Blessings and Cursings

Dear Brethren,

Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 are the Blessings and Cursings chapters in the Bible.  Originally intended for ancient Israel, today, they are meant for modern Israel and spiritual Israel - the Church.

Blessings:
"And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God." (Deuteronomy 28:1-2)

Cursings:
"But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:" (Deuteronomy 28:15)

As a people we have forgotten our God.  We can expect our blessings to cease and curses to overtake us.  The Old Testament ends with the words, "... lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."  The natural consequences of sin are the curses that follow - leading ultimately to death.  We will reap what we have sown.

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. " (Galatians 6:7)

In recent years, we have been seeing dramatic moral decline and unprecedented disease.  We are witnessing the cause and effect relationship that God warned our forefathers of in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.

Endtime events are shaping up rapidly - more rapidly than we sometimes realize. As recently as 1980, AIDS was not recognized by the medical profession as the threat it has become.  We heard a minister in Big Sandy  in 1981 say, "40 million people in the United States will eventually die of AIDS," - we had never even heard of AIDS before then!  Look at how far this disease has spread in 21 years.

It is now reported to be the worst epidemic that mankind has ever seen.  Let’s just take a look at the effect of the AIDS epidemic plaguing the entire world.   As it grew rapidly during the 1980's, scientists began an intense study of the AIDS disease to determine its origin and to find a cure.  The earliest known case of HIV was found in a blood sample collected in 1959 from a man who lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Today there are millions of AIDS orphans in Africa, 600,000 in Zimbabwe alone.

AIDS has now reached into every facet of our society.  Early in the 1990's a beautiful little girl, who came up to us and gave us a hug every Sabbath in our Pasadena congregation, succumbed to this dreaded disease.  That child was an innocent victim - the sin was not hers.

By the end of 2001, an estimated 40 million people were living with HIV / AIDS.  During 2001 alone, AIDS caused the deaths of an estimated 3 million people.

The cause of AIDS is known.  From the time of the discovery of the first cases, scientists knew that the spread of the disease was in large part due to immoral sexual contact and the sharing of syringes by drug users.  Had these types of activities not been prevalent, the disease would not have become the major world problem that it is today.

Prevention of the AIDS disease is absolutely achievable.  Although most scientists are reluctant to label the practices of having multiple sexual partners, homosexual sex, and illegal drug use as “immoral”, we who understand God’s laws know that God views these behaviors as abominations.  God fully knew the curses that these behaviours would bring upon society.

What worries scientists the most about the HIV virus is that it is very different from previous epidemics.  HIV / AIDS is a slow, progressive and permanent disease.  Scientists understand very little about "viruses."  Whatever they are, they are too small to be seen in their "live" state, and too elusive to be killed.  Since there is no vaccine or treatment that cures HIV / AIDS, and people do not develop any immunity to it, the disease cannot be contained.

Since there is no stopping HIV / AIDS, many scientists are predicting such a large increase in the number of individuals who will become infected with it that eventually the majority of the sexually illicit population will be infected and eventually die.

The Apostle Paul says that those with that illicit "lifestyle" bring a curse upon themselves.  "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet."  (Romans 1:27)

>Scientists are working feverishly to find a cure for AIDS.  This world seeks a pill to stop AIDS because they will not change their behaviour.  No government organization or sociologist would even begin to suggest that there is a way to teach society to cease their immoral practices.

To the extent that God's laws are kept - blessings follow.  Even scientists can see clearly that families who practice monogamy are virtually free of the AIDS disease.  This is proof that God’s laws work even when people obey them out of ignorance.  How much better it would be if all men believed in all of God's laws.  "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  (John 8:32)

The world needs the knowledge that we possess - we know the Truth.  We in God’s Church know that the only effective and permanent cure for diseases such as HIV / AIDS is for people to live according to God’s Word.  That will only begin to occur on a worldwide basis when God’s Kingdom is established on the earth.

"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."  (Isaiah 11:9)

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Sermon:  "Blessings and Cursings"  

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