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.