Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell. Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Our greatest freedom is found in our surrender to the benevolent sovereign. He is the one who made us, and he knows what helps us to thrive. God's laws in Deuteronomy 25 were given to Israel to promote human flourishing.
by removing the obstructions of cruelty and repression. And in Deuteronomy twenty six, God's graciousness and his generosity are demonstrated in our lives of worship. When we become aware of God's work for human flourishing, our hearts will be drawn to praise. Let's listen to this message titled, You have Declared the Lord is Your God. This is part four of a message that was first preached on October 6th, 2024.
It's part of a series from Deuteronomy titled, It's Because the Lord Loves You. To hear the whole message or others in this series, visit the message. Visit www.delightingrace.com. We declare that the Lord is our God. Meaning he is My highest authority.
He is the point of my existence. It is his opinion alone that I seek to please. And that is declared by my life. of worship, not just my act of worship in this room, but my life of worship. And then I love where he goes with this.
If that's the case. That's the case. To keep his statutes. You will walk in all his ways. You see, that's not just what happens at an event of worship.
It is a life of worship, to walk in all his ways, keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. And then What is God's response to that? And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession.
Now, that sounds like something in 1 Peter, doesn't it? You are his own special people, a people for his own possession. And he's writing that to the church. As he has promised. As he has promised.
You are a people for his treasured possession. You belong to me, the Lord says. You're mine. Yeah. I've called you by name.
You see, God's family, God loves his children. And he wants his children to love him and walk with him. Not perfunctually, not mechanically, not just habitually because that's what Christians do. In fact, remember Isaiah and Jesus quoted it in Matthew. God's not interested in people who go through all the motions.
These people worship me with their mouths, but what? Their heart is far from me. That doesn't impress God. at all. That's not what he wants.
He wants us. He wants our hearts. That's what he's calling for here. He says, Because I want you to be a people holy to the Lord. What does it mean, a people holy to the Lord?
You are free and flourishing. Catch. Holy to the Lord, free and flourishing. And that's what he says as he wraps it up here in verse 19. And this he will, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor, high above all the nations that he has made, that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.
His people free and flourishing. Let me bring that to today now because we're not under the law of Moses. We are under the new covenant. And Jesus enacted that new covenant. by his death on the cross.
And all of us who are in Christ, having surrendered in faith to Him. All of us who are in Christ are His people. His family. And God was so interested in that. He foreshadowed that in the people of Israel, and he foretold it by the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah chapter fifty-three. Verses 10 and 11. Look at this. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the will of the Lord to crush him.
He has put him to grief. When he makes his soul an offering for guilt. Get this. He shall see his what? Offspring.
And shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord will prosper in his hand out of the anguish of his soul. He shall see. And be what? Satisfied.
Family. Jesus Saw The family. of God. That was created. Because He hung.
on a cross. And by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Behold the goodness of God. He shall see his seed. and he will be satisfied.
And then we get a glimpse of the heart of God through Jesus Christ. In John chapter 14, as Jesus was talking to his disciples, now let's get context here. When does John 14 happen? The Lord has already instituted the Lord's table. He has already dismissed Judas.
Judas is on his way to betray, to make the arrangements to betray Jesus. Within 24 hours, Jesus would be hanging on a cross. With all of the burden. of the sin of humanity. And he says this in John chapter 14: whoever has my commandments and keeps them.
It is he who loves me. How do we demonstrate our love for God? by following him and walking in his steps. And he who loves me will be, get this, loved by my Father. And I will love him and Are you watching this?
manifest myself to him. Do you know God this way? If anyone loves me, he will be kept. He will keep my word. And my father will love him.
And get this. Watch this. We will come to him and make our home with him. Do you see God's heart for family? The household of God.
That's What brought Jesus? Satisfaction. When he saw this And not only this, But this All over the world.
Now for thousands of years. His family. That brings him satisfaction. And you see, it's all of it, as is made so clear here, all of it is in the context of a love relationship. People walking with God, following Jesus, because God is good and God is loving and they love God.
That brings delight to the Father. All of this foreshadowed way in the Old Testament. And the reality of it is played out through the working of Jesus Christ and now in the life of the church. Where God makes his dwelling with us. We belong in the same household.
And so it just makes me think of what the Apostle John affirmed. Yeah. 1 John chapter 3, verse 1. Stand with me and we'll conclude by reading this together. Let's read together.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us. that we should be called children of God. And so we are. Oh, that's an amazing statement. You are In Christ you are a child of God.
And that brings him. Delight. And what that truth what that reality produces in us. is nothing less than a life of worship. And he loves that.
So let's do that. Let's be that. A people who worship God. As we leave this room As we go to work tomorrow, As we dwell with our families, Let us be a people who worship God and thereby declare that the Lord is. Our God.
Father. Thank you. That you are so good. Thank you that you have made yourself known to us in this way. That we can know your steadfast love.
Your righteousness, your goodness. And your grace. Your favor that we do not deserve. But you have made it available to us. In Jesus.
Find us, Father. Yeah. Your family. reflecting your graciousness and your goodness. in all that we do.
in every place that we are. Thank you, Father, for what you have done and for what you will do. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace.
You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission. Is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good. and your deepest satisfaction in Him. the one who is infinitely good.
We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.
