Preached by Apostle Aje Pelser
Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town
Blessings that raise the standard of obedience.
1. Deu 28:1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.
a. Diligence I something you consistently do over time, with the right attitude, accurately.
b. To obey dilgilently means that you don’t lose momentum in obedience as you go, but you learn through faith and patience to inherit the promises of God for obedience.
c. The Voice of the Lord is captured in His Word the Bible.
2. Deu 28:2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
a. For blessings to come upon you is one thing – because that comes and goes, for it to overtake is an adding blessing because that will outlast you and go over to your descendants! A righteous man leaves an inheritance for his children. So many Christians miss the point about generating wealth to establish His covenant. When your children see the blessings of God on your life, in spirit, soul and in the natural, they will want to serve God continually. The contrast is seen in the curses mentioned in chapter 28 – I made an effort to read through all the curses mentioned and thanked the Lord Jesus that he took those curses onto Himself when he died on the cross for our sins!
3. Deu 28:3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
a. There were regular debates about whether God is calling pastors to plant churches in the big cities, or in the country towns. Some arrogant ministers only propagate mega churches while others prefer more intimate country style churches. Well here we read God will bless you in the city and in the country. We read from Apostle Paul that he taught both publicly and from house to house – that is good 20/20 vision.
4. Deu 28:4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
a. Different zones of fruitfulness:
i. Your Body
ii. Your Ground
iii. Your Herds and flocks.
b. The fruitfulness that comes from obedience will circle out in concentric circles into all your spheres of life. It will extend way beyond your personal life and start to influence your surroundings and the earth you step on!
5. Deu 28:5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
a. You gather in your basket, you work the harvest into bread in your kneading bowl.
b. It’s one thing to gather and harvest, it’s another thing to process that harvest so that it brings nourishment and growth to prosperity in your life and in the lives of others.
c. Getting souls saved is wonderful and it brings great joy. Making disciples so that they also share the bread of life with others and grow strong in the lord is an effort and commitment long term.
6. Deu 28:6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
a. We are sent ones. We understand apostolic ministry. It is a wonderful thing to be sent into all the world by our Lord Jesus. understanding that we are ambassadors of His kingdom with the command to love God and others, and a commission to make disciples of Jesus Chris in all nations of the world.
b. Coming back from a mission, or gathering back after a week to report what God has done is also a blessing for me.
c. Imagine you did all that going and when you come back no one celebrated what happened with you? That’s why we report and give an account at church meetings and household gatherings. We also overcome with the word of our testimony.
7. Deu 28:7 “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
a. I love this picture. We face a spiritual enemy that never sleeps, but this scripture turns the tables – he comes in one way and God defeats him and he flees in seven different directions. I also understand this because the devil works with lies and deceit and a house divided against itself can’t stand. God just exposes his lies and reveals his fragmented ranks! Unity of the faith and agreement between two or three believers manifests Jesus Christ and that is the force that drives out Satan.
8. Deu 28:8 “The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
a. Storehouses don’t build and fill themselves.
b. We have received a vision many times from all over the world about our church being a storehouse full of bread, full of resources that are ready for export, going to all the nations of the earth.
c. The McIlhenny family’s Tabasco factory in the USA has s storehouse of chili sauce that is worth billions of dollars. The chili mash is just standing there in barrels getting ready for production. They can produce 600,000 bottles a day and they have packages ready to go to all the nations of the earth. In the documentary I watched by Martin Clumes about the Islands of America, he picked out the South African palette of tabasco bottles!!
d. Get your family to set its vision for generations to come.
9. Deu 28:9 “The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.
a. This is a great honour – to be established as a holy people to the Lord. Peter speaks about us being a “royal Priesthood’
b. 1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10. Deu 28:10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you.
a. When God blesses you for obedience, the whole earth will take note.
b. As a family, we have served God for 5 generations now by His grace. Some families have served God for 100 generations – it’s never too late to start because the blessings will overtake you!
11. Deu 28:11 And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.
a. Goods and produce – God will make you productive and you will learn to use your time wisely and not waste it while you are on earth.
b. Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
12. Deu 28:12 The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
a. We know what it feels like to be in a drought – I still catch myself taking start-stop showers!
b. When you have to live off 200 litres per day in a family of five, it is challenging! Just one flush of a toilet is around 20 litres!
c. God opening the treasures of heaven for you also speaks of the windows of heaven that open when we give tithes and offerings. I have seen God open new windows of opportunity for us and our friends around the world and in this church. It is a wonder to see how creative God is in us!
d. We have also lent to nations. We lend out our apostolic teams all over the world at our own cost- other churches in this move are starting to see the blessings of obedience to the great commission too!
13. Deu 28:13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.
a. God has raised us up as leaders of a global move of God – we have a wonderful leadership team we call the apostolic Council and we meet monthly to discuss how to advance God’s kingdom and obey His calling on our lives.
b. We have influence in all the continents of the world, and in 144 nations to date.
14. Deu 28:14 So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
a. Why would I want to turn aside to any useless false idol if my God blesses my obedience like this?
Photograph by Alex Iby