleading to the people, to make the right choice. Now we find that not only did he take Terah, but you know what had to happen? God had to take his father out of the way. And God took Terah out of the way. took him home. Tira died. And it wasn't until then that once again that Abram got up. And Abram was willing to go again and follow the Lord and he did. Thank God he went out and the Lord leading him where to go. Now we find that not only did he take Tira, but he took his nephew, his brother's son. And this was a lot. Now, God blessed Abram. The Bible tells us in this passage of God's word that we read that they were great in cattle. And my, they were richly blessed in the 13th chapter of the book of Genesis. They were richly blessed. And when I say they, I mean not only Abraham, but in actual fact, God blessed also Lot as well. The Bible says in Genesis chapter 13, verse two, Abram was very rich in cattle and silver and in gold. And it also says there in verse number five, and Lot also which went with Abram had flocks and herds and tents, so they were richly blessed. But you know with some of that came problems. Because here we find that Abram is blessed with all of this cattle and all these herds, silver and gold, but also Lot was blessed too. And then there was came strife. Strife between Lot, his herdsmen, and Abram and his herdsmen. You know, to solve that problem, godly Abram came up with this good advice. He says, listen, we're brethren. Now there's strife, there's no need for strife. Verse number eight. And Abram said to Lot, let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, between thy herdsmen and my herdsmen and thy herdsmen, for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? He says, we've got to separate. Now he says, if you go to the right hand, I'll go to the left. If you go to the left hand, I'll go to the right. He was certainly wanting to keep the peace between his nephew and himself. And, well, what's Lot going to do? Well, the Bible says in verse number 10, And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere. That was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord. Verse 11 says, Then Lot chose him. And I think those words are very appropriate. Lot chose him. You see, at the heart of Lot's choice was him. He was the big lad in the story. He made the choice for himself. But friend, listen, he made the choice for his family too. But he made a choice and it was for him. And what was it for? Because God had blessed him, he had got flocks, he had got herds, he had got tents, he had got servants, he had all of this. And as he looked, it says he lifted up his eyes and he beheld all the plains of Jordan that were well watered. That's the place for us. That's the place for us. And all he could see was the well watered plains and he thought of his cattle. That would be the best place for cattle. And friend, maybe it was. But I can tell you this, it wasn't the best place for children. But funny enough, he never thought of them. He just thought about the cattle. He thought about him, and Lot chose him. He made his choice. And when the Bible tells us that Lot, he decided, that's where I'm going. And the word of God says he pitched his tent towards Sodom. Now Sodom was an evil city. It was a sinful city. But Lot didn't care. He chose him. You see, it was all I. It was all for me. What I want. And you know that temptation It's what I want. But friend, do you realize that when you surrender your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, it's no longer I that live but Christ. You have yielded to the master that the lordship of Jesus Christ. He becomes your lord. So easy to say. What he says I will do where he sends I will go. Never fear only trust and obey. He was living for self, just for him. He didn't care about Abram, Uncle Abram. He didn't care even about anyone else. It was for him. And what he thought was right, he didn't ask God. Notice nowhere did he say, God, what do you want here? Where do you want me to go? What do you want me to choose? No, friend, he didn't bring God into the picture. he chose him. It was all for him. And so he pitched his tent towards Sodom. In chapter 14, in verse number 12, it tells us, Lot dwelt in Sodom. You see, he first of all pitched his tent there, but then he moved closer still. Even though it was wicked, sinful, He just dwelt in Sodom. He took his family there. And then we find Lot sitting in the gate of Sodom, because Lot became one of the counselors, became one of the people of the city, one of the important people. And I'm sure he sat there that day and said, I've arrived. He said, it was all for me. little did Sodom know or not know that he made that choice out of the will of God, friend. He was no longer walking in the center of God's will. He settled down there. He raised his family in a simple place. but he paid an awful price. You see, it was all about God. What would prosper him? Now, we've gotta be careful. We live in a materialistic world. And people get so much caught up with possessions and and and and what will prosper me? You have to do the same aside what's right. What's God say? What will God honor? What will God bless? Lot didn't ever saw the face of God. He He made his choice. But he paid an awful price. Because as you read the story of Lot, it's a sad story, because one day the angel of the Lord called him to rise out of Sodom, that God was going to judge this sinful place, and God says, you. I want you to bring your family with you. Tell your family. And so the Bible tells us he went to his sons-in-law and he said to his sons-in-law, listen, God's going to judge this place. Get up. Come on. We've gotta go. They laughed at him. What are you talking about? What are you talking about? She brought us here. Aren't you the one that Let me tell you, he left his sons-in-law and shut him. And the angel of the Lord said to Lot and his wife and his daughters, he said, come on, get up and go! You've gotta leave! And as a matter of fact, they were lingering. The angel of the Lord graciously took them by the hands and literally dragged them out of the city to hasten them to the place of refuge before God would judge that city. But you know, his wife looked back. God says, look not behind you. Don't you look behind you. God says, I'm going to judge that city. But Lot's wife, she didn't listen. Didn't believe that God was going to really do it. She looked back, and suddenly, God judged Lot's wife. The word of God tells us she became a pillar of salt. You see, you can't mock God and prosper. You better believe his word, friend. Because God's word's true. And then we find the natural fact, the story went deeper. And love went further into sin. Why? How did it happen, friend? He made a choice. He made his choice. And so do you. Then turn with me quickly to the book of Ruth. And the book of Ruth in chapter number one tells me a story about another man. This man's name is called Elimelech. Now he lived in the days of the judges. And there was great sin in the land. Every man did that which is right in his own eyes. And God sent a famine. This man, Elimelech, had a good name. His name was certainly something that honored the Lord. He had a name which honored. In other words, his parents, he was brought up in a godly home. His name means, God is my king. God is my king, or my king is God. You know, a famine came in the land. He was dwelling in Bethlehem. Bethlehem means the house of bread, and Bethlehem, Judah. Judah means praise the Lord. There ought to be joy. There ought to be joy in the house of bread, but sad to say, God had sent his judgment upon the land because the nation had sinned, because the people had sinned. They turned away from God, and God sent a famine as he said he would. Because God had promised he would send one. Now what was Limnic going to do? Remember what his name was? God is my king. Now it was God's ruling. But once again, friend, you'll notice that when it came to decide what to do, he never asked God. Never asked God. He never saw the face of God as to what to do. He decided what to do. And the Bible tells us that there was a man called Elimelech. And his wife's name was Naomi, and they had two sons. And it says in verse 2 of chapter 1, and they came into the country of Moab and continued. Now, they didn't intend to continue, because it says in verse 1, they went to sojourn. In other words, they went for a short stay, just for the famine, to get away. You know, Elimech didn't trust God. He neither sought the face of God as to what to do. He couldn't trust God to stay, because God didn't tell him to go. He made the choice. He made the choice. He made the choice because there was a need for provision. And again, once all, once again was, what is best for us? Now, I do believe he was thinking about his family. I do believe he was thinking about what was best for his family. But he didn't ask God. And you leak God out of the story, friend. you make a wrong choice. And so having not trusted God to see him through the famine, having not asked God what God wanted to do, although his name was God is my king, instead of trusting God, he decided for his wife and for his two sons. And they went to soldier just to stay a short time. Read the story carefully. He never got out of it. He went to sojourn in Moab, but he never got out of it. In actual fact, he died. He died. And not only did he die, his two sons got married. One married Ruth and the other married Orphan. And now they were setting up home and they were thinking about the future together. And then something happened. The two sons died. And now there's three widows. In poverty. In poverty. You see, they went for what was best for them. looking for provision. And they got three graves. That's they got, three graves. I see Naomi standing there. Her name was Pleasant, Pleasantess. And whenever she's returning back, She hears that there's food in Bethlehem. In actual fact, she doesn't know what to do with the girls. She pleads with them to go home. Because she did not know how she was going to provide for them. Even though they were able to go with her. Ruth said, I'm not leaving you. And so Ruth and Naomi make their way home. And as they're entering into the city, as they go into that city, And the people look and they can't believe it. They said, is this Naomi? Is this Naomi? Now she doesn't look pleasant or beautiful anymore. Her heart's broken. Friend, the years have walked into her life. Just years have taken their toll. of heartbrokenness having stepped out of the will of God. And she says, don't call me Naomi. Don't you dare call me Naomi. Call me Mara. And Mara means bitter. And what I said for those who are at the morning service, the trials of life can make you either bitter or better. And Naomi's bitter. Because she went out with her two sons and her husband. And she walks on her own. Ah yes, Ruth's there. But she doesn't see that as a real blessing, you know. She sees that as a responsibility she doesn't know how to cope with. What happened to that family friend? Elimelech made his choice. He chose. He chose to go to Moab. The last picture is in the New Testament. I want to paint, so we close. It's the story of a man called Pilate. Matthew's Gospel chapter twenty-seven verse twenty-two. Pilate says unto the people, he says, what shall I do then with Jesus? Which is called Christ. He didn't ask the Lord. He didn't ask God what to do. He asked the people. He Tell me what to do. Tell me what to do with Jesus, which is called Christ. My friend, God had already been working in Pilate's life. Because in reality, there was indeed in his heart, or in his home rather, there was advice from his home, there was concern. His wife sent a message to Pilate. And she says, Pilate, have thou nothing to do with that just man. And what she was saying was this. Don't wipe your hands. No, she says, let there be nothing between thee and that righteous man. Do the right thing, Pilate. Do the right thing. I have suffered many things in a dream. And here we find in his very home, his wife is giving him advice and said, listen, make the right choice. Make the right choice. Don't let there be anything between you and him. That's the right choice, Pilate. But you know, there was a conflict in his heart. Because Pilate knew that the Lord Jesus Christ was condemned, not because he was guilty, but out of envy. Out of resentment, out of jealousy of the people. Of those chief priests and scribes. Pharisees. And so, there's a conflict. What am I going to do? He What was right? What was he going to do? What choice would he make? And instead of making that choice, he turned to the people. And he says, you tell me what to do. Tell me, what shall I do then with Jesus? Which is called Christ. Let him be crucified. Just let him. Crucify him. Crucify him. We will not have this man to rule over us. They didn't want the Lord. And they say this, this afternoon, the crowd out there still doesn't want the Lord. The old world in which we're living in, if you were to ask them what to do with Jesus, they would say away with him. Forget him. leave him to the side. You don't need Jesus. You know, Pilate, not only was there a concern in his house, not only was there a conflict in his heart, there was choice on his hands. Because notice what he asked the crowd. I do then with Jesus because he knew he had to make the choice. And he did. What did he do? He listened to the crowd. Listened to the crowd. The word of God says, after he, Pilate, had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. He listened to the voice of a crowd. What was his problem? First man was possessions. Second man was provisions. Third man, people. And they all made their choices. You said to me, but tell me, what does that mean to me? Let's go back to Joshua, chapter 24. And Joshua said to the people, choose ye this day whom you'll serve. you've gotta make a choice. The Savior stands outside the door of every sinner's heart. He longs to be admitted to eternal life and pardon. Yes, it's invitation time. Tell me, what will you do with Jesus? Because this afternoon, if you're not saved, you have a choice to make. Those who are saved, thank god we have made our choice. Our choice was Jesus. We've received the lord. And thank god by receiving him, we have received god's great gift. It's eternal life. The man made the wrong choice. Will you? Remember what Jesus said, he who's not with me is against me. It's as plain as that. You either have Christ in your heart and know the Lord Jesus is your savior or he's outside your heart and life, friend. And on your throne, instead of a savior, there's sin. And that sin will take you further than you'll ever want to go. That sin will keep you And that sin will cost you far more than you ever wanted to pay. For sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth eternal death, separation from God forever, and that place that God, Word, calls Hell. choices. Life's choices. You may make many choices, friend. Some you'll regret. But the man or woman who refuses Christ and chooses their sin. I want to tell you in the blackness and darkness of a sinner's hell. Choose Christ. What a choice to say. As for me, in my house, we're going to serve the Lord. May you say that in your heart and mean it. And if you know not Jesus, please speak to us. We'd love to point you to Christ. Dr. Paul and myself are here. Listen, we'd love to show you from God's word. for bringing that word to us this afternoon of making the right choices in life. And sad to say, many people make the wrong choices. And then they have to take the consequences of their choices. Many years ago, when I was at Bible College, we studied this Genesis 13. And I was just looking. I was writing down in my margin. And someone said this as we were studying Genesis 13 about Lot. It says, he did not give up Christ, but he did not give up much for Christ. That was true about Lot, wasn't it? He didn't give up his faith, but he wasn't willing to give up much for his faith. And he won the world in the sense of he won all the riches of this world, but he lost his family. And he lost his testimony. And ultimately he lost everything. Because he lost all his possessions. Because he made the wrong choice. And you who are here today, if you're a child of God, don't make the wrong choices. Lots look like he made the right choice because he did very well in Sodom in the beginning, didn't he? He became rich, he became famous, he became powerful. But in the end, time revealed that he had made the wrong choice. And Abraham had made the right choice. And if you're here today and you're not a Christian, the worst choice you can make is to go out into eternity without salvation. That's the worst choice. Many years ago, A young man was converted to Christ from a life of terrible sin, womanizing and drinking. And he had a very famous friend, a Hollywood actor called John Wayne. John Wayne came over to his house for dinner. This man said to John Wayne, my life has changed since I became a Christian. They talked throughout the meal. At the end of the meal, John Wayne said to him, how is it that you have managed to give up all these sins that I can't get away from? That man's name was Stuart Hamlin. And after John Wayne went home that evening after the dinner, He got down at his piano, he was a singer, and he took a piece of pencil, and he began to play some tunes, write down some words about what Jesus Christ had done for him. And he wrote these words, it is no secret what God can do, what he's done for others, He'll do for you with arms wide open. He'll pardon you. It is no secret what God can do. Sad to say, I don't believe John Wayne ever became a Christian. He'd heard the message of salvation about what Jesus Christ could do for him, but he made the wrong choice. His friend, Stuart Hamlin, made the right choice. And it changed not just their lives on earth, it changed their eternal destination. Last week I was telling you about a man who grew up with Elvis Presley. Knew him at school. Elvis went on to become a world famous star. We could say Elvis gained the world, didn't he? He had riches, he had fame, he had women falling over themselves for him. And this man, by contrast, became a medical doctor. Many years later, when he was working in the A&E, a man was brought in, dying. He looked at that man, and he examined him, and he pronounced him dead. There was no hope for him. He went into the other room to write the medical certificate to confirm that this man was dead. And one of the nurses said, do you know who that was? He said, no. He said, that's Elvis Presley. Oh, he said, I didn't recognize him. We went to school together. But he says, he's changed so much. His body is so wasted with drugs and alcoholism and abuse. That the Elvis I knew, that's not him. And Elvis was a man who made the wrong choices. He'd heard the gospel. He'd heard about Jesus Christ. In fact, Elvis grew up in a church. He sung more gospel songs. He produced more gospel albums than rock and roll songs. Heard the gospel many times. But he kept making the wrong choices. Don't make the wrong choice. I'm going to ask Reverend McRae if he would play the piano for us and we'll sing that hymn. It is no secret what God can do. If you're here and you need God to touch your life, sing this prayerfully. Because what God has done for others, he can do for you if you open your heart. If you're a child of God and you need God to touch your life, you pray, God touch my life. If you're a sinner and you're lost, you pray, Lord, save me. Have mercy on my soul. You don't need to have a fancy prayer. The Bible says there was a publican who was in the temple. He said, Lord, have mercy, be merciful unto me, a sinner. He knew, that's all you need to pray. God saved him. The dying thief says to the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord, remember thou me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Jesus said to him, what? Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. Let's stand and sing. The chimes of time ring out the news, another day is through. Someone slipped and fell. Was that someone you?