Habakkuk 1:13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Psalm 5:4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.

Psalm 11:5-7 The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. [6] Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. [7] For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

Psalm 34:15-16 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. [16] The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

These verses and many others remind us that God hates sin, I think we, as God’s people, need to be oftimes reminded about the seriousness of sin.

God hates sin, therefore we as God’s people, would do well to listen to Peter when he says:

Genesis 3:14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

God cursed satan, for him there is no remedy, he is doomed, defeated and damned.

One day his sentence will be carried out in full.

But then man was also cursed.

All of nature was cursed, the very ground will bring forth thorns.

The end of verse nineteen reveals the wages of sin, death.

Satan said:

Who can we believe?

Man began to die physically and immediately he died spiritually.

Death just simply means separation, when we die physically, our soul and bodies are separated.

To be dead spiritually means we are separated from God.

Consider Adam’s puny attempts to cover his sin.

When Adam sinned he developed a conscience, he realised he had sinned, and he looked for a remedy in the fig leaves.

It is interesting that the Lord Jesus only ever cursed one thing.

Surely this reminds us that any man made effort, any thing we dream up or attempt ourselves to sort the sin question out, is cursed by God and will wither away.

Man came under the curse, the condemnation of God because of sin.

Stan Colleymore, the bad boy of football, was fined heavily by his manager Martin O’Neil, he wanted to make an example of him, and they wanted to show that the club had no time for and disliked bad behaviour.

God has shown us how much he hates sin.

Let us consider secondly:

Moses, in Deut 27, was given instruction by God, when they came into the Promised Land, they were to go to two mountains, Ebal and Gerisim.

There they would read the law, the blessings and the cursing, this was carried out by Joshua in Joshua chapter eight.

Let us look at Deut. 27 for a moment.

• Something that was plain.

Deut. 27:8 And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.

The Ten Commandments were written for all to see, no one could be left in any doubt as to God’s standard.

A lot of our laws are written in ambiguous language, this is why we need lawyers to make sense out of it, and interpret the jargon, sometimes people can get off, because the law has what is called loopholes.

But God’s law is plainly written, publicly available and easily understood, what in effect it means is this.

Romans 2:1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

You have no excuse.

A few years ago someone brought out a new soap. We need a slogan that will stick in people’s minds, what do you think? What is different about our soap?

One bright spark suggested the following.

"The alkaline elements and vegetable fats in this product are blended in such a way as to secure the highest quality of saponification alone with a specific gravity that keeps it on top of the water allowing the bather to avoid looking for it during his ablutions."

God speaks in plain language that all may understand.

Plainly stated, plainly shown, plainly said.

• Something that is vain.

I believe as we read these verses it is vain for any man or woman to say that they have kept the law.

That’s the first two commandments, how many idols have we in our lives? Things that mean more to us that God.

Deut. 27:16 Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.

You will find all the commandments here and if we are honest we will have to confess that it is vain for us to profess to have kept them.

We are guilty before God as sinners, can’t you see the personal application here?

Something plain, something that is vain and the truth that we are:

• All the same.

This verse Paul quotes in Galatians.

We are all sinners.

Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

This means that we are cursed, under condemnation of God.

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Hebrews 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Yes,dear reader, God hates sin and man came under his condemnation that includes you and I.

Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Look who has stepped into save us.

John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

We were cursed because of our sin, but Christ has redeemed us, he has set us free.

We were slaves to sin, but Christ has set us free to sin no more.

What a pardon is available! This is amazing!

I noticed that one of the prisoners who was released under the early release scheme, was arrested under suspicious circumstances, no matter what freedom they may have, they still have a record, recorded somewhere is their crimes against humanity.

When Christ sets us free, the record is wiped clean!

Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Jeremiah 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Micah 7:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

God casts them into the sea and puts a sign up ‘no fishing’.

Justified, just as if I had never sinned.

What a wonderful verses of scripture.

"Being made a curse for us"

Made sin, made a curse, even though he never sinned, he took the place of a sinner and died a cruel death on a tree.

Acts 10:39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Acts 13:29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

What Christ suffered as he hung on that centre cross, we will never fully understand, but we do know that he died for guilty condemned sinners, that means he died for me.

We have looked at:

What a scene we have here in Glory.

Rev. 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

Oh even though we are saved the curse still affects us day by day, as we grow older as pains set in, as loved ones leave this scene of time, every tear, every pain, every ache, every thorn and thistle remind us of sin and its curse.

But here in glory, no more curse.

Rev. 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

When shall this be?

Face to face with Christ my saviour, face to face what shall it be?

When with rapture I behold him, Jesus Christ who died for me.

It is possible that you could reject the pardon that is available.

1 Cor. 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.

That word anathema means accursed.

If any man Love not the Lord, we are not talking about saying you love Jesus, this speaks of reality.

Song 3:2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

1 Peter 2:7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

If you don’t love him you should.

Remember what Paul said:

1 Cor. 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.