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The most important decision you will ever make
Matthew 27:22
Sermon 10
Have you ever made a really bad decision? Most of you are probably thinking, “What do you mean? A bad decision…I’ve made more than I can recount!” But just to make you feel better, try these on for size.
In 1955, Sam Phillips of Memphis, Tennessee sold to RCA Victor Records his exclusive contract for a relatively unknown singer and whose future he wasn’t quite sure of. The name – Elvis Presley. Now that was a dumb decision. Seventeen publishers turned down Dr. Richard Hornberger’s fictional account of his years at the 8055 Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Korea. His book, M*A*S*H, later went on to be a box-office hit movie as well as a very successful syndicated television show. Now that was a dumb decision. In June of 1938, action comics introduced Superman. He was the creation of Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel who believed that a little money in the pocket was more valuable than a comic character in a book, so they sold their rights to their publishers for $130.00. Now that was a dumb decision. In the mid-1960’s General Motors launched its new compact Chevrolet Nova in Mexico. They just couldn’t understand why in the world such a well-designed and economical car didn’t sell…that was until they discovered that nova means “it doesn’t go” in Spanish. Now that was a dumb decision.
In this life you and I are faced with many difficult decisions. Many much more important than whether or not to return a phone call, what we’re going to wear, or eat, or what job to take, or even should I marry this particular person. Yet while there is often great thought that comes with those particular questions, this morning I want to share with you that there is an even greater decision that you and I must make. It’s the same decision that the crowd in Pilate’s courtyard had to make. This morning I want to ask you the question of a lifetime. It’s a question that will either make you or break you. And this decision has more than eternal meaning, it has daily ramifications as well. The question I want to ask today is the same question that the Roman Governor Pilate asks in Matthew 27:22, “What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”
Let’s rephrase that question, because it’s one that we all have to answer: “What will you (your name) do with Jesus?” That’s the question that we want to focus on today. This morning we’re talking about, The most important decision you will ever make.
1. People respond in different ways to the Gospel. Some people wrongly think that no decision is necessary to become a Christian. They think somehow they’re a Christian by birth. Usually they arrive at that conclusion by a process of elimination. “I’m not Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, or the follower of any other religion, so I must be a Christian.” But you aren’t a Christian just because you aren’t something else. Hopefully, it’s more obvious today – you aren’t a Christian just because you’re an American. You aren’t a Christian simply because your parents were Christians or you were raised in the church. God doesn’t have any grandchildren. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than sleeping in a garage makes you a car.
When it comes to the great spiritual issues there can be no neutrality. Each person must decide for himself or herself. No one “drifts” into Christianity by accident. At some point you must consciously trust Christ as Lord and Savior. In the words of Charles Spurgeon, “You will never go to heaven in a crowd.” It’s true that there will be crowds in heaven, but we only go there one at a time. God saves individuals, not masses or groups.
Has someone talked to you recently about making a decision for Christ, and you’re turning it over in your mind? “Should I or shouldn’t I?” Do you have a loved one, who as far as you know, is not a believer? Everyone makes a decision about the Gospel. That’s powerfully seen in Jesus’ first parable. Turn to Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (p. 690).
Jesus is teaching the crowds. The crowd is so huge that He uses Peter’s boat as a pulpit, so that the people on the hillside could clearly hear His words. Perhaps earlier that day they’d passed a weather-beaten farmer, an apron full of seed, sowing out in his fields. Jesus took that and used it to illustrate an important spiritual truth. He warns His listeners that there are different ways to respond to the gospel, most of which were inappropriate. Not everyone who hears the gospel will respond appropriately with a life-changing faith encounter. So what are the different responses that people can make to the gospel?
a) Some respond to the Gospel with calloused indifference, vss. 4, 19. When a person farmed a field, there would be paths all around it where the workers walked. This constant stream of feet packed these paths down. If a seed were accidentally dropped on it, it couldn’t get down into the soil. It just lay on top until a bird came by and ate it. Jesus said some people have hearts like that. Sin has hardened their hearts. When a gospel witness is dropped into their life, they respond with a yawn and a, “So what?” Satan is soon able to distract them and steal that gospel witness from their hearts.
b) Some respond to the Gospel with empty emotionalism, vss. 5-6, 20-21. In Palestine it’s not unusual to see a layer of limestone with a half-inch of soil over it. This limestone traps the heat and water, so the soil is extremely warm and moist. A seed dropped into it springs up almost immediately. But because of the limestone barrier, the seedling can’t put down any roots. As soon as the hot sun hits it, it dies. Jesus says that some people are like that in their response to the gospel. They have an emotional response to the Gospel, but are not truly saved. Guess what happens? In a few weeks the emotion wears off. And the first time it becomes difficult or inconvenient to live like a believer, they fall by the wayside.
Every church has seen folk like this. These folk make a decision based on feelings instead of their will. They often stay with it just long enough to get their name on the church roll, but tragically their name is never written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!
c) Some respond to the Gospel with worldly preoccupation, vss. 7, 22. Sometimes farmers in Palestine would get a little lazy. Instead of pulling up all the weeds, they’d just burn the field off. If you sowed seed in that ground, the seed would grow but so would the weeds. Eventually, the weeds choked out the seed.
Jesus used this to teach about preoccupied people. They hear the gospel, they know they need to respond, but the gospel is choked out by what Jesus calls “the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth.” These are folk who don’t have room in their life for Jesus. There is no room in their heart for the Gospel, because it’s already packed to the brim with, “do I have enough in my IRA, am I going to be caught in the big lay-off, we need a newer car, my wife wants a bigger house, what’s going to happen with the economy, will I get that promotion, and how big will my bonus be this year?” If you ask them, they’d probably say, “I know this Jesus stuff is important, but right now I’ve got to focus on providing for my family.”
c) Some respond to the Gospel with life-changing faith, vss. 8, 23. Some wonderfully will hear the gospel and respond with genuine repentance and faith. As a result, their life will be radically changed. They will begin to bear Kingdom fruit in their life! Of the four responses, only this last group genuinely knows Christ and is going to heaven! Of the four responses, only this last group made a decision to commit their lives to Christ.
The Lord Jesus went to the cross to pay your sin debt, and through His death, burial, resurrection He can cleanse your sin and bring you into a right relationship with God. But it doesn’t happen automatically: You must repent…you must believe…you must choose to follow Christ. It’s the most important decision you will ever make.
2. The most important decision you will ever make is to trust Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. A small boy was outdoors when a bee starting buzzing around a table nearby. He became very upset, and his mother tried to calm him. "Nathan, that bee is more afraid of you than you are of him," she said. "Look how much bigger you are. Besides, if that bee stings you, his stinger will fall out and he’ll die." Little Nathan considered this for a moment and then asked, "Does the bee know that?"
Sometimes we get stung in life because we don't stop to ask the important questions. We’re so focused on things that we think are important that we fail to consider the really urgent and important matters. In Acts 16 we find someone making the most important decision one can ever make but before he makes that eternally life changing decision, he asks the most important question that anyone can ever possibly ask, “What must I do to be saved?”
Turn to Acts 16:25-34 (p. 784). “What must I do to be saved” might not strike you as a very urgent question. You may think that the most urgent question you can answer is, "How can I get a boyfriend (or girlfriend)?" Or, "How can I get a job?" Or, "How can I deal with my difficult marriage?" Or, "How can I communicate with my rebellious teenager?" While these may be important questions, none are nearly as urgent as the question, "What must I do to be saved?"
This was not some philosophical question for this jailer. He’d just been awakened by a powerful earthquake. If that's ever happened to you, you know that it's a real adrenaline rush! Then, when he rushed to the prison, he confirmed his worst nightmare—the jail doors were open. He assumed the worst, all the prisoners had escaped. Instant death would be better for him than the torture that the authorities would inflict on him before executing him. So he was ready to fall on his own sword, when he heard a voice from inside calling out to him, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
He couldn't believe his own ears! Calling for lights, he entered the prison and saw that it was true. Overwhelmed with all that had happened, he fell down before Paul and Silas. We don't know what words were exchanged at this point. Probably, as with Peter and Cornelius (10:26), Paul and Silas said, "Stand up; we too are just men." Perhaps then Paul explained that the living God, whom he served, was behind the earthquake and the prisoners not leaving. These events opened this jailer’s eyes to see that he must come to terms with the God proclaimed by Paul and Silas. He knew that the servant girl had been shouting all over town that these men were servants of the Most High God and were proclaiming the way of salvation (16:17). So after he brought them out of prison, he asked this urgent question, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
a) This is a critical question because apart from Jesus Christ we are all lost. For ten weeks now we’ve been working through our series, Lost. Lost is a frightening word. I don't know if you've ever been lost, but it can be a harrowing experience. When I was a kid, I was always wandering off. I hated going shopping with my Mom and sisters. I remember on more than one occasion giving myself a good scare, as I wandered off.
Both of our boys inherited my wander lust. I’m not sure which one gave us the bigger scare. Aaron wandered off when he was about two and came home in the back of a police car. Because of his many adventures, Jane also discovered what a “Code Adam” means at Wal-mart. Though Ben sent us all into a panic when he wandered off at the Mall of America. For about ten scary minutes that seemed like ten hours, we frantically searched for our lost son.
But far more frightening than being lost at the Mall of America is to be spiritually lost and separated from God. Ironically, probably like our lost sons, many lost people don't even realize that they are lost! They're going through life pursuing all of the things that make life enjoyable, but they're oblivious to the impending reality of eternity and the fact that they will stand before the Judge of all the earth. Whether they feel it or not, it’s a fact. The Bible declares, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23); and, "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23), which means, eternal separation from God in Hell.
The Philippian jailer was in the dark until lights could be brought to see into the prison. Darkness is another biblical picture of being alienated from God. Lost people are in the dark and need help! They can't see where they're going and they don't know the way even if they could see. God must open their eyes and make them aware of their desperate condition so that they will cry out for help: “What must I do to be saved?”
b) This is a critical question because we all are just one breath away from eternity. Last Monday my friend, Pastor Paul Rudy, went home to be with the Lord after a brief bout with a cancer. Earlier this week I met with two different friends in two different hospitals, and prayed with them before they went into surgery to have cancer removed from their bodies. A few weeks ago I attended the funeral visitation for the son of our old neighbors. Their son, Ben, just twenty-six, was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident. Life is fragile. We all hang on to life by a thread.
Before we pillow our heads tonight, over 100 people will die on our nation’s highways and roads. Earlier this week 220 were taken into eternity and all they did was board a flight, something people do nearly every hour without giving it a second thought. Life is fragile and brief.
We're all so frail, yet we think we're invincible, especially when we're young. But we're not! Not one of us is guaranteed of being alive tomorrow morning. Novelist John Grisham said that when he was in law school, he got a call from one of his best friends in college. They got together for lunch, and the friend shared with Grisham that he had terminal cancer. Grisham was stunned. He asked, "What do you do when you realize that you are about to die?" The friend replied, "It's real simple. You get things right with God, and you spend as much time with those you love as you can. Then you settle up with everybody else." That friend's death at age 25 left a lasting impression on John Grisham.
T. DeWitt Talmage, points out that for the jailer this was an immediate question that demanded an immediate answer: “You can see by the torch the jailer holds in his hand the startled and anxious look. He had no time to prepare himself in especial apparel, no time to comb his hair, no time to fix himself up. He must have that question answered before the earthquake has stopped rocking, or never perhaps have it answered at all. Is that the way you propound the question of your salvation, or do you drawl it out as much as to say: ‘Any time without fifteen years I would like to have it answered?’ Do you know that thousands of souls have been ruined because they did not ask the question in time? If the door of the lost world could be opened, and…they could utter only one word of warning, that word would come sounding up like the howl of the everlasting storm: "Now!" It’s an urgent question because apart from Jesus Christ, all are lost, and because we all are just a breath away from eternity.
c) This is a critical question because when we die nothing else will matter. Money matters a lot to most of us, and we spend our lives trying to get enough to live comfortably. Yet, you can pile up a fortune as large as that of Bill Gates, but it won't get you in the door of heaven. You can work out and eat healthy meals to make your body fit, and you might (or might not) extend your life for a few years. But it won't do you a bit of good when you stand before the Righteous Judge. You can devote your life to piling up good deeds, but they all will be consumed in the burning heat of the holy presence of Almighty God. You can enjoy the love of a family that cares for you deeply, but even that will not matter when you stand before God. The only thing that will matter on that soon-coming day will be, "Are you saved? Have you been reconciled to God?”
3. You must make this decision personally and individually. The jailer asked a personal question, "What must I do to be saved?" Salvation is personal. No one can make that decision for you, nor make the decision to stand as a substitute in your place. The only way to be cleansed from sin is through repentance and faith in the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul answered his question as it pertained both to him and to his entire household. If he would believe in Jesus Christ, he’d be saved. The same thing applied to his household. If each one of them believed, each one would be saved. Thankfully, we read that each member of his household did believe in Christ that night (16:34), because there is no group plan of salvation. Each of us has sinned; each of us needs to be saved personally and individually. Growing up in a Christian home won't do. Attending a Christian church won't cut it. It’s incumbent on each person, and therefore urgent, to answer this crucial question personally.
Thankfully, even though it’s a profound question, it’s one for which even young children can understand the answer. Paul didn't say, "You'll need to enroll in my seminary course in advanced theology, and by the end of the semester, if you study hard, you will discover the answer." He didn't haul out a list of twenty steps, with the promise that if he worked hard at following them, by the end of his life he would be saved.
Instead, Paul answered the jailer in a simple sentence, and then, because this was all so new to him, Paul sat down with the entire household and explained things more thoroughly (16:32).
4. If you have not made this decision, you need to make it TODAY! It was the final game of the 1972 professional baseball season. Roberto Clemente was an all-star center fielder. He had a cannon for an arm and he already had 2,999 hits going into the final game of the 1972 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The announcer for the Pirates at the time looked over his score card as he was preparing for that day’s broadcast and he noticed that Roberto Clemente wasn’t penciled in to start or even to play that game. He thought, “Wow, what happened to Roberto? Is he injured or what?” So he went down to the club house and he found Roberto there and he said, “Hey, what’s going on? Are you injured? Why aren’t you in today’s line-up?”
Roberto replied, “Well, management wanted me to sit out this game because they want to really market over the summer the fact that I can get my 3,000th hit the following season. They thought it would be a good way to draw in more fans; they could say, ‘Come see Roberto Clemente hit his 3,000th hit. Something that very few major league baseball players have ever done.’”
Well, the announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates said to him, “You can’t do that. You’ve got to go out and play today. You don’t know if you’ll ever get another chance.” So Roberto took his advice and went out and he played the game. In the 6th inning he got up to bat and cracked a double. As he stood on 2nd, he tipped his cap to the crowd NS and they gave him a standing ovation. He was one of the very few players to get 3,000 base hits in a major league baseball season.
During that following off-season, Roberto was on a plane taking supplies to the earthquake stricken people of Nicaragua, and his plane went down and he died. None of us knows about tomorrow or next week. He would never have gotten the chance at that 3,000th hit again. All we are guaranteed is “Now!” Death doesn’t respect men or women, or white or black or rich or poor, or young or old. Death is no respecter of persons. Friend, if you are not reconciled to God, be reconciled to God today.
As you study the Bible, you’ll discover that salvation is always spoken of in the present tense. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” Just a few verses earlier Paul begs his reads to “be reconciled to God” (v. 20). He pleads with them, beseeches them (and whatever other synonym you want to use). This is incredibly important. It’s not something that can wait. You’ve got an opportunity now which won’t last forever, so you’d better take it, Paul tells them.
Imagine a man standing in the middle of some train tracks, reading a newspaper. You’re standing to the side of the tracks, and you notice that he doesn’t seem to be getting off. In the distance behind him, you can see the train coming toward him, you can hear the noise it makes. Strangely, though, he doesn’t seem to notice. You scream at him and wave your arms. Get off the track, you scream. He looks at you, and calls out, “I’m alright here, I’ll do something when I need to.” By now, you have no idea why he can’t hear the train quickly coming up behind him. You can feel the vibrations on the ground. “Get off, get off, get off,” you scream. “There’s a train coming!!” But he just looks at you and calmly says, "Give me a few minutes, I’ve got plenty of time. Let me finish the paper!" You pick up a handful gravel and start hurling it at him. One stone makes a hole in the paper right on the article he’s reading, so he gets a bit annoyed. "I told you to leave me alone! I’ll do it in my own time. Just go –" and he never finishes the sentence.
This is a desperate situation. Paul’s demand is urgent. "Now is the time…today is the day of salvation.” Don’t receive God’s grace in vain by hearing it but not doing anything about it. We don’t know when God will demand our life from us. On my first youth retreat after college, I had a thirteen year old boy die in my arms. He had a bad heart and no one knew it. The rich fool mentioned in Luke 12 didn’t know his life would be demanded from him after he’d just built more massive barns to store all his wealth. That’s why Paul is so urgent. We have an opportunity now to be reconciled to God, and we must take it now or else we risk missing it.
5. You must have a spiritual birth certificate, even though you may not remember it. With both Ben and Aaron going on mission trips this year, we’ve had to get them passports. To get a passport, you must have a birth certificate. Now neither of them remember when they were born, but Jane and I do. Remember what we talked about last Sunday? The critical question is not: Do you know the Lord? The critical, heaven or hell question is: Does the Lord know you?
As we go through the New Testament and church history, we see that it’s normative for someone to remember their salvation experience. Most believers vividly remember their conversion experience, when they repented of their sins and committed their lives to Christ. That’s the typical, that’s the normal Christian experience.
But that is not always the case. Some believers do not remember when they trusted Christ as their personal Savior. They don’t remember when they were born again. Scripture also does not tell us when the Apostles went from being curious about Christ to committing their lives to Christ. The New Testament unpacks for us that it is not so important to know when you have committed your life to Christ, as it is to know that you have committed your life to Christ.
This is the point that I want to make and a terrible mistake that I want to correct. Every now and then someone will say something that is Biblically wrong. They’ll say something to the effect, “Well, I’ve always been a Christian.” No one has always been a Christian. Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). If someone asked you, “When were you born?”, you wouldn’t say, “Well, I’ve always been alive.” You may not recall it but there was event called birth. And so there must be an event called “the new birth.” God’s Word is clear, by nature we were born in sin and are sinners. So you may not remember the time or place when you made a decision to trust Christ, but there was one. As each of us has a physical birth date, each of us must have a spiritual birth date…even if we don’t remember it.
But my friend, according to God’s Word, you are not born-again if you believe that you are going to heaven because you grew up in a church or a Christian home. You must believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, that He died for your sins and that you are trusting Him and Him alone for your forgiveness and salvation. You must know that you have committed your life to Him.
And true salvation always results in a changed life. If a person claims to believe in Christ as Savior, but his life is no different, his claim is suspect. While no one is perfectly sanctified in this life, everyone who has believed in the Lord Jesus will be different. Salvation is not just a human decision; it is God's imparting new life and changing our hearts, so that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17).
That’s what we observe in Acts 16. There were several changes in the jailer and his household. First, they were all baptized after they believed (16:33-34). Paul had explained to them that baptism is the outward confession of our faith in Christ. Baptism is the way to publically testify that you’ve trusted in Christ. It’s an act of obedience to Jesus Christ, showing that He has cleansed you from sin and that you are identified with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. It signifies a break from your former life of sin, and a commitment to follow Jesus as your Lord.
Not only were they baptized, they immediately began ministering to Paul and Silas, washing their wounds and setting food before them. Before he was saved, the jailer could throw these wounded men into prison, lock their feet in the stocks, and go to bed without any concern. But now, he humbly served them in these practical ways. Salvation always reorients a person so that rather than living for himself only, he begins to be sensitive to the needs of others. His attitudes and deeds begin to change out of gratitude to the Lord for His gift of salvation.
Also, the entire family rejoiced greatly because of their new faith in God (16:34). Salvation affects our emotions. A short time before this jailer was suicidal. Now, he's overflowing with joy in the Lord. No doubt the entire family was terrified by the earthquake. Now they’re singing praises along with Paul and Silas, even if there were strong aftershocks.
True salvation changes us from the inside out, affecting every area of our lives. Thus, the most urgent question in the world is: How can I be saved? The biblical answer is: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved.
My friend, that’s the most important decision you will ever make. Have you made that decision? Have you committed your life to Christ?
Conclusion: Is that the most urgent matter in your life today? After the capture of Syracuse during the Second Punic War, the Greek mathematician, Archimedes, was absorbed in working on a math problem. He had drawn some diagrams in the sand, and he was so absorbed in solving the problem, that when a Roman soldier intruded, Archimedes offended the soldier by merely remarking, "Do not disturb my diagrams." And the soldier ran him through with his sword.
Like Archimedes, we can easily become focused on some present problems and ignore the most urgent matter of eternity. It is only when you are ready to die that you are ready to live properly. The most urgent question in the world is, "How can I be saved?" The biblical answer is, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved." My friend, have you made that decision? If not, please commit your life to Christ today!
