All right, Deuteronomy chapter
30. As I said, the title of the message
is Issues of Life and Death. And I took that title from verse
19, if you want to look at that, where Moses states, he said,
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have
set before you life and death. And then he says blessing and
cursing. The blessing of life, the cursing
of death, therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may
live. Now as we look at Deuteronomy
30, and all these last chapters of Deuteronomy, obviously they
go together. What's happened here is, you
know, after the 40 years wandering in the wilderness, which God
Condemned the nation Israel to do the first people that came
out of Egypt and you remember the story how they came up on
the brink of the promised land they sent the spies over and
they had a majority report and a minority report and the people
did not They did not believe the minority who was was telling
them basically look Let's go over and possess this land. God
gave it to us. It's not conditioned on us. It's
not conditioned on our power or our goodness. It's a promise
that God made. And then they refused, so God
punished them by causing that first generation to wander in
the wilderness for 40 years. And basically he said, for the
most part, from certain age on up, their carcasses, he said,
that's biblical, that's hard to deal, when one of your loved
ones dies, you don't say their carcass, you don't wanna disrespect
them that way, you wanna express your love. That's what God said.
He said their carcasses would fall in the desert. And they
couldn't enter in because of unbelief. Well, here at this
point, that generation is gone. You have certain ones like Moses
and Joshua and Caleb, who were the two spies that brought the
good report. And Israel's about to enter into
the promised land. Finally, they're there, the next
generation. And what Moses is doing here in Deuteronomy, as
I told you, the name Deuteronomy means second law. And it's not
another law opposed to the first law. It's
the second reading of this law, the law that God gave Moses from
Mount Sinai. And Moses is reading and talking
to them about this law again the second time to remind them
of its terms and to remind them of the importance of it. This
is the relationship that God has ordained that you would have
with him as a nation in a temporal way, physical way, and in a covenant
way. And so this is the covenant,
you see. And there's several things to
keep in mind as you come to passages like this because so many people
misuse and misinterpret the Old Testament that way. because they
don't understand the covenants. Now God is a covenant God, and
he deals with human beings in covenant relationships. The very
first covenant, a lot of theologians argue about this, I don't know
why, because it's really simple, but God essentially made a covenant
with Adam in the garden. And the terms of that covenant
were laid down as symbolized by the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. And he told Adam, he told me,
Adam and Eve, be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth,
it's yours. He said, I'm giving it to you.
You'll rule over it. You name the animals. But he
said, there's this one thing, the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, you cannot eat of it. And that tree of the knowledge
of good and evil represented God's sovereign prerogative as
the creator to set the terms of what is good and what is evil.
Man does not have that prerogative. Man does not have that right.
The standard of good and evil is set by God. And when Adam
disobeyed God, basically what he was saying is, I can set for
myself my own standard of what's right and wrong. I don't have
to go by God's. That's basically what it is. And that's what people
have been doing ever since. You remember, I'll give you an
example of the rich young man who came to Christ and he said,
good master, What must I do to inherit eternal life? And the
reason he said that is because he didn't look upon Christ, Jesus
of Nazareth, as being God. And so Christ answered him this
way. He said, why do you call me good? There's none good but God. You
see, that man, that rich young man, he had a different standard
of goodness than God did. And Christ was reminding him,
he said, well, if you don't believe me to be God, then don't call
me good. If we're talking about salvation and eternal life, what
is good and what is evil? God has the right to set that
standard, and man doesn't. And that's what false religion
does. False religion sets their own standard, and they always
go by a sliding scale of what's good and what's evil. Somebody
say, well, it's like I told you about the man who told me one
time, he said, I know I'm not perfect, but I've never done
anything bad enough to go to hell. Well, what does God say? I know that's your standard now.
That's what he was showing, this is my standard. Well, what's
God's standard? Well, God's standard for salvation
is the perfection of righteousness and goodness that can only be
found in Jesus Christ. And therefore by deeds of law,
by trying to be good, no flesh shall be justified, forgiven,
and declared righteous in God's sight, for by the law is the
knowledge of sin. Now that's what Deuteronomy teaches. that sinners cannot be saved
by their efforts to keep the law because we'll always fall
short, and those who are trying to keep the law, man will call
good, but God doesn't. And so these are issues of life
and death. So God made that covenant with
Adam. God made a covenant with Noah. But now, what we're seeing
here are the results and the issues of A covenant, first of
all, that God made with Abraham. The possession of the promised
land of this nation, Israel, going over and taking possession
of the promised land was not conditioned on them. It wasn't
conditioned on their power. It wasn't conditioned on their
goodness. They didn't have any power. They
didn't have any goodness. It wasn't conditioned on their
wisdom, they didn't have any. You know who it was conditioned
on? God. Their taking this promised land
was the result of a covenant that God made with Abraham over
400 years before this. And God told Abraham, I'll give
you this land. Now, that covenant that God made
with Abraham Now listen to this, I've got this in your lesson.
It was an unconditional promise covenant. God didn't say, now
Abraham, I'll give you the land if you'll meet certain conditions
or requirements. He didn't say that. He said,
I'm gonna give you this land. And your people are gonna take
possession of it. It was a unilateral covenant,
one-sided. God said, I'm gonna do it, and
it's gonna be done. So you understand, and Paul deals
with that in Galatians chapter three, I've got marked in your
lesson, and you can read this, Galatians 3, 15 through 20. In
other words, this was not a conditional covenant conditioned on sinners. It was conditioned on God. This
is the way God's gonna do it. God's gonna work all things after
the will, after his own will. He's gonna accomplish it. He
said, I'll do it, I'll bring it about. So this nation was
going to take possession of the promised land based upon an unconditional
promise covenant made between God and Abraham. So you understand
that. You say, well, they worked hard
to get there. No, they did everything to really
lose it. if it was conditioned on them.
They were a rebellious people, like all of us by nature. And of course that unconditional
promise covenant is a picture of our salvation. That's how
God saves us. It's not based upon a conditional
covenant, conditioned on us. Every false gospel Now listen
to me, every false gospel that comes in the name of Christianity,
but is a false Christianity, one of the ways you can tell
them is at some stage, in some way, to some degree, at some
point, the salvation is going to be conditioned on the sinner. The true gospel preaches salvation
conditioned on Christ, who by himself, as the surety, substitute,
and redeemer of his people, fulfilled all those conditions and secured
our salvation unto final glory. So understand that. Now, in the
last few chapters of Deuteronomy, Moses had set before them blessings. Now here's what Moses is doing
now. That unconditional covenant with Abraham, they're gonna get
the land. But the covenant that God made with the nation at Mount
Sinai is different. The covenant that God made with
the nation Israel at Mount Sinai was a conditional covenant. It
was a bilateral covenant. It's a covenant that says, basically,
you'll have blessings based upon national obedience, and you'll
have cursings based upon national disobedience. Now that's the
nature of that covenant. And so this conditional covenant
was the relationship that God had with that nation while they
would take possession of the promised land. Some theologians
call it the covenant of Palestine because it involved that land,
them living in that land. And what it basically said is
that as long as you were in that land by God's unconditional promise,
God would bless you based upon your obedience inside that land. You would flourish, you would
prosper, but God would curse you based upon national disobedience. Well, you can read the history
of Israel in the Bible. And basically what you understand
is this, they failed. They didn't meet the conditions.
There were a few moments in time where you could say that the
people nationally, not every individual now, but nationally
they were in obedience for a little while. I think about when David
was king. For a little while. For a little
while. And God prospered the nation.
A little while under Solomon. It didn't even last under David
or Solomon. The people broke the covenant.
And so this covenant that they were under, it marked a temporal,
physical, and ceremonial relationship, even a union of that nation with
God in a temporal, physical, temporary way. And so between
the Lord God and the physical nation of Israel, but that union
was not going to last. God's covenant union with the
people, the nation of Israel was not gonna last. It was never
intended to last. It was set up to fail. It was set up to end. And God
knew that Israel would never keep that covenant. Look over
at Deuteronomy chapter 29 with me. Look at verse 25. This is right before Deuteronomy
30. Deuteronomy 29, 25. Then men shall say, because they
have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers.
Now they haven't even gotten into the promised land yet. But
he's saying, then men shall say. What are they gonna say? Well,
because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God and
their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them
forth out of the land of Egypt. That's the covenant at Sinai.
For they went and served other gods. You know, it's almost like
the people could have said, now wait a minute, Moses, we haven't
done that yet. Well, they had. The first generation did. You
know, they worshiped the golden calf. They murmured and complained
all the way through the desert. But these folks here, all right,
he says, they went and served after other gods and worshiped
them, gods whom they knew not, whom he had not given unto them. You see that? And the anger of
the Lord was kindled against this land. They're not even in
the land yet. But he's speaking in past tense
here. Wait a minute, what's God saying
here? God knew they weren't gonna keep
that covenant. This is prophetic. And he says, to bring upon it
all the curses that are written in this book and the Lord God
rooted them out of their land in anger and in wrath and in
great indignation and cast them into another land as it is this
day. Whenever they were taken into
captivity, especially later on in Babylon, all of that, you
see that? God knew they wouldn't keep this
covenant. They never measured up to the righteous standard
of the law set forth in this covenant, which is what? Which
is perfect righteousness. So the question comes, and this
is what confuses many people, and this is why many people don't
read the Old Testament correctly. Why would God put them under
a covenant that he knew they wouldn't keep? Now that just
doesn't sound right to our feeble mind, does it? Why would God,
you know, people ask me about today. We know that man by nature
will not believe the gospel. But God commands us to believe. Why would God command us to do
something we can't do? Well, I'll tell you exactly why
he did it. It was given to them to show
them their sinfulness, their depravity. and the impossibility
of salvation, the impossibility of righteousness based on their
law keeping. It was given to show them that for salvation they were holy
and totally inadequate, impotent to save themselves. They had
only one recourse, that's to look upward to God and beg for
mercy. Salvation by grace. This covenant
was given to cause them to look to the promise of God to send
one who would keep the law and satisfy justice. The Messiah
who was fully in that covenant, especially in the ceremonial
law in the blood of bulls and goats pictured there, the high
priest, the tabernacle, That's why God gave them something that
he knew they wouldn't keep. It was given to expose their
sin. It was given because of transgressions,
Galatians 3 tells us. The law entered that sin might
abound. The law was given to show them
that they're sinners. And that if salvation and forgiveness
and righteousness was to come, it must come by God alone and
be given by his grace. Well, so in those last verses
of Deuteronomy 29, it's anticipated that Israel's gonna break the
law and be scattered to the four corners of the earth. God tells
them that. And then look at verse 29 of
Deuteronomy 29. This is one of my favorite verses
because I think this covers a lot of territory. You know somebody
says, well why would God do this and why would God do that? Well
listen, he says the secret things belong unto the Lord our God.
Now there are things that God has revealed to his people in
his word and there are things that he's kept secret. And so we are not commanded by
God to operate or conduct ourselves based upon the things that he
has not revealed. He says, but those things which
are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that
we may do all the words of this law. God's revealing things here.
He's telling him this is it. And Moses tells him, he says,
now I'm setting before you issues of life and death. Now this is
not just religion here. This is not just something that
we do to make us feel better. This is life and death. And that's
what we do when we preach the gospel. When we preach Christ. This is life and death, folks.
This is not just showing up to church on Sunday. This is not
just trying to live a good life. Should we try to live a good
life? Yes. This is life and death. And what is our life? It's not
in our works. It's not in our law keeping.
It's in Christ. This is life eternal. Christ
said, this life is in God's Son. He is our life. And so look at
the first verses of Deuteronomy 30. This contains a prophecy.
It says in verse one, it shall come to pass when all these things
are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which is life
and death, which I have set before thee and thou shalt call them
to mine among all the nations, whether the Lord thy God hath
driven thee See, he's talking about them being driven out of
the land and calling to mind what they did and what they deserve. And he says in verse two, and
shalt return unto the Lord thy God and shall obey his voice
according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children
with all thy heart and with all thy soul. Now, think about that. Once God put them into captivity,
did they ever do this? returning to the Lord with all
their heart and all their soul? And the answer's no. Yet God,
later on, for example, in the Babylonian captivity, he brought
them back into the promised land. Why did he do that? Because they
got to be better people when they were in Babylon? Do you
know that the vast majority of the Israelites who were exiled
to Babylon refused to come back? Somebody said that the first
wave under Nehemiah and Zerubbabel, there was about 50,000 of them.
I don't know that for sure. I don't know how they took a
census or what. And they were to come back and rebuild the
temple. And you remember how they quit rebuilding the temple,
which God commanded them to do? You know what they did? They
quit rebuilding the temple and started using the materials to
rebuild their own houses. And that's where you have the
minor prophets in those days coming and telling them, you
know, you're not obeying God. So did they ever, as a nation,
did they ever obey God's voice with all their heart and with
all their, the answer's no. They didn't. But God still brought
them back. Why? They broke the covenant. because
of a covenant that he had made long before. You can liken it
to the covenant of everlasting grace. God meant to keep those
rebellious people together until his promise of sending Christ
into the world was fulfilled. And he saved them temporally
now, not eternally, but temporally in spite of themselves. Well,
isn't that the way he saves us? Have I ever had a moment in my
life that I could say I have done or reached the perfection
of the law in anything I think, say, or do? And the answer is
no. You see, I have a righteousness
before God that I didn't produce. It's the righteousness of Christ
imputed to me. And I'm just in need of that
righteousness today as I was when I first started this. You
understand, because I'm a sinner saved by grace. Well, look at
verse three. That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity
and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee
from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered
thee. Now this, think about that. He's gonna bring them back from
all the nations where they were scattered. Who's he talking about
here? All right, let's go on. Verse
four, if any of thine be driven out into the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the
Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence he will fetch thee,
and the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy
fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it. and he will do thee
good and multiply thee above thy fathers. Now, a lot of people
say, well, now he's talking about their return from the Babylonian
captivity. Well, there is a limited fulfillment
there. It's a temporal earthly fulfillment,
but let me ask you a question. When they were brought out of
captivity in Babylon and brought back into their land, did they
possess it? Or were they under, the bondage
of another nation? Well, they were. You know, they
were under the bondage of Babylon, and then they were under the
bondage of the Medes and the Persians, and then they were
under the bondage of the Greeks, Alexander, and then they were
under the bondage of Rome. In other words, they didn't own
it. They were just slaves. So what's he talking about here?
Well, verse six gives us the key. He says, and the Lord thy
God will circumcise thine heart. Now, what is circumcision of
the heart? That's the new birth, friend. That's the cutting away the filth
of the flesh in faith in Christ and repentance of dead works.
Paul wrote about that. He said, he is a Jew which is
one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart. He says,
and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart and with all thy soul that thou mayest live. How in
the world can we say we love the Lord thy God with all our
heart and all our soul? There's not but one way. How
in the world can we say in any way that we keep his commandments?
There's not but one way. Because we're sinners saved by
grace, the only way we can say that is as we look to Christ
and rest in him. So I'll tell you what he's talking
about here. He's talking about a spiritual conversion. Not just a bunch of people getting
out of captivity and owning a particular land. He says in verse seven,
the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies
and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. And thou shalt
return, and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments
which I command thee this day. And the Lord God will make thee
plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body,
and in the fruit of thy cattle, in the fruit of thy land for
good. For the Lord God will again rejoice over thee for good, as
he rejoiced over thy fathers. And he says, if thou shalt hearken
unto the voice of the Lord thy God to keep his commandments
and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and
if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart and
with all thy soul. Now, we know they didn't do it.
We know that we don't do it. But what he's talking about here
is a spiritual revelation and a spiritual conversion that's
going to come later, which brings elect Jews and Gentiles unto
Christ. I can't say that I've kept this
law, God's law, I don't. I break the law. I never measure
up to the perfection of righteous, but I have one who stands before
God in my place, who did. And he's given me a new heart.
He's given me a new spirit. He's given me a new way to look
at things. He's given me faith to believe
in Christ. He's brought me to reject and
repent of all the things that I used to glory in, which are
an abomination to God. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. And so look at verse 11. He says, for this commandment,
which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither
is it far off. Now listen to the words here.
It is not in heaven that thou shouldest say who shall go up
for us to heaven and bring it unto us that we may hear it and
do it. Neither is it beyond the sea
that thou shouldest say who shall go over the sea for us and bring
it unto us that we may hear it and do it. Verse 14, but the
word is very nigh unto thee and in thy mouth and in thy heart
that thou mayest do it. Now do those words sound familiar
to you? Turn over to Romans chapter 10. And this will give you a clue
about what he's talking about. Paul here, by inspiration of
the Spirit, had been talking about the Jews who sought righteousness
but did not attain it. Why? Because they sought it by
works of the law. Anybody who seeks righteousness,
seeks salvation by works of the law will not attain it. Why? Because we're sinful people. And he said that shows an ignorance
of God's righteousness. And he says in verse four, for
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. Christ is our righteousness.
He fulfilled the law for us. And he says in verse five, for
Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law. Now when
did Moses do this? Over here in Deuteronomy. He
says, that the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
If you're seeking righteousness by works of the law, then you've
got it to do. You gotta keep the law. Well,
we haven't. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And he says, for Moses describes
that. And he says, verse six, but the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise, say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above,
or who shall descend to the deep, that is to bring Christ again
from the dead. Now Paul says back here in Deuteronomy
30 that Moses was describing the righteousness, not that which
comes by our law keeping, but the righteousness which is of
faith. And what is the righteousness of faith? It's the righteousness
of Christ imputed to us, charged to our account. And he says,
what saith it in verse eight? The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth and thy heart, that is the word of faith which we
preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. So we have a New Testament commentary
on it. Well, in the last verses of Deuteronomy
there, Deuteronomy 30, you can read this in your lesson. Moses just simply tells them,
now this is life or death. Coming to a realization that
we have no righteousness of our own, no goodness of our own,
and that we can only find it by God's grace in Christ, that's
a matter of life and death. And he said, I've set that before
you clearly. And over in Romans 10, Paul says,
well, it's not far off. It's not something that you have
to strive for or attain. It's something that's right here
in the testimony of the word of God in the gospel. That's
why he says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's
the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first, the Greek also, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
justified shall live by faith. Okay.