SPEAKER_00 0:03

Do the old covenant blessings and curses of Deuteronomy 28 still apply to us today under the new covenant? How does God intend for us to live? I'm Pastor Richard Bush, and I'm bringing us the word today. Good morning, Church. Let's try again. Good morning, Church. All right, good. You're all with me all the week. I was working on this message and preparing, and I don't know if you know, many times when you prepare, actually, you go through a few messages. So the first message I was preparing, while we're going to go verse by verse, and we'll look at everything. We'll expound on each and every part of it and through the blessings, and then we'll go to the curses and we'll expound on those. And those uh we see that they played out in history, in fact, because Israel, we know was disobedient, and all these things did come to pass as a result of disobedience. But that was the first message. Uh, the second message was not like that. And I guess I know why today, because I have a sense as I come up this morning that for some of us here this morning, we are spiritually feeling dry. When we look on the inside, uh, for some of us sitting here this morning, we we feel very dry. We just feel dust is there. And if you feel that way this morning, if you feel like your faith is uh there's no fuel in the tank, I want to tell you you're in the right place because God wants to speak to you this morning. He wants to provide rain that's going to uh wash away all the dust that'll bring about new life again. And so uh it's my prayer that God will speak to each and every one of us today. Now, I want to start off, and I'm looking for an actual answer here, and and I have a small treat as a reward. Could somebody maybe you just raise your hand and tell me what does Deuteronomy mean? Anyone? What does Deuteronomy mean? We've been uh the the the incentive is here. We've been traveling through Deuteronomy for a while. What does Deuteronomy mean? Anyone? Anyone at all? Oh my. Yes? Any guesses? Yeah, Rick? Law. In fact, it means second law. Very good. Uh yes, thank you, Rick. All right. It it means second law, or properly, you could even say it means renewal of the law. So we've been going through, and Moses is recounting the law, and it feels like we've been in the law for a while now, doesn't it? Deuteronomy offers a restatement of the law because it's a new generation now. The ones that he's speaking to, and we're here in chapter 28, and he's talking about the blessings and curses that will uh come as a result of obedience or disobedience. It's because this is a new generation. They weren't there for Mount Sinai, they they didn't re-they weren't there for the first uh when God gave the law to them. So now Moses wants to speak to them because they're about to cross over the Jordan, and Moses knows I'm not going with you, I won't be there with you. And so he wants to restate this because it's very, very important for them. And this covenant is not just at an individual level. We need to understand this, we need to keep this in mind. It's not about as individuals being obedient to God, it's at a national level here, it's at a corporate level. It's not just if these ones do and those ones don't. As a nation, Israel needs to hold fast to the covenant that God has given them. Okay, can anyone, and the person I thought was going to answer is not here this morning, but that's all right. Can anyone remember and tell me one of the major laws of physics? Okay, this is rough for a Sunday morning. What is a major law of physics? Anyone? Gravity, yes, yes, yes, the law of gravity. What goes up must come down. Thank you. Good uh yes, please please do claim. Okay. How about does anyone know, and this is probably a certain generation might know this. Can anyone tell me some of the four spiritual laws if you've ever gone through that? You don't have to do it word for word or perfect. The four spiritual laws, anyone? Too much for a Sunday morning. I have more chocolates left. Okay. The four spiritual laws, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Man is sinful and separated from God. Jesus Christ is God's only provision for sin, and we must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord so that we can know and experience God's plan and love. Okay, so we have different laws, right? We're not talking about traffic laws, we're not talking about those sorts of laws. We're talking about uh laws that go wherever, whether you believe in them or not, really. So if I if I wake up one day or I came in this morning Sunday, said, you know what? Well, gravity can really get you down. It can really tire you. It just feels like it's pulling you down all the time. You know what? I don't think gravity applies to me. In fact, I'd like to fly. And if I were to walk up and step off that balcony, does gravity still apply to me? It applies, right? Things are not going to be fine. These laws are real whether we want to believe in them, whether we like them or not. They are there, they are immutable things in that sense. And so in our passage today, we we see a law or a principle of blessings and curses, and it's not a matter of choice or opinion. According to Deuteronomy 28, obedience or the lack of it is directly going to lead to blessings and curses. And so it's presented as a spiritual law. I would call it a spiritual law, the law of blessings and curses. And so we need to ask ourselves an important question: are these blessings and curses only a part of the old covenant, or do they relate to us today under the new covenant? It's an important question. And we we need to be clear on these things. Church, shall we pray? Father, we humbly ask you now to speak to each one of us, even through your word, O Lord. Father, I pray that we would know more about our relationship with you. And Lord, I want to pray especially for those here this morning, or perhaps even listening online, who, if they're quite honest, they feel dry inside. Lord, would you bring refreshing, would you bring us fresh manna for today, something to fill us spiritually, that we would not be empty, but that we would be strengthened spiritually. Pray and ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. There's a wonderful, wonderful part, and it's right in verse 2. And it says that blessings shall they shall overtake you. It says, and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. That is a beautiful word picture. It will overtake you. Whether you're looking for it or not, regardless of you, if you're being obedient to God, these blessings are going to overtake you. It's like the image of perhaps rain clouds, right? And you see them blowing in fast. And sometimes we see that. It does not matter how fast you run, you are not going to outrun these rain clouds. They are going to come and they are going to drench you. And this is what I feel when I read these words the blessing is going to overtake you. It's nothing that you can control. It is out of your control. If you're obedient to God, he's going to bless you. It's a wonderful, wonderful picture. And you just cannot escape it. And so, likewise, however, if a nation were disobedient to God, we see this from our passage today, uh, not obedient to what he's commanded, breaking the covenant, they will be under sin's curse. And the curse is just as extensive as the blessing that is available for obedience. And this morning it was a it was a long reading. And thank you, Gene, for uh reading this long, long passage this morning. And if you're familiar, you'll know that things don't end there. Uh, the talk about the curses for disobedience, it goes on and on and on. It is a long, long stretch. Why why did God choose to have this portion spent on blessing, but this other larger portion spent on the curses? In an ideal world, encouragement will be all that is needed. But I I give an example from my my girls, my wonderful girls, uh, two of whom are listening, and one is reading, I think. And when it's time to get ready for bed, I'll say, girls, okay, now it's time. We need to get ready for bed. I want you to get your school things ready. Get everything set out. And I can say it very nicely. And sometimes they'll do it on speaking nicely. Sometimes I'm afraid, then I have to follow up. Girls, I've already told you twice now. If you don't get your school things ready, you're gonna lose your lose your reading privilege for tonight. Well, suddenly there is action. Don't want to lose a privilege. And I I wish uh in an ideal world we would just respond to encouragements, but as human beings, we respond to consequences quite often more than the encouragements. And so I have to believe that as Moses was sharing this with Israel, it was out of concern for them and care for them, and he'd walk with them for so long, and they were about to cross the Jordan without him soon. And he wanted to, with everything possible, all the tools in the toolbox to guide them, to direct them, that they would be obedient to God's covenant, that they would keep that, that they would remain as his chosen people, obedient to him. And so he lists out not just the blessings but the curses that will happen if they do not remain obedient to the Lord. Now I want to ask a question, okay? Chocolate here. Uh did obedience have saving power during Old Testament times? Did it have salvific power? Did it have saving power? All right, we're thinking about it. Maybe we have the answer, but we're not confident enough to say it in front of everyone. That's okay. Oh, yes, yes, please, yes. Yes, yes. It's kind of a trick question because it's yes and not yet, really. But of course you get the chocolate. Thank you so much. Um during the Old Testament, through obedience, through the sacrifice of lambs without blemish, they positioned themselves to be welcomed into the kingdom by the future blood of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So positionally, they were saved, right? They were saved, and yet they didn't really experience it yet. And so, yes, and and and not yet. Like when it comes to writing a last will and testament, and some of us will will have gone through this exercise, in that you will name the heir, the recipient, the heir who will receive the resources that you have, your wealth. And this document, it's witnessed and it's signed, and it goes into effect at that point. And yet, the person, the recipient, the heir, doesn't receive those things yet, right? It will only happen uh when the patron dies, when the person writing the will dies. And so for the Old Testament, we believe that as they were obedient to the Lord, that they were saved, but they didn't experience it until this thing took place, until Christ came to fulfill the covenant, to fulfill these sacrifices that they had been making. And we're not under this old covenant anymore. We have been given a new and better covenant. All right, we are no longer under this covenant. In the book of Hebrews, the author quotes the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with a house of Israel and with a house of Judah. In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. And so this old covenant has become obsolete. Amen? It's become obsolete because Christ has fulfilled it. Not because it was worthless, but because it has been fulfilled. Instead, we're under the new covenant. And church, we're reminded of this new covenant every time we take holy communion together. We'll be affirming and remembering it today, the words of Christ, for I have received uh sorry, uh, in first Corinthians, for I have received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed, he took bread, and we'd given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup after supper, saying, This is the This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. And so, this new covenant, what's it all about? The author of Hebrews, again, quoting the prophet Jeremiah, says, For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. So the old covenant was written on stone, and it was focused on outward actions. The new covenant is written on what? Chocolate moment. The new covenant is written on. What is the new covenant written on? Help me out here. Don't make me take all this chocolate home. Anyone? What's the new covenant written on? On our hearts, yes, on our hearts. Yes, thank you. It is written on our hearts. If you grew up learning the Romans Road, which is a set of verses, uh, this will be familiar to you. Paul proclaims the essentials of salvation in Romans. And so we're looking at chapter 3 and verses 23-24. We're looking at chapter 10, verse 9. Romans 3, 23, and 24, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. And in chapter 10, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. This is the new covenant for us. So if we're not under this old covenant that was the foundation for Deuteronomy chapter 28, what is the point of it? What is the relevance that's there for Cassia, for Caleb in primary school? What relevance does this passage of blessings and curses have? For Chiang, for Jeremiah, for Eileen in your working life, what relevance does this have? What relevance does this scripture have? For our evergreen generation, perhaps you've entered into retirement. What relevance does this passage have for us? What does God want to speak to us today? If his word is eternal, what is he speaking to us through it? I feel that the eternal principle, the main point, and the thing that God would speak to us today, and I want you to remember this, this is key. God blesses those who keep his covenant. Okay? Can you say this with me? God blesses those who keep his covenant. God blesses those who keep his covenant. In this new covenant based on the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ, we enter into the covenant when we we recognize and confess our sin, when we recognize Jesus as Lord and sufficient to cleanse us of that sin that his sacrifice was sufficient. When we live out our lives as no longer belonging to us, but to Jesus as Lord. And by this we enter into the spiritual kingdom of God through this covenant. And so we keep his covenant at school and at work, in retirement, in the office, at home, at the marketplace. When we we do these things, we approach Jesus in prayer for forgiveness of our sins. When we love God both through our actions and our devotion. When we're transformed in our thought life by daily surrendering our choices to the Holy Spirit, when we love our neighbor as ourselves, when we forgive those who have wronged us or sinned against us, when we treat our wealth and finances as belonging to God and us as stewards, when we persevere in our spiritual growth, when we trust in God's promises, when we do these things, we are keeping the covenant with God. This is because it's no longer something written on stone, it's something written on our hearts by the Spirit of God. And it emphasizes our heart attitudes. When you show kindness to a classmate. Who maybe they they just seem to be the odd one out, but you show kindness to them anyway. For those uh who are working, you know you're you're keeping this covenant with God when you refuse to sabotage your co-worker to advance your position. When you take responsibility for your own work, when you maintain your work-life boundaries because God has given you more responsibilities than just your employment. When you do these things, you're honoring God, you're obeying God. The pensioner can keep the new covenant. When you take your cares and your concerns to the Lord, when you uphold children and grandchildren and surviving relatives to the Lord, praying for their salvation, praying they'd remain strong in their faith, praying for them. When you willingly choose to keep using your your time and your finances for the Lord, you're obeying Him, you're bringing Him glory, you're obeying the law written on the heart. I feel that what help is helpful to me, and maybe will be helpful to you, is if we remember and keep holding our minds the vision given to John the Revelator, we won't go astray if we keep this in mind. And this is from Revelation chapter 19, verses 6 to 8. It says, Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder crying out. Let us rejoice and exalt and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. We church, we are that bride preparing ourselves for Christ the bridegroom. And we should be clean and faithful because he deserves no less. But I wonder if we take stock of ourselves, and again, we're the context of the verse today, the chapter today, Deuteronomy 28, we're looking at things at a corporate level, not just a personal level. All right, not just enough that I feel like I'm doing okay here and I don't worry about those around me. No. Because God sees both personally, but he also sees us as a church body at a corporate level. The bride, he's revelation doesn't talk about the brides of Christ plural. It is the bride of Christ. It is we together. And so I wonder if we look at ourselves, what what kind of bride are we? I I think we need to have a sober moment. Are we the bride that's looking at social media? We're just staring at our phone. Are we the bride that's too busy gossiping with others? Are we the bride that spilled curry all over and not taken any notice? Friends together as a church body, not talking about just individuals, as a church body, let's really present ourselves as the best for Jesus. Let's show ourselves faithful and attentive and anticipating the return of Christ, anticipating the bridegroom, keeping ourselves clean and pure, faithful and ready and alert, looking forward to him, with our gazes fixed on him, waiting for that time that we'll be together. Church, I believe that this will this will change things if we can really put this in our hearts and hold on to it. See, there's showers of blessings available for us as we are obedient to the Lord as we keep this new covenant. He will bless us with divine favor. He blesses us with peace that's not dependent upon our circumstances. And I know that there's those of us here today who are in need of that. He blesses us with wisdom, he blesses us with renewed minds. He blesses us with provision. And there's those of us this morning who need that provision. He blesses us with answers to our prayers. He blesses us by turning our hearts to one another. He blesses us with hope even when life looks bleak. He blesses us with abundant grace and unending love. In Philippians it's written, and my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. And in Luke it says, Give and it will be given to you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. You know, I can remember in China there was very few places where there is buffet, but there's this one place there is a buffet. I watched people shamelessly, they would come with a plate. You only got one plate, they would pile it up and up and up and up till the thing was about to topple over. Press down, put everything that can be on that plate. God, that image comes to mind because that's how God loves to bless us with abundance, with abundance. In 2 Corinthians, it says, And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things, that you may abound in every good work. Is our God does he have a lot to give? He's not miserly, right? He wants to bless us. In the Gospel of Matthew it says, But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? God's going to provide for us. In the Gospel of John, for from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. In Ephesians, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Church, can we believe this? Can we believe in his promises? Is he a good father who wants to give good gifts to his children? He is, right? Amen. And now the familiar benediction, which is also from Ephesians, it says, Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Are you with me? There's blessings upon blessings for those who trust in him. And this is the principle, the truth I want us to bring from Deuteronomy 28. Actually, is God's desire and his love to bless those who follow him. Those who keep the covenant, the agreement together. And as we are in Christ, as we commit our lives to the Lord, we are within that covenant. And just to remember, this is not just about the individual level, this is as a corporate level. And so, church, as a church, as we really fix our eyes on Jesus, he will bless us as a church. He will bless us as a church. And I've got to tell you, I want to see and experience more of God's work in our lives as a church. I want to see that when we come in, even on a Sunday, that every Sunday we have people coming forward who are sick and who will be prayed for and who will be healed right then and there, miraculously, because God desires to show his love to us today in a real and tangible way. And these words will go out with a testimony. God is here and alive, and he has healed me. And I want to see that we have people coming Sunday after Sunday to this altar right here and kneeling down because they've been far from God and they want to be made right with him, and that they are leaving this altar transformed, renewed because their burdens have been lifted. The burden of sin is no more and has been replaced with the joy of salvation and with a lightness because the burdens are no longer there. I want to see that we we have to change our service order because there are so many testimonies, because during the week in the workplace and at school and in our connect groups, God is doing amazing things and we just have to testify about it. And that we'll be encouraged week after week by what God is doing. Because when God does something in our lives, we don't want to hide it to ourselves. We are a body. We succeed together or we lose together. And as we are faithful to God, we are going to succeed together. We will see him at work. I want to see this. This is my desire. I I don't I'm praise God for this church, and I love you all, and it's a privilege to be with you, but I still want to see more. I want to see God doing even more in our life as a church. And I hope that God will put that desire in your heart as well. We must not become complacent, but even as the song today, we want to be deeper in love with the Lord, and not just on an individual level, but a corporate level as well. Amen. So, church, I just leave you with this. God loves to bless those who keep his covenant. And his covenant he has written on our hearts, on the internal. The focus is on the internal now. Church, we are the bride of Christ. This is a corporate thing as well. We are the bride of Christ. Let's prepare ourselves. Let's take stock of ourselves. Let's be honest. If we need to make some changes to be ready. We pray that you've been ministering to the Word of God today. If you'd like to know more about Eastern Christian Church, please visit our website at yccin.com.