Covenant, Calling and Commandments

The Ten Commandments  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Preface

Last weeks message was directed at married couples on the topic of the meaning of marriage as we continue our journey through the ten commandments. Today we are staying on the 7th commandment, though shall not commit adultery, but we will focus on our singles. So important is marriage to God to violate the covenant of marriage was to violate the covenant of God with Israel.

PRAY

What should you look for in a marriage partner? I decided to ask Google this and this was the number one thing to look for from some of the top sites on the front page of Google:
Confidence - Psychology Today… another post from them had kindness ranked number 1.
Respect - From “Love is respect . org”
Emotional Maturity - Psych Alive
“A strong sense of character” - Thought Catalog
“A sense of humor” - Metro
“Choose someone for the feelings they evoke in you.” - Annie Wright.com
“Supportive of your passions and decisions” - Your Tango.com
More funny than all of this my brother told me a story of a lady who had as number one on her list.... wait for it… “no tattoos”. Well apparently God had a “sense of humor” (notify the metro) because she married a man who was covered in them.
We live in a day in age when we have such freedom. I don’t just mean because of our constitution though that is part of it. But the ability to travel. Magellon starting in 1519 took three years to circumnavigate the world something you can do in 3 days now or even much faster. We tell kids in school every day you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up something not exactly true but something tremendous freedom and opportunity in our country cultivates. There was a day when most people never left their home town. Where people new exactly what they would be doing because their daddy did it before them.
The preference know no end in our culture. There are over 5,000 titles on netflix and they are 1 of the now few hundred streaming services out there.
It can be tempting when it comes to looking for a spouse and then marriage to follow suite. Who do I want to marry? What do I want in a spouse? What do I want my marriage to look like?
Then because one is a good Christian this is what they say… I know what I need to do? I just need to pray about it.
Preference + Prayer = Results. I think that is very dangerous.
Todays message is really how to find your calling. Or better yet what is a Biblical way to approach calling.

Called to Christ

Deuteronomy 5:1–5 NASB95
1 Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and observe them carefully. 2 “The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 “The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today. 4 “The Lord spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, 5 while I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said,

Covenant and Calling

Covenant is the most intimate form of calling in the Scripture. You can be called to a task or you can be called to a person. A marriage is infinitely more important than any job. Furthermore you don’t make a covenant with things… you make a covenant with people. But covenant and calling go hand in hand with the Lord.
The Lord called Israel out of Egypt: “out of Egypt I called my son” speaking of Israel and ultimately Jesus.
Moses was called onto the mountain from the Lord in Exodus 19:20 to make the covenant with Israel.
Moses was called into The Lord’s service from the burning bush. The Scriptures say in Exodus 3:4, “God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses” and Moses said, “Here I am”. --- Often times people spend so much time wondering “What should I study?”, “What career should I pursue?”, and “who should I marry?”… and they need to simply be saying “Lord Here I am”. In other words at your service.
The Lord long before this called Abram in Genesis 12, “Go forth from your country”.
God called Noah in Genesis 6 when He said, “Make for yourself and ark” and “I will make my covenant with you.”
And, as he we talked about last week he called Adam and Eve together “the two shall become one” and he called them to Himself for His own purposes to reflect his image and glory on the earth.

The Most Imp. Covenant

The deepest form of calling is covenant. Because you are not just being called to a task, but to another person! This is a powerful thing. But there is a covenant and a calling I have not mentioned. One that surpasses all of the above. One that Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, and Moses long to see.
It is the Oldest Covenant. While it came after all the aformentioned this covenant was God’s plan before the foundation of the world… for us to be found in Jesus, the Savior of the World. All other covenants, including marriage itself, are pointing to it.
2. It is the longest lasting covenant. In marriage you say until death do us part. The Sanai covenant the book fo Hebrews says is ready to dissapear. But the covenant in Christ is for all enternity as it the sum of all the others.
3. It is the only sufficient covenant. The covenant at creation told us our purpose. The covenant at Sanai showed us the standard, but only the covenant in Christ Jesus enables us to “be” those things to which we are called to be.
When Jesus died upon that cross, His blood was being shed, the just for the unjust as the Scriptures say, so that we could become children of God. So that we could be renewed into the image of our Creator. This is the supreme calling friends!
Listen to me very carefully today. This is the calling to which every other calling must bow the knee to. This is the pre-eminent calling. We know this already that some callings are more important than others. My responsibility as a husband and father is infinitely more important than my responsibility to any one workplace or job. Andy Standly says, and I think very well, “Do not give up the job only you can do for the job someone else can.” In other words to my wife and my children I am indespencible. We understand this… when someone loses an immediate family member it is ALWAYS a bad thing. Yet if someone moves from one job to the next that doesn’t even phase us does it. One calling is much higher.
The calling of Christ is higher than the calling of marriage and family. We see this same idea in the 10 commandments itself. The first 4 commandments are all about God. They are the foundation for the others. A bunch of Israelites not committing adultery but going after false gods is missing the whole point is it not?
And yet we are not called to Mt Sanai… we are called to the heavenly mountain, mt Zion. We are not called to an earthly tabernacle where God’s presence occationed, but in Christ Jesus to boldly go before him unceasingly. God dwells in the hearts of man.
This means something very important when you consider any calling in your life. Is it subjected to the most important calling. The upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
This is generally true btw. The objevtive callings of God in Scripture are infinitely more important than and specific subjective calling we think we may have. When they come in conflict we always yield to the objective callings of God in Scripture. Take a man looking for a job. it is actually an objective calling of God that he does work. But it is completely subjective where he works. Now you may say but what if God calls me to work somewhere and this is where you must be very careful… doesn’t then it move into the other category. The answer is absolutely NOT! We will explain as we go but it is suffice to say for now… the callings of God in Scripture are unmoveable and the subjective callings most be not only measured against them but built on them.

Example: Marry an unbeliever

You can shipwrech a marriage before it starts with this one easy step: marry an unbeliever. To marry an unbeliever was to violate the Sanai covenant btw. This idea existed long before Sanai btw. In Genesis chapter six when it talks about the sons of God having relationship with the daughters of men… putting that verse in its context most likely meant the righteous line of seth (those who called upon the name of the Lord) joining themselves to non believers… the wicked line of Cain…
We can step back one level further. What was the enmity referencing between the “seed” (the offspring) of the woman and the offspring of the serpent…? Well according to first John chapter 3 it is “obvious” who the children of the devil are they are the ones who keep on sinning, keep on hating, and do wicked things. So Cain, again in 1 John 3, is cut from that cloth. The children of God have no business marrying the children of the devil. God forbids it. And just to be super clear the New Testament literally says (see 1 Cor 7) your free to marry whom you will but only IN THE LORD.

Hierarchy and Obedience

Let me put this is really simple terms. You are not Lord of your life. You are not the decider of right and wrong. Your prayer life is not the decider of right wrong either. The Scriptures are.
Are the things God, in Scripture, says are important the things I am giving my time, attention, and energy to.
So we as Christian in a world of freedom and preference must not use that for selfish gain… but as servants of the Lord.

Called to Obey

Deuteronomy 5:32–33 NASB95
32 “So you shall observe to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 “You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.

Commandments

As many times as I have said the “10 Commandments are more than commandments they are covenant” it is important to remember they are in fact COMMANDMENTS.
There is no objective calling in your life that doesn’t come with commands from the Lord. Children are given commands for their calling as children. Husbands and Wives are given commands. Employees are given commands from God.
When the Lord called Moses He said “come up here”… a command. When God called Abram in Genesis 12 He said, “Go forth from your country”. A command. When God called Noah in Genesis 6 when He said, “Make for yourself and ark”, a command.
And Jesus says, “Come follow me”… and further still.
Luke 9:23 NASB95
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
We need to be people of action. Quick to obey the Lord. When God called Matthew he couldn’t say let me think about… or worse let me pray about it!
This means we should be obsessed with what the Lord has to say on a matter. Search God out in His Word. The Bible has a lot to say about what to look for in a wife or husband. Be honest do you even care?

Discernment

But you see it is not enough for you to search. The person who makes wise decisions for what is good for their life do you know how they do that? By becoming a doer of the Word. There is this popular Christian notiion that dicernment lives exclusively in this idea of some kind of super prophetic gifting. Can God supernaturally tell you what is going to happen? He sure can. But if you think that is the normal way the Spirit filled Christian is supposed to operate then you have missed. The person who is discerning is the person who does the Word. They have cultivated wisdom through a life of obedience to the Word.
Hebrews 5:14 NASB95
14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
So in Deuteronomy 5 the person who walks in “all the way the Lord [their] God has commanded them” is the one who will make wise life giving decisions.
The person who walks is the person who is wise! Wisdom isn’t just some theory. Wisdom is a practice.
I was talking with Dane the other day about job interviews. Job interviews are hackable. They are like an exam. You can’t do this with every test but there are a lot of test you can cram for and come out with a good grade. Then alot of what you studied just goes out the other end. So in a job interview you can cram for the interview and do really well. You can prep for all the right answers. But in a job… once you have the job… the rubber meets the rode. It takes much more than craming. Skill and Character will be on full display.
You can’t hack the Christian life and you can’t hack marriage. Furthermore the person who is pressing onto maturity through the practice has trained their senses to discern good and evil will also be the person who is able to discern who would make a good mate. Not that you don’t get input from others. A car that is moving is easier to stere. In other words no ammount of outside help is going to help a car that is not moving.
Lets apply this to the search for a spouse.
The best way to marry a total smo is to be one.
A wise man who spoke at the college I was at once said this. You run after Jesus and then when you have really been in full stride for a while really going at it you look to your right and your left. Who are the ladies or if you are a lady the gents that are right there with you running after Jesus. Then you go, “hey babe… want some gadarade.”
Prayer is really important to the Christian life but it is not a replacement for anything i have said today. Paris Readhead said, “If the church would pray about the things the Scriptures tell us to pray about and do the things the Scriptures tell us to do we would be in a much better place!

The Call to Obey is a Call to Holiness

Lastly for those who are single but in dating relationships. The call to obedience is a call to Holiness. Let me drop some Biblical standards on you for someone of the opposite sex. Some of you have heard this lecture before:
Before marriage you do not have the right to treat someone of the opposite sex like your husband or wife. This obviously means sleeping together is wrong. But it means oh so much more. Paul tells Timothy to treat younger women like sisters with all purity. I knew a wise man who use to say don’t do anything you wouldn’t do with a sister. That is a good starting point.
Stay for from temptations. being alone together in private places is incredibly foolish. We have seen so many godly people fall doing this. Can a man hold fire in his bossom and not be burned. Jut read proverbs 7. It is a vivid illustration of a… and I quote… “a young man lacking sense”… and what is he doing? He is putting himself in the position of tempation long before giving in. Then he entertains temptation instead of fleeing. If your struggling today in a relationship with purity let your church help you. You will find grace and wisdom.
Add to that boundaries. If you are drunk in love get outside third party sober help. Do I need to explain that… I know you think its just up to you. But you have to understand if you all cross boundaries before marriage you are taking something that doesn’t belong to you. It is not only fornication it is theft.
Someone who is not willing to honor a biblical sexual ethic in a dating relationship is by definition putting their own selfish felshly desires before the interest of the other person and a future marriage. By definition. Not enough at least to put off their desires for the sake of marriage. A relationship can heal from this but it takes a radical about face. If both parties are not interested in that than its better to end the relationship and start training those senses on good and evil.
But i feel this way about this person. I genuinely believe you do. But the covenant and commandments of God are paramount to your feelings and preference!
The Commandments of God are paramount to your feelings and preference. I am not saying anything radical today. This is Christianity 101. It is called “Jesus is Lord”. Remember the call to follow Christ? It was a call to deny yourself and follow him! If your feelings and your preference were the chief thing you wouldnt be a Christian!!!

Called to Serve

Deuteronomy 6:1–7 NASB95
1 “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, 2 so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 “O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

Family is Important

Though shall not commit adultery is the ten commandments for a reason. Family is important. The faithfulness of a man and a woman in the covenant of marriage are not just life giving for you two but they will be for your children. Putting God first, after that, there isn’t a more important thing you will do then marriage and family. It is why they dominate the top of the list directed toward neighbor.
It is no surprise that what Jesus calls the greatest commandment is embeded in the context of family and raising godly offspring. Entering into marriage is by definition entering into a role of service. putting your spouses interests before your own. then add to that kids. training kids… which is the context here is a lot of work. u r never really off the job.

Marriage an Idol

That being said it is possible to get overly focused on the idea. To make an idol out of marriage. You see someone who is overly focused on it won’t be running after Jesus. There is a real simple answer to this.
It is called presenting yourself as a living sacrifice. Sacrificially serve the body of Christ to the glory and worship of God. Use your singleness for the Lord. You can do things with your freedom to serve the body. You can get up and leave your house on a moments notice and go serve. Young, single people, you should be the front lines of service in a church. Men you should be leading in this see Titus 2:7. Those who are running after Jesus now and serving Jesus now are doing their future marriage a great service I should add as well.
Do not squander your singleness just thinking about marriage. You are useful to The Lord now and in fact there is a role you can especially play in the Kingdom now. Serve God’s church. Be zealous for good deeds.
Serving is the antidote to selfishness in marriage as well.

Putting off Marriage

People put off marriage in our day and age for all the wrong reasons. They do it in the name of education, career… tragectly in the name of liesure. “Bachlerhood” or boyhood is being exsteneded to nosiating ages. Now we shouldn’t assume that is why someone is not married either, that would be quite judgemental. If you have the gift of marriage… and are not called by God to be a spiritual eunich (see Mt 19) in servive of the Lord then you need not delay marriage in the name of preference. But with your eyes on Jesus saying, “Here I am Lord”, working for His kingdom, look to your right and your left and offer that girl some gatorade.
I do have to end today giving a special charge to the men. We live in a culture now where you are not supposed to do that, but we want to have a Biblical mind set not a modern or popular one. In Genesis men, even though God fashions eve and God brings her to the man… the exposition that God gives of this event that you are supposed to learn from is that “a man shall leave” his father and mother and cleave to his wife. A man is doing the leaving and cleaving.
I don’t want you to leave this message today thinking steve said I should get married. But understand this marriage is the only place that the act of marriage is to take place. The act of marriage is a gift. and u have been wired to such a way to posses this gift you according to the Scriptures you need to pursue marriage. I realize what I just said sounds unromantic but its actually not.
Beacause as Ravi Zacharias says love is every bit about the will as it is about the emotion.
I saw a young physcologist talking about how in previous generations people would get married and then work at heating things up. Likened it to putting sticks on a fire to try and get the water boiling. He says now a days we, meaning his generation, want something that is boiling from the start.
Friends if you are not married it shouldn’t be boiling anyways.
do you think the average marying age in our culture for men has slipped to 30 because they are finding gratification other ways.
Marriage is a gift and young people you are stewarding that gift now. Do not unneccisarily delay it. Do not rush into carelessly. Run after Jesus and by goly offer that girl running next to you some gatoraid.
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