Feb 16, 2020 - Blessing or Cursing - Pastor Keith

from the book of Deuteronomy I go. Let's ask God.

for his guidance and his intervention here.

Heavenly father. I just thank you so much.

It just seems like every time I open my mouth to pray.

I just have to say thank you.

I could never thank you enough for it.

Thank you. And Heavenly Father we gathered here today to hear a word from you. And so we invite the Holy Spirit into our midst into our hearts. Right now to open up our spiritual eyes and I spiritual ears. To prepare heart and give us the ability to understand what you would have us to understand. And father God, I just pray that you.

Make the the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart acceptable in your sight Lord, but God because you are our strength and you are Our Redeemer. And it's you that we come to hear from so speak to us through your word.

And through your minister. And we just thank you. We pray that you get all of the glory. And now we're changed.

A little more in your image this morning in Jesus name we pray. Amen. amen So we've been talking about blessings here over the last few weeks and just amazing. That seems to be the theme Here blessed we're blessed and we really are we're really blessed. The blessings of God is just poured out on all creation. If you really think about it, if you really believe that there is a God then you have to understand we'll wait a minute he gave life and he gave breath to everyone. And it is a blessing to be able to get up and to walk around in to do things into and got the Bible says that God even gives us the ability to get wealth and we look at the money. The money is made from from materials that God created. So there's nothing that we have that that we haven't received. There's nothing that we have that that God didn't didn't create or make it make it so that we could have and he gave us the mines to to create things and to do all different kinds of things His blessings are innumerable and unfathomable. And so it's certain times when we feel like we're blessed in there certain times and we feel like they don't like we're not blessed. But sometimes God talks about blessings in a slightly different way than what we talked about it. I mean, I feel blessed to 2 to get it to get a car into you know to get something nice and to have things I feel like that's a blessing but without without peace without Joy. What's that without help the ability to use those things? What good are they? And when you take the Lord out of the equation, it's like pouring gold into a bag with a hole in the bottom of it. It doesn't make any difference what you get. It doesn't make any difference how much you try to consume or how much you use to please yourself. There is no. Peace.

And there's no end to getting the eyes are never satisfied with seeing. The taste is Never Satisfied matter fact, if you if you get too many flavors in too many taste after while your taste gets dull and you're not even satisfied with it. The best food just becomes like the like the worst Food it just start to take it for granted. So the blessings really they're there, but without the right Spirit without the Lord in it, we don't even begin to understand or see what the real blessing is in those things. We have blessings of hell, but we can have our health and because we have helped we can ruin our health. It's almost like the person that hits the lottery how many times have you heard of people hitting the lottery and then being in more trouble than they were before they before they had the money.

Of course, it's not a it's not a problem that that that I'm afraid of tackling. but if the Lord will present me with the problem of having a whole lot of money, I just I think I deal with it and but the bottom line is

where is God in all of that? And so the Lord was talking to the nation of Israel the children of Israel and their they're called the children of Israel because they were the children of Israel. They were a tribe the children of Jacob and Jacob had his name changed by God to Israel. And so they were a tribe and today these things apply to us because we are still I'm through faith a part of that tribe, even though there are actually descendants of Jacob still alive today through faith in Jesus Christ who was a descendant a Jewish Jewish a Hebrew person through faith. We're all brought in to the DVD the nation of Israel if you will and so the Bible is teaching that now it's not about whether you're a Hebrew or Where or whatever it's about the faith. It's about faith in Jesus Christ, and there is a household of faith and that's the new tribe. And so when we believe in Jesus Christ, we become one One Tribe Paul talked about it as the body of Christ. And so I'm through faith. We inherit these blessings and these things that that the children of Israel inherited well, God established a law among his people and he established the law among his people to give them boundaries to keep them safe so that they could experience blessings. Because we have a way of overdoing things. Sometimes we have a way of getting a little sideways sometimes and in getting a little mixed up and getting things wrong. And so I set out things ahead of time and told the children of Israel this this disease are the parameters that you want to live with in. These are the things that you want to be careful of in these are things that you want to avoid. These are things that you need to do to to live in the land until 12 in the land in peace and to be fruitful and to multiply and so he said out these laws as a parameter to help the people be blessed and so the blessings were there for God, but There is a time when God was molding the children of Israel into a people of God because before that they had worshipped all different kinds of God that worship idols and all that. And so Jesus showed up. I mean God showed up in in in in Jesus did show up in the Old Testament and and God showed up in and began to teach them what it meant to be a people of God. He began to teach them who he was in the show them his Holiness and to show him his power and he did that through his laws. He did that through bringing them out of captivity in Egypt. He did Miracles and end in the nation. They saw that when he fed them in the wilderness when he provided for them. The Bible says that they wandered in the wilderness and one of the reasons they wandered in the wilderness West because I'm up their attitude towards the the prophet and so what happened was that they they they wandered in the wilderness by God sustain them. He fed them with Manna From Heaven. He sent Quail. He there their shoes didn't wear out for 40 years. Thick they're there their clothes didn't wear out. I think he's done that for me. The God can make make it work and he was showing the people that and so his wall was part of that and here in Deuteronomy is I ate a reiteration a restatement a rededication of the law to the people, but then now it's Moses given the law to the people.

and it's not just for the priest that the law was given in Leviticus first, then it's given again to the people in a way that the people could understand and so I want to get down to the Crux of the whole whole thing.

There's blessings and there's cursing in the law. And God is a god of Covenant. and he is orderly. When he says a thing, he means it he doesn't lie when he says that he means it so he established his law and he meant that law to be checked. And he meant for the people to keep that law so that they would be blessed. And there were people that had rebelled and didn't keep the law. And so if he was going to have a law what good would it be to not oppose his law?

So naturally there had to be cursing. So God's got a covenant and he's saying listen, I'm giving you instructions. I'm telling you the way it works. I'm not making a deal with you. I'm telling you how it works. And this is how it works. And this is how it doesn't work. Now the choice is yours. You can agree with me and you can walk with me or you can go your own way and try to try to figure it out and recreate the wheel and walk against me. When you walk with me. You're blessed when you walk against me, you bring yourself under the curse. And that's the way God said it and does that sound does that sound reasonable? I mean we have children and we say Hey, listen, don't don't play with that stove. I want you in his house at a certain time. You're not saying it because you hate them or you don't want them to have fun you're saying it because you want them to grow up healthy and you want them to be safe. So you set boundaries and then you enforced the boundaries on them. No, no, no. No. No put that down. Don't play with that. Don't put that in there. Did not tell you not to do that now go sit down. Don't don't get up.

And that's the way we raise our children and why are we doing it? Because we love them and we understand the dangers but there are dangers if they try to go against certain principles. And so this is what God was saying, let's look at Deuteronomy 28

28th and we're going to start at the first one and I'm just going to read a little bit of this and you can read the rest of your chapped the rest of this chapter yourself 28 through 30. I'm going to wind up in 30, then I'm going to go over to Matthew real quick and I'm going to show you something I so it says now it shall come to pass if you diligently diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully all his Commandments which I commanded you today that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the And so he's saying if you it will come to pass. If you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully all his Commandments he's saying if you diligently not if you decided cave am I like this, but I don't like that and I think you know, I'm kind of tired of that and I'm just going to do whatever you know, when is it have that attitude of diligent attitude when they say, well, you know what, I've got to really find out what this is about and I've got to figure out how I can make this work and I've got to be consistent and I got to be on top of this thing that's diligence. And he's there is the qualifier. He says if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully. All his Commandments which I command you today that the Lord your God will set you above all high above all nations of the Earth. I was God a liar. No, he's not a liar and it has come to pass that he has said his people high above all the nations of the earth not because of any better. But because he is the best and now in Jesus Christ, we are in him seated in Heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Our faith overcomes the world. So these things that come against us in the world. We have a faith we have parameters we have guidelines that we can refer to and there's principles that if we diligently follow them and seek them overcome, we will live up to those things. And we are above the nation's because the nation's don't see it. Everybody does not see. What we see everybody is does not have the power of God working in them. Everybody is not under his authority and and they're not in his will and his will and his plans are perfect for us. And so this is in the Old Testament and the Lord is talking about obeying his Commandments. Okay. Now you might be saying well. We can't everybody falls short sometimes but God knows that and he made a way for us and uses all these blessings and first two and he says all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you. Because you obey the voice of the Lord so it's not something that you do you obey the voice of the Lord you agree with God. It's something that he does something that he's already done. He's set the parameters. He's done the work. It's all in place. It's just about us coming into agreement with him and and staying on the path. And what he's saying is that these blessings will overtake you.

These blessings will follow and they're going to come upon you and he says because you obey the voice of the Lord your God. I pray that I would be able to hear the Lord. I pray that I would be able to hear from the Lord and we can ask him and he he won't he will speak to us. The disciples came to him and said well, why do you always speak in Parables? Why do you always tell stories to people? And he said he said I'm going to tell you why and see why did he tell them why because they came in asking. See the other people they didn't they just came and they listened and they left and they did whatever they weren't following Jesus, but the disciples where you are you're out here today seeking. You're being diligent. And the Lord will speak and he will explain those things to you and he will show those things to you. All you have to do is ask him. So he says in verse 3 in the city and blessed shall you be in the country? Where shall you be shall be the fruit of your body the produce of your ground and the increase of your hair in crease of your cattle and The Offspring of your flask blessed shall be your basket and you're needing blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out the Lord will cause your enemies to Rise Against that who rise against you to be defeated the war will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face. They shall come and get out against you one way and flee before you 7 Ways 7 is Locust is up is I'm a number of completeness in the Bible. And this this our enemies today the Bible says that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. It's a spiritual battle. And right here is the one of the greatest promises that that I see in invest in this passage. Is he saying the Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face? How many has got some some some giant some enemies that you want to be defeated the Lord will cause your enemies. Why will he caused them to do this? He's saying he's a god of Covenant a covenant is an agreement and he saying if you will listen to me if you would diligently obey me and follow me. I'll do it. See people want to go off and fight the devil and all this other kind of stuffing and it when we want deliverance. We want to we want things to change. We want something to happen in our lives and then we go about trying to make it happen. And what happens is that we feed into the very things that we're trying to fight and we don't even realize it because guess what we're not going to defeat it on our own power because if we if we if we were going to defeat it on Power and why in the world with with with with we even need God and angels to battle Forest.

And so the Lord is saying when you win when you come into agreement with me, this is part of what I'm going to do. This is the promise that I have for you. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing. And he's saying this is two-sided.

And we have to understand that today. You know, we're used to driving up to the drive-thru and saying, you know, let me have it my way and if we don't get it our way then then then we go in and we stay in there from the counter. We want to know who gave us that thing and we read them the riot act and we think we're right. But she God doesn't work that way. God is saying Hey There It Is It's like a buffet and he says go get it. But when you get when you walk up to the buffet, there's the there's the protocol you don't just go and put your hands in the in the food and put it on your plate. You know, you don't go coughing all over all the food you have a protocol when you come up there and you know how to act and you know what to do. And so God has provided that instruction for us and he's saying it I will cause your enemies did they come up against you to fully you'll be defeated before your face and then they'll come up against you one way and flee in 7 Ways boil boil boil boy and let me tell you something some of these some of these attacks some of these messengers of Satan boy, they run in groups. They won't just say that they they won't just come in and if you're not diligent your mess around and you'll and you'll deal with it, but then when you start to get straightened when the victory starts to come then the enemy comes right away to snatch it. He doesn't want you to get established in those things.

Say some of you will leave church today and and and and and then circumstances will hit you things will hit you in the end and you'll come up with every reason not to come back. Everything will be going on. And you have every single reason not to come back. Why? Because the enemy does not want you to get established. He knows that diligence. He knows that perseverance. He knows those are the things that the feed him. He knows that so what he wants to do is get you to be sporadic you want you to be anemic and weak.

I think they call that meat.

So so so those are the questions and he says the Lord in verse 8 the Lord will command the blessings on you and your Storehouse in in to which you set your hand and he will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you the Lord will establish you as a holy people to himself just as he is sworn to you if you keep the Commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways then all peoples of the Earth shall see that you are called by my name. That you were called by the name of the Lord. They shall be afraid of you and the Lord will grant you plenty of goods in the fruit of your body in the crease of your livestock and in the produce of your crown in the land, which the Lord swore your to your father's to give you. The Lord will open to you is good treasure the Heavens to give rain to your land It season and a bless all the work of your hands and you shall and to many nations are but you shall not borrow and the Lord will make you the head and not the tail you shall be above only and not beneath if you need the Commandments of the Lord your God if you heed sorry, if you heed the Commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today and are careful to observe them. You shall not turn. So you shall not turn aside from any of The Words, which I command you this day to the right or to the left to go after other gods to the serve them and then From there on he starts to talk about the curses and I'm not going to I'm not going to get into that read that for yourself check that out. I'm telling you. Boil boil boil boy start looking at those and you start saying wow that looks like it looks like that happened to me before I was like that's happening to me. That's where I was at before. I came to the Lord. I was dealing with some of this stuff and I came to the Lord and now I can see wait a minute. I was asking somebody this morning. I've asked you several times. Where in the Bible is that better roses God talked about Has anybody found that yet? Where is that better roses? He didn't say it would be a better roses without Thorns. He's preparing us and he's letting us know. So if we go over to Matthew Chapter 5 now, Jesus is saying the same thing. She this is remember that this law was given to the people to prepare them in to train them into becoming people of God the people of God. And if we go to Matthew 5 we see that Jesus. Yeshua Joshua God Saves we see.

That Jesus was doing the same thing. He was laying down the law. He was setting the parameters and he was showing us wait a minute. This is how to be blessed. You can be blessed and what was his commandment? What was the Commandment?

What's the love God? With all your heart all your soul and all your strength to love your neighbor as yourself. Sounds simple doesn't it? He said and all these two things all of the law and all of the prophets. Hang on these two things. So he's saying the bottom line is that's what it boils down to friend. Is to love God with all your heart and see this is what he Moses was telling the people see where you get cursed is is that you you walk away. You don't pay attention. You're not careful to follow God. He's not he's not at the right place in your life and in your relationships and what's happening is you're actually being drawn away and you're in in your you're serving other gods.

And so when we love God with all of our heart guess what we be good. We begin to do we begin to become careful. About how we listen to him about how we follow him. We become to become diligent about that because guess what we love him. It's not because he said if you do this, I'm going to strike you down or if you don't do this, you're going to be cursed. That's not it. Because now we know that God loved us he loved us first and he's calling us. And when we receive him there's a spirit his spirit. The Holy Spirit the holy ghost that he sends into her life and in and that that power is the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead and that testifies to us that we're children of God that testifies to us that God loves us that spirit that powers what begins to speak and we begin to hear our spiritual Eyes Are Spiritual ears begin to open and we become alive in Christ and because of our love we respond and we begin to give we begin to to love each other and we begin to come out and worship him in to sing songs of worship and to testify and to be into diligently follow him and live for him. Why because he said and thought you said in Deuteronomy all the nations will see And that's what God is doing. He's being glorified in us and that's why he lifts us up and that's why he saved us and that's why he calls his his enemies the flea and that's why you saying be diligent because I'm doing work and and and and this work is any turn work and one day I'm coming back and I'm going to receive you.

And on that day everyone will see him.

There's going to be a sound of a trumpet in a lightning flash. Go across the sky from east to west. And he's coming back in great power and in great Glory as a mighty mighty warrior and he's going to sit down all Rule and all authority and all of the false gods and all of the idols everything. All the gold is and all the silver is going to melt with fervent Heat. All of the selling and all of that stuff is going to stop all of the buying. All everything is going to stop and his kingdom is going to come to send out of heaven and it's going to come and come down on Earth and we're going to be entered into that Kingdom. But before that is going to be the the judgment. And the Believers when they come before the throne their judgment is different than non-believers seen on Believers are judged by the law and you judged innocent. Okay, you broke you didn't follow this why you didn't follow that law. You can fall in other words. You're under the curse you're under condemnation.

But when we come to Jesus Christ, we are reconciled in other words. He forgets our sins as far as the East to the west to remember them no more.

It's just like we never send. And then we bought into right relationship with him and he calls us his people. He actually calls his friends.

And so through faith we bought back into right right relationship and because of his love we love him. And so the year is Jesus presenting the law again in the in the New Testament. We just read in in Deuteronomy 20 28 the blessings. Now, he that Jesus did the same thing in verse 3, you solve people the multitude and he began to teach on a mountain from a Mountaintop. He said blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven and he goes through the Beatitudes and you can read that yourself, but Jesus did establish the law again, but he He fulfilled the law for us so that we didn't have to worry about a failing at the law. Only thing that we need to do is keep the diligent part to love him. He said love God with all of your heart all of you. So all of your strength and love God and love it. Love your neighbor as yourself. I'm not I can't make it any more simple for you. I am going to call your enemies to your soul. I'm going to forgive you for your Rebellion. I'm going to I'm going to put you in in in the perfect opportunity that only through faith that you can come back into right relationship with me and and and through that through that right relationship. I am advocating for you and I am on your side and so Jesus lays that down so then we go to

we go to first. Let's go back to Deuteronomy 30 and I'm going to close up with this.

Deuteronomy chapter 30 he says now it shall come to pass when all these things come upon you the blessings and the curse which I have set before you and you call them tomorrow and among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you and she think the children of Israel. There was a d asper diaspora and they were scattered into all of the earth and the Lord promised that he was going to bring them all back together in one place and through through faith in Jesus. All of the world has the opportunity to come into the household of God and to come back into relationship with him feed some people try to make it about race, but it's not about race. It's about it's about faith in Jesus Christ. Just like in the Old Testament. You could tell him this when they try to make it about race. You can tell them in the Old Testament. The Lord said that anyone that wants to sojourn with you let them soldiering with you and if they keep them commandment treat them just like you do anyone else. And so don't let anybody don't let anybody see to that. So it's through faith in Jesus Christ, and we're all brought into that into one household of faith through Jesus Christ, and he didn't answer the Lord made it come to pass. He said now, it's your come to past of when all these things come upon you the blessing and the curse, which I set before you and you call them tomorrow and among all the nations testify where the Lord your God drives you and you return to the Lord your God and obey his voice according to all that I command you today you and your children with all your heart and with all your soul that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity. You can be delivered. All you have to do is believe and follow the lord and be diligent about it. Sometimes it just takes time and it takes. Perseverance don't give up on God. He's not going to give up on you. So he's saying he's saying you and your children with all your heart. If you follow and obey his voice you saying with all your soul all your heart and all your soul that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you again from All Nations where the Lord your God has scattered you and if any of you are driven out to the farthest Parts under Heaven from there the Lord your God will gather you there is no sin to great. You have not gone too far the Lord can bring you out and in and he there's there's nothing no send that turns him offer or anyting to the point to where he will not save you. He will not bring you in and from there. He will bring you then the Lord your God will bring you to the land with your father's possessed and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply More than your father's and the Lord your God will circumcise your heart. See the law was circumcised The Flash that's how you knew who the who the people of God were because they got circumcised which was a shedding of the blood and so he said God will circumcise your heart so our hearts are changed and that's where the love comes from. Its a response. It's a it's a fruit of the Holy Spirit and he was circumcised your heart and in the heart of your descendants 2 the love to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live. Also the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies. And on those who hate you who persecute you and you will again obey the voice of the Lord and to all his Commandments which I command you today the Lord your God will make you a Bound in all the work of your hand and the fruit of your body. In the increase of your livestock and in the produce of your land for good.

Don't be fooled by sight. Don't let sight for you. You can be blessed and you can have abundance and it could be set up down the road. It could be all different kinds of ways. And when you really love the Lord and you diligently seek him. If he comes about something else and you will know I can't stay during tell you what it's about for you in your walk.

And in the purse in the produce of your land for good so for good. What is the good is the perfect will of God. What is his will you'll find out for the Lord will again Rejoice over you for good as he rejoiced over your father's if you obey the voice of the Lord your God to keep his Commandments and his statues which are written in this book of the law. And if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, you see they're all your heart and all your soul diligently seeking him. So we have to bring something we're not just coming for the blessings. We're not just coming for the fish. We're not just just coming just to see what's going on. We're coming because we love God.

And word diligently seeking him and we don't just love him like a Valentine's Day love. We love him with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength. And remember Love Is A Verb? It's not a warm fuzzy feeling love is what you do.

Is the 1st Corinthians 13? Love is what you do. Okay, so read this last little passage and then we're going to we're going to dismiss.

verse verse 11 for this commandment, which I command you today. It is not too mysterious for you. Nor is it far off? He made it simple. It's not mysterious.

It is not in heaven that you should say who will Ascend for heaven for us and bring it to us know. It's something that you can do. We may hear it and that we may hear it and do it. No.

The Lord is he will fill you with his spirit and has that Spirit begins to work in you as you as you begin to press in and and and Obey and follow that Spirit he begins to work on your heart and he begins to open up your eyes and your ears your understanding and through his word you begin. He does the work in you So knowing you don't you don't have to worry about how is this going to happen? He's going to do it. You just have to be diligent and you have to want it. And so he says let's let's go to 13 North. Is it beyond the sea that you should say who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it, but the word is very near you in your mouth. And in your heart that you may do it. See I have set before you today life and good death and evil in that I command you today to love the Lord your God to walk. I command you this day to love the God love the Lord your God the walk in his ways and to keep his Commandments his statutes his judgments that you may live and multiply and the Lord your God will bless you in the land with you go to possess, but if your heart turns away so that you do not hear if your heart turns away so that you do not hear A drawn way and worship other gods and serve them I announced to you today that you shall surely perish you shall not prolong your days in the land with you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call Heaven and Earth as a witness today against you that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore choose life. That both you and your descendants may live that you may love the Lord your God that you may observe his voice. Obey his voice and that you may cling to him. For he is your life and the length of your days and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your father's to Abraham Isaac and Jacob to give them.

Heavenly Father you are you're just amazing. And father we love you. And we thank you Father for opening our eyes and ears and speaking to us through your word and by the power of your spirit father. father and then help us to to really absorb these words and to apply them to find out their meaning and to apply them in our lives father help us leave here change a little more like you a little more in love with you a little more determined to follow you a little more diligent a little more careful. About how we love and follow you. father teaches the CD the the blessing and instruction the blessing indirection in obedience

and show us what this all means to us as we seek to live it out father. Keep us keep us in your will keep us in your spirit father. I know you just pray. that

anything that we get in our way and cause us to drift away from you father that you would defeat that thing and whatever that that mission whatever that work is that's against us father God turn it back on the enemy let the enemy be drawn away and let the enemy be fully from us. And until he keep us father God and bring us back together in your name. We just thank you and all things in Jesus name we pray. Wow poor we're going deep on this blessing thing going deep on this blessing thing. Amen So when you say you're blessed when you say you're blessed, let it be because you're blessed be because you love God and because you're diligently following his will brothers and sisters and I'm going to say it you are blessed and you are highly favored and I know it because you're here this morning. God bless you go in peace you are dismissed.