Declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it,
send it out to the end of the earth;
say, “The LORD has redeemed His servants.”
Isaiah 48:20
•The Curse
But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish.
Deuteronomy 30:17-18a
You innately know that the standards that you have of right and wrong that you hold others to, you can’t even hold yourself to perfectly. You do fail. You do break them. As humans, we are unable to be perfect. We’re sinful according to the Word of God, and we see that within ourselves.
morning sermon, August 21, 2022, Rev. Stephen Sprague
•The Cure
Moreover, the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.
Deuteronomy 30:6
This is the Gospel in the Old Testament. . . . You see them [the Israelites] returning to the Lord, putting their faith in Him and in His promises, but the Law demands more than that. It doesn’t just demand repentance. It demands perfect . . . continual . . . obedience forever to the Laws of God. It’s not enough to repent and try again. That doesn’t make you righteous before God. You have to be perfect: continually, perpetually, forever. And that is impossible on our own, which means we need something else. . . . When God saves somebody, when He brings them back to Him, He does so once and for all, so that now they are not perpetually being condemned by the Law, but perpetually receiving the grace of God [through Jesus’s sacrifice.] That’s the circumcision of the heart that’s found in Deuteronomy 30:6.
morning sermon, August 21, 2022, Rev. Stephen Sprague
•The Calling
For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?” But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it. See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil;
Deuteronomy 30:11-15
Paul expounds on the fulfillment of this passage in Christ in Romans 10:6-8
He has called you and me, If you claim the name of Christ, to live in a way that pleases Him and brings Him glory, which is to love Him and to love others. Conveniently enough, when we live in that way, it’s really good for us. There is lots of blessing in that.
morning sermon, August 21, 2022, Rev. Stephen Sprague