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Please open your Bibles to the
prophecy of Joshua, Joshua chapter 8, verse 30. Joshua chapter 8,
verse 30. Jericho and Ai have fallen. The king of Jericho and the king
of Ai are dead. And these are historical events
which we do not deny. But through these historical
events, God has shown us the spiritual dimension of these
events. For God wrote the Bible for the salvation of souls and
throughout this prophecy of Joshua we can see the gospel shine through. This Old Testament history is
entirely harmonious with the New Testament gospel of grace
alone. For example, do we remember what
the battle of Jericho represents? It represents the last battle
on earth of the army of Christ against the city of Satan. The
King of Jericho represents Satan and the rescue of Rahab the harlem
represents the rapture of the saints on the last day. But since
the entire outcome on the last day was already decided at the
cross in AD 33 we can confidently say that presently Satan is a
defeated foe. He had been hanged and was dead,
was cast for dead at the entrance of the ruins of his city. His
last actions before the end of the world are only actions in
obedience to the counsel of God. Do we remember what the battle
of Ai represents? It represents the battle for
our egocentric self. This was our second greatest
enemy. And again, the entire outcome
of this battle was already decided at the cross and at the resurrection
in AD 33. If I have been born again, the
Lord Jesus Christ has fully paid for the guilt of all my sins
at the cross in AD 33 and has justified me at his resurrection
for we read in Romans chapter 4 verse 25 who was delivered
for our offenses and was raised again for our justification the
Bible teaches that if we were in Christ from before the foundation
of the world then we were crucified with Christ we died with Christ
we were buried with Christ we rose from the tomb with Christ
we ascended with Christ into heaven and we are already seated
now with Christ in the heavenlies and we are reigning with him
when I became born again that was the time when the city of
Ai fell I was that king of Ai fiercely opposing the power of
Christ and my obnoxious stubborn rebellious self died when Christ
died on the cross and when I actually became born again all my sins
were wiped away and therefore when God revealed to me that
the king of Jericho was defeated unto death and the king of Ai
was dead never to rise up again I was filled with gratitude now
do we show our gratitude when things go well then it's time
to rejoice let's read about that here in Joshua chapter 8 verses
30 through 35 gratitude Joshua chapter 8 verse 30 then Joshua
built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal As
Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded the children of Israel,
as it is written in the book of the Law of Moses, an altar
of whole stones, over which no man had lifted up any iron. And
they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the Lord, and sacrificed
peace offerings. And he wrote there upon the stones
a copy of the Law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the
children of Israel. and all Israel and their elders
and officers and their judges stood on this side of the ark
and on that side before the priests the Levites which bear the ark
of the covenant of the Lord as well as the stranger as he that
was born among them half of them over against Mount Gerizim and
half of them over against Mount Ebal as Moses the servant of
the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people
of Israel. And afterward he read all the
words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to
all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word
of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not, before
all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little
ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them. Please put a sticker here in
Joshua chapter 8 and please turn to the prophecy of Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy chapter 27 verse 2 Deuteronomy chapter 27 verse
2 as we have read in Joshua chapter 8 verse 31 God commanded Moses
that a monument and an altar should be built to him on Mount
Ebal point number 1 an altar of whole stones an altar of whole
stones. Deuteronomy chapter 27 verse
2. And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan
unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, that thou
shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with plaster. And thou shalt write upon them
all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou
mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,
a land that floweth with milk and honey, as the Lord God of
thy fathers hath promised thee. Therefore it shall be, when ye
be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which
I command you this day, in Mount Ebal, and thou shalt placer them
with placer. And there shalt thou build an
altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones, thou shalt
not lift up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar
of the Lord thy God of whole stones, and thou shalt offer
burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord thy God. And thou shalt
offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before
the Lord thy God. And thou shalt write upon the
stones all the words of this law very plainly. And Moses,
and the priests, the Levites, spake unto all Israel, saying,
Take heed, and hearken, O Israel. This day thou art become the
people of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt therefore obey the
voice of the LORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes,
which I command thee this day. From Joshua chapter 8 verse 33
we see that the ark of the covenant was on display again. Do we remember
the previous two times that the Ark of the Covenant was on display?
Number one, it was at the crossing of the Jordan River, representing
Christ, enduring the cross for our sins. And number two, it
was at the Battle of Jericho, representing the Last Day, and
in a proleptic vision of the Council of God at the cross in
AD 33. And now we discover in Deuteronomy
chapter 27 verse 9 the reason for the third showing of the
Ark of the Covenant. For the words recorded here are
picturing the day we become born again. O Israel, this day thou
art become the people of the Lord thy God. That's becoming
born again. and therefore any obedience to
the law of God by the people is not a confirmation of the
Armenian gospel can you see that? but it is a response of gratitude
by the people of God Deuteronomy chapter 27 verses 2 through 4
speak of building a monument to their salvation on which the
law was inscribed using whole stones and Deuteronomy chapter
27 verses 5-7 so this is the second part speak of building
an altar of whole stones for burnt offerings and peace offerings
these stones must be whole stones as they are found for these stones
represent the souls of unsaved people when God looks at the
souls of natural man he only sees dead hard stones unable
to do anything that please God when we become born again God
says in Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 76 a new heart also will I give
you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of
flesh when John the Baptist said in Matthew chapter 3 verse 9
that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham
he was not referring to literal stones but to unsaved people
around him who have hearts of stone God is able to convert
them so that they become children of Abraham who is called the
father of all them that believe Now let me say another thing
concerning the altar that Joshua built. What is an altar? An altar is a place of sacrifice,
bloody sacrifices. But all the bloody animal sacrifices
of the Old Testament were types and figures looking forward to
the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
And that is why the altar had to be made from heart stone,
representing unsaved people. Christ shed his blood for them,
not for righteous people who need no forgiveness. And what
does the plaster represent that holds the stones together? It
represents the word of God and the love of God, for this is
how God designed it, that we should love one another and hang
together as a congregation having a common faith in the Word of
God so we see that God is brutally honest about the wickedness of
man and the hardness of our heart and that we do not lose our identity
so quickly and in this we see the foreshadowing of the New
Testament Church for which Christ shed his blood and gave his life
that he might present us to himself a glorious church not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing from Ephesians 5 verse 27 these
stones were not shaped by men but by God and there according
to Deuteronomy chapter 27 verse 7 in these congregations of stones
we shall offer peace offerings and shall eat there and rejoice
before the Lord our God now about the law of Moses and
then God commanded to write upon the stones of the monument all
the words of the law very plainly that's what God says in Joshua
chapter 8 verse 32 what does this law refer to? does it refer
to the entire Pentateuch? Genesis through Deuteronomy?
obviously not because there is not enough space on this memorial
to write 370 pages of text but a summary of the law was given
in Exodus chapter 20 and in Deuteronomy chapter 5 where God wrote with
his finger on two tables of stone the Ten Commandments this was
written on the monument of stone and then God said in Deuteronomy
chapter 27 verse 10 thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the
Lord thy God and do his commandments and his statutes which I command
thee this day. What is the message from God
in this activity of Joshua building the monument on Mount Ebal and
writing the law on these stones? And notice here is Mount Ebal
again. Please turn again to Joshua chapter 8 verse 32. In Joshua
chapter 8 verse 32 there we read and he wrote there upon the stones
a copy of the law of Moses which he wrote in the presence of the
children of Israel and what does this action of building the monument
represent? Joshua stands there in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ for his name is the same name as
Jesus Joshua is the Hebrew name Jesus is the Greek translation
of it first he bound satan as he promised he would do in Matthew
chapter 12 verses 28 and 29 and while hanging on the cross he
plundered the house of satan and he pronounced the curse on
satan equivalent to hanging him on a tree and then he rose from
the grave and 40 days later he ascended into heaven and who
did he see there? satan so he cast Satan out of
heaven and cast him into the bottomless pit we find that in
Revelation chapter 12 verse 9 and Revelation chapter 20 verses
1, 2 and 3 which is equivalent to the king of Jericho being
killed and hung on a tree and cast dead at the entrance of
his ruined city and then Christ built a monument with Christ
as the chief cornerstone He built the church from the stones which
he took out of the house of Satan and glued the stones together
with his love and with his wood which keeps us together until
the end of time and he wrote the Ten Commandments in our hearts
so that they are with us until the end of time you see even
though these stones portray the hardness of our hearts God shows
hereby that he delights in mercy His mercy, His unmerited pardon
is indescribable and very great there is no sin so great that
the Lord could not forgive for only God knows how to calculate
with the number infinity His grace, His unmerited favor is
very great His grace for His elect children knows no bounds
and even though these stones are very hard and ugly God is
able to build from these stones the body of Christ the temple
of God which is much more beautiful than any temple made from the
most precious stones found on earth and simultaneously he built
the altar to show us that he is the Lamb of God which take
it away the sin of the world and that his sacrifice is the
hinge on which the entire world history depends and then he declared
to us his covenant in words which still ring in our ears for here
he described his covenant in terms of blessings and cursings
we never heard the covenant expressed this way let us first read Joshua
chapter 8 verse 33 and then we turn again to the prophecy of
Deuteronomy Deuteronomy chapter 27 verse 11 point number 2 the
blessings Joshua chapter 8 verse 33 and all Israel and their elders
and officers and their judges stood on this side the ark and
on that side before the priests the Levites which bear the ark
of the covenant of the Lord as well the stranger as he as he
that was born among them half of them over against Mount Gerizim
and half of them over against Mount Ebal as Moses the servant
of the Lord had commanded before that they should bless the people
of Israel and afterward he read all the words of the law the
blessings and cursings according to all that is written in the
book of the law so Joshua gathered all the people together including
the strangers such as Rahab the harlot and all her family and
the Kenites the children of the brother-in-law of Moses six tribes
stood on Mount Gerizim and six tribes stood on Mount Ebal Joshua
and the Levites and the Ark of the Covenant and the strangers
and the elders and the officers and the judges stood in the valley
between those two mountains and the Levites spoke with a loud
voice and the curses and the blessings and afterward Joshua
read all the words of the curses and the blessings to those standing
by in the valley now please turn to Deuteronomy chapter 27 verses
11 and 12 Deuteronomy chapter 27 verse 11 and 12 and here we
read And Moses charged the people
the same day, saying, These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless
the people. And when ye are come over Jordan,
Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and
Benjamin. Historically, first the blessings
and then the cursings were spoken by the Levites. These blessings
and cursings are listed in Deuteronomy chapter 28, 28 not 27. The 12
curses that are listed in chapter 27 are of a more general nature
and they are answered by the congregation with Amen. What are blessings? Blessings
are gifts from God that work together to lead us to salvation. the best definition of blessings
is given in Romans chapter 8 verse 28 and there we read and we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God
to them who are the call according to his purpose now this is an
amazing verse for God declares herein that all things in history
all things work together to be blessings for the elect of God
more precisely, to be blessings leading us to salvation and to
growing in grace. Only matters pertaining to eternal
life are blessings. Our focus must always be on the
life hereafter. Much money and wealth are not
in this category. God gives the reprobate money
and wealth. but it actually increases their
accountability before God on the last day. So that these things
turn out to be curses rather than blessings. And thus the
entire life of the child of God is filled with blessings from
beginning to end. What are we worrying about? This is what we must believe,
for God does not lie. God does not lie. For example,
God says in Galatians chapter 3 verse 24, wherefore the law
was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might
be justified by faith. Even the law which apparently
brings judgment was designed to lead us to repentance and
to Christ. and thus even the so-called disasters
in our life are all blessings in disguise God in his wisdom
knows how to arrange his providence so that we can rejoice in all
things that he does in our life there is not one exception not
one exception for God cannot lie and God does not want any
of his children to suffer needlessly And this of course only applies
when we are the elect of God. Would it not be nice to know
if you are one of God's elect? Keep listening and eventually
you will know. Let us now look at Mount Gerizim. Joshua chapter 8 verse 33, And
all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges,
stood on this side the ark, and on that side before the priests,
the Levites, which bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
as well the stranger, as he that was born among them, half of
them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against
Mount Ebal. As Moses the servant of the Lord
had commanded, before that they should bless the people of Israel.
What is the spiritual meaning of Mount Gerizim? The name Gerizim
means the cuttings off. Cuttings off. Now that's a strange
name for a mountain. But God gave us that name of
that mountain so that we can figure out the spiritual meaning
of Mount Gerizim. which blessings are cuttings
off well if it has to do with salvation then the cutting off
of sins is definitely a blessing from God it means that repentance
is a blessing from God and that is indeed the case for example
we read in Matthew chapter 1 verse 71 and she shall bring forth
a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save
his people from their sins the Lord Jesus is definitely a blessing
from God and when he delivers us from our sins that is again
a blessing from him when he delivers us from our sins it means that
he gives us repentance from our sins It means that he breaks
the power of those sins over us. It means that he removes
the attraction of those sins from us. And so that is an example
where the cuttings off is a blessing from God. Is repentance always
a gift from God? Well what does the Bible say?
We read in Acts chapter 5 verse 31. Him hath God exalted with
his right hand to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. The Lord Jesus Christ has
been exalted by God to give repentance and to give the forgiveness of
sins to Israel and this refers to the spiritual Israel, the
Israel of God, the elect of God who will be given repentance
and simultaneously with their repentance they will receive
the gift of faith and of salvation. Repentance is the divinely wrought
conviction of sin in my heart that my soul is guilty before
God. It is my turning away from sin
and identifying me with having been an offense to God and so
my repentance involves both an intellectual change of mind about
my sin and a change of heart attitude towards sin I do not
want my sin anymore because it grieves my Heavenly Father in
my sinful nature my original sinful nature I cannot repent
but through the work of the Holy Spirit I can recognize myself
as a sinner in rebellion against God and having an evil nature
and therefore repentance is always preceded by God's work in my
heart and once God's illuminating grace has given me true faith
there will always be true repentance and the corollary you know corollary
means it's a mathematical term the corollary is also true where
there is not true repentance there can never be true faith
and therefore repentance is necessary to salvation and repentance is
a continual act of the grace of God and necessary for growing
in grace and so since Mount Gerizim has to do with cutting off as
a blessing we can see that the cutting off of sins is the greatest
blessing in this list of blessings for it addresses directly our
relationship with God this is what we want to know are we a
child of God? are we one of God's elect? for
only if we are among God's elect will the description of Deuteronomy
chapter 28 verse 3 apply and there in Deuteronomy chapter
28 verse 3 we read Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed
shalt thou be in the field. Only if we are a child of God
shall we be continually blessed in the city as well as in the
field. Point number three, the cursing. Joshua chapter 8 verse 33, And
all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges,
stood on this side the ark, and on that side before the priests,
the Levites, which bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
as well the stranger, as he that was born among them, half of
them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against
Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before,
that they should bless the people of Israel. Let us now turn again
to Deuteronomy chapter 27 verse 13 Deuteronomy chapter 27 verse
13 And there we read, And we shall
stand upon Mount Ebal to curse Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun,
Dan, and Naphtali. And the Levites shall speak,
and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice, Cursed be
the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination
unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsmen, and putteth
it in a secret place. and all the people shall answer
and say Amen and so on and so on the 12 curses listed in verses
15 through 26 do not belong to the list of blessings and cursings
that are in question except for the first one all the other 11
curses concern the second table of the law which refers to loving
our neighbor as ourselves but then come the two lists of blessings
and cursings of Deuteronomy chapter 28 there are 11 blessings and
there are 49 cursings in Deuteronomy chapter 28 we've already seen
that the greatest blessing is to be a child of God the greatest
curse then is to be rejected by God it is to be a reprobate
it is to be a person who is a continual abomination in the sight of God
and is on the way to hell let us develop this concept from
the beginning when God chose his elect from before the foundation
of the world and God added a second contingent of people who are
not going to be saved according to Genesis chapter 3 verse 16
these people come into the world under the curse that God placed
on Adam and all his seed please turn to the epistle to the Galatians
Galatians chapter 3 verse 10 Galatians chapter 3 verse 10
then these people increase the curse on themselves by adhering
to another gospel Galatians chapter 1 verses 8 and 9 and by adhering
to a gospel of works as we read in Galatians chapter 3 verse
10 Galatians 3 verse 10, For as many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continued not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. And since these people
are not saved, every one of them who were passed by in the process
of election will develop in their minds concepts of other gods
whom they worship. And as a result, God will give
them over to vile affections and to a reprobate mind. Romans
chapter 1. Today the internet is assisting
them in finding addresses to give themselves over to the vilest
debauchery, thereby hasting God's wrath on this world. and God
will be totally justified in putting an end to this world.
And so it is of the utmost importance that we understand from the Bible
who the real God is who made us for his glory. The greatest
curse is to follow other gods who lead us on a slippery slide
into hell. and that is why we want to focus
today on the Armenian gospel which apparently is taught in
Deuteronomy chapter 27 and chapter 28 please turn again to the prophecy
of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 1 Deuteronomy chapter
28 verse 1 the Armenian gospel the free will gospel is another
gospel than the gospel of grace alone and thus it serves another
God than the God of grace. We read in Deuteronomy chapter
28 verse 1 and it shall come to pass if see the A word if
if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy
God to observe and to do all his commandments which I command
thee this day that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above
all the nations of the earth and all these blessings shall
come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the
voice of the Lord thy God. Now that is an if-then struggle. If we isolate these verses from
the rest of the Bible, then we come to the conclusion that our
God says to us, if you do this, if you are obedient to my commandments,
then I will save you and make you right on the high places
of the earth and if you do not obey my commandments then you
will be cursed in my sight the Armenians are smiling but that's
a faulty conclusion and that can be seen from Deuteronomy
chapter 27 verse 9 where God shows us that he is referring
to people who have become born again God says in Deuteronomy
chapter 27 verse 9, O Israel this day thou art become the
people of the Lord thy God and therefore since you are born
again I will cause my blessings to rain on you and your second
nature will be to obey my commandments. Remember that most of the cults
are spawned by taking some of the verses out of the King James
Bible and taking them out of context. Let us now look at Mount
Ebal. Mount Ebal. There is a whole
lot more going on on Mount Ebal than there is on Mount Gerizim.
On Mount Ebal is the glorious monument which reminds us of
the church that the Lord came for that he might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word. on Mount Ebal
is the altar of whole stones. What is the meaning of Mount
Ebal? Mount Ebal means Bear Mountain or Bald Mountain and Ebal means
Stone. It reminds us again that people
have a stony heart. Let me illustrate what the stony
heart does. suppose I am asleep in my house
in the night of December 31 December 31, there are fireworks everywhere
but I am asleep and suddenly my house catches on fire from
the fireworks and my brother who lives next door sees it and
tries to wake me up not a chance I am in deep sleep My brother
breaks down the front door. He rushes into the house, wakes
me up, and helps me to the front door. I step outside, but from
pure exhaustion, he collapses still inside the house. The house
burns down, and my brother dies. Oh well, fire insurance will
cover the expense of the house, and for the rest of my life,
I do not think anymore of this incident, for I live comfortably
from the money that I collect from the insurance company. Is
this not an example of a very hard heart? And yet, this is
how most people live these days. The real situation is actually
worse than I have sketched in this story. My brother is my
next of kin. he is my kinsman redeemer he
did not die by suffering the fire for a few minutes he died
by suffering the intensity of fire equivalent of an eternity
in hell while hanging naked on a cross for six hours but if
for the rest of my life I do not want to remember this incident
nor am I grateful to my Redeemer for rescuing me out of my burning
house then God says since with your incredible ingratitude and
stony heart you have spurned my love I will also not remember
anything you might have done for me but I will remember every
incident where you have insulted me and I will demand that you
pay me in hell whatever you owe me this is how most people live
they either forget the cross of Christ regardless how much
it might have cost the Son of God or they remember it as a
historical event that occurred a long long time ago in the land
far far away and it does not touch them at all in their heart
they prefer not to be bothered by it and God's response is have
it your way This is what Mount Ebal reminds us of. Our earthly
kingdom is like a bald rock. It is spiritually empty. Our
souls are like hard rocks. And yet it is for these hard
souls that the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. That is why the
barrage of curses comes from Mount Ebal. For there is where
the altar is. There is where Christ was crucified
for sinners. not for good people but for sinners
the warnings are a sign of God's love for us and God is concerned
about us and God warns us about our hardened heart and about
the sin which does so easily beset us and about the future
which is either forever peace and joy with Christ in the new
heaven and the new earth or it will be in turmoil and in pain
in hell forever But who will listen? Who will listen? Who
will consider the life hereafter of any importance? Please turn
in your Bibles to the prophecy of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 11
verse 19. Ezekiel chapter 11 verse 19. Who will listen to these warnings
from God? His warnings go out into the
whole world. For the past 400 years the Bible
has been a bestseller by far. outstripping even the best books
man has written by 10 to 1. And so the message of the Bible
has been known throughout the world. No one has an excuse anymore. The gospel of grace alone is
now known in all the nations of the world. Who will listen
to these warnings from God? Only those who are God's elect
receive a nudging from God, the Holy Spirit, in the right direction. I should not say nudging, for
God is dragging us to Christ, even though initially we do not
want to come close to Him. When no, we do not want to come
close to Him, we are ashamed. We cannot see Him eye to eye,
because we have to admit that we love our sins so much that
we are willing to ignore the cross and all its consequences.
we were willing to follow our own hardened heart rather than
Christ but God was not satisfied with that answer we read in Ephesians
chapter 2 verses 4 through 6 but God who is rich in mercy for
his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in
sins had quickened us together with Christ by grace are ye saved
and has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ in Christ Jesus and so God promised in Ezekiel
chapter 11 verse 19 that He will interfere in our lives He will
cause us to get rid of our hardened heart and He will give us a heart
of flesh our gratitude for what Christ has done for us will be
very great because we will have a softened heart and he will
give us a love for him and for our fellow man we read in Ezekiel
chapter 11 verse 19 and I will give them one heart and I will
put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony heart out
of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh and then
we will experience the love of God that will be shed in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost we read in Romans chapter 5 verse 5 because
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us and now the question God lays before
us and this is the question we must lay before the people of
the world is this point number 4 whom do we worship? whom do we worship? please turn
to the epistle to the Galatians Galatians chapter 2 verse 16
Galatians chapter 2 verse 16 clearly the Armenian gospel has
another God than we do the Armenian gospel says all these blessings
shall come on thee and overtake thee if thou shalt hearken unto
the voice of the Lord thy God that's from Deuteronomy chapter
28 verse 2 it is a conditional blessing a conditional blessing
it is a blessing which must be earned by being obedient to the
voice of the Lord thy God and woe unto you if you do not obey
these commands for God says in Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse
15 but it shall come to pass if thou wilt not hearken unto
the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all his commandments
and his statutes which I command thee this day that all these
curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee so it means that
every violation of God's commands will be punished with an eternity
in hell it means that nobody will enter into heaven nobody
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and
so Can the Armenian explanation of Deuteronomy chapter 28 verses
1 through 68 be the true interpretation of God's word? Absolutely not. The Bible as a whole must harmonize. God is not a liar in one place
and speaks the truth in another place. The God who dictated Deuteronomy
to Moses is the same God who dictated Galatians to Paul. and
there in Galatians chapter 2 verse 16 God says it plainly that the
man is not justified by being obedient to the law we read in
Galatians chapter 2 verse 16 knowing that the man is not justified
by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ even
we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law for by the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified twice do we read
in this verse that the man is not declared just in the sight
of the Lord by the works of the law and this does not refer to
the law of the Ten Commandments but it refers to anything we
do anything we do we read in Galatians chapter 2 verse 21
Galatians chapter 2 verse 21 I do not frustrate the grace
of God for if righteousness come by the law then Christ is dead
in vain now that is clear it is not if salvation would come
by obeying the law then Christ would not have to die it is definitely
not God's plan that man would be saved by earning their way
to salvation by obeying the law of God the purpose of the law
is that we recognize our sinfulness and that we plead with God to
deliver us from our sins and this the Lord Jesus Christ can
do and therefore the purpose of the law is to lead us to Christ
in fact if we do not recognize that and we continue to do the
works of the law we are under the curse of the law we read
in Galatians chapter 3 verse 10 For as many as are of the
works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed
is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. And therefore the purpose
of the law is not to get us saved but to lead us to Christ and
He will save us. We read in Galatians chapter
3 verse 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid,
for if there had been a law given which could
have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
If there had been a law given which could have given eternal
life, verily salvation would have been by the law and not
by Christ crucified. Now this is logical isn't it?
The father loves his only begotten son more than he loves us and
thus if there would have been another way how we could have
been forgiven of our sins the father would have implemented
it without any doubt and Christ would not have to be crucified.
Now why is this not clearly understood? Why do people still worship the
false god of the free will gospel Why do they not understand that
we first must be born again? And then we realize that the
Gospel of Salvation was equally difficult to understand for Old
Testament people as well as for New Testament people. In both
cases it requires the illumination of God the Holy Spirit. And this
illumination is only given to God's elect, not to everyone
in the world. And so, the rest of mankind is
under the curse of selective hearing. The curse of selective
hearing. They hear the words from the
preacher or from the Bible study teacher, but they do not hear
it completely. They hear only what they want
to hear. Let me give a brief example of this. Please turn
to the epistle to the Romans. Romans chapter 8 verse 2. Romans
chapter 8 verse 2 we read there in Romans chapter 8 verses 2
and 3 for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made
me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could
not do and that's the law of sin and death what the law could
not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own
son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin
in the flesh verse 2 speaks of two laws the law of sin and death
and the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus but most
people hear with their ears only the law of sin and death it is
the law of God and the penalty of eternal death in the lake
of fire but no penalty however great will deter people from
sin Therefore, the law of sin and death is less powerful than
the power to sin. However, the gratitude that flows
from our faith in what Christ has done is the law of the spirit
of life in Christ Jesus. And it is more powerful than
the power to sin. This is the law of the spirit
of life in Christ Jesus, which will make me totally free. And
when I am free, I am saved from condemnation. Praise God for
a salvation so simple and yet so profound. Amen. Let us turn
to the Lord in prayer. Our merciful God and Heavenly
Father, we want to thank you, Father, for this episode of the
Children of Israel reciting the blessings and the cursings from
God on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. We want to thank you, Father,
that you have led us to the most important blessing, the blessing
of being a child of God. and the most important cursing,
the curse of being a reprobate, a castaway. In focusing on these
two most important blessings and cursing, we have covered
all the other blessings and cursings with the umbrella which you desired
us to see. These are the things that we
need to focus on, for this is what we need to understand. This
is what we need to understand, our salvation. and father we
want to thank you for a salvation that is so great and so beautiful
and yet so simple that even a child can understand this we want to
thank you father for the people whom you have drawn to you and
whom you have drawn to this congregation so that we can know them personally
and that we can love them with all the words and peculiarities
that they have acquired over the years but they are your children
They are human beings whom you have drawn. They are your special,
peculiar people, and we want to love them and share with them
the spiritual truths that we have learned in the past 17 years. We pray, Father, for your love
and grace to be among us when we communicate with one another.
and we pray that you increase our love for one another and
that you increase our love for you and for the Lord Jesus Christ
who gave all that he had for the church we pray father that
you keep our church faithful and that you bless us with spiritual
growth and with growth in numbers we pray father for your grace
and mercy upon our endeavors in evangelism near and far and
that you give us many open doors where we are welcome to speak
We pray, Father, that you give us the words to speak so that
we may remain faithful and not be puffed up, always remembering
that our church is still in existence because of your great love and
power to keep us faithful. We pray for all these things
in Jesus' name. Amen.
Whom Do We Worship
| Sermon ID | 94111041529 |
| Duration | 53:01 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Joshua 8:33 |
| Language | English |
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