The Removal of Curses, Pt. 1

Ron Weinland

October 17, 2016

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon – 2016

You know, this is an exciting time that we're observing in this Feast of Tabernacles because of all that it pictures that is so soon going to be ushered in – into the Millennium. All that we're able to do here and picture in what we're observing, it truly is exciting and inspiring, a great Feast of Tabernacles. And it'll be far greater depending on what we each put into it. So let's strive to do that and do what we heard about rejoicing and rejoicing in this Feast and making sure that we do our part in every way to be able to give a better Feast to others around us as well.

Brethren, we have a lot of work ahead of us. As Mr. Armstrong used to say, there are those things in families and relationships that will take three to four generations in order to get much of the dysfunction, the bad traits, and selfish habits, that are learned from parents and society, straightened out, that are passed down generation to generation. It takes time! To go through all of these things in that kind of a world, in that kind of an awesome world with Jesus Christ and the 144,000 ruling and reigning on the earth, even after one religion has been established on the earth, one government over all the earth, it's going to take that long to wade through much of this because things that are deeply embedded in family life and people's lives, it doesn't just disappear.

And that's kind of a flaw sometimes in our thinking within the Church, because a lot of times after we've been in the Church for two, three, four, five, six, seven years or more, often times the mindset can be one that, well, we have addressed the major things in life and our lives are set now in the Church. They are not! They are not! And do you want the history? Do you want the proof of all that? It is in the history, the history of the Church and what we've gone through, even in recent time, even in the cleansing and the measuring, if you will, of the temple. That which is being refined is being more perfectly refined, molded and fashioned into place and becoming stronger. But that which is still, or has been at least to this point in time, still hasn't been doing its part, has been dragging the Body, has been out in the courtyard and not in the temple, those things have been in the process of being removed. And it's always from people who believe that their lives are going quite well, as far as how they're living their life, going quite well, as far as their belief in what they are doing and how they are living and that they have things right with God. And they don't understand, no, you have a long, long, long way to go even if you were to stay at the battle. And each one of us has to understand that we have a long, long way to go in staying with the battle that's before us, because it doesn't just take a lifetime, it takes generations to get rid of much of the dysfunction, the unsoundness that's in our mind, that's in the human mind, in order to become more and more refined generation after generation.

Well, those things that Mr. Armstrong said, in the past ten, twelve years, I have become more deeply convicted of this truth more and more and more the farther we have gone along. And it is an incredible thing to know. It is an incredible thing to "see," because it is spiritual. And it has to do with the reality of what is true in our being. Each generation should become better and better.

So, often times, again, that tendency within the Church is for people, once they have been called, to believe that relationships and right thinking toward God and others is fairly well addressed within a relatively short period of time. But then we're reminded through sermons, and far too often in personal experiences, that everything in one's life has not been addressed and everything is not okay in relationships because that's where these things become evident and clear.

We soon learn that there is much work that must be practiced and lived before true peace begins to really exist within our relationships. It takes much time to address such matters, to come to "see" such things within our own nature, our own selfishness that is a matter of our natural thinking that must change.

So within the first few decades of the Millennium we have very much work ahead of us. And this will be a process of changing the ways of mankind. Those things do not change quickly. Those things do not change overnight.

So again, this will be a process of changing the ways of mankind from the way that produces the experience of curses to the way that produces blessings. As we enter the Millennium we will begin a process that begins to remove the way of curses from mankind.

This is the very subject manner of this sermon that is entitled, The Removal Of Curses, with this being Part 1.

The Church has come quite a ways in grasping a better understanding of the removal of curses upon women in society, in family, and even in the Church. To understand this is only the beginning of understanding of what it means for curses to be removed during the Millennium, as there are many that must be removed. To gain a better grasp of what this means it's good to go back to the beginning, to be reminded of the simplicity of this that can be received by knowing what produces blessings and what produces cursings. Yes, it is simple in so many regards. Not to live, but to have some basic knowledge of – yes, simple.

It's important to understand that both blessings or curses are something that is produced, as these are the product of human behaviour. They're the product of how one lives.

Let's go back all the way to Genesis. Genesis 3. Mr. Armstrong so often would go back to this point, so often especially toward the end would talk about Genesis, would talk about the two trees and the things that he was seeing at that particular time that he kept building upon more and more and more. And so today, too, we are going back to Genesis 3 and the establishment of mankind and how people lived, what they did, and what began so long ago.

Genesis 3:1—Now the serpent was more subtle, a word meaning "crafty," or "shrewd," than any other creature of the field which the Eternal God had made. Sometimes we don't stop and think about some of these things and grasp fully what's being said because we just have a snippet. You know, in the first few chapters, first several chapters of the book of Genesis, a large period of time is covered. A large period of time of human life is covered and very little is written about it. But so much, really, that hasn't been written is still there. It's there to be learned, to be understood, to grasp, to think about, to build upon so that we can have even deeper understanding.

So "this serpent," speaking of Satan, "was more subtle than any creature of the field which the Eternal had made." And that's a good place to stop for a moment and to think about what it's saying. Why? Well, if we know who he is, and if we know his background and what he did to lead a third of all the angels against God Almighty, that is not a small thing. And yet Satan, very much so, grew in his shrewdness, if you will, over time to deceive, to twist, to distort.

I think of news today. I think of news programs and things that are said. You can see something. You can see a speech, as an example, that is being given, and the next day or even within the next hour there are news reports out about it that say things that weren't said. And that's an incredible thing to understand. An event, something takes place, there is absolute evidence of it that is recorded, that comes over the air, over TV, and we see it. And yet what is said about it is not true. It's twisted. It's distorted. It's put in a different vein. And you know what? A lot of people believe it! A lot of people see both, but they make a choice to believe something that someone else spins, twists, distorts in a different way, subtly so. So that's what it's talking about.

And this being, speaking of this being, has great power when it comes to this ability to deceive. There are things he has practiced for thousands upon thousands – we don't know – perhaps millions upon billions of years. We really don't know that complete span of time and how he has sharpened his skills. Human beings are no match for his subtlety, for his ability to twist, to distort. And he's very much behind, as is the spirit world, things that are going on in society today, things that are going on in human life today, to twist, to distort, to try to move people in a certain direction, to keep people in deception, to keep people at war, to keep people fighting, to keep all the things that are wrong, all the curses stirred up in a great big pot!

So, "Now the serpent was more subtle," crafty, shrewd, "than any creature of the field which the Eternal God had made." And he said to the woman, Hasn't God told you that, You shouldn't eat of every tree of the garden? Just a little bit of twisting in a little different direction for a different purpose. He's shrewd in how he's trying to lead someone in their thinking in a wrong direction. He doesn't bring out what's good and positive and what is right with what God has said and what God has given. On the contrary, totally turns it around in a way that causes one, that can lead one to begin thinking about something in a different manner than what they should. Not one of gratitude, excitement for what they've been given, but for that little bit of what they don't have, of what they haven't been given. And then the things that begin to come into the mind, "Well, why not? Why can't I?"

Verse 2—And the woman answered the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. So she didn't.... She wasn't turned right away. This is a conversation here that there is more said, but here is the summation of it in the strictest sense, to the main points of what was said and what happened, what transpired that led to a decision. But we're reading it very fast here. Here is a story that is in a nutshell. That's not the entire story. That's not entirely what all that was said in the period of time that was covered here. It wasn't just a teeny, teeny, teeny, little conversation here. There were some things going back and forth. But here is the gist of it all.

And the woman answered the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. It's like, "Well, no. No, we can eat of the trees of the garden," but of the fruit which is in the midst of the garden, God said we should not eat of it, neither should we touch it lest we die. So who wants to die? They, for whatever reason, even at this point, they understood death. They understood that life could end. But Satan abused this and misused this. He twisted. He knew exactly what God had said. He knew what was being covered here. But he wanted the woman to follow him. He wanted man and woman to follow him, to follow a different way, to not choose God, to not obey God. And so, again, this twisting and this distorting. But the woman was very clear, that yes, indeed, this is what God said. For her it was more of a positive thing. "Yes, we have all these we can eat. But just the one, we're not to touch it, because it can cause death."

Verse 4—Then the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die. "That's not what's going to happen. You won't die. God knows you're not going to die in the day that you touch it." But see, the whole story wasn't there. Because of her choice that did indeed lead to a judgment, a conviction, if you will, that ends in death. It doesn't mean it happens instantaneously. God never said that. But in the day you do it something happens – disobedience. And there's a penalty for disobedience. It doesn't mean it has to be carried out immediately. But Satan knew that and he twisted and distorted it and God allowed this for a great purpose. It was to happen. Sooner or later, at some point here, mankind was to be able to be deceived. That was the purpose. It wasn't an accident. Satan wasn't there by accident. You know, God could have kept him out of there, because God knew what would happen if that being was around individuals, beings that were made physical. Because they were made physical for a purpose – so they could make wrong choices. That's why they were created as physical human beings – so they could make wrong choices, so they could learn from that process and what would happen in life for choosing something that is wrong.

Now, that's a marvel to understand why God did this! Because there is no other way that mankind can come into a point in time, through God's help, through His blessings, to come into unity and oneness with Him. It just can't happen any other way! That's the marvel of God's creation! The brilliance! The awesomeness of why He made us the way He did is absolutely astounding when we grasp it. And candidly, in the last many years, God has been blessing us to see this more and more and more. And that is awesome! Because the Church has not known these things to such depth, has not seen these things to such depth, to come to "see" it's a part, it's the last, if you will, of the Thunders. God Almighty revealing Himself more and more and more. And where does that begin? It has begun in the Church! God has been doing that over 6,000 years, progressively revealing Himself more and more, as well as prophetic things. Truth, revealing more and more. But what an awesome thing to understand at the end of an age now that has increased, the momentum has increased astoundingly so, that God is revealing Himself more and more to the Church, getting ready for, all for a purpose, the coming and establishment of His Kingdom on this earth! The very thing we're observing here at the Feast of Tabernacles! And what we have sometimes we don't grasp the greatness of it! We don't "see"! The more we grasp the greatness, the more we'll be able to do exactly what we were told. To rejoice! To rejoice in God and His plan and His purpose with thankfulness and gratitude. Because the more we "see," the more we understand, if our spirit is right and our mind is right, we will be thankful and we will rejoice because of that great gratitude and thankfulness we have to Almighty God, to see something so great that He is doing. That's awesome! You can't put that in words fully, to describe how great and how awesome such a thing is.

And so God is letting us understand in greater ways His creation – why He has done the things the way He has. Because otherwise people don't understand God and they find fault with God. They tend to see, oftentimes, God as being harsh, hard. God is not harsh, and God is not hard. God is exceedingly merciful! God is exceedingly great in that toward us. But He has a plan and He has great mercy and He has great desire for His family, Elohim, for those that have the opportunity of a second creation. We have been made, human beings, starting with Adam and Eve, physical creatures on this earth. But there is a creation that is greater. It is the greatest of all God's creation. And once we're called, once we're impregnated with the spirit of Almighty God in our mind, in the spirit essence that's in us, then something awesome begins. We have incredible opportunity of something that is far beyond anything you could receive on this earth. People can get excited about winning a lottery. What does that mean compared to what God is offering? Something temporary, something that will vanish in a short period of time. And God's purpose goes far, far beyond that. It has to do with how we think. It has to do with the mind. It has to do with the ability to truly have right joy, peace, excitement of life into age-lasting life.

And so I marvel the more God gives us, the more we go through these things, even going back to the beginning. The more that God reveals to us, helps us to understand and build upon things more and more and more, the more exciting it all becomes, the more awesome it truly is. And to "see" God! What an incredible thing, that we're able to "see" God more and more. And in this very beginning there are things that God is showing us about Himself and why He has done things the way He has.

There are those with slight knowledge, that when they hear such things as what God did from the very beginning, "Well, why would He make us this way?" "Why didn't He give us healthier bodies?" "Why didn't He give us, from the beginning, bodies that wouldn't die, that couldn't, as they did in the beginning, live for at least a 900 to a 1,000 years and not have health problems, not have aches and pains till the very end?" "Why?" "Why, why, why?" "Why!" "Why did God do that?" It's like human beings judge God because they don't "see" Him. They don't understand what He did, why He did it early on. But they can come to learn it. They can come to know it. And it takes time.

And so again here, The serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die. God knew exactly what would happen, because He left Adam and Eve there, and it wouldn't take very long. It happened quickly. It happened quickly to two human beings that were made physical, subject to "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," because of having been made physical in a physical world around them. The very reason God did it – to accelerate, to speed up a process whereby He could create Elohim. That – THAT is awesome to understand!

And so The serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die. That's right. You're not going to die when you touch it. You're not going to die when you eat it. Not right then. But the death penalty is now over your head. Satan didn't tell the whole story and God allowed it for a purpose. For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened. Now, that's true! That is true! But he didn't tell the whole truth.

You know, I have made comment about this in other sermons here, but I want to make comment about it again because it's a very dangerous, it's a very deceitful thing. And oftentimes people don't realize it when they engage in it – when you tell partial truths, when you don't tell the complete truth. And generally that is done for a particular motivation, for a particular reason. And I hope we all understand that because those who do not, who still use it, they need to come to see it. It's done to protect self, an image of self that we want others to see that is one of esteeming self unnaturally, not in truth. Why should we want to esteem ourselves in something that is not fully true? Why? Why do we want to raise ourselves up to be seen by others in a particular way if it isn't true? We shouldn't have that motivation anyway, but that is a dangerous thing.

I've had ministers through time, still have some on occasion who don't know their own minds yet, who, when they bring to me a story about a particular situation, I want the truth. You know, a lot of ministers got to a point in time – it came to the point in time where I candidly believe that none of them who reported to him, whether they be regional coordinators or evangelists, or whatever it might be – I fully believe now in looking back and seeing the evidence of things that took place that all of them engaged in this matter of not telling the whole story, the complete truth. And that's not a good thing.

And so when there is an incident, and it may involve you in life, don't try to paint yourself better. Don't try to make yourself come out looking better in the issue. Tell the whole story. If we made a mistake, if we've been in error, if we haven't done the best and we see a mistake that we made, acknowledge it! That's a spiritual thing that receives favor immediately, because that can be worked with. And those are small things compared to oftentimes what happens when others are, indeed, doing something wrong and going off on a tangent misusing something. God will give judgment in that. God will give me judgment and right judgment in that. Because as Christ said a long time ago – this is the way I am – I don't seek my own judgment in matters, the way I see it, the way I think it should be in people's lives. On the contrary, I strive to do it the way Jesus Christ said, that his judgment was just because it wasn't his, he said. It's the Father’s! He seeks to be in unity and oneness with God, to judge righteous judgment in matters. Not the way we think something should be. Not by our own judgment. Not by our standards. Our standards stink of and by themselves unless they're in unity with God. And then if they're ours and they just happen to agree with God and we might seem to be a little bit better or look a little bit better, that's not good either. Because the conviction should be this is from God. See, the honor, the glory, the credit always flows from God first. It must be there first, not from us, not out of us to try to make us look better, that somehow, "Oh, see, I agree with God, see, so I'm pretty good." Oh, no, you're not. God is. God is good.

So, the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat thereof your eyes shall be opened. Oh, yes, they will be, but not to good! They're going to be opened all right. They're going to be opened to something different you haven't experienced yet. But Satan experienced that. He knows what that's like. And he loves it because he doesn't want God's way. He loathes God's way. He does not love God. He does not love God's way. He doesn't love the creation of mankind, let alone God's people. He hates them the worst!

...then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as Elohim. Ah. Has to do with judgment. Has to do with the mind. Has to do with thinking. They might be as that in what they're able to do, but they're not Elohim. See? Because when it's in Elohim it's true, it's right. Just like I mentioned about judgment. If my judgment or anyone else's judgment is a matter of something that it came from God, that it came from God first about how things are because God has said it, because God has established it and we're in agreement with that, then it's God's judgment. It's not our own. And so our eyes are in unity with God. Our eyes desire to be in harmony and unity with God, not to some other ideas where it comes out of us to try to make ourselves like God. That's the deceit in it all.

So he said, then your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as Elohim, knowing, this word "to perceive" or "to determine knowledge," in essence, for yourself. That's what it's about. It's that kind of knowing. It's determining, perceiving knowledge of yourself in your own mind – not because you're striving to come into agreement and unity with God. Incredible!

And so it says here ...knowing good and evil. In other words, deciding for yourself, you. It's about judgment. You deciding, determining, judging right and wrong. And sometimes in that people are going to agree with God. But if it comes out of their own mind, it's just wrong. It's not going to be balanced. It's not going to be sound.

It's like this matter of murder. Mankind can make laws about murder and agree that murder is bad, that murder is wrong. Not a hard thing to come to see. You want your family protected. You don't want murderers running around out there. And so you come into agreement with nature itself, with something we should be able to see and know and understand, that it's harmful, that it's bad, that it's not good for society. And so mankind makes laws. Just happen to agree with what God says, not because they agree with God saying it. There is a gigantic difference there – I started to say, "ginamic" – gigantic difference there, isn't there? And so it is.

You know, if people could just understand, "Don't commit adultery."  You'd think they'd agree with that one like they do about the one about not murdering. Wow, what a world! But you know what, "the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh," and the pride that you can do it, you can go out and do it, you can engage in things, you can try to keep it secret from your mate, from your children or your parents or whatever it might be, or from the other person's mate or children or whatever it might be, or from fellow employees, or whatever it might be. And so people engage in things that are wrong, that hurt, that cause incredible pain and suffering in people's lives. Sick! Sick! Sick! But see, that doesn't appear quite as bad as killing somebody and ending a life, so people don't see it as being so bad or being as bad. And they get kind of what they want. They want their own way. And they get this sensation, this excitement for a little while. And then after a while they find out something changes. You have to work in a relationship to make relationships right. And then the lust begins to leave, the self-gratification can begin to leave in that kind of an environment. And people do dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb things. Incredible how dumb human beings can be! Can't see straight.

And so again here, this started from the very beginning. Incredible! Incredible what happened from the very beginning. So by their choices that is exactly what the result was for turning from God's instruction, as we see down in verse 22, as it just said here in this verse.

Notice, verse 22—And the Eternal God said, Behold, the man has become as, as what? It says, "one of us," but basically it's saying "as Me," as the word refers back to Elohim. "...as Elohim." Only God in the God family – the God family is in absolute unity and oneness with God so that everything that comes out of the God Family in judgment and so forth is God. It is Elohim. It is God the Father. It is that mind. It is the Word. There is absolute unity and agreement, and nothing that's different from it. Everything, different differences in individuals, just as there are in human families in human life, but all in unity, agreement, and oneness with the absolute same judgment – always, always, always – with God Almighty. So, man has become as Elohim. That's what He's saying, "as Me." "As Elohim," to know, the same word here, "to perceive or determine knowledge," judgment if you will, to perceive from the self. So this is what mankind became from the very beginning, to perceive, to determine knowledge on their own. ...to determine, to know good and evil, deciding for themselves what's right and what's wrong, what's bad for their life and what isn't for their life. And they think it's not going to harm them and they can go – even though God has said something different, they don't see the harm in it – and they make the choice. Well, they "make themselves like Elohim." They "make themselves like God." They're not God. Who did that? Who did that from the very beginning? Lucifer. He felt his way was okay. He felt his way was actually better than God's. "This isn't going to hurt. This can't cause harm. I don't agree with what God said." And that's what people do, unwittingly so.

...and now, God said, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life... Now, God wasn't going to allow that but this is written in simplistic... in a simplistic way, in one respect, simple way, I should say, perhaps, but it's written in a short form here to get across the simplicity of something. And God makes it clear if mankind had been allowed to continue on and to have access to those things that lead into eternal life, well, what would that do to the God Family? What would that do to Elohim? Well, it would be just like what happened in the angelic realm. There would be great wars, great division. There wouldn't be unity and oneness. There would be no peace. God was not going to allow such a thing to occur! And so He said, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever. See, that's the point. God wasn't going to continue to bless them, to give them opportunity for a spirit creation in them. He wasn't going to allow that and allow them to become Elohim. There was a separation that took place.

So what an incredible thing to understand then. God put it in very simple terms, but how many people have really understood this through time? Very, very few. Very, very few. And really, to the depth we see it today, no one. Not to this depth. Not to the depth of everything God has given us to build upon in the Church since Philadelphia, since the 18 Truths that God established firmly and restored to the Church through Mr. Armstrong, and then those things that God has continued to give to us and build upon and now prepare for His Kingdom and giving more and more so that we can come to see, so that we're able to see God more clearly, His plan and His purpose.

Verse 23—Therefore, the Eternal God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. And so a curse. Everything would not be provided. Everything would not be given, as it were, on a silver platter any longer, and a way of incredible perfection, and joy, and fullness of life that could have been there from right choices. But because of human nature, because of being made physical, this would happen in time no matter what, whether Satan was around or not. God just accelerated the process. And He does that in human life, to accelerate the process so that it doesn't take that long, so humans don't have to suffer millions upon billions of years, but for a short, short, short (in the scheme of things), period of time in order to have Elohim created in them, to have access to the tree of life, the impregnation of God's holy spirit, so that something can begin to grow, a life can begin to be formed that is of God and of the mind of God in unity and oneness with God, to the time and point where God can say, "Now, I know you," and we're ready for birth into His Family Elohim and given far greater power and ability and strength and oneness than ever before. But the mind, there are certain attributes, certain things that must change before that change can take place.

So again, verse 23—Therefore, the Eternal God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep, to preserve, to guard the way of the tree of life. So, in essence here, something is summed up in very short period of time here to show that there is a way to the tree of life, there is a process that human beings must go through, and they will not have access to it any other way. And so God has done this process, exercised this process, especially in the first four thousand years as He worked more directly with people, but then once the Church was established large numbers could begin to be worked with through the Church with Jesus Christ being the High Priest and a larger body through inspiration given to people to teach and work with those that God would draw and call within a body, within a Church organization. And so incredible things would happen through time over 6,000 years, making way to the tree of life open, that life that we have awesome blessing of living and dwelling within us once we are begotten.

So let's go back, back up to where we were reading this. Genesis 3:6—And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, it began to be appealing to her for whatever reasons. There's something happens in the mind when you begin to flirt with, when you begin to do things that aren't in unity with God. Something happens within the mind if you allow it, if you begin to flirt with certain thinking that doesn't agree with God. In time you can become captive to it, especially because of the way we are created as physical human beings, and we have this matter of selfishness that exists in us by our very creation, of how we were created.

And so when the woman saw the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise... This was a connection here. This was a connection – the possibility of being more like God, of being like God, of being able to decide for myself right and wrong? Now, she didn't think that all the way through, what that meant. But to become like God and to be able to be wise like God, that this will help speed up the process where I can become like God... through some other way than what God has shown me? All that reasoning wasn't there. That soundness of mind wasn't there. When the mind begins to be drawn in a different direction there's not a whole lot of soundness there. Soundness kind of goes out the window oftentimes. When you lust after something, you want something, you know what? Sound reasoning just goes out the window!

I think of all the people in the Church through time, not through "all time," but through the time since I've been around the Church and the experiences I have seen and worked with personally in people's lives over and over and over again, when people begin to just in relationships flirt around with things they shouldn't flirt around with, when they get themselves involved with people that they shouldn't have started the process. Especially if they're already married!

And so here is a process where people begin to do something. And you know what? The mind just goes blah.... just goes... I don't know what way you can describe it, exactly, but it's like someone just kind of loses their mind. They just kind of lose a portion of their mind to where they don't think clear anymore because they want something. And they will do the dumbest – I mean the dumbest things. Begin to justify. Begin to reason why something is okay, why they can do certain things. And it just isn't sound! I mean, some things are just absolutely dumb! Dumb! Dumb! Dumb! Goofy! Goofy things! Because somebody wants something so much, their reasoning, it just... I wish I could think of an analogy here of something what it kind of becomes like. But it is... It's just dumb and goofy! That's a good way of putting it, just goofy, goofy thinking. Think, you weren't like that before this started! You weren't that goofy! You weren't that goofy in your thinking! Straighten up! Get back on the right track! That's the point. Get back on the right track. Get your mind more in tune with God again and your purpose of your calling and what you're supposed to be doing and the fact that you're supposed to be living this way of life and how you're supposed to be living it. That's what you need to do so you can think sound, sound-mindedly. Not goofy! Not dumb!

But generally that's what sin does. When somebody wants something that God says you shouldn't have, you know, people get a little, just a little goofy, giggly so almost, thinking that... Seeing a bit of a giggle along the way and what they're doing: "Hehehehehe."

And so again here, when the woman saw the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat. "'Hehehehehehe,' oh, that's okay." It's giggly goofy. Isn't that sometimes... people even respond like that, like of a funny, goofy, little laugh, you know, like that's okay. And no, it's not.

And the eyes of them both were opened. So as soon as they did what was wrong they were open. They were opened. They began to exercise and do something different from God. They were open to self in a far greater way, to their own selves, to do things they should never have engaged in. So the eyes of both of them were opened. So their mind began a change toward corruption. That's what it was opened to, corruption! The corruption of their own precious mind that God had given to them. Incredible, what took place, toward becoming set, if you will, or established in a wrong way. That's the process that began with that first wrong choice and decision. Their mind became open to something that God never wanted them to engage in. Didn't desire them to, but knew very well that's exactly what they would do, because that's the process whereby Elohim can be created, by letting human beings make wrong choices. And so again here, the eyes of both of them were opened, their mind began to change toward corruption, toward becoming set or established in a wrong way. Didn't become, start growing toward becoming more fully established with and set in God's way, it began to be set in their own way. Their mind was opened up to their own way, with themselves being the judge.

...and they knew that they were naked. What an incredible thing, the first thing that took place. They were naked. Now, that's amazing. But you see what happens in the mind? And we don't really grasp that fully. But please understand every time a person makes wrong choices, to go in a wrong direction the mind becomes corrupted, the mind can't think right anymore. It can't think in a sound way, when you talk in terms of true wisdom and soundness that God Almighty has and that God Almighty can share with us, soundness of mind, sound reasoning, we lose that ability. And that's why I mention here people even do that sometimes, they get this "hehehehehehe," giggling type of thing, goofy giggling type of mentality with the corruption of the mind as they seek to justify themselves. And so they began to see themselves as being naked, naked in the garden, naked before God. Well, we're all naked before God! That's the way... and that's a healthy thing for us to grasp! That there is nothing hidden from God. God sees it all. If God desires to see it, to have it, it's there in front of Him. I don't know how all that works, but that's God, the power of God Almighty. And so nothing is hidden from God. Everything is naked before Him, if you will, clear before Him. He sees all. And so to think that something is going to be hidden from God is not good thinking. It's not sound thinking. It's not true thinking. No one hides anything from God, and yet from the very beginning this is what happened here.

And so they decided that if God would see them, or the serpent would see them, or, I don't know, animals or whatever, that they were walking around naked. They didn't... So their mind began... And I think of the greatest area of perversion, unsoundness of mind is in the area of sexual differences between a man and a woman. Mankind has so perverted his mind, distorted his mind through that one thing more than any other in human life. That's incredible to understand.

...and they knew they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons, in order to cover various areas of their body. And they heard the voice of the Eternal God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And so again here, we don't know fully how some of this was established, whether God revealed Himself in the sense that He did later to various ones, like He did to Abraham, as in appearance of a human being in human form, as High Priest as He did through Melchizedek. We don't really know fully what this is. But they heard the voice of the Eternal as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Eternal God among the trees in the garden. As though God wouldn't know where they were, as though the Creator who made them, who crated everything around them.... You talk about some thinking that isn't too sharp here, here it is! To think that you're going to hide from God?

So this process of corruption began in their thinking. They couldn't think right. And this is exactly what happens to people when they choose to sin. When you make choices that are wrong in life, that contradict God's way of life, you're going to suffer. You're going to suffer curses. Curses are going to take place in your mind. They'll happen. They're automatic. It's an automatic degeneration of sound thinking. You aren't going to be able to help it. Because God has in His creation that which can grow, excel, become better and greater in unity and harmony with Him or it can begin to be corrupted, to be destroyed, to perish, to be perverted, all those things that begin to happen. And that's exactly what happens in the mind. That's why in today's society, today's world, all we have to do is look a little bit at the political scene that goes on in different nations and there is not a lot of soundness of mind. And the whole system is so messed up, and it's such a wrong system anyway, that you can't work with a wrong system to make it right. It just makes it worse. And it makes greater contention and enemies and people fighting and battling. So we are living in a time of such acceleration of these things taking place. It's incredible what we're absorbing right now at the end of an age.

So this corruption and this corruptive process that takes place in the human mind, it takes much to reverse that corrupt course of thinking. That's not a small process. It takes much to reverse that course of corrupt thinking. It requires repentance with spiritual transformation. Only God can do it! Only by the power of God in us, by our own choice that we want to participate in the mind being cleansed, in the mind being purified and reversed and going toward a direction that is in unity and harmony with God, God will give that in time, once an individual is called.

Let's notice Genesis 3:9—And the Eternal God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where are you? Now, God knew exactly where he was, but you know, this is a test for Adam and Eve and what are they going to do. And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid. I was afraid. You know, that's a healthy thing, because they made some wrong choices. They knew they weren't thinking in unity with God. There was something that wasn't right there. They didn't feel right. You know, when you don't feel right there is generally a reason for it.

You know what, that's an amazing thing. I'll just state this. So often through time in the Church as a minister I have known when there are things that aren't right in people's lives because of this very simple thing right here, because individuals skirt me, in the sense of not coming to me, but if they see me they will skirt off in a different direction, go a different way, try to make choices, and so forth, of avoidance, of being somewhere else. To the point where, in many cases, I know that they get to a point where they even deceive themselves in their own minds in justifying such avoidance and skirting around in other areas and not coming into direct contact. I have seen people go out of their way to accomplish that. And sometimes I have known already that they have certain issues or certain problems, and other times I have not. But in time I have gone through this so many times in my life it's like a bit of a simple radar system that, hey, what's wrong there? What's wrong there? I have known in time God will reveal it in His time, something will cause something to come to the surface, just like what's been happening in the last few years here, that there are things that will happen in people's lives that will bring issues to the surface. They will be addressed.

And so again here, he said, I was afraid because I was naked. So he made a judgment and a choice here, something he was uncomfortable about and fearful about, just uncomfortable. You know, there are people who sometimes are just uncomfortable around a minister because of something going on in their life. And there is a nakedness there. See the point is here, here is something very physical that God has given to teach something awesome on a spiritual plane. When people feel naked, they feel something is able to be exposed, that I can see something that is there, then there is a fear. Not a fear, not a right kind of fear, really, of a willingness to repent and get away from and make their life right, but a fear of being found out! That's the real fear. That's the real fear – a fear of being found out! That's what the fear is. When repentance really is the best policy, the best way to always go because then God can give mercy. He blesses me to give mercy to those who are of a repentant spirit, a humble spirit. Incredible! That's the way God works.

And so he said, Because I was naked I hid myself. And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Where did you come up with this? Have you eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded you that you should not eat of it? Now, God already knew. But you see, there's a process of thinking here that takes place that God is blessing us to "see" and to understand. Where did this all start? It started in a wrong choice. It started in something that was in disagreement with God. And so when that happens, when something like that takes place you're going to make other decisions in your life that are not sound! They're going to cause you problems! They're going to cause you suffering! They're going to cause you hurt, because there are laws in motion that regulate life – all life – and that's something we have to become convicted of through time through experience.

And the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave of me the tree, and I did eat. This matter of always deflecting. Human nature. This is nothing new. You know, we learn as we grow in the Church, as God gives us more of His spirit and we begin to see ourselves more clearly, we see that human beings, that we tend to do things like this. We tend to deflect things away. That's why I mentioned earlier that sometimes only half the truth, partial truths, are sometimes reported to me.

As I was talking about earlier about those who gave reports to Mr. Armstrong, I know that in time people were not giving right reports. They were giving what they thought would make them look good, what would help them out, what would sound good to the party they were delivering it to because if it makes it look good that everything in this department, or everything in this Church area is going along good… “and everybody's responding to you, Mr. Armstrong. They love what you're saying. They love the things that are going on. And this sermon series that you're giving, they love that,” as he went through different things about the... I was just thinking here about the trees. Anyway. The tree, the two trees. “They love these things you're building upon. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," and not telling him some of the truth about some of the things that were actually going on and some of the divisiveness, and some of the divisiveness of some of the ministers themselves, and things that were actually taking place and I'm dealing with “this” problem and “that” problem.

And so the man said, The woman whom You gave to me, she gave of me of the tree and I did eat, so typical deflection and justification. That's what it is. "Oh, it's not my fault. God, it's really kind of Your fault because You gave her to me. And if You hadn't of given her to me I wouldn't... this wouldn't have happened! See? I was just caught in something." Anyway, incredible the human mind and how far people will go to stab someone else in the back in order to make themselves look a little bit better. Isn't that incredible? To stab someone else in the back, to put someone else down in order to lift ourselves up. I'm just saying, that really sucks. That really stinks, too. It just has a bad odor to it.

Genesis 3:13—And the Eternal God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, "It's the serpent!" See this deflection? Justification? Not accepting fault? Not being one who owns their own choices? That's why we went through that series. It's a common thing. People don't own their choices. They don't accept personal responsibility. It was someone else's fault. "Someone else made me do it! Someone else deceived me. Someone else led me into doing this, and man, it caught me off guard." And, The serpent deceived me, and I did eat. And the Eternal God said to the serpent... Now, I want to stop just there for a moment. I just think, we are going through some verses. We have been through these verses before. But you know what? Every time we go through these we come to "see" things in a deeper way. God adds just a little bit more each time to make it clearer and clearer to us. He's giving things right now that you haven't seen, that you haven't fully grasped in such a manner that we can come to learn more and see more and understand this more. And to understand what this has to do with what we're talking about now, about the removal of curses. We have to know how they begin. We have to know how they work in life and to understand God more and God's purpose in these things more. And the more we "see" these things the more we come to grasp greater and deeper things about God and God's purpose and God's plan and our part in it.

I hope no one did what they did during Mr. Armstrong's time when they heard about the two trees and, "I've heard this before! Hehehe... Duh!" And shut off. Because then you can't grow! And so if we're hungry God will give us that which will feed us more and more and we'll grow more and more. So again, I hope that none of that exists during this Feast of Tabernacles in what we go through, because there will be some review of certain things. And it's easy for the human mind to say, "Well, I've heard that one." No, you haven't. You don't know it all. You haven't heard it all. And what you have heard will be built upon in greater ways. That's how God works.

And the Eternal God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed! You say, "Well, wait a minute, wasn't he cursed already?" Oh, absolutely! Absolutely! If you understand what a curse is, if you understand the process and what takes place. But here is more, more being stacked upon Satan leading him to his ultimate end. Because it all builds up more and more to a point in time where God does what He does after the Great White Throne. Incredible!

And the Eternal God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed! So what is this? It's the result of sin. It's the result of wrong thinking. Here Satan comes along – wrong thinking. He hated God's creation of human beings and what their future purpose would be, so he wanted to thwart that and so he did what he could to turn mankind away from God. And he succeeded. It didn't take a whole lot. It really didn't take a whole lot. It really didn't. Satan was lifted up by this. You know, that kind of a mind, you know, it becomes excited when it has the best of somebody. I think of all the detractors, people who think they get us, people who are lifted up by thinking they find something that is wrong, or whatever it might be. And, anyway, I think of some of these things that sometimes happen and what happens in their mind. And they don't get it. They don't understand. And so this is the way Satan was. Because it all starts with Him. And if we can see what happened to him we can understand what happens to others. So Satan's mind is the same way. It's the same kind of mind and what happens with the mind. And it becomes excited about being able to thwart God's plan. So Satan finds excitement in – it's perverted, it's sick – perverted thinking that it has one up on God, that he's put one over. So there are those that think they pull one over on God's apostle, God's prophet, or God's Church, and they don't realize, no, you're talking about God. You're not going to come out ahead in this. Your thinking is distorted. You have things upside down.

And so Satan had things upside down because his mind became more corrupted. And because of what he did here his life became more cursed. His life became more greatly cursed. What an incredible thing that took place right here! Have you ever thought about that? Satan was already cursed as far as his life and as far as what he did from the very beginning and leading a third of the angels with him and all the wrong choices he's made. But here God is expounding upon a choice he's made now that brings upon him even greater curses than what he was already experiencing because the angelic realm hadn't been around human beings to this time. They were just now created. But now that they're here, boy, here is something God says to Satan is going to become a greater curse to you now. You're going to suffer more now. You know with curses you suffer more, you hurt more, things happen in your life that torment more, torment, torment. And Satan, he just compounds. He just compounded. He just compounds every time he does something. In fighting against God he just compounds his torment. What a distortion of the mind, a corruption, a perversion of the mind. And human beings do the same thing until their minds become set in corruption. Sad.

And so the Eternal God said to the serpent, Because you have done this you are cursed, again, the result of sin. A curse is a result of sin. You sin more and more and you're cursed more and more. You're going to suffer more and more. You don't get by with it. You hurt. There are things in your mind that are taken away – soundness of mind that can give you a happier, fuller, more rewarding life. Those things go out the window. Every time there is more sin there is more potential for blessings that are gone, and the reality then of curses that set in, that make life more miserable and unhappy. And that's what people do to themselves. They make their lives more... Every time. Every time people sin, people who make choices, who think their life is going to be so much better when they get a different person in a marriage, and they go out and they commit adultery with them and they think their life is going to be better. No, never, never, never. Their life becomes worse. Their life becomes more screwed up. Their problems become... because they compound their problems in life. They make them worse and there is no reward in that. On the contrary, it hurts more. The suffering is more. The torment is greater. And so every time you choose sin, every time you go against God your torment becomes greater in your mind. You don't want that. You want to fight against that so you can have the mind healed and become in greater unity and have greater peace in your life.

So again here, God told Satan, "Because of your sin," that's what He was telling him, "your wrong thinking, you're cursed more now. Your life is going to be cursed more," above all living creatures, above all life, your life is going to be cursed, even more, and above every living creature of the (cultivated) field, or of the "field" here, it's cultivated, that which is cultivated, that which... It's like this "dressing and keeping," thing of everything that God is creating and making. Now, of all of this process, of all that God has been cultivating, you're not part of it. You're farther and farther away from it and you're cursed with greater curses now.

...upon your belly shall you go. Now, we, as human beings tend to look at this as physical and think, "Well, did God change him to where from that point forward he was now like a snake because he's referred to as being like a snake, a serpent, and so forth, and so he's out here moving around the earth and lapping up dust?" Well, God has revealed to us of recent time of what this really means. And you didn't know that before. You didn't know it until God gave it to you. Awesome, the marvel of things that God has given to us.

And so He says, upon your belly you shall go and dust shall you eat all the days of your life. God is showing him that He's just bringing him down more and more. The pride, well, God is, though he won't allow himself to become humbled, God is making sure that you're going to receive humbling experiences, and that makes him more furious and more hateful. But, nevertheless, that's what would transpire through time here, because everything Satan would do God would turn it around to where it wouldn't become something where Satan could relish and rejoice. And for a moment he might, but very shortly he's going to be tormented by it because he's going to see by his dumb decisions, and by his choices, by his perversion and distortion and his thinking and those things he's decided to do, that he's just brought greater suffering upon himself. He's just compounding his suffering, the torment. That's an incredible thing to understand, a mind that becomes more tormented. So the more in life you turn away from God, the more....

You know, I think of people who get involved in things in life that take them farther and farther away from soundness of mind. I think especially when people get caught up in a drug culture, and then they get caught up in stealing and lying and all the things that are so opposite of God's way of life. And the more they get involved in that the more their life takes on curses, unhappiness, torment. Their lives really become highly tormented and they have no control after a time because it just goes out the window. They're so much in captivity and only God, only God can free them from that. They become captive to those things and they cannot change. They will not change. And the dangerous thing is for the mind to become set in some of those things and that becomes very dangerous. So that's an age we live in right now that's very akin to the times of Noah. And that's what's so unique about the times we live in. And we need to see that. It's on a spiritual plane. And why God did the things He did then and where we are now and why He gave the example, "As in the days of..." see.

So it went on to say here how some of this dust was going to come up into his life because of being so low to the earth that God was putting him and placing him because of what he had done, greater curses being placed upon him because of his very choices. It's not even something that God had to do, it's just something that God's going to do because of how He's going to work out His plan. And Satan isn't a part of it. And because Satan fights against it, Satan suffers more. And the more he fights against it the more he suffers, the more torment. Because he can't win! He can't get ahead! God does! God's getting ahead more and more. His plan's coming to fruition more and more. We're getting closer to the end of 6,000 years where more of that plan is going to be brought together, a great part of it when Jesus Christ returns as King of kings and 144,000 are resurrected, the firstfruits.

Verse 15—And I will put enmity between you and the woman. So because of what God was going to do – not something new – but because of what was going to happen anyway, because of something that was already in motion that is going to be fulfilled as a part of God's plan, because God brings everything to pass that's in His plan, and so He says, I will put enmity between you and the woman. "Because of what you've done, there is going to be enmity" between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed, speaking of something that would happen later. Satan didn't understand all these things. At that time Satan didn't know how God was going to create Elohim. He didn't understand the whole process yet by any measure. Just as human beings.... That's why a demonic world and Satan, they want to know when things are revealed by God, because that's when they learn them. When they're revealed to the Church, that's when they begin to see and understand what God is doing. And so through time there's been a progressive revelation because God hasn't revealed it all at once, and Satan hasn't known it until God specifically reveals something. That's why a lot of things written prophetically, Satan can't know those either, because they're not clear yet. They're not revealed yet, the things that are written in prophecies. Much of it began to be revealed in a great way through Mr. Armstrong concerning the nations and prophecies that were there and end-time and that kind of thing. And that's just been built upon more and more and more.

So He says, I'll put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed, between those whom you corrupt, between those that you work to deceive and to hurt and to lead away. And so God says, "Between your seed and her seed," speaking of the woman, what would come from the woman. What seed was God going to bring to pass in time? Christ, born of a woman, born as a human being. Incredible, some of the things revealed here in a very succinct and short section of scripture. A single verse, prophecy about Jesus Christ.

And it goes on to say, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed, speaking of Christ, it, that seed, Christ, shall bruise, a word that means "to crush and break" your head, and you shall bruise his heel, meaning "you shall only bruise his heel." So, "You're going to do a little bruising here, but it's only going to be on the heel. It's not going to hurt too much for too long. Just going to be a little thing. But he's going to bruise your head. He's going to crush it. He's going to break it. That's what's going to happen to you." So again, this "seed."

And so everything that Satan works at to destroy in God's plan only works, because of the way God is working, to cause greater pain and suffering in Satan's life and greater curses. And every time he tries to do something – the things he did in striving to kill Jesus Christ only worked against Satan and his purpose and his design. And so every time something backfired and something greater was revealed, you know, Satan can relish in the death of the Son of God, the death and the fact that he is put in the heart of the earth dead after having been hung on a pole and nails driven through his hands and his feet. He must have really relished that moment in time, to think how great of something he had accomplished. But he didn't grasp what God was going to do. He didn't grasp God's plan and God's purpose. He didn't see it.  And instead he sees one that people begin to turn to in a very great way, and that it's through him that the sins of mankind can be forgiven, that he is the Passover.

That worked powerfully against Satan so his little relishing didn't last too long. His little enjoyment and sin didn't last too long. And every time people go out here in thinking they're going to enjoy sin, they don't realize that the result is soon going to fade and they're going to begin to suffer. They're going to begin to suffer. Because curses bring suffering. It brings torment in the mind, wrong thinking in the mind. Awesome to understand these things.

Verse 16—And unto the woman, it says, He said (God said), I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception... So again, things that haven't all been fully revealed yet about some of this, but there are things that God is giving us to see in part. And so again, due to human nature/selfishness and people not living as God shows how they should, people are not fully blessed, but instead reap the results of going their own way, of going their own way—curses. When you go your own way your life is cursed, it begins to be tormented, you begin to suffer. You're not blessed. You don't have blessings. You're not given peace of mind and enjoyment of life and great satisfaction and happiness of life that comes in a way that can't be described until you experience some of that kind of life above and beyond temporary happiness that human beings can experience. And so there is a great difference there between receiving blessings for being in unity and oneness with God and receiving curses because of different thinking, going off and doing something in a different manner.

And so it was from the very beginning, of things that God said would happen to the woman, that were going to happen to Satan, they were going to happen to Adam, to mankind. And so this battle that would go through time.

And in sorrow you shall bring forth children. You know, when you talk about sorrow, like this, it isn't that people regret having children. You know, people look forward to having children and a child being brought into... Now, there can be hurt, some suffering, you know, because it's not going to be easy, specifically with the woman because giving birth, it can be a painful experience. Some people actually go through it and they don't experience that kind of pain, but a lot of people, there's varying kinds of pain and labor that goes with it. But there are lessons to be learned from that in this world. And so it says, in sorrow you shall bring forth children. And so it really has to do with what happens in life later on. It happens when you can't give peace, you can't make life right for others around you. And so there are things as human beings that we suffer on our own, but especially, too, if indeed when things happen in people's lives and our own children; there are things we can't change in their life, though oftentimes parents try to control or rule over their children, which is a giant mistake – giant, giant, giant mistake. You let them go. There even comes a point in time when God says to let them go. He commands, in essence. That's what He's saying, "Let them become one flesh." "Leave father and mother." And so people should strive to do that and to learn the lessons of life that can't be learned in any other fashion or form, especially when you're called into God's Church and have God's spirit in you, even a greater need at that time so that you can learn and so that you can grow and so that you can be molded and fashioned more fully.

And so again, the sorrow that can come in people's lives when they see things that happen and the suffering that goes on in those who come from them. Because you do. There are things that go on. There are things that happen. Wrong choices. Whenever the wrong choices and the suffering that people go through because of wrong choices and the troubles that people get themselves into, then it doesn't bring a greater joy to one's life in those things. And there are moments of joy, even in a carnal, physical world, but there is sorrow, there is suffering, there are moments like that. Some very, very, very great.

So, in sorrow you shall bring forth children, and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you. Well, we've gone through this in times past and some of the things that this means. But, again, something different between a man and a woman and how they think and how it is that the husband has come to rule. A lot of it is just by plain physical power and strength of life and how God has created them. But there is also something unique within the woman then, a desire that is there toward a husband that so often in this world, because of the way that we're created, that sadly it isn't reciprocated like it's supposed to be. That's why God tells the husband, "Love your wives!" "Love your wives!" And so I'm amazed at how many sermons I've given about the subject, even of not too long back concerning some of the things having to do with how families are to be and how they're going to be in the Millennium that people still just don't get. They just don't get it. They don't understand. They don't grasp how things work.

But it's so simple, it really is. It's so simple. It has to do with God's government. It's how God's government functions and the changes that are taking place there in life. And it has to do with the order of and the role of how God's spirit works, of how God's spirit flows throughout the Church. That's really as simple as it gets. It's how God's spirit flows throughout the Church and how we all respond to it. And if we really could get that there would be far greater peace in the body. But that comes with time and I'm not going to spend time in this particular sermon talking about that. It's something to think about and pray about, that we all seek to be in great unity and oneness with God! Because it's a matter of being in unity with God. It's a matter of His government and how it flows in life, is an honor toward God and a love toward God and a grasping that there is an order and a way that it works and we just live that, we support that. Because that's what His family is going to be like. And so those things come through time.

So it was from here, brethren, you know, what happened to the man, what happened to the woman, but it was from this point forward that the course of mankind became set. That's incredible to understand. The course of mankind from this moment forward, that we're reading about here, became set for the next 6,000 years. Curses. Curses because of man doing what mankind would do, having been made as physical human beings. They would begin to decide for themselves, judge for themselves as the authority for what is right and wrong and not look to God. It has become the way of mankind. It has become the way of mankind and it's addressed in a final book that God has blessed to go out into the world one more time. Basically the message is, "You haven't listened."

Since that time, since the Garden of Eden mankind, by the very nature that exists there, has not listened to God. And so the message is, because of not listening to God, that things are going to happen in your life – curses. And so that's going to change. And so because of not listening to God there have been curses. And the reality is we're at a time when those are going to begin to be removed. Because just because the course of 6,000 years became set, because that would be the course for mankind from that point forward, what an awesome thing to understand that God's going to remove that and that the course is going to begin to be changed, different from what it was from creation forward, different for what God's purpose was in the first 6,000 years.

Because God's purpose for the next 1,100 is totally different – that which we have the blessing, the awesome blessing, each one of us, to be able to rejoice in now at this time at the Feast of Tabernacles, and then on the Last Great Day! God is letting us drink in of the purpose and the meaning of this period of time and what it means for us. And the more we see it, the more we grasp it, the more we comprehend what is coming and the more that we grasp the opportunity we have of participating in it now, the more we will be able to rejoice because we're going to be far more thankful to God because we see how blessed we are, how awesomely blessed. What are your trials? What are your troubles? What are your hardships? Get out the little violin. It isn't worth it, is it? And we do that from time to time. We get out the little violin and we want others to listen to our music, the drama, whatever it is in life and why things aren't going well and what it is that isn't going well instead of seeing and rejoicing in and being so thankful for what we do have.

Remember all those trees they had the blessing of being a part of? Rejoice in that! And the one that God says not to? Stay away from it. It's just that simple. It's just that simple. But it's not simple for us because of our nature that takes a long, long time to reverse the course of it. And that's why we mention in the very beginning here, three and four generations, like Mr. Armstrong said. Great, awesome, true words spoken by him about that many generations before we begin to see things level off and curses having been removed, and the greatest of blessings being able to be received from that point forward by mankind. Now, it's going to begin quickly in the Millennium, the bigger and the greater things that need to be changed. And a lot of that will come not by understanding always, but by that which people will conform to, in part, until it becomes a part of them. But the longer it's around, the more that it's a part of life, the more people see it, the clearer they see it, the greater the mind has been healed, the greater the curses that have been removed because of people turning toward obedience, the more the world becomes blessed. It's an awesome thing to understand the entire process.

And unto Adam (verse 17) He said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife.... You know, some can misuse these kinds of scriptures. But the point being we should only listen to God. That book again, I marvel at that. Man hasn't listened to God for the past 6,000 years. It started out from the very beginning, neither Adam or Eve listened to God. They listened to Satan. They listened to each other. Because this wasn't over. They listened to different ideas. It wasn't just Eve. Adam came up with his own brainstorms as time went along because his mind had become corrupted, it'd become distorted. And Eve did some of those things because she listened to her husband. In this particular case here, it's just that Adam listened to the wife, in this case. Was swayed by what she said. Now, Satan could have come to him as well. Satan could have been there with him, and in time he would have listened. He's no match. He was no match for Satan.

And so unto Adam He said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife... What He's saying is, "instead of listening to Me." That's the lesson. It isn't because she's a woman. You know, there are people who are screwed up in their minds because that's what they think. That's what they think in this world. "Instead of to Me, and listened to what was contrary to My instruction." That is what God was saying in spirit and truth to Adam. ...and you have eaten of the tree which I commanded you. See, he didn't listen to God! God is saying, "You didn't listen to Me." That's why... I've known of so many people who have gone off track because they haven't listened to God. They listen to their mate. Might be a wife. Might be, you know, their husband. Because they keep getting harassed by, or whatever it might be, and this thing of twisting and distorting because they can't see the truth and they can't put things in the light of the truth, and you try to defend what you're doing. And the reality is you don't have to defend it. Now, you do have to answer and you have to give an answer, but you know what is the best thing for every mate to know always? You are who you are because of what you believe. And you love them and you love them more than you could otherwise because of what you believe, and you are going to continue to do, always, what you believe and you are going to continue to stand for those things that you believe, always, because that's who you are. And if they're pleased to dwell with you, they'll continue to dwell with you. But I know of people who cower under those things. I know of people that have given in to those things and have not stood firm.

And so there, and in every other facet of life, you must stand for God. If you will not stand for God, how can He make you stand? It doesn't work! So we have to make the choice to stand for God. And the more we make that choice the more that God can give to us, the more that He will give to us, the more we are blessed in life. And when we don't stand, we compromise, we give in, we let down, we justify – whatever it might be. No one has to justify God. No one has to justify their not keeping of Christmas or Easter. You just aren't going to keep it. That's just the way it is. You are going to tithe, whether your mate likes it or not. Hopefully they won't mind. Hopefully they won't give you a hard time. But you're going to do it regardless. That's just the way it is. And they're going to... The best thing for them is to let them know, "I am going to do it. God comes first in my life." Is that so hard to say? Is that so hard to do? Well, it never should be.

And so again here, Because you listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it. "I told you both do not eat of it! This is something that you did to Me! It wasn't a matter that you listened to her. I mean, it was a matter, in that respect that you did listen to her, but the point, the bigger thing is that you didn't listen to Me first. That's what's important here." You shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for your sake and in sorrow you shall eat of it all the days of your life. And so again here, they couldn't continue in, he couldn't continue to receive, as the husband, as the one who did the things that he did for the family in the work that he would do, wasn't going to be like it was before when God made it so simple and so basic for them in life. And now, because of being cut off from the blessings that God would otherwise give to them, they were going to have to work harder and apply themselves more in order to bring in of the fruit of the land. And so there are things that took place here, as it goes on to say. Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field, and in the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, until you return unto the ground. For out of it you were taken, for dust you are, and dust you shall return.

And so, indeed, an incredible thing taking place here that wouldn't have had to take place if man had the capacity, the ability – but God knew they didn't anyway because there's a greater purpose in all this. And God had already purposed 6,000 years. God had already purposed that. That wasn't something that God decided after Adam and Eve sinned. That wasn't something that God decided after the flood. This was God's plan all along. But God makes it very clear that had mankind chosen Him, which, the point is, you can't do it on your own anyway, you can't do it without God, you can't do it without God's spirit. And so again here, because of that there are things you're going to have to suffer through in life. And you're from the dirt and you're going to return to the dirt. But had mankind continued on and yielded to God and made the right choices, there could have been, like there will be for a few at the end, some just changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye from physical to spirit, or from physical life to spirit life. And that's the point of so much of this right here. But now "you are dust and you will return to dust." "You are going to die a physical life and you're going to suffer in this life in how you work in the things you work at. It's not going to be done for you like the earth has been doing. Now, because of this, of being separated from the garden, and from that which was taken care of for you, now you're going to have to take care of it." And because of that there is great suffering.

So, indeed, the experience of either blessings or cursings is something that is produced. And they are the product of human behavior, fully dependent upon whether a person obeys the ways of God or whether they lift themselves up as God to decide for themselves right and wrong, what is true and what is false, what is just and what is unjust.

Let's turn over to Deuteronomy 11. You know, God addresses this very subject after He had taken the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness over nearly forty years. And then in Deuteronomy God reminds the Israelites of that journey, as well as the law and the ways that He has set before them. And that begins to be covered here. It's covered a lot throughout Deuteronomy, but let's pick it up here in Deuteronomy 11:26. It says, Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a cursing. That's what God did from the very beginning. And that's what God did, then, after He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. He said, A blessing, IF you obey the commandments of the Eternal your God, which I command you this day. By being in unity and oneness with God we can be blessed. There will be blessings in life, the right thinking, the right minds that can produce right action in life that result in blessings. And a curse, IF you will not obey the commandments of the Eternal your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day. So if people turn, if individuals turn to some other way than what God has given, they're going to suffer because they won't make right choices. Not only will they not make right choices, but they won't even own up to those choices and their life is going to be even more tormented because of that. And so, if you turn out of the way which I command you this day to go after other gods, which you have not known. So "other elohim which you have not known." So there's only one Elohim and God makes it very clear, don't go on some other way. Don't follow something else that raises itself up like God, because there is no such thing.

So God told Israel that if they would listen to Him and obey Him that they would be blessed. It's just that simple. There are just blessings in life that come from right thinking, because right thinking has a matter of leading to right choices when it's in unity and agreement with God. And those right choices produce fruit! There are just laws in motion that produce fruit that lead to blessings and fullness and happiness of life.

And yet the opposite is so simple. To go against God brings about curses, because sin results in wrong thinking that leads to things that hurt, that lead to things that corrupt, that destroy. That's why God speaks of the corruption of the mind. And so those things hurt. They tear down. They destroy. It's so simple and so basic. But human beings make it so hard. It's just a matter, then, of choice.

So again, God told Israel that if they would listen to Him and obey Him that they would be blessed. However, He also made it clear that what would happen to them if they did not listen.

Deuteronomy 28:15, let's notice – But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of the Eternal your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command you this day; that all these curses shall be upon you, and overtake you. Incredible! Incredible what God's showing here, of what would happen.

Then God magnifies it even more by what He said on down in verse 45—Moreover, all these curses, again, having to do with choices of not listening to God, moreover, all these curses shall be upon you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you until you are destroyed. That's incredible! It's a process. You know, obedience and being blessed is a process. You can grow in the blessings of God, in getting your life and your mind right with God. And the more you do, the more you are blessed. But there is also that which has been with mankind: the more that people sin, the more they continue in sin, it has a destroying factor to it. It tears down. It destroys, causes that to perish, things to perish. And not blessings, but curses in the mind and thinking, the torment that is there in life – because it hurts, because it's suffering.

And so it says here in verse 45, again, Moreover, all these curses shall come upon you, and shall pursue you; it's like it's chasing after you. Because you make wrong choices it's going to pursue you, and overtake you. You're not going to get by with it. It's going to overtake you and you're going to have results here that aren't good to be enjoyed at all, until you are destroyed; because you did not listen to the voice of the Eternal your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. And so these are choices that God places before us. We've been addressing much of this since I've come back and working to, indeed, get the Church back on the right track, as what Mr. Armstrong was doing. Because our human nature, when we let down, we begin to go off track. We begin to go off base. And that was being done too much so. And so we're being stirred up now so that Laodicea doesn't happen like what was experienced before; so that instead, in a speeded up process here, we can experience a taste of that, just a little bit of it, and realize how dangerous it is and realize the need here to yield ourselves more fully to God, to be stirred up in spirit, to seek God's help to become more stirred up in spirit, and to press forward and to, "Get behind this thing," as Mr. Armstrong said. Because now is when that statement applies, to move forward here, to get this done, to get this final phase done – that Jesus Christ, indeed, will return, that the Kingdom will be established with 144,000 ruling and reigning. The very thing we're so awesomely blessed to observe at this Feast of Tabernacles.

So, read about these curses and so forth here in Deuteronomy 28, and that's where the Israelite nations are today. The whole world is there today, but the ones that have the opportunity are the ones that have had the word there, messages there, and haven't listened. So blessings and any of God's favor have been fully taken away. That's where we are. They've been... It's been taken away. I've mentioned that several years ago. Curses have not only caught up with them, but have overtaken them and they will be destroyed. This is exactly where we are as far as the nations of Israel are concerned.

So every facet of life has been cursed. Society, family, the economy, government, food, education, agriculture.... you name it!! Curses! Curses! Curses! Incredible to understand that.

So, I knew this would be a two part sermon, and I didn't get quite as far as I thought I would get in this pre-recorded sermon here now, this matter of The Removal of Curses, Part 1.

And so tomorrow we will continue on with Part 2 of The Removal of Curses. And the Feast is just starting; we've just had our first day, two services on the first day. Brethren, let's strive to rejoice. Let's, indeed, listen to God more and more and have greater blessings in our life, because we are living the opportunity right now, the removal of curses, within the Church. We have been living through this. The more we are turned to God, the more we live God's way of life, the more that we're able to be blessed, that we're able to be blessed in the Feast of Tabernacles as well this year.

So let's really apply ourselves to doing what we were told in the very first sermon, and rejoice before God and understand this process of how we can remove the curses and be a part of helping to remove the curses from mankind that started 6,000 year ago.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1