Sermonette: Our Covenantal Obligation
What We Owe God
#1868-AMs
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Given 08-Apr-26; 15 minutes
description: Considering the variation of ourselves that could have happened if we were not pulled out of the world, we are to reflect on how negative our life could have been. Let us remain steadfast in God's commandments with gratitude for Christ's sacrifice. We see from Deuteronomy the depth of His love that He had for His rescued people from the slavery of Egypt, while expecting from them the diligent keeping of his commandments. Of course, Christ has that same intense love for spiritual Israel too. His sacrifice has saved us from our rotten natures. We are to take the same message of how love is expressed both directions in that relationship. While our love cannot equal the depths of God's love, we can return an intense form by keeping those commandments. We see it is considered an act of hate to treat His laws carelessly. God saved us from our life of sin, and we accepted the rescue; it is time to show gratitude and give an offering along with following the other statutes.
transcript:
Have you ever considered what your life would be like if God had not called you? Have you ever just sat down and think your trajectory there about the time that God called you and try to figure out how things may have gone. Where would you be now? I doubt that Anyone here would say that his life would probably be better. Um, most of us would probably say that we would have just probably kept on living in the ignorance of our former lives. Some might say that God, however, called them. As their lives were beginning to pitch downward into depression or hopelessness or drugs, crime, perversions, what have you, or maybe you were already there, I do not know. Where would you be now if God had not called you? Having you were on the downslope at that point. Now being a 2nd generation Christian. I really do not have any idea at all what my life would have been like. If I or my parents had not been called. I do know for sure that it would. be vastly different from what it is now, and I could probably say with a good amount of confidence, it would be a whole lot worse. Our living conditions may not have changed. We may live in the same house or a similar one. Drive the same car, have the same job. Enjoy many of the same things. But with the spirit of God active in our lives, with the knowledge of God's way of life in our minds. With the hope Of the most fabulous future as a child of God lying out there just a few years ahead, we hope. We can testify that our lives now are immeasurably better. Than they would have been without God's intervention into our lives. An element, Herbert Armstrong used to call it that missing dimension has entered our lives and given us a, a changed perspective. We do not think about things the way we used to. We have a hope, hope in the resurrection from the dead and eternal life. We have hopefully a living faith, one that moves forward to do God's will. Things changed. Drastically when the spirit of God entered our lives. Things are different now. Things are better now. What do we attribute this better life to? Or maybe I should be more particular about that. Who do we attribute our better life to? If you will, please turn with me to Deuteronomy 7. We're going to be reading verses 6 through 11. Deuteronomy 7:6-11. When we go through this, please think of these verses as applying to you specifically, not to ancient Israel, not even to the church, but to you as an individual, starting in verse 6. For you are a holy people, you're a holy person to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a person for Himself, a special treasure above all on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you, nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples. But because the Lord loves you and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Therefore, know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for 1000 generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments, and He repays those who hate Him to their face to destroy them. He will not be slack with Him who hates Him. He will repay him to his face. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you to today to observe them. God chose us. As individuals, because he loved us. Because he made a promise to Abraham as the Father of the faithful. God redeemed us. He bought us from the grip of Satan and sin, and he paid the highest price in the universe for us. That is the life of his sole companion, His Son Jesus Christ. But notice at the end of this section in which he tells us he has done all these things for us. He tells us what we must do now that he has lavished his love upon us and, and brought, bought us out, brought or bought us out. He says, keep the commandments. Observe them do those things, the statutes and the judgments. As What you need to be doing now going forward. And he also advises us here as we get to verse 10 or so that There is a penalty In all, in this exchange, in this covenant, if you will, this compact that we've made with him. That there is a penalty for rejecting his redemption. Destruction Directly from him, says it twice, he'll do it to our face if we turn and hate him. It's pretty severe. As the redeemed of God. We thus have an obligation to the redeemer. He bought us with his life. And we could say in payment for that, we give him our lives in return. He owns us. He's our master. We are his servants, and he can use us in whatever way he sees fit. That's the price of our redemption. We were slaves under bondage. He paid the price for our freedom, and now the deed, if you will, the, the ownership papers passed to him. And so we have to do what he says. It's our part of the New Covenant. We are obligated. We hate that word. We hate obligations. We hate having to do something because we owe somebody a debt, but Them's the brakes, fellas. We have an obligation to live our lives in the way he commands as our master. We must do what he says. Let's go to Psalm 116, Psalm 116. And see how this psalmist who wrote this. Looked at this particular obligation. We'll read verses 1 through 9 and then we will read 12 through 19. I Psalm 1161. I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my suffocations. Because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore, I will call upon him as long as I live. The pains of death encompassed me. The pangs of Shiel laid me, laid hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, I implore you, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yes, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple. I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Let's go down to verse 12. What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. O Lord, truly I am your servant. I am your servant, the Son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people in the courts of the Lord's house in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. When he reflected on what God had done for him. The psalmist concluded that his only reaction, the only logical thing that he could do was to fulfill his obligations, his vows, he called them here. He admits That in this relationship, he is a servant. It's his place to fulfill the wishes of or the will of his master. Well, what is that will? His will is that we Be in his kingdom. Ultimately that's his will. He wants us to go through the trek. You know, go on the trek through the wilderness and get to the promised land. And so he wants us to do those things which his commandments help us to do, to be in his kingdom. That's part of why the saint's death is so precious to God, because he has accomplished God's will. He has run his course. This servant-like humility, being able to see our place before God is part of unleavened bread. God has redeemed us and brought us out of this world. Humility allows us to see that God alone procured our freedom. So we should see, we should recognize how obligated we are. To what he has done, how obligated we are to him. And when we see ourselves from this proper perspective, We get an inkling of what we owe God. Thanks Obedience, which we saw, and let's just say it right out, total devotion. Let's go to I Peter 4. As we conclude here, I Peter 4. We'll read First two verses here and then drop down to verse 7. Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. Verse 7. But the end of end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers, and above all things, have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling, as each one has received a gift. Minister it or serve it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace grace of God. If any one speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any one ministers or serves, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies. That in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. So Peter says that once we've escaped the pollutions of this world, we should live. All our lives for the will of God. Our lives should be lived primarily to fulfill God's will, and that is to prepare for His kingdom. We must use our time wisely and pray watchfully. We must love the brethren and help them as we can, binding ourselves closer. We should serve in the capacities in which God has given us talents, and we do all this to glorify God. It's all spelled out here in a nice neat list of general things that we should be doing. On this feast day We have another opportunity. To give God an offering as a small token of appreciation for what He has done, a token of our devotion to Him. We know his gifts never end. He provides all we need an eternal life too. So we owe him. Recall what the psalmist said once he recognized his obligation to God. He says, I will offer you the sacrifice of Thanksgiving. We are doing that this morning, making a free will offering in recognition of our manifold obligations to God. We're expressing our gratitude for him. And for all that he does for us.
RTR/aws+/