THROUGH THE BIBLE - Deuteron..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Dear brother, we're going to be reading Deuteronomy chapter 23, and what I want to share with you this afternoon is the impossibility of having fellowship with God. The impossibility of having fellowship with God.

And when I say impossibility, I mean that it's impossible to have genuine fellowship with God. And that fellowship that we have here in chapter 23, you're going to see it in terms such as the assembly of the Lord, if you pay attention there in verse 1. The assembly, or the congregation of the Lord, or the fellowship of the Lord. Or when you go to verse 9, we will read there about the camp of the Lord, that the people, the congregation of the Lord were in a camp, encamped, and they had fellowship with the Lord. And what I want us to meditate about this afternoon is on the impossibility of having fellowship with the Lord.

So having that in our minds, dear brother and sister, let us read together Deuteronomy chapter 23 and pay careful attention to the many times that this passage is going to mention the assembly of the Lord or the camp as we approach or as we move through this chapter. This is chapter 23, and this is the word of the Lord May the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ that was in the prophets that spoke of the gospel and these glorious things may be with us as we read and as we preach his word, guiding us to him alone. This is Deuteronomy chapter 23. This is the word of the Lord. No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

No one born of a forbidden union might enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants might enter the assembly of the Lord. Noamonite or Moabite might enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them might enter the assembly of the Lord forever, because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pthor of Mesopotamia to curse you. But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam.

Instead, the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you. You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever. You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were sojourner in his land. Children born to them in their third generation may enter the assembly of the Lord.

When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourselves from every evil thing. If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal mission, then he shall go outside the camp. He shall not come inside the camp. But when evening comes, he shall bathe himself in water As the and the sun and as the sun sets, he may come inside the camp. You shall have a place outside the camp and you shall go out to it and you shall have a trowel with you, with your troll, with your tools.

And when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your experiment because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp. to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you. Therefore your camp must be holy so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you. You shall not give up to his master, you shall not give up to his master's slave who has escaped from his master to you. He shall dwell with you in your midst in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns whatever suits him, you shall not wrong him.

None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cold prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cold prostitute. You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God. You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest in money, interest in food, interest in anything that is lent for interest. You may church a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfillment, for the Lord your God will surely require of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, what you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have promised with your mouth. If you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your field of grapes, as many as you wish. but you shall not put any in your back. If you go into your neighbor's standing grave, and you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grave.

Amen. This is the word of the Lord. And as I said, dear brother and sister, my desire is to share with you the impossibility of having fellowship with God. the impossible task for a human being to have fellowship with God. And dear brethren, fellowship is the most important and the highest of the blessings that a creature can have.

Fellowship with God, it is the highest of the mountains to be claimed. Fellowship with God is the highest of the blessings that a human being can receive. In the presence of the Lord, there's fullness of joy. And at the right hand of the Father, there's pleasures forevermore. The psalmist says in Psalm 16, verse 11, Dear brother and sister, your life as mine depends on having fellowship with the Lord.

And who will ascend to the tabernacle of the Lord? Who will enter into this holy hill? According to sound 15, only the one who walks uprightly, only the one who speaks the truth in his heart, the greatest of the blessings that is available for humans is having fellowship with God. Today, within the sound of my voice, I have souls in front of me and even those who are hearing online. And our lives are just put into two categories.

We either have genuine fellowship with the Lord, or we do not have fellowship with the Lord. And those who, by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, are partakers of this glorious fellowship with the Lord, they have gone against that which is impossible for men in and of himself. maybe your brother, maybe your sister and children, within the sound of my voice, if we were going to summarize the purpose of the old covenant, everything that has been written in the book of Genesis going into Malachi and even to the point of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, when he shed his blood and instituted the new covenant, everything before that point, if we were going to summarize all the teachings of everything that we find before the cross, We could say that the old covenant of the Old Testament is the attempt of God, the divine intention of God to show you that in and of yourself, you are completely unable to enter in genuine fellowship with the Lord. Humanity in and of themselves are utterly and completely unable to enter into the assembly of the Lord or dwell within the boundaries of the camp of the Lord. They are completely unable to enter into the holy presence of the Lord without being consumed.

And everything that we read in the Old Testament in a sense, in a very simple sense, is only pointing us to the reality that in and of ourselves, dear brother or sister, we are completely unable to do so. That was the intention of the Lord, with the law given to Moses, but also given to the world. Because if there was going to be a hidden before Jesus Christ came that was going to know of the God of Israel, the only option for them to enter in fellowship with the Lord was to go to the people of Israel and somehow, as a foreigner, become a member of the Mosaic Covenant. And through the Mosaic Covenant, they will have a way to know the Lord God of the universe. That every time that a Jew, every time that an Israelite, or every time that a foreigner that came within the context of the Mosaic Covenant or the people of Israel, they will be confronted with what we have just read.

that genuine fellowship with the Lord, that abiding with the Lord, that having fellowship with the Lord was contingent upon not only obedience, but perfection in order for a person to enter in genuine fellowship with the Lord. And in order for a person to be within the presence of the Lord, according to the law, that person had to be perfect or complete and not only in a moral sense, but even in a physical sense. Beloved brethren, that was the burden of the law upon the shoulders of the people of Israel and every single person under the Old Testament dispensation that wanted to know the Lord God of this universe. So that's why we read here the super difficult and really high standard of requirement for a person to enter into fellowship with the Lord. If you see there in verse one, basically what we're told is that you must be physically complete to enter into the assembly of the Lord.

And why? This is because the Lord requires perfection when we approach Him. If you see there in verse two, basically what it says is that you must be born of a legal union. Even your parents, husband and wife, your parents, they have to be not in a forbidden union, but you have to be born from a union of husband and wife that is legal before the Lord, because if you are not, then you are not allowed in the assembly of the Lord. Even if you go there to verse 3, you can even see there that basically what that verse 3 and onwards is saying, that even your historical past, where you come from, defines in the eyes of the Lord if you are accepted or not in the congregation or in the assembly of the Lord, that even the people or the nation that you belong to In this case, if they were not in good sides or in good terms with the Lord, they will not be allowed in the congregation or in the assembly of the Lord.

And this chapter continues and continues. Even if you go there to verse nine, that you can see that even when Israel were going to battle and to fight against their enemies. This was an extension of the people of Israel, wherever they were going at the camp, the camp of war or the camp of battle. That was also a place where the presence of the Lord was supposed to be. And even when the people of Israel were engaged in war and in battle to extend the boundaries of the land that was given to them, they were supposed to be holy as the Lord was holy because the Lord was walking in their midst.

And the Lord will remain in fellowship with them only if these people were not only perfect in a moral condition, but also complete physically, coming from their descendants in their history and in the way that they dealt even with war. And then you continue with the many, many laws. We are told that if there is a slave that is escaping a master, you are to receive him with open arms and provide to him everything that he needs and even to provide a place for him. That is, love him. You are to love the one that is in need.

You are not to deal with your brother in an unloving way. You are not to put interest in the money that you lent to your brother or to your sister. You are to deal with love, and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on. Beloved brethren, this continues, and continues, and continues, not only in the minds of the people of Israel, but even through the book of Deuteronomy. If you go to chapter 24, we have laws.

If you go to chapter 25, we have laws concerning marriage. If you go to chapter 26, we have laws concerning offerings. If you go to chapter 27, we have laws concerning the altar and offerings. And it continues and it continues with laws and requirements and stipulations and requirements for the people of Israel to show them that if they were going to approach and enter in fellowship with the Lord, it was required of them not only to be morally perfect, but complete physically and in all different types until The preaching of this sermon arrives to the fearful point of Deuteronomy chapter 28 that many of you, of course, will know very well. And if you go there, you can hear and read there the fearful words of Moses as he speaks about the consequences, about the results of all of these laws, of all of these requirements, of all of these statutes.

that were required of the people of Israel, so that they will be in the assembly of the Lord, or that they will be in the camp of the Lord, or they will be able to enter into the tabernacle of the Lord, or they will be accepted within the people of Israel. Verse 1 in chapter 28, we read these fearful words. And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do, and then, The burden of impossibility arrives to the burden of the soul whose ears are open to the words of God, all his commandments. Being careful to do all his commandments that I commend you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you obey the voice of the Lord your God."

This is the requirement, all the commandments of the Lord. That if you were born of the wrong parents, then you're not going to be able to enter into the assembly of the Lord. That if you were a descendant of the wrong nation, then you're not going to be able to enter into the assembly of the Lord. that if something happened to your body, then you're not going to be able to enter into the assembly of the Lord. That is the burden of the law, that it takes form of a curse.

In verse 15 of the same chapter that says. 28, Chapter 28, verse 15. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, your God will be careful to do all once again, inclusive of every single word and letter that has been given in this book. and in the Old Covenant, all his commandments and his statutes that I commend you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. And if you want to go deeper into the fearful words of this chapter, you ought to continue with what comes after that, and you will see the strict requirement of the law.

Imprisoned. Captive. What soul is going to be able to find a way out of these words? What human being who has been born will be able to find a door of escape to the words of the Lord, that if all the commandments that he gives are not obeyed perfectly, I mean, all the conditions that he gives even to the natural body and the parents where we come from and the nation that we come and the way that they fought in the way that they did this and that. If those requirements were not fully met, then the curse of the Lord will come upon the shoulders of that soul.

And that is exactly what happened to the people of Israel. Dear soul, dear soul, what is the purpose of all of these commandments given to us in the ideal covenant? What is the purpose of the law? What are the purposes of these regulations? What are the purposes of these details?

What are the purposes of these commandments that at times will not make sense to the carnal mind? What is the point of this detailed and this high requirement that comes from above? I don't have to answer that question because Paul does very clearly in Galatians chapter three. And if you come with me to Galatians chapter three. And the only verse that you are sold is to know to understand the purpose of all of those loves that were given, of all of those details and all of those commandments that were given.

If you go to chapter three, dear soul, dear brother, dear sister, dear friend, and dear children, those of you who are able to read in chapter three, verse 22, dear children, this is the purpose of the commandments that you cannot obey perfectly. This is the purpose of the commandments and the obedience that you ought to have to your parents that you cannot have perfectly. My dear children, this is the purpose of the law given to us. In verse 22, did I say chapter 3? Chapter 3.

But the scripture This next word in the ESV is not only going to explain how it was written, but it's also going to explain the experience unto whom these words were written. But the scripture, in present, not something, not mostly, but everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. What is the law? The law is that prison. The law is that prison that points to your sin, dear soul.

Everything imprisoned by the scripture as seen with the law that was given. And what was the purpose of that law that was given? It says very clearly there, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ may be given to those who believe. What is the door of escape? What is the place that the burdened soul will run to when he or she is confronted with the reality of the Old Testament?

What is the place and the door of escape that the soul that is confronted with their sins will run and will flee too. His name is Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who came to fulfill all the requirements of the law that was in prison in us, the jail in which we were. He was under that law, and he submitted himself not only to that, but to the requirement of the father given to him before eternity began. So that, beloved brother and sister, Those who believe in him are not under that law anymore, but now are under the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who fulfilled all the requirements and who was made being perfect according to what the brother read in Hebrew chapter two, through suffering. Because when he went upon that cross, he took the wrath of God that we all deserve, all his people, so that the burden and the prison of the law and all of these requirements might not be upon us anymore, that we will walk in the victory of Christ, who has paid for all of our sins and also has freed us from the slavery that we had to sin, giving us the promise that there is going to be a day in which sin will be no more within us.

My dear soul, Brother, my dear sister, are you under the burden of the law? Is your soul under the burden of performance? Is your soul under the necessity that you yourself have created into your mind that in order to approach this God, you have to be physically perfect and morally perfect and have been born of the right parents and of the right family and been descendant of the right nation and in the right place? My dear brother or sister, my dear children, all of the times that you have disobeyed to your parents, it's a grace of the Lord pointing you to not only the fact that you disobey your parents, but that you disobey God. And because of that, the law is now pointing you to Jesus Christ, to him alone the soul can go for rest for the believer or those of you who are not in him.

is the same place. There's no other place in which we can find rest. There's no other place in which the darkness and the oppression of the burden of the law, the prison in which we are because of self-righteousness, there's no other place in which we can find freedom, but that only place is the Lord Jesus Christ. Where shall we go, dear brother and sister? Not only when we come on Sundays, but every day of our lives.

What a good practice it is for our souls to remind ourselves that apart from Him, we are consumed and taken over by the unrighteousness of our flesh. And that self-realization of our unrighteousness should always point us to the need of setting our minds to things that are above, not on things undeserved, and to be united to Christ by faith and be always safe in Him alone. Amen.