Reformation on SermonAudio

This sermon examines the legal and ceremonial instructions in Deuteronomy 25 and 26, highlighting how God's law restrains human cruelty while promoting mercy and social justice. The discussion covers specific regulations regarding corporal punishment, levirate marriage, and honest commerce, arguing that these laws were designed to protect the vulnerable and maintain tribal integrity in a patrilineal society. The text further explores the theological significance of the Feast of Firstfruits and the third-year tithe, which serve as public confessions of God's redemption and a mandate for stewardship toward the poor. The sermon concludes by connecting these historical laws to the broader covenant identity of Israel, emphasizing that obedience to God's statutes establishes the nation as a holy and treasured possession among the nations.

A devotional delivered to the congregation of Emmanuel Reformed Baptist Church (SeaTac, WA) at the Wednesday night prayer meeting.

There is perhaps no other truth which is so hard to learn as is this; that trying to keep God's holy law will not bring you into favor with God. Instead, we read here, it brings a curse. By nature, most people just think that if they just become religious enough; if they will try their hardest to do and keep God's commandments, then surely God will honor their good intentions, and He will save them and bring them to heaven at the last. But the Apostle Paul has been showing us in this letter that it is utterly impossible for any person to save themselves from their sins, whether they are a Jew, or whether they are a Gentile. You can only be saved from your sins by faith in Jesus Christ. And the law is not of faith. Therefore, in these verses, we find Paul explaining for us how we are saved from our sins. 1st of all – Christ saves us by redeeming us from the curse of the Law having become a curse for us. And then, 2nd – Christ became a curse for us so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Let's look more deeply into these things together now, so that we might understand the greatness of what Christ has done for us.

Matthew 24:4 "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you." King James Version